Two teenage boys sat on a degrading green bench on a drizzly September morning. Jeff, the younger brother, held his backpack above his head, trying to keep dry. His older brother, Liu, groaned as he looked at his watch for the twentieth time.

"Mom said the bus would be here at 7:35," Liu said, letting out a sigh, "It's almost eight now."

Jeff ignored his brother, he sighed and leaned forwards, some of the rain dripping off of his backpack and onto his shirt. He was busy worrying about how rough high school was going to be. His first day hadn't even started yet. He turned, looking up to his brother

"Liu, is freshman year really the worst year of highschool?"

Liu turned to his little brother and smiled, he was glad to change the subject, "Jeff, I lived long enough to be a junior, I think you'll manage to survive past your freshman year." he responded, joking with his kid brother.

Jeff turned towards the street, he stared past the empty road and thought about what horrors awaited him in school. It was quiet, at 8:00am in their small town there wasn't a whole lot going on. A subtle sound broke the silence though, it was the pretty unmistakable sound of wheels rolling on a sidewalk.

Liu's head turned sharply, staring in the direction of three other teens casually making their way toward the brothers. Liu stood up, shaking Jeff's shoulder.

"Hey Jeff, we should start walking to school."

Jeff barely had time to stand up and put his backpack on before the three other boys were on top of them. They circled Jeff and Liu, like sharks circling a piece of driftwood holding a sailor lost at sea. Liu groaned, muttering unpleasant phrases about the three.

They eventually stopped their routine, each of them slowly halting on their skateboards and looking at Jeff and Liu. Two of the boys were very plain looking, one was a little bigger and fatter than the other, but besides that they were just normal high schoolers in dirty clothes that were a bit to big for them. It was the boy who stood in front of the brothers that really stood out. He was wearing pristine clothing, all name brand items as well. He had blonde hair that was combed back, and styled with gel that made it shine. He gave a shit eating grin and did an over exaggerated bow.

"Hey there fellas, I'm Randy. I'm sure you've seen me around. Handsome guy like me is hard to miss."

Jeff had actually known who Randy was, his family moved here last school year. Liu talked about him a lot, described him as a typical spoiled rich kid, they had a few classes together. So knowing that little bit of information, he knew this interaction wasn't going to end well. Liu spoke up.

"I know who you are, Randy. Stop being a dumbass and get out of our way."

Randy's grin turned to a look of disgust. He took a step towards Liu.

"You know, school started at eight. Truancy is a federal offence. I don't like people breaking the rules in my town. I could teach you too a lesson, or you could just pay a quick fine to me and my friends here."

As he said that, the fatter kid came up behind Jeff and grabbed his arm, twisting it behind his back. Jeff yelped out in pain, he cried for his brother to help. Liu turned and looked at his brother. He turned back to Randy and pulled out his wallet.

"Fine! Take some money just leave my brother alone assholes."

Randy laughed and took the money, he nodded and Jeff was let go. Jeff clenched his fists. He walked to Randy

"Give my brother's money back," he said.

Randy laughed, counting the money. Jeff had no idea what he was doing, Randy was at least 16, the same age as Liu, but he was a bit taller and well built. Jeff just was not in the mood for this bullshit.

Jeff lunged at Randy, grabbing his shirt. Jeff fell to the ground and pulled Randy down with him. Randy's head hit the pavement hard, stunning him and messing up his stupid perfect hair. While Randy was dizzy, Jeff jumped on top of him. Jeff sat on his stomach and began punching Randy as hard as he could.

This was the first fight Jeff had ever been in, he had met other bullies like Randy but never gained the courage to fight back until now. It felt good to watch Randy's face bruise and bloody.

One of the boys grabbed the back of Jeff's shirt and pulled him to his feet. The boy tried to wrap his arm around Jeff's neck to choke him out. Jeff opened his mouth wide and bit down on the arm as hard as he could. He tore flesh from the boy's skin and he recoiled in pain. The teenager shouted out in pain as he let go of Jeff to hold the mouth shaped tear in his flesh.

Liu was currently wrestling the other kid. Jeff saw that Randy started to get back up, he decided that taking care of Randy was more important than helping his brother. Jeff once again resumed his position on top of Randy, and wrapped his hands around his neck. Jeff slowly applied more and more pressure, closing Randy's windpipe. Randy's face contorted in pain, he reached up to weakly grab at Jeff's face. Jeff enjoyed watching as Randy's skin turned red, then purple and as his eyes turned bloodshot. Jeff grinned, a voice reaching out from the back of his mind and spoke to him.

Yes! Yes! Do it Jeff! Make sure this bastard never talks shit to you or your brother again! Keep going, just a little longer now and it'll all be over!

Jeff was brought back to reality when he heard his brother shout behind him.

"JEFF, STOP!.

Jeff turned around and Liu grabbed him and brought him to his feet. Jeff saw a car approaching and the brothers quickly picked up their stuff and began to run off. Jeff grabbed Liu's money off the ground as Randy held his throat and gasped for air. The brothers ran as fast as the both could, eventually making it home. Luckily their mother was at work, so they wouldn't have to explain why they weren't at school.

Jeff went into his bathroom too clean up after the fight. His clothes were dirty, his pant were torn from when he scuffled on the ground with Randy. His mouth was covered in blood from biting one of the boys. He decided just to take a shower and change his clothes completely. Once he was out and changed, he left the bathroom and saw Liam sitting on the floor by Jeff's bedroom door. Liu saw Jeff leave the bathroom and stood up.

"Jeff, we should talk about what happened. Before Mom gets home."

Jeff nodded, and walked into his room, sitting on the bed. Liu sat next to him and sighed.

"Jeff you scared me. Like, I understand wanting to fight Randy. Shit, I wouldn't have minded getting a shot in." Liu gave a little laugh, but then turned to Jeff. The tone of his voice changed. "You almost killed him. You took it too far, you could get in a lot of trouble if they tell the cops. Randy's Dad is running for Governor dude!"

Jeff stood up, throwing his hands up in the air. "I'm sorry! I just wanted to get your money back, I didn't want to kill him… Well…"

"Well what, Jeff?"

Jeff turned away from his brother. He didn't want to tell Liu what he had heard, but he had no one he trusted more.

"There was a voice… When I was choking Randy. It was egging me on, telling me to kill him. It encouraged me to keep going… The scariest part is," Jeff turned back to Liu, "I liked it. I liked watching Randy suffer. I liked knowing I could've ended his life right there. All the shitty things he's done and I could have put a stop to them right there. Every event in his life, leading up to today. The last thing he would see is my face, smiling down on him. It felt… great."

Jeff didn't even sound like himself anymore. His voice had changed and his posture had become much less meek. He stood straight up, almost staring past Liu, a smile slowly forming on his face as he spoke.

Liu stood up, and nervously spoke, "Jeff you're scaring me again."

Jeff shook his head quickly, putting his hand to his forehead and moving some of his hair out of his face.

"Sorry, Liu. Like I said, it scared me too."

Liu grabbed Jeff's shoulder's, hunching down some to look his brother directly in the eyes.

"You can't tell anyone else about this, ok Jeff? If the cops do come, you don't tell them any of this. They'll think you're crazy and they'll lock you up in an asylum. They'll never believe a word you say. We can't let them do that to you."

Jeff looked up at his brother, "You don't think I'm crazy?"

Liu chuckled, "Hell no, you're just stressed about high school and stuff. Plus that asshat deserved every second of your beatdown on him. I know that because I'm your brother, other people don't know you as well I do. After Dad died, I promised to protect you, and I always will little man."

Liu smiled, Jeff hugged him tight. Liu sighed, hugging his brother back and putting a hand on his head.

"It's all gonna be ok man, I promise."

Jeff and Liu's mom eventually came home. They avoided her and gave very non-specific answers when she asked them about their day. For a while it seemed like everything was fine, and they just might get away with not having to talk about what happened. Jeff was lying in bed when his mother called him down. He rushed downstairs but stopped pretty quick when he got into the kitchen. His mother was sitting at the table, and a police officer was standing by her.

"Jeffrey… The officer says you assaulted three boys at your bus stop. Is that true?" Jeff's mother was clearly distraught. She was trying to hold back tears.

Jeff sighed, hanging his head low. He spoke quietly, scared about what was about to happen next. "Yes. I did it. They made me angry and I attacked Randy and his two friends. Liu had nothing to do with it though, he just wanted to leave them alone and walk to school."

"No… He's lying. I did it. He's trying to cover for me."

Jeff quickly turned around, seeing Liu standing on the staircase. Jeff shook his head.

"No Liu! What are you doing?"

Liu walked down to the officer, holding his hands out, "Jeff couldn't hurt anyone if he tried, he's 14 and isn't strong enough to do the things I did."

"No no no! Tell them I did it, Liu." Jeff said as the officers took Liu out the door. He ran after them. "Don't take him!"

"You don't have to protect me Jeff." Liu said as the cops placed him in the back seat of their cruiser. Liu sat in the back, tears in his eyes. The car slowly drove off, leaving Jeff and his mother crying in their front yard.

A week passed by. It was the loneliest week of Jeff's life. He didn't go to school, he only left his room to eat, he completely isolated himself. He couldn't even bring himself to go with his mom to visit Liu. The guilt he felt weighed heavily on him, seeing his brother would only hurt him more.

One day, Jeff heard a soft knocking at his door. He sighed, getting out of bed and opening his door. His mother stood there, smiling softly. She had been taking what happened to Liu pretty rough, but she clearly wanted to stay strong for Jeff. Jeff sighed and looked at her, his face drooping.

"Jeffrey, I know it's been a rough week. For all of us, but I've been worried about you staying cooped up all week. There is something I think that could be good for you." She said in a soft voice. Jeff looked down at the ground. "There is a boy who lives across the street, Billy, you've played at his house before. Well, iit is his birthday today and I wondered if you wanted to go. He is two years younger than you today, but I think you might have fun."

Jeff looked back up to her, his expresion still hadn't changed.

"They got a bouncy castle."

Jeff resisted the urge to chuckle at his mom. She smiled and hugged him. After that she left him to get dressed. Jeff really didn't care what he wore, so he just grabbed a white hoodie a size too big and some black jeans.

While at the party Jeff had some actual fun. The theme was "Wild West" so he had on a fake plastic cowboy hat and chased around some of the kids with a fake plastic revolver. He felt silly at a twelve year old's party but it was better than this whole week. Jeff never really acted his age, and people usually thought he was actually younger than he was.

After a while of silly, kid fun. Jeff saw something that made him stop in his tracks. He saw Randy. Jeff had no idea why Randy would be at a random twelve year old's party, but if he saw Jeff it could only Jeff moved from the backyard into the house to hide from Randy. The house pretty empty, there were some party streamers and food set out, but all the party goers were outside. Jeff was looking around when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He spun around, jumping in fear.

"Hey, it's the little bro…"

Randy smiled, he must've seen Jeff and followed him inside. Jeff's face turned from fear to rage as he saw Randy standing in front of him. Randy had a few bandages on his face, and his face had a few pretty rough looking bruises. Randy's shirt was collared, obviously trying to hide the deep purple bruises on his neck.

"What do you want, Randy? You already got Liu sent to juvie." Jeff said, his voice resonated a simmering anger.

"Oh yeah, I heard about your brother getting thrown behind bars, but the thing is: Liu didn't fuck with me, he wanted to do the smart thing and pay me. You were the dumb prick who decided to pick a fight." Randy replied "You're gonna fuckin' pay."

Randy reached into his pocket, and pulled out a knife. He flipped out the blade, holding it towards Jeff. Jeff slowly began to take a step back, then Randy suddenly thrusted his knife forwards. Jeff grabbed the blade with his hand, screaming out as the blade slided deep into his palm. He tried to pull the knife out of Randy's hand but his hand slipped, letting go of the blade. Randy pulled the knife back and tackled Jeff. Jeff was on his back, Randy kneeling over him. Randy held one hand on Jeff's neck, and the other holding his knife high above Jeff, ready to stab it down. Jeff did his best to grab Randy's hand to keep him from stabbing. In this moment of desperation, Jeff heard the voice again.

Let me out! Let me out and I can save you! I will fight him and you will live. Trust me Jeff! Just let me out!

Jeff wasn't sure how he could "Let it out," but he knew if he didn't do something he would die. He had no choice, Jeff closed his eyes. He let his mind go blank, and let it out. He didn't know it then, but Jeff released something then, he released a monster on known by one name.

The Killer

Once The Killer took over, it was a completely different fight. The Killer used his free hand, he reached up and clawed viciously at Randy's face. Rand recoiled, his face being scratched and blood began seeping from reopened wounds. As Randy leaned back, The Killer took his opening and pushed Randy off of him. Randy and The Killer stood up at the same time, and they charged each other. Randy slashed the knife, cutting open The Killer's arm, but he reacted as if it didn't even hurt. The Killer grabbed Randy's wrist, twisting it and pulling the knife out of his hand. Once The Killer held the knife, Randy saw he was out matched and turned heel. Randy kicked the Killer to stun him, before turning around and running deeper into the house. The Killer followed him, taunting Randy.

"Randy… Randy? Ready to come out and get your guts ripped out?"

The Killer walked through hallways, checking the each room he passed. Luckily there wasn't anyone else in the house, or else the fun would've been cut short. The Killer leaned into the doorway of the laundry room, and was met with a metal bar to his head.

The Killer was knocked to the floor, he looked up and saw Randy holding a towel rack he had ripped off the wall. Randy brought the bar down again, The Killer rolled over and the pipe struck the ground by his head. The Killer grabbed the bar in Randy's hand and tried to wrestle it out of his hands. Randy slammed The Killer into the wall. A shelf above the two of them collapsed, causing bleach and other cleaning chemicals to collapse onto The Killer. The containers opened, spilling onto The Killer's skin and burning him all over. He screamed out in pain, pushing Randy away from him and collapsed to his knees, holding his face as he wailed in pain.

The Killer's screams attracted some of the party goers, he could hear them enter the house and begin looking for the two boys. It wouldn't be much longer until Randy and him would be found and this would just end. Randy looked down on the Killer as he slowly rose back up. Randy chuckled at him.

"What's… so… funny?" The Killer spoke between heavy breaths.

"Do you think bleach is flammable? I've always wondered..." he paused to pull out a match and light it, "I'm pretty sure it is flammable." He tossed the match and The Killer's clothing erupted into flames.

The Killer let out an unholy scream. He roared and yelled in horrible pain as he ran out of the laundry room and in to the view of everyone at the party. He fell to the floor and rolled, trying helplessly to put himself out. He screamed, cursing at Randy.

"I'M GONNA KILL YOU RANDY, YOU'RE GONNA GET IT FOR THIS!" The Killer's screams and wails slowly turned to laughter. He laughed madly until his vision went from flames to darkness. After a few moments, it was all over. All The Killer saw was blackness.

The Killer slowly awoke, looking around. He was laid up in a hospital bed. His vision was blurry at first, it took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the bright hospital lights. He blinked multiple times before seeing the room in its entirety. He saw Liu sitting by the bed, his head hung low and his hair obscuring most of his face. The Killer tried to speak, but just let out a cough.

Liu's head shot up, looking at the Killer, he smiled and shouted out, "He's awake! Mom! Mom! Jeff's awake!"

Jeff's mother came through the door, a doctor following close behind. Jeff's mother couldn't hold back her tears as she ran towards The Killer and hugged him as tight as she could. Liu joined in as well, hugging both of them. The Killer looked around awkwardly, hugging the two back.

Jeff's mother eventually let go, and sat next to him, "Jeffrey, are you feeling okay?" The Killer nodded, playing along. "That's good… You've been asleep for a long time. Your wounds have mostly healed by now, the doctors say the main issue might be any atrophy you have from being asleep for so long."

Jeff's mother explained how he had caught on fire, how the fire was put out thanks to a girl next door who brought a fire extinguisher, how Randy, after the fact, admitted to mugging Jeff and Liu at the bus stop so Liu was free.

The doctor standing behind Jeff's mother nervously spoke, interrupting the joyous reunion, "There's just one thing… Jeff, listen, when you were burned there was some serious scarring done to your face and hands. That combined with the amount of chemicals that coated your skin. We really don't know how to explain this to you..."

Liu cautiously grabbed a mirror by the bed and handed it to The Killer. The Killer snatched the mirror, he looked at his own reflection and gasped.

His face was burned to the point of being leathery, it felt odd to touch and move. His skin was bleached white, he rubbed his skin as if he expected it to rub off like makeup.

"Jeffrey, we know this is probably hard to take but-" Jeff's mother began but was quickly cut off.

"Are you joking?" The Killer looked up to Jeff's mother, "I love it! It looks so cool! Besides..." his face slowly contorted into a large grin, "It suits me perfectly."

According to doctors, Jeff was making some incredible progres. He wanted to get back on his feet as soon as possible and get home. He always had a smile on his face. They recommended for Jeff to see a psychologists, as usually people who are disfigured or disabled in accidents go through a lot of physical stress. Jeff's mother agreed to schedule one with her son, he seemed a little different ever since the accident.

After Jeff was released from the hospital, everything seemed like it would be ok. Jeff's mother was getting ready for bed, and decided she should make sure Jeff was asleep before she was. As she walked towards Jeff's room she heard something. At first, she thought it was Jeff crying, but as she realized what it was a chill went up her spine. It was laughter. It was a growing laughter, starting as a low pitched half sob, and growing into a scream. Jeff's mother ran towards the source of the noise, Jeff's bathroom. She swung open the door and screamed.

Jeff was standing there, in front of the mirror. He admired himself in the mirror, Jeff's mother saw blood dripping from his face into the sink. A bloody kitchen knife was in his hand. Jeff's mother cried at the sight, but she hadn't even seen the worst part.

The Killer turned to face Jeff's Mother, a large smile carved into his cheeks. His eyes were wide opened, as he had burned his eyelids off. He struggled not to continue laughing as he spoke to her.

"What's the matter mother dearest?"

Jeff's mother's hands shook as she cried, asking her son what he did. Why he did this. Then she realized, this was not her son. This couldn't be her son, this was something else. Something evil.

"Well you see 'mom'" the Killer said in an innocent voice, "I couldn't stand to not always be looking at my beautiful face, I couldn't keep those pesky eyelids open for so long! I also always wanted to keep a big smile on my face, but after so long my face got tired and sore... So I decided to..." he looked at the blood on the knife with a sick lust, "install a more, permanent one. Now everyone can see how happy I am!" His eyes slowly crept from the blade, to Jeff's mother, "Especially when I cut them open."

She turned and ran as fast as she could, she needed to get Liu and get out of the house, she had to escape. But there was no hope. The killer bolted after her. His thin limbs striding swiftly through the dimly lit hallway. He grabbed her, putting a hand around her mouth to keep her quite.

"Ssh ssh ssh… We don't want to wake Liu, do we?" he asked "What's the matter? Don't you love my new face?"

In one quick motion, The Killer's knife slashed across the mother's neck. She couldn't even scream as she watched her blood spray against the wall. She slowly closed her eyes, dying from the blood loss. The killer stood up, putting a bloody hand to his mouth to keep from laughing. He continued down through the house, getting to Liu's room. The Killer's smile grew, he couldn't wait for this next part.

Liu was fast asleep, it had been a stressful month, if not longer. He had been asleep pretty much since Jeff had gotten home. His door slowly opened, letting the hallway light spill in. The ray hitting his face caused liu to groggily awaken, and look at the thin silhouette in his doorway.

"Jeff..?"

"Go to sleep Liu." The Killer said in a low tone, his voice hoarse.

Liu, disturbed by the image and this voice, slowly started to get up. The Killer leaned, forwards, the true damage done to his face was now visible to Liu. The unblinking eyes, the smile, the blood dripping from the cuts on his cheeks, as well as the bloody knife.

"GO TO SLEEP LIU!" The Killer shouted.

Liu tried to shout out for his brother but The Killer grabbed his mouth with a blood soaked hand. Liu breathed heavily, horrified of what had happened to his little brother. He looked into The Killer's eyes. The Killer rested the knife onto Liu's stomach, beginning to laugh again

"You're gonna have to be still for this part. I really want to see if I can grab your intestines without damaging them." The Killer said softly to Liu. He then plunged the knife deep into Liu's stomach, starting to roar with laughter once again.

"See! Now look what you did!" He dragged his knife up Liu's stomach. Liu cried out for his brother.

Along with Liu's cries for mercy, The Killer's laughs echoed through the night.