(AN) The whole story is getting revised, so bear with me right now. It shouldn't take more than a few weeks, at most. Until then, all future updates are on hold.
Jack approached the home he'd been watching for several weeks with caution, as usual. He gripped a small cooler in his left hand, and his favorite scalpel in his right.
The sight before him nearly made him drop both of those things. A boy-no older than fifteen, surely-was crouched at the front door, fussing with the lock. Jack put away his scalpel and exchanged it for a knife (just in case), then sauntered up to the boy.
"Having a little bit of trouble with that?" Jack chuckled lightly.
The boy turned around and flattened himself against the door. His appearance was gruesome-even with Jack's limited vision, he could see the boy's obvious burn wounds. His eyes were cold and unblinking, and he had scars that imitated a smile on his cheeks. His hair was long and burnt black, and his white sweatshirt was more blood than fabric. The boy fumbled through his pockets until he produced a knife of his own, and stood there holding it, dumbfounded.
"Who are you?" Jack asked slowly.
"I'm-" The boy stopped,creasing his forehead in confusion. "Why-?"
"I suppose a better question would be to ask what exactly you're planning. If you wanna rob these guys, go for it-just be quiet. I have organs to harvest." Jack stepped forward and knelt beside the lock, pulling out his tools and picking it with ease. He let the door swing open and looked over at the boy again. "I'm Jack, by the way."
"Jeff." The teenager said in reply. Jack led him inside and gestured to their surrounding. "What are you fixing to do? Kill these nice folk?"
Jeff nodded in response.
"Well, by all means, go for it." Jack chuckled. He led the slightly confused boy up the stairs and down a hallway. "Pick a door, any door-well, any door that isn't my door." Jack chuckled, slipping into one of the rooms at the end of the hall.
Jeff watched after the older male, trying to make sense of him. The man who called himself Jack stood a few inches taller than Jeff, and seemed to be a few years older as well. He wore all black, but had a dark blue mask over his face. Everything about him was unsettling, but he had a trustworthy air about him.
Jeffrey forced himself to shrug it off and went into the nearest door to his left. Inside he found a rather girlish room-lots of pink, to say the least. So it was unsurprising that he found a very young girl (no older than eleven, certainly) sleeping soundly in her bed. She had messy red hair and very pale skin, with light freckles visible even in the darkness.
And now that he was here, he had no clue what to do with himself. There were no second thoughts, he had no fleeting moment of empathy-he was just downright dumbfounded that he'd made it this far. He crouched down beside her and put his blade into her mouth, then began to dig it into the corner of her lips. Her eyes flew open in an instant and she looked up at him helplessly. She did no screaming; she only whimpered as he carved half a smile into the left side of her cheek.
The door flew open again and Jack stood in the door frame. "The anesthetic wore off-her father's awake." Jack whispered in a panic. The sight of the other man made the little girl finally scream, alerting the now awakened father of their presence. "Jeff! Move!" Jack rushed into the room and grabbed the boy by the arm.
"I'm not finished yet!" Jeff protested, gesturing down at the girl.
"I'm sorry, but you don't have time-"
The man that Jack had stolen a kidney from stumbled into the room with a gun in hand. Even in the pain the man was in, he moved somewhat quickly towards the two boys, demanding to know who they were.
Jeff looked up at him helplessly while Jack tugged on Jeff's bloody sleeve. Jeff protested, insisting that he wasn't done. Jack growled and pushed the boy out of the girl's open window.
The young teenager hit the ground with a thud. Several gunshots rang out, and Jack soon followed. Jack landed inches away from Jeff, almost landing on top of him. "You okay?" Jack grunted, rolling over.
"Shouldn't I be asking you?" Jeff asked, confused.
"I'm already dead; a little fall from a window won't kill me again."
Jeff was silent, simply staring at the man for an explanation.
"I'll tell you later-we should get out of here before the cops come." Jack rolled onto his feet and offered a hand to Jeff to help him up. Jeff took it gratefully and dusted himself off, returning his knife to his pocket. "Come on." Jack gestured for Jeff to follow, which he did.
"Where are you staying?" Jeff asked awkwardly, trying to make conversation.
"Northrn side of the suburbs-out by the lake. Other side of these trees. What about you?"
"Nowhere, at the moment."
"Really? Well, then, you can come stay with me." Jack offered, leading Jeff into a forest-like area.
Jeff stopped in his tracks. "Why are you being so...nice?"
Jack shrugged. "You're obviously new at this, so you aren't much of a threat. And you seem...at least somewhat promising." Jack chuckled. "Besides, I could use a roommate."
Jeff considered this for a moment, then continued following the masked man in front of him. "Thanks."