Chapter 2

An hour had passed since I put Sophie to bed. I was currently entertaining myself by reading a book and occasionally checking to see if Sophie was all right. I had checked the dog a few times, but he'd only licked me once.

I was on the twentieth chapter of my book, when I started hearing noises. A slow drip, drop, drip, drop, drip, drop noise could be heard, but I just ignored it. A few seconds later, the phone rang. I reached out and picked it up from the table placed next to the couch.

"Townie residence," I said into the phone. On the other line, there was complete and total silence. But, even though it was entirely quiet, I knew that someone or something was on the other line. My heart started thumping faster, my blood rushing in me a million miles per second. Suddenly, there was a click from the other line and the call went dead, the dial tone lingering for a while.

I didn't know what that was all about, but decided it was nothing. It was probably a prank call or something, most likely by Two-Bit.

Half an hour later, I started hearing the drip, drop, drip, drop, drip, drop noises again, but this time, they were faster. I was starting to feel an eerie, strange feeling. My heart was pounding and I was a bit scared. God, I was so paranoid. The phone rang once again.

"Hello? Townie residence," I said, expecting no answer. However, someone did respond.

"I am two blocks away from the house!" a hoarse, deep voice cried on the other line, and gave a diabolical and oddly clown-like laugh. Then, the line went, once again, dead. Yeah, definitely not Two-Bit. I put the book away quickly and went to check on Sophie. She was perfectly fine, sleeping like the baby she was. Then, I went to Mary's and John's room, where the dog was. I stuck my hand under and the dog licked me once.

I relaxed almost completely; almost. I went back to the living room and turned the television on. There wasn't anything, so I just left it on a random channel. 5 minutes passed by, slowly, taking it's time. I sighed.

Drip, drop, drip, drop, drip, drop – the noises came again. I sighed again. What the hell were those noises? The phone rang. Great—please note the sarcasm. I really wasn't feeling up to any pranks.

"Hello?" I said now, frustrated.

"I am one block away from the house," the man said, the same evil laugh ringing again in my ear. But before he could hang up, I said,

"Who are you? What do you want? Do you want to scare me, is that what you want?"

"Oh, no. I'm not trying to scare you. I'm trying to hurt you. And remember, never forget to…smile," he said. My eyed widened. Holy shit.

I ran to Mary's room. I checked under the bed. The dog licked me twice. Oh, boy! This was bad. I ran around the kitchen, living room, and Sophie's room and locked all the windows and doors. I went back to the living room and kept my senses open. I started to relax. The Smile isn't real and this is a prank. I really don't know why you're all worked up about this, Pony.

I heard the drip, drop, drip, drop, drip, drop noises, again. The phone rang. And I picked it up.

"What? What do you want? Leave me alone! Just stop it, ok? This really isn't funny. Go prank someone else," I said into the phone.

The man just laughed. "Now, why would I do that? This is too much fun! And once it begins, it never stops." Then, he laughed his weird laugh again and I fought the urge to roll my eyes. But, he hadn't hung up. After a few seconds of silence, he spoke again. "Oh, I forget to tell you. I'm inside the house."

My stomach clenched and a thousand knots found their way to the pit of my stomach. My heart was beating so fast, I was afraid it might stop any second now.

I went down the hall and checked on Sophie. She was ok, at least, for now. I went to Mary's room and stuck my hand underneath. Jacob licked me three times. 'Oh, crap!' I kept thinking to myself. I am in danger. Sophie is in danger. Why is this happening? I always do my homework. I'm a good kid.

I heard the drip, drop, drip, drop, drip, drop noises again, much faster and closer than ever. I turned around slowly and cautiously opened Mary's closet. What I saw made my heart stop.

Jacob, the dog, was handing from the top of the closet, blood dripping down to the floor, drip, drop, drip, drop, drip, drop.

Wait! If the dog was hanging in the closet all this time, then who or what was under the bed, licking me?

I felt a breath on the back of my neck. I heard the maniacal voice behind me.

"You want to see a magic trick? Don't worry. It'll make you smile."

The next day, Ponyboy's body was found. He had jagged cuts on his cheeks and it almost looked as if he was smiling. His body was also drained of all blood, making him look pale and soulless.

Sophie was completely unharmed. She hadn't seen anything that had happened, and her dad took her out on a walk while the police investigated the house the next day.

She was eating a chocolate ice cream cone. When she looked up at her dad, she noticed something strange.

"Daddy? What's thwat on your mwouth?" she asked, referring to the tiny drop of blood on her father's, John's, bottom lip.

He stopped walking and ran his tongue over his lip, clearing away any residue of blood. He kneeled down in front of the little girl and said, "Baby, do you want to see a magic trick? It'll make you smile."

THE END!

Hope you liked it. Thank you all for the reviews. I will not be adding anymore chapters, by the way. I just don't know how it'll come out, and if I'm not sure about my writing, then I'm not going to post it online. Sorry. But anyways, I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.