I would like to note that most of these characters mentioned are not mine (i.e. Slenderman, Ticci Toby, and the likes), even though later on I may add a few of my own.

Uploads of the chapters will be sporadic due to my schedule.

The category isn't exactly right - I couldn't figure out what category to put it in.

Please comment on the story. Thank you!

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Por favor, comentar la noticia. ¡Gracias!

Veuillez commenter l'histoire. Merci!

5. Dr. Smiley

An hour after Clockwork had left to go bait Seedeater, I had finally finished cleaning up the remains of the surgery. The young woman's suggestion of Slenderman had stayed on my mind, however, and instead of discarding the body in my usual manner I instead bundled it up neatly into some plastic bags. I knew a particular person who might be able to use it.

Hefting the body into the back of my truck, I patted the side of my vehicle lovingly before climbing into the driver's seat. This truck had serviced me faithfully in my clean-up, and I wouldn't part with it for the world. Putting it into drive, I sped away from my home.

During my drive, I briefly wondered whether or not I should have left Clockwork a message, in case she came back. Pulling up to a red light, I withdrew my phone and sent her a brief text explaining that I would be gone for a few hours, but not to worry. What? Not all of us live in the dark ages.

Finally, I arrived at my destination - a thick grove of trees that had a deer trail leading into its heart. Shutting off my truck, I pulled the bag out and headed for the trail. Within minutes, I reached the end of the trail, which came out into a cemetery. I didn't need to look at the headstones to know that these belonged to children.

Dropping the end of the plastic bag, I wiped the thin layer of sweat off of my brow and made my way towards the centre of the graveyard. "Oh Mr. Widemouth," I called softly. "I have need of your assistance."

A faint rustling behind me, along with a noticeable drop in the temperature, alerted me to a new arrival. Smiling faintly, I turned around to see a small, gremlin-like creature surrounded by transparent, unsmiling children. The gremlin, his mouth stretching from one side of his head to the other, waddled forward while the children stayed back, watching us grimly.

"Doctor Smiley! What a pleasure! I don't believe we've met." The creature grinned widely, revealing his sharp teeth, and held out a hand. I shook it politely, revealing sharp teeth of my own. Two could play at this game.

"The pleasure's all mine, Mr. Widemouth. How are the children coming along?"

Some of Mr. Widemouth's false good humor vanished. "I'm afraid I haven't been as successful as I once was. The children just aren't playing anymore, you see. They've become too...shall we say...smart to be lured in by my usual traps."

I grimaced in sympathy. "I am sorry to hear about that. A shame, truly. Almost makes one yearn for the good old days, no?"

He nodded mournfully. "Indeed. Now, what can I do for you?"

I smiled again. "Ah, yes. You see, I recently had a surgery that wasn't very...successful." I gestured to the bag, which a few children had surrounded curiously. Upon hearing my words, though, they retreated from it as if it contained the worst pestilence of the galaxy. "I was, however, hoping to give it to the Harvester in exchange for a favour."

Mr. Widemouth tilted his head. "No one can use my tunnels without a price, you know. And as it appears that you cannot pay, well..."

A smirk flitted across my lips. "Not at the moment, no. But what if I told you I could pay you back tenfold? With children-" I leaned down so that we were almost eye-to-eye. "-from across the veil."

Mr. Widemouth laughed loudly. I could see down his throat. "Impossible! You can't bring humans from the other world to here! It's never been done before!"

I didn't let his outburst disturb me. Once he had finished laughing, I replied, "I never said we would bring the children here - though that in of itself isn't as impossible as you make it out to be."

The gremlin peered at me in wary bemusement. "Crossing the veil takes a lot of energy, and even then we're only nightmares and ideas. There's no way you have enough energy to physically manifest there, much less bring one back."

My phone buzzed. Withdrawing it from my pocket, I smiled widely. "Would you like proof?" The text Clockwork had sent me said,

Ok. Have bait. Not hurt much. Sent pic 2 u.

Opening the attachment, I held out my phone for Mr. Widemouth to see. At first he peered at it, unsure of what to make out. As I watched, though, his eyes widened with disbelief. "It- it can't be!"

But it was. There, on my screen, was a picture of Clockwork taking a selfie with Seedeater's bait. It was a young boy, bound to a chair. Everything about him, from his ruddy, tear-streaked face to his torn clothes literally glowed with life. A faint golden aura outlined his body.

Mr. Widemouth drew himself together haughtily. "It's fake!" he declared.

I smiled gently, if a tad maliciously. "My friend, how would we have been able to falsify this? Do you not see the boy's aura, caused by his foreign energy conflicting with the energy of this world? I assure you, this picture is as real as it gets."

A strange moan sounded suddenly, and we both snapped our attention to the cause. One of the children, a small Latina girl, was standing in a manner to suggest she was the one who'd emitted the sound. The other children drifted away from her, leaving the girl out in the open.

Mr. Widemouth smiled slowly, every tooth shown off. He beckoned to the girl to come forward. She drifted over hesitantly. I stood back, studying the wisp. Like all of the children, she was deathly pale, and as her nervousness grew so did her transparency.

"Hello there," the gremlin greeted softly. "Which one are you?"

The girl's eyes were wide. "Mariposa, Señor Widemouth."

"Ah, Mariposa. What a lovely name. Tell me, Mariposa, what happened to cause you to speak out of turn?" Mr. Widemouth's eyes glittered. "And be sure to tell the truth. You know how I feel about lies, Mariposa."

Stammering slightly, Mariposa said, "L-lo siento, Señor Widemouth. I-it was just th-that the others and I r-remember felt something...weird earlier. A-and when the señor here showed the picture, I-I remembered the feeling."

I couldn't help but smirk even as I was filing the information away for further use. It would make sense if the children had sensed something from the other place crossing through the veil, especially since they were not encumbered by their restricting mortal bodies. Ah, me, but this is why I strive to help others embrace death even as I myself study the human body. Some may wonder why I do not embrace death myself and take my life away, but that is because I had something bigger planned.

Meanwhile, Mr. Widemouth was considering this confession of the girl's. Ears slightly cocked, he looked from me to her to me again. "Well, Doctor Smiley, it appears your story has a witness!"

"Oh course, Mr. Widemouth." I fiddled nonchalantly with the side of my jacket. Casually, I lifted it slightly to reveal the razor-sharp scalpel underneath. "I would have been so disappointed if you had continued to insist on the falseness of my claim. Now, about that trip through the tunnels..."

Suddenly the gremlin was all smiles and charm. "Ah, yes yes yes! Well, if you come with me, I shall guide you while some of my children assist in carrying your...Ah...load." He snapped two of his fingers, and six children reluctantly materialized, taking hold of the body and heating it up on their shoulders. With the gremlin in the lead, the eight of us headed into an opening that had suddenly materialized in the ground.

To my surprise, it did not take long to reach my destination. Mr. Widemouth waddled up to a stone door and, placing his hand on it, spoke briefly before standing back. Letting out a creak reminiscent of a tree swaying in the wind, the stone door swung back to reveal a large, slightly bloody room. The smell of raw meat filled the tunnels and I took a deep breath in. I loved the sweet, sweet aroma of death.

The gremlin bowed deeply. "Your destination, my kind sir. Now, about that fee..."

I shouldered the body from the children, who looked glad to have gotten rid of it. "I promise you, Mr. Widemouth, that once everything is in the necessary order you shall have first pick of all of the children you want." This was a lie, of course - Clockwork and I intended to obtain most of the otherworlders for a special friend of ours, picking up the scraps as needed, but the gremlin didn't need to know that.

Whether it was my winning smile or the "sincere" tone of my voice (or merely the blinding greed and gluttony he was having), Mr. Widemouth didn't say anything, instead opting to bow again before gesturing for me to go. Stepping through the doorway, I turned back and came face-to-face with a freezer door. Shrugging, I gently set the body down and walked up to a table that looked like it functioned as both a counter and a chopping block. I noticed a bell on the side and hit it twice. The two sharp dings resulted in the sound of someone heavy walking near, along with a bellowed "Coming!"

Through the door directly in front came a massive human being. He wore a bloodstained white apron, along with black rubber boots and gloves. His round face was jolly, and his watery eyes sparkled with intelligence. In fact, had I not known who he really was, I would have assumed he was just another butcher - and not the Harvester.

Butcher by day, Harvester by night, Johann Schloggeheim was known as the best place to get your meat - whether the meat be pig or people. For his darker customers, Schloggeheim also sold all sorts of human bones and other body things as well.

Johann held out his arms, a broad grin on his face. "Doctor Smiley!" he cried. "It has been such a long time! How are you, my friend? How can I help you, eh?"

I smiled back at him. The Harvester and I went way back. "I am fine, old friend. I apologize for such the long absence; until recently it has been difficult to pay Mr. Widemouth's fee." I gestured to the bag behind me. "I do, however, have a little gift for you."

Johann scooped up the bag and set it on the counter. Opening it up, he took a deep whiff. "Ah, middle-aged woman, freshly dead, alcoholic. Preferred dry red wine." He winked at me. "This gift is much appreciated, Smiley. I had been getting low on good alcoholic meat. Too many are drinking with friends nowadays, and it has been getting harder to catch them."

"Do not worry, old friend. Soon we shall be living in the good old days once again."

The Harvester stopped his inspection to give me a curious look. "What do you have planned?"

I tapped the side of my nose in a conspiratorial manner. "If only I could spill - the plan, however, is very secret, and we must be careful about who we speak to." The man looked hurt at the very suggestion that I might not trust him, so I quickly added, "Nonetheless, we need you. Or rather, we need your little friend."

Johann simply eyed me impassively. I held my breath, waiting. Finally, he let out a sigh and gestured for me to follow. "Bah, perhaps I should not want to know if it is that secretive, yes? Come, follow me - my creature is right this way."

He opened a door to our right, which led down a dark stairway. Following closely behind, we both walked for about 30 steps before coming out into a dimly lit basement. A low growl rose up from one of the dark corners, but Johann simply let out a sharp whistle. "Tier! Kommen!"

With a rattling of chains, a creature that looked like it had crawled out of the pits of Hell walked towards us, its lips drawn back in a snarl. Letting out a booming laugh, Johann pulled an arm from his apron pocket and tossed it to the creature. As if a switch had flipped, the creature went from attack mode to playful-pup mode, pouncing on the arm with gusto and tearing into it happily. As it ate the creature occasionally made content whining noises. The iron collar around its neck clanked noisily.

Turning to me, the Harvester asked, "Now, how long will you need the Rake for? It can't be too long, now, otherwise he gets homesick."

I paused, thinking. "No more than two weeks, tops."

"Good, good. Now, he primarily responds to German, but I've been training him to understand English, too. Once we get upstairs I will give you his special treats - he likes Italian, though Mexican seems to do well with him too."

The Rake, finished with its meal, hobbled over on its knuckles. Letting out a whine, it asked, "Mein Meister, mein lieber Meister. Haben Sie mehr?" A black tongue darted across its reddened lips. The Harvester bent down and patted its head.

"Jetzt nicht. Du wirst heute mit einem Freund. Es wird nicht sein lange." Pulling on the chain a bit, he uncooked it and handed it to me. The Rake looked at me, curiously, before accepting me as a friend. I squatted down to eye level.

"Hello, there. I need you to keep an eye on someone for me. Do you think you can do that?"