Ink Short Read

A Bad Place for a Bad Mind

by Alexander Mansfield '17

​So, you came to hear a story, right? If not, too bad-- I don't give refunds. 
Now I must warn you, this particular story may leave you feeling uncomfortable. It may scare you. It may go to a special place in your head where all your bad thoughts go. 
And STAY THERE. 

Or, hell, it may even make you laugh your ass off. I don't know, people look at things differently sometimes. But if you feel like giggling, stay the hell away from me.
He came into this world with a cry-- not from him, no, he was silent-- but from the doctors, as
they panicked, trying to clean the blood from the child's eyes, only to realize the blood didn't go
away. In fact, it wasn't even blood. The head doctor looked into the boy’s eyes: brown, meeting red.
This was not the first of these peculiar features. For when the child's teeth grew, they were
not like yours or mine. They were large, pointed and sharp. Teeth that could put a shark to shame. He could tear through an entire steak in just a few chomps. And when he smiled it sent the coldest of chills up your spine. 
But hey, what can I say? It made him one handsome little devil.
Now, I must inform you that this boy was a troublemaker-- to say the least. Got into fights,
stole, and constantly lied. But this was how he preferred to live. He believed that even if he acted like a goody two shoes people would still hate him for the way he was born. So why should he live by their standards? Good or bad, he didn't care how he was. He was going to live life the way he wanted to. If he tried to live the way people wanted him to live, he'd get nothing more than a bad day. 
And the one thing the boy hated more than anything was a bad day.
But life can be a bitch. For one day, he got in trouble. But it wasn't like before. These men weren't police, here to take him back to the orphanage. Hell, they didn't even look like anybody he had wronged. He had never seen these people before in his life. Yet here they were, holding him against the ground. Wearing sky blue clothes and weird masks. He kicked, he screamed, he
threatened. But all that didn't matter. He felt a sharp sting in his neck and then everything began to turn to black.
Is this where our story ends? Of course not! We have only finished the introductions. We just got to the beginning. The beginning to what is about to be a very bad day.
Opening his eyes, the boy was greeted with the full moon’s glow. The boy got to his feet and let out a yawn. His red eyes were searching for anything, really. But all he saw was a pitch black world.
The only source of light was the moon shining down on him like a stage light. Bending
backwards until he heard a loud crack the boy gave a relaxed sigh. He began to look around,
spinning around two or three times until he found some way out. Most would be frightened, but the boy didn't pay much mind to it. He was used to waking up in places he didn't remember sleeping in. You'd be surprised by how many times that had happened.
After finding absolutely nothing of interest, the boy falls back, butt landing on the hard floor with a thud. The air nips at his fingers as he places them against his pointed chin, while his other fingers go to scratch his messy black hair. The boy’s mind begins to drift off into thought.
Retracing his steps, the boy looks back at the previous events. He was struggling more than usual, due to the fact that everything was a bit blurry. He remembers doing something, something that angered a lot of people. But he couldn't remember what he actually did.
The ruby-eyed boy was snapped out of his thoughts by a loud squawk. Followed by a chirp, then a gobble, and a screech.
The boy closed his eyes trying to block out the strange noises. But soon they grew louder, as well as his growling. Before he knew it, the sounds began to echo. His teeth began to grind. In a sudden burst, a tremendous roar shook the earth.
"SHUT UP!!" he shouted, giving a relieved sigh as, one by one, the noises began to die out.
All except one.
Clapping filled the room as a voice began to speak.
"Now why did you have to go and do a thing like that?" it asked with a sigh. "The loons were just about to break out in a chorus, it will take hours before they start singing again."
Slowly a tall figure began walking into the light, shoes clicking with every step. His hair was grey and so was his suit. He smiled wide, teeth shining in the light, as he began to adjust his black tie. Horrified, the boy stared into the man’s eyes. Two ruby eyes meeting two large moons.
Staring back, the Moon Eyed Man’s smile stretched wider across his face.
"Well, well, red eyes and sharp teeth, I must say we have ourselves an interesting one tonight!" he said, voice high and fluent, as though it came from a young, educated man. Yet there was something behind that voice of his that didn't sound right to the boy. Ignoring the uneasy feeling in his stomach, the boy raised his hand for a shake. The man gladly shook it.
"It's so good to see new faces, though, especially unique ones like yours." He continued his grip on the boy and began to tighten. "You'll fit nicely in with your new home!" 
The boy quickly withdrew his hand, eyes widening.
"New home?" he asked.
"Of course a new home, what did you think? That you could still live around people after the way
you acted? No, you belong here now. With all the monsters and freaks. And me? I guess you could say I'm like the warden. Here to watch over all of God’s little mistakes."
For a moment the boy stared blankly at the Moon Eyed Man. All quiet. 
Until the boy burst into a fit of laughter. Mouth forming into a devilish smile as he laughed away, confusing the tall stranger.
You see, the boy believed that this was nothing more than some creative prank. Said that
it 'got him good' and that they 'spent way too much money just to teach him a lesson'. The man
tried to explain that this was all very real. Placed a hand on the boy’s shoulder.
He just gave a chuckle, before pushing the 'actor' to the ground with a loud thud. The man’s smile dropped as he turned his head, his cracked moon eyes staring at the child, as he disappeared into the darkness. 
This, my friends, was a mistake. A very stupid mistake.
Slowly rising back onto his feet, the Moon Eyed Man’s lips changed back into a smile. Except it was different. Something was off about it. It was dark, twisted-- a smile that could send a chill through the bravest man’s spine.
In a blink of an eye the boy was thrown back, head smashing against the ground with a clang that echoed. Before he could even recover, he let out a ear-shattering scream as his body began to burn. He flailed around, rolling and kicking. After the pain had finally come to an end, the boy searched for the cause of it. His red eyes landed on a certain moon-eyed man, standing over him, a burning stick in hand, and a twisted smile.
Like a rabid dog, the boy bared his teeth with a snarl, demanding to know why the man had done this. But the Moon Eyed Man just laughed as he thrusted the stick into the boys stomach. The same burning feeling returned. It was like fireworks were exploding throughout his body. All he
could do was scream and hope that the pain would end.
The lunar-faced bastard pulled the stick out of the boy, chuckling at his work before reaching into his jacket and retrieving a bottle filled with a bubbling purple concoction.
Polite tone dropped, the Moon Eyed Man began to shout at the boy. Asking if it felt real before continuing to stab him with his cane. Telling him about the punishments that come when little boys choose to misbehave.
"But don't worry," the Moon Eyed Man assured, "I have a unique punishment, for such a unique boy.” With one final crackle, the stick drove into the boy’s back.
The boy’s mouth opened wide, releasing another scream until what felt like ice cold water ran
down his throat. He coughed and gagged at the bitter taste. Clawed at his throat as it began to
freeze and itch. His stomach tightened as he felt the familiar feeling of something rising up in his
insides. With a loud gag the boy began to vomit black smoke that surrounded the boy in more
darkness, as the moon in the sky disappeared behind the dark clouds-- soon to be replaced by
two white disks and a wide, unnatural smile.
The smoke soon cleared as the boy was greeted by the return of the glow from the moon. All that remained was a tall, thin figure, body nothing but black. Resembling more of a shadow
than a man. It looked down at the boy with its large hollow eyes, smiling from ear to ear. The boy
stared at the new stranger, unsure of what to say, before deciding to give a confused “Hello”. 
The shadow man instantly burst into a fit of laugher. The boy sprung back in surprise, as the shadow man continued to laugh hysterically.
With grinding teeth and covered ears, the boy let out a scream, trying to block out the noise--
resulting only in failure as it began to grow louder. It was as though the laughter was echoing
inside his head.
Satisfied with his work, the Moon Eyed Man asked if the boy was ready to apologize for his behavior-- only to receive an unexpected laugh from the child.
The boy had never apologized to anyone in his life. What made this bastard so special? With
only a groan, the Moon Eyed Man walked away, disappearing into the darkness. But not before
saying a few last words.
"You really do belong here." 
The boy only continued to laugh with his shadow as the Moon Eyed Man left, smile replaced with a disappointed frown. It went on like this for who knows how long.
As time passed, the boy began to learn more about this place, but the more he learned, the
more he wanted to leave. It was a world full of many terrifying things. Like screaming banshees or mischievous goblins. There were pale beasts with fingers long and crooked like tree branches. There were even mutated freaks that were either missing limbs or had too many of them. These creatures would come out when the loons began their songs-- either fighting, lying, or just torturing each other just for the hell of it.
But once the monsters went away, and the loons became silent, the Moon Eyed Man made his return to visit the boy, and with every visit came different ways on how to make the boy scream. He would burn him, cut him, beat him, drown him, and frequently forced his purple potion down the boy’s throat, creating more shadow men. 
Four in total. 
Laughing, screaming, roaring, and moaning. 
Never quieting, and never leaving the boy alone. They knew what he thought and they knew how he felt. They knew what made him laugh, what made him cry, what made him scared, and what made him mad. They would bring out his worst nightmares, fill his head with words of doubt, joke about his darkest secrets, and make his blood boil with rage. 
But the end was always the same, with the boy laughing hysterically, completely unchanged, as the Moon Eyed Man walked away. Same disappointing frown stretched across his face. The boy always refused to break. He refused to give the Moon Eyed Man the satisfaction of winning. Like every other dreadful thing in his life, the boy learned to live with it. The Moon Eyed Man soon realized this.
Growing more annoyed by that boy’s stubbornness, the Moon Eyed Man realized he needed to change his methods. He needed a way that would make the boy grovel at his feet and fill those red eyes with tears. He needed to give the boy a bad day, a bad day he was never going to forget. And he knew just how. He was going to give the boy one hell of a bad day.
After the loons fell silent and the creatures disappeared, the Moon Eyed Man returned for another visit. The boy got prepared for the usual beatings, only to let out a surprised yelp as he felt cold metal wrap around his throat before being pulled to ground. The clanging of chains ringing filled the room, like bells. 
The four shadow men followed behind, continuing to annoy him as he was dragged across the floor for what felt like hours, until he was brought to a room he did not recognize. Everywhere he looked, he saw shelves upon shelves of potions-- all in different shapes, colors and sizes. The boy was then roughly placed onto a seat. Metal cuffs tightly wrapped around his wrists, glueing him to the seat.
With a small chuckle, the Moon Eyed Man walked into the room, until he came to a stop in front of the boy, smirking down at him. The boy felt an uneasy feeling in his gut as one of the shadow men began to whisper worst case scenarios into the boy’s ears. Trying to scare him. 
But the boy merely ignored him, doing his best to laugh the fear away-- until he felt something be placed onto his head. The Moon Eyed Man informed him it was his crown, to go with the throne. 
The boy could hear one of the shadow men beginning to joke about how symbolic it was. The boy asked what he was planning this time, but the Moon Eyed Man didn't answer. He only backed away, continuing to smirk until he came to a stop. With a snap of his fingers the chair
suddenly levitated off the ground, rising into the air, taking a surprised boy with it. The Moon Eyed
Man smiled as he gave another snap. The floor then began to crack and crumble apart, before
familiar purple water filled the room and the blood began to drain from the boy’s face. The boy
looked to the Shadow Men for answers but they stood frozen, staring at the purple pool below
the boy. He looked back at the Moon Eyed Man who gave him a twisted grin.
"A unique punishment for a unique child!"
Snap!
The boy gasped as the crown ignited, spewing flames inside his head. He tried to scream but his mouth was locked shut, he couldn't even breathe, as his body instantly turned to stone.
Unable to move a single muscle all the boy could was pray-- to whichever god would listen-- to end the pain. Time became irrelevant to the boy. Was it for a second? An hour? A day? A year?
He didn't know; all he cared about was when it would finally stop.
Another snap echoed in the boy’s ears as his body started to feel… lighter. Before he had time to think, a splash erupted from the middle of the dark pool below. Vision clouded by darkness, the boy began to hear the shadow men.
Laughing,
screaming,
roaring,
and moaning.
Head still on fire and lungs begging for air, the boy tried to call out for help, but yet again nothing would come out. With every amount of effort he had left, his jaw was pried open and he let out a yell. Bubbles and smoke came out instead, before bursting into flames. The boy was practically breathing fire. The fire was surrounding him in a cage of flames. His body felt numb. All the pain
slowly began to fade away taking the flames with it. His eyes slowly shutting as everything felt… peaceful.
A hand then came down and pulled the boy up by the hair. Before he knew what was happening, he was gasping for air. Coughing and spewing the purple liquid out from his lungs, the
boy looked up to meet the Moon Eyed Man smiling evilly down at him.
"So," he said, trying to hold back a laugh. "Ready to apologize?"
The boy would have just laughed in his face, pretending to be unharmed and walking back to
his cage. But the boy was too tired-- his body ached and his head throbbed. Everything remained
silent as the boy tried to think. Until he realized something. It was silent. No laughing, or violent banter. No discussion of his fears, or words of self loathing. Just silence. The boy should be happy, so why wasn't he? The boy should finally be able to think straight, so why couldn't he?
Why did the boy feel so… empty? 
He looked back up at the Moon Eyed Man. His red eyes stared into the two large moons. But instead he saw something else.
A little boy looking back at him. A white patch sticking out of his messy black hair like sore thumb. The little boy looked scared, confused, as tears began to well up in his eyes.
"Apologize."
It was a soft whisper, but the boy could hear it. It was voice he did not recognize, but he
didn't care. Latching onto the Moon Eyed Man’s pants the boy began to cry. Tears streaming
down his face, the boy apologized to the Moon Eyed Man, begging for forgiveness, begging him
to leave him alone.
The Moon Eyed Man just stared blankly at the now-broken boy-- before starting to laugh.
And laugh. AND LAUGH! As he started walking away from the broken child, his continued laugh was echoing in the boy’s ears. The Moon Eyed Man slowly disappeared into the darkness, leaving the boy alone for the last time.
Continuing to cry, the boy called out to the shadow men waiting for a reply. Silence was his answer. The boy then felt his stomach tighten. Hunching over, the boy began gagging up blood,
painting the floor red. Scared and alone, the boy hugged his legs, the only form of comfort he
could find.
"Sad, isn't it?" a voice spoke.
The boy’s head flew up in confusion.
"Being forced to apologize to a man who did nothing but bring you pain." The voice was deep and
powerful. Yet it spoke with a calming demeanor.
"Must really hurt," the voice continued. "All those times you fought through the pain, the misery, all to show who was boss." From the corner of his eyes the boy noticed the blood on the floor begin to move, merging into one large puddle before separating in two.
"Doesn’t it hurt... " 
The two puddles began to glow before being raised into the air, becoming two glowing eyes.
"...to realize that, in the end, all of it was for nothing." The voice proclaimed. A devilish smile
crawled its way underneath the floating eyes. Teeth as sharp as knives. The boy stared into the eyes of the demonic figure standing over him. Blood red meeting blood red.
"But what if I help fix that?" the red-eyed man asked.
Confused, the boy asked what he meant. The red-eyed man chuckled.
"By getting you out of this godforsaken place!"
When the boy raised his eyebrow, the demonic man knew that he had gotten the boys interest.
"I could help give you back your life, your freedom, and even your dignity! But first, you’re going to have to do something for me.”
"Like what?" the boy asked. That devilish smile was growing wider. In a flash of light, a red chain appeared below the boy’s feet. 
"If I'm gonna free you, you’re gonna have to free me. Break the chain and we both get our freedom. In fact, I may even do something extra just for you!"
"And how am I supposed to do that?" the boy asked, doubt crawling through his stomach. 
"Easy." A skinny, clawed hand stuck out in front of the boy’s face. "Shake my hand."
Sweat trickled down the boy’s head. 
"Who are you?" the boy asked. 
The stranger growled before quickly trying to control himself. "Let's just say I come from a place, a very bad place, the place where there’s every bad thing you can think of. That is where I'm from and that's why I want to leave," he said.
The boy knew no sane man would make such a deal. But the boy was desperate. He needed to leave at any cost. Biting his lip, the boy raised his hand.
"Yes!" the red eyed man exclaimed, his voice getting louder. "That's it! Let me out!" 
The boy’s hand met the demonic man’s with a shake. The two hands then burst into flames, the chain snapped, and everything went black. A dark laugh echoed in the boys head. "Time for some fun!" A flash of light struck the boy’s eyes. Using his hand to try and block some of it, the boy began to realize something. Hands brushing against soft wool. He was in a bed. As he turned toward the source of light, he saw a sight he hadn't seen in a very long time. Mounted high in the blue sky, the sun sat on top of a large green hill. As the boy searched the place, he came to discover that he was in a hotel room. 
A smile stretched across the boy’s face. He began to jump up and down on his bed laughing joyously-- ignoring the complaints coming from the other side of the wall. He then fell on his back. His body, bouncing up and down, slowly coming to a stop. He let out another laugh until something shimmering caught his eye. 
Getting down on all fours, the boy crawled towards his nightstand-- and found something very interesting. 
It was a pair of round, lensed glasses, covered in blood. Picking it up to inspect it, the boy looked into the huge, cracked circular lenses, seeing a familiar boy looking back at him curiously-- with the same small patch of white sticking out of his messy black hair. The boy brought his thumb to the lenses and began to wipe away at the blood. Looking toward the glasses’ original spot, he noticed a card sitting. He picked it and began to open it.
'Something extra,' it said, written with blood and big bold lettering. As he began looking over the words, over and over again, the boy started to hear something peculiar. 
A laugh-- followed by a scream-- followed by a roar-- and followed by a moan.
And that, folks, is where our story ends. You may leave if you like. Go on-- go, go! Live life the way you want to, but be wary of the consequences. Or else a bad day will come for you. Believe me when I say I know what a bad day can do to a person. 
But hey, what can I say? I always hated bad days, anyway.