Jace

Next morning

-5 am

The nightmares haunting me again. *Sigh* I couldn't get a proper sleep these days. I opened my laptop to check any e-mails from my friend, Jace. There is this girl in my Jace's little brother's creative writing named Sophie. Recently, she has been writing some stories which are even starting to creep the teacher out.

I have always been fascinated by these things. I grew up believing in the paranormal. Even after playing many crappy urban legends games, I never encountered any such things since then.

I have been reading these stories for a few weeks now, at first they just started as a normal princess story. It's better than those crappy copies of the latest movie stories by other kids, but it soon took a dark turn.

Cordelia and Ophelia are two Princesses who live in decrepit Castle in a far off land. They spend their days stealing fruits and meats from the town's marketplace, despite being the daughters of the King. In the first story, I read about the Princesses daring exploits; they had been caught trying to steal from the mean old fishmonger, but he'd let them go in a panic after he'd realised she was the King's daughter. The teacher gave Sophie an A on it, it was refreshing to read something with a little imagination for once.

The next Friday, however, the story took a darker turn; I was introduced to the "Smiling Man". The Smiling Man is never described in detail, he's just this presence in her stories that only Cordelia can see. Sophie would interject him into scenes without much thought, like the story where Cordelia had to find medicine in the town for Ophelia. The Smiling Man is standing by Ophelia's bed when Cordelia leaves and then she sees him in the forest.

The teacher after reading the story became more worried. I asked my friend's brother to find out more this Smiling Man character from Sophie.

"Who is this character?", he asked her.

She just shrugged as if she hadn't thought about it much.

"What does he do? I mean surely you didn't just put a character like him in without a point?"

"He's just always…there. I dunno…"

I received another 3 or 4 stories like this. Cordelia and Ophelia would be off on an adventure while the King was away, the Obsidian Man would always be close by and not interfering. Then I received the story "The Obsidian Man Steps Forward"

The Obsidian Man starts whispering to Princess Cordelia in the night. She tries to ignore him at first but describes how she can't sleep with his voice in her head, a voice that's so low in a tone she can fell it in her stomach.

"I don't want to listen to, but I have to. It must belong to a God" Cordelia says.

I met her myself a few time, I noticed Sophie's paling face and darkening eyes. She wouldn't say much in class, and when she did she'd usually burst into fits of tears. Her hair grew unkempt and her uniform untidier as the days went by. Eventually, I had to say something, so I told Jace; who in turn contacted her father.

Principal and the teacher sat down with the guy one Friday afternoon in Mr.Smith; the teacher's classroom after Sophie's agreed to meet us. I told him of my concerns, that Sophie may be writing these stories to express some troubles that she was suffering.

Mr Stirling told them that Sophie and her little sister had become more and more reclusive since his wife and him and separated. He told that he'd been worried himself, but with 2 kids and 2 jobs he hadn't had much time to talk to her about it.

The principal suggested that Mr Stirling was the "King", Sophie was Cordelia, her sister Ophelia and the Smiling Man was a metaphor for the parents' divorce; a looming presence that Sophie couldn't stop thinking about. He told me to try and encourage Sophie to keep writing about it, that it could be a form of meditation for her. Mr Stirling seemed happy enough with that, but I wasn't convinced. He was just a guy trying to do the best for his family.

"Sophie would never steal!", he almost shouted when the Principal pointed out the stories where the Smiling Man had convinced her to go to the marketplace and take whatever she wanted.

I am still not convinced about this. The stories got darker and darker as the weeks went on and I started to notice a recurring theme in the stories. The King was never around, he'd always be off fighting battles or getting drunk at these grand feasts. The Obsidian Man would make Cordelia do awful things to her little sister Ophelia; he'd whisper in her ear until she just had to obey him to make him stop. Then she'd force Ophelia to drink soured milk until she was sick. She'd prod her legs with tacks and hold her head under the bathwater until she came back up sputtering and crying. Cordelia wanted to stop but she couldn't, it was as if the Smiling Man was her puppeteer. The King never suspected a thing.

The story would always end with the Smiling Man asking Cordelia to make him a gift to show her love for him. She'd make jewellery from old bottles and paper while he watched on from behind, his dark presence always felt and never seen.

I am gravely concerned for Sophie's little sister, Monica.

*Sigh*

Let's leave it at that. For now...

***********************

-Time skip

-School cafeteria

I looked around at everyone having their lunch, and spotted a handsome brunette tall guy around my age; eating his meal alone. It's Jace. Jace is the captain of the basketball team and is fairly popular, it's just that he doesn't get along with most people.

"Hey, Jace.", I said as put my lunch tray on the table and sat opposite to him.

"What now?", said Jace rolling his eyes.

I smirked and replied, " The latest story."

Jace: "I'll e-mail it to you. After I get my hands on it."

Me: "I need it as soon as possible."

Jace: "Damn, you are obsessed with this girl. She is ten, dude."

Me: "You know, I don't care about the girl. I care about what's happening with her."

Jace sighed and said, "Fine... Let me contact Mike. She will surely write a new creepy story in today's writing class."