Grinner

When I was a kid, I lived in a small town. All of us town kids hung out at the park and told creepy stories. I was a horror fanatic so, the stories never seemed to phase me. It was a typical summer night, all of the kids from sixteen to nineteen were hiding behind the old abandoned elementary school. We hung out there on the jungle gym, away from the cameras, and snuck in booze and cigarettes. My friend Sam was hammered, as usual. He stood there, a sullen look on his face, contrary to his normal self. “Hey guys,” he spoke up,”I have a story.” We all turned and looked at him. “It was last Saturday,” he never once cracked a smile and his tone made me feel oddly uneasy,”I was walking around and decided to go into my parents woods.” His parents had an enormous property, consisting mostly of a huge forest that we called the Never Ending Woods. He continued,” I had been walking in a straight line for what seemed like about a half an hour when a large building came into view. My dad always told me there was a building on our property, but never to go in it because of how dilapidated it was. I never told you guys because i was always too scared to go there. It was the old sanitarium. When I saw that I had wandered all the way there, I figured I might as well check it out.”

All of us stared at him intently, wait for more of the story.”As I walked up, I saw a large sign. It read Hollberry Sanitarium.” I questioned him with a furrowed brow,”There is no Hollberry around here.” He sighed,”Lisa, our town is Hailberney. The Irish immigrants slaughtered the name so bad they just changed the name of the town. “Oh,” I whispered. It was not like Sam at all to just snap at people like that. Sam continued, that same odd look painted on his face. “I walked right up to the old oak doors, It didn’t take much to get the rotting slab of wood off of its hinges. As I walked in, it look pristine, untouched by mold or decay. Just like it was nap time at the place, because no one was there. I should have left then, listened to my instincts. I stayed, I could feel it. Something, or someone wanted me to find it.

“So, I inspected some creaking wheelchairs and glasses of milk that were just dust in a cup. There were newspapers in Irish and English with faded covers and illegible dates. At the receptionists desk the were check in books visitor books and even a pair of glasses. It seemed as if everyone just got up and left. Then I heard it. It was faint, but definitely there. It whispered ‘smile with me’ in a cracking husky voice that makes your bones feel like they are going to splinter. Then there was a crashing from down the hall. It was dark and dusty and smelled of old perfume and something oddly rusty. I saw the source of the noise, a flipped wheelchair. I checked all of the rooms around me, all were lock except one. I figured this is where wheelchair flew from, so in my curiosity I entered.”

We all scooted to the edge of the jungle gym getting closer to the fascinating story. He continued his face still the same monotone expression,"I eased in quietly, as not to disturb anyone, even though no one was there. Then outside, in the hallway, I saw the figure. It was tall and had nothing except a thin and hairless body. It had joints in places people do not and had a sickeningly white color to it. It's awkward joints stuck out and seemed to almost break out of the skin. Then I saw the creatures face. It was like a human with no nose. It had piercing red pupils and only whites filled with veins. It's mouth is what disturbed me the most. It had two strips of wire on each side, one at the top, the other at the bottom. These wires twisted the mouth and cut into the skin. You could tell the wires were to small from the gashes on his cheeks and the blood that had dried on the mangled creatures face. Most disturbingly the wires twisted the mouth into a cruel and endless grin.
I was trapped. There was noway to get out of that room. I looked to my left to see a rotting window with no glass shards left from erosion. So I jumped and ran as fast as I could."

With that the story ended as startlingly as it started. "If you escaped," I questioned,"Then why do you still look terrified?" He gulped," Before I left I heard something. It was a low and raspy voice. It said 'Smile with me'. I think it was that thing." He shuddered and started to walk off. With that soaking in I hadn't even realized Sam was gone. We all broke away from our circle and walked home. Not daring to go any where near the woods.

The next day they found Sam in his room, dead. His body had all of its hair and genitals ripped off. His body had been drained of all blood, leaving it sheet white. Most disturbingly, he had a strange mechanism on his head that pulled his mouth into a smile. I cried hysterically and forced all of the police officers out so I could be with Sam. I stayed there and told him how much I missed him and that I loved him. I told his corpse that I believed every word he said. Finally, my eyes ran out of tears and I got up to leave. Sams, cold lips began to move,"Smile with me." I ran out of his house and sprinted the remaining two blocks to my house. My mom was at work so I locked myself in my room. I started to hear noises and that brings us to now. As I write this I hear the voices getting louder. Strangely, I can't help but smile.