The Smiles Family

Chapter 1

The boy runs along the narrow, dark alley. Just minutes earlier, a tall man had tried to grab him. Now, this man is chasing after him. All that the boy needs to do is make it to the end of the alley, turn the corner, and hide. It seemed like an easy plan. Suddenly, he hears a loud POP. He whips around, and something digs into his left shoulder, knocking him to the ground. He's been shot by a dart. The man's silhouette appears, and grabs the boy, who tries to get away, struggling against the man's strong grip. The boy cries out for help as all his energy is sucked from his body. The man keeps him held down, and the boy gives in to unconsciousness, his world crumbling into nothingness.

He jolts awake in an unfamiliar bed. His mind foggy and his vision obscured. Startled, he claws at his face, trying to tear away whatever is blocking his vision. His nails scratch at plastic. A mask. Panic bubbles up in his gut as he tugs at the mask, trying to tear it off. It doesn't budge. He prods at his arm and feels an IV. He quickly rips it out, feeling his skin tear.

"Hello." Says a masculine voice from across the room. He lifts his head, wishing he could see. Footsteps slowly get louder. The man grabs his arm, attempting to re-insert the IV. He pushes him and scrambles to get away. He keeps tugging at the mask until it loosens, and swiftly pulls it off, flopping onto the floor. His vision is blurry and it feels as if a spike has been driven into his skull. He backs up against the farthest wall, observing the approaching man. The man has neatly-trimmed dark brown hair, slightly slicked back. He's wearing a crisp black suit with a dark red tie, paired with jet-black pants over his tall build.

"Who..?" He musters before the man calls out. Two more people enter and wrestle the boy back into the hospital bed. "Get off of me!" He yells, desperate for someone, anyone, to hear him. He keep struggling against the people, clawing at their faces, trying to get to the doorway. Then, something catches him off guard. Someone is peeking through the cracked door. A girl. Relief washes over him, until the man dismisses the two people. He's been tied down with restraints while distracted. The girl is gone from the doorway. The man places the mask back on the boy as he twists in the bed, trying to free himself. "Calm down, please. I'm not going to hurt you." The man says. The boy stops struggling, breathing heavily. "I don't know that." 

"But you have to trust me." The man's voice is calm. "Where am I? Who are you?" He pauses, hearing the panic in his voice. "Who am I?!" He can't remember. His brain feels muddled as he tries to grasp onto something that could give him even the slightest idea of who he is, who he was. "It's okay, you're in good hands. Welcome to the Smiles Family Facility. I'm Smiley, the owner and main operator. And, don't worry, most people who end up here can't remember anything." 

"That's a weird name." The boy says without thinking. Smiley laughs. "Yes, I know. It's not my real name, don't worry." Before it can be asked, the man answers, "I won't be sharing my real name." He gets up, and attempts at inserting the IV once more. "Don't touch this, please." The boy nods. "Well, there are cameras everywhere in this room so I can supervise you. Don't do anything you may regret."

"Wait!" The boy almost yells. Smiley pauses. "Will I ever get out of here?"

"No." The man leaves, closing the door, leaving the boy in a state of shock. He's really never getting out. He's going to die here, isn't he?

Weeks pass by, slowly. The boy's attempted an escape several times, to no avail. He's always been put right back where he started. Eventually, he stops trying, the weight of the situation crashing down on him. The mask was eventually removed, but not the restraints. Probably for good reason. Even if he did give up, he knows he'd pounce at any given chance. 

Smiley visits him occasionally, although he's never much for conversation, only stopping by to assess the boy's health and re-insert the IV that's constantly being pulled out in fits of despair. It's the only thing the boy can do to make him feel like he has the upper hand.

One day, however, when he'd just managed to yank it out again, Smiley doesn't re-insert the IV. He just bandages the boy's arm. "Aren't you gonna put it in again?" Smiley looks at him. "No." He answers hollowly. Disgruntled, the boy continues to pester him. "Given up? I knew I'd-" 

"Come with me, please." 

"What?" He sputters, taken aback. "Where? Where are you taking me?" A bubble of fear grows in the boy's stomach as Smiley loosens the restraints. "It is not my intention to hurt you, however if you were to try to escape again, I will take measures to make sure you don't." The boy nods feebly, rubbing at his freed wrists. Smiley leads him out of the door, his hand firmly gripping the boy's forearm, whose anxiety grows as he's led down a long hallway like a lamb; weak and unknowing. 

Once the two reach the end of the hallway, Smiley unlocks the door. He pulls the boy into a huge room, and locks the door. At first glance, it looks like a library. However, the boy soon notices that the towering shelves are not lined with books, but rows masks. They're all the same color with a differing grin. Smiley gestures to the variety of neatly placed masks upon the shelves. 

The boy looks up at him, bewildered. "Is this a cult?" He asks, his voice cracking. "You mustn't worry about that. Just pick a mask you like." Smiley says. The boy picks at the skin around his fingers as he looks for a mask. He looks for a minute or two, finally deciding to choose the one right in front of him. "I'd like this one." He says, grabbing the mask from the shelf. Smiley tugs at the straps to tighten the mask around the boy's face.

"Do you... Have a mirror?" He asks Smiley, glancing around the room, certain he must've missed it. "Is it comfortable?" Smiley says, changing the subject. "It's... A little loose." The boy answers, put off by the subject change. "Here, let me fix that." Smiley tightens the mask in the back. "Better?" He steps away. The boy nods and Smiley leads him back out of the room, shutting and locking the door behind him. They then start down the long hallway again. 

The boy's in a daze, trying to pull any memory from the murk of his brain, but nothing comes up. He's just a boy now, with no memory of who he was, a boy with no possible future. Everything was stripped away from him when he woke up in this strange place. And he's just now realizing that.