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John didn't want to be there. He wanted to be at home, warm, with his children. Instead he was in the middle of an unknown street, with his wife after an… unpleasant weekend.
They had planned a nice vacation for their anniversary, but it didn't really went according to plan, ending with a disastrous fight between the two. They were now stuck on a road in Colorado, with no internet or population visible.
John sighed, before turning to Julia. “Okay,well, the car is broke and there’s no internet so the only option left is to go look for a town to spend the night okay?” She just grunted in response, without looking directly at him. John sighed again, and in the sunset the two started to walk on the road. They saw nothing for what seemed like hours, the sun almost completely disappeared, when finally a sign appeared on the side.
It was an old sign and you could see ‘WELCOME TO SMILEY TOWN’ written on it, excerpt that ‘Smiley Town’ looked handwritten in red ink, like to cover something. John founded it all pretty weird, but it was already pretty late and it had to do.
They walked into the town, a weird vibe in the air; everything was silent and dark, not even one light was on. Julia almost instinctively moved closer to John, who grabbed her hand, trying to comfort her.
All of the sudden a teen appeared in front of them, frightening them. “Oh, thank god a person! Tell us kid, do you know where to find a hotel?” Asked John, with the heart that still pumped at one hundred mile by the scare. He finally looked better at the teen’s face: he had black hair that could be seen under a blue chullo hat. His face was blank, and he looked almost bored.
He looked at them for a few moments, before finally speaking “Yes, we have an hotel. If you want I can bring you there, but you’ll have to talk to our mayor tomorrow morning.” That was a weird request: who asked a random visitor to meet the mayor in person? But John was too tired to care, so he accepted. The boy just nodded, face still blank before he started to walk.
“So… what’s your name boy?” “Craig” More silence “Oh uhm… I’m John, and this is my wife Julia.” Craig just slightly nodded, still silent. “What are you doing out alone this late?” Asked then Julia,trying to fill the awkward silence “I was patrolling. It was my turn today.” Patrolling? Was he like playing? But wasn’t he a little old to do that? He looked to be around sixteen years old, but who was John to judge?
John looked around at the houses, curious. The city was dark, but Craig had torch (a very particular one at that! It was just a piece of wood with a fire on, just like in the movies) that was lighting around. John could see some houses:some were completely destroyed, while others looked…okay. It wasn’t a really pretty town, that’s all he had to say.
They stopped in front of a house with green walls that looked like they could use a repaint. John just hoped that the inside was better. When they walked in to welcome them at the counter was a girl that couldn’t had been older than ten, with light brown hair tied in two ponytails. As soon as she saw Craig she flipped him off, and John had to keep himself form gasping: he couldn’t even imagine his children doing that, but he wasn’t his parent, so it wasn’t really any of his business.
“Hello little girl, can we please talk with your parents?” The girl looked at him confused for a few seconds, before Craig tucked in “He’s talking about the birth givers.” He turned towards John “We don’t have them. It’s just us here.” What? No adults? Surely not, maybe the kid meant that his parents were dead or something “Oh, I’m very sorry for your loss.” Said Julia, who had reached to his same conclusion. The kids just looked at her in confusion (or, well, the girl looked at her in confusion. Craig just stared at her blankly) a few second of silence passed before Craig spoke again.
“Okay, well this is Tricia, my sister and the owner of the hotel. She’ll help you guys to settle in. I’ll come tomorrow to bring you to the mayor. Goodnight” That said Craig left without looking behind one second. John and Julia looked at each other for a moment, before turning back to Tricia, who was rummaging in a drawer. She eventually founded what she was looking for, a pair of keys. “Okay follow me to your room.” She jumped off her chair before guiding them towards a smelly corridor, when she stopped in front of a door. She handed them the keys and left without saying a word.
John hesitantly opened the door to an old dirty room. The room had cobwebs everywhere, dust on the furnitures on the walls. Weirdly enough, the floor and the bed were pretty clean, but it still wasn’t a great room. To tired to care John just jumped into the bed without even changing out of his clothes, even though he did bring their suitcase. On his side he felt the mattress moving, indicating that Julia did the same thing. He closed his eyes and sleep caught him immediately.
He woke up to light suddenly entering the room. Near the window was standing Craig, arms crossed and foot tapping on the floor. “You’re late. It’s already 3 p.m. The mayor wants to see you now.” John and Julia scrambled out of bed and almost ran out of the room, trying to follow Craig in their still half asleep minds. The boy was basically running through the town without checking if they were following him.
After a couple of minutes they finally stopped in front of what was clearly the town hall: a big white building with a flag on the outside. Before John could look at it better Craig entered the building, so he rushed to follow him.
Inside there were a bunch of kids dressed in matching outfits consisting in a white shirt (which was quite dirty) and a pair of shorts. It was pretty weird that there wasn’t even one adult in the city hall, but maybe they were playing some sort of game, so John didn’t really minded.
At the end of the hall, two children opened a big door for them, and inside there was… a fat boy? The boy looked around the same age as Craig, but he was dressed way more fancy, with a tailored suit. He was seating comfortably on the chair, like it belonged to him. But that wasn’t possible, because he wasn’t an adult, so he couldn’t be the mayor.
Except… except that since when they arrived they hadn’t see an adult. Except that Craig and Tricia didn’t even knew what a parent was. Oh shit, that was terrible. “Well hello. My name is Cartman and I’m the mayor of Smiley Town. I heard you came in yesterday and you needed some help. So talk, please.” The boy had a very annoying voice.
“Ehm, yes hello. My name is John, and this is my wife, Julia. We were just driving, when suddenly my car broke down, and this was the closest town.” Cartman hummed, hand on his chin like he was thinking “Francis, call Butters.” A boy ran out of the room, presumably for finding Butters, whoever that was.
“I’m sorry, but while we’re waiting I have some questions.” Asked immediately John. “Sure, go on” “Where are your parents?” Cartman looked at him confused, before a boy ran to him to whisper something in his ear. “Oh, you’re talking about the birth givers. Yeah, we got rid of them in the before before time.”
“Got rid of them? Does that mean that you kids live here alone? How do you even survive?!” “Oh, we have our own society here, we don’t need any birth givers.”
Before John could ask any more questions a blond boy ran into the room. “You called me mayor?” “Ah yes Butters. Let me introduce you to John and Julia. Their car broke down and they need help.” He turned towards them “Butters here is our mechanic, he’ll help you fix your car. In return though you need to do me a favour.” “What kind of favour?”
“You see John, our city is divided in two sides: Smiley Town, the better, happier and richer side, and Treasure Cove, the dirty, poor side with jews and other horrible people. For a series of reasons they stole a very important book. If you get it for us I’m going to fix your car okay? Don’t forget that we also let you stay at the hotel for free, so you know, you kinda owe me right now!”
John looked at Julia confused, but she nodded at him so he spoke “Okay, we have a deal” “Amazing! Craig is going to guide you to the border. Good luck.” The two of them got out of the room, where Craig was waiting for them.
“Before going to the border we’ll go to eat something.” “But the mayor said that we have to go immediately.” “Yeah, well the fatass can suck my balls. I’m hungry so we’re going to eat.” He guided them to a coffee with ‘Tweek Bros’ written on a sign.
The inside was comfortable and clean, with warm yellow walls, it put a distinct contrast against the other buildings of the town. There were a few tables, but they were all empty. Behind the counters there were two boys, talking. One had brown hairs and was… not fat but not exactly thin. The other boy was twitching, hands in his blond hair. They were both wearing an apron
“N-no Clyde, we can’t give free food to some people just because we want to!” “But Tweek, you’re not listening to me! It’s the only shot I have with Bebe!” “I d-don’t care Clyde! The mayor is going to get angry at me if he finds out!” “Mhm mhm” Craig coughed to let their presence be known. The two boys immediately stopped talking, turning towards them.
“Good morning. I’m here to get these two some food before getting them to the border.” A flash of understanding passed on Tweek’s and Clyde’s face. “Good morning. The usual?” Craig nodded, before seating, forgetting completely about John and Julia. “And for you two?” “Ehm… a black coffee is fine with me” “For me a cappuccino then.”
The two sat in the same table as Craig, who was busy staring at the counter. After a few minutes Clyde arrived with the drinks. “Drink fast, we have to go” The coffee was still hot, but it was good, way better than John could have hoped, seeing that a sixteen year old made it. The moment they were done Craig got on his feet and exited the door, after waving slightly at Tweek and Clyde. “Thank you. Have a good day.” Said John before leaving the coffee. He saw for an instant a weird emotion on the boys faces, but it disappeared immediately.
They walked for a few minutes, before stopping in front of a white line. “On the other side there’s Treasure Cove. You better be careful, it’s very guarded. Good luck” He said, before leaving. John looked at Julia, before offering his hand to her, like a peace offer after their bad weekend. After a moment of hesitation she took it, and together they surpassed the line.
Treasure Cove was vastly different from Smiley Town: the buildings were in worst shape, the streets were dirtier (and Smiley Town wasn’t that clean either) plants infested the area, and there was a creepy silence.
Crick.
John turned around, and in front of him was standing a child who looked like he was the same age as Tricia. He looked… Canadian. In his hand he was carrying a spear, and his clothes were dirty and… rustic. Completely different compared to Smiley Town habitants.
“Raise your hands and follow me! I won’t hesitate to hurt you!” “Sorry kid, but we can’t play right now, we’re in a hurry!” Pain suddenly pulsed on his side. John looked down and on his waist there was a cut, not really large nor deep, but still there was some blood. “That was a warning. Next time I’ll kill you!” John and Julia immediately raised their hands.
What the hell was going on in this town? What happened to all the adults? Why were there kids with weapons walking around and hurting people? The kid went behind them, and edging them with his spear he walked them through the city. They finally stopped in front of an old house. Outside were standing five kids, and as soon as they saw them they immediately raised they're weapons
"It's me, Ike! I have some outlanders here, I need to see the leaders." The kids just nodded at him and they opened the door . The inside of the house wasn't any better than the outside: the walls were scraped and there were plants hanging from the windows. The large room was also very dark, the only light being the sun through the windows. There were childrens everywhere, talking and playing. Somehow the atmosphere was less dark than Smiley Town.
A kid suddenly yelled, breaking the peace "We have two outlanders here! We need a meeting!" Everybody gather around in a circle surrounding them immediately. Everybody was silent, just staring at them. Two kids laced them to a chair, making sure that they couldn't escape. All of a sudden a piece of the circle broke, opening the way to two teens.
One of them was wearing a green ushanks, that covered almost completely a bush of curly red hair. At his side there was a black haired guy. He was also wearing a hat, his being blue with a red puff on top. They're clothes seemed a little bit more clean than the others, and he way that people opened the way for them made it obvious that they were the leaders.
"Greatings, outlanders. My name is Kyle, and this is Stan. We're the leaders of Treasure Cove. Now, we would like to know why you're here." Said Kyle in a very serious voice, and if it wasn't for the situation John might have laughed for the ridiculousness of the situation
"Ehm... the mayor said that if we got him a book that you have he would had helped us." "Oh goddamit Cartman!" exclaimed Kyle, breaking his character. "Listen, we can't give you our book, okay? If we do one of us is gonna get killed tonight!" explained Stan. "K-killed?! By who? And why!?" asked Julia.
"It's a long story, but basically the group that doesn't have the book Sunday night at 7 p.m. has to sacrifice someone to our god." said Kyle "It used to be everyday, but the god has calmed a bit." added Stan. John was just as confused as before, if not more, but all the kids he met seemed less than happy to explain their story.
Before John could ask anymore questions to understand the situation a boy in an orange parka ran out of a door, holding a knife. John could only hear muffled yells, like the boy was trying to say something, before the boy fell on the ground, the knife in his stomach. John stared horrified at the dead teen, his body in a pool of blood.
"Oh my god! They killed Kenny!" exclaimed Stan "You bastards!" added Kyle in fury. John wasn't sure to who they were referring to, since the boy had just fallen on his own, but to be fair they probably going through a lot at the moment, their friend had just died! They were probably devast- Four kids just grabbed Kenny's body and carried it out of the room.
John turned to Stan and Kyle, expecting them to be crying or something, but they were just staring at him calmly. Even the other people around them didn't seemed shocked. "I'm sorry, but what just happened?" "Oh, that was just Kenny, he does that a lot" explained Stan. "Anyway, the thing is we can’t give you the book, so you’re gonna have to go back without it if you don’t want to die.”
John just stared at them, not even registering what was being said, his head just focused on his memory of the boy dying. How was no one sad? No one was crying, everybody was just focused on them, waiting for their reaction. “T-that boy just died!” Sobbed Julia. “Yeah, but he’s fine.” Said Kyle “How can he be fine if he’s dead?!” Exclaimed John “Listen, we don’t have time for explaining but trust us when we say that tomorrow morning he’s going to be alive and well.” Said Stan
“Now we have to focus on you. If we let you go you have to swear that you’re never gonna set a foot in our town again” “But we need the book, or we’re never going to be able to leave! You have to give us the book!” Pleaded John, all hope vanishing. Before one the boys could answer the door opened again, this time revealing another kid.
“It’s time to go!” Immediately all the children stood in a line, like they were used to it. Two kids broke the rope that was keeping them still, and they made them stand, bringing them in front of the line, just behind Stan and Kyle, who were leading. They walked for a little while, before stopping in front of a statue, near the border.
On the other side of the line were standing the kids of Smiley Town, waiting for them. The mayor was in front, and a little behind him was standing Craig. John could also recognise Tricia, Tweek and Clyde. Nobody looked surprised nor worried by seeing them prisoners of the enemies. “Stan. Kyle.” Said the mayor as a salute. “Cartman” responded Kyle. “We have the book, so you know what that means!” The mayor groaned, before gesturing for two soldiers to move forward.
A kid took Julia and brought her to Smiley Town. The other took John right at the foot of the statue. Then, he took a knife and before John could make a sound he sliced his neck.
Julia stared, mouth open in a silent scream. Her husband just died, because a group of kids decided to sacrifice him in front of a statue… it had to be a nightmare, there wasn’t another explanation. It all had to be a horrible twisted joke. John would just stand up in a second, laughing and explaining why it was just a prank.
“Well, if we’re done here we’ll see you in a week. Goodnight.” He said the mayor before turning around and going back to the town. Julia couldn’t move, her eyes still focused on her dead husband’s body. Sure, they were going through a rough patch of their relationship, but she still loved him. I mean, he was the father of their children! And- oh god the children! They just lost their father, and probably alzò their mother, because Julia was sure that the next victim was going to be her.
No.
She was not going to just a victim for whatever sick cult this people were having! Julia saw a large rock, ran towards it escaping the kid and smashed her head onto it, dying. She had preferred to commit suicide than to die at the hands of those children