The Laughing Girl

Sensitive content warning: mental health, physical violence, gore, abuse, self harm

She just knew the Detective would be there. He had to have found her. She thought she had hidden it all so well. Did they discover the body already, or was she still declared missing?

As she walked down the tiled halls, her combat boots clomped on the ground and echoed down every corridor. She walked slowly, rhythmically. She used the sound to slow her pounding heart. She didn’t need to give them any clues of the darkness that swirled around her mind like fog gliding across a dark, murky lake. She released her hands from tight fists and the fear slithered away. 

Of course, they didn’t find anything. She had done her job too well. A small smile fluted to her face as she walked past the front desk and into the principal’s office. She forced the smile away and tears filled her eyes, almost like her body knew what it needed to do without her even trying. 

“Hello, Adaline. Thanks for coming. You can sit just there,” the principal said in her fat voice. She motioned to one of the chairs set in front of her desk. Beside her stood a tall lengthy man. He looked silly. He was all dressed up in a dark blue suit and was wearing a black and white checkered tie. On top of his head sat an old-fashioned black fedora with a red ribbon around the base. Adaline shoved her laughter to the bottom of her stomach. She felt it bubble and simmer there. A tear escaped her eye and cascaded down her soft cheek. She felt nothing. 

“Hello, Adaline. My name is Detective Rogerson. I’m here to ask you a few questions about your mom. Is that okay?” he asked. His voice sucked all the air out of the room and every breath she took in, felt stale. 

“Ya. That’s okay,” she said very mouse-like. She drifted her eyes down and felt two more tears glide down her face. She made no move to wipe them away. The laughter still simmered inside her. 

“Your mother went missing a couple days ago. Your father didn’t want me to contact you, because he wasn’t sure how you would handle it. I told him I would be gentle and make sure I didn’t push too hard, so if at any point you don’t want to continue, I’ll stop, okay?” 

Adaline finally looked into his eyes. Her eyes filled with more tears. Still the laughter bubbled and festered inside her. 

“Okay,” she said with a small quiver in her voice.

“Did your mother say anything to you the day she disappeared? Maybe she mentioned where she was going or a place she would like to go one day,” the Detective asked. 

“No,” Adaline said.

“Are you sure?” the Detective asked. He took off his hat revealing curly black hair. His fingers twittled with the rim. 

“Yes. Quiet sure,” she said. The Detective eyed her, whcih only made her laughter grow.

She looked down to hide the small grin creeping to her lips. It’s a puzzle. She said to herself. She looked at the voluminous principal, who looked back in confusion. 

“You want me to tell you why I think she’s gone,” Adaline said glaring back at the Detective. The smallness in her voice flickered for just a moment. Adaline felt the cracks starting to squirm and creep across her mouse-like facade. Some of the darkness gargled between the cracks, pressuring to break free completely. 

“Yes, if you can manage,” the Detective urged.

Adaline pushed for more tears and they came willingly despite the growing laughter in her stomach.

“Okay,” she said. “But we have to go further then that day,”

“Go on then,” the principal said.

“My father was always powerless. He was blinded by the love my mother fed to him. And she had him in full control. She punished me how she saw fit, and he stayed out of the way, turned his ear. 

“As I grew older I learned to stay quiet, fake my fear, hide my emotions. She hated when I cried. For every tear I let fall, an hour locked in my room, which usually resulted in more crying. She locked me in my room for three whole days, opening the door only once per day to give me a glass of water and a plate with a plump peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

“For years her darkness festered and pealed off her body and into mine. My mind became crowded with… thoughts,” Adaline paused. She watched as the Detective gave a worried glance at the principal. 

“How could we have not known about this?” the fat principal asked. 

“Like I said. She created a wall of simplicity. Made our family seem perfect,” she said through her teeth. She could feel the laughter starting to fester and blister inside her gut. 

“And so I stopped it,” Adaline said with a small giggle that escaped her.

“What did you do? Adaline, what did you do to your mother?” Detective Rogerson asked urgently. 

“She started to hurt my dad. Used his emotions against him. His love kept him from stopping her. I had no such love for the woman. So I put an end to it,” Adaline said straightly, face completely blank. Her eyes bore into a shiny apple on the desk in front of her. 

“Adaline,” the Detetctive said gently, “Where is your mom?” 

“Before the door to enter the home, lines lay straight, simple, to hide the monster that destroyed a family. There she lays still, waiting to pay for her sins that run like a river of blood. Be careful, Detective, she may wake up. She may grab your ankles with her relentless grip and never let you go. She may drag you down with her so she can glutonously swallow your emotions and feed off your souless body,” Adaline said laughing. Tears streamed from her eyes and her body shook slightly with the pulse of laughter. 

“We need to get to that house,” the Detective said grabbing his coat and walking to the door.

 “Now,” Immediately the plump principal stood and followed after him. Adaline could hear her tell the front desk secretary to make sure Adaline stayed in the office. She heard the school doors close and imagined them getting into the Detective’s long, blue car. She laughed as she saw them drive speedily towards her house, sirens blaring, blue and red lights flashing too brightly. The Detective grabbed his radio and screamed for back up to meet at her house. Cars pulled into her drive as police officers rushed from all the cars onto Adaline’s freshly cut lawn. The Detective ran, principal panting behind him, to the deck where he ripped off his fedora and checkard tie and threw them right into the rose bush. He screamed for an axe and someone handed him one. With every swing, pieces of wood flew in the air and littered the walkway.

Adaline’s laughter erupted from inside her like a tidal wave crashing into houses and tearing them apart. The secretary came into the room and watched as Adaline’s laughter burst forth. She gripped the arms of the chair as she imagined them finding the body. The secretary looked on from the doorway in horror as the darkness inside Adaline crept across her face. 

The Detective continued hacking away, until they saw the shimmer of a diamond bracelet. Officers rushed in to clear the wood, piece by piece. Adaline’s dad stood in the front door watching with a blank expression. He turned just as they saw the body, covered in dirt.

Adaline rocked the chair with her violent mirth and shrieking. 

The Detective paused as he stared at the gory scene. The woman had been dead for days, her body already decaying. Worms wiggled in and out of her eye sockets, the eyes already sunken. Bugs crawled across her battered shoulders, taking shreads of her with them. Her clothes were in shreds, also eaten by the insects who had found her. The decay had done nothing to hide the horror of how she was killed. 

Adaline upruptly stopped laughing and stared at the apple. She took it in her hands and smoothly carssed it. She gently breathed a small sigh onto its perfect red surface and used her shirt to shine it. As she placed it back onto the desk, she let her nails sink into its fragile skin. She felt its blood dribble down her arms, and licked it up. It was sour, and Adaline savored the absence of sweetness. Without warning, the secretary watched as Adaline ripped the apple into pieces on the desk. She shoved some pieces into her mouth and let others lie across the principal’s desk. She scratched out the wood surface and felt splinters under her nails, and yet she did not stop. Once there was nothing left to tear, Adaline stood. In the commotion she had knocked down her chair. She grabbed it and softly put it back in its spot. She gather the apple chunks and grouped them all together in a small pile and licked the chased desk, making sure to get every last bit of the apple’s blood. Splinters grazed her tongue and stained the surface with insignificant drops of red. Then Adaline carefully grabbed the pile of chunks and layed them in a steady pattern across the floor under the principal’s desk. She stood and quietly walked out of the room, slid past the secretary and into the bathroom. She slowly washed her hands and smoothly washed beneath her nails. She ran her arms beneath the stream of water and dabbed her arms and hands dry. She watched the water dribble down the drain then looked at her wrist. She caressed three pink scars that ran all the way to her elbow. She took her right hand and placed her nails at the start of each line, then sunk her nails into her skin. Adaline tilted her head and watched as succulent beads of blood lifted beneath her nails. She felt no pain as she scrapped her nails all the way to the crook of her arm. She curled back her lips and slipped her tongue between her teeth with a smile and licked the long red trail. She then walked out the school and started walking to her house. 

When she arrived, the Detective’s face was blank. All the other officers cleaned up the mess and stuffed things into evidence bags. One officer was laying out yellow tape and two more were walking the Detective to his car. Adaline walked to the rose bush and grabbed his fedora and tie. Sweetly she handed them to the Detective and smiled, eyes twinkling. His eyes slowly drifted to his things in her hand. Suddenly he snapped out of his stupor, grabbed his gun and shot Adaline in the stomach. Having herd the shot, Adaline’s dad ran out of the house and to his daughter. She fell to the ground laughing. He screamed in agony as he lifted her to his chest. 

“My baby! My baby!” he screamed.

The Detective’s eyes stared wide open at the laughing girl. His hand shook and he dropped the gun. He fell to his knees and silently wept into his hands, while her father continued to shriek and cradle his daughter. The two officer who were helping him to his care stood and stared unable to move from the shock. 

“My love, I am so sorry. I am so sorry,” he quieted to a whisper. “My baby, you saved me. You saved me, and it cost you your life. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

Adaline’s laughing stopped and she looked at her dad. She patted his chest.

“I’m sorry, daddy. I didn’t mean to make you cry,” she said as fat tears rolled down her face. She looked at her wrist again and confusion swept across her face. 

“Daddy? What happened? My arm is bleeding daddy. And my tummy hurts,”

Her dad said nothing as he looked away from his daughter and towards the Detective. 

“Detective give me your gun,” he said firmly.

The Detective continued staring at Adaline and made no move to grab the gun. The two officers near by just watched the Detective, unsure of what to do. Everyone else watched carefully at a distance.

“Detective!” her dad screamed. 

He looked at his gun and absently handed to Adaline’s dad. 

“It's okay, baby. It’s going to be okay,” he said as he took it from the Detective’s hands. 

“Daddy?” she said as he put the barrel against her head. 

“Love you, Sweetie. I’m happy you saved me from your mother,” he said. A small tear escaped his eye. 

“Da-” 

Adaline never finished. The Detective and Adaline’s dad could only hear ringing. Both were numb. Her dad let the gun drop and stood. He lifted Detective Rogerson and put his hands together in front of him. Both were covered in blood and shaking. 

“Detective, you can take me in now. It’s my fault the girl killed her. I was too numb and blind to get away from everything by myself. I’ll except my time in jail,” 

The Detective was too stunned to move. Another officer moved in and cuffed the man’s hands in front of him. 

“Here is a towel. Your face is covered in blood,” the officer said the the father. 

“Thank you. You are very kind,” he said with a small sad smile. 

“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say or do can or will be used against you,” the officer said in a sad, quiet voice. She started to take the man away but Adaline’s dad insisted they stopped and looked to the Detective. 

“Thank you, Detective.”

“For what? I’ve completely destroyed your family, all that you had left,” the Detective said, the numbness starting to disappear. Tears formed in his eyes. 

“My daughter was the greatest love in my life, but I was too fearful of my own wife to protect her. The one time I stood against my wife, she came after me, which upset Adaline to the point of insanity. She couldn’t bear to see her own flesh and blood hurt the person she loved the most. So she killed the person responsible for the darkness in our family. She was protecting me, but I fear her state of mind would have found reason to kill me as well. It’s for the better that she is now in a state of peace,” he said with a small glance to his daughter. Then he continued,

“I just wished you had shot her in the head instead of her stomach. Then I wouldn’t have been able to see the last moment of madness swirl in her eyes as she called me Daddy,” he said. He smiled and said thank you once again. Then he obediently followed the officer to the police car to be hauled off to the station. 

The Detective looked at the mess of Adaline. 

“I’m sorry,” he said to her. He walked to the nearest officer and handed them his badge. He then grabbed his fedora and tie. He felt no reason to keep them so he placed them on top of Adaline, almost like a memorial. He had remembered seeing her small smile when she saw them. The Detective hoped the smile had been a small remnant of her last shreads of sanity. 

The Detective drove home, away from the terrible sight of Adaline. When he arrived home he ignored his wife and went directly to the bathroom. He locked the door and filled the tub. After scrubbing every inch of his body an irritated red, he slowly slipped into the hot water and slept in their depths