Damn, damn, damn.
Jester hit the floor with both hands, his teeth clenched so hard his lips bled.
He stood up, moving with difficulty.
Then he looked at his eyes in the mirror; they had turned from their usual color to red.
"Haha, haha, hhahha!"
Jester stared at his reflection. A dark, mad smile spread across his face.
Then, with a single punch, he smashed the glass. Blood dripped from his hand as it bled.
"I'm going to make you regret it.
You tell me to shake it, I will make your sister and mother do it.
I will sleep with them.
I will get them pregnant.
Then tell me what you will do, and you will call me your father in law, bastard.
Do you take me for fun, Doctor Blooper?
I will make you repay what you did to me a thousand times over.
"I—the one you said you'd make pull down his trousers for everyone to see…"
"Do you think it's funny to joke with a clown?"
"Do you think it's a game to mock a clown?"
"You think it's fun… to joke with Jester.
I am going to kill you. I am going to kill you.
You dare mess with me?
You dare, you filthy rat?"
At the shattered glass, Jester's reflection looked back and began to speak.
"You lost your nerve like a man.
Kill, kill.
Are you desperate to kill?
Then make his life a ruin.
You made yourself a joke.
Is that me inside you, pathetic one?
Are you happy for hurting our pride?
You were completely pathetic."
Jester's head started spinning.
He slammed it against the wall until the room shook. A massive purple bruise bloomed and began to bleed. Jester collapsed onto the bed.
His curse began to surface, pulling a devilish, cold smile over his lips. Tears formed as his laughter grew louder.
"Haaaaaahahaahahh!
Haaaaaahahaahahh!"
Velmoro did not dare interrupt.
At that moment, Jester transformed into something unhinged. A red, devilish energy burst out of him, draining the life from everything around. His body trembled violently, veins glowing crimson from the power, and blood streamed down his face.
Once his second persona appears, he cannot sleep or be reasoned with. Worse, he could see Velmoro as an enemy and kill him.
Jester began to harm himself.
He took the knife from the edge of the table, its blade gleaming in the poor light. Without pause, he slashed it across his forearm, the skin opening with a wet rip that echoed through the stagnant air. Blood surged, full of a dark reddish energy that hissed and ate into the ground beneath; he let it spill deliberately, then brought his wrist to his mouth and sucked at the red flood like a starving beast, the fluid running over his lips in sinuous rivers. Yet he felt nothing. Instead, a raw laugh burst from his throat, falling into a belly deep guffaw that scraped like broken glass.
"See that? See the red?" he croaked, his voice rising as he curled his fingers and watched the crimson pour onto the floor in thick accusing drops. The pain flared sharp and hot, nerves screaming up his arm, but it was nothing compared to the scratch inside, the curse's words:
You are not a real clown.
You are a pathetic kid who can do nothing.
Just stop having fun.
You do not deserve it.
He threw the knife onto the floor and clutched his head in pain. Then he began biting the fingers of his right hand with his teeth, blood dripping to ease the mental ache. He grabbed the knife again and carved deeper this time. The point sank into muscle with a sick crack as if bone had been nicked. Another spurt of blood splattered across his clothes.
"Still fucking breathing," he growled, teeth gritted, spittle running down his chin. The wounds closed then—flesh inching back together in a crawling, obscene movement, strips of skin tightening like sutures from some dark force. The blood vanished, leaving his arm whole, laughing, as if nothing had happened.
Rage boiled up, blind and relentless. "You think that's it? You think that's enough?" He wrenched the knife free and stabbed his bicep, twisting grotesquely as the blade caught in tendon with a sickening pop. Flesh tore open to raw pink beneath, and he clenched his teeth until they ached, the burn racing through him like fire. Blood streamed more copiously, soaking his shirt.
Then his shadow began to move on its own, wrapping around his neck and slowing his breathing. It bit him. Jester's laughter grew and grew, while his shadow laughed back as red tears poured from its eyes. The shadow released him and he collapsed to the floor.
He snatched the knife again. "Fuck you—FUCK YOU!" The shout tore out raw, vocal cords shredding, as he hacked at his chest, cutting wild Xs across his ribs. The slashes were deep and wide, and the accumulating pain was his only way to keep from breaking apart. He continued slashing his thigh, cutting into flesh until his legs buckled and he crashed to the ground in a heap, the knife bouncing out of reach as he curled up fetal and rocked back and forth. Blood pooled beneath him, warm and sticky.
His nails dug into his face, making his cheeks bleed until they bruised, lips splitting against his teeth as he bit down to choke back the whimpers that swelled into howls. Healing accelerated now, brutal and immediate, erasing every bruise before he could savor the pain. Minutes blurred—arms, legs, belly, neck—each assault met with instant repair.
By the time his hand cramped open, the knife clattering across his wounds, everything had been healed. No pain remained, only an exhausted soul.
Hahahahaa.
His laughter faded as time passed. Before morning came, Jester's smile returned to something like normal. He could not sleep. He wiped the blood with some clothes, then went to the bathroom. He washed his face, threw away his ruined clothes, and put on another set in his room. Then he began staring at the wall.
Serena arrived and knocked on the door. He yawned. "Hi, Serena. Good morning." Serena's cheeks flushed. Breakfast was ready. He followed her to the table.
At the table, Serena set out soup and bread. Jester ate without emotion. One of the children asked him, "Mr. Jester, are you unhappy?"
"No, it was just an unhappy dream."
"Okay. We're happy that you became part of our family."
I am so sorry, honey, Jester thought. I think this family will not last until the end of the month. There is an expiry date on my mission.
Phew, Velmoro relaxed. The last time Jester's curse manifested, it was absolute chaos. No one should ever witness it.
This time, it was less destructive.
Jester asked, "What are your dreams, kids?"
A boy named Johan said, "I want to be a mage."
Another girl chimed in, "I want to be like Serena."
The third child whispered shyly, "I want to be a knight."
"What beautiful dreams. It is sad if they do not come true, kids."
"Why?" one of the children asked, puzzled.
"Because you did not say thank you to our beloved Serena," Jester said.
Serena's face turned crimson and she faltered. As she stumbled, Jester caught her and whispered, "Are you all right, my beloved Serena?" Then he let her go.
Moriarty sat, unbothered. It was not his concern. He gave Jester a look, which Jester noticed. It was an unspoken sign: start the plan.
"Hey, Serena, can we leave early today for the church outing, for the children's trip to the main church? We could give the kids a trip into the city." He leaned close to her ear and added, "We could have a date."
Serena's face went even redder; Jester's sweet talk made her heart race. "What's with me? A few words from him make me so shy?" she thought. She slapped his face twice, then looked at him while he smiled.
"No, no, no. Do not lose your composure, Serena. I will ask my monitor now. Wait for me." Then she rushed away.
One of the girls at the table asked, "Mr. Jester, why is Mrs. Serena's face red?"
"Because I told her a secret."
"What is it?"
"I asked her to take the kids into the city after the church visit."
Jester, Jester, Jester is the best!
He brings us candy and all the rest.
We love him dearly, our joy won't end—
Jester the clown, our happiest friend!"
Hope you sing that at your funerals, kids, Jester thought. I will be there to give you flowers. He laughed inside his head.
Serena returned and said, "The monitor agreed." The kids hugged her. "Let us prepare."
The kids got ready and stood in a row like a train, Serena at the front and Jester at the back. They began to move.
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Don't forget to leave some comments and read my best work, Shoujo Hater — it has 43 chapters, and it's better than Jester.