The Lamb

It had been ten years—ten agonizing, silent years—since Jack had last been free. He sat entombed in a dusty corner of an old antique shop, his once vibrant black-and-white box now dull, the wood cracking like an ancient relic. The jagged edges frayed with time, a reminder of the decades he’d spent as an instrument of terror, leaving a trail of broken families and dead children. And yet here he was, trapped, abandoned on a forgotten shelf, nothing more than a curiosity in the eyes of passing customers. To him, it felt like an eternity in purgatory.

Every day, the same routine. The dull chime of the shop's bell as strangers drifted in and out, oblivious to the dark history hidden in his box. He heard their idle conversations, their polite laughter—so blissfully unaware of what he could unleash. Jack sat, coiled tight in the suffocating darkness, waiting, his patience wearing thin with each passing second.

Then one day, the bell chimed, and something was different.

The air shifted as she entered the shop. Jack felt her presence immediately—a softness he hadn’t sensed in decades. The scrape of her shoes on the wooden floor was delicate, careful, and when her fingers brushed against the dust-laden surface of his box, he felt a shiver race through him. A voice, sweet and light, like a distant melody, reached his ears. "This Jack-in-the-box will be perfect for my son," she said, as if sealing Jack’s fate.

Freedom. His prison was lifted from the shelf, and as she blew the dust away, Jack could barely contain the excitement stirring within him. Finally, After all these years, he would get to play again—he would torment, terrorize, and destroy this new family. And this soft-voiced woman? She had no idea what she had invited into her life.

The gentle rumble of the car’s engine soothed Jack as he peered through the slit in his box. He watched the world pass by, noting how much it had changed. The cars, the buildings, the people—everything seemed new. But some things were always the same.

When the car stopped, she carried him inside, cradling the box as if it were precious. She placed him carefully on the dresser in the nursery—a room filled with warmth and light, a place so alien to Jack it almost made him recoil. The walls were painted with bright, cheerful stripes, circus animals danced in frames, and a mobile of tiny elephants spun slowly above the crib. The air smelled sweet, like lavender and baby powder, a scent that made Jack’s stomach twist.

For a moment, his resolve faltered. This wasn’t like the other homes. It wasn’t cold. It wasn’t sterile. The love in this room was palpable, and it sickened him.

But then he saw the photograph.

A family portrait, framed and sitting on the dresser, caught his eye. The woman—his woman now—stood smiling with her son in her arms, and beside her was a man. Instinctively, Jack’s gaze darkened. He recognized that kind of man all too well. The same hollow smile, the same empty eyes that Isaac, his original owner, had worn. A man filled with deceit. A liar. A traitor. A knot of fury twisted inside Jack. This was a man who didn’t deserve his family.

The door creaked open, and Jack slipped back into his box just in time. Through the crack, he watched as she entered, holding her baby, her face glowing with maternal love. The sight of her rocking the child in her arms, singing a familiar lullaby, filled Jack with something he hadn’t felt in years—desire. Not the kind he was used to, the hunger for fear and chaos. No, this was different. He wanted her for himself.

Later, when she was gone, Jack crept out of the box, his claws tracing over the photograph. His sharp nails slowly scratched out the image of the man, carving deep grooves until his face was nothing but a blur of ruined paper. Jack’s gaze lingered on her face now—her, and the baby. A family. A perfect, broken family, waiting for him to fix.

The days passed, and Jack’s obsession grew like a cancer. He watched her through the small hole in his box, never tiring, always waiting for those quiet moments when she would slip into Lucas’s room alone. She was always alone. No husband to help. No man to protect her. Jack learned the child’s schedule by heart. He knew when Lucas woke, when he napped, when she fed him. But his favorite moments were the late nights—when she would shuffle into the room, barely awake, her robe slipping from her shoulder, her hair falling messily around her face.

Those were the moments Jack lived for.

On nights when Lucas wouldn’t stop crying, Jack found himself wanting to silence the boy himself—just to keep her all to himself. The temptation to suffocate the child with his own stuffed bear crossed his mind more than once, but Jack refrained. No, Lucas was a part of this, too. Jack could… tolerate the boy. After all, a family needed a child. And when the baby would giggle at Jack’s twisted face peering over the edge of his crib, it was almost bearable. Lucas even reached out, tugging playfully at Jack’s long nose, giggling at the black curls that draped down his shoulders. The boy didn’t fear him.

But Jack's true focus was always on her.

He could see the sadness etched into her features during those quiet moments when she thought no one was watching. The loneliness. The frustration. Jack understood. He had seen the husband’s phone calls—heard the lies. The cheating, the excuses, the late nights at "work." Jack's fury boiled beneath the surface. That man didn’t deserve her. He was hurting her, breaking her spirit.

Jack wouldn’t allow it.

He had scratched the husband out of the photograph, but soon, Jack would erase him from her life entirely. He would wait for the perfect moment. And then, when the husband was gone, there would be nothing standing between Jack and his perfect family. Just him, her, and little Lucas.

Jack’s grin stretched impossibly wide. His claws twitched with anticipation. Soon, she would see. Soon, they’d be together.

When Jeff said he had a dog, this was not at all what you had in mind. Actually you weren't even sure that thing in front of you was a dog. It looked...

You pulled a smile across your lips as you looked up at your boyfriend who was kneeling on the ground by the creature. "Now I know he looks a little rough around the edges, but he was like..." He scratched between it's ears. "Totally wicked," His smile grew wider. You forced your eyes onto the dog, it vaguely resembled one. Four legs, an ear, and a tail. A lot of the fur seemed to be missing, really only remaining on its back and head.

"And you've had him this entire time, like the entire time we were together and you never brought him up?" You decided to be brave and take a step closer to the creature. "He kind of does his own thing a lot of the time,"

"So like an outdoor dog?"

Jeff cackled, "You can say that!" he scratched the dog's head. "Ain't that right, man?"

Despite it's appearance it did behave similarly to your standard dog; leaning into Jeff's hand as it was pet. "He's perfect you know, he can fend for himself and I'm like..." Jeff scrunched his face, "80% sure he's house trained-"

"If he isn't, you're going to be the one in charge of that," You mumbled. You dared yourself to bring your hand to the dog's fur.

It almost felt like silk, you were expecting it to feel rough or even matted. The fur itself was a deep pitch black, almost like it was made of pure shadow. It contrasted heavily with the raw looking flesh of it's body. Your fingers spread, and you set your palm against it's warm body. You bring yourself to pet it. It seemed to be loving the attention it was getting from the two of you.

"Where did you even find him?" You glanced at Jeff, who was letting his dog lick his face.

"By the side of the road a few years back.." He pulled his face away, "I think I was leaving someone's house, you know after totally slaughtering everyone inside- he actually seemed eager to tag along to the next house you know!" He attempted to wink at you, but it merely looked like his cheekbone rose.

"You've got to join in sometime, it's like... amazing stress relief.." He chuckled, but you scrunched your face in response. "I'm content with scrolling mindlessly,"

He shrugged, before turning his attention back to the animal. "More fun for us, huh bud?" He scratched the sides of the dogs neck, laughing again.

"What's his name, anyway?"

He paused, his hands coming to a stop and resting on the sides of the dogs neck; fingers intertwined in it's fur. "I just call him Smiles... Smile, sometimes."

"So creative," You smirked, mind ejecting your boyfriends offer from a moment ago. "It's what he seems to respond to, don't blame me blame the mutt," Jeff huffed.

You shook your head before walking towards the door.

"Where are you going?" He called after you.

"If he's going to stay here I'm going to need to get some things,"