{Reader's POV}

"I'm going to miss you Sweetheart!", my mom smiled, "I can't believe we have to leave all ready!", she said woefully. I nodded my head and hugged both my parents. "Yeah, time sure flies, doesn't it!", I replied as my dad began to gather all the luggage.

My mom took one last look at me and raised her finger, "Remember what we agreed on before we leave! If you feel safer with us in Boston, then by all means come home. I don't like the fact that they still haven't caught him...", she said with a downcast expression on her face. I nodded my head and raised my arms in my defense.

"Yes mom I know, I'll make sure to give you a call before I do." And with that my mom smiled and ushered my dad to follow behind.

We were at the airport and the plane my parents had to hop on was getting ready to board. After Jack returned us to the human world from his carnival, my parents reminded me of their departure. I was still taken aback with the events from the House of Mirrors, but seeing as how the situation changed I had to hurry up and get ready to drive them.

A lady was already announcing on the intercom that my parents' plane was getting ready to load it's passengers, and so our farewells were short.

My mom shuffled behind my dad and clumsily waved goodbye. I smiled and waved back as my parents strolled down the alley into their plane. I let out a sigh as their figures gradually faded from my view and disappeared.

"Huh, I think I'm actually going to miss them." A voice mumbled from above me and I looked up to find Jack staring at the direction my parents went.

"Really?", I mused.

Jack tilted his head and grinned at me from below, "No", he snorted.

I shook my head and sighed as I walked away from the main Boarding Gate and stared off into the scenery. What looked like hundreds of people scurried around the airport with their luggage and trudged through the security checks impatiently. It was loud and bustling in here and it only made my boredom intensify.

"Your parents said something about you coming back home? You weren't raised here?", Jack asked from over my head and I peered up at him to see his equally bored expression. "No, I was raised in Boston, Massachusetts. I just left the state for college and to find a job", I replied.

Jack nodded his head but smiled mischievously, "Uh-huh, you left because you couldn't stand being near your parents, right?", he pried. I chuckled and and shrugged my shoulders, "It's partially true, but I also came to become more independent."

Jack bellowed in laughter, "And look how well that turned out!", he mused. I grumbled under my breath and walked off without him. His howls of laughter prodded irritation in me as I searched for the doors leading outside.

However, as I tried to spot the exit, my interest was caught by something else. In a faint voice, I could hear a reporter discussing the news about a missing persons case. With my curiosity lingering by, I dawdled in the lounge where the televisions were airing the news.

I clumsily approached the couches and pinned my attention at the screens overhead.

"Yes, Kyle, apparently the police have found the man connected with the missing persons case. Only a few days ago the notice was posted by his fellow comrades", the woman discussed the details with a blonde man.

"But, Cameron, it's not all sunshine and rainbows from here, according to forensics, the man had been brutally murdered", the man contradicted and shifted positions in his seat, "and it wasn't like any other murder, the victim had most of his limbs chewed off and the rest of his body torn to shreds."

"Goodness! Could it have been a cannibal?"

"Seems unlikely, the bite marks were enormous. The detectives believed a large animal could have been responsible for the gruesome injuries."

I raised an eyebrow and chuckled at the man's explanation, skeptical of his theory. Large animal? The only ones we have here are squirrels and raccoons! What a load of bs...", I scoffed and continued to gaze at the screens overhead.

"Isn't it odd though, Kyle? This man was very powerful. He was also on the verge of capturing the infamous criminal plaguing our city!", the news lady exclaimed.

I tensed up in my seat and felt my blood ran cold, "No... They couldn't be taking about... But he's still in the...", I contemplated.

"You have a good point Cameron, even the victim's comrades believe he was killed by his nemesis."

I rose from my seat and felt my heart pounding in my chest like a drum. I clenched my fists and knitted my eyebrows as the woman waved her hand at the blonde male.

"Well Kyle, he was also the Chief of Police, usually men like him have many enemies. Who knows if it was really the killer or someone else....",

My breath hitched in my throat and my face turned white as chalk. My eyes and mouth were frozen wide open in an expression of stunned surprise and, although I was staring straight at the television, I appeared to have not notice it at all.

"What are you staring at?", Jack mumbled under his breath as he towered behind me. He stared up at the screen and raised an eyebrow.

"D..Did.... Did you kill him..?", I stuttered nervously as I turned back to look at him.

Jack frowned and stared straight at me with confusion in his expression.

"Of course", he remarked.

I winced from his reply and groaned impatiently.

"Fine! You killed him! It was bound to happen, I know!", I retorted angrily and pinched my nose in frustration, "...But why would you throw his body back into the human world?! Do you know how many people we couldn't pissed off today?!", I hissed.

Jack's eyes widened and he stood there gawking at me, to which I frowned to.

"Awww~! Look at you conspiring with little ol' me~!", Jack exclaimed with giddiness and pulled me into a tight, squeezing hug as he gushed over me.

I let out an exasperated sigh and groaned into Jack's immensely, broad chest.

"We are so screwed..."

Jack erupted into a fit of laughter and grinned as he tightened his grip on me. "No need to make that face Gumdrop! ", he paused and bent down to eye level.

His once friendly, childish aura suddenly disappeared and his mood turned serious.

"After seeing Charlie in such a HORRIFIC and pathetic state like that, they'll know not to mess with the clown of monochrome", Jack proclaimed as his voice deepened at the end, giving off a twisted, unsettling feel as he grinned sinisterly.

I flinched at his sudden expression and my mind immediately flashed back to when he killed Issac. He held the same vicious attitude and sadistic, blood-filled eyes. It was like looking at a moment captured in a single camera frame.

I shuddered at the memory and slowly gave in to his words. Officer Stan had praised himself saying he'd be able to take down the killer and bring him to justice, but in the end, like everyone else, he failed and lost his life to the supernatural being he thought wasn't anything special.

They'll all perish.

No one can defeat, let alone kill, Laughing Jack.

There's just no stopping him. He's a force to be reckon with, he'll never be defeated by a human... He's too powerful. He has no weaknesses or a sense of humanity—that's what makes him so invincible, he's not one of us, he's something much more diabolic.

And now, I think I've fallen for this monstrous clown.

"Yeah, you're right about that...", I nodded my head, cynical of the police's efforts, and earned a peck on the lips from Jack. "You should never underestimate me, (Y/N)", he mused as he rested his chin on my shoulder and allowed me to melt into his warmth.

~*~

{On the outskirts of Oklahoma}

A fair-skinned young man sat on the doorsteps of his home in the quiet streets of Pauls Valley. His hand barely grasping his phone as he impassively stared off into the distance.

The sobs of an older woman echoed throughout the misty air and resonated from the man's phone.

He glimpsed once more at the name on the screen and abruptly hung up on the woman. His hand later combed back his sandy, brunette bangs from his face.

"Your father... was...was...was killed! They found him today..! He was torn to pieces, mauled by an..an animal..!", the young man contemplated on his mother's distressing news and knitted his eyebrows in frustration.

He let out a low growl and gripped the railings on his doorsteps. The fair-skinned man clenched his hands into fists as a memory of his father's warm smile flashed in his head, faintly remembering him saying something about catching a killer.

Rage surged through his veins and he could feel his head throbbing from the anger.

"Kid, your father visited a woman before he was kidnapped. He theorized that she was connected to the killer—probably conspired with him too—even brought a whole team of officers to watch his back.... But, your father was the only one among them that we've found...", the young man remembered the conversation he had with one of his father's close partners from the past.

With one swift blow, he punched the railing and knocked it out. Blood trickled down his knuckles and he panted from the hit as he recalled the promise he made to his father.

"...Dad, if anything happens to you, and you can't finish what you started, I'll do it for you. I WON'T let you die in vain."