When I was a child, there was an urban legend that went around my school about a monster. Nobody knew who started it, but we called it “The legend of the falling smile”. The story went that there was a creature in our town. Nobody can see it, but they can hear it. The sound of it’s jaws clicking together as it lumbers through the streets. The crunch of it chewing the teeth of it’s victims. It’s a terrifying creature. And it’s always hungry. No matter how much it gets it will never be full. Always watching. Always waiting.
They say the first victim of the monster was the daughter of the town founder himself, Beatrice Holloway. Beatrice was a perfectly normal girl until around the age of 7. She began to complain of a clicking noise outside her window at night. Her family brushed it off as childhood paranoia, but she continued to suffer. Beatrice continued to complain of the noise for months, but she was always ignored. One afternoon she went into the forest to explore when the clicking began again, louder than ever. A feeling of unease washed over her. She felt feel her heart beat in her chest, like a bomb ready to explode. She turned back, desperate to get somewhere safe when a sharp pain burst through her mouth. One by one, her teeth began to loosen and drop out.
Beatrice started to scream as blood ran down her chin. The little girl fell to the floor, only to see a puddle of blood and teeth that had left her body just seconds ago. She felt herself losing control, and tried to tell herself it was only a nightmare. But she knew it wasn’t true. The teeth kept falling until all that was left was a bloody mess inside her mouth. She held her knees and sobbed in agony, until she no longer felt the pain.
The small girl lay dead in the forest, a mound of teeth beside her for the creature to enjoy. Her mouth was locked in a permanent scream. But there was no one there to hear it. So, if you ever find yourself alone, and you hear that telltale clicking…
Run.
That was the legend of the falling smile. It passed through playground to classroom, from the eldest to the youngest. No matter who you were, you knew of the creature. Of course the teachers and parents tried to put a stop to it, but by the time they caught on to what was being shared everyone already knew the stories. In the end it became something a wives tale, that parents told children to make them behave.
I heard the story first from some of the older kids at my school. It never bothered me as much as it did some of the others. Sure, when I heard a noise outside at night my mind occasionally jumped to the creature, but I never really believed in it. I had no reason to. That was until, I grew up and joined the local police force.
I hadn’t planned on joining the force, I kinda just fell into it after graduation. I’ve never really been academically gifted in any way, and I lacked motivation all throughout high school. I was too poor to afford tuition to any kind of higher education, and even if I could the chances of me being accepted were low. So, when my uncle told me he could get me a position I reluctantly agreed, knowing it was probably my best option and my parents were desperate to have me out of the house.
My first few months after basic training were pretty boring. My fellow officers were tolerable, and the pay was steady enough for me to get my own apartment and live independently. But god, did it get boring. There was almost nothing for me to do aside from the occasional bike theft. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like I wanted more crime, but I still felt the tedium of walking my beat every day knowing it would amount to nothing. Now, I wish I could go back to that.
The first body showed up around a month ago. A family found it while they were having a day at the lake. Apparently it was their kids who saw it first. Or felt it, I should say. One of them stepped on it’s hand and got a nasty shock. The parents pulled it out and called it in. And, as luck would have it, I was placed on the recovery team.
I’ve never had a strong stomach. When I saw the body, I couldn’t help but gag. God knows how long it had been in that lake. It was bloated, and covered in black blood. The smell was atrocious, so bad that the other officers looked like they were going to throw up. Parts of it’s skin had rotted away exposing the muscle underneath. But the worst part… was the face. It was locked in a silent scream, the eyes full of terror and the mouth wide open. Inside the mouth lay empty gums, rotting and festering. Instantly my mind went to the legend of the falling smile…
At first I told myself there was no way it could be true. Bodies had teeth missing all the time, there could be any number of reasons behind it that didn’t involve creatures, or legends or that damned clicking noise. But my denial was cut short when another body was found. Early one morning citizens awoke to find a woman lying dead in the middle of the road. She had the same twisted scream as the previous body, and her mouth still leaked blood from her mutilated gums. The third was discovered in a back alley, in an advanced state of decay. The fourth in a family backyard. People started to disappear, and later be found dead. The cause of death for all was listed as blood loss. I don’t think I need to tell you the other connection they shared.
As of today, 27 bodies have been found toothless, scattered across the town at random. I hope to god they didn’t suffer the fate of the creature. I hope to god there isn’t a creature, that this is all some weird coincidence. Fuck, I would even take a deranged serial killer over the alternative. Anything but the fucking monster.
It came around 3 am.
I was getting ready for bed when it started. The faint clicking noise outside in the yard.
It didn’t sound human, yet somehow I couldn’t quite place my finger on it. I froze, listening for it. It came again and again, louder and faster each time. It kept getting closer and closer, until finally, I could hear it right outside my bedroom window.
Click, click, click…
My heart went cold. I guess it’s gonna be my turn soon.