Game of chaos

The town of Bellhollow was known for two things:Its bells that never stopped ringing,And its people who never stopped gossiping.
So when a strange figure skipped through the streets in the middle of a rainless thunderstorm, people peeked from their windows like curious cats.
Jack was back.
This time, his game was hide and seek.
He announced it with painted letters across the mayor’s statue:
“Come out, come out, wherever you are…”
At first, no one moved.
Then the mayor himself, a round man with more pride than sense, stepped into the street with his guards.
“You think this is funny?” he bellowed.
Jack appeared behind him, tapping his shoulder.
“No. I think it’s hilarious.”
The guards lunged, and Jack just clapped.
With each clap, a thunderbolt struck—not from the sky, but from the ground.
The guards turned into ash mid-lunge.
Jack giggled and began counting.
“One… two… three…”
Bellhollow ran.
Doors slammed. Candles went out. Everyone vanished indoors.
He wandered the alleys humming, dragging the tip of his scythe along the stone, sparks flying.
“I’m not good at counting,” he whispered, skipping past shuttered windows, “but I am good at finding.”
The butcher hid in his freezer.
Jack left a pig’s head in his place and a note:
“You were too cold.”
The librarian locked herself in the archives.
Jack replaced every book with blank pages and whispered, “Knowledge is empty when you forget laughter.”
The mayor?
He was brave.
He stayed in the bell tower with a crossbow and a trembling hand.
“Face me, freak!”
Jack did.
But he wasn’t on the ground.
He was on the bell.
Upside-down. Grinning.
“You win!” he said cheerfully. “You found me!”
Then he rang the bell by kicking it.
The sound shattered every window in town.
The mayor screamed and fired.
Too slow.
Jack caught the bolt with two fingers and flicked it back.
That night, Bellhollow's bells finally stopped ringing.
At dawn, the townspeople crept out, afraid of what they’d find.
No bodies. No blood. No Jack.
Just a massive chalk drawing in the town square:A game board.Each house marked as “HIDE” or “SEEK.”
At the center: a jester’s mask.
Still smiling.