The day was growing dark, and Liam and Carrie were outside, suspended in the air, showing no trace of fear toward what was coming. Their bodies floated naturally, alert, like predators waiting for the first move of their prey.
Liam had asked to use the church for his plan, but Boyd had refused. He knew that many people in town still used it to pray; it was their last safe sanctuary, the only place that still gave them an illusion of normality. Boyd would not risk seeing it damaged.
Besides, there were no houses left with the arrival of Liam's group and the previous group that had arrived by bus. The town was full… and trapped.
Liam had no choice but to use the house that had been assigned to him. Before doing so, he had already discussed it with Hopper, Robin, and Eleven. After a long discussion, they accepted the risk, and if anything went wrong, Eleven would try to keep the Smilers away while they searched for another safe house.
The other members of his group were also informed, ready to open the door if they saw them outside.
Liam and Carrie flew in slow circles as they waited. The night wind brushed against their faces.
As the minutes passed, the sky grew darker and darker until no light could be seen, except for the moon and the stars.
Then it happened.
From the forest, figures began to emerge one by one. The Smilers advanced toward the town. There were many of them. From above, it was clear to see: they were all coming. Their white smiles stood out in the darkness, twisted, unnatural.
"Let's go," Liam said, fixing his gaze on a blond Smiler whose smile seemed even more disturbing than the rest.
"Mmm," Carrie nodded without looking away, and both of them flew straight toward him.
The Smiler saw them when they were close. He didn't step back. He didn't change his expression. The smile never left.
"Grab him," Liam said firmly.
In an instant, the blond Smiler was lifted into the air. His body began to struggle violently, his hands striking and tearing at the invisible pressure holding him, repeatedly breaking Carrie's telekinesis—only for it to rebuild immediately, denser, stronger.
"I can handle another one," Carrie said confidently, without taking her eyes off the monster she was holding.
The night before, she had discovered how easily the Smilers could break her telekinesis. Every time they did, she had to restore it quickly to keep them away. That was why they had been forced to return to the house before: she had been exhausted after holding off several at once while actively attacking.
This time was different. She could feel it.
Seeing another Smiler nearby, one dressed in a nurse's uniform, she didn't hesitate to say it.
Liam looked at her for a moment. He remembered the problem perfectly—the strain, the risk. He thought for only a second before nodding.
"Do it."
Carrie smiled faintly. With a gesture of her hand, the second Smiler rose off the ground, twisting just like the first.
They climbed higher, far enough that the other Smilers were no longer an immediate threat, and flew back toward the house where they planned to kill them calmly.
But when they arrived, the problem became clear.
All the Smilers were clustered around every entrance: doors and windows. They clung tightly, like living anchors. If Carrie tried to move them, all she would accomplish would be destroying the doors or windows, giving them a clear path inside to kill everyone within.
From the sky, the Smilers looked up. All of them stared at Liam and Carrie. Their smiles looked like silent mockery.
"Bastards," Liam growled, clenching his teeth. "If they think this will stop us from killing them, they're wrong."
He looked at the two Smilers in front of him. Even suspended in the air, they seemed to be mocking him.
"Don't worry," Carrie said seriously, adjusting the pressure of her telekinesis. "I'll hold them. You can kill them."
Liam nodded. With a smooth motion, he drew his dagger, which began to glow intensely, illuminating their faces and making the monsters' smiles tense for the first time.
When they saw the weapon, the Smilers stopped mocking. Their bodies began to writhe more desperately, struggling to break free.
Liam gave them a small, mocking smile and moved forward.
He began stabbing with all his strength where the heart should be. Each strike sank deeper, and the sound wasn't that of normal flesh… it sounded like striking metal hidden beneath the skin.
The more he stabbed, the more violently the blond Smiler twisted. His face began to deform, slowly losing its human appearance.
"Grarghhh," the monster roared in fury, trying again and again to break free.
Carrie, completely focused, didn't give him a single chance. Her expression was cold, firm, unmoving.
The other Smiler didn't stop resisting either, but under Carrie's constant pressure, his movements were useless.
After several minutes of stabbing, the dagger finally pierced something different.
The resistance gave way.
The blade sank into something soft inside.
"Arghhhh!" the Smiler screamed in pain, his body shaking spasmodically as his expression twisted for the first time.
Liam watched him for a few seconds, breathing hard, observing every reaction. Then he realized he still wasn't dying; at that moment, he understood that damaging the heart wasn't enough. He frowned and lifted his gaze to the Smiler's neck, which now seemed weak, barely moving. Without hesitation, he tightened his grip on the dagger's handle and cut.
At that instant, he realized it was now easier to cut through the flesh, noticing how the first slash already opened a large wound. That made Liam attack with more determination; he tensed his arms and continued until, in a few seconds, the head separated from the body.
[SKILL OBTAINED]
Just seeing that notification told him the Smiler was truly dead. The body fell limp, and at the exact moment the blond Smiler died, the other one began to writhe even more violently, shaking in the air as if sensing its fate.
"Your turn," Liam said coldly, without looking away.
But just as he stepped closer, his attention shifted. In the distance, at the hospital, he saw a car come to an abrupt stop as someone injured was taken out, preparing to go inside. The movement froze when they noticed the Smiler at the entrance. The monster there released the doorway but didn't move away, aware that all the others were blocked.
…
At the hospital.
"We need help!" a desperate shout was heard from outside.
Inside, Kristi and Marielle were in the middle of an argument when they heard it. Kristi tensed immediately. "Someone's shouting outside," she said, turning sharply before running out.
When she reached the window, she pulled the curtain aside quickly, and what she saw made her blood run cold: Fatima and Elgin were holding Ellis, who was bleeding badly, unable to get closer because of the Smiler at the entrance.
"Shit, what do we do?" Kristi said, running a hand over her head, frozen for a second—until she remembered something Boyd had told her that afternoon.
"Boyd, come here, quickly!" Kristi shouted.
A few seconds later, Boyd rushed out from inside. When he saw outside, his face fell apart and he yelled, "Ellis, what happened?" He was so worried that he took a step outside without thinking, but Kristi reacted and stopped him in time.
"Wait, Boyd, don't go out like that," Kristi said, stepping in front of him and blocking his way.
"Get out of the way, my son is hurt," Boyd said desperately, his voice breaking, fists clenched.
"Calm down, Boyd. First you have to deal with the Smiler to help him. Here," Kristi said, handing him a knife and gently pushing it into his hand.
Boyd took it, confused, looking at the weapon without understanding why he needed it. Kristi noticed his expression and spoke immediately.
"Remember what you told me this afternoon." As she said that, she pointed to the veins in her own arm.
Seeing that, Boyd remembered Liam's words: that it might be possible to eliminate the worms in his blood by passing them to someone else through a wound. He swallowed hard. Now all he could do was pray that the Smiler wouldn't harden its skin and would let itself be injured, confident, thinking Boyd couldn't hurt it.
With no other option, Boyd opened the door and stepped outside, placing himself in front of the Smiler, who looked at him mockingly.
"Ellis, I've got this," Boyd said, turning his head slightly to reassure his son before looking back at the monster.
The Smiler, curious, simply watched him with its smile intact. Boyd seized that instant: he cut his own hand with the knife and, without giving it time to react, slashed the Smiler's neck, opening a wound.
"You'll pay dearly for getting careless," Boyd said as he pressed his bleeding hand against the Smiler's neck, letting his blood flow into it.
"My blood is your blood now, son of a bitch," Boyd said with hatred. At that very moment, pain shot through his entire body, paralyzing him for a brief instant. When it passed, the Smiler was still standing, as if nothing had happened.
"What a nice game," the Smiler said without losing its smile, and began to move toward Boyd.
But then something changed. The Smiler's face distorted unnaturally, its features stretching into a clearly monstrous shape as it let out a guttural scream. Its body began to twist uncontrollably, arching violently for an instant before collapsing to the ground. Once on the pavement, it began to convulse, slamming against it with erratic movements, making the pain tearing through it unmistakably clear.
"Move, now, inside," Boyd said firmly, though his breathing was heavy, without taking his eyes off the Smiler writhing in front of them.
"Yes," Fatima and Elgin said almost at the same time, finally reacting. They were a few meters away, frozen in fear at the sight of the dying Smiler, but at Boyd's words they moved immediately, supporting Ellis more securely.
As they hurried, their gazes lifted when they noticed something unsettling: other Smilers that had been blocking different entrances began walking toward the one on the ground. They were no longer smiling. Their faces were blank, almost empty.
"Hurry, more are coming," Boyd urged, gesturing for them to move faster as he saw the others approaching.
With that, they entered the hospital. As soon as they crossed the door, Kristi rushed to treat Ellis with quick, precise movements, while Boyd, still tense, stayed at her side, watching every action, unable to hide his worry.
…
From above, Liam formed a small smile as he watched them solve the problem. His eyes followed the scene for a few seconds before relaxing. "Good job," he murmured.
With no more concerns about needing to help, Liam refocused. He approached the Smiler that was still trapped and cut her neck decisively. The fight lasted a few more minutes until he finally killed her.
[SKILL OBTAINED]
After that, he moved toward the hospital. From the air, he saw the other Smilers that had been observing the dead one's body. Carrie, her face serious and clearly straining, trapped two Smilers with her telekinesis. What followed were several intense minutes in which Liam killed them the same way, one after another.
[SKILL OBTAINED]
[SKILL OBTAINED]
At that point, with Carrie visibly exhausted, breathing heavily and her shoulders tense, Liam decided that was enough for today. They descended and entered the hospital, where they found everyone worn out, faces marked by exhaustion, but calm now that they knew Ellis was stable.
"Well, today we can say there are five Smilers dead," Liam said with a smile, looking at the drained but attentive group.
That lifted everyone's spirits. Some straightened up, others exchanged looks of disbelief and relief as they realized how significant that feat was. If they kept going like this for several more days, they could wipe them all out, and nights would no longer be something to fear.
"Thank you, Liam," Boyd said with a small smile, tired but sincere.
"You're welcome. It's something I have to do to get out of here," Liam replied with a calm smile.