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The original was posted on /r/nosleep by /u/DottedWriter on 2024-11-03 20:54:53+00:00.

Every neighborhood had that one weird kid. For us, it was Abel Casey.

He was a 14-year-old, skinny, tall kid with shoulder-length pitch-black hair and bangs that covered his eyes. His presence always felt off-putting. Even with the smile he always wore on his face, some of us felt uncomfortable being near him.

Nobody ever talked to him, and by the chance someone even bothered trying to, he would drive them away by trying to base the conversation around the same topic: skulls. Whether human skulls or animal skulls, he’d talk about skulls nonstop.

Some kids rumor about how he goes to graveyards to dig up skulls and take them home. Others joked about how he probably held a shrine dedicated to skulls in his bedroom.

Overall, Abel was an outcast we avoided at all costs. Otherwise, we’d have to deal with his weird obsession with skulls. It became one of our neighborhood rules: Don’t interact with Abel under any circumstances.

So Abel was the LAST person I wanted to spend my entire Saturday with. I wanted to spend it hanging out with my friends, not with him. But my mom insisted on it. I tried to explain that Abel was flat-out creepy and made me and every other kid uncomfortable, but she didn’t listen.

I pleaded with her, trying to get her to rethink this, but she told me I was visiting him, which was final. I groaned in annoyance.

We went to Abel’s house, and my mom rang the doorbell. The door opened, and who I assumed was Abel’s mom stepped out. She looked even weirder than Abel. She had long, wavy, dark hair the same color as Abel’s and was slightly paler than him.

My mom talked to her briefly, explaining how she wanted me to hang out with Abel. Abel’s mom lit up, and I could see the excitement on her face. She was ecstatic, telling us that Abel never had any real friends, meaning he would probably love someone visiting him. I rolled my eyes, annoyed as they chatted.

It wasn’t like I WANTED to be with Abel in the first place. The last thing I needed was someone spotting me, and I’d probably get ostracized, too. Not as much as Abel, but still.

My mom told me she’d pick me up at 7. As she left, Abel’s mom welcomed me inside with a smile. As I entered the house, I noticed strange decorations on the walls. They were odd pieces of bone attached to a string and spread across the walls. Some of the skulls even had dots of paint on them.

“Uh, excuse me, Miss Casey?” I said. She looked down at me with that same smile.

“Yes, sweetie?”

“What’s with the skulls?” I asked, pointing at them. She giggled. “Don’t mind those; that’s just a special decoration.”

I raised my eyebrow. I was about to ask her but decided not to. His mom was already creeping me out.

She brought me to Abel’s bedroom and gently knocked on his door. He calmly opened the door.

“Abel, sweetheart. Someone’s come to visit! This is Vincent!” she introduced. As she finished her sentence, a smile bloated on Abel’s face. She gestured for me to step inside and then closed the door.

“Be nice to one another!”

I must admit that Abel’s bedroom was better than I assumed. It was well-cleaned and put together. Only he had several detailed skull drawings pinned to his wall. Additionally, there were those weird skull decorations.

I put one hand behind my head, not knowing what to say to him.

“So…” he began.

“So what?” I asked, becoming slightly creeped out by him.

“So glad someone came to visit me…” he said softly.

The silence was deafening and uncomfortable.

Then Abel broke the silence. “Do you wanna read some comics?”

I blinked in surprise at what he said. “Comics?” I asked. He nodded his head in excitement. “Yeah!”. He went to his bed, reached under it, and pulled out a stash of different comic books. He was the last kid I expected to read comics.

We spent the rest of the afternoon reading, as I flipped a page through Injustice #29. Abel says something that causes me to stop reading.

“Vincent…did you know that the function of the skull is both structurally supportive and protective?”

I blinked as the question registered in my head. I turned to face him. “What?” I ask, still confused about what Abel just requested. Abel looked over at me and smiled. “Just a random fact!”

He turned and continued reading his comic, and I did the same. But my confusion remained. Five minutes later, Abel asked a question out of the blue again.

“Vincent…did you know that the glabella is a key midline landmark of the frontal bone?”

I looked at Abel, getting even more confused at what he said. “Uh…I don’t understand…” I answered, but Abel just laughed, almost expecting my puzzlement.

“It represents the anterior part of the forehead when standing perfectly erect and looking straight ahead.”

I still didn’t understand what he was saying at all. This was what an adult would understand, not a literal 13-year-old. “How do you even know that stuff?” I questioned him, and Abel’s smile only widened.

“My dad taught me! He taught me everything about skulls!” he beamed. Then it dawned on me.

“Where is your dad?” I inquired, suddenly realizing I hadn’t seen him anywhere, only Abel’s mom.

Abel went silent, and his smile dropped. He stared at me. That uncomfortable silence returned, and it felt even worse now. It felt as if I had asked a question I shouldn’t have. I wanted to break the silence or change the subject to something else, but that couldn’t work.

Then, as if a switch had been flipped, Abel’s smile returned.

“You’ll meet him soon,” he whispered. Let me get some lemonade for us! "Then he exited his room. Abel’s reaction was still ingrained in my head, and I was still confused by what he said. It was like I struck a nerve with him.

Abel returned with two glasses of lemonade, I hesitated on drinking one but Abel insisted I do.

“Don’t worry, it tastes great!” he assured. And he was right. It was some good lemonade. It tasted so sweet and amazing. We continued reading for half an hour. As I finished the comic I was reading, I noticed Abel staring at me, again.

“What?” I asked, Abel beamed at me and then spoke.

“Come over here…I want to show you something…” he answered. Reluctantly, I followed him to the bottom of his bed. Abel reached under and started searching for something. It took him longer than when he got the comics, and he excitedly gasped as if he found what he was looking for. He then quickly took it out and my heart skipped a beat.

He was holding a skull. An actual, human skull. There was also a large crack on it.

“Wha…” I mumbled.

“Yeah…this is a special skull…do you wanna know why it’s special?” Abel inquired, but I didn’t want to know.

My peers were right, this kid was out of his mind. My body began trembling as I quickly got up to my feet and to leave and never come back here ever again

But as I finished that thought, I felt myself become lightheaded. My vision blurred in and out, and I saw Abel’s excited smile before everything darkened.

I woke up grass; my mouth felt dry, and my head was dizzy. Looking up, I saw Abel and his mom standing over, happy grins were painted over their faces. Abel was carrying the same skull he showed me in his bedroom.

“Vincent…I want to thank you so much for how you treated my son” Abel’s mom began, “Usually, he tells me most of the other kids don’t treat him well…but you’re different…” she smiled.

“And because of that,” Abel said, “I want to introduce you to my dad!”

They both stepped to the side, revealing an eagle skull on the grass. It looked like it was in clean condition too, confusion filled my head. I opened my mouth to question them but immediately noticed something happening to the skull.

A large amount of black liquid began quickly leaking from it. A puddle of the black liquid expanded underneath the skull until it stopped suddenly. Then the black liquid seemed to morph and change as if it was being sculpted like clay. I will never forget the sound of bones cracking and popping as the black liquid seemed to take the form of a large adult male.

It stared at me for a few seconds before walking towards me. Droplets of the black liquid fell off as it approached me. Abel and his mom’s eyes were now wide, along with their grins.

Upon stopping at my trembling body, it lent out its hand.

“Hello, I am his father, it is a pleasure to meet you.” the thing said distortedly.

Disbelief and panic mixed inside me, I pinched myself thinking I was dreaming. But I wasn’t. This was real.

“No…no way…” I whispered

“Yes, way!” Abel giggled. I continued staring at the thing that had just claimed to be Abel’s dad, my words becoming incoherent as they escaped my mouth.

It retracted its hand and then cleared its throat, bubbles of the black liquid gurgled up through his neck.

“I know this is shocking to you at first,” it began. “I know your heartbeat increases with every second you look at me. But do not fret; I do not enjoy pain. Nor am I violent.”

I was panting through bated breaths, I wanted to speak but couldn’t muster up a complete sentence.

I could only say one word.

“How?”

The thing chuckled at my response.

“Well you see, I was once a normal man, with a splendid job as a craniologist and a loving family,” he gestured towards Abel and his mother.

“Everything was wonderful, my life was pure and fulfilling…until…some filthy hooligan… ran a red light…and then he hit me…”, I could feel the hatred and venom dripping from its voice. It took a deep brea…

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