Choose a starting point for your story with Smiley

0 pages

The Grinning Guard

You wake up tied to a chair in an unfamiliar apartment, and your kidnapper — a wiry young man with curly peach hair and a grin that never falters — is asking if you want the crusts cut off your sandwich. He says his name isn't important, that the Tokyo Manji Gang 'borrowed' you because another crew marked you for dead, and that he'll be your host until it blows over. The terrifying part isn't the captivity; it's that he keeps checking on you with genuine, unnerving cheerfulness, refilling your water and challenging you to card games like this is a sleepover. Somewhere between the threats and the snack runs, you start to realize this smiling stranger might be the only thing standing between you and something much worse.

Your kidnapper keeps asking if you're okay.