STRANGULATE | Markicest

49 | EXILE

Eleven years ago.

"MOTHER!"

Jack's hand twitched around Celine's throat, his eyes wild. He stared Dark dead in the eyes and heaved for breath.

Dark could only stare. Stunned.

"H-how—how could you—"

Jack lips twitched into a frown. It was like his body was still glitching in and out of reality; electricity zipped up and down his body like wildfire, making his body spazz.

"Me..." said Jack with wide eyes.

Celine's throat slid from his hand, and he dropped her to the ground as he struggled onto his feet. Dark watched with dismay as his mother's body crumpled to the floor.

"Me?" breathed Jack.

His lips quivered and his face trembled as he spoke, every breath seething with rage. Jack stepped forward, feet crunching over glass and rubble.

"You," spat Jack. "YOU did this to me!"

"No—" said Dark, and he flinched when Jack spazzed under another electric shock. "N-o, it was her idea—"

"Well," Jack breathed out. "I can't take her word for it." He gazed over his shoulder at Celine's body on the floor.

"She's dead."

Dark's jaw tightened, and his fists clenched under his cloak. He couldn't believe he was mocking her.

"I can't believe you," breathed Dark.

He stepped forward, snarling, but beneath his menacing facade was a scared and hopeless boy. Jack was unpredictable, fueled by the same unkempt emotions—and who knew just how well the experiment worked.

"She was my kind," continued Dark. "My blood!"

He walked forward until he was inches away from Jack—until he could feel the heat of the electricity zipping in and out of his body.

"Yeah?" breathed Jack. He bared his teeth, shoving his face right up into Dark's space. Bolts of electricity snapped against the floor.

"The same blood," spat Jack, "that kills my kind?" He breathed hard, his eyes beginning to glow with those same fiery sparks.

"The same BLOOD," yelled Jack, face quivering with fury, "that treats humans like shit? Like fucking animals?!"

He threw his hands out, and electricity burst from them. They shot across the lab in a frizzy flash. Hit the walls with such force that the building practically shook.

Jack jumped away from himself, eyes wide. His face paled. Eyes widened. He stared down at his hands, and when the electricity wouldn't die down from his skin, he began to shake.

Dark swallowed.

"I-I'll..." Jack clenched his fists, and when he did, electricity balled up white hot in them. He took a deep, quivering breath, eyes sparkling. He glanced up at Dark with a newfound vigor.

"I'll make you pay."

Dark's face paled, the words sending shudders down his spine. He wasn't looking at a human anymore. With the ghastly glow of the lightning against Jack's face, and the manic look in his eye, he looked like a monster.

He was already becoming one.

"You don't understand the bigger picture," said Dark, trying to reason with him. But it was all too complicated—a human, or a former one—wouldn't understand. "There are good Evolveds out there—"