Bloody Candies (Laughing Jack X Reader)

Sanity Schism

(Warnings: Captive reader, unhealthy relationships, unhealthy coping, tension, psychological horror)

The Christmas decorations were gone as quickly as they had appeared, but for some reason, the snow persisted. You didn't mind at first. The sight of a winter landscape lifted your spirits. Not by much, but you would take whatever you could get in this place.

However it wouldn't last long. The snow began to melt, and as it did the carnival grounds, usually consisting of gravel and dirt, turned to a muddy slush. Not even the dirt floor within the tents were spared from becoming what was essentially a shallow swamp.

It was because of this that you had taken to sleeping on the wooden counters of the game stalls. It was horribly uncomfortable, but it was better getting soaked to the bone in the icy mud.

Today, you woke up to find that you had slept with your head at an odd, and rather painful angle. You took your time, carefully stretching your neck from one side to the other, trying to work out the pain that had permeated there overnight. Eventually, you gave up, resigning yourself to the mild annoyance of a sore neck.

You glanced at your surroundings, glad to see that no one was around. Very few carnival guests were left after Jack's Christmas slaughter. On one hand, it was a relief to not have to deal with the grey skinned, dead eyed shells of human beings staring you down whenever you dared to emerge from a tent. On the other hand, it made the few that were left even more startling to run into.

As for Jack himself, you had been actively trying to avoid him, which was hard, and not just due to your captive state. Ever since Christmas he had been oddly affectionate towards you. When the snow had began to melt he even offered to set up a cot for you, but you refused, and he wasn't even angry about it.

It was extremely disconcerting. He was lulling you into a false sense of security, you knew it. At least, that was the excuse you gave yourself to continue avoiding him. Deep down, you knew it was because of what happened while you two were dancing beneath that tree of blood and gore.

Jack had kissed you. There was no getting around that fact. That wasn't what bothered you. If anything, you were surprised it took him that long to try something like that. No, what bothered you was how much you liked it.

You had barely even registered what he had said right after the fact. It was a clear threat, and yet all you could think about was how his lips felt against yours, how he held you during the lead up, dancing with surprising skill for a... whatever he was.

You couldn't get it out of your head. Part of you was sure that it was all part of the game. You had seen him perform impossible physical feats before, it's perfectly reasonable to assume that he could affect the mind as well. Maybe this was all some spell.

You stared up into the grey sky, blinking away the remnants of sleep as these thoughts permeated your mind. Even after all you had seen, blaming the way you were feeling right now on a "spell" felt too fairytale-like and childish. This was anything but a fairytale.

You shook your head, only to react with a cringe and a sharp inhale. This hard wood really had screwed up your neck. If you moved it in the wrong way the pain would shoot down your collar bones all the way to your shoulder. That was really going to be quite the annoyance.

You glanced at the carnival stall. A stack of pins sat at one end, dusty and grey. Beneath the counter sat rows of tennis balls. For the first time you realized how eerie it was to stand in front of one of these stalls. It was the silence that got to you. Usually stalls like this would have carnies cat calling and heckling passersby to play their rigged games. But as you knew by now, anything in this place was far from usual.