Shackled (eyeless Jack x reader)

Prologue

A branch snapping in the distance caused you to halt your footsteps, peering around at the pitch black surroundings you were enveloped in. Your heart was beating so fast, it was practically drumming in your chest and in your ears. But once your body snapped out of that semi-paralysis state it had found itself in you took a small breath.

Loosen up. It was probably an animal or.. something.

You didn't know why in your right mind you'd decided to venture out into the woods in the middle of the night. Except you did know. While on a walk to desperately help your declining mental state you had stopped to rest, and enjoy the scenery like the little artiste you were on the inside. But once getting up, you didn't check to make sure you had your phone. You could've sworn it was in your pocket, but you couldn't remember whether you set it down or it slipped out somehow. However way it happened, you lost it here. So now here you were, no flashlight, no company, and only accompanied with your own anxiety. Note to self: This is what happens when you step outside of your comfort zone. Don't do that.

When you had first entered the forest to find your phone the sky was still lit up, the sun just beginning to set. While you were walking you didn't think the trail was that long at all. But apparently you guesstimated completely wrong. Within thirty minutes the forest and your part of the world as you know it now had a blanket of pure darkness cast over it.

"This is stupid.." you muttered to yourself in frustration. Something needed to break the eerie silence. You could barely see two feet in front of you, but you were sure you were still on the trail. You hoped so, at least. And you also hoped you found your phone quickly so you can pull up Google maps and get the hell out of here. Everything made you jump. Every sound, every shadow of a tree branch swaying.

So you picked up your pace. Though still jumpy, nothing had came out to maul you. Yet. How scary that would be. But it wouldn't happen, hopefully. It would surely be a horrible experience to suddenly get ambushed by an animal, not even seeing it coming...
Maybe you were just overreacting, so you calmed yourself down a little bit. You took a few deep inhales and exhales, reminding yourself that as long as you'd lived here you've never heard of any gruesome cases taking place in this forest. You were just overreacting-

Wait.

You stopped. God, why was everything so quiet. You turned around, taking a glance back in the direction you had come so far. You could've sworn-

No. No, you weren't going to freak yourself out again. Deep breath in, deep breath out.

You turned back in front of you to begin walking again. This time your sense of hearing was above all else, despite your best efforts to calm down.

You focused on everything, your breath, the crunch of dead leaves under your converse, an animal chirping somewhere off in the distance. All of it you could hear clearly. But that wasn't all that you were hearing. You abruptly stopped again. A shuffle somewhere behind you, before dead silence followed after.

Are you imagining things? Is your anxiety tricking you into thinking you're not alone in this forest? You turned around again, completely, yet of course you were only met with a fog of darkness. It would be stupid to dumbly call out 'hello?' into a dark forest and expect an answer, wouldn't it? Nobody would answer. No one is there.

You started to back up, hoping you didn't trip on something, hoping you were just being paranoid. But all of your suspicions were proven true when after a few steps back, you heard the crunching, the shuffling, of somebody or something mirroring your movements. Your mind set off panic alarms. Those weren't the movements of an animal.

Someone was there.

You didn't waste any time to turn around, breaking into a sudden sprint and running further into the woods in a random direction. It was instinct. Your feet slammed against the dirt and the ground beneath you, adrenaline pumping through your veins and going straight to your heart. You didn't even know who or what you were running from, but it was following you, their footsteps loud and clear and .. very fast. Very human.

Your breath was hot and heavy against the cool night air, your vision blurry as you tried to focus on the path in front of you, if you were even on a path anymore. But you didn't care, you just wanted to get away. Forget everything, forget the stupid phone.

Your heart was beating so fast against your chest, your legs were getting sore and weary but the quick footsteps behind you never faltered once, so you pushed yourself harder. You moved between trees and shrubs, your reflexes aiding you in whatever came in front of you. Making sure you don't face plant into a trunk. You were so so so lightheaded and dizzy, the malnutrition caused by an unbalanced diet somehow finding the perfect opportunity to catch back up to you.

Bur if your legs giving out from exhaustion didn't hinder you, it was only a matter of time before something tripped you instead, and that's exactly what happened.

You let out a scream as suddenly your foot caught onto something in the ground. Was it a root? A rock? You didn't even get a chance to see. Your eyes shut closed as you were sent to the ground. Your head hit against something on the way down with enough force that it was surprising you didn't get knocked out immediately. A ringing in your ears sounded as your body was put into a daze. Liquid trickled down your forehead and face, the strong scent of iron filled your nostrils. Your mind went to a blank, a groan of pain and discomfort leaving your lips as your eyes squeezed and your hand clutched at your head, your palm now painted with the blood leaking from your wound.

You had almost forgotten that you were being chased until you heard the slowing crunch of leaves approaching you.