Promise (Eyeless Jack x Reader)

The Endurer

Splitting pain from his hands was all Jack could feel as he continued to run. He had wrapped them with some of the bandages he had packed to prevent infection until he could properly heal. Unfortunately, his healing when it came to a broken bone was much slower than a normal wound, and he was 95% sure both were broken. It had been nearly 3 hours and there was still no sign of healing, other than the lightening of his bruises. Still, he pushed through the pain because there was no other option. 

The reality was that Jeff was likely quite a ways ahead of Jack in terms of distance traveled. With any luck, however, Jack would hopefully catch up to him at some point, in an attempt to end this cat and mouse game. The problem he faced, though, was exhaustion. Besides taking a brief break at the storage unit, Jack had been running nonstop for hours, and it was unlikely he could continue to do so without interruption. The bright side to this realization, however, was that Jeff certainly could not go without taking a break for much longer, especially not longer than Jack. After all, he was presumably carrying (Y/n) over his shoulder. An extra person would make for extra weight and struggling, resulting in Jeff needing a break way quicker than Jack.

As Jack looked out on the horizon, he could see the misting of water from afar. He was physically exhausted, but coming across the scenary was the last push he needed to carry on. A large tunnel was all Jack had between him and the symbol. Jack decided to slow down in case Jeff left him anymore clues hidden in or around the tunnel. Deciding that there was nothing of importance, Jack continued to walk through before coming face to face with the ginormous waterfall in front of him. The sound of water hitting the rocks below filled Jack's ears with more than white noise, which was somewhat pleasing after spending the last few hours simply stuck in his head.

Pacing impatiently around the waterfall and the stream below, Jack's eyes scanned the surrounding area extensively, only coming up empty no matter where he went. Fuck, I can't just sit around here doing nothing. There has to be something here, I know there is. Jack, deciding that it was unlikely there were any clues on the bottom, decided to begin climbing to the side and around to the top of the waterfall. Colorful leaves fell all around him as Jack shivered from the cool weather. (Y/n) is probably so cold... I wish I gave her back her socks before all of this happened.

Metaphorically kicking himself in the teeth from the way he treated her prior, Jack told himself he would do it all over again if he had the chance. He knew he needed to explain himself and his motives better, but the issue that kept presenting itself was that he simply didn't know what they were, either. It was as if he was learning about himself alongside the woman, hoping that maybe she herself could be the teacher to his own feelings. He couldn't help but feel that she was the key to his lock, the destination to his journey. Call it a gut feeling or call it fate; whatever Jack was trying to learn, he knew she was vital to his solution even if he didn't know why.

Standing over the waterfall and looking down below, Jack still could not find any evidence of Jeff or (Y/n) having been there. Did he simply use the photo to throw me off the trail? It's so unlike Jeff, though. His M.O. has always been to toy with peoples' emotions, but he always delivers on his clues. I've seen it myself dozens of times, so why would he change now? Jack let out an exasperated sigh, turning around while running a hand through his chestnut hair that was being illuminated by the sunlight. Suddenly, Jack froze in place as he saw a trail of blood leading from where he was standing all the way back into the woods. Unbelievable... I was so focused on the waterfall itself that I failed to notice the rest of my surroundings.

Jack's breathing heightened as his heart rate quickened. Though there wasn't a substantial amount of blood, there was still enough to be concerning. Jack slowly followed the trail, pulling out a large scalpel for protection. The trail winded and went through the woods for about a minute before coming to a halt. Jack looked around in puzzlement, scratching his head in confusion. Suddenly, a drop of blood landed on Jack's glove, followed by another. As Jack slowly looked up, his adrenaline piqued when he saw what was before him.

A dead baby rabbit was hanging from the tree before him, tied in a noose around the branch. Jack sighed before jumping up and cutting the rabbit down. At first glance, it seemed to be obvious that the rabbit had died via hanging. But Jack knew Jeff better than that. As the rabbit landed on the ground on the fallen leaves, Jack noticed a cut on the rabbit's stomach. Jack decided to pull apart the two neatly cut pieces of the stomach, ensuring that there was nothing inside. Sure enough, there was a folded piece of paper in between the rabbit's organs. Unfolding the mysterious note, Jack read the short words to himself out loud.

"you should get to the root of the problem :)"

Annoyed was an understatement as Jack stood back up and looked around, attempting to find meaning within the psychopath's words. Maybe he's referring to tree roots. Sure enough, as Jack walked around the tree the rabbit had been tied to, he found another message on the other side. An arrow was drawn pointing upwards from the root of the tree to the middle of the bark. Yet another message, written in blood.

I cut her throat and peeled her but I wasn't really there
That's the story of my bunny - my lifeless, skinless little hare

Jack looked up at the sky after reading the message on the tree, trying his best not to break down once again. He could feel tar running down his face slowly and softly, but he refused to fully commit to the bait Jeff was purposefully leaving him with. Seething at the mouth, Jack chose to try his hand at the very last resort he could think of doing. He knew Jeff did not leave a clue on purpose beyond this. It was very simple: he wanted Jack to call him. Pulling out his burner phone, Jack dialed the number he was dreading. Upon picking up the other end, Jack knew he heard breathing, but refused to be the first to speak. Cackling was heard loudly, and went on for a minute before finally slowing down. Jack found himself being both drowsy and dizzy due to lack of sleep and exhaustion, along with rage.

"I was starting to think you'd never call, Jacky. I figured you'd want your prey back." Jack pinched the bridge of his nose as he attempted to soothe his long-standing headache.

"Where the fuck is she? What have you done to her?" Jack didn't want to entertain Jeff any longer. He could feel the game coming to a close, almost as if a chess match was at the height of its suspense. More cackling ensued before Jeff responded.

"Relax. Is that anyway to talk to your pal?"

"You're not my pal, tell me what I want to know." He could practically hear Jeff's smile over the phone as their conversation continued.

"She's not dead, if that's what you're asking. Wanna say hi?" Jack heard shuffling and footsteps before hearing a sweet, raspy voice.

"Jack?" Jack felt his heart race as his stomach dropped in terror. "Jack?? Please help me! I don't want to die." He heard (Y/n)'s voice break at the end of her crying, making him feel as if his world was ending.

"(Y/n?) (Y/n)! Can you hear me? I'm coming for you! I'm coming! Hello? Hello? (Y/n)!" More shuffling followed by cackling was heard.

"You didn't think I'd lie to you, did you? I'm a lot of things, Jack, but I'm not a liar." Jack lost his temper at long last.

"Tell me where she is right fucking now or I swear to God, Jeff!"

"She's been a lot of fun for me, Jack, but I think it's time to wrap it up here. I'll send you the coordinates." As Jack went to hang up, Jeff added to his sentence. "Oh, and Jack? You have one hour." The line beeped as it ended, signaling the thin line between life and death for the most important person in Jack's life, now and possibly ever.