Cruelest Of Hearts~Eyeless Jack X Reader

Chapter 3 The Girl Who Survived

'So in fact, Criminology is not a moral exercise. We are not here to judge who is good and who is bad or place a moral opinion on matters at hand, but rather, we are here to study the causes of a crime. Why it happened, why it was committed there, why at that time, by who and etcetera. We are here to study the various forms a crime can take and especially, how the society reacts to said crime.'

The whole classroom was oddly silent as the professor continued on with his lecture, pacing back and forth in front of the whiteboard, his hands extended outwards slightly and his clothes thrusting under his every move. The only sound that resonated around the small classroom was the voice of the professor, a bit more enthusiastic on the theme of the discussion than normal, and the scribbling the different pens did as they came in contact with the papers, since the students were focused on writing down every single detail that came out of the teacher, furiously writing what could be of help to them when the time for the exams came, no matter if it was just the very first lesson they had for this semester. The lesson itself though, was fairly interesting to say the least. The absolute silence that had spread over the classroom was the proof to that, as the professor was pleased with himself inside his own head for managing to keep his students attention at peak.

Still, he was quite oblivious to the fact that many of the students that were sitting beside the large windows had started to drift off inside their own minds, starting to daydream about random things that could occupy their busy minds, as the warm rays of light fell on their colorful clothes, warming them up just enough for their brains to start wandering away from the class.

It was an amazing day outside and the bright sun was shedding his light everywhere around, pushing away the few clouds that seemed to remain from the previous day, remnants of the brief storm that had hit the campus briefly, but still long enough to cause some problems with the students that returned from their homes. But everything now was more than just okay.

You noted down the rest of the information the professor gave you, before he turned his back to all of you, starting to write some notes on the whiteboard behind him. You sigh lightly and look around you to the rest of your classmates. Sitting right in the center of the class, it was pretty easy to gaze at the majority of them, observing them mindlessly. All of them seemed to be happy and relaxed for reasons that you guessed were linked with their calm lives and some girls in the far corner were whispering silently at each other, giggling inaudibly every now and then. Who knows what were they talking about that caused them so much fun, still, it was refreshing to see that someone was having fun at least. Turning back to your notes, you start writing once again, but your eyes fall briefly into your bandaged left hand, your eyes twitching lightly at the faint pain that resonated inside your mind by this small action.

After falling down that slope yesterday, you had immediately blacked out, only to wake up some hours later, your body completely drenched in the strong rain that fell hard from the skies above. It was as if hell had broken loose around you, with the strong lightings to split the sky in two, making you panic in where they would strike next and if you were their next target. Other than being completely soaked, your back and the back of your head were dirtied with plenty of mud, something that made you curse out loudly. Thankfully, the bag with your evidence and data was intact in some miraculous way and it appeared that the guy in black hadn't discovered you after your fall or anyone else hadn't for that matter. It was definitely a good thing, since no one wondering around in these parts of the forest was good news in any way. But, if all that weren't enough, the moment you tried to grab your things with your left hand, you discovered the painful way, that you had sprained it somehow as you fell.

Making your way back to the campus was easier than expected and with no 'unfortunate' incidents along the way. You cleaned yourself up and headed straight into the nurse's office, only to confirm the bad shape of your hand. Luckily, it was enough to say some terrible excuse that you had fallen off the stairs and hurt your hand to have her convinced that this was the case. So today found you once again full of energy to search around. Thankfully, this was the only class you had in the morning, so after it was done, you had decided to pay a small visit to the library, in hopes that you would be able to pinpoint where Jenny was located. Easy right? Only time would clear that out.

'Can anyone specify to me, why we should focus so much on murder?' the voice of the professor brought you back to reality, tuning your mind once again in the lesson in front of you.

Your hand was accompanied by another hand from one of the girls that were laughing before. The professor nodded at her to speak and a wide smile spread on the girl's face. She was surely really pretty, with long, curly blonde hair and a face that fitted to a real cheerleader, making you think about tons of pink stuff and a bubblegum.

'It's because it's the most frequent crime committed.' She smiled, confident about her answer.

The professor nodded 'Not so much. Murder comes second in the scale, with assault being the leader on the world's charts. Any other ideas?'

This time, it was your turn 'It's because murder is widely regarded as the most serious form of violence and the most reliable measure of criminal violence. Many crimes are sometimes filed away, but this is not the case with homicides.'

'Interesting. But what do you mean with filing away cases?' the professor asks.

'It is easier for the police to sometimes not give importance into cases of sexual assault in prostitutes or domestic violence cases, but it's not that easy when you have a dead body in your hands.' you simply say, shrugging.

'That's right people. Thank you for the clarification miss..'

'(y/l)' you say.

'Thank you miss (y/l). It is a clever way to put it but it is indeed-' the professor continued on with his lecture and you immediately started noting down, only to feel three pairs of eyes nailed on you. Looking up, you see the girl that spoke before you and her friends to look at you with not, what you would call, happy faces. Still, the only thing they receive was downright ignore from your side. B!tch alert at two o' clock. You thought you had left those things back in high school. This was college for God's sake.

Pushing it in the very back of your mind, you decide that these things were of the slightest importance, so it was useless for you to ponder over them. The professor continued on with the lesson, but no matter the fact that your pen continued to write down all the information you were presented, your mind had already drifted away into the task you had to pull through next. You had decided last night that it would be a really good idea to try and track down Jenny, in hopes that she would be able to enlighten you in some way about how she survived the murderer and also, what had happened to Jack. Maybe she had seen him or what the killer did to him, but the fact that she was in a mental hospital might lessen your chances into getting a clear or reliable response from her. But, you wouldn't lose anything if you just tried and who knows, maybe it will prove more useful than you think.

With those thoughts inside your mind, you make your way to the most remote building on campus; the library. Pushing the doors of the three storey building aside, the overwhelming aroma of dust and old books immediately penetrates your senses, making you just breathe in deeply to savor the aroma for a little bit longer, before you start walking decisively on the worn out red carpet, following the aisles and leading yourself to the most remote desk you could find. All around you, the books were almost overflowing from the shelves, while a few students were already here, silently looking through the rich variety of books, in hopes to find that one particular book that would help them with their assignments.

Leaving your stuff to your desk, you walk up to the librarian, asking her where you could find the newspaper section and in the next two minutes, you are already searching through the selves with the carefully arranged newspapers, looking for the date that Jack disappeared, muttering the dates to yourself, before your gaze lightens up and your delicate hand grabs the file that is titled 'March 2011', pulling it away from the rest. Smiling to yourself, you hold the file tightly against your chest, as you return to your desk, plopping yourself on the chair and placing the file in front of you, you open it and start searching for the day that Jack disappeared.

The fact that you had to carefully turn the pages in order not to tear up anything only adds to your rising frustration as you try as fast as you can to locate the articles but not destroy anything in the process. Fate though, is quick to grand you your wish and with another turn in the pages, Jack's face is visible in each and every one of the newspapers front pages, with the bold headlines almost screaming 'College Student Goes Missing', 'Cultist Slaughter In Local College' and 'Girl Survives Cultist Mass Homicide.' There it is, you smile to yourself, pulling out carefully the page that was flashing a picture of a cute girl with long brown hair in the front page. Looking at the girl closely, you can't help but admit that she was really beautiful. Her long, medium brown curly hair were framing her face beautifully, cascading down her back gracefully. She had a pale complexion and a pair of wide (e/c) that were in the exact same shade as your own, making, as you realized, the two of you look somewhat alike. Looking away from the girl once her image settles down inside your mind, you focus your attention once more to the written text under her picture.

Other than her basic info and family status, it said nothing else and the very same went for the next eight different newspapers you searched. Nothing, absolutely nothing was said about her current whereabouts or if she said anything when the police found her a step away from death. Well, what a total waste of time to look over the newspapers. But you had only one other alternative and that was, the internet. Placing everything back on its original place, you head up to the third floor, where you are happy to find somewhat new computers. Thankfully, the place is currently empty, so you can search with your leisure, as well as complete silence.

Choosing one of the computers next to the window that was gazing upon the majestic forest, your delicate fingers gracefully fly over the keyboard, as you type away any keywords that would help you find a lead on Jenny. The results of the first search were pretty much what you already knew, but along with them, you found pictures of the crime scene that you had never seen before, as well as many more pictures of Jenny after the attack. The petite girl was clearly more than just shaken up, as in all of the photos you saw of her, she was looking intensely at the ground, hiding away her face from the camera and the journalists, while the remnants of all the sh!t she had gone through were still evident in all the places where her skin was showing. In the pictures of her that were taken immediately after the murders, your gaze froze when you saw her heavily bruised, almost taken out, eye and her cut from side to side lip. You were pretty positive that many of the marks she took that day would stick around with her forever, grim reminders of the hell she went through. Though, in the very few pictures that she was actually looking at the camera, she appeared to have a really strange dark glow in her eyes, which somewhat unnerved you for no reason. Your instincts were alerting you that there were much more to what met the eye with this girl, you just couldn't wrap your finger around what it was yet.

Yet. But it was f*cking there, you could absolutely see it.

It was not until you searched for the third time, seemingly yielding no results that you noticed one tinny tiny detail, just a very small sentence that was finally shedding some light to your search, the exact moment when you had decided to call it a day. It was a random newspaper from some other town that was talking about the incident and the complete lack of evidence that the police had, until your eyes fell on the mention of Jenny's name and another three words beside it 'hospitalized in St. Dymphna.'. That's it! Your very first clue!
Smiling slyly to yourself, you open another tab and type away the name of the asylum on the search engine. Immediately, the results pop up and you click on the very first one, leading you to the asylums home page. Passing the info about the asylum and the accommodations that it gives, you click on the 'contact' button, which leads you to an address and a phone number.

23rd Radisson St. and N. Irwin Ave, Norfolk Virginia.

That was a nine hour ride with the car to get there from where you are. I guess her parents wanted to get her as far away from the college as possible huh? Well, it would be a really nice trip and you would get the chance to visit Norfolk. Noting down the address and the phone number, you turn the computer off and collect your stuff, almost singing to yourself from your happiness. You are just hoping –begging really- for her to be able to give you any kind of useful information. It would be a great lead on your investigation and it would definitely bring you one step closer to finding out what had happened to Jack. You were also hoping that the black-dressed man that you had run into yesterday was nothing more than just a random dude wandering inside the forest, no matter how much your instincts screamed that this would be highly impossible.

Making your way out of the library, you walk mindlessly towards your dormitories to grab the books needed for you late afternoon class. Being very careful to hold your stuff with your good hand, you are pondering over the rich variety of information that you have gathered and corrected. They were many and something was telling you that you were on the right track to find out the truth, you just had to remain there to able to accomplish it. The only tasks at hand that you had right now was talking to Jenny and seeing if you could get any info and then searching the inside of that cave and maybe the road you had followed when you stumbled upon the strange man. You highly doubted that it lead anywhere, but it was better to be safe than sorry. You prayed though that you wouldn't run to him once again, because who knows what might happen then. And surely, you don't really think he will be up for much talking.

Deep as you were in thought, you were unable to sense a presence looming behind you. The next thing you know, someone has already grabbed you hard, throwing you over his shoulder and yelling:

'Tackling at eight o' clock!!!' an all too familiar voice shouts.

From your surprise, your breath and scream were caught up inside your lungs, as your eyes popped opened full of terror, thinking that the guy from the cave had finally grabbed you when you weren't looking. Your things slide from your hands and fall to the floor hard, as the guy continues to walk down the sidewalk. Turning your head towards him ready to fight your way out of his tight grip, you recognize almost immediately a familiar blonde mane and the dark shade of the man's skin, so when the voice of a girl sounds, she just reassures your realization.

'Geez Greg, you are going to give her a heart attack.' You can literally hear her rolling her eyes.

'Nah, sugar is tougher than just that. Aren't you _____?' he laughs as you let out a deep sigh.

'Greg, put me down please.' You quietly say.

'Dude, you made her drop her things.' Another male voice booms 'If it was me I'd kill ya.'

'Ooops, sorry 'bout that sugar.' Greg apologizes as he finally let you down and you see another blonde girl pick your dropped stuff up, walking up to you with a smug smile.

'Here you go sweetheart. Don't mind this jack#ss.' She gives you a smile 'I'm Samantha, but you can call me Sam.' She says as you take your things, muttering a neutral 'thanks' in return.

was the typical tomboyish American girl. She had long, lightly wavy yellow blonde hair and an extremely beautiful face that graced two bright blue eyes and a pair of full lips. She was rather slim but with some muscles, though, a little bit shorter from you, just an inch or two, while she was dressed in a simple pair of shorts and an oversized t-shirt, which highlighted gracefully her wheat colored skin. She gave you another bright smile, before she yanked Greg in the head, who winced in pain.

'Everyone, this is _____.' Greg yelled happily to someone in the distance and turning, you saw a red headed girl coming your way, followed by a tall boy.

'So she is Jack's girl?' Sam gives you a large grin, placing her hands on her waist 'I've got to tell you, he had some fiiiine taste.' Her little comment makes you tighten up immediately.

'You guys knew Jack as well?' you question them, your recording abilities starting to absorb the impending info of the newcomers. Greg hadn't mentioned any other friends of Jack and certainly, nor did Jack.

'All of us except Gabby here knew him.' the tall boy comments with a smile, raising his hand towards you in a handshake 'I'm .'

Shaking it back in a careful gesture, you have just a few seconds of time to study him. He was tall, taller than both Greg and Jack, standing at maybe 6' 0' with short, light brown hair that were in casual disarray. He was well built, with his muscles able to be seen under his white t-shirt and jean jacket. His eyes were in a luxurious shade of green, in total contrast to his naturally white skin tone. You noticed that as you withdrew your hand, his eyes stayed on you for a little bit longer, something that triggered the mechanisms inside your mind, filing him immediately into the 'to watch' list. If he had something to do with all of this, you knew not, but still...

Before you had the chance to turn to the other girl, a sea of red hair penetrated your field of vision, as two hands wrapped tightly around your back, knocking the air out of your lungs and leaving you unsure of what you should do, as the girl was hugging you so tightly, that it took you by surprise. But before you were able to open your mouth and ask her anything, she cut you off.

'I'm so sorry for what happened to Jack. It must have been really hard for you sweetie. We're all here for you, so if you ever need anything, don't hesitate to ask.' Her soft, girly voice says, as she pulls back to look at you, with the most astonishing deep blue eyes you had ever seen, grabbing you softly by your shoulders. She was pretty much in the same height as you, with dyed red hair and such a white skin, that she could be easily mistaken as a ghost. She was wearing a beautiful pink summer dress and smiled kindly to you 'I'm , Greg's girlfriend.'

You wanted to respond to her, to thank her for being the very first person to actually hug you in so many years, but all your words drowned inside your mind, as all you could do was stare blankly back at her, not even able to smile. It was really, really hard for you to act nicely around people; no one but Jack had ever talked to you kindly and friendly, all the others were just bossing you around or yelling at you, with the only exception –other than Jack- being your grandmother. So it was only natural for you to expect the same behavior from pretty much everyone, so acts of kindness such like this one, left you numb and unable to think, no matter how much you wanted to thank that person for doing so...but you just....couldn't.

Silence crept its way among all five of you as Gabby patiently waited for your response, her smile only widening and reflecting her innocent and sheer kind character as everyone else was waiting for you as well. So the silence was awkward....waaaaaay awkward.

'I think you broke her Gabby.' Sam chuckles as she passes her hand over your shoulder, with Gabby laughing as well.

'How about we treat you to some coffee?' she suggests.

You nod 'T-this sounds nice.'

With Sam continuing to have her hand over your shoulder, Gabby grabs your hand and all of you set off for the cafeteria, with the boys following close behind you. For some strange reason, their high spirits and funny remarks on the way to the cafeteria made you feel a lot better and somewhat light hearted. You knew that you had decided to not hang out with anyone here, since pretty much everyone was a suspect to your eyes, but now that you found yourself among them –and especially among Jack's friends- you somehow felt at peace and worry-free.

'So _____, you are searching Jack's case is that right?' Gale smirks to you, while playfully shoving Greg out of the way.

You nod 'Yeah, I guess. I really want to know what happened to him.' you reply, not giving away any information on your findings.

'Jack was an amazing dude. Too silent and observant for his own good, but he was funny when you got to know him.' Sam comments from beside you.

'Tell me about it.' Greg interferes 'One time, he and Gale over here snuck up to me when I was sleeping and carried me along with my covers out of the dorms, leaving me to sleep under a tree outside. Imagine the horror when I woke up.'

'That sounds awful.' You comment kindly.

'Not as when we put henna on his shampoo and he came out with green hair. Totally worth it.' Gale laughed.

'Hey, I dare you to walk around campus with green hair for a month.' Greg fights back.

All of them laugh and for the first time, you can't hold back a chuckle at the thought of the buildup man walking around with neon green hair. But as you do, Sam gasps and looks at you wide-eyed.

'Aaaaand we have a smile ladies and gentlemen.' She laughs along with the others that cheer happily at your faintly smiling face.

'Jack was always talking about you _____. So we're all kind of happy to finally meet you.' Sam flashes you the peace sign, laughing.

'We can help you out with your investigation if you want to. We know a lot of people in the campus.' Gabby smiles.

'Yeah, like those b!tches today at class, when you made a fool of them.' Sam pumps her fists in the air 'They'll be coming for you I tell you. I was sitting right behind them and I saw the looks they threw at you.'

'Then let them come. I haven't beaten someone up in a long time.' Gabby gives a devious smile.

'Tell me about it.' You agree with her and the three of you laugh.

'But one thing is for sure ______.' Gale winks at you 'Jack was right when he said you looked gorgeous.'

In this particular comment, you feel your heart fasten its beat, but once again, not in the right way. The red that you expected to spread around on your cheeks never came, and instead, you saw Greg shove and grab Gale under his shoulder grip, messing his brown hair mercilessly.

'Back off Gale, she is Jack's.'

'Boys.' Gabby rolls her eyes as you finally reach the cafeteria.

~*~ You spend the rest of the evening with Greg and Jack's gang. All of them were really good people as it appeared to you, trying their best to make you laugh with all the terrible puns there were –like the knock-knock pun with Doctor Who- , but also with stories of pranks they pulled to one another. It was very easy for you to picture Jack standing among them and telling the stories along, with his blue eyes glowing with excitement and happiness, but Jack wasn't there anymore. The girls were amazing as well and as they told you, they were roommates in one of the rooms a little bit further from yours. Before you had even realized it, you were having fun for the very first time since Jack disappeared. All of them were open on helping you out if you ever needed help and no matter your kind refusals that you didn't really need any help, they decided among themselves to go on an investigation for you, by asking the professors along the campus if they had seen anything back then. So when you finally returned to your room, you were both light hearted and tired. Deciding to skip the shower for the morning, you change to your pajamas and popping some pills on your mouth, you finally lay down to your comfortable bed, thinking of Jack and finding yourself asleep, before you had even realized it. You were standing inside the complete darkness. There was no ceiling, no floor under your bare feet, no horizon to look towards or even a small ray of light to illuminate the place up for you. There was nothing. It was only when you looked down on your feet, that you realized that, where you were touching the supposed floor, there were small light marks, as well as that you were wearing your pajamas. Thrilled with the fact that there was even a small source of light, you started wandering around in the complete darkness. Your footsteps were illuminated behind you and only disappeared after a short while.

For some unexplained reason, the darkness was calming you down. Like, when you were inside of it, you would be completely safe, utterly secured by your previous life. And it was rather peculiar. You knew it was peculiar. You shouldn't be feeling like that, especially when you didn't know if you were alone or even truly safe, but it impacted on you like it was your little, private sanctuary. Taking deep breaths, you allowed the cold air to penetrate your lungs, emptying your mind from all the troubles and allowing you to relax. Oh, how you loathed the feeling of calmness. It was so rare for you and came a very few times after Jack disappeared.

Then, as you walked, you slowly started to see yourself walking towards you. Well it wasn't another you, but just your reflection that was on a dark surface. You turned your head slightly to the side, with your eyes narrowing examining your reflection and the space surrounding it. It was as if the darkness had leaded you in front of an enormous mirror. You looked at it questionably and your reflection shot the gaze back at you with the same curiosity. Her bright (e/c) orbs were reflecting what she felt deep inside, something that was only seen by you and could only be seen by you. Pain, desperation, heartbroken, numbness.....torn apart....

Suddenly, you see tears cascading your reflection's eyes and her face alters into a pure mask of pain. Suddenly, it wasn't your 19-year old self, but your 8 year old self, wearing a little pink dress with patterned white hibiscus flowers and holding on to your favorite teddy your father gave you, for dear life. To your utter horror though, she wasn't alone. Right next to her, was Jake, standing silently by her, with the upper side of his face completely covered by the shadows. He offers his hand to the little you and when she gives him hers, he starts taking her away.

'NO!!!' you scream, tears rolling silently from your eyes 'DON'T GO WITH HIM!!!'you throw your punch against the mirror surface.

There is a large cracking noise and your eyes open wide with surprise when you see large mirror parts falling off the surface and bright light penetrating through the cracks. Your feet move against your will and back away from the mirror, as you see the cracks becoming larger and larger, until they create an enormous white O with a huge X crossing it in the middle. You back away, as terror overwhelms your very soul, as the cracks continue to expand and pieces of the mirror crashing hard around you; but your eyes are only nailed on the grim symbol.

You open your mouth.

And you scream.

Breathlessly, you pop up in your bed. The darkness welcomes you and you desperately search for the light switch on the wall, blinding yourself when your fingers click the switch. As your eyes adjust once again, you find yourself on your room in the campus, safe and sound.

It was just a nightmare. Only a nightmare.