Y/n's pov
I instinctively sank into the couch, letting my head fall back and my eyes close. This place was unsettling, creepy even, but I couldn’t deny that it had its own twisted charm. Something about the odd mix of cartoonish colors and eerie stillness felt almost... cool. But before I could get too lost in my thoughts, a presence loomed over me.
"AH!" My eyes snapped open to see Jax, the purple bunny, towering above me, his devilish grin spread wider than ever.
“Geez, don’t scare me like that,” I grumbled, flinching back a little. His grin didn’t fade.
“Get up, n/n. I’m gonna show you where your room is.” He said it like it was a chore, not even attempting to hide the impatience in his voice.
I raised an eyebrow, a little skeptical. Something told me this wasn’t an act of kindness on his part. “Let me guess—one of the... characters asked you to?”
“More like forced me, but yeah.” He shrugged, like it was all in a day’s work.
“Okay...” I got up, feeling the difference in our heights as I straightened up. I’d noticed earlier that I was taller than the others, but Jax was something else. I barely came up to his shoulder, giving him an even more imposing presence.
He gave me a once-over, clearly amused by my reaction to his height. “Well, come on, slowpoke,” he teased, not waiting before he started walking off at a lazy pace.
I followed, curious about what kind of room a place like this would even have.
When I caught up to him, Jax was strolling along with an air of calm confidence, that signature smirk still on his face. I could tell he was probably the most annoying of the bunch, but... there was something intriguing about him, something that made it hard to look away.
“So you put the headset on too, huh?” he asked suddenly, catching me off guard.
“Uh, yeah,” I replied, feeling the lingering confusion of the whole situation catch up to me again. “I don’t really understand how this happened, but... this place seems pretty cool when I think about it. I mean, I’ve only been here for a couple hours, I guess, but it’s got its charm.”
Jax gave me a look, one eyebrow raised as if I’d just said something totally outlandish, but he didn’t seem too bothered. “So, let me get this straight: you don’t mind being trapped here? With no exit?”
I shrugged, trying to make sense of my own thoughts. “Not really. Why?”
He snickered, shaking his head slightly. “You’re definitely crazy, doll. But eh, guess that means less chance of you getting abstracted.”
“Abstracted?” I repeated, the unfamiliar word lingering in the air between us.
“Yeah,” he replied, like he was telling a campfire horror story. “It’s when you get so hung up on the fact that there’s no exit, that you’re just stuck here. You get obsessed, start spiraling... asking yourself what the point of anything is, why you’re even alive. And when you reach your breaking point, you become an Abstraction.” His eyes darkened just slightly, and he added, “A huge, twisted, black monster that ain’t got any mind left.”
“Oh, God.” I felt a shiver run through me.
He chuckled, clearly entertained by my reaction. “Yeah, not so ‘cool’ now, huh?” he teased, still looking at me with that smug, unreadable gaze. “Just try to keep it together, alright? Makes it a lot easier for the rest of us.”
I nodded, still absorbing what Jax had said, but as we walked, my curiosity got the better of me. I glanced around, noticing the doors lining the hallway. Each one had a face drawn on it—some happy, some neutral, some with a strange, unsettling look. But what really caught my attention were the ones that had been crossed out.
"Uh, the crossed ones," I said, pointing. "Are they the ones that got... abstracted?"
“Oh, yeah, they are,” Jax replied casually, as if we were just talking about the weather. His nonchalance threw me off. How could he be so indifferent to something so horrifying?
I didn’t press him, but I couldn’t help but think there had to be more beneath that cocky exterior. Maybe he was just trying to seem cool, hiding whatever he was really feeling. People who act mean or tough—I'd learned the hard way—often have a darker, more painful past. Maybe Jax was no different.
