Chains: Eyeless Jack X Reader

Chapter 9

   {Reader's POV}

            After our little "chat", Jack left me alone for the majority of the day. I think he actually felt kind of bad, if such a thing were possible. He avoided the bedroom and just left sandwiches for me outside my door. The only times I saw him were when I went into the hall to reach the bathroom, at which point I could see him sitting on the couch messing with my laptop. Based on his mumbling, I assumed he was having trouble doing whatever he wanted, but he didn't come to me for help.

            The next day wasn't much different. I slept in until the afternoon and found myself bored with little to keep myself occupied. A little bit before sunset I was staring at the ceiling when an awful stench drifted through the door. I gagged and ran to the dresser, grabbing a shirt and wrapping it around my mouth like a bandanna. Standing near the door, I grappled with myself and ultimately stepped into the hallway, walking as far as the chain would let me to peek into the main area of the house. Jack was in front of the fridge, stuffing something into a black trash bag.

            "What is that?" I gasped, gagging at the smell.

            "Rotten food," he replied plainly. Rotten food? What kind of food smells like—wait... My face quickly drained of color. Organs. That's what he said he ate. I quickly turned away, not wanting to see any rotting organs.

            "...How long has it been in there?"

            "...I don't know." I cast him a curious glance only to quickly turn back as I glimpsed something yellow in his hands, throwing a hand to my mouth to resist the urge to vomit. I scurried back into the bedroom and slammed the door, tossing aside the shirt and coughing. I was not in the mood to vomit again.

            Shortly after this Jack knocked on the door. "It's gone," he called. When I didn't answer, he continued. "Organs have short shelf lives if not preserved properly. Usually I eat them before they rot like that, so it shouldn't happen again." Was that supposed to make me feel better? I opened my mouth to speak but had to quickly close it as I felt something start to rise in my throat. Again. I am getting really sick of throwing up so much.

            "Water," I whispered, and his footsteps quickly disappeared before he returned with a tall glass of crystal clear liquid. I snatched it from his hand and downed it quickly, swallowing the bile fighting to escape. Once I finished I handed the glass to him and mumbled a soft, "Thanks." He took the glass and looked at me silently for a moment.

            "I'm going out," he declared. "I'll be back later." I almost asked where he was going but quickly decided against it. I had a pretty good idea of what he was planning to do anyway. "Don't try anything while I'm gone." I nodded.

            "I won't," I promised. Not much I could do, with this chain and all. I'd probably just sleep, since I didn't have much else to do and I'd feel safer with him gone. Jack seemed content with my promise and left the room with the glass, only to pause and glance at me.

            "Oh, and keep your ears open while I'm gone. Some of my friends might stop by. I'll leave a note, but stay alert anyway." He then closed the door before I could respond.

            ...Wait, what?

~*~

{Jack's POV}

            Jack swiped his scalpel at the dummy hanging from the tree, slashing its side open. His skills WERE rusty, he noted sullenly. Too many misses. If this were a real person, about fifty percent of the time they'd still be able to move and fight back, and he wouldn't even be able to get an organ. Tonight he'd probably have to slit his prey's throats before taking their kidneys and other organs to ensure safe removal, a thought that made him relatively depressed. Killing didn't really bother him, but usually he preferred to do it only if the person woke up. Then again, he kind of needed to this time. He needed to get his strength back.

            Casting a glance at the setting sun, Jack sighed as he pocketed the scalpel and sat against the tree. That was enough practice for now, he'd take a little break before scouting for some prey. For the time being his thoughts wandered back to [Name]. The chain guaranteed she wouldn't be able to leave, but still, he worried for his little "pet". Desperate people would do desperate things. He'd made sure to keep any sharp objects out of her reach—he'd even removed the bathroom mirror—but now he wondered if he should have taken that photo, too.

            Jack had seen her pack the framed photo from her childhood when they were leaving, but hadn't said anything at the time. It was only a photo, he'd reasoned; might as well let her have one keepsake of her old life. His blood ran cold at the memory of the photo, his teeth grinding as he recalled the man's smiling face in it.

            He was roused from his sleep by a stick prodding his side, slowly lifting his masked face to see his captor grinning at him. "Mealtime," the man announced, reaching out and removing Jack's mask. As soon as it lifted Jack shot his head forward, trying to bite his wrists, but the man was too fast and easily avoided it. "Woah, there, if you do that then I might not give you any food." Jack glared at him, a red light glowing in his empty eye sockets, but then gave a sigh and hung his head as the man extended a stick with a kidney skewered on the end.

             How long had time passed like that? How long had he been held prisoner in that basement, his will gradually waning? The sparkle in that man's eyes, the wicked gleam in his smile... That man was not sane. Just thinking about it made him utter a low growl, scowling at the world around him. Time was a bit inconsequential to him—he wasn't human, he only had to focus on surviving—but for once it really irked him. That time was completely lost to him, spent rotting away in a basement.

             Jack's biggest regret was that he couldn't be the one to kill that guy, but he couldn't change that.

             Clenching his fists, Jack rose and cracked his neck. He'd been sitting for long enough. He took off through the woods towards civilization. Time to find a target.