Chains: Eyeless Jack X Reader

Chapter 17

  {Reader's POV}

            When I returned to the clearing, I expected Jack to be furious. I expected him to scream and lash out at me, to violently threaten me for fighting back and tying him up, to strangle me into unconsciousness.

            I did not expect him to be a sniveling pathetic mess.

            Disgust filled me as I stared down at him. This was the guy who ruined my life? I couldn't stomach how pathetic he was acting, just because he was tied to a tree with a little rope. He could break that easily! I could break it if I wanted to!

            Yet even more than disgust at how he was acting, I was disgusted at myself for feeling pity.

            This was the man who ruined my life, who took everything I knew from me, yet I couldn't help feel bad for him as I stared at him. His expression was full of so much pain, desperation, helplessness, despair... I sighed as I walked over, crouching next to the knot on the side of the tree. "Jack, calm down," I told him softly, untying the knot slowly and carefully. "You're okay, nothing's wrong..." His head was bowed, his bangs covering his hollow eyes. As I'd suspected, the moniker "Eyeless Jack" was pretty literal, but I could think about that later.

            "Why?" he whispered, not looking at me. Black ooze dripped from his face to the ground, probably his substitute for tears. "Why...?"

            "I didn't have a choice." The ropes fell loosely around him and he quickly hugged his knees to his chest, burying his face in his arms. Gently I reached for his shoulder, only for him to wince and yelp at my touch. Really? This was just getting sad. "Come on, Jack, let's go home..." He nodded feebly as I helped him to his feet, and he instantly leaned on me for support. I flinched as I felt something warm and sticky rub against my bare arm, shuddering involuntarily, but didn't push him off. When we got back, I'd be taking a very long shower.

            As we began the walk back to the cabin he continued leaning on me for support, making progress slow. With each step I could hear something sloshing, and I almost gagged as I realized he had organs stuffed into his pocket. Gross. I pushed it out of my mind, focusing on hurrying back so I could take a long shower. Jack didn't look directly at me, head bowed to the ground, but he stole glances every now and then. "...What happened to your neck?" he muttered, his voice almost too soft to hear.

            "...You tried to strangle me," I replied somewhat hesitantly. Didn't he remember what happened? Well, since he wasn't angry now, I decided to use this opportunity to clear all of that up. "While you were gone, a gust of wind blew away one of the patches, and when I went to get it you came back and thought I ran away." He didn't respond right away, just giving a small, feeble nod.

            "...I'm sorry..." The apology caught me off-guard, and I glanced at him in surprise. His empty gaze was cast downwards, black "tears" still trickling down his cheek. His expression was hollow and empty, full of defeat. "...I'm sorry..."

           "Stop apologizing, you sound pathetic."