Key- (Y/n)= your name, (A/n)= author's note, (Y/bday)= your birthday
"I don't know," Sean replies simply.
"What do you mean, you don't know?" I ask, perplexed.
"I mean, I don't know his name. 'It', actually, because I'm not even sure it's human. It looks like me, I know, but with the darkness, how could it have come from this universe?" Understandable. It did, after all, push Sean off of the roof of a skyscraper.
"Well, what do you know about it?" I say as we're nearing the exit. There's something nagging me, just kind of poking at the back of my brain. Familiarity? No, but what...?
"It.. it kind of just appeared a month or so ago, in my dreams. Began taunting me, insulting me, and man, are its insults actually hurtful. I was able to push the thoughts away for a while, but he was relentless. My fear got to the point to where I didn't even want to go to sleep at night. My job was affected my the lack of energy, though, so I was practically forced to rest to do my job correctly." Job, huh?
"What DO you do for a living?" I ask. From his build, he looks like he could be a weightlifter, from the +1 biceps or a whale biologist, because he looks fairly intelligent.
"I am- I mean, I was -a YouTuber. JackSepticEye, over 8 million subscribers (A/N- at the time of writing this chapter)." He smiles fondly, perhaps thinking about the website and its people. Interesting. Mental note- check out the channel later. What is it that I have to do, now?
"Cool. Continue?"
"Okay. A couple of weeks after it showed up in my sleep, it actually showed up in person. I was walking to my bedroom after a shower, and it said 'You've got a big problem on your hands. Or, should I say, a small problem,' while looking me up and down. Not only did my face turn really red, but I screamed loud enough to get noise complaints, and I would normally scream everyday or so in my videos. I was terrified. Now, not only can it torment me in my slumber, but it had 24/7 access to me and my already damaged mindset."
"'It' got physical. It started to punch or slap me in sync with the insults. This has gone on for a while." Sean rolls up the sleeve of his hoodie, showing me some cuts and bruises. My eyes widen. Why him? He seems so nice, telling his story to a complete stranger.
"Then, we get to today. Same routine, get up, brush teeth, get pinched, eat breakfast. The situation escalates far enough up to where It teleports me to the top of the building. They know about all of my fears, including the heights problem. It tells me in my mind that there's no hope. There's no reason to go on. And... I believed them. I wanted to let go of that damned ledge. Then you-" he stops and turns to me, hurt and tears streaming from his beautiful eyes. "-you intervened with my final decision. You stopped me from getting the one thing I wanted. Why? Why did you stop me? Why did you keep me in this hell you call home? Was it to torture me even more than I have been? Well?" Oh, shit, that wasn't rhetorical. He's staring at me, expecting an answer. What do I say?
I take a split second for a few thoughts to run around in circles. No, it wasn't because I knew he didn't deserve that, because A) he might, I don't know, and B) I didn't know this story at the time. It wasn't pity, it was more instinct-like. So...
I place my hands on Sean's shoulders and look him in the eyes, which is difficult, because I really don't want to see the pain. "I saved you because my body told me to, Sean. I wasn't trying to hurt you physically or emotionally. It's my instinct, I guess, to stop people from dying prematurely. I didn't hear or know they were saying things in your head. And now that we're both standing on solid ground, I'm happy about my actions. I'm getting to know you, a once total stranger to me. And who knows, maybe one day we'll both be glad you didn't die today," I tell him.
He hugs me, tightly. That, I did not expect. What I expected was a meltdown of some sort, as he's emotional and that's very possible. I return the gesture, and we continue walking, discussing things about ourselves along the way.
Turns out he's 25, since February 7th. I tell him I'm 22, since (Y/bday), and that I record music for a living(A/n: the job might have been influenced by my choice to listen to Jack's outro while writing). While talking, that feeling at the back of my head is growing stronger. What, or who, am I forgetting?
Then, it hits me. "OH SHIT," I say. Ella! "Sean, I need to make a call. I just realized I don't know where my friend is, hold on." I pull out my phone, and hit her contact info.
...But nobody picked up.
Shitshitshit. Where is she? I don't have my car, and I am not walking across town to her apartment, no way.
My phone rings. Yes! It's her. I answer the call. "Ella? Where are you? Are you okay?"
"*creak* Yeah, I'm okay bud. I'm at the hospital though. Broken arm and other injuries from an explosion. Guess I was wrong on the whole 'Nothing will go wrong' bit, huh? There's no need to stop by. Meaning, I will hurt you if you stop by to see me." I know she's serious, and I know she'd actually do that. I feel like arguing, though.
"But Ellaaaaaaaaa-"
"No buts, and no butts."
Ugh, the inside jokes. "Fiiiine," I huff.
"I'll see you in a couple of weeks. Bye." Click. Damn it.
I sigh and we continue walking to Sean's apartment building, as that's where we decided on heading.
