Chains: Eyeless Jack X Reader

Chapter 34

  {Reader's POV}

            Grogginess filled my mind when I awoke, too tired to open my eyes. Everything felt like a blur, my body impossible to move, and I didn't know why. Gradually my eyes opened and I found myself staring at an unfamiliar ceiling. This one was wooden, but darker than my bedroom. The room itself felt darker, and as I rolled my head to the side I saw the walls were gray with a red pattern.

            No, wait... That wasn't a pattern, it wasn't uniform enough... It was too random. As my vision gradually cleared, I came to recognize it for what it was: blood.

            I didn't really react right away. My subconscious registered the walls as blood-stained before the rest of my mind, the logical parts. At that moment it was just a fact, a statement, as simple as "the walls are stone" or "the sky is blue". The full implications of its presence didn't hit me yet, so for now I just stared at the blood-stained walls, trying to figure out where I was.

            Nothing about the room was familiar. From what I could tell, I was lying on some sort of cold surface, though there was a thin sheet separating me from the cold metal. As I lay there in a groggy state, light suddenly flooded the room and I rolled my head over to see a dark blob entering, silhouetted by a large square of light which quickly vanished as it approached.

            Muffled sounds reached my ears, at first vague and blurred noise without form. However, there was something familiar about it, something slightly comforting. Yet, at the same time... disconcerting. As I stared at the black form, I noticed navy blue near the top, and soon closed my eyes, trying to think. Where... where had I seen it before? Why was it so familiar...? What was it...?

             Then everything came rushing back.

            My eyes abruptly popped open, my vision still blurred. Everything was rushing back, a jumble of memories that in my current groggy state fluctuated between registering as simple fact and bringing horrible, overwhelming emotions. Jack chased me, fact. He forgot his mask, fact. He knew about Buddy's account, concern. I barricaded my door, fact. He tried to open it, fear. Then I was in pain.

            Why was I in pain?

           In the present, I started to register that my side was numb. My hands wandered to my stomach, reaching under my shirt. Was this the shirt I was wearing earlier? I couldn't tell, I couldn't remember. My fingertips were numb, and so was my stomach, fact. But I could feel something, something that wasn't skin. Something kind of fabric-like, something slightly raised...

            Bandages.

            Fear.

             Dread bubbled inside me at the realization, a dull sensation at first but quickly escalating. The muffled sound near me was growing clearer, more distinct. Jack's voice, I realized. It was Jack standing next to me. It was Jack who'd done this to me. I remembered the photographs of him tearing into kidneys and other organs with his teeth, as well as in front of me one morning just a few days ago. He's a cannibal, he eats organs.