Doubles [DISCONTINUED]

Chapter 4: Time to Play

 Sean and Mark caught up on the drive to Mark's house. They mostly spoke about how their lives have been, with some extra small talk here and there. Then, the big question came up. "So, anything from Dark since we last talked?" Mark inhaled, held his breath there, not removing his eyes from the road, then exhaled. "He's taunting me a bit right now. But he's mostly silent. I'm still really suspicious of what he could be planning." Sean tilted his head, furrowing his brow and giving a small smile. "Now what could he possibly be planning that could be detrimental to your daily life?" he asked. Mark shrugged. "I don't know!"

"Exactly!" Sean exclaimed, poking Mark's shoulder. They got to a stoplight and Mark turned to Sean. "What?"

"If you don't know what he could be planning to ruin your daily life, that means there's very little he can actually do! Therefore..." Sean looked forward at the light as it turned green. He nudged Mark to step on the gas and the car was moving again. "...you've got nothing to worry about." Sean finished his sentence. "I've got an idea of what he could be doing in the future..." Sean almost flinched at the suddenness of Anti's words. The only indication that Sean heard him was the twitching of his ears and the small shuffle of his hands. 'Shut up Anti...' "How about you make me?" Anti's giggle angered Sean. He clenched his fist. It took him a moment to notice that Mark was taking glances at him and that they were in Mark's neighborhood. Sean forgot that he lived this close to the actual airport. Or he had just lost track of time. He couldn't tell which. "Dude, you alright?" Mark asked. Sean turned to him and blinked for a moment. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Just tired." Sean wanted to change the subject.

"Hey, I saw one of my fans on the plane today. It was pretty funny because he and a friend bet each other. His friend now owes him forty bucks." Mark laughed. "Oh my god that is the best. How long has it been since you've been recognised in public?"

"Uh, about three months. Maybe four. That's what a hiatus does I guess."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right."

The rest of the time they sat in silence as Mark parked his car. Mark got out and Sean rubbed his eyes tiredly before doing the same. "You remember where the guest bedroom is right?" Mark asked, pulling Sean's bag out of the trunk of his car. "Uuuuuuhhhhhhh..." Sean replied. Mark gave him a look. "I'll take that as a no..." he said a-matter-of-factly. Sean's suitcase had four wheels on the bottom so Mark just shoved it towards him, letting momentum do its work as the suitcase rolled over to where Sean was standing. "Up the stairs and second door on the right." Mark said. "You go get some sleep 'cause you look like you just rose from the dead. Which is what we're gonna do tomorrow." It took Sean a moment to register what Mark was saying. Man he was so tired. Apparently one moment is too long. "SLEEP GODDAMMIT!" Mark looked genuinely angry which scared Sean. "Oh, uh, sorry. My Darkiplier is showing." Mark then acted like nothing happened, giving a smile before closing the trunk and going through some stuff on the driver's side of the car. Sean couldn't exactly blame him. Those random angry fits probably happened to him two or three times daily.

"Oh, so that's what Darky's like..."

'Would you stop calling him 'Darky'?' Sean thought in reply. 'It's getting really creepy...'

"Let me think about that... Hm... Uh, how 'bout no? Yeah, no sounds about right!"

Anti laughed loudly, echoing through Sean's head and giving him a headache. Sean didn't even notice that he had made it to the guest bedroom. It looked the same as before. Queen sized bed, green walls, gray carpet, a super bland closet that Sean assumed Mark was planning to replace because it looked ugly as shit and he knew Mark felt the same about it, four-drawer dresser. Yup, same-old same-old. Sean let go of his suitcase and let it roll and hit the bedside table, making the lamp rock a little bit but not enough to make it fall over, then threw himself into the bed. He didn't bother to cover himself with the sheets or change his clothes because he was as tired as a bear in the winter. He fell asleep as fast as he did on the plane. And of course, like routine, he found himself in his head again. This time, Sam was flying around his head happily. Strangely, though, Anti was nowhere to be found. It had happened before though, and just like last time, Anti fell from above and landed on Sean. Sean toppled to the ground and groaned from the sudden pain he had received in the back of his neck.

Anti was suddenly standing over him as he sat up, rubbing the back of his neck painfully. He had some extra black goo dripping from his mouth and he wiped it away with his thumb. He stared at the goo on his opposable thumb thoughtfully. "I wonder..." he said curiously, kneeling in front of Sean. He grabbed his green hair, scaring Sam into hiding behind Sean, and pressed his thumb to Sean's face as he attempted to get away. Sean felt unbearable pain, like that single spot on his face was on fire. Anti pulled his thumb away. "Ooohhhhh!!! So that's what it does! I've never tried that before!" Anti sounded fascinated. "Oh, and by the way. Remember when I said I couldn't control the 'black shit'?" Anti made finger quotes. Sean stared at him cautiously. "Y-Yeah, why?" he replied, still shaken up from the pain in his face.

Anti gave a wicked grin and widened his eyes crazily. "I lied..." He raised his left hand and shoved it into his mouth. Loud gurgling could be heard from Anti's throat, before the black goo poured from his mouth and onto Sean. He screamed out in pain as soon as it came in contact with his skin. Anti closed his mouth and wiped away any remaining goo with his hand, shaking it away. With Sean still screaming in pain, he scooped up the thick liquid in his hand and yanked Sean up by the hair again. He forced Sean's mouth open and placed his goo filled hand over his mouth, letting it slide in and down Sean's throat. Sean could feel the strange substance go down his esophagus, but get lodged in the middle. It suddenly burned and his body tried forcing it back out to no avail. It just stayed there, blocking most of his air. He struggled to breath. His throat dried, he couldn't talk and all he could see was Anti standing over him with the biggest smile in the world. "There's more where that came from later 'ol Jackaboy..."

He sat up quickly in the bed, sweat running down his forehead. He gasped for air, surprised at how easy it entered his lungs. After a few minutes, Sean's heartbeat died down and his breathing steadied. He turned to the bedside table, looking at the digital clock. "8:00..." he read aloud. He fell back onto the bed and shut his eyes again, making sure he didn't fall asleep. He didn't want to go through that hell again...