Eyes of the Divine (Yandere!Eyeless Jack X GN!Reader)

The Child Is Crying, What Do I Do?

Your eyes followed him into the room, watching as he brushed brick dust off of his jeans. He looked around, ignoring you completely, before marching over to the desk and opening the top drawer. He began rooting around, examining every item in great detail.

You hovered over his shoulder like a ghost, eyeing every move he made. Was he looking for something? Whether you liked it or not, the timing indicated that he was clearly the thief, but you didn't know why.

When he turned around after inspecting every item in all three desk drawers, you jumped back, pulse becoming annoyingly loud in your ears. You took a moment to calm yourself as he stripped the bed, looking under the pillows and under the bed itself.

Stop being silly, you scolded yourself, this isn't real. He can't hurt you. A wave of disappointment and shame crashed over you. When did you go back to being scared of him? After all the time spent with him, all it took was for you to relive this day and the progress you had made got thrown out the window.

You had to do some mental maths to work things out. You were four years in the past, in your first year of university. Four years ago, EJ had lost his memories in the ritual while in his last year of uni (or so you assumed. You vaguely remembered the origin story mentioning finals.), so he hadn't long become a Proxy. He must have been so confused about everything, found his way to your campus and broken in.

You didn't notice that EJ had moved onto the other bed and was clutching the discarded hoodie to his chest, breathing heavily. It was only when he fell to the floor that you broke away from your train of thought, daring to walk closer. He was sat on the floor, knees under his chin, as he hugged the hoodie, his head buried in the soft fabric. He was muttering something into the hoodie, and as you knelt down, you strained your ears to hear what he was saying.

'Safe,' you heard him whisper, 'safe. Safe safe safe. They're safe. Safer with me.' He let out a shaky breath. 'They'll be fine. Won't get hurt. They'll be fine when I find them again.'

Your brain decided he was obviously talking about you. Why would he break into your dorm room and hug your hoodie while talking about someone else? Your brain thought of a possible reason why, it sent your stomach spiralling as your heart dropped into it.

'You were following me,' you murmured to the EJ sat before you, 'you came to my campus and started following me. But...why? Why did you start? And why did you stop?' You hand reached out to touch his shoulder, and you immediately retracted it when you realised what it was doing.

It was no use trying to offer some comfort like you were used to doing; he couldn't see you, and you weren't friends four years ago—he knew you, but you didn't know him. The thought filled you with a strange feeling that resided in your chest like a dragon residing in a cave. You felt...sad? Whatever you were feeling, you didn't know. All you wanted to do was run home and see the EJ you had grown close to: your EJ. You wanted to sit on the sofa and watch dumb TV shows about baking and laugh at the contestants for using the wrong icing when you yourself could never match their astounding creations. You wanted to exist in the same space as him and feel safe and wanted and loved.

If Chernabog took your soul, you knew it would never happen again. There wouldn't be a 'you' for EJ to spend time with, so you had to try and give the chance to find a replacement as Jack Nichols, not as Eyeless Jack.

The EJ in front of you had stopped his mumbling, and the sound of the door unlocking sent his head jerking up, leering at the doorway (which, incidentally, meant he was looking at you). In a trance-like state, he rose to his feet and stalked towards the kitchen-living room where the newcomer was stood. You followed him, curious to see who it was.