I'll Keep You

My Turn

(Above image credit belongs to Mythicaliity on TikTok. Edited by me.)

Dark was laying on the couch when Shawn quietly made his way towards the door. With his hand grasping the doorknob he looked behind him to see Dark one more time before slipping into the hallway.

'Hurry up! You wasted enough time with him.'

Shawn rolled his eyes as he quietly opened the door and walked out, closing the door behind him. He stood still and listened for any sound but the hallways were eerily quiet.

"Well," Shawn said, "Are we going to switch control or what?"

'For now you can remain in control. Once we find him we can switch.'

"Why wait?" Shawn whined. "You are the one that wants to search for him, not me!"

'Just do as I say, Shawn!'
Nex's voice echoed loudly in his head; almost causing him to lose his balance.

"Whatever, Nex." Shawn huffed as he looked against the wall for his ax. Normally he wouldn't carry it around but he felt like he should be armed.

'Afraid?' Nex teased.

Ignoring them Shawn shifted the ax from one hand to another. It was the only weapon he used but he pretended to evaluate its weight in his hand. Gripping the handle firmly with both hands he swung it through the air. The sound of it passing through the air was all he heard before a crash echoed through the halls. Instinctively he looked behind him towards the door. Surprisingly Dark didn't come rushing out.

'Wore him out, huh?'

"Shut the fuck up, Nex!" His face was feeling flushed as he felt embarrassed at what Nex was hinting at. He raised the ax to rest it on his shoulder, "Let's get going before the searchers find him first."

He headed towards where he assumed the crash was coming from. The sound was as if someone had knocked something over. It could have been a searcher trying to get over or through something. Or it could be Nex's new fascination making his way through the studio blindly.

"What do you think he's looking for? Not many outsiders have bothered to break into the studio in a long time."

'Too long if you ask me.' Nex pointed out.
The last outsider that made their way into the studio unfortunately ran into Sammy. The outsider didn't stand a chance. 'They seem to be getting smarter and avoiding the place. But who knows... curiosity tends to make people do stupid things.'

"You'd think the fact that even though there have been 'For Sale' signs outside and no one has ever bought it would be a big enough red flag to stay away."
Joey had descendants but none of them ever wanted to step foot inside the studio. They handed the building over to the city. The city tried to sell it but there were never any takers. Most had heard the rumors of the studio being haunted. Once or twice construction workers attempted to come in and work on the place but they never lasted. Either they were scared off by the ink monsters or taken by them. In every scenario it ended the same, Joey Drew Studios left abandoned. Or as abandoned as it could be with demons and ink monsters roaming around.

"Why do we stay here, again?" Shawn had asked the same question several times.

'You know why...,' Nex replied. They hated that question.

He did know why. Even though he asked the question over and over he knew that the right thing to do was to stay in the studio and make sure whatever happened to manifest within its inky walls that that's where it stayed. He couldn't even imagine what would happen if any of the ink monsters escaped and made its way into the outside city. Besides he knew that anyone he knew from before this mess even began was long gone by now. Shawn didn't know many people but it still made him sad that outside the studio walls he had no one.

'This again? Get over it already. You have power beyond most people's imagination. You have a demon to call yours. Enough with the moping about 'what ifs' and 'could have beens'.'

Shawn hated it when Nex dismissed his feelings but they were right. Though most of their time had been spent within the studio he couldn't have asked for a better person to spend it with. Dark made each moment they had together special and unique.

'Ugh, enough already! I blocked you out earlier to avoid this romantic shit.' They growled.

Shawn couldn't help but laugh at Nex. "You are the one that brought it up," he pointed out. He could feel Nex's pouting energy. Even though Nex never gave him the courtesy of an apology for any of the awful or embarrassing situations they put him in he gave them one anyway. Nex grunted something that Shawn took as an acceptance of his apology and continued on their way.

There wasn't much to find. There were ink puddles that could form at any moment but they didn't. Shawn took it as if they knew that either something unknown was around or they felt Nex was near. A loud thud came from a hall that was further up and then a crash.

'Found him. Ready?'

"I've been ready, Nex." Shawn was relieved that they had found the guy as quickly as they did. He tended to find switching a pain but at this moment he welcomed it.

When it wasn't a life or death situation that required a rush switch it felt different. When it was rushed or even sudden switching tended to feel as if they rammed thier head against a wall multiple times. Nex would play it off as if it had no effect on them but for Shawn it always had physical as well as emotional effects. Sometimes it was too much that he had to find somewhere to hide and wait for whatever he was feeling to pass which sometimes took hours.
Thankfully this switch wouldn't result in any kind of painful after effects or negative emotions. It was during this type of switch in control that Shawn could visualize what it was like.

It felt as if he were flipping a light switch but not only did the light change so did the room. The mental room in his mind he would be standing in while in control was bright but once the switch began it would darken. Mentally he would open a door and walk out before the darkness engulfed not just the room but him as well. The room where Nex normally waited in dark shadows would lighten up and he'd wait there watching as Nex took control.
The feeling like jelly for a moment was something that would always be. It would take a minute or two to pass but once it did it was the sign that the switch was complete and successful.

'How are you going to approach him?' Shawn question.

With the ax still in their hand, Nex debated if they wanted to continue with it or not. The human man wasn't a threat to them but the sight of someone appearing before him wielding an ax with ink dripping from their eye might be an interesting sight to behold.

'I knew it. You just want something new to play with!'

"Shut up, Shawn. You already had your fun tonight. Now let me have mine," they purred as they slowly crept their way to stand directly behind the oblivious man.