My Enemy

Was It Worth It?

Jackie managed to sneak out of Sean's house that night when he was asleep and unsuspecting.

He traveled across the town quick until he reached Anti's apartment window, opening it up and sneaking inside.

'I really hope he wasn't lying. But Marvin's feelings are usually never wrong. He better not be hiding in the dark getting ready to attack me . . '

He had his doubts, though.

The hero almost slipped in the dark until he realized he stepped in something wet. 

'Ew! What the hell was that!? Better not be any more of his stupid traps!' but he also had his worries of what else it could be.

He tip-toed to the lamp to turn it on only to pale. 

It was blood.

'Shit. The fuck happened?' Jackie didn't know why but his heart started to pound in his chest.

He looked around the living room but didn't see Anti anywhere.

He then ran into the bathroom only to see medical supplies. There was gauze strewn about the counter, some blood in the sink and some on the floor.

There was clearly a lot of work that had to be done and that didn't help Jackie's anxiety.

Where was he? The encounter with Sean wasn't that long ago!

'Did Sean actually really hurt Anti? This is a lot of blood . .'

Finally Jackie opened Anti's bedroom door and saw the glitch in his bed, the TV on but on mute.

A sudden wave of relief washed over him and he let out a heavy breathe he forgot he was holding.

Jackie walked in slowly as if making sure Anti was actually asleep and not passed out from blood loss or dead.

But as he got closer, he noticed a few more things.

'His . . neck is wrapped. From his neck bleeding . . . that's right. Why did I forget that was a thing he could do? Every time he 'attacked' us, this would be a signature look of his . . . .  or what Sean wanted him to look like . . . ' Jackie took a few breathes to calm his nerves.

He saw the bottle of Nyquil by his nightstand and was slowly starting to put it together.

Plus the tears stained on his cheeks . . . . he had been crying.

Marvin was right after all.

There wasn't going to be any talking to Anti right now, though, how he was. 

Having seen how much of the bottle he had drank, Anti would be out until mid-morning and Jackie could only stay out of Sean's head undetected and unnoticed for a few hours.

Jackie didn't even notice.

He didn't even realize his hand had moved of its own accord and went into Anti's hair. He felt. . . bad for Anti.

'Marvin was right. Anti did fight it. So much that it totally exhausted him. Sean was trying to make him attack us. But for what? He didn't have a camera that I saw OR his phone out. . . not that I could see, anyway'

As Jackie stroked Anti's hair, the glitch leaned into his touch and the hero smiled, 'Chase would be better at this. He's way more of a brother figure than me since he has dad traits. He'd spoil you rotten if he knew the truth, Anti'

Jackie frowned and moved his hand away, 'But after today, I doubt he'd ever question Sean. Hen will be harder to convince, too, now'

With an uneasy groan, Jackie sighed and started to walk out of the bedroom. Until something else caught his eye.