Rose Petals - Eyeless Jack x Reader

Chapter 12

[12— Just Empty Sockets]

Your blood ran cold.

Chains. There were four of them attached to him, one on a limb each. The mask was discarded halfway across the room on the floor, as if it had been thrown off. His dark brown hair was tangled in chunks, and his skin was as grey as you had always seen it— before, it was fake, but now, you knew it was real.

He was blind, but not in the way you thought he was. There were no eyes. Only empty, black sockets. He thrashed in the chains, growling and screeching in a way that faintly reminded you of the proxy in the graveyard. Teeth as sharp as razor blades flashed as he lashed out. There was nothing human about his behaviour. He was a vicious animal. The man you knew never existed.

A hand slowly rose to cover your gaping mouth, your heart wrenching at the sight you beheld. A feral beast, wild and dangerous, but at the same time, helpless and pitiable. You struggled to hold the tears back, the permanent stench of blood in the room only making it harder to do so.

He had lied to you about everything. He could speak. He stalked you. He killed people. Ate their kidneys. He brought unearthly creatures into your life, nearly getting you killed. He was not even human. Jack was a monster. Disgust was all you could feel for these actions, but somehow, none of it mattered when it came to how pathetic he appeared as he fought uselessly against the chains. All you saw was pain and suffering.

"This is what happens when he doesn't eat! You did this!" the disfigured man who brought you there spat. "And now you have to face it!"

"W-What happened?"

The man shoved your head as he let go of it, standing over you from behind. "He shut himself in! He didn't sleep! He didn't eat! Nothing! He starved himself because of you!"

You watched as Jack tried to lunge for you again, but yelped and scrabbled back as black tendrils suddenly burst from his mouth and shot out at you. They flailed and lashed as he stretched out as far as he could as he could to get to you, clawing at the floor.

You recollected yourself, voice was thick from crying. "When did he—"

"Two nights ago!"

The same night the proxy had attacked you. The same night you ran into that faceless thing in the woods with Jack. The same night he exposed himself as a stalker and confessed to killing a man. The same night you told him you never wanted to see him again.

"This is what he truly is," the man went on through grit teeth. "Deep down, past that persona of a man, he's nothing but a mindless, depraved demon."

You squeezed your eyes shut. A shudder skittered down your aching body. Why am I here? What am I seeing this for? You opened your eyes, watching Jack continue to struggle against his restraints. "Why didn't you just feed him, then?"

"Excuse me?"

"Why did you just feed him?"

A pained yelp escaped you as the man took you by the hair and twisted, spinning you around to face him. He clenched your lower face to hold you in place, rage burning in his unblinking eyes. "You think I didn't fucking try? What the fuck do you take me for, you piece of shit?"

You allowed the anger to mix with your fear. "So, you can chain him up, but you can't feed—!"

He squeezed your face harder, rendering you unable to speak and immediately regretted your tone. "You're not going to talk to me like that." He pressed you back, inching you closer to Jack. The slimy tendrils brushed against your head, sending a shiver down your spine. "I'll fucking kill you."