Object of Desire ; Eyeless Jack x Reader

Chapter 41

        For a few seconds Jack stared at the scalpel. Then he looked back at me. Back at the scalpel. Back at me. Eventually, his grip on me loosened. Feeling the pressure on my chest get lighter, I took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Jack." I said with an almost hoarse voice. He stared at me dumbfounded before slowly letting go of me with his one hand to grab the scalpel I still held out to him. His other hand still held my collar and pinned me to the tree as he shoved the scalpel into the pocket of his hoodie. He didn't look at me anymore, instead his gaze was now focused towards the ground. I wasn't sure what he was thinking. That mask was really bothersome in moments like this. Feeling probably a bit too much courage, I lifted my hands up again and reached out to Jack and carefully placed my hands on his mask. He still kept his gaze straight, not turning towards me but also not turning further away from me. I grabbed the mask and pulled it off his head before letting it drop to the ground. Using every little piece of moonlight the sky offered me, I tried to make out his facial expression. I could see his brows were slightly furrowed and it seemed like he was clenching his jaw. Was he still angry? Or more frustrated? Conflicted? Whatever it was, I felt like I had to say something. But what? What could I possibly say to him? What was even my goal? I contemplated as I stared at him. "You're not a monster."

His head snapped towards me, his gaze now focused on me again. He quietly watched me, barely moving in any way. I didn't know if I should say something else or move or do something. I decided to stay still for now until he did something. It felt like an eternity of a weird staring contest before Jack completely let go of me and bend down to pick up his mask. He turned his back to me and started walking, leaving me alone at that tree, looking after him with confusion. He took a few steps before stopping again. "You're injured." He mumbled without looking back at me and started to walk forward again. I knew I was. Did he want to take care of the wound? I was still very confused but he didn't seem angry anymore so I followed after him.

It took a few more minutes of silent walking until we reached an all too familiar clearing in the forest with a small house in the middle of it. I stopped to take a look at it. I desperately tried to leave this house just a little while ago. And now here I was, voluntarily getting back with Jack. It felt strange but I didn't want to keep thinking about it so I quickly shook all these thoughts off and kept following Jack, who was about to unlock the door. Even while we went inside, he didn't look at me even once or said anything. He just kept walking through the living room, disappearing into the dark hallway. I looked around. It still looked pretty much the same as when I left it. Yet, I noticed more dust on the surfaces around the room. Seemed like he really was missing me as a maid after all. Probably didn't have any time to clean by himself while also stalking me and Alex' family. I sighed and walked over to the couch to take a seat and wait for Jack to return.

It didn't take long until he came back into the living room with his first aid kit. "Take your shirt off." He suddenly demanded.

"Huh?"

"Not like-" He pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "I mean, you can still cover yourself up. I just need to get a good look at your shoulder."

"Oh, okay." He definitely caught me off guard with a sudden order like that. But he was right, he couldn't properly tend to my shoulder with the hoodie on top of it. I looked up at Jack who averted his gaze and turned his head away from me. Making sure he definitely wasn't looking at me anymore, I puller the hoodie over my head, followed by the t-shirt I wore underneath. I then grabbed a nearby blanket off the couch and wrapped that around me, leaving my shoulders and back free. "You can look now." Jack turned around and sat down on the couch next to me. I turned my back to him so he could look at my shoulder. I heard him rummage around his supplies until a cold, wet cotton pad touched me and made me shudder.

"Sorry." He mumbled while disinfecting the wound carefully. "I think this probably needs a few stitches. I'll put something on it to numb the pain." I didn't know how deep the wound was but I just trusted him. Some of his tools felt cold and sent a few shivers down my spine but it wasn't really painful and I felt like Jack tried to be as careful as possible as he skillfully and quickly closed up the cut in my skin. When he was done, he packed up all of his supplies again and left the room to bring them back where he stored them while I carefully put on my shirt and my hoodie again, trying not to move my shoulder too much. When I was fully clothed again, I heard Jack's footsteps approach. I looked over towards the hallway to see him stand in the doorframe to the living room, leaning against it while crossing his arms and staring towards me. I felt like I had to say something but I didn't know what so I just uncomfortably shifted in my seat.

Eventually, Jack walked towards me again, sitting down in his usual armchair across the couch. "Why did you say that?" He asked.

"Say what?"

"That I'm not a monster." Good question, really. I just didn't really know what else to say to get his attention. But I couldn't really tell him that. I stayed quiet for a moment, thinking about how to say what I was feeling. "You were scared of me the whole time." He suddenly continued. "You wanted to escape from me so badly. You even stabbed me once. You did everything you possibly could to get away from me. Why are you back now? You ran into the dark forest all alone trying to chase after me with my own scalpel. That was like the most stupid thing I ever saw. Why?" He looked at me with furrowed brows. He seemed genuinely confused. And honestly, I was too. Why did I do that? I bit my lip in frustration and looked down at my lap. I didn't have much of an explanation. It was just this curiosity I had about him.

"Okay." I fixed my gaze on him again. "Let's do this again. I answer your questions and you answer mine."