Rose Petals - Eyeless Jack x Reader

Chapter 18

[18— Recuperating]

|| Jack's POV ||

There were too many sounds and too much going on. This was not how the night was supposed to go.

Morning would arrive from beneath the horizon in a couple hours, and the four of you needed to keep moving. You had driven for what felt like an hour before the static had finally faded and everyone was certain that the thing was no longer giving chase, and you pulled to a stop at the side of the road in a large, open field.

You had slugged out of the car, mouth clamped shut and movement uncoordinated, as if you were on the verge of passing out drunk. Jack had wasted no time in following, though much more gracefully, and rounded the car to where you were stumbling out into the tall grass.

Even for him, the field was desolate. The night's air was cold, and even colder when wind blew, ruffling his clothes and hair. Over the sound of the blowing wind, he was also sure that he could hear the howling of a wild animal. In pain, or in triumph, he could not decipher.

Jeff had not hesitated to get out of the car either, throwing himself out with a couple muttered complaints and the backpack slugged over one shoulder. He had spent the entire car ride in the back, grumbling and whining about your little brother being there. Since you were in no condition to, Jack had warned him that if he even so much as touched the kid, he would wish the faceless thing would have gotten to him compared to what he would do to him.

Jack caught up to your slumping form easily, especially as you stopped, and he could sense you hunching over. Knowing what was about happen from his own experience, he quickly took hold of you as you proceeded to vomit into the grass below.

His heart thumped in his chest— it had been ever since he'd returned to the hideout and saw you there. He was still caked in blood, though it was well into the process of drying at that point. Washing it all off would be a pain now that he was out on the road.

Your little brother had not left the car, still sitting in the backseats. Jack supposed he would have to check up on him for you, though he did not mind. The kid had been sniffling, but mostly crying quietly to himself and not saying a word. Jack could only come to the conclusion that your sister had not made it out from whatever had happened.

He had yet to ask you about it. He was not sure you were ready yet— he wasn't sure if he was ready to talk about what he was doing and why he was plastered in blood, either. Your body was heaving and wracked underneath his gloved hands, working out the vomit in wheezing breaths.

Jack heard Jeff shout out angry swears behind him and the bag hitting the earth below. Moron, he thought.

The wind. Your expulsion. The crickets, burrowed deep in the blades of grass which brushed up against his leg. The grinning man behind him, cursing out the fates and the night above. So many noises. So many loud, grating noises. He wished, once again, that he had not been transformed, lost his sight, and that he would not have to experience these noises so vividly. He wished—

"I think there was some blood in all that."

Your croaking voice ripped him from his mind and back into reality. He did not let go of you, leaning to the side to get closer to you. "Are you okay?" he asked gently.

"Uh-huh," you said through pants. "Well... as okay as I can be."

"Do you want to go back to the car?"

"Okay."

Jack readjusted his hold on you, slinging one of your arms over his shoulder and swivelling you and guiding you toward the car off the side of the road.