Different [A Superhero AU] - Book One

Chapter Sixteen - Nightmare

Jack watches Mark leave, a strange and untouched area of his heart aching uncomfortably. Why does he want him to stay? With him gone, the room feels cold and empty. Usually he's okay with being alone, but for some reason that's different when that stupid hero is around.

He fights off sleep for as long as possible, afraid of what will happen when he closes his eyes. Nightmares are a common occurrence for him, as it is with most of the other villains that have been around for a long time. Screaming is normal when you have nightmares like they do, and when they were younger, those screams could have alerted authorities. This led to the on-site scientists making their creative shock therapy method to stop it. If a child screamed, they would be shocked. Eventually, their bodies learned that loud exclamations meant pain, and they all together stopped making sounds in the night. However, there was a flaw in their systems. They were only silent if they received shocks, and their nightmares carried on through to adulthood. Without the shocks, they reverted back to their normal human reactions to night terrors.

Jack grits his teeth as he reminds himself why he doesn't sleep. Getting electrocuted is unpleasant and so is screaming so everyone can hear you. He rubs his eyes, trying to fight the exhaustion. Without realizing it, he slips further and further down the wall he leans against until he's practically lying in bed. As soon as his head touches the mattress, he's out like a light.

The halls of the school fill with people, talking and laughing like regular school kids. Jack, fourteen, stands with Cry, Dan, Stephanie, and Matthew and watches the other kids pass. They're misfits, not just emotionally but physically. They're easy targets. A group of taller, stronger kids approaches them, shoving Jack around like a rag doll while they laugh at his eyepatch.

The scene changes, this time to the school playground. His back presses against the cold bricks of the school building as the bullies surround him, each taking their turn punching and kicking his small body while they jeer at him. He screams for the others to help him, but nobody comes.

Suddenly, he's standing in the streets as the buildings around him burn. The smell of cooking flesh taints the air, making him gag. The bodies of the other villains, including Matt and Ryan, surround him, broken and ruined beyond recognition. Cry's mask is broken, revealing half of a face that belongs not to him, but to the boss. As Jack watches, Cry's body stands and stares at him, unblinkingly. The rest of the mask falls away, his body Cry's but his face the boss'.

"You should have done something. We're all dead because of you," he says in Cry's voice, chilling Jack to the bone. "You killed us."

A mirror appears out of thin air, reflecting the Irishman's face back to himself. His eyepatch is gone, leaving Anti to grin back at him with his demented smile as a drip of black falls from his eye like a tear. The demonic creature laughs, sending a shiver down Jack's spine.

"We killed them. Look at all the carnage! You should be so, so, PROUD of yourself. Little Seán killed all of his friends! They're dead!" Anti shrieks. The reflection lifts its arms, bringing the bodies with him. "They'll dance in a beautiful ballet!"

The land changes again, showing a stage with bright lights and a slowed version of the Nutcracker melody playing. Jack watches from the audience's perspective as Anti conducts the bodies of his friends like a choir. Their dead, unblinking eyes never seem to waver from Jack even though their bodies dance in perfect sync.

Someone shakes Jack, pulling him from his nightmare. He bolts upright, sweating and shaking and screaming. He grabs the sides of his head, his entire body quaking.

"Jack, shhh, Jack, you're safe," a familiar, sleepy voice insists. "Deep breaths."

The Irishman nods rapidly, taking shaky breaths in and out. The person beside him murmurs encouragements in his baritone voice, calming him down significantly as he rubs circles into his back. Tears stream down Jack's face, the images from his nightmare flashing through his mind like a silent film. When he's calmed down enough, Jack finally lifts his eyes to see Mark.

"Mark?" he squeaks.

"You're gonna be okay, Jack," the hero murmurs. He looks down, pulling his hand away from the villain. "Sorry, I'm probably being too... ah, whatever, I'll just go now that you've calmed down."

He stands up to leave but Jack stops him, reaching out and grabbing his wrist. He hates the desperation, the neediness, but he can't help it. He needs human contact. He needs someone to be there for him.

"Please stay," he begs through his sobs.

Mark's eyes flicker with emotion. "I'd be going against every single rule that Curatrix has."

"Please..."

The hero stays put for a moment before sighing heavily and settling beside Jack once more. He rubs comforting circles into his back as the Irishman takes deep breaths, trying to stop the sobbing from starting up again.

"What was it about?" Mark asks softly. "The nightmare."

"Partially my childhood, partially my biggest fear," Jack replies just as softly, his voice still choked with emotion. "Why are you here? I thought heroes didn't live at headquarters."

"I volunteered to stay. We need at least one hero on the grounds if we have a captive, so I stayed and just asked someone to bring my dog over here for the night."

"You have a dog?"

"Yeah." Mark smiles. "Her name's Chica."

Jack nods, grateful to have a distraction. His eyes grow heavy again and he finds himself leaning into Mark. Just as he reaches the brink of sleep, he jerks himself awake again.

"You can sleep, Jack. I'm here," the hero says.

"No, it'll come back," the villain retorts in a sleepy tone.

"It won't. Just sleep."

The Irishman sighs and, despite his mind screaming at him not to, leans against Mark and shuts his eyes. The hero rests against the wall, the villain's head sliding from his shoulder to his chest.

"My teammates would all be making fun of me right now if they saw this," Mark whispers, chuckling a little.

"Me too," Jack murmurs as he drops off to sleep.