Love is Blind (Eyeless Jack x Reader)

Chapter 1: Confined

­­Love Is Blind (Eyeless Jack x Reader)

Side note: (Y/n) - your name

You had your eyes closed as you allowed the last warming rays of the declining sun to caress your face. You took in a deep breath of the fresh air around you, exhaling as you opened your eyes to gaze at the sunset.

At that moment, you were perched upon your most treasured tree from the forest that sat adjacent to your backyard. What made it your favorite was the fact that it had the best view of the sunset, a feature which you came to know from a number of personal experiments; you even carved your name into the tree's trunk one night as a way to claim that spot as yours alone.

God, was tonight's spectacle utterly exquisite. The sunset left the sky painted with an astonishing shade of orange, the clouds slightly tinted in a light pink color that brought the whole experience together. It was almost impossible to look away. In fact, you were sure you could've stayed and stared at it for hours if nature would ever allow its beauty to last that long!

Sadly, you knew that you needed to return home before the sky started to replace its bright, soothing colors with the somber night. And you definitely did not want to tread through the forest in the dark, what with your eyesight being less than average. You also wanted to get home before one of your parents noticed you were gone. The last thing you needed was to give them another reason to . . . Well, we don't need to think about that right now.

Sighing, you scooched off the tree branch and climbed down its trunk. You gently patted the tree as soon as you reached the ground, hesitating before embarking on your trek home. Even though you knew you shouldn't be out at this time of day, you couldn't help yourself; you just loved escaping to the forest to observe the sun set. Heck, just strolling about and enjoying any kind of scenery the forest had to offer was worth the risk of getting caught; it was the only time you felt free. The forest had always provided you with a sense of tranquility and security since no one in your small town ever went out for a stroll, consequently making you believe that the forest was basically all yours, too. It was your home away from home.

After walking through the forest for quite a while, you could barely make out the faint outline of your house in the distance as the sky began to grow dark, your path only illuminated by the light provided by the moon and stars that replaced the once bright orange sky.

Oh, no, I'm late! Hopefully, I can sneak in from the back without being caught . . .

You quickened your pace, trying to reach the back door without making too much noise. When you successfully made it there, you placed a steady hand on the doorknob and started to slowly turn it clockwise.

Please, please don't make a sound.

You silently prayed to yourself–and to the door—to be as quiet as possible. The house was pretty old since your family couldn't really afford anything "luxurious," so you didn't fully trust the door to listen to your pleas for complete silence. Luckily, the door managed to stay completely silent as you opened it with enough room to slide yourself through to the kitchen. You closed the door shortly after, thinking that you were safe and clear to head off to your room.

Yessss, thank the heav—

"Out late again, (Y/n)?" an irritated voice spoke out from the living room.

" . . . !"

Your heart jumped when you heard your mom's low voice come from the living room, which was directly across from where you were paralyzed in the kitchen. You were really hoping no one would be here . . . that, or your mom would be passed out from drinking excessively again. Unfortunately, neither was the case since your mom was lying down on the sofa, her head slightly raised above one of the armrests while her murky brown eyes were fixated on yours. At least it was her who caught you trying to sneak in and not Robert, your cruel father.

"Well, um . . . I sorta lost track of time today. Sorry," you quickly apologized, not wanting to provoke her in some way.

"Huh, well—" she lied her head back down on the armrest, looking off into some random direction, away from you— "you're lucky it's only me here right now . . . Robert's out gambling again," she slurred out in a grumble.

You decided to count this as some sort of miracle and appreciated how lucky you really were tonight. If Robert had been there, he would've beaten you senseless for being outside without permission again, your mother not even paying attention to your cries. She always tried to ignore what was happening to you, letting him do literally anything he wanted as long as she wasn't involved. She's never cared for or about you . . . but at least she never treated you like Robert did.

Knowing that your mother wasn't going to question you further or, frankly, acknowledge your existence any more than she already had, you hurriedly scurried towards your room, which, by the way, was the attic in that dreadful place. You pulled down the ladder from the ceiling to climb up into the attic. Honestly, the attic wasn't such a bad place to be living in. It was small, sure, but it also gave off a somewhat cozy feeling.

You had tried your best to keep your room as tidy as humanly possible when you were first moved there, which wasn't hard since you didn't own much. The room consisted of a small, brown wooden drawer for the few clothes you managed to maintain and a short bookshelf that contained all your favorite books you were able to get your hands on.

Besides escaping your broken life by venturing into the woods every chance you got, you also loved to escape reality by emerging yourself in books, fiction being the one you loved most since it was the most entertaining to immerse yourself in. You briefly thanked your best friend for even getting you into books in the first place.

Your final piece of "furniture" in the room was the bed, which was just an old mattress on the floor covered with a thin bedsheet. A pillow rested on one of the edges of the mattress while a blanket was haphazardly flung on it. You had methodically placed it in front of the only window in the room so that, every time you went to lie down, you would be able to see the outside world. It wasn't much, but it was all you had, and you had come to appreciate it all.

You decided to go to bed before your father got home; you wouldn't want to "accidentally" get in his way when he loses all his money from gambling . . . With that in mind, you changed into a pair of loose-fitting PJs and crawled over to your bed. You lied your back down against the stiff mattress and placed your head on top of the flat pillow, covering the bottom half of your body with the light, fluffy blanket as well. Then you propped your hands behind your head as you stared outside the window, letting your thoughts run wild in hopes that it would help you slip into unconsciousness quicker.

Eventually, you closed your eyes and repositioned yourself in a more comfortable sleeping position. You hoped that maybe, just maybe, you could have a nice dream tonight, just so you could escape reality once more . . . You sighed to yourself before finally drifting off to sleep, your final thought bouncing around your skull like a ball and chain around your ankle:

Will I ever escape this life?

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(A/N): Hope you liked the first chapter to my first fanfic :P