Cruel & Blue (Eyeless Jack story)

Chapter 71

Chapter 71

Ao's POV

I hit the floor hard when I dodged out of Jack's way. His claws ended up scratching at the wall that was behind me, creating a terrifyingly deep gash. His claws got stuck in the wall for a few seconds, allowing me the time to get to my feet and run. As soon as I turned around to face him, Jack freed his hand and was prowling towards me again. This time he didn't wait and leaped at me with surprising speed. I ducked just in time but a claw caught my armor and scratched it around my shoulder. Unfortunately, he wasn't stalled and I barely side-stepped out of the way before he could drive his nails into my stomach. I only received a burning graze across my side.

Ao, he's going to kill you at this rate. Let me--.

"No!," I exclaimed as I hurriedly leaped out of Jack's way again. Not even a second after, I had to dive forward and roll under him when he pounced again In front of me was the open cage door, and due to my panic, I ran forward and closed myself in. Jack tackled the door with amazing strength but I was able to hold the door with Sam's aid. Jack kept trying to ram the door but it was no use. Frustrated, he huffed and paced around the entire glass cage, keeping his head faced towards me as he moved. I slumped down against the door and finally got a breather.

"What am I going to do? What did they do to him? How do I bring him back to normal?," I murmured, exhausted.

I don't think they've been feeding him...

Looking back at a still circling Jack, I noticed now that he was slightly thinner. He was due to hunt two weeks ago. He can barely last a day without going crazy.

"So, then...we just need to feed him?," I said softly.

It seems to be the only thing we can do, aside from...you know...

I gulped and pressed the button on my radio to call Ben.

"Sheba! Hey, I've got Masky and Hoods, and we're getting Sally out now."

"That's great," I praised him, "I'm gonna need you to do me a quick favor, though."

"Yeah?"

I sighed as I clutched the radio tighter and said, "Send a few MTF over to Jack's cell."

"Aren't you over there? Why would you want that?"

"Just do it. It's...very crucial."

With some hesitance, Ben replied, "Alright, I'll send them some false alert or something--."

A loud bang echoed from in front of me and I looked up to see Jack punching at the glass. A large, spiderweb-like crack spread out over a part of the glass wall, and I started breaking into a cold sweat.

"Ben, hurry," I blurted before letting go of the radio button and standing to my feet. As I waited in place, I watched Jack punch at the glass and create more cracks. At the rate he's going, he'll break through it completely. I knew Sam would pull some protective measure so I hoped Jack wouldn't come through for his own sake and mine.

What was probably minutes, felt like excruciating hours as I waited and watched Jack try relentlessly to break through the glass. My hand was on the door, ready to open it so I could dash out of Jack's way.

With a loud bang, the glass shattered and Jack fell through. He shook off the fall and lifted his head towards me, snarling like a starving dog. Immediately, I opened the door and closed it on him. Jack charged forward into it and, to my surprise, the door hinges snapped and I went falling onto my back. The air was knocked out of me but I still had enough strength to hold up the glass door on top of me, along with Jack. He still growled and scratched at the glass and seeing him so close up was terrifying.