Manifest Darkness (Sequel to Darkness Within)

Chapter 17- Reality

Sean-

My eyes fly wide open when I hear Mark's scream split the silence. "NO!NO NO no no no no!" he cries, tears streaking down his face, frantically struggling against the chains that hold him down.

My eyes widen and I instantly dash over, trying to calm him as much as possible.
"Mark, Mark, Mark!" I whisper. "Calm down, please! Everything's okay!"

He looks at me, eyes wide and terrified. "No no no no I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry." he mumbles over and over.

I blink.
"M-Mark, what's wrong?" I ask him softly, slowly reaching out to cup his cheek. He flinches.
"I- I- Y-You're okay..." he mumbles, looking at me. He seems shocked- he was sweating profusely, and breathing heavily.

"Y-yea, I'm fine." he stares at me. "I-I almost killed you, and then Anti came and almost killed m-me..."

I chuckle a small bit in disbelief, patting his head.
"It was just a dream, Markimoo." I say, using his nickname to try and calm him down.

He looks up at me, eyes wide. "B-but it seemed so real..." he whispers, trying to reach up and touch my face, but the chains prevent him from doing so

I let out a soft sigh.
"Maybe... maybe we could get those chains off?" I suggested, and he nodded eagerly.
"P-Please."

I walk out the door and state my request.

"Er, I don't know... he's a danger."

I glare. "What do you mean, a danger?!" I snap, furrowing my brow when she didn't answer me.

"I mean he almost strangled you!" she snapped. "We got a full confession from him."

I open my mouth, but clamp it shut with a frustrated huff.
"Well, can you at least tell me when I can take him home?!"

"No. It's classified. But I suppose I can unchain him." she sighed and walked in, unlocking the shackles to Mark's shocked wide eyes.

I let out a frustrated huff.
"It's classified." I mumbled mockingly under my breath.

Mark stands, looking unsure of himself.

I look up at him, giving him a small smile.

He walks towards me but stops, seeming to be scared of himself.

I walk towards him at that, taking just a few steps not to scare him away, as if he was a wild animal.

He stares at me, eyes wide.

I then took a few more steps.
"It's okay." I whisper, looking up at him kindly.

He stares at me, then suddenly strides toward me, closing the gap between us and pushing me against the wall, kissing me roughly, I can taste his salty tears. "You're okay." he whispers against my lips in between kisses. "You're alive." Almost as though he's trying to reassure himself. He brings my hands above my head-and then he's gone, and I see four men holding a struggling Mark five feet away from me. "NO NO no PLEASE! Fuck! Let me go!" He screams, thrashing against their hold, straining towards me, fresh tears spilling down his face. And then one of the men reach into their pocket. I scream "No!" but as the words leave my lips, he tasers Mark, and I watch in agony as Mark's body jerks and shudders violently from the shocks before collapsing limp to the ground.

My hands cover my mouth, and tears threaten to spill down my face. I hold them back. I wouldn't cry in front of these... these monsters.. I wouldn't. I try to go over to Mark, choking back my sobs and causing my throat to hurt just within a few seconds.

The men step back. "He could've hurt you. He was being aggressive."

I shot glares of death at the men.
"He wasn't being aggressive!" I snapped. I knelt down next to Mark. "He had a nightmare, and he just wanted to know if I was real." I murmured.

A while later, Mark groans, and I take his hand. "S-shit. What happened?"

I slowly rub his knuckles, humming a small bit.
"Nothing." I mumble.

I sit down next to him on the padded floor, trying to stay calm for Mark's sake. I feel like even the slightest bit of anger could set him off, and then he'll never get out of here. Groaning, he sits up a bit and moves over, laying his head in my lap. "C-can you do that thing again?" he whispers.

I nod with a smile, petting his hair again.

"T-thanks."

"Don't mention it." I whisper.

I continue this action for a short while, running my fingers through his soft, ebony locks. I look around at the workers around us, watching them intently.

After a while, his eyes close, and I think he's sleeping, when he whispers "They think I'm crazy."

I sigh. "Mark, no, they don-"

"Don't bullshit me, Sean. I'm in a padded room, watched by people nonstop, and there are cameras in every corner. I noticed them while I was waiting for you to come see me. After an hour I figured you'd forgotten me."

I looked around the room, and indeed, as he had said, there were cameras in every corner. I was about to give them all 'the finger', when Mark interrupted me.
"I'm.. I'm not crazy.. am I?" He looked up at me with those big, innocent, lovable brown eyes.

"No. You're not. Really." I say, but I feel like I'm both lying and trying to convince the both of us at the same time.

Mark saw right through me.
"Sean." He whispered. "Be honest."

"Mark, please. D-don't make me..." I trail off. I can't say this. I can't do this.

Mark sniffled a small bit. That action alone hit me like a truck. I hug him close, but he just... lays there. Like dead weight. It kinda scared me.

"Mark. Are you okay?"
"Yea" he replies in a dead, listless tone.

I blink back tears, covering my face.
"This is all my fault." I whimper, my voice breaking.

He sighs, closing his eyes. "Whatever, Jack."
He only calls me Jack when he's not happy with me.

I hug my knees to my chest, sighing heavily.
"I'm gonna go." I mutter, not waiting for a response as I stood, walking off.

"Yea, fine. Go, leave me. While you're out there, tell them to chain me back up!" he calls after me.

This only made me walk faster, squeezing my eyes shut. I storm out of the hospital, not speaking to anybody and bumping into nearly everybody. Everything hurts, everything aches. I thought about what I was going to do.

Get drunk? Possibly.
Cut? Possibly.
Cry? Definitely.

Sighing, I make a beeline toward the nearest bar. Then, maybe I'd cut. Mark- he wouldn't be there to stop me. I smile at the thought, feeling the smallest bit sick with myself.