Sweet Insomnia [Book 2] [Jeff the Killer x Reader] [JTK]

Nightmare 33: Refresh

Recap:

His hair was black.

You peered down at his lips that were now covered in frostbite and fire.

His skin was pale.

You watched as his eyes shot open and stared up at the gray, soulless sky.

His eyes were red.

He cocked his head to the side, smiled, and muttered, "Johnny's gone now."

-+-

"He already had most of his memories, (y/n). Thanks to you," he said. "But that means you wasted your only chance on a guy like him."

"What?" you questioned. "What are you taking about?"

The doctor smirked for the final time.

No way. You could have used it on yourself and everything would have been fine?! You just wasted the only thing that would put you back into a rare state of nirvana?!

"What a shame."

Jeff laughed after his personal interjection and narrowed his sinister irises.

Under a spotlight, he stood. In awe, all amusement and attention was directed at him. His hair was the color of a raven in the darkest, blackest cave on earth. The only sins that stood out were his eyes- his red, demonic, bright eyes, which punctured your soul more than they ever had before.

Jeff was launched at the dirty demon and was inches away from his face within moments. Smiley gripped the hatchet in his palm once again, but Jeff was able to disarm him quickly. His hand reached for the doctor's shoulder while the other repelled the oak handle. In an instant, Jeff's back was facing Smiley's and the weapon had changed owners.

The surgeon looked thoroughly and utterly shocked. His eye remained locked on a single part of the horizon as his hand became paralyzed, fingers wondering why their grip was lost.

Jeff spun himself around and let the hatchet spiral out of his hands. The metal sliced into Smiley's back like a butter knife falling into honey. He gasped for a moment before his entire body fell forwards and sent a heap of dirt soaring away from the scene. Jeff took that moment to rip the knife from Blair's corpse and slowly pull the axe from his other masterpiece's back.

In his last breaths, Smiley made an effort to speak to you.

"You know, (y/n)," he panted, wheezing for air. "That syringe... It only sped up the process."

You clutched your virtues.

"He was going to... get them all back... over time-"

Jeff dug the knife into Smiley's side, twisting and turning it around like the hands on a clock. The man jolted a couple times, but made note to keep his dignity as he realized that his plan failed. He refused to be beaten by a monster, and at that moment, he actually looked like the good guy- a victim- which was funny because he was known to be the complete opposite.

"What's your tragic flaw, you deranged hero?!" Jeff yelled.

While his eyes rolled around, Smiley snapped his head to the side and looked back at you. His face was completely drained of natural color and shredded of any uncertainty or evil that was there prior to the slaughter house. The only thing that remained on his beautiful cheek was a single clean spot. It was the only spot on his entire body that still wasn't covered with blood yet.

Jeff hauled him up by his wrist and placed the doctor's head near his. Staring into his life-lacking eyes, the renewed psychopath said a final word that would stick with the dying man forever:

"Burn."

And the world almost caught on fire.

You saw flames sprouting from the corners of bushes and climbing up the vines that lined the bare side of the cliff. Red, scorching bulbs of light flew at your face and lit up the sky brighter than the sun ever could. The moon above you laughed in an eternal inferno of sin and empty promises. Lies shot out of the trees like blazing arrows, piercing your chest and heart, cutting you open like a hallucinating wolf.

But somehow, you didn't feel any pain.

The burning sensation in your arms and legs was nowhere and the fiery pit of doom in front of your eyes was a mere illusion used to fool you like the fool your enemy had been. Every single flame subsided and fell back into the black hole of future tales.

You wore a fearful expression and didn't know what to say. Your lips started shaking, finally taking in the cold that had been waiting outside your nightmare for the opportunity to infiltrate your very being and soul.

"J-Jeff?" you called. "Did you remember-?"

He burst out laughing.

It rang in your ears like a horn on a train and made the blood rush out of your face. Your ears twitched, frightened by the sound of death knocking on your window. The devil waited for moments after moments until your thoughts started to straighten out again.

He wasn't the same.

"You look so pale," he mumbled. "Almost like a ghost!"

Out of both of his eyes, the one covered by the tinted strands of wet hair that had fallen onto his messy cheek was still slightly innocent. But the other... The other was glowing. It seemed machine-like and unnatural with the pea-sized, red pupil that sent bullets into your lungs.

You felt a shiver scurry up your neck as Jeff regurgitated another chuckle.

"Hey, (y/n)," he said. "Wanna play a game?"

"What g-game?" you choked, slowly moving your back against the tree.

"Just a little round of tag!" he exclaimed. "You start running and I'll chase after you!"

You inhaled and shivered slightly from the birds of ice that were perched on your fingers.

"Go ahead!" Jeff laughed. "Five seconds."

You ran as fast as your bruised, weak legs could allow and tried to block the undying urge to give up. You heard the bones in your body shift as they felt the feeling of flight again.

You were running for your life, after all.

That was until you felt a hand grab your shoulder and hold you still. Your body wouldn't get out of that dreadful dead stop as there was some other force keeping you in place.

You weren't free, you weren't independent, and you weren't immune. You were chained and captured. You were the victim.

"You're it," Jeff whispered in your ear.

He jerked out the knife from your back as you exhaled for the first time in years.

It was then that you saw the fading smile that was waiting... just waiting... to eat you alive.