FIREFLIES - Eyeless Jack X Reader

Chapter 16 - Conflict Of Interest

The dots continued for a while, but eventually vanished. All of the undelivered messages that have just been sitting here went rushing through, finally having access to their destination. The phone must've finally been turned on! Before I could do anything, the dots vanished and the service was lost again. Anything I typed failed to send, just like before. The person on the other end was gone. Either Sweets was alive, or someone else had their phone and was making dubious plans.

I feverishly pull up the screenshots tab in my camera roll. Sure enough, when I looked at the picture, it was still there. Without a second thought I sent the screenshot to both Chief Harris and Cayden. Cay was the first person to call me back, and before I knew it I was in his car on the way to the police station, where the Chief would be waiting. He called me back on the drive over, and it seemed he took quite an interest in this new development.

-----

I stumble off the bus, my entire body feeling sore from the nearly 7 hours I spent traveling. And by public transport, so you can only imagine how bad I was feeling. I hobbled towards the wooded area surrounding the very public bus station. I was quietly hoping to keep unwanted eyes from following me and Jack, and this was the best option. When I was hidden enough for his liking, Jack jumped down from his place in the branches of some gnarly looking tree.

Even though he couldn't see me, I guess my current discomfort was palpable enough that even he took notice. He suggested we stop somewhere for the night and let me sleep. I tried to refuse, but he just doubled down and reminded me that I was human, and that if I wore out during all this I'd be no help to anyone. He said he wanted me at my best, and I guess the exhaustion left me without much energy to refuse. We were in a hotel in half an hour.

Since Jack couldn't exactly waltz into a hotel and ask for a room, he gave me a bundle of cash to pay upfront. A part of me pondered where the hell he got this, but another knew I might not wanna know the answer. He tried saying he'd stay in the trees nearby, to give me space for the night, but I wasn't having any of it. If we're in this, we're in this together.

I walked up to the front desk, handed the guy a very suspicious wad of cash, and told him to put 'vacant' on the books rather than a name. Poor guy was probably used to this kind of sketchy behavior, because he barely batted an eye at me. Although, when I requested a room closest to the woods he did shoot me a look that I promptly pretended not to see. Either way, I got my keycard. When I was in the room and sure nobody else was around, I slid open the window and Jack quickly slid in. In hindsight, he probably could've just walked in from the back of the building, but whatever I'm too tired to think of all that.

Once Jack was inside I instantly collapsed on the bed, leaving locking up and security to him -cause I knew he'd do that anyway-.

God, why is riding in a bus so exhausting? You're just sitting there! My lower back was especially bad. That took the most damage in all honesty.

I was laying on my stomach, the musty smelling blankets only adding to my frustration. I was just trying to find some kind of comfort lying there, when suddenly I felt two hands of ice lift up the bottom of my shirt and slide over the skin on my back. I couldn't help the surprised squeak that escaped me, but soon enough my entire body melted. I always thought heat helped with sore muscles, but something about Jack's touch made my skin relax better than anything else.

I let out a deep sigh before mumbling a soft thank you. I could feel his fingers tense at my gratitude (perhaps because he hasn't been thanked in a while), but he didn't pull away even though part of me could tell he wanted to.

One hand did pull away to scribble me a little note, however. It mainly just told me to get some sleep and that we'd start in earnest tomorrow. I begrudgingly agreed, and was out before I knew it.