FIREFLIES - Eyeless Jack X Reader

Chapter 17 - Back To The Beginning

It's darkest right at the entrance, when there's still daylight to make the shadows deeper. The farther you go, the less wind you feel. Which, of course, makes breathing all the more difficult. Yet, when the sun is behind us and there's no light left, I find myself feeling less afraid than I'd expected.

Maybe because Jack's trembling hand still clings to my own. Maybe because I don't know the full extent of what this place means to him. Maybe it's because of the creepy light farther down the tunnel.

It's soft, yellow, and flickering like a candle's flame.

I want to stop, I want to freeze, but my curiosity pulls me deeper in. At this point it feels like my legs have a mind of their own. They want me to go in, they want me to find out what that light is. I feel like a moth drawn to a flame, and perhaps I'm about to be singed by the fire. Even still, I can't look away, I can't stop walking towards it. Jack is giving me no resistance, but I quietly wish he was.

Suddenly, I feel his legs dig into the dirt, halting me in turn. My body still pulls against his form. A twinge of panic sets in, as truly now my body is resisting me.

A gentle, cold touch on my shoulder breaks me from my trance. I blink and draw in a trembling breath. The compulsion to continue forward is gone, even when I lift up my eyes to look at the light again I don't feel the pull. I glance behind me, only able to see the outline of his mask in the incredibly dim light of the tunnel.

He doesn't say anything, but I can sense him quietly checking if I'm okay now. I nod my head slowly before straightening myself out. He shifts himself to walk beside me and we continue, hand-in-hand and side-by-side.

The transition from the dark tunnel to the lit end of the cave was sharper than I thought. I found myself wincing at the light and blinking away the stinging pain. When I regain my ability to see, I take note of my surroundings.

It's a big, closed off circle. Like an open room in the shape of a cul-de-sac. The only way out is the way we just came.

In simpler terms, it's a dead end.

Candles track along the entire wall, lit by who knows what. There, in the middle of the open floor, is a book. Big as hell and bound in some kind of dark stained leather. It sits delicately atop a length of neatly folded red fabric, like carpet rolled into a square. The floor around it has scorch marks.

This is definitely a trap.

It's also the only option we have.

We can't continue on the way we are, something's gotta give. Whatever happens is gonna happen anyway, so we might as well get it over with!

I take a step forward, intent to just pick up the damn book and be done with it. Instead, a firm hand latches onto my wrist and yanks me back. I nearly collapse at the force of it, but my back is cushioned by Jack's chest. My head lifts up to see soothing dark blue looking down at me. He repositions me so that I'm on my own feet again and scribbles a hasty message.

'Not you. I'm already cursed. If something is going to happen, it should happen to me.' I give him a nod in agreement, since I doubt he'd let me argue much anyway. He hands the notebook over to me before stepping towards the obvious trap. Something makes me take notice of the notepad. There's only two blank pages left in it, and a sinking feeling of finality washes over me. I snapped my head up, perhaps intending to make him stop, but it was too late.

He stoops down and picks up the book, his hands ungloved. The second he picks it up, the candles flicker and a massive rushing of wind almost knocks me to the ground. It's like the wind is being sucked out through the tunnel. In its place, stormy black smoke starts to rush in, filling the roof of the cave. It starts directly above Jack and spreads out until the cave looks like a room on fire.