Mayhem 2019 (JackSepticEye Prompts)

Day 9: Try To Fall Asleep

Images swirled around in his head, beautiful blends of green and red, but he was colorblind, it was all a blur that faded to black until the eyes came, all wide, all glowing, all staring, they were waiting, waiting for him to die, he was waiting too, though he didn't know why, there wouldn't be much longer to wait if he kept this up, falling in a spiral, madness consuming him as he dreamt, dreamt. . .

Jack opened his eyes, staring at the ceiling above him. The dreams were becoming more and more frequent, usually causing him to wake up in a cold sweat from terror.

But not tonight. It was unnerving; he knew he'd had a dream, but Jack couldn't remember a single thing about it. Normally, he could recall the nightmares in vivid detail and yet his mind was blank. What had he dreamt about?

Slowly, Jack closed his eyes again. It was concerning, the inconsistency of his memory, but he decided to take it as a good thing. Maybe he would actually be able to get some sleep for once.

However, it soon became clear that sleeping wasn't going to be easy. Though he didn't have much to think about, his mind was racing with random thoughts, relaying the day as if his brain were on autopilot. With his head so busy, it didn't seem to have time for sleep anymore.

Jack groaned and sat up, rubbing his eyes. So much for some decent rest.

Suddenly, a crash came from somewhere in the house, along with some loud cursing and thumps of someone moving. Jack went on alert, tensing up before throwing his blanket off and walking over to the bedroom door. He grabbed a mug he'd left on the table earlier and opened the door without a sound. A mug wasn't the best weapon to have, but it was certainly better than nothing if he needed to fight.

Carefully, Jack tiptoed down the hallway. Whoever was making the sounds had stopped now, but he guessed that they were probably somewhere in the kitchen or living room and Jack was ready to throw down if it was a burglar trying to rob him.

Jack reached the end of the hallway, quietly sliding up against the wall, ready to attack whoever was there. He took a breath, then jumped out with a yell, the mug raised high.

"Whoa, whoa! It's me!"

Jack paused for a moment, raising an eyebrow in confusion. "Jackie?"

"Yeah, sorry I pushed the coffee table over and made a mess, hope I didn't wake you."

"No, I was already. . ." Jack shook his head, setting down the mug. "Hold on, what are you doing here?"

"I, uh, needed a place to hide for a bit," Jackie admitted. "Got into a fight and your house was--was closest--"

As if someone had just bashed him over the head, Jackie collapsed onto the floor in a heap, unable to hold himself up any longer.

Jack rushed forward, helping Jackie to stand again and getting a better view of the bloody wound he hadn't noticed through his red costume. "You're hurt!"

"Nah," Jackie protested, trying to gently push himself away from Jack's support. "'S just a scratch, I just need a minute to--to get them off my tail and I'll--"

"No, you're laying down right now while I grab the med kit."

"Really, I'm--" Jackie stumbled as he tried to stand up on his own, falling sideways into the nearby couch. However, it didn't seem to deter him. "I'll just sit here a sec while things blow over, don' worry 'bout it."

"Don't move." Jack rushed back down the hallway to the bathroom, grabbing his first aid kit from a cupboard before hurrying back to Jackie, who was trying to stand up again.

Jack let out a frustrated sigh, pushing Jackie back onto the couch. "I told you not to move."

"'N I told ya I'm fine!"

"If you say you're fine one more time, I swear--"

Jackie slipped lower into the couch cushions, his eyes unfocused and breathing shallow. "But I am fine, don' worry yourself over nothin'!"

"Don't make me waste a damn sedative on you and maybe I'll listen to you." Jack said as he began to treat the wounds. "In the meantime, you can tell me what happened and let me know who I need to watch out for."

It took a moment for Jackie to process what he'd said, but he got there eventually. "Nothin' unusual, just some criminals, the local gangs. Happened to be a lot of 'em though, but nothin' I couldn' handle."

Jack muttered in agreement to keep Jackie distracted. "Should I be concerned?"

"Prolly not," Jackie said, "But even if ya do, I'll be there to stop 'em!"

"And what if they came through the door right now, huh?"

"Eh, I can take 'em."

Jack finished wrapping the wounds and stood, walking over to the kitchen and filling some cups with water. "Sure you could, but even superheroes need sleep sometimes."

"Sleep is fer the weak!" Jackie raised a fist in the air, letting it fall when he couldn't put forth the effort to hold it there anymore.

"You're gonna get yourself killed someday, you know that?"

Jackie laughed, toppling off the couch and onto the floor. "Like they could ever kill me! 'M too strong!"

"Yeah, I'm getting the sleeping pills."

"No, don' do that!"

Jack couldn't help but let out a small grin as he lifted Jackie back onto the couch. "Let's make a deal then. You don't leave until I give you the say-so, and I won't say a word about this to any of the others. Sound good?"

Jackie grumbled in annoyance, his childish nature shining through. He couldn't barely keep his eyes open as he said, "Fine, but 'm not sleepin' 'ere, alright?"

"Sure, sure." Jack watched Jackie's body go limp. He began to snore within minutes and Jack chuckled, leaving one of the water cups next to him for when he woke up. The hero was always too stubborn to admit when he needed help, but Jack didn't mind. As long as he wasn't coherent enough to protest much.

He sighed. Looked like he wouldn't be getting any sleep tonight after all.

~~~

Jackie seems to get hurt a lot, huh? To be fair, he is in danger the most often, but maybe the guy deserves a break. Can't pick on him every chapter.

This one's a bit more chill, no crazy happenings or anything. I'm starting to think that I'm not particularly good at writing calmer scenes, but that's what practice is for! And hey, maybe I won't write another one of these again anyway, so there.

It's the 14th. Life is busy and I wish it wasn't but it be like that sometimes. 

Thanks for reading!

- the soft pillow that hides your nighttime secrets