"F-fuck you," Jeff spat out a tooth nonchalantly as he cursed at me, all the while I was wearing a shit-eating grin. I was finally presented with an outlet to take out my anger. Take out all the frustration of the last twenty-four hours, pummel the guilt of Henry's death into somebody else. It felt fucking amazing.
Jack chuckled beside me at Jeff's pointless curse. He hadn't only agreed wholeheartedly to let me give Jeff a proper smackdown, but he had also taken his place next to me to correct my form in order to get the most effective punches.
It did strike a nerve deep within me, however. No matter what Jeff had done in his past nor will do in his future, he was a person. I typically held a very strong stance against the use of violence, especially after Henry had shown me the effects of using it on someone; the emotional and physical damage it could and would cause. But this time, it felt almost as if I had a chance to defend myself. I imagined Jeff as Henry in my mind. After all he had put me through. All the lies, all the times he went missing for days with no explanation, all the times he had almost killed himself, and all for the bittersweet taste of his poison of choice. Fuck Henry for being abusive, and fuck Jeff for being in the right place at the wrong time.
I circled Jeff, staring down at him. Jack kept his gaze on me with unwavering intensity, not even bothering to look at Jeff, spitting up small amounts of blood from his dislodged tooth, as he watched my every move. He was giving me control; though a small amount, it was control all the same. He had let me nearly turn Jeff's face into a concaved, leather-skinned mess; why? What could he possibly gain from watching me take out my anger on some other wretched soul?
I returned his gaze, staring him down with the same intensity he had always looked upon me with. He didn't back down, and with my new-found confidence, neither did I. Finally, after what seemed like a full eon and a half, he spoke.
"I'm quite impressed. You've just pummeled a serial killer, and one of the most absolutely unhinged ones I've ever met,"
And in an instant, my confidence was gone. A serial killer? Unhinged?
Oh fuck.
Jeff laughed annoyingly. What a great position to be in to laugh; tied to a chair and beat to the heavens. Or, from what Jack said, beat to hell.
"(Name) is really into this foreplay shit, huh? Baby, punching me ain't nothin'. I'm more hardcore myself, but I like the effort."
My eyes narrowed in disgust, gaze still unmoving from Jack's. He just shrugged, and gestured to Jeff. Still void of his mask, most likely from losing it whilst he was chasing me, he mouthed 'What are you going to say?'
What could I say? What looked like a beating to an outsider was really just some sort of disgusting foreplay for Jeff. But I had to keep the same energy, I couldn't let either of them know I'd falter if pressured. After all I'd been through with Henry, on top of being kidnapped, it was obvious that I would bend, but never break, and I wouldn't start now.
I continued circling him as I had before, slow and deliberate. I hated to admit it, but it was a tactic that reminded me of something that Jack would do. Studying his mannerisms had given me an upper hand in this moment as both of their gazes fell on me, Jeff holding a smoldering hellfire in his lidless eyes that wouldn't hesitate to smother me if I faltered.
" You have any kids, Jeff? Would you like to keep the ability to have them? You're pretty vulnerable right now, tied up in chair and all," I trailed off, savoring the panicked look he shot at Jack as he realized my threat. Would I actually do it? It really all depended on his answer.
Jack stifled back an outright laugh as his trained stare broke away from me to look Jeff in his panicked eyes, his clawed hand coming up to cover his grin.
"Jack, you wouldn't actually let her stomp my fucking balls, would you dude? Come on, man,"
Jack shrugged, letting out a small chuckle rather than a mocking laugh.
"It would be rather entertaining to watch, especially after you've broken into my home and attempted to strangle me,"
Despite everything Jack had put me through, my eyes haphazardly scanned over his body as he rose a single finger and held it under his chin; a mock-thinking stance. A sick grin plastered his face, showing off his razor sharp teeth. A reminder of his true nature hidden behind supple lips. It was unfair how unfazed he was about his overwhelmingly intimidating appearance; he could send a shiver down anybody's spine without uttering a single word to them. The air around him was lively with a sickly darkness and made all my hair stand on end, but even deeper than that, there was this nagging, underlying feeling that there was more humanity in him than he let on. That his outward persona was something learned, not something genuine. Reflexively, I reached up to my cheek, tracing the ever-present, deep scratches that he had left when he had slapped me before. They would surely heal into scars; a permanent reminder of how deadly it would be if I was wrong.
I lowered my hand quickly, dropping it to my side and turned my stare back to Jeff.
"You want information? Fucking fine, just don't let this fucking broad curb-stomp my jewels,"
Jack dropped his ever-mocking pose, turning his full attention back to Jeff.
"I'm listening,"
Jeff sighed, wriggling his shoulders, struggling against the thick tape that bound him uncomfortably at the wrist.
"Toby wanted to get some sort of revenge or whatever, I didn't pay attention to the details. He asked me if I was fixin' to get in trouble, and of course, I always am,"
His deeply etched grin seemed to stretch a little wider as he spoke. Toby? How many people were involved in Jack's schemes? Though the name had been mentioned by Jack when Jeff had first entered the cabin, I wasn't paying nearly enough attention to direct any acknowledgement to the name. I couldn't help but wonder if Jeff or Toby had been involved in the death of Henry. Jack mentioned knowing who did it, but I didn't really pin him to be the social butterfly type. Would he tell me who was responsible eventually? It didn't seem like something he would hold of importance, especially seeing how he hadn't even told me what he wanted the laptop for. Did he think it slipped my sight when he snatched the laptop from Neil's hand back at my house? He wanted it for something, and I had an idea of what the motive was. Only so many things you can do with a business laptop, I'm sure Spotify wasn't something he was willing to kidnap over.
"I had figured about as much,"
Jack moved swiftly, and in an instant the tape binding Jeff was cut clean in half, freeing him. He rubbed his wrists, no doubt sore from how thick the tape had been laid on him.
Good, hope it hurts.
I barely had a moment to finish my thought before an unknown hand was wrapped tightly around my throat, restricting airflow.
"Now you get your foreplay, doll,"
The venom and murderous undertone lacing his raspy voice didn't matter to me in the slightest as I struggled against his hand, fighting to get a breath in.
Two things happened; first, the feeling of the hand choking me was gone just as fast as it had been on me. I took advantage of the momentary access to air and gasped in a deep, shaky breath, my hand reflexively coming up to slightly hold my throat. Second, a loud, splintering sound and a thud that vibrated the very foundation of the cabin.
My eyes shot up to see Jack towering over Jeff in a terrifyingly defensive pose; his arms outstretched to either side of him, fingers fanned out and bent so his claw-like nails were visible. Deep, animalistic snarls emanated from him as his lips curled over his teeth, now more exposed than ever. His hoodie sleeves had been rolled up to his elbows, his gray skin perfectly fitted to his visible but not rippling muscles like a snug sweater.
For a fraction of a second before he turned his back to me, I swore I saw Jack churn his snarl into a devious grin, aimed at me, before resuming his nightmarish contortion.
I stood more steadily, finally able to get proper airflow into my lungs, and craned my neck to get a glimpse of what had happened.
I hadn't taken even a moment to register what his cabin looked like beyond the bedroom I was held hostage in, not even back when I had escaped. When something more important was taking up space in your brain, it wasn't uncommon to disregard your surroundings, and both times I had been out of the room were times just like that. The first time, I was too focused on escaping Jack. The second time, I was too focused on distracting Jeff to save Jack.
Just beyond the metal door of the hostage-room was an adjacent room; the door was slightly ajar, and from that I could tell it was a bathroom. The whole distraction and tying up of Jeff had taken place in a mudroom of sorts; not big enough to be a complete mudroom, but the front door was maybe ten feet away from the hostage-room and the bathroom.
From where I stood, I could see that Jeff had been thrown the entirety of that ten-foot distance. And it was very obvious where his body had made contact with the wall just beside the front door; the wooden wall composing the cabin was splintered, and in some places, completely bent and split open in the exact shape of Jeff's form, daylight filtering through the fresh breakage.
Jack was able to throw an entire person so hard that the wall his body made contact with split open.
My jaw hung open slightly in astonishment and slight fear. I had already known he was strong from how he had been able to throw my entire body around with just the cuff that had been attached to both of our wrists, and that he could punch me so hard I'd almost instantly fall unconscious. But I had yet to see a display of throwing an entire person.
Before I even knew I was going to say anything, my mouth spoke for me.
"Come on Jeff, it's just foreplay. Didn't you say you liked it hardcore?"
Jack didn't bother stifling his laughter this time, his posture relaxing as his hand came up to his head, resting a single finger against his forehead.
"And since you like doing bitchwork so much, how about you go fetch Jack's mask?"
Jack's head snapped up to my own, and for a moment I thought his frustration was going to be turned to me, that perhaps I had over-stepped. All the tension that had built up in my body in that singular second was relieved slightly when he donned a shit-eating grin, and turned to face Jeff yet again, who was still just recovering from the throw. Jeff's forehead was covered in cuts, not too deep, yet still bleeding.
"That's how you'll make it up to me for breaking my wall. Just look at the damage you've caused,"
Jack gestured to the broken and splintered wall behind Jeff, to which Jeff turned his head to see.
Jeff didn't even speak above a mumble as he cursed under his breath. He brushed off his faintly red-stained white hoodie and washed out black jeans, small and large splinters alike falling from his clothing.
Jack watched silently as Jeff took his leave; he looked like a dog who had just been scolded, tail between his legs as he scurried off to his crate for being bad.
I wondered for a split second if this is how the people Jack worked with were used to being punished, and decided that if it wasn't something I needed to know, I'd much rather keep it a mystery.
-- I had a LOT of fun writing this chapter, and wanted it to be something a tad bit lighter after all the seriousness that has been the last few chapters. it will get serious again these next couple chapters of course, but this one was fun.
How do we like having the chance to beat Jeff's ass?
What do we think of (Name) checking out jack? 0w0
And as always, if you're going to Meatball, do it Extravagantly.--