"Eyeless Jack."
She never had any negative interactions with the doctor. Most of their interactions were on neutral terms, like in the maze, or positive. Y/n wouldn't say that he held any ill will towards her either.
There came no response from the entity that held her hand, but she waited for a response or something that gave her a sign that he acknowledged her choice... The only thing that gave her an odd feeling about the situation is the emptiness that she now noticed in her palm. So, slowly, Y/n opened her eyes.
The world came to in a blur of deep greens. She found herself standing outside and right in front of a small building, a cabin, but her mind still spun as the world did.
Her legs felt like jelly, unfamiliar with the sudden change in scenery and she fell to her knees. Her stomach churned and she shut her eyes again with a furrowed brow, attempting to regain control over her spinning mind. Y/n gripped the cloth of her hoodie tightly where her heart beat hard against her chest. Calm, she told herself, calm down.
After taking a small breather, she slowly peeled her eyes open back to the scenery around her. She was correct in assuming that she was in a forest, the terrain overgrown and wild despite the trees being void of leaves. Instead, they were tall and spindly. Y/n turned her attention to the cabin she knelt before and slowly got to her feet. There was still a pounding throb in the back of her head, but she forced herself to ignore it for now, make sure you're safe, she thought.
The dead leaves from the bare trees crunched under her feet as she approached the front of the cabin slowly. Something deep in her gut told her that she knew what this place us, maybe even where, but she couldn't think of a time when she had seen this place before. It was a small building, small, but quaint. There were no windows on the front of the cabin, so she couldn't tell whether it was used or not.
Her first instinct was to use the handle of the door and reached out slowly. Though, her hand stilled, fingers ghosting over the metal of the door when she heard a few thuds behind the door, items falling onto the floor of the interior.
"My, god! Fucking-!" A sharp yell as one more slam to the ground rattled the door, this one belonging to a person rather than what seemed to be items beforehand. Her ears had picked up on the voice, registering it to be a familiar one. Y/n moved forward quickly now, grasping the metal knob and twisting it, pushing the door inwards as it had been left unlocked.
When the door opened wide, Y/n took one step inside and paused at the sight before her.
Eyeless Jack was in the process of sitting up but halted in his action as he heard the cabin door open. She saw the way his shoulders relaxed under the few seconds she had stepped into the cabin and only assumed he had realized it was her, somehow.
Items were scattered across the floor, most of them originating from a small table placed near the middle of the room where it now had been tipped over.
Silence engulfed the room until Y/n found her voice.
"Do...do you need any help?" She had no clue what to say, so the offer just came from her lips with an amused look crossing her eyes. She saw the way Eyeless Jack's clawed fingers tapped against the wooden floor and he got to his feet quickly.
"No," he seethed, "close the door. You're letting the cold air in."
Y/n tilted her head off to the side and stepped inside one more time so she wasn't standing in the doorway. She closed the door gently, the cylinder of the lock clicking in place.
Y/n watched Jack gather the items from the floor into one pile and pull the small table up on its legs. He then haphazardly placed each item back on top of the smooth surface, standing on his feet with a huff while brushing himself off. As the grey-skinned man did so, he paused, lifting his head in the air, then directed his attention towards Y/n.
"You're bleeding," he commented, hands relaxing by his sides, "sit."
There was no point arguing or even speaking up at all since Eyeless Jack just up and left the living room after, walking down the hall and into a door on the right. Y/n turned her attention to the couch and decided to listen, for now, sitting down on the comfortable furniture. It felt nice sitting on something that had actual support. It felt like forever since she was actually able to have a moment to relax.
Eyeless Jack re-entered the living room a moment later, holding a bottle of disinfectant and cotton in one hand, a roll of bandages in the other. Y/n rolled up the pant leg where Jack had smelled the blood, the material already soaked red, the sight of the wound causing Y/n to grimace. It was always worse seeing the wound.
"I assume you were...well," Jack rumbled, trying to find the right words, "warped here as well? With no explanation?"
Y/n felt her blood run cold at the question, her lips pulling up into a sheepish smile as she pondered the question. It wasn't like she didn't know what, more exactly who caused the rip in reality... But Y/n was more concerned about Jack's reaction to the information. After all, she was the one who chose him, yet it wasn't her fault that he had been transported here so carelessly.
Jack paused in tending to her wound due to the silence that was produced by his question. She could feel what could only be described as a gaze watching her awkward movements.
"Well...yes, but..." She trailed off, leaning back against the couch with her head turned away. Jack still didn't move, the bandages she had around her leg before were now removed and the wound opened to the cool air.
"But?" He repeated, urging her to continue.
"I...uh, how do I say this..." Y/n wasn't purposefully stalling, "I...in a way, chose you? I was asked what I wanted...and I chose safety..."
The female finally had her head turn back to where the man knelt in front of her. The faceless, blue mask stared at her, causing her heart to increase in pace at the uncomfortable gaze. An unthinkable thing happened next; Jack laughed.
The cannibal laughed, his hand that held the bandages now dropping to the ground as he placed them on the floorboards. They rolled, unraveling slightly before coming to a stop.
"Safety? And you chose me?" He chuckled, his now free hand coming up to his blue mask. Eyeless Jack pried the object up and over his head, tossing it to the floor carelessly. The man's lips were curled up into a big, toothy smile. Even though Y/n could see his face, she couldn't read his expression.
"Yes...?" Okay, maybe now, just barely, she may have been regretting this decision.
Eyeless Jack stood on his feet and bent down towards her sitting figure, his left hand coming to the top corner of the couch, while his right was pressed on the back of the couch cushion, right next to her head. Jack placed his right knee next to her left leg, leaning forward.
"What in your right mind said that I was a good choice?" His eyes, or the deep pits of them, narrowed. Y/n leaned her head back, pressing herself further into the couch. He had been closer to her before, but not this forward. This whole situation was giving her mixed signals.
"You," she had to take a moment to swallow the lump in her throat while ignoring the weight that disappeared from near the right side of her head, "you never showed any hostility to me before... I-I didn't think it would be a problem so I-"
Y/n winced, her leg suddenly sending a jolt of pain down and up her nerves, but the pressure had disappeared just as it came. Her eyes flickered down toward her right leg, spotting the grey hand that now barely touched the exposed wound. Her ears burned as he placed his palm there again, but didn't once grip it as the previous claw had done to her.
"Jack, that hurts," her voice was small now as she lifted her head to look at him completely. His brows raised, but the curl of his lips made her know that he was doing this on purpose. No blood spilled from the wound, that much they could both tell, but it didn't stop Y/n from worrying.
"It hurts?" He repeated, leaning his weight onto his right arm so he could bring his face closer to her own as her breath hitched, "I can make you hurt in many different ways, you know this...yet, you still chose me," he whispered, long ears flicking, listening to her breathing, her pounding heart.
Eyeless Jack closed the distance between the two of them, his cold lips pressing into her own. Y/n's tensed nerves relaxed, exhaling once he had pulled away and could only take in a lungful of oxygen before Jack came back for another.
Her eyes, which had closed to savor this moment, shot open when she felt a prick of something sharp against her bottom lip. Her e/c eyes stared forward in shock, right into the dark depths of Jack's own. She could feel his wide smile as he pulled away slowly, gently tugging on her bottom lip with his sharp teeth.
The pain was only temporary, her bottom lip was now a bit red from the small bite but no blood had sprung from the small pricks. He would never do such a thing to her, at least not on purpose.
Jack hummed, a black tongue sliding along his own lips as he leaned back, rolling his shoulder in the process.
"Tell me, would you choose me a second time if you had the choice?"
Y/n blinked, exhaling slowly as her shoulders dropped, "for you, yes."
The answer caused Eyeless Jack's expression to soften, but immediately turn to a grin, "then just remember, whatever happens next, it's your fault for choosing me."
~
Route completed
[Next up; Doctor Smiley]