Eyeless jack

 

JACK

 

 

It was a very cold, very harsh, spring evening as nineteen-year-old Jack made his way back to the college dorm in which he lived in. As the sun began to set and the wind picked up, tossing his dark red, nearly brown, hair, Jack bundled himself into his hoodie and dipped his head into the collar.

 

“Damn, maybe I should’ve taken that winter jacket,” he thought to himself as he dug into his jeans pocket and reeled out the room key. There was a loud click as he twisted the key within the lock, then the door gave away and Jack stepped inside with the door slamming shut behind him.

 

The room he shared was sparse with furniture, only having two beds on opposite walls and a desk in between with a computer the duo pair shared. One very small hallway opened to a kitchen, another leading to a bathroom barely large enough to contain a six foot teen such as Jack himself. Clothes littered the ground around him, discarded pizza boxes and empty soda cans tossed about in an unorderly fashion. The small TV set with the Xbox glowed dully as it remained idle, and Jack’s roommate, Mark, was strewn halfway onto his bed, a beer can in one hand while his opposite arm rest over his shut eyes. He had one leg on the bed while his other dangled over the edge, loud snores emitting from his mouth and clogged nose.

 

“Fucking asshole,” muttered Jack under his breath. With a sigh, he removed his backpack and picked up the trash, quickly discarding them as he gathered up the piles upon piles of dirty clothes and tossed them into the hamper. “I swear he can’t do anything right…”

 

It was no secret that Jack hated Mark with a passion. Not only was he a total dick to his own friends and Jack himself, but he was a predator who preyed on innocent woman and could never clean up after himself. The man was an irresponsible, inconsiderate pig, and Jack took great displeasure in spending any time with this man who was his roommate for the remaining school year he had left.

 

“Hopefully my recommendation to switch rooms goes my way.”

 

As Jack rummaged through the mini fridge to try and find something salvageable to eat, there came a low moan as Mark began to awaken. Mark sat up straight in his bed and stretched out his arms, yawning loudly as he asked, “Jack, man, how long have I been out?”

 

Without giving him any attention, Jack responded grudgingly, “Most of the day. You missed exams in AP Biology.”

 

“Eh, Biology is for dipshits anyways.”

 

Mark belched loudly as he stumbled into the kitchen, roughly shoving Jack out of the way as he reached for the last can of beer. “Need more beer,” he mumbled, more to himself than to Jack. Jack merely shook his head in disgust as he watched Mark crack open the can and take a rather large gulp. “Seriously, how did a dumbass like you ever manage to get into college?”

 

With a smirk, Mark answered him. “Because I’m captain of the football team and have pathetic nerds like you do my work.”

 

“Don’t remind me,” Jack sneered, turning away and gazing out the window just as the sun slowly began to sink beyond the horizon. “How long has it been?” He thought to himself. The rest of Marks pitiful words faded out as Jack began to slip away from reality, his mind sending him to darker places as he wondered what it would be like if he could just stand up for himself against Mark and his shit-faced followers. But, he knew that would never happen. Even though Jack was just as tall as they were and was slightly muscular, Mark and his other “friends” were like gorilla’s compared to him, and he wasn’t going to fight against that. With a groan of utter defeat, Jack was about to face Mark once again, but then he stopped. Slowly, he lowered his eyes to the line of trees just outside the school’s gate. There, he saw a silhouette of a strange figure standing there, or rather, watching in wonder as the rest of the kids passed by, unknown to the mysterious man who appeared rather infatuated with everyone else. Jack rubbed his eyes and leaned closer to the window, hoping that maybe he was just seeing things. Unfortunately for him, though, the thing still stood there. Only this time, he was gazing at the window where Jack stood, gazing directly into his eyes.

 

A wave of fear and restlessness washed over him, and the back of Jack’s head began to throb painfully the longer he held the man’s stare.

 

“Yo! Look at me when I talk to you!” Mark shouted angrily, and within a second he whirled Jack around and tore him out of his trance-like state, slamming his back against the windowpane. “I don’t take too kindly to people who ignore me,” Mark growled, his grip tightening on Jack’s arms. A sudden feeling of anger slammed into Jack like a bag of bricks, and just as roughly as Mark had, Jack shoved Mark away from him and into the fridge. “Don’t push me into walls, asshole.”

 

Mark glowered back at Jack, but as he looked into his eyes, he noticed something… off…

He backed down from the heated argument and finished the rest of his drink before turning to the door.

 

“Whatever, man. Just calm down.”

 

Mark looked back at Jack hesitantly, then faced away as he headed to the front door. “There’s going to be a bonfire tonight. Why don’t you step out of your anti-social stage and join the rest of us? Maybe you’ll get laid.” He smirked as he said this, his eyes twinkling with mischief. Jack, however, was quickly unamused and turned back to stare outside, hoping to catch another glimpse of the strange man. But he was no longer there, yet the pounding in his head seemed to grow into a deep annoyance and thudded relentlessly.

 

“No, that’s okay,” Jack answered after a while. “I think I’ll just stay home.”

 

Shrugging his shoulders, Mark stepped out of their small dorm room and into the chill of the on-coming night. “Suit yourself.”

 

Without a second look back, Mark shut the door on Jack and made his way to the bonfire, leaving Jack completely alone.

 

“How long does a goddamn bonfire take anyways?” Jack thought bitterly to himself as he gazed at the TV screen, his eyes flickering back and forth between the characters in the show as he tried to keep himself entertained. As much of a dick as Mark was, Jack despised being alone at night, especially now since he saw that strange… thing… that–that creature who just stood right outside the gates only hours ago. Now it was well past one AM, and the longer Jack stayed awake, the more he thought he saw the shadows of that same being darting just out of his line of sight. More than once, he tried pretending that there was nothing there, that he was imagining it all and it was just the reflection of the moon’s rays or the headlights of a car just passing by.

 

But how could that explain the strange fits of laughter he heard? Or what about the heavy breathing, or that he could hear his own name being called by someone else in a whisper? He even threatened Mark out loud if this turned out to be one of his messed up pranks created by Mark himself and his followers, but there was no response except for the laughter which seemed to increase in volume.

 

Finally fed up, Jack shut off the television and crawled into bed, too tired to even attempt to remove his previous clothing. The ticking of the clock did little to soothe his nerves, only making Jack think back to time and how long it would be until the sun rose again. Anxiously, he ran his hands over his face and let out a pent-up sigh.

 

“Just relax and try to sleep,” said Jack out loud as he tried to calm his racing heart. “It’ll be morning before you know it, and you’ll be laughing about how stupid you were being last night.”

 

Jack took a few deep breaths before he shut his eyes again, drawing the covers well over his head just like he used to do when he was a younger, more vibrant, little boy. Jack could feel himself teetering over the edge that kept him from sleeping, and with a little push, he was falling into the pitch-black comfort of oblivion.

 

A sudden crash startled Jack awake. He snapped open his eyes and peered around the room just as everything began to settle. The uneasy feeling came back to him along with the painful headache, and as Jack tried to sit back up, something held him down… something with long arms and brute force. Slowly, Jack’s eyes climbed up past the arms to a very tall, very slender, man. His facial expressions were cast in shadows, making it impossible for Jack to try to identify him.

 

“I thought I told you to keep quiet!” the tall figure hissed, yet it seemed like the man’s words were actually going through Jacks head and not through the silhouette’s mouth. Within the darkness, Jack could make out two other figures. He blinked in shock by what he was seeing, not entirely sure if this was some sick, twisted dream or another one of Mark’s fucked-up pranks. But the longer they stood there, looking at him and realizing he was now awake, the more Jack felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. There was something more to this, something disturbing and sinister and Jack wasn’t sure how to handle the situation. But he had to escape, he just had to!

 

With a grunt of effort, Jack swung his free fist back and rammed it into the elbow of the man who held him captive, hoping that that would at least suffice some sort of break or tear in the arm. Alarmed, the man released Jack as he weaved his way around the three figures, desperately trying to get to the door and get the hell out of his dormitory.

 

Something with inhuman speed brushed past him, and when Jack reached the door, he saw the tall, slender man blocking his path. Jack took one look at the man and had to bite down on his tongue to keep from screaming.

 

Now that the streetlights were radiating off of his attacker, he saw perfectly that the man wore a black suit with a white undershirt and red tie. His arms dangled well past his sides and his skin was whiter than that of a ghost, but that wasn’t the worst of what Jack was seeing. His face was completely void of any features, just a blank slate with a small bump where his nose should be and indents of where his eyes should be. His ears too, were missing, and sprouting out of the mans back were eight, solid black tentacles that seemed to move by their own free will.

 

Jack was in complete shock. He didn’t know what to do against this… this thing. He spun around to attempt at an escape through the window, but the two smaller figures blocked Jack’s path, watching him intently. The pair were both around the same height as Jack was, yet different with their opposing features. One wore a plain gery hoodie, and his face was cut into a smile and his eyelids were gone. His hair appeared to be a shade of brown in the dim lighting available, tousled upon his head in messy locks. He wore dark blue jeans and pale skin. Next to him, the other man wore an orange hoodie with its hood up, hiding the mans face, though there wouldn’t have been much to it anyways. He covered up his face with what appeared to be a black mask that also seemed to cover his neck as well, and a permanent frown stitched on his face with a strange, red glow. His eyes were glowing red as well, and he wore black gloves and dark blue jeans similar to the other man’s.

 

“What the fuck…?”

 

Jack merely stood there, dumbfounded, by these intruders that were determined on attacking him. And for whatever reason that was, Jack wasn’t prepared to know what that reason may be. He had to get out of here, but before Jack could even move again, something slimy and unnatural wrapped itself around Jack and tightened its hold around him, practically squeezing the life out of Jack as he struggled against the entity.

 

“Let me go!” He shouted, thrashing around as the tall man dragged him back over to the bed and held him down. “Leave me alone!”

 

Jack once more tried to free himself of the psychopaths grip, but as much as he tried to pull away, he couldn’t even get an inch of his body out from underneath the thick, black tentacle.

 

The two masked figures whispered to each other, pointing at Jack, which only made him more uncomfortable as he squirmed with uneasiness. Above him, the faceless man began to rummage through a small bag, while his appendages did the job of making sure Jack didn’t attempt to run away again.

 

“This should do the trick,” he said through Jack’s head, and the duo pair standing off to the side nodded in wicked agreement. Jack craned his neck to see what the man held, then gasped at the shiny object that gleamed in the silver moonlight.

 

“Who are you?!” sobbed Jack as the true panic set in. “What do you want from me?!”

 

“Who we are is not of importance right now,” the man spoke slowly as his hand grazed the surgical tool, “But there was no possible way to let you go after you saw me in the forest.”

 

“I’m sorry man! I won’t tell anyone I swear!” cried out Jack as he tried ferociously to try and get away. The other man just shook his head in grim disagreement. “I’m sorry, but that is not possible, Jack. Once you see me completely and already wallow in some form of self-pity or hatred, it takes a hold of you and you will change, it’s only a matter of time.”

 

He turned to face the others, handing the man with the white mask the sharp tool and stepping back. “You know exactly what you have to do.”

 

With a firm nod, the masked man stepped forward and drew back the weapon, while the other followed after for assistance.

 

“Wait, wait a minute here!” screamed out Jack, perspiration dripping down his brow and face with increasing annoyance, “How do you know my name?! What do you mean I’ll change?! Please, just let me go! I swear I never did anything wrong!”

 

“Yes,” the tall man began as the figure with the gloves forcefully held Jack’s mouth open, “You did. Your dark thoughts and frightening ambitions to attack and slaughter others have gotten the best of you, and either it would’ve turned you into a serial killer, or something much more dangerous, which is what you shall become.”

 

He stepped away towards the window, his appendages growing in length to keep Jack in the same position he was in. “Now, it’s time to change.”

 

“No! No, please!”

 

Jack begged with tears in his eyes, tears that streamed down his face as that wretched tool found its way into his mouth, scraping painfully against his teeth and gums. Blood pooled into Jack’s mouth and choked him, the taste making him want to vomit. On more than one occasion, the sharp end of the cutting tool sliced the tip of his tongue, causing Jack to whimper out as he felt his teeth transforming into deadly canines all around by force of the masked man.

 

“What are you doing to me?!” Jack groaned, writhing around in agonizing pain as the sound of metal against bone rang in his ears.

 

“Just a couple of changes so you won’t be as easily identified,” the tall man answered. “After the initial change of your physical appearance is finished, we’ll leave to let the chemical changes take over the rest of you. “

 

The man watched Jack with his own feeling of amusement, and though he was eyeless, he could see the fire burning in Jack’s eyes the longer the operation proceeded. “It won’t take long.”

 

“You bastard!” howled Jack, though his words were gurgled by the amount of blood pouring out of his mouth. “I’ll kill you, you son of a bitch!”

 

“Perhaps,” the man said after a moment of silence. “That is, if we were human.”

 

Jack was about to say something else, when a sudden, sharp pain stabbed him in his left eye. Jack screamed shrilly, trying with all his might to cover his eye with his hand. His right eye glanced over to see something gleam right where his left eye, and he realized with increasing disgust that a new tool was lodged in his eye, digging deep within his socket and running against the hollow walls. A pale hand grasped the end of the weapon, then began to tug and twist with it, and as Jack both heard and felt the tendons ripping, he knew with utter horror that these monsters were taking his eye out. Exhaustion crashed over him from the amount of torture and shock he endured, and as much as he wished this was just some terrible nightmare, he knew it wasn’t.

 

There was a loud popping noise, and after another yank, Jack’s eye was out, with a cascade of scarlet blood trailing after. The same process began with his right eye, and his sense of sight was gone as tears mixed with the sticky blood. Jack was terrified that worse things would arise, but much to his luck, the three creatures were out of his dorm, and he was left alone with his own sobs and a new desire for vengeance and… bloodlust.

 

Jack was unsure of how long he was unconscious, but when he awoke sometime later that evening, there was no afterpain. But that didn’t mean that Jack didn’t feel… different. He sat up in the bed and looked around, confusion overcoming him as he realized that he could see with 20/20 vision, if not that then better in the darkness. He brought one hand to his face, feeling for his eyes but only coming up with empty holes and a sort of liquid still painted on his cheeks.

 

A snore startled him, and he looked over to his roommate’s bed to see Mark lying there with a blonde strung out beside him, their bare legs and arms entangled as they slept. Bottles of vodka and beer cans cluttered his side of the bed, and a flare of anger rose up in Jack. How can he just bring different girls into their room, create a mess, and not expect something to go wrong for him?

 

Well, something indeed was going to go wrong, and Jack was going to make sure of that. Jack was about to crawl out of his bed and wrap his hands around Marks neck, to take away his meaningless life in one, quick snap. But before he could even get up, he heard the blonde mumble as she began to stir from her slumber. At the same time, Mark was beginning to wake up as well, grunting in annoyance as he glanced at the blonde beside him, who was now pulling on the first articles of her clothing. “Where do you think you’re going?” he slurred, his words hardly even audible he was so drunk.

 

“Back to my dorm, where else do you think?” she snapped impatiently, hurriedly pulling on her shirt. Her green eyes swept the room, landing on the spot where Jack was curled up and “sleeping”. Unbeknownst to them, Jack had nimbly slid back into his bed and pulled the covers over his head, making it appear as though he had never even been awake in the first place.

 

But oh, was he awake. And soon he’ll be getting his revenge on Mark. His fingers, which were splayed out underneath the sheets, touched the sharp end of a cold, metal tool, and Jack immediately pulled it up close to his face to examine what it was.

 

It was the same scalpel which had been used by those pricks to gouge out his eyes. Yet, oddly enough, he felt… calm at seeing the weapon. Ecstatic, even. A smile began to form on his lips as he knew what his roommate had in store.

 

“You told me your roommate was at a friend’s house,” she girl growled angrily, and Jack could hear the creaking of the bed as Mark moved closer to the pretty blonde, probably to try and comfort her, in more ways than one. “Come on, baby! Be a little adventurous. So what if he heard us going at it? It could do him some good, hearing the action, since he never gets any.”

 

This was followed by a crude eruption of laughter and the girl shook her head, tending to the rest of her clothing. “You’re disgusting.”

 

The girl had just reached for her shorts when Mark pulled her back, and through his hiding spot Jack could hear the argument escalate to greater heights. “Hey! What the hell?! Let me go!”

 

“I can’t let you leave yet!” Mark laughed maniacally, clearly not concerned about waking his roommate as he “slept” beneath the cover. “The fun is just getting started!”

 

There was a clatter as something was knocked over, the sounds of a struggle and cries of protest floating through the air as the woman and Mark fought for the upper hand. Finally, there was a break-through as the pretty blonde his her attacker in the face. As his grip loosened she stood up and ran to the door as fast as she could, fumbling for the handle or a lightswitch to see clearer. At this point, Jack had already uncovered part of his head, watching the two in sickened fascination as everything unfolded before them.

 

“You bitch!” Mark shouted. Blood dripped down from the corner of his mouth and spewed out of his nose, droplets of crimson covering the duvet he sat on. He looked up to the frightened girl, and it only took a second for him to process her attempted escape. Mark stumbled out of his bed, charging towards her with his fists balled up in hot anger. “Get back here, you little slut!”

 

Jack watched this, knowing he would have to act soon, but too amused to move from his spot. What would happen if he just pretended he never heard anything?

 

The girl screamed and dodged his flying fists, running into the darkened kitchen and searching fervently for some sort of weapon she could protect herself with. Mark followed right in after her, and in the other room Jack could hear the shrill screams from the girl as Mark flung her from one wall to the next, ramming his fists into her face, chest, arms, anywhere he could get his hands on.

 

As the screams seemed to die down and soften into heart-wrenching sobs, Jack slowly and silently slid out of his bed, his fingers toying with the surgical tool as he crept to the black kitchen, prepared to be the hero this one last time before his hatred could truly take over.

 

In the shadows, he could make out with perfect clarity two figures fused together, one much more masculine than the other. There were dark spots on the floor and on parts of their clothing and bodies where the blood had splattered, and on the walls thin lines of red trailed down to the floor like rain on a window pane. A gentle cry came from the silhouette closest to the floor, her weakness making her vulnerable prey to the predator. Jack sauntered closer still, his breathing as light as a feather until he stood directly behind Mark and the harassed woman. There was a whimper of pain and after a moment, Jack spoke, his voice hoarse and raspy, yet somehow deeper than it had originally been.

 

“Mark?”

 

Instantly, Mark froze, his body still crouched over the girl. “Uh, yeah?”

 

“What are you doing?”

 

Mark stood up and turned to face Jack, his wavering stance expressing the silent threat for him not to be messed with. The girl still lay on the floor, her ragged breathing the only noise that seemed to pass for a long time.

 

“What does it look like I’m doing?” he asked, his tone defensive.

 

Jack cocked his head to the side, his hand still concealing the scalpel as he watched Mark. “It looks to me like you were trying to take advantage of this poor girl.

 

“She liked it!”

 

“No,” Jack said, shaking his head. “No, she doesn’t. I can tell she doesn’t. A girl wouldn’t be fighting to get away if she liked it.”

 

Another minute of silence passed, this time with unspoken tension. Again, Mark responded again, but his words lacked the confidence it once held. “So? Does it really matter? What can you do about it?”

Jack smiled, the scalpel slowly being revealed to Mark. As the moon gleamed in through the window, it shined on the cool metal of the surgical tool, and in the dark Jack could see Marks eyes widen as his gaze fell to the weapon. “Jack… What the hell…?”

 

His smile only grew, and Mark backed up, partially tripping over the girl’s body, who was still sprawled on the floor. Jack followed him, his empty eye sockets darting from the shining scalpel, to Mark as his back pressed up against the counter. “Get the hell away from me, you fucking freak!”

 

Mark threw whatever was in arms reach at his pursuer, but nothing stopped him. Jack took several punches that were thrown wildly in the air, yet he felt nothing but searing anger that only seemed to grow. With one swift move, Jack took Mark’s arm and twisted it around until there was a satisfying crunch. A howl of pain was emitted from Mark’s mouth, and as tears brimmed his eyes he looked at Jack, who rose the scalpel up high, hovering the sharp end just over his left eye. “I knew you would’ve regretted what you’ve done to me,” Jack whispered, then drove the scalpel into his eyes.

 

A scream rippled from wall to wall, rising in velocity and frequency as the scalpel dug deeper into Marks eye. Jack took pleasure in his pain, but taking his eyes wouldn’t be enough. He had to do more. Jack threw Mark onto the floor and tore into Mark’s stomach digging deep until he reached the precious spot where his kidneys lie. Jack ripped out the kidneys, and a sudden interest took over him while Mark began to bleed out, barely clinging to life.

 

“I’ve always wondered what something so strange could taste like,” Jack said, pondering mostly to himself. With only slight hesitation, he bit into the organ, and as his taste buds exploded in flavor, he began to devour the kidneys whole, blood cascading out of his mouth. He turned to Mark, who was missing one eye and bleeding out of the large cavity in his stomach, and with a tormenting smile he sank to his knees and gave Mark a small smile. “I’d put you out of your misery, if I had a heart.”

 

With that being said, Jack stood up and walked to the girl, who had regained most of her consciousness and was now watching Jack with gaping horror as she climbed to her feet. “You saved me, didn’t you?”

Jack nodded. The blonde let out a shaky breath and nodded, beginning to make her way to the door until Jack stopped her. “You can’t go.”

 

“But, but you saved me!” she said, tears crystallizing her eyes and rolling down her cheeks.

Jack nodded again, but this time he picked up the scalpel and moved closer to the trembling woman. “Please,” she sobbed. “Please, don’t.”

 

“You know I have to,” he stated simply, the glare from the light of the moon casting his shadow into a horrid beast.

 

Her screams echoed down the halls, but when a group of rescuers made their way to the scene, they were too late. All they had for a suspect were the bodies, an open window, and a bloody scalpel.

 

 

 

 

THE END

Impressum

Texte: jess
Bildmaterialien: jess
Lektorat: JEW
Übersetzung: JEW
Tag der Veröffentlichung: 24.11.2014

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