Cruelest Of Hearts~Eyeless Jack X Reader Ch. 33

Chapter 33 ‘Adonis, What A Tragic Life You Lead’

---

The whole world can become the enemy when you lose what you love.
—Kristina McMorris






Jack had finally stopped crying.

  At what point the man had finally seized to cry, he knew not. All that he knew was that the violent sobs generating from deep within his soulless chest had finally come to a stop, even if the coal black, tar-like tears continued to cascade his face, dripping down to your broken form. Every once in a while, he would make sure to wipe you off from them, in fear that the hot liquid would only help to deteriorate your comatose state. Other than that, the broken man was literally drained from all energy and will to live, his inner demon finally withdrawing inside the emptiness of his mind once and for all, leaving him an empty shell to live his very last days. Now that we mentioned it though, what day is it? Surely Jack had lost all count after the passing of two weeks and his last outburst had left him sitting on the cold, merciless floor, cradling what was left of yourself tightly inside his hands; the various machines were still connected with you, but your ever-so-faint heartbeat was in need of a cardiographer in order to be heard. And the machines were actually what were left from the whole room.

  Because Jack had destroyed them all.

Every cabinet, every surface, every fridge, every medical tool or medicine the eyeless man might have been storing, went all to waste when the tidal wave of anger hit him like two planets colliding with one another. The maniacal paroxysm mixed with the pain your loss was causing him turned the man utterly monstrous and the room surrounding him payed the dear price; even inside the madness, with her claws turning his mind to nothing but muss, he knew that there was no possible way to lay a finger on you or even leave you alone to take his anger out to those who contributed to bring you on this state of living death. Like two magnets, the man refused to leave your side even for a single second, so the only way to express himself was through the room. It took him two days to tear the whole place apart and after he was done, he simply raised you on his hands, sat down on the floor and begun to cry. Cry for you, cry for himself, cry for every little sh!t that happened in your short lives; from your heart condition to his sacrifice and alteration to a demon. And now here you were his most prized possession which he loved in his previous life and in the nowadays one, slowly dying away right in front of his empty stare. There was nothing he could do to save you.

 All he could do, was patiently wait until the claws of Death finally take you with them. Even as he was holding you, it felt like he was holding on to nothing but a ragged doll or a huge bag of shattered bones coming together with nothing but flesh; a corpse which held the most striking resemblance to the woman he loved. Your spine was broken, your legs were broken, your chest, your hands and even your head was practically being held together by the bandages Jack had wrapped them with. The only thing that remained strong –even if it was in reality the weakest- was your heavily injured heart beating faintly inside your mussed chest. Jack made sure to supply you with both his blood and human blood and IV, all at the same time holding your neck extremely carefully in order for it not to break –something that would mean immediate death- and simply waited for you, listening to the beeping sound coming from the machines. But for what? The man just couldn’t help but think for what were all this about? Even if you somehow miraculously woke up, you would never again be able to do even the slightest of movements, remaining bedridden for the rest of your days, needing Jack to care for everything. Not that the man cared in the least; all he wanted was to have you with him alive, but this would only torment your weary soul even more.

 The noblest thing the monster could do was kill you.

Just let your head fall backwards or even snap it with his own two hands, releasing you from your misery and setting you free.

  He had killed countless humans before, for an even lesser reason, so why couldn’t he do it now?

 It was mercy.

 It was truly and utterly a merciful act that could even save the remaining part of his soul, if there was still any trace of it inside of him.

 But he couldn’t do it.

 Everything came down to these simple words: he could not kill ______. He had done monstrous things agreed, but he just couldn’t find the strength inside of him to kill you and end your misery once and for all. Maybe this was the reason he was crying all along; denying you the salvation of Death, he just prolonged both yours and his suffering because of one simple, selfish act. And boy was he selfish. Secretly, the man was catching himself hoping and sincerely wishing that this was all a dream; that all of this was a lie and that he was about to wake up back in his bedroom in his parents’ house, with you waving at him from across the side yard, yelling at him to wake up already or suggest to go out for a (favorite dessert) that you loved. He would see your happy face; he would cherish the sound of your laughter and then proceed with spoiling you all over again. Leaving this atrocious nightmare behind. Because he loved you. He loved you like certain things are meant to be loved: unconditionally and utterly, bringing his being one step away from the ache. His love for you was so grand that it pained him to insanity, something that was fuelled even more from the fact that you were going to die.

 ‘Jack.’ A stern, gruff voice spoke up at that moment, yet the man did nothing to acknowledge the new presence that entered the room, taking a small, calculated step towards the demon-like man who sat on the floor.

 ‘The doll is still alive huh? Tough nut to crack.’ Jeff murmured, more to himself that to Jack.

  The lidless and forever smiling man had made his daily duty to check upon his friend and you, making sure that none of you had died yet; Jeff knew that it was only a matter of time for you to die and the sight of his best friend falling completely apart and surrendering to his demons to eat him alive from the inside out was something Jeff categorized as one of the most hideous things he had ever witnessed. And he had witnessed a lot of f*cked up things in his immortal life, yet this seemed to take the cake. Jack had turned into a living corpse while all at the same time holding on to one for dear life.

 ‘For your f*cking info, the others aren’t coming at all. Slendy-f*ck was furious that they came after you despite his orders.’ Jeff folded his hands over his chest and spared a quick gaze around the demolished room.

   Jack had heard the man loud and clear, yet the will to respond or even feel the slightest of feelings other than numbness was something absent from within the man. He knew that there must have been a serious reason behind the fact that the others hadn’t come over to finish what they started in the first place. In the condition Jack was right now, he would probably die in the very first confrontation, no matter how much strength he would place in protecting you, dying a little sooner than you. He would die first and once they reached you, you would meet him in the Other Realm where the both of you would finally be able to be happy. His logical mind made him hope that if there was really an Afterlife, places like Heaven and Hell mustn’t exist, and in reality, there is a never-ending forest waiting for anyone that passed, to reside peacefully there until the chance to reincarnate appears. And even if that didn’t stand, he sincerely and utterly hoped that there would be a place where you and him would reunite once again and finally be able to spend the rest of eternity alongside one another, content and safe, away from all the nightmares that made your lives a living hell. So Jack hated Slender at this final moment. He hated him for keeping the others from coming for you and killing you, prolonging the suffering for both of your beings. Maybe Death was truly the only salvation.

 Maybe Death was the only thing worth longing for.

‘Jeff.’

 The forever-smiling man paused midway from walking out of the room, what was left of his mind taken aback from the sudden sound that belonged to none other than Jack. The man hadn’t spoken in days and it was truly a surprising thing that made Jeff turn and look at the eyeless man utterly surprised.

  ‘Do you happen to remember all the times that I helped you out of lethal situations? Do you happen to recall the favors you owe me?’ Jack spoke up, his voice empty and emotionless, while his head never moved and his eyeless stare never strayed from your sleeping form.

 Jeff clenched his jaw and straightened his posture ‘Yes, you f*cker, I do.’

‘It is time to repay me.’ Jack murmured.

 ‘How?’

There was a long pause, inside of which Jack took a noisy breath before he decided to speak.

 ‘When _____ dies, I want you to kill me as well. It will not take long and I only trust you to do that.’

 Even if Jeff expected something like that to happen, he was surely taken aback nonetheless ‘I will you f*cker. But what if she wakes up?’

 Jack chuckled darkly, a sound that was as unsound as it was chilling ‘She will not and you know that very well.’ He commented ‘You really like to see me suffer, don’t you?’

 ‘The f*ck you said?’ Jeff growled.

‘I was not talking to you Jeff.’ Jack raised his head for the first time in what seemed to be ages ‘I was talking to Slenderman.’

 Jeff never really had the time to be surprised by this revelation when he felt the presence of the Head of the House coming towards him, so turning his head to look at the messed up living room, he surely immediately spotted the tall creature making its way through the rumble and broken furniture before carefully walking inside the demolished laboratory. It was utterly surprising that Jack, as dazed and long gone as he was, managed to pinpoint Slender far before Jeff did. Now that the Tall Man stood inside the room with his lean figure easily reaching the ceiling and in fact leaning towards the front in order to fit properly, the eyeless man returned his gaze to the comatose girl he was cradling. Slenderman appeared even more threatening and tall inside the close spaces of the room and as his empty face wandered around and to every broken surface that surrounded them, the sound of static was nowhere to be heard and instead, a sad aura was emitted from the Master. Even if he hated humans with a strong passion, it was not easy to watch as one of his own Children perished along with one, being eaten alive by the sheer sadness he was experiencing.

 Slender did believe that Jack was one of the strongest among the Killers –maybe and equal match for Jeff-, but the sobbing and broken down mess he was seeing right in front of him was surely a shadow of his past self. The Creature never failed to notice the dying girl along with the various tubes connecting with her and Jack knew all too well that Slender was not so happy about that.

 ‘She is dying already Slenderman. There is no need to come and check on us…’ the eyeless man murmured, making sure that your head was resting against his chest, closely enough to him so he was able to hear your ever-so-soft breaths. You looked so serene as you slept…

  I would like to personally apologize for the rest of the residents’ actions against you and your human Eyeless Jack. They went against my orders and they are currently paying for their reckless actions as we speak.

 The Tall Man transmitted his words straight into the killer’s mind, his thoughts authoritative and stern- just like Jack remembered it.

Jack laughed dryly ‘Really? Has your authority on them already begun to falter Slender? If they break your rules for such a small thing, what will they do when the need to choose sides comes?’

 Jack’s words ring around the room as if the man spat them straight into the faceless-man’s face, yet Slender does not seem to lose his composure in the least and the tendrils remain waving calmly behind him.

  I can assure you, they will pay dearly.

‘What good will that make? YOU CANNOT SEE THE DAMAGE THEY ALREADY CAUSED? CAN’T YOU SEE WHAT THEY HAVE DONE TO _______?! WHERE IS YOUR AUTHORITY? WHERE IS YOUR WORD? DID THE MASTER OF THE SLENDER WOODS FINALLY LOST HIS POWER? HAVE YOU BECOME WEAK? WHY I SHOULD ALWAYS BE THE ONE TO OBEY THE RULES AND BE F*CKED OVER WHILE YOU LET THE OTHERS ROAM FREE?! WHY. SHOULD. I. LISTEN. TO. YOU?!’ Jack screamed at Slender, his face being raised to meet with the faceless man and his voice sounding dual as the monster that resided inside his head wakes up and snarls against Slender, making the black tears acid poisonous and the monstrous man’s tongue to be divided into five parts, seeking to eat away any organ that was left within the two men standing right in front of him.

  Jack was finally beginning to lose his grip against the monster and Slender knew how dear the situation was; one wrong move and the man would be completely devoured by darkness and Slender knew what that meant and what could happen. The Rake was the living proof about that and Slender was not willing to lose another one of his possessions to that.

I am here to offer you a solution; I know very well why you cannot seem to find a matching heart for the girl.

 Jack scoffs ‘And why do you think that happens?’

  Because, as you too can see, you have made the lethal mistake of infecting her with your own, immortal blood. Though it might have strengthened her failing heart, rendering her stronger against heart attacks, it has changed her whole DNA, making it impossible to find an exact match. There is no human heart that can replace the one she has right now.

 ‘So because of that simple act, I cannot give her a heart to bring her back?’ Jack felt the tar-like tears streaming down his face once again. What had he done to you? He was the one to blame for making you unable to receive a heart and he only now realized the mistake he did, wishing inside his mind for death to punish him mercilessly.

 What had he done to his beautiful ______?!

It might be already too late for her to be saved. Nevertheless, there is one last thing you can do if you wish to try everything possible for her salvation.

Jack turned his head towards the Tall Man, his empty stare barely seeing him and his mind already shutting down once and for all.

 ‘What? Stop playing games with me Slender and tell me already!’ he demanded.

 Slender straightened his back.

  It is true that human hearts cannot save her anymore. Yet, there is one last heart that will probably be an exact match if there is still time; a heart that the user is in no need for in order to survive.

 Slender looked at Jack straight where his eyes used to be.

It is your own heart Eyeless Jack. The cruelest of hearts might be the only thing that will save her. If you are willing to try.

 The whole world was immediately lost all around Jack.

 As if someone set his mind ablaze and the vivid fires started burning everything in their path, fuelling his brain for the first time since what appeared to be forever, there was only one thought that remained and burned with fiery letters inside his mind:

 Save ______.

  Suddenly, there was not a single soul on this planet, other than you and him. Other than this room, the medical supplies that had escaped his broken outburst and the only means for your salvation that lied right where Jack never even looked at: his very own chest. It was somewhat poetic for the only matching heart for you to be right in front of him and especially be the one heart that had loved you back when she beat and now that she didn’t. Yet Jack would not stop at anything to offer it to you.

 With fast movements, the man lies you down on the medical bed, rushing to get all the necessary items he would need to operate the heart transplant, jumping over anything that was broken and pulling various machines next to you, drawing his favorite scalpel and leaning over you. For the first time in what appeared to be centuries, Jack’s chest and mind completely surrendered to feelings that were described with words long ago forgotten by the monstrous man: happiness, love, excitement and above all hope. Hope that there was still just a small fragment of a chance to save you, to bring you back to the eyeless man who was as desperate for you to wake up as he was to be loved by you. To be able to face the girl he had loved long ago and watch the glimmering fire return to her eyes; hear her heavenly voice once again; embrace her for the rest of eternity. And boy what would Jack give up in order to do so. He raised his scalpel and brought it swiftly down to your chest. Piercing through your bruised skin and opening you up was not as a difficult task as it should have been, since your already broken ribs gave him easier access to what he wanted, yet when his eyeless stare fell on that single beating organ which kept your soul trapped inside your body still, denying it from the ever-lasting paradise, the man found himself gazing upon it in total awe.

  There it was the single organ that had started it all. What was always able to look past the horrors thrust upon the fragile human, the one that was able to generate a love which far surpassed the boundaries of Life and Death itself, seeing what the eyes were always unable of seeing. The one that endured pain, loss, torture, anger, hurt and stubbornly decided to keep living. The heart which loved more than any other heart, forgave more than anyone else and accepted things for what they were, embracing them for all eternity. The one which altered destinies and changed worlds and turned horrifying demons into lambs. The only heart that was able to tame the untamable beast and love it till its very last beat. How could Jack not stand in awe as he came upon it? And how would he be able to stand hearing it take its very last beat? Because as he stood there for a second, as he just gazed over it, the beating sound filled his ears; how could he leave such prized possession behind?

 How could leave your lovely heart behind?

 And then, he brought his scalpel over his own un-beating heart.




 Hours passed by. The two men and the two girls, Sally and Halloween, patiently waited for the eyeless man to come out of the house and deliver them the news about your condition, waiting among the falling snow and into the breathtaking scenery of the white forest. The sun had dawned long ago and now it had started to plunge towards the west once again, when a faint movement came from within the broken down house. Jack walked through the broken living room, his chest bare and with black blood still dripping down from his wounds yet the eyeless man payed them no mind as he carried you in his arms, the very same wound decorating your own chest, which was covered messily with bandages, sealing away what must not be seen. Everyone held their breaths and focused on the man who appeared worn out and once he set a foot on the soft snow, kneeled down, never letting go of your form.

 There was a chilling silence were nothing was heard.

 Everything stood still.

Motionless.

Silent.

 Right at that point, Jack screamed.

And then…..