Let Me In, Ch. 2
An Antisepticeye and eventual septiplier fanfic.
Previous.
Summary: It had been really fun to build Anti up for the whole Halloween takeover event, but that was over and done with. So why the hell was Jack hearing voices now?
Word count: 1703
Rating: T
Contains: Violence, paranoia, suspense, hallucinations.
Next.
/ / /
Jack could tell that he had overslept.
It was bright in his room, the light filtering through his plain curtains brighter than normal mornings. Jack shot awake with a start, only to curl in on himself with a gasp of pain. If he had felt bad the night before, he was absolutely feeling horrible now. His entire body was sore and aching in odd places, and his brief tumble down the stairs couldn’t quite cover it. And curiously, Jack still felt exhausted, as though he hadn’t gotten any sleep at all. He was now more tired than when he had gone to bed in the first place.
Glancing to the clock, Jack’s breath caught in his throat. He had less than an hour if he wanted to get his video up on time. He snatched up his phone, where it sat on his side table, trying to figure out why the alarm hadn’t gone off in the first place. The screen remained dark.
“Damn it,” Jack swore aloud. He blamed YouTube for making him talk to himself.
He fumbled for his charger, trying to plug it in so he could bring his phone back to life. He couldn’t believe that he had forgotten to do so the night before. It was part of his evening ritual before he went to bed to make sure he had everything prepared, including making sure his phone was charging so the alarm could go off in the morning. Jack sighed. Obviously he had been much more tired than he thought to have overlooked something so damn obvious.
Jack threw off his covers, eager to get to his recording space to get his video up on time. He almost never missed his schedule, consistently uploading his videos like clockwork, and feeling a bit under the weather was no excuse to be late. He had said as much in his videos, reassuring his fans that even if he was in a sour mood or felt like crap, he would still do his best to provide quality content. He had no intentions of going back on that promise, especially with the start of the new year.
He swayed briefly once on two feet, a sudden rush of nausea overcoming him, but ultimately he shrugged it off. He made it to the bathroom, cringing when he saw his appearance in the mirror. The entire portion of his left face, extending from his brow to his hairline, was covered in a darkening bruise. The dark reddish hue was a stark contrast to his otherwise pale skin, and Jack sighed. There was no way to ignore it or brush it off. It was way too noticeable.
He quickly splashed water on himself, being particularly gentle around the bruise, as Jack hurried to get ready. Normally he’d make himself a pot of coffee first thing upon waking, but there was simply no time for that now. He practically staggered out of his bathroom across the hall to his office, sitting heavily down in his swivel chair. Jack booted up his monitors, and upon seeing the email from Robin with the edited version of the video he had sent him the previous day, Jack sent a silent prayer of thanks to his editor. Robin truly was a blessing, and with him taking some of the burden from Jack, it freed up a lot of extra time for him. Plus, it just made things easier in general.
Jack looked over the fifteen minute video, double-checking it to make sure it flowed well and there were no errors before uploading it. He repeated the process for the second video, only queueing it to upload a couple hours after the first. Jack then set about to record a new video, slightly hesitant. While his videos for that day would have the normal Jack, the videos he would record for tomorrow would feature a bruised-up Jack. He knew Robin was sure to ask about it, and Jack would just have to shrug it off and chalk it up to him being a clumsy loaf. His fans, however, would be a much different story. He remembered how things blew up for Marina Joyce when people thought abuse was a factor for her. Jack shivered. He hoped that nothing like that would happen. After all, it was just a minor mishap on the stairs. That was normal, right? It happened.
With a reluctant sigh, Jack booted up Subnautica and started his recording. It was best to just get these types of things over with.
/ / /
Robin had messaged Jack back not two minutes after he sent the recorded footage of Subnautica.
He hadn’t really wanted to reply, but there was no way to avoid it. He just wasn’t quite sure what to say. Apparently Jack was taking too long to answer, if the jingle of the Skype call was anything to go by. The tune gave Jack a start, who after a brief moment of hesitation, clicked on the little green icon.
“What the hell happened to your face, Jack?” Well, it seemed like Robin wanted to get straight to the point, then.
Jack rolled his eyes, trying not to bite back a reply. His friend was just worried, after all. “It’s Seán, dick.” That earned a small laugh from the other, as the two often joked about what to call Jack. “Anyways, I’m fine. If you had watched the first minute of the video you would have heard the explanation I gave to the fans.”
“Yeah, well, that’s the explanation for the fans,” Robin reasoned easily, “I wanted to hear it from you.”
And that had Jack sighing. He had gone over it rather quickly on the recording, not wanting to get too into the details. Robin deserved a proper explanation. “It’s nothing, really.” That didn’t mean Jack was going to give Robin a proper explanation. “Just fell down my stairs.”
Apparently that was the wrong thing to say, as Robin’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. “That doesn’t sound like nothing to me. How did that even happen?”
Jack bit his lip, not wanting to breach the subject of how Jack had been hearing voices. Well, voice, really. Singular. Only one voice. Still, that wasn’t something he wanted to advertise with his friends. “I just re-waxed my stairs last weekend, and my socks slipped on the wood,” Jack lied quickly, though he looked off to the side, not able to meet his friend’s concerned gaze.
Robin seemed to buy it, leaning back in his own chair with a sigh. “Damn, Seán. Be more careful.”
“I will,” Jack said in a small voice, heart clenching. Robin was too nice to him.
After the call Jack headed downstairs, removing his socks beforehand out of nerves. He hadn’t heard any voices since waking up, which was good, meaning that the sleep had definitely helped. Still, he could never be too careful. He’d rather not go tumbling down his stairs again. In the kitchen, Jack started a pot of coffee and thought about making some toast and eggs. Though it technically wasn’t breakfast anymore, Jack wanted to try and do his normal morning routine properly, including his breakfast meal with coffee.
The scent of freshly brewed dark roast flooded Jack’s senses, and he relaxed slightly with a sigh. The warmth settled nicely in his body, and Jack hummed pleasantly. He had been so on edge since waking, unsure how to tackle the odd events of the evening prior, though the coffee seemed to help with his nerves, if only slightly. Slightly was still better than none at all, though. Jack felt his eyes drooping, and he quickly set down his mug to keep from dropping it. He was still so damn tired despite sleeping nearly twelve hours. He wasn’t quite sure what to make of that.
Whatever appetite Jack had worked up was gone now, which deeply concerned him. Sometimes he got too worked up in his recordings and accidentally skipped a meal, but him just being flat out not hungry was definitely not normal.
He grabbed his mug again, heading back upstairs to his recording room to get on with the day, figuring he’d just eat a bigger meal later to compensate for skipping breakfast. A sharp pain flared up in his left eye and Jack doubled over with a cry, the half filled mug of coffee shattering easily on the wooden steps. His hand reached up automatically to cover his eye, tears leaking out from the pain. Jack bit his lip. His eye felt like it was on fire.
He raced up the rest of the stairs, broken coffee mug mess forgotten as he made for the bathroom. Jack wondered briefly if the bruise on that side of his face had anything to do with it but, pushed that thought away. A simple bruise wouldn’t cause pain of this magnitude.
In the washroom, Jack ducked his head under the tap, turning it on and splashing water on it as one would do if they got chemicals in their eye. That’s what it felt like to him, anyways, some kind of chemical burn. It was impossible, but the pain was definitely real. The heated sensation began to fade as the water continued to run, and Jack heaved a sigh of relief. He wasn’t sure what the fuck caused that, but it was damn painful.
Turning off the tap, Jack straightened to look at himself in the mirror. He frowned slightly, grabbing a hand towel to dry his face. There was something off about his reflection, he just couldn’t place it. He placed the towel over his full face, giving himself a quick pat down. As he removed it, Jack noticed the way the eyes, his eyes, were watching him so intently. There was a toothy grin on the face in the reflection, one that Jack was sure he wasn’t making.
And then the laughing returned, in his voice, the lips in the mirror moving as though they were the source of the laughter. It was loud, ringing, and right in his ears, and all Jack could do was watch in horror as his own reflection was acting as though it were a different being.
Jack screamed.
