thank you to past-me for adding a picture in every chapter so i dont have to

'Hey, (Y/N), glad you could make it,' said your boss, a kind lady called Annalise.

'Morning, Annalise. I'm not late, am I?' You chuckled nervously. It was your first time meeting your colleagues, even though you were all currently on a Zoom call.

'No, no, you're not late at all. Is everyone present?'

There was only eight people in your team, including you and Annalise. There was Jingyi, Bobbie, Steve, Daithí, Essex and Gia. They all looked friendly enough.

'Okay, so the next exhibition we're doing is the history of LGBTQIA+ and how people have always been part of the community. Don't like it, then feel free to leave.'

Steve gave a look of disgust before leaving the call, bringing the numbers down to seven.

'Damn,' Gia said with a sigh, 'I thought he was alright.'

'Me too,' Bobbie agreed, 'oh well. Bigot.'

Essex snorted with laughter, and Daithí shook his head, smiling.

'Never liked him,' he said, scratching his head.

'Great, that's out the way. I was thinking of splitting it up by time period, if that's alright with everyone?' Annalise continued, determined to move past Steve.

Everyone gave a noise or word of agreement.

'Epic.' Annalise listed off different periods in time from around the globe. You chose the Ancient Greeks, remembering vaguely of Socks excitedly rambling about how incredibly gay they all were.

'Has everyone chosen something?'

A chorus of some version of 'yes' echoed from your laptop's speakers, and Annalise clapped her hands in delight, a wide beam on her face.

'Woo! Alright everyone, get as much info as you can by Friday. Remember, focus on the empowering bits only, kay? We want these people to feel empowered, not oppressed!'

You admired her energy.

Although the Zoom call was over, the group chat you were now a part of was rarely silent, with messages popping up every few minutes.

You decided to spread your research out in bits, deciding to focus on the Greek deities and their implied sexualities. A plan in mind, you reached into one of your desk drawers and pulled out a notebook, as well as the first pen your fingers found—a black felt tip.

Eh, it'll do, you thought with a tiny shrug.

In a matter of minutes, your notebook was laid out exactly how you wanted it and soon enough you were scribbling down nigh-on unreadable notes, just like the author of the story, who was trying to keep their handwriting semi-decent.

You, like the author, didn't really care what your notes looked like. You were going to type them up anyway and make edits, so who really cared? Only the finished product mattered the most, right?

Your phone pinged, signalling that you had been mentioned in the chat.

annalise:

Yo, (Y/N), how you doing?

you:

not bad, tbh

essex:

found anything cool?

you:

i think so???

apparently the reason olive oil was so popular was because people used it as lube

can i include that fact?

essex:

AHAHSQWBHS

annalise:

I-

I don't see why not-

bobbie:

the greeks sure knew how to party lmao

gia:

history is so gay I love it sm

jingyi:

A free fact for you, (Y/N).

The name 'Dennis' is derived from 'Dionysus'

you:

jingyi tysm

essex:

that means...denny's...

gia:

lol makes sense

You chuckled, turning off your phone so you could concentrate fully.

Because the author is exhausted, time seemed to fly by, and soon enough the work day was over, leaving you feeling slightly strange.

You had your own research to do, so you likely wouldn't be moving from your seat for a while yet. You wanted to know more about the town nearby, and, more specifically, why one person remembered a man vanishing.

You closed your notebook, stretching and arching your back until something cracked, leaving your spine feeling loose. You let out a small groan of relief, flexed your hands and began to type away at the keyboard, your fingers knowing where the keys were without you having to look.

******* disappearance of man 20**

Only one article showed up, dating from two weeks ago. The title read, 'My Best Friend Is Missing, But No One Remembers Him.' You clicked onto it, curious about its contents.

It was an interview with a man named 'Greg Hunt'. He was pictured at the top of the article, as they usually do in interview pieces. He was tall and kind of well built, with a mess of blond hair on his head.

You skimmed through the article, your eyebrows furrowing as you took in the information. According to Greg, his best friend, a fellow university student named Jack, got involved with a girl who was into cults, and Greg suspected that they kidnapped Jack and forced him to be a part of a ritual or something.

You scrolled down a bit, where the 'ritual' was discussed. The ritual did indeed happen, and everyone was slaughtered, their throats slashed, eyes gouged out and guts exposed—barring the kidneys, which were missing. You cringed as the images of the dead cultists drew itself in your mind, all the gory details present and correct.

In the final paragraph, a quote from Greg made your heart ache in sympathy for the poor guy.

'It's been just over four years since he went missing, and I feel like I've had to deal with this alone. I don't know why no one else remembers him, when I have all of his stuff from our dorm. I've seen things online about this horror story...'Eyeless Jack', or something like that. Fiction, I bet, but I can't stop wondering if that's what the cult did to him, and he's out there somewhere, alone and suffering.

'If you're interested in helping me look for him, please contact me at +** **** *******.'

You sat back in your chair, drumming your fingers on your desk as you thought. It wouldn't hurt to offer to help, would it?

You reached for your phone, but then lowered your arm and turned back to your laptop.

I'll need to educate myself a bit on this 'Eyeless Jack' story.

It didn't take long to locate the story. It was, much to your dismay, a Creepypasta story. However, you'd never seen him before, which was a slight relief.

He seemed to be quite the popular character, you noted, with many fan stories and fan art. The most popular origin story said his full name was 'Jack Nichols', so that was something. His personality differed between works, but his appearance was consistent: messy brown hair, a dark blue mask with eyeholes (which confused you, as he was called 'Eyeless Jack'), a black hoodie and dark jeans. There seemed to be a tar-like substance dripping out of his eye sockets, which was a fact confirmed by a wiki page.

How can he see where the kidneys are? you wondered, if he supposedly has no eyes, does he have some kind of power that allows him to see? Hmm. Well, based off of what Greg said and the origin story someone wrote, it looks like No-Face wasn't directly involved with the cult incident...unless he influenced it somehow? No, they were worshipping 'Chernabog', whoever the hell that it is. You tapped your chin as you thought, one arm resting across your lap. So Eyeless Jack is technically a demonic entity, which implies it could be reversed? I doubt No-Face would like it, but he won't miss one minion, right?

You were brought out of your thoughts by a tap on the window behind you. You turned to see Eyeless Jack staring at you through the window, silhouetted against the trees and light sky outside.