You held the bat tightly in your hand, pointing to the grass as you glared determinedly at the serial killer in front of you.

'Sit,' you said, 'please.'

A pause. 'Fine. Have it your way.'

'Thank you.' It was a pleasant surprise to hear him cooperate without putting up a fight. 'It won't take long, I just...need you to talk and be honest.'

'What makes you think I would lie?' Eyeless Jack asked with a chuckle as he settled himself down on the grass. Your vision of him glitched, and you saw his true appearance before you blinked it away.

'I'm just making sure,' you argued, sitting back down on the doorstep, bat still in hand. 'So, uhm, how much do you remember?'

'Of...?'

'Your life. Childhood, school. That kinda thing.'

'Hm. Not much.' He shrugged. 'Most of my memories are from the ritual onwards.'

The ritual...

'Can you tell me what happened at the ritual?'

'Sure—only if you answer my questions. What is it you people play? Twenty questions?'

'You wanna play twenty questions?' you echoed, failing to quench the hollow laugh bubbling in your chest. 'Seriously?'

'Yeah,' he said with a nod, 'something wrong with that?'

'No, not at all.'

'Cool. What happened at the ritual is something I'm not ready to talk about yet.'

You winced. Sore subject.

'Sorry.'

'No worries. My turn. Why're you so interested in my past?'

'I...want to know more,' you answered, 'I'm curious. You said that 'most' of your memories were since the, um, thing. What do you remember from before then?'

'Something about a university. Or a school. I don't know what it is exactly—or where it is. My turn. Why're you curious about me?'

You hesitated, pondering on how to phrase your answer. 'Is it a crime to be interested?'

'That's not a proper answer.'

'It's the only answer I can give you.'

'Why?'

'My turn to ask questions, not yours. Why stay with No-Face and the others? Why not go out on your own and...do your thing.'

'Asking two questions at once is against the rules, I think,' Eyeless Jack stated, stretching his neck to the side.

Resisting the urge to roll your eyes, you said in a somewhat snarky tone, 'Fine, answer the first one then.'

'Alright then, Little Mx Teenager. No-Face—as you have so affectionally dubbed him—offered protection, so I took it.' He shrugged. 'Without him, humans probably would've shot me or thrown me in a lab by now. That school I mentioned earlier, can you take me to it?'

'When?'

'Today, preferably, while I'm here.'

You pulled out your phone, absent-mindedly opening your messages. 'If you insist,' you said.

Eyeless Jack got to his feet and was at your side in a second. 'What're you doing?'

'Finding out where you went to uni.'

'Who're you messaging?'

'Your old best friend.' You glanced up. 'You don't remember him, do you?'

He shook his head, slowly sinking to the ground.

'When I mentioned him the other day, when I gave you the knife back, did you remember then?'

'No,' he muttered, 'I tried to, but I just couldn't.'

Seeing him like that, slumped at your side with his back leant against your house and head hung low, your heart gave a lurch of sympathy.

It must be hard to suddenly have someone digging through your past—especially when you can't remember any of it.

You dropped the bat, gently patting his shoulder. 'It's okay,' you soothed, 'you'll remember eventually.'

Unbeknownst to you, Eyeless Jack had to stop himself from leaning into your touch, a shiver running down his spine at the feeling of your fingers on his hoodie. He could've whined like a neglected puppy when you pulled your hand away and continued typing, leaving his heart pounding loudly in his ears while a coldness filled his unsatisfied mind.

No, he mentally scolded himself, get a grip.

Your phone vibrated in your hand, notifying you of a new message.

greg:

Yeah I'm free. What's up?

'Ah! Great, he's not busy,' you cheered, quickly typing out a reply to his message.

you:

i need the address to the uni you and jack went to. it's kinda urgent.

greg:

Is he there?!

You looked over at Eyeless Jack, who was staring at your phone.

'You can tell him,' he said quietly.

'Are you sure?'

'Yeah.'

you:

yeah, he's here.

greg:

Is he okay?

you:

i think so. he doesn't remember you, though. i'm sorry. he barely remembers anything of his life before the ritual.

Greg went silent for a minute or two before the next message came through.

greg:

I don't know why that surprises me. I'm guessing that meeting you at the campus would be a terrible idea?

you:

i think so. he'll never admit it, but i think me mentioning you being his best friend has either shocked or saddened him. it must suck to not remember anything.

'Don't make assumptions,' Eyeless Jack snapped, 'just get the address.'

'Alright, alright, calm your toes,' you replied, shaking your head.

you:

he's getting salty with me. can i have the address please?

greg:

Sure.

He sent you the address, as well as a 'Good luck!' before vanishing. You switched off your phone and got to your feet.

'We're gonna need a taxi,' you stated, 'so that means you gotta be quick getting in and out of the car, got it?'

'No need.' Eyeless Jack was already walking away from you, hands hidden in his pockets. 'I'll just steal one.'

'What?! No.' Hastily locking the front door, you hurried after him, leaving the bat where you had dropped it.

'Then walk. I'm not getting in a taxi.'

'I'm not getting in a stolen car.'

'Will it make you stop whining if I return it?'

'Undamaged.'

He sighed dramatically. 'Fine. I'll return it undamaged. Can you hurry up?'

'How about you slow down?'

'God, are you always this annoying?'

To his surprise, you laughed, causing the cannibal to momentarily lose brain function. How he wanted to record your voice and listen to it all the time, to play recording after recording whenever he got lonely. Of course, it would never be as good as the real thing.

Eyeless Jack shook his head, dispelling the thought, but played it off as a reaction to your sudden laugh.

'Weird human,' he mumbled under his breath. In a louder voice, he said, 'If you don't walk faster, it'll be dark and the car will get damaged.'

That seemed to do the trick. You sped up the pace until you were walking alongside him.

'Are you sure that stealing someone's car is the best idea?' you questioned.

'Borrowing,' he corrected, 'we're borrowing someone's car.'

'My point still stands.'

'Yeah yeah, worrywart. You're driving anyway, so it doesn't matter.'

'Huh?!' It took a second to realise that, if Eyeless Jack drove the car, it would look as though you were being driven by a ghost. 'Oh you've gotta be kidding me.'

'Is there a problem?'

'Yeah there's a problem! I don't have any gloves.' You pouted. 'If we're doing this, I do not wanna get arrested.'

'I don't think you can get arrested for stealing a car and then returning it.'

'I don't wanna risk it.'

Eyeless Jack reached into a pocket in his jeans and pulled out a pair of blue surgical gloves, holding them out for you to take.

'Here.'

You took them, thanking him as you pulled on the gloves, flexing your fingers.

'Okay, let's go find a car. I hope to God you know how to hot-wire one.'

oh my god.....look....an update....finally.

i wanted to write some yandere stuff and a comment finally got me going lmao.

time to have an EJ brainrot~

- gravity