Chapter Text
It wasn’t usual that Jack took you around by car. Most of the times, he picked you up on foot. After all, his body was powerful enough to run with you on his back for long distances, so there was no need for it. Plus, it was extra risk, too. He didn’t exactly have a driver’s license, not that it would matter, because if he got stopped by chance, one look at his face would be reason enough for trouble.
However, today was a special day. It was your four-year anniversary.
One of the catches to being with Jack was that you could never really go out anywhere on dates, because of his appearance. So that meant no dinner dates, no movie theatres, no amusement parks, no vacations, either. It was unfortunate, but it was still worth it for you, since you got to be with Jack.
Still, he insisted on doing something for your anniversary celebration.
The previous few years had been the same. He would bring home an expensive cut of wagyu steak, along with some fine wine, and the two of you would dine in together at his house. It was more than enough for you, especially considering how Jack was a wonderful chef, and you never once thought to ask for anything more.
Yet this year, Jack insisted that on top of what you already did, the two of you should try something new, something different. And of course you agreed; you didn’t see any issue with it. In all honesty, you were happy with whatever you did with him. All that mattered was that he was there with you to celebrate.
Jack came up with the idea to drive you to the upper parts of the mountains, somewhere he claimed had natural hot springs and a majestic view. You were hesitant at first, unsure if him driving a good idea, as well as being in a public place. But Jack assured you that if you went in the early morning hours, just a while past midnight, there wouldn’t be anyone else there. While the location was good, it wasn’t in a very populated area, the mountain the two of you lived on already being rather rural.
When you asked why he insisted on driving instead of just running with you like he usually did, he explained that the distance was quite far, although the main reason was that it wasn’t very romantic to have to run somewhere. You didn’t necessarily agree with that, but you found it cute for him to do so, and so you happily went along with it.
You shifted the schedule of your usual anniversary dinner to the day before, so that when you’d arrive at the hot springs after midnight, it would be the actual anniversary date.
Everything had gone well. The steak was delicious as always, and the champagne he selected for that day was exquisite. He even went out of his way to make dessert, something you found out he had been secretly practicing for the past few weeks. It was magnificent, much like everything else about Jack.
When twilight rolled around, Jack had everything prepared, including a car he managed to borrow from Brian. And when midnight came and passed, the two of you were in the car, steadily driving upwards on the mountain roads.
You arrived at the hot springs safe and sound. The location was just like how Jack had described it, absolutely enchanting. The two of you took a small hike to the scenic spot that he had promised, and from there, you could gaze at the entire town below, many houses with their lights on surrounding the mountain from high to low, resembling pixie lights wrapped around a Christmas tree. It was nothing short of gorgeous.
From there, you went to the hot springs, dipping your bare bodies into the hot water basins. As the two of you soaked in the perfectly warm water, you were able to gaze up towards the sky, and from there, away from all the light pollution, you could see a sky full of stars, twinkling with an evanescent glow.
“Happy four year anniversary,” Jack whispered into your ear as you leaned against him, your skin flush against his.
“Happy four year anniversary,” you repeated the words back to him with an ecstatic smile.
Jack took you into his arms, pulling you up onto his lap as he snuggled against you, you burying your face in the crook of his neck, pressing a gentle kiss to his pale grey skin.
He leaned in closer, so that his mouth was right next to your ear, his lips brushing against it ever so slightly, a feathery touch that made you feel ticklish and giggle.
“Y/N,” he whispered, “I look forward to the rest of my life with you.”
His words made you blush, swooning over his undeniable charm.
“Jack,” you tilted your head up, moving in close to his ear, “I feel the same way.”
The drive home was rather tranquil. The atmosphere was one of utmost serenity, with Jack driving, and you dozing off in the passenger seat, a blanket so lovingly draped around your shoulders, thanks to Jack having the idea to bring it.
“Did you have fun today?” Jack asked, his voice cutting through the silence of the night.
“Mm, yeah,” you mumbled, half-asleep, “everything was perfect.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” he responded, and you could hear the smile in his voice. As fatigued as you were, you opened your eyes to meet his, beaming at him with joy, returning his smile.
“Thank you for taking me out,” you thanked him, your voice mumbly from the drowsiness that was to be expected considering how you were still awake at three in the morning, after having had a normal sleep schedule.
“It was my pleasure,” he replied, and you nodded, although you didn’t know if he saw it or if he was too focused on driving. You could feel yourself drifting off to sleep, the temptation of unconsciousness too strong for you to remain awake.
Just as you were about to close your eyes, you saw it.
A deer. Staring directly into the headlights, transfixed by the dangerous brilliance.
“Jack!” you shouted the same second he harshly jerked the steering wheel to the right, narrowing avoiding the deer, but instead swerving off the side of the road.
And from there, you fell.
The plummet was so sudden and the speed so fast that you didn’t even realize what was happening, not until the car fiercely slammed into the ground, crushing into the trees below with a thunderous crashing sound.
You had the air forcefully taken out of your chest, something simultaneously entering it, a gasp involuntarily leaving your parted lips.
For a moment, there was total, complete, and utter silence. But as the dust settled around you, your brain seemed to regain control of itself, processing what had just happened the same time you heard a frantic call.
“Y/N!” Jack’s voice resonated through the forest. You could tell he was nearby, but you couldn’t see where. Your eyes were half-lidded, and most of what you could see was blurry and dark.
“Y/N!” Jack shouted your name again, the panic clear in his voice. You heard a loud slamming noise, feeling it concurrently as the car shuddered. You weren’t sure what was going on; all you knew was that you were afraid, shellshocked and stunned into a crushed, unmoving figure.
Your brain raced to put two and two together, understanding that the car had fallen down the side of the road and smashed into some trees, and that you were trapped in the destroyed vehicle. As you understood what was happening, you felt the fear within you continue to rise, freezing your body, though you didn’t feel as if you could move anyway.
“Oh, god—” you heard Jack’s voice, and you were relieved that he was here. Surely he could help you out of wherever you were stuck. Likely he had already freed himself, what with his inhuman strength and all.
“Y/N, can you hear me? Please say something if you can.”
You tried to speak, gasping once more, as you realized something was impaled through your chest, your eyes widening in an unadulterated horror.
“Jack—” you cried out, “I’m here, there’s— there’s something in my chest—”
“Stay still and don’t move,” he instructed. “I’ll help you.”
“Okay,” you whimpered, tears already forming at the corners of your eyes from the sheer fear alone. The adrenaline hadn’t even worn off for you to feel the pain yet, and you were not looking forward to that happening. You tried your best to keep calm, keep your mind at bay, just retain your composure for the meantime and not stress out Jack more than he likely already was.
You heard some rustling, some shuffling, but nothing happened. Instead, everything went completely still, so much so that you could’ve sworn time stopped right then and there.
“No...” Jack’s voice was muted, but it was distinctly audible in the early morning tranquillity. Early morning, you thought. Not even the birds were awake yet.
What were you thinking? That didn’t matter right now. No, right now, you were stuck, crumpled in some horrid car crash. You tried to move one of your limbs, flexing the fingers of your right hand as you tried to tug it back towards yourself, only to realize it was stuck, likely smushed in between two heavy metal objects.
You tried tugging again, and then the pain stuck you. All at once. You could feel the protest of your probably broken arm as you attempted to move it, sharp pains spiking through each nerve. Your head was throbbing, an angry pounding in your skull as if you had just been slammed in the head with a sledgehammer. What actually happened was probably not far off. However, none of that was anything compared to the stabbing pain in your chest, as if you had been speared though—no, you had been speared through—that radiated excruciating pain that pulsated through your veins.
Your first instinct was to scream from the agony that engulfed your very being, but you just barely managed to hold back for Jack. You didn’t want to scare him.
But he already knew what was going on, for you could hear him sob.
“No, no, no, Y/N—” His voice cracked as he enunciated your name, and you could hear just how broken he sounded, his voice filled with a sense of dread and despair so heavy it threatened to further crush you until you were nothing.
“Jack—” you weakly cried out. Tears were freely falling from your eyes, cascading down and painting a perceptible line through your likely bloodied cheeks. Not only were you afraid, frightened out of your mind, but the physical pain was also too much to bear. You had experienced nothing even close to being as gruesome as this.
“It hurts.”
“I know,” Jack replied, and it only struck you then how small his voice was, how lost he sounded, like an abandoned child without their parents.
You knew then, by the tone of his voice, that it was over for you. You were going to die here. As you realized that, you choked on another sob, your composure shattering thin like glass. You could feel yourself quaking within the confinement of the vehicle and the devastation to your limbs. You were trembling, bottom lip quivering as you began to hiccup.
After a long pause, with just the sounds of crying, you could hear Jack say something.
“Y/N,” he called out to you. Somehow, he sounded a lot more calm, all of a sudden. Perhaps you were just delirious; you did feel lightheaded from the blood loss.
“Yes?” Your voice shook.
“I’m going to get you out of there,” he stated, his voice firm, unwavering.
“What?” you mumbled, confused. “I’m dying, Jack.”
“No, you’re not.” And he sounded so determined then; you swore you weren’t just imagining things.
“Yes I am. We both know it.” You chuckled bitterly as you spoke, your words laced with spite, the unjustness of this situation just now striking you.
Silence again. You wondered what he was thinking. You felt so dizzy, you swore you could pass out any second now. Desperately, you clutched at the remaining bits of your consciousness, forcing yourself to stay awake. You couldn’t let it end, not yet.
“Listen to me carefully,” he stated, and his words reminded you so much of your original meeting that you let out a pleasant laugh at the memory, despite your body being wracked with pain.
“I’ll give you my life.”
“Huh?” You couldn’t understand what he meant by that. Were you already too far gone? Was it already over for you? You could feel the darkness tugging at your mind. You used every ounce of energy you had to pull away from it, pitifully attempting to reach for a light that wasn’t there.
“There’s no time to explain,” Jack said. “I’m going to break you out of this rubbish.”
You could feel something shake ever so slightly, but then it stilled.
“It’s going to hurt, though,” was the last thing Jack said before you felt something heavy get lifted off of you, sending shockwaves of torment through your battered body as you let out a loud, piercing cry.
“Shh, shh, it’ll be okay soon,” you heard him say, as your vision was finally uncovered, your eyes fluttering a few times to make out his form, standing above you. Quickly, he leaned down, scooping you up into his arms, picking you up as if you weighed nothing, like a feather.
As he was cradling your broken body in his arms, you could instantly see him get smeared with sticky, sanguine fluid. Your blood. There was so much of it, it was glistening on the surface of both his and your skin, soaking through the fabric of both your clothes, staining everything with a poignant, intrusive red.
“Jack,” you whined, “it really hurts.”
“It won’t hurt for much longer.”
You still didn’t know what he was referring to. But then he tilted his head downwards, pressing his lips to yours in a kiss. You could taste iron and metal, the flavour making you grimace. Just as you were about to ask what he was doing, you felt the darkness tug at you again, this time gripping your mind hard, digging its talons into your consciousness, refusing to let go.
“Jack—”
“Just let go,” he reassured you. “Everything will be okay.”
And so you did, allowing oblivion to consume you.
“Jack?” you murmured, the first word that left your lips as you woke up. Lazily, you slowly lifted your eyelids, only for your eyes to snap wide open as you took in the scenery, the realization of where you were hitting you hard.
It was still dark, with chiseled trees and a ruined vehicle surrounding you. But something was different this time.
You couldn’t figure out what it was right away, but then you noticed you felt no pain. Everything in your body felt okay again. You flexed your fingers. They moved as they were supposed to.
Just what had happened? You didn’t understand at all, but then you looked towards your feet, and horror instantly wrote itself all over your features.
Jack laid there, propped up against the trunk of a tree that had been snapped halfway, and he was covered in blood that continuously oozed out from underneath him, forming a puddle of crimson.
He was pale, far paler than his usual tone of smoke and ash; this time he was nearly white as a sheet. When he saw you looking at him, he returned your gaze, smiling warmly.
“Hey,” he mumbled. You didn’t smile back at him, you only continued gaping at him, terror-stricken.
“You’re okay,” he observed, letting out a sigh of relief that tugged at your heartstrings painfully.
“W-What did you do?” you stuttered, the possibilities of what had occurred racing through your mind, none of which you liked.
“I transferred your injuries over to myself,” Jack explained. “Cool demon powers, huh?”
“No—” you gasped. “No!”
You sunk to your feet, both hands clasped over your mouth as you stared at him in horror, the feeling of fright a tidal wave surging through your entire being. The tears came on so fast that they instantly clouded your vision, before forming individual teardrops that fell to the ground in rapid succession.
“No!” you wailed, your cry reverberating in the sullen atmosphere. “Why the fuck would you do that?”
“To save you, of course.” He spoke as if it was common sense, though it was not condescending. He talked like it was just simply the only option for him. The thought of that made your heart swell with another burst of pain.
“But what about you? What are you going to do?” you questioned, praying to whatever god that was out there in hopes that he had a plan of some sort for himself. Something. Anything.
“I’m going to die knowing it was for the girl I loved, I suppose.” Your heart sank down into the depths of the chamber that was your stomach, and you could feel it swallowed whole, devoured by despair as the situation became more and more clear to you with each passing second, to the point where you knew what exactly would happen. Yet, you fervently attempted to fight it, tried to swim against the current, knowing that the only thing that will happen to you was drown..
“No, Jack, please, don’t— don’t leave me—” you blurted out, sobbing all the while.
“Shh, it’ll be okay. It’ll all be okay,” he reassured you, weakly reaching out his hand towards yours. You quickly grasped his hand with both of yours. It was so, so cold.
“No, no— it won’t be okay, how is anything supposed to be okay without you?” you asked.
“Y/N,” he said, “be brave for me, okay? Just this once.”
“No, Jack, please, please don’t go...” You couldn’t hold back the desperate pleas, despite knowing it was futile, despite knowing you didn’t have much time left, you couldn’t help but beg, hoping it would somehow change something.
“Y/N—”
“Please, please, I’m begging you, don’t go, don’t leave me here by myself,” you cut him off with further pleading. You didn’t care if you sounded pathetic, you probably did, but it didn’t matter to you. You just didn’t want him to go.
“Y/N—”
“Please, Jack, I love you so much, I can’t live without you—”
“I love you too, Y/N,” he returned your statement, squeezing your hand as he said so. “That’s why I’m doing this.”
“Jack—”
“Y/N, I don’t have much time left. I need you to listen to me carefully,” the same dreadful words all over again. They used to be a reminder of a pleasant time, but you hated hearing them now, though you knew you had to listen to them, regardless. “I don’t regret this. I don’t regret this one bit. I don’t regret any of this; every moment I’ve spent with you has been more than worth it to me.” As he spoke, you continued crying, burying your face into his neck, letting go of his hand to wrap both arms around him, pulling him close to you, holding him like it was the last time. Holding him because it was the last time.
“Can you promise me something?” he inquired.
“Of course, what is it?”
“Promise you’ll live for me, okay? Promise you’ll live a happy life, even without me.” His words made you break out into another burst of sobs, your tears trickling down your face and onto his neck, mixing with, diluting the blood that was so warm, so red.
“No, Jack, not without you—” you cried out in protest.
“Won’t you grant me my one dying wish?” he spoke with a faltering grin. You chuckled a tiny bit through your cries, though you didn’t feel any better.
“Fine,” you agreed, finally pulling your head away from his shoulder so that you could look him in the eyes. His eyes were starting to glaze over, but you could tell he was trying his best to focus them on you. You could hear his breaths growing shallower, the pool of blood beneath the two of you spreading ever so wide.
“Pinky promise me, you’ll live for me?” His fingers were quivering as he curled them in, holding only his pinky out, unsteadily extending his hand towards you.
“Pinky promise,” you whispered, hooking your pinky around his, interlocking your fingers.
“Thank you, Y/N.” His voice was hushed, so quiet that you could barely make out the words. But you still heard it.
“Jack—” Your pinkies were still locked together when you felt his hand go limp.
“Y/N—”
“Y/N—” amidst a comforting blanket of fog, you heard a voice call out for you.
The voice sounded familiar, but you couldn’t quite place your finger on who it was. Everything was shrouded in darkness, the lack of sight combined with the hazy feeling surrounding you with a cozy sensation. You felt as if you had been wrapped in a cocoon, nestled away somewhere where it was safe.
But the voices kept calling out your name, and slowly the mirage of the ephemeral darkness began to fade away, your eyelids opening to reveal light.
You blinked once, then twice, clearing your sight; what was formerly blurry shapes and shadows now sharpening up to distinct figures and faces.
You tried to focus your still dazed mind, somewhat able to recognize Toby crouched down next to you.
You felt something wet splash onto your cheek. A teardrop.
A teardrop followed suit with another and then another; a sempiternal flow of tears emerging from his eyes. Toby was crying. You wondered why.
You didn’t know what was happening, only that you could see Toby turn his head to Tim, who was standing behind him, shouting ‘she’s awake!’ before turning back towards you.
“Y/N, Y/N, can you hear me?” Toby questioned, one of his hands placing itself on your shoulder. His hand felt shaky.
You made an incoherent noise to acknowledge his statement, and you could see the tiniest bit of relief break out on his face. You tried to smile at him, reassure him that everything was okay, though you still didn’t fully comprehend what was happening.
You took a quick glance at your surroundings, finally realizing that you were on the floor. Why were you lying here? Just what was going on?
And then you heard a third voice, one that you knew belonged to Brian’s, shout.
“The paramedics are on their way, they’ll be here soon!” Paramedics?
Oh, that was right. The mention of paramedics refreshed your recollection, your memories of what had just happened surging back into your head.
That was right. Toby, Tim, and Brian had come over to your place to check up on you. You were coughing up flowers. Brian called the emergency services. Tim had told you that Jack was dead. And then you passed out.
Now you were awake again, everything that you had just remembered replaying in your mind like a broken record.
Jack was dead.
Jack was dead. He had died the day of your four-year anniversary. You were there when he died. You had watched him die.
Jack was dead, and he wasn’t coming back. Not now, not ever. He was gone. He was truly gone, and no amount of pretending otherwise will ever change that fact. No matter how hard you tried to cope, telling yourself he was still alive, that he had just broken up with you, it wouldn’t change the reality of the situation. And the reality was that Jack was dead, he had died in place of you. He had died because of you.
It was all your fault.
If it wasn’t for you, Jack would still be alive right now. But instead, he chose to die, all so that you could continue to live.
Yet, you had deluded yourself into believing he was still alive, you had deluded yourself into believing he would come back, and consequently fell to the disease, on top of starving yourself to near death. You had taken the life that Jack sacrificed for you and demolished it with your own hands.
As that realization came to you, you felt a tsunami of emotions wash over you. The main ones being guilt and regret. You couldn’t escape from it now, not anymore.
What had you done?
You had promised him that you would live. You had promised him that, and you had broken it. You had failed his one last dying wish.
You had failed not only him, but also yourself.
You felt a crawling sensation in your chest. You could feel the flowers growing, taking root in your heart and filling your lungs to the brim.
You turned yourself over, coughing with anguish. You could feel the flora get pushed up your esophagus, clawing at the back of your wounded throat, and you reached a hand into your mouth, fingers grasping at the petals, trying to pull them out.
As you yanked the flowers out, you could feel a stem, or perhaps another bundle of petals get caught inside your throat, causing you to gag, and then you were heaving up an entire bouquet soaked in your own blood, heaving up saliva and stomach acid all together. You coughed and choked on it as you desperately pulled out mouthfuls and mouthfuls of garnet flowers, complete with lime green stems, beige-brown roots, all the while you continuously spat out your own blood.
The flowers didn’t stop. Each time you felt like you had finally pulled them all out, you could feel new buds blooming in your chest, rapidly stuffing your ribcage and you would repeat the process over and over again, the myriad of flowers relentlessly continuing to clog up your insides.
All the while, you could feel Toby’s hand patting your back, stroking it in a pitiful attempt to ease your suffering, while Tim and Brian were shouting in the background.
“Brian, where the fuck are the paramedics? Didn’t you say they were coming?” Tim yelled, audibly sounding frightened.
“They are! They’ll be here anytime,” Brian replied, and you could tell he was trying to keep his cool, but you could hear in his voice that he was just as petrified as Tim was.
“Y/N, hang in there, please,” Toby was pleading, but you couldn’t reply, your esophagus entirely filled with newborn flowers.
You weren’t coughing as much as you were choking anymore, your windpipe obstructed by ever-blooming flora, cutting off your air supply. You were despairingly suffocating, your arms no longer supporting your weight. Instead, you were lying down with your hands desperately grasping at your neck and chest, flailing like a fish out of water.
The oxygen was no longer reaching your head, and you could see black spots in your bleary sight, much like the time when that man had tried to murder you.
This time, you had done it to yourself.
Through the static and buzzing in your ears, you could hear the wailing sounds of an ambulance somewhere in the distance.
“They’re coming!” Brian hollered.
“They need to come faster,” Toby cried, “she won’t—woo—make it for much longer.”
“God, Y/N, please,”—his voice too, was growing further and further away from you—“please, stay with me—”
You could hear the sound of the void calling out to you, telling you to close your eyes, give in to the darkness that would inevitably devour the last of your consciousness.
The faint sound of an ambulance was present in the background, and you heard voices that you didn’t recognize as well as incoming footsteps, but you paid them no mind.
You coughed weakly, one last time.
You closed your eyes at last, letting yourself fall into the comforting embrace of oblivion, surrendering yourself to its tender hold. Your movements slowed, then came to a halt at last, your body finally motionless.
You laid there, still, surrounded by a field of red spider lilies.
“Thank you for everything,” you said, pleasantly smiling at him.
“Of course, it was my pleasure,” Jack replied, returning your expression.
It was morning, a day having passed since you first arrived here. The blizzard had stopped its rage last evening, a few hours past the original incident, but Jack had insisted it wasn’t safe for you to go home by yourself so late at night, and you agreed with that. He had been generous enough to let you sleep in his guest room for the night, and you gratefully took up his offer.
Of course, there was another side to it, being that neither of you really wanted your interaction to be over, at least not quite yet.
Over the course of a mere evening, the two of you had grown quite fond of each other, far more than to be expected out of an accidental encounter such as this. You found it easy to open up to him, and the two of you shared your lives with each other over a delectable dinner that he had made, even sharing some secrets that you wouldn’t have told just anybody else.
So when the morning came, and it was time to leave, you couldn’t help but feel a bit of disappointment, a bit of longing. You weren’t sure if he’d want to see you again after this, if this was just a onetime thing of saving your life.
Jack walked you to the door, where you put on your shoes, which had been dried out over the night and were thankfully not bloodied. Opening and holding the door for you as you stood in the doorway, the two of you looked at each other, eyes meeting for a lengthy moment.
“Goodbye, Y/N,” he said.
“Goodbye, Jack,” you responded.
And with that, you turned around, but just as you were about to step out the door, you felt his hand latch onto your wrist, causing you to turn around in surprise.
“Wait,” he called out. “I’ll see you again, right?” His words brought an earnest smile to your face, and you couldn’t help but feel a weight getting lifted off of your shoulders.
“Yeah,” you agreed, “I’ll see you again.”