Part Five of The Stitched AU
A JSE Fanfic
[This is part of a completed fanfic series of mine with 24 total chapters. I started this October of 2018 and finished it May of 2021. Chase disappears. While Jack, Schneep, and JJ try to find him, to no avail, he's alone with Anti.]
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Chase couldn’t remember how he got here. He couldn’t remember where “here” was. He’d been home alone late one night, when he’d gotten a text from Jack, explaining that he was outside and needed Chase to open the door for him. The text said it was an emergency. He was expecting something like this. After what happened to JJ two months ago, the boys were constantly on edge. None of them went anywhere without a way to contact the others, usually their phones. So when Chase got that text, he didn’t think anything was odd. He rushed to his front door, only to see nobody there. He remembered going back inside, feeling uneasy, then hearing a low whine coming from…somewhere. He’d gone off to find it, and as it increased in volume his vision began growing dimmer…and dimmer…until he passed out, and the last thing he saw was the glitching outline of a man with glowing eyes.

He’d woken up in a room of red light. His feet dangled a few inches above the floor, and strings were wrapped around his wrists, suspending his arms above him. He’d lost his hat. The room didn’t have windows, or even a door, and was completely void of decoration or furniture. There was no place the red light could’ve been coming from.

At first, he called for help, with no answer, or even indication that anyone heard him. Then he struggled, pulling against the strings, feet flailing, but nothing changed there either. Nothing changed ever. The red light never faded, never flared, never stopped its strange glow. It was low enough to make the empty room seem dark in the corners, but bright enough so that when Chase closed his eyes he could still see it through his eyelids. Nothing he did made any difference to the rest of the room, and that made him want to scream. So he did. And still, everything was the same.

Time must’ve passed. There was no way it couldn’t have. But there were no clocks and nothing he could use as an indication of time. Eventually, he got tired, as humans do, and started to fall asleep. When that happened, something finally changed. The same low whine he’d heard in his house started up again, growing loud for a while, then fading away again. And, after a period of silence, it reappeared and disappeared once more. Then this repeated again. And again. Every time he started to doze off the electric drone would start up, startling him awake, until his eyes were running with tears from deprivation.

It was a while before something finally happened. The strings were digging into his arms, rubbing his skin raw and bruised, and he’d stopped fighting against them long ago. His head hung low, and his neck hurt from not moving it in a long time, but he didn’t care anymore.

The whine returned. It grew more intense then ever before, crackling and breaking. Then it lowered in volume, but didn’t go away completely. Chase didn’t look up as the sound circled around him, slowly. It came closer, stopping in front of him. He still didn’t look up. “Don’t have anything to say, C͞ha̧s̸e͏?” A voice hissed, sounding more like white noise than anything human. “I thought you were the one who n̕e̴ver̴ sh̕ųt ͠u͏p͞.”

Chase twitched a bit, but refused to look at him. He knew who it was, of course. Who else would do something like this?

“ Co͡me ̡no̕w̶, I know this isn’t as e̴a̶͢s̷y͢ as you’re m̵ak̸i̢̡n͡͡g͢͝ ͝m̷e believe,” the static cajoled. “I can f̤̣̮e̛͎̞͉͇̪e̮̣̣̳̠l̞͎̱ it. You just want to m̨a͟k̵e͞ this̛ di͝fficul̶t for me, d͝on’t y̷o̢u?”

Chase didn’t say anything; even if he had the energy, he wouldn’t. A distorted sigh came from the static. Then a hand, not entirely there but not entirely not there, reached out and grabbed his head, forcing it upward. Chase winced and gasped as the sudden movement caused a jolt of pain down his neck. He was staring into the eyes of the demon.

Anti looked the same as ever. Blue eyes and brown hair, just like Chase’s own, mask of shadows covering the upper half of his face, flayed neck with a series of green stitches barely holding him together. “ Th̡at'̴s͡ be͠t̢ter̴,” he smiled. “How are you, C͡h̸ase͡? It’s been a while. Your p̶r͝ett̡y ͡l͝i̧tt͡le̸ neck hasn’t had any more kn̡i̸v͠es held to it?”

“Shut…up,” Chase muttered. It was the best he could manage.

“Ouch, C͢ha͏s͡ȩ. You wound me. And here I was, hoping to have a n̶ice,͡ p͝l͠e͏asant cha̵t̸.” Anti disappeared for a moment, breaking apart and fading away. Chase felt a hand in his hair, fingers gently grabbing strands and then pulling hard, yanking his head backwards. A small sound escaped his throat before he could stop it. “We have plenty of time to… c͓at̟̹c͉͍̜̰̜h̥̱͖̪͢ ͎up̖. Ask me anything, I̸'̴l̷l a̢n͞sw̷e͏r͏.” The hand let go, and Chase’s head flopped back into position.

Chase gritted his teeth. There had to be a trick here. Anti fed off pain and misery, he wouldn’t hand out answers without a price. But the question was, would the answers be worth the cost? Maybe one wouldn’t hurt… “Where’re Jackie and Marvin?” Chase rasped, voice hoarse from non-use.

“Oh, they’re close.” Anti sounded amused. “Even clo͢se̡r͢ t̷ha̷n̕ ̶yo̢u t͝h̨in̶k.”

He reappeared in front of Chase, a slight smile on his face. “Do you hate me, C͝h̨a̴sȩ?” he asked sweetly.

“Wh-what?” The question took him by surprise.

“I said…” Anti leaned forward and lightly grasped Chase’s face. “Do you. Ḩa͝t̵͟͝e̶. M͠e̛?”

“Yeah, course I do.” It only occurred to him that lying was an option after he’d let the truth fall out of his mouth.

“I see.” Anti backed away again. “And wh̴y͟ is that?”

“I…who wouldn’t?” Chase said. His words were a bit slurred. His mouth was moving faster than his tired mind and everything came pouring out before he could think it was a bad idea. “You…first you—first we thought you killed Jackie an’ Marvin, instead you’re doing worse…and you almost killed Jack…and then you tried to—hypnotize Doc, or somethin’…and then you…you fucking maimed JJ and he hasn’t talked to us since—no’ that he can, anymore, but…”

“Oh, C͞ha̸s̛e,” Anti shook his head. “Chase, Chase, you only think this because you can’t see the ͞bi͢g͠g͟er pictu͝re.” A knife appeared in his hand. Chase’s breathing hitched, but Anti merely began playing with it. “Let’s relate this to something you know. Your wife decides to l͢eavę ̶y̴ou͟ and take the kids. The day after the divorce, you burst into your friends’ apartment and begin crying. ‘I’ve l̵ost̸ he͡r,’ you say. ‘I’ve l̕oşt ͟t̵he̛m̢. I can’t do it anymore. I can’t do li͢͝͞fe̴̛ ̸ ͠w͏it͟hout them.’ And your friend does his best to comfort you.”

Chase blinked, confused. He…remembered that. It actually happened. After his first night officially alone, he’d broken down. The next morning he’d gone to the apartment Jackie and Marvin shared. Marvin had let him in, and Chase started crying. He remembered saying that exact phrase…

'“I can’t do it anymore,” he had said, voice choked by tears. “I can’t do it without them.”'

'“Do what, Chase?” Marvin had asked gently.'

'Chase had paused. “Life. I can’t do life without them.”'

'“Oh, Chase, no…” Marvin had pulled him into a hug at that point. “Don’t say shit like that. It…worries me, and I know the others would feel the same way. If you think you can’t do it, then we’ll help you out. That’s what we’re here for.”'

“But what if your friend was also married?” Anti asked. “In fact, what if all your friends were? What if, instead of seeing their marriages crash and burn around them, they continued on with them, h̛a̡p̵py ̨as ̶can ̵be̡? You lost eve̴r̕y̴th̡ing, and they lost n̕o̴̡t̕h̷i͠n̶̨g͡. Wouldn’t that just eat a͢wa̴y̴ at you? Wouldn’t you want them to f͏ee̷l͟ wh͡at y͠ou ͡fe̡lt?” The world cracked and broke. Anti smiled a too-wide smile. “Wouldn’t you want to find your h̷ap͏p͠i̴nes̵s͏ in ̷th͞e͢i͝r s̕͠u̢͞ff̸̴eri̛͡ng̡?”

Anti stopped playing with the knife. He held it tight in his hand, and with a single swipe he cut the strings holding Chase up. With the strings severed, Chase fell to the ground and immediately collapsed, his legs too weak to support him. He wheezed faintly and tried to stand up. But the strings, still wound around his arms, took on a life of their own, the loose ends burying themselves in the solid ground like snakes burrowing through sand. He was stuck.

“Not yet, Ch̛a̷s̛e͏͠.” Anti crouched on the ground next to him. “I’m not done t̛a͡l͏kin͢g ̛to ̵y̸o͝u. I know something you don’t, and I’m sure you’d l͢͝o͟v̷e̸͢ to hear this.”

Chase shook his head. “I’m not…’m not listening to you.”

“ Yo̢͡͡u̶ w̴͝i̷͞l̛̕l̶.” Anti reached out and grabbed the side of Chase’s head. His hand dissolved into pixels, into red and blue and green, and the pixels sank into Chase’s head. Chase blinked and gasped as the electric whining grew, but only within him. It was buzzing in his head, piercing his mind, clouding behind his eyes. At first he wanted to recoil from the sensation, but the longer it went on…

“ Do yo͡ų w̡ant ͝t̴o̵ ̡se͝e y̨o̡u̸r f͎ṛ̗̜͇͖̳͍͠i̙̯̯̗̖̩̙e̳̼̥ͅṋ͝d̤̲̹̦̫s̲̰̻̥̮͎, C̨h̨a̢se̷?” Anti asked, his voice sounding almost layered.

Chase mumbled an affirmative answer.

“Do you want to kn͠o̶w wha̶t h̸a̡pp̵e͟n͡ed to̡ ̛th̛e̷m?”

Chase nodded. The sound of the static, which before had kept him awake, was starting to sound peaceful and calming. His eyelids were so heavy…

“Don’t fall asleep just ̕y̧e̢t̕.” A loud, electric snapping sound brought Chase back out of his own head. He stared dully at Anti, who was grinning. “I want to sh̸ow ̕y̡o̡u ͟some͡t͠h̕in͡g.”

Anti disappeared, turning into fractured shapes for a mere moment. And then he reappeared, but…different. His shirt was more red than black in color, and the slit across his throat had closed a bit. The shadows that usually hid his face were gone, and the blue of his eyes seemed to be a different shade. He smiled, but it wasn’t HIS smile. “Hey there, Chase,” he said. There was no distortion in his voice anymore.

Chase gaped for a moment. Then, he started to cry. “J-Jackie?” he choked out.

Jackie—Anti— Ja͝ckie nodded. “Hi dude. You look terrible.”

“N-not funny.”Chase reached out, patting Jac͢k͡i͠e’s shoulder, then his chest, just to make sure he was there. He wasn’t paying attention to the strings pulling at his arms anymore, or to the static in his mind whispering 'It’s him…it’s your friend…he’s right there…he’s come back to you…you can trust him…'

“Chase, what happened to you? You’re acting a bit strange.”

Without another word, Chase threw himself at Jackie, wrapping his arms around his friend. “Jackie…” he sobbed. “I m-missed you…we thought you and Marv died, and-and then we found out you didn’t and it-it was worse, because-cause we didn’t know…we didn’t know what was hap-happening…Jackie, you’re alright…”

Ja̡c̡ki̕e hushed him. “It’s okay, Chase. I’m alright. Marvin is alright. You are alright. But, you know, it’s not gonna stay that way for long.”

“It-it’s not?” The thought terrified him. Why couldn’t he have his friends back? Why couldn’t everything go back to the way it was?

“No, it’s not. I’m sorry, Chase, but we’re in danger. The world is fucked and upside-down, and we have to fix it. Marvin and I have a plan, but it involves you. You need to help us. Is that okay?”

“Of course it is,” Chase said eagerly. “Anything you need.” He would do it. He would do anything for his friends. He always did.

“Chase, you’re going to have to listen to us no matter what. You’re going to have to do exactly what we say. We know what we’re doing, and if you don’t do as we say, terrible things will happen. Do you understand? Do you agree?”

“Yes̷͢s̨s̢.” The word that came out of his mouth was laced with static, echoing the empty drone inside his mind.

Jackie smiled. “ V̡er̕y g̢ooḑ.” A wave of shadows cloaked the upper part of his face, but that was fine, that was his mask that he always wore. His neck was fine too, it couldn’t have been too serious an injury if he was still walking and talking normally. And his voice was fine, it just sounded like that because he was hearing it through the buzzing inside him. Everything was good. His friend was back. Everything was good. His friend was back.

Anti pulled away from Chase’s embrace, and smiled as he tried to cling to him for as long as possible. The plan had worked. A few days of isolation and sleep deprivation to break down the mental walls, then pulling on Chase’s desperate desire to have the people he cared for return. It may have taken him months to practice his puppeteering and mental tricks, but it was worth it. “Now C̸h͟a͟s̸e͠, there are just a few̨ ̵mo̕re thi̷n͢g̢s to take care of,” he purred. “And then we can get started on the plan. Ǫk̵ay͞?”

Chase nodded, empty eyes never looking away from his “friend.” Anti reached out and grabbed hold of the strings still wrapped around Chase’s arms and wrists. He showed no reaction when Anti pulled on them. Perfect. A tingle of glitches wound around Anti’s fingers, turning into a sewing needle, blood staining its silvery metal. “That’s great. Now, if you would just h͞ol̡d ̨st͡ill…”
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“Where the fuck is he?!”

“Schneep, calm down!”

Jack and Schneep were meeting in the doctor’s apartment. The living room had become a sort of conspiracy hub, sofas pushed to the side to make room for an enormous city map sprawled on the floor, pictures pinned up on the walls with random sticky notes everywhere in between. Schneep was currently anxiously walking around the perimeter of them map, while Jack was standing to the side, equally anxiously watching his friend pace.

“Calm down?! I think the fuck not!” Schneep ranted. “It has been a week. A week, Jack! None of the other times has Anti attacked one of us and we disappeared for a week! Something bad is happening, I just know it.”

“Well, that’s kind of a given,” Jack pointed out. “But if you’re panicking then your mind isn’t working right. You may overlook something. Not to mention, yesterday I walked in to see you crashed on the floor. I know it’s cliche to say, but you’re no use to Chase if you die of sleep deprivation.”

“Do not be ridiculous. It takes ten days or so to die without sleep. Although hallucinations start in after three or four…” Schneep paused, thinking for a moment before resuming his pacing. “Has JJ said anything about—I mean, has he found anything yet?”

Jack shook his head. “He hasn’t gone back to the shop since…you know. And he won’t let me go get his supplies. So he can’t do anything big. But he’s done some scrying, and hasn’t found anything. It’s…really affecting him.” Jack hesitated, then quietly continued. “He’s getting worse, Schneep. He barely comes out of the guest room in my house anymore. And you’re not sleeping, or eating…we’re falling apart, and Anti knows it.”

Before Schneep could reply, a cheerful ding! chimed from his pocket. Innocent enough, but the doctor stiffened. Carefully, he took out his phone and looks at the text on the screen. His face paled.

“What? What happened?” Jack asked, confused. Then his text alert went off. Jack dug around in his pocket and pulled out his phone as well. “It-it’s Chase,” he said shakily.

“I have gotten the same message I believe.” Schneep showed Jack his phone. The message in question was an address, followed by the words Come now :). “And I do not think it is Chase. I think—I think he is in our phones.”

Jack swallowed nervously. “Can he do that?”

“Apparently. That time in the hospital, when he made me dream…in the dream he talked to me through my phone. We all assumed that was part of it, and not real, but maybe it was. Or, the concept was real.”

“So, then…” Jack glanced back at the message. “We’re gonna go, then?”

“What other choice do we have?”

“…I guess we don’t have one at all. Let’s go.”

The address led them to an empty house. It was in the middle of a busy, normal neighborhood, but it looked abandoned. The windows were boarded up and the yard was overgrown. There was a For Sale sign out front that looked like it had been there for a while. Jack and Schneep took a moment to gather their bearings, then pushed open the warped door and went inside.

The front door led to a hallway that didn’t lead away from the front like it was supposed to, but instead turned immediately to the right. Several old TV sets and a few computer monitors were stacked in piles along the way. Every one was on and showing blank static. The hall lights were off, but the screens provided adequate, if eerie, light. The two of them exchanged wary glances, then started cautiously down the hall.

Eventually the hall opened up into a living room. The furniture was faded in color and the hardwood floor was dusty, save for a few footprints and a long, clean strip that looked like something had been dragged. A single, broken ceiling lamp gave off a flickering yellow light. That pale illumination let Jack and Schneep see Chase, sitting lifelessly on the couch.

Jack made a strangled kind of sound. “Chase?” he called. When there was no answer, he turned to Schneep. “Is he…?” He couldn’t bear to finish that sentence.

Schneep looked at Chase. He wasn’t moving at all, and he looked sick. Thin, off-color. His hat was pulled low over his eyes. “I do not know…” Schneep muttered. “Chase? Can you show us you can hear us?” No response.

Jack took a step forward. When that didn’t elicit a response, he took another, then slowly walked to Chase. Schneep followed after a moment. The floorboards creaked with every step.

Jack sat on the couch next to Chase. “Hello? Chase? Buddy?” he said softly. “We’re here to come get you. Are you ready to go?” No response. “Chase, please.” Jack grabbed Chase’s hand. His fingers brushed something…strange. Frowning, Jack pulled Chase’s hand further into the light—and he gasped, horrified. Green string was stitched around Chase’s wrist, bleeding a bit from the puncture wounds. He checked his other wrist, and saw the same thing.

“Schneep…” Jack whimpered. “Are you…is this…”

Schneep was keeping his distance. He could see the stitching well enough from where he was standing, and he hated it. “It is, Jack,” he said, voice choked. “Anti…seems to like stitching things together.”

Jack could feel the hot sting of tears in his eyes. “Chase, man, c’mon. it’s us.” He took hold of Chase’s shoulders and shook him gently. “It’s us.” The movement dislodged Chase’s cap, shedding a bit more light on his face and neck. The green stitching wrapped around Chase’s neck as well, and his eyes were covered in a film of static. For a moment, Jack just stared. Then the first of the tears came pouring out. He could only hold Chase tight and mutter “Please…please…” trying and failing to get a response. Schneep hovered close, hand covering his mouth in utter shock. His eyes were watering as well.

After a bit, Jack looked at the doctor. “We have to get him…I don’t even know, somewhere safe. Away.”

Schneep nodded. “Yes. Yes, of course. Here, I will help.” The two of them supported Chase between them, one arm flung over each of their shoulders. They staggered back down the hall. The static on the screens hissed.

Chase blinked. And shuddered a bit. Then with a single movement that was way too powerful for his slight build, he pushed Jack away and threw himself at Schneep. Jack crashed against the nearest pile of screens. For a moment the sound of the static whispered in his mind, dazing him. Then he forcefully shook himself out of it. He sat up and saw that Chase had knocked Schneep to the ground. His hands were wrapped around the doctor’s neck, strangling him. Schneep was doing his best to push Chase off of him, but he was unusually strong. A twisted sort of smile was pasted on his face.

“No!” Jack scrambled to his feet and pulled Chase away. He received an elbow to the face for his troubles. He stumbled back, warm blood trickling from his nose. But Chase didn’t stop there. He continued to attack Jack, punches landing much harder than they should have. Jack panicked, and ran back down the down the hall in an effort to get away. He made it back to the living room and skidded to a halt.

Anti was there, standing in the middle of the room with a grin on his face to match Chase’s. “Hello, J̧ack͝ab͟oy̴,” he said. “It’s been t͞oo ̧l͢on̵g͝.”

“Anti,” Jack breathed. “What did you do to Chase?”

“Nothing much.” Anti took a step closer. Jack looked over his shoulder, only to see this twisted version of Chase blocking his exit route. “I just gave him wh̢at he ̛w͞a͟n̢te͝d̶. I made him h̷a͠pp̡͡y̷ ̴ąg͡a̢͟in. Didn’t I, m̡y͢ ̕frie̸n̕d?”

Chase nodded. “ Y͢es..̢.̕I͟’m̴ ̸so͟ ̷h͞ap̨p̡y͠.̕..͠” Jack shuddered to hear the distortion in his voice.

“No,” Jack shook his head. “No, Chase, bro, this isn’t—he—you’re not alright. We’re your friends, dude. You need to snap out of it!”

His pleas had no effect. Chase merely tilted his head to the side. “ Y̡o͠u’r͞e̶ ͞no̕t ̴th̶e̡m..̶.my f͞r͡ien͝ḑs a͡re ̧her͟e̸.͟..̛”

“Isn’t it a̢m̡a̵zi͞n̛g̸ what a week of training can do?” Anti laughed. “Just three days of preparation was all it took, then four more days to get every͝t̢hi͠n̵ģ pe̕rf͢e̕ct once he s̶a͟w t̡he ͠t͢rut͞h. Now we’re reąd͏y̶ ͏f̧o̶r ̴th͢e ne͡x̢t p͏h͢as͞e.”

“Over my dead body.” Schneep had reappeared, standing in the hallway behind Chase. He looked ready to fight, and he stared at Anti with a furious fire in his eyes.

“Don’t be r͟i̴d͢icu̵l̡ous͏, doctor,” Anti said, unbothered. “I wouldn’t give you t͢h̸e ̨sat̷isfac͝tio͝n̕.”

Schneep growled. He grabbed Chase by the arm and tried to pull him away, but Chase shook him off without even looking in his direction.

“ Th͢is̛ ͏demonstr̕aţi̕o͝n͢ ͠is͟ ̸over.” For a moment, reality broke into shadows of red and green, lagging and glitching in a nausea-inducing way. When the world righted itself, Jack and Schneep were standing next to each other, facing Anti and Chase. Anti’s arms were wrapped around Chase, as were a few green glowing strings. Chase’s expression was blank and unconcerned.

“You cannot—!” Schneep lunged forward, but he was too late. Anti and Chase disappeared in a flurry of pixels tied together by red strings. Schneep stumbled forward a few more steps before stopping. “No…” It was amazing how much despair was contained in that single syllable.

“Schneep?” Jack said quietly. “Are you…going to be okay?”

The doctor rounded on him. “No, I am not going to be fucking okay! That is our friend! Anti has—has broken him! Become corrupt! Like he is a puppet master who sees us as—as his to take. How can you stand this?! How are you so fucking calm?!”

Jack didn’t say anything, just wiped his eyes. “I’m not, Schneep.” His voice broke. “I’m not. But you can’t let him win. You can’t let him get to you. If you just…give up now, we lose Chase forever. If you go crazy with revenge, he’s gonna use that against you. I know he will. Please, Schneep…we can’t…we can’t…” He trailed off, unable to find the words. “We’ll get him back. We will.”

Schneep was shaking, his teeth clenched, but he forced himself to close his eyes and take several deep breaths. “Yes, we will get him back,” he said. “And we will get the others back, and make sure Anti can’t hurt anyone ever again.”

“That’s the spirit.” Jack smiled weakly. “Now…we need to tell JJ about all this and start figuring out what to do. Let’s head to my place.”

The two of them left the abandoned house. The static in the screens continued to hiss and whine long after they were gone, crying out, calling the names of the ones who were lost.

A JSE Fanfic
Chapter Fifteen: Ignorance Is Bliss
[This is part of an INCOMPLETE SERIES that I wrote in about 2018-2019. I don't know if I'll ever finish it, but I still think there's good stuff in it, and merit in reposting it here. The boys are scrambling to figure out how to reach Jackie. Meanwhile, those two detectives are starting to realize things in the world aren’t what they thought.]
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“Please pick up, please pick up, please pick up,” Lydia whispered, listening to the phone ring on the other side. She’d already tried calling Malcolm’s cell three times, and nobody answered. Now she was resorting to calling his roommate.

After some time, the line picked up. “Hello?”

Lydia let out a deep breath of relief. “Hi, Benji. Is Malcolm home? I’ve been trying to call him for an hour now and he hasn’t picked up.”

“Oh yes, he’s been home for a while. Shut up in his room, though. Do you want me to go get him?”

“Yes, thank you.” Lydia waited in silence, tapping her fingers nervously on the arm of her couch she was sitting on. It was quiet in her apartment, with Rachel having already gone to bed. Over the line she heard footsteps and then a knock on the door, followed by quiet conversation.

“Hey, Lyd, what’s up?” Malcolm’s voice had a shaky note to it. “It’s pretty late, what’re you calling for?”

“Just making sure you got home alright after the late shift,” Lydia said slowly. “Y’know, with how far away you live from the station.”

“I’m fine, I’m fine, I took a shortcut. Is that everything?”

Lydia bit her lip. “Why weren’t you picking up, then? I called your cell three times before I decided to call Benji.”

“My phone…broke,” Malcolm said slowly.

“Broke?!”

“Broke. While I was on the way home.” A pause. “Anything else?”

“What’s wrong, Malcolm?” Lydia asked.

“Noth-nothing’s wrong!”

“I know you well enough to tell when something’s up,” Lydia said in a low voice. “And I can tell that you’re kinda freaked out right now. So what’s wrong?”

For a moment, there was nothing but interference on the phone line. And then: “Do you…want to meet up tomorrow? I know we have the day off, and maybe…we could meet at the park? Around one or one-thirty? And I can tell you what happened then.”

“You can just…tell me over the phone—”

“No!” Lydia had to lean back from the phone after that word was screamed in her ear. “I—I mean, no, that’d probably be a bad idea. Actually, when we meet up, can you leave your phone at home?”

“Why on Earth—”

“Lydia. Trust me on this.”

Malcolm’s tone silenced her. “Alright, then. I’ll see you tomorrow, one o’clock?”

“Yeah. Bye, Lyd. See ya tomorrow.”
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Since they weren’t working that day, Lydia didn’t wear the pantsuit she wore for work. But, she noted, her button-down shirt was still more professional than the purple hoodie Malcolm wore every chance he got. He was currently hiding in the hood, avoiding looking at her while the two of them sat on one of the benches next to a path. “So…?” Lydia prompted.

Malcolm sighed. “I…fuck, I don’t know where to start.”

“Well, it can’t be that hard.” When Malcolm didn’t answer, Lydia sighed and continued. “Look, you weren’t this on edge when you left the station last night. So something must’ve happened between you leaving there and getting home. Your phone…broke, or whatever, so does that have anything to do with this? I bet if you just share what’s on your mind, you’ll feel better. Or if you don’t, I can help you out with whatever it was.”

“I saw a demon,” Malcolm blurted out.

Lydia blinked. “Uh, that was a serious offering, Mal.”

“No no no, really,” Malcolm hurried to say. “So, I took a shortcut through the north part of town—”

“Are you insane?! Do you even know how many dispatches are sent there every week?!”

“Yeah, yeah, but nothing’s ever happened to me there. I know the spaces to avoid. But, uh, I ended up seeing that vigilante in red. He seemed to be in a hurry, and I just…followed him. And, well…”

Lydia listened in silence as Malcolm spilled out everything that happened the previous night. From the vigilante meeting with that magician, the suspect in the Brody case, to the vigilante turning out to be Jackie Parker, another part of the case, to the most insane details: the magician destroying Malcolm’s phone with what was apparently real magic, to him running home, and seeing something out of the corner of his eye…

“It was a demon, I know it was,” Malcolm finished, eyes wide. “It—it disappeared, but I could hear it, like—like static. And I think it was smiling at me.”

Lydia leaned back, staring at her partner. “Mal, are you off your meds?”

“No, no, I am not!” Malcolm slapped his leg with the flat palm of his hand. “This is a different issue! I’ve just had all of my life and beliefs thrown out of balance, because fucking demons don’t exist, except they do! Fuck!”

“Okay, okay, calm down, dude,” Lydia patted his back in a soothing manner. She didn’t quite understand what was happening. The two of them were skeptics, they’d always been, but now Malcolm was shaking like a leaf and claiming he’d seen magic.

“You don’t believe me,” Malcolm said, narrowing his eyes.

“Well…no,” Lydia admitted. “Honestly, I would be calling Benji and asking him if you’d really been taking your medication, if you hadn’t insisted I leave my phone at home.”

“I think it can use phones to watch people,” Malcolm said, folding his arms and shrinking a bit. “And I know that sounds like a paranoid delusion, but it’s the only conclusion I’ve drawn for everything that happened.”

Lydia sighed deeply. “Look, if you’re sure about this, then I’m not gonna talk you out of it. But I’m gonna ask you to double-check with Benji about the meds.”

“Alright, alright,” Malcolm relented. “But I’m pretty sure I’ve been taking them like I’m supposed to.” He stood up. “And now I’m gonna…I’m gonna go home, if that’s alright with you. I don’t…really feel like being out and about.”

Lydia nodded. “Fair enough. Get some rest, dude. I’ll see you later.” After Malcolm had walked out of sight, she too stood up, and started in the opposite direction. She really didn’t believe his story about magic and demons. But she did believe that he saw the vigilante meet with that magician. And that he figured out who the vigilante actually was beneath that costume. Technically, she wasn’t on duty today. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t, say, go visit a certain Mr. Parker in a certain apartment.

She didn’t want to arrest the vigilante like some of the more extreme members of the department did. She just wanted him to stop, and leave the crime-fighting to the ones whose job it was. This wasn’t a comic book; running around in a mask and hooded jumpsuit just made you look like an idiot, even if you’d managed to actually catch a fair number of criminals. It didn’t matter what the end result was, just what you did to get there. And vigilantism put yourself and others in danger.

Not to mention, if she went to talk to him…he could tell her what really happened last night with Malcolm. He could tell her that her best friend wasn’t losing it. Or maybe he could tell her he was, but support her in the efforts to help him.

But first, she needed to stop by her apartment. She’d need backup for this.
.............................................................................................

“So, let me get this straight,” Rachel said, not taking the eyes off the road while she drove. “Malcolm follows this vigilante last night. Finds out who he is, and that he’s meeting with someone wanted by the police. Then he gets caught eavesdropping, the guy steals his phone, blasts it with bloody green lightning, am I getting that right?”

“Yep,” Lydia nodded. “We’re getting close to the apartment complex, by the way.”

“I see. And, after he sees this happen, he seeing a…floating eyeball?”

“That’s what he said.”

“And gets threatened by the wanted man, runs, and sees a demon that can apparently use phones as its own personal spy cameras.”

“Yep.”

Rachel whistled. “And now you’re planning on confronting this vigilante man in the hopes that he can corroborate Malcolm’s story?”

“No, I’m confronting the vigilante man in the hopes that he can explain what happened, and I can talk him out of crime-fighting.”

“And you need me for this?”

“Figured I might,” Lydia shrugged. “You have your whole lawyer-talk thing going on. You can be pretty persuasive.”

“Aw, thank you, love. Is this the building?”

“Yeah, just pull up in that lot over there, we can walk.”

A few minutes later, the two of them were outside Jackie Parker’s apartment door, knocking. Or, more accurately, Lydia was banging on the door while Rachel was standing off to the side, watching with a resigned look. “Mr. Parker, I know you’re in there!” Lydia was shouting. “I really need to talk to you! Don’t worry, you’re not in trouble or anything.”

“I think that would make him think he was, wouldn’t it?” Rachel pointed out.

Lydia made a shush sound. After a few silent seconds, she continued banging, even harder this time. “Parker, open up! This is really important! So I’m demanding at this point that you open this door!”

The door swung open. Not all the way open, but enough for a person to stick their head out of the apartment inside “Will you ever learn how to manners, detective?!”

Lydia blinked in surprise. “You’re not Parker. You’re that doctor fellow. What are you doing here?”

He scowled, folding his arms. It was indeed the same doctor from last week, just wearing a turtleneck sweater instead of a hoodie, with the addition of a pair of glasses. “Well, I live here,” he said sharply.

“You do not. You have an apartment on Greenway.” Lydia narrowed her eyes. “Though I suppose it’s possible that a mysterious disappearance for NINE ENTIRE MONTHS with no explanation whatsoever could lead to them selling it.”

“Precisely.” The doctor adjusted his glasses. “Now, what is so important that the police have come to break down my friend’s door?”

Rachel poked her head in between the two, making Lydia realize that she’d been subconsciously leaning closer to the doctor, edging in. “Well, it’s not the police actually. Hi, my name is Rachel Kikelomo, are you that doctor with the strange last name that Lydia won’t shut up about for the past week?”

The doctor took a step back. “If she has been complaining about a Dr. Schneeplestein, then yes, I think I am. And…you are not a member of the police, are you?”

“Well, technically I’m a member of the judicial system, being a lawyer and all,” Rachel said coolly. “But I’m not here in that capacity. And Lydia is not here as a detective, since today she is off-duty.”

Lydia coughed awkwardly. “Rachel is my…partner. She drove me here and is…support.”

“Ah! I see!” The doctor raised an eyebrow with a smile. “Well, in that case, this is slightly better. We have had enough of police running around. But you are looking for Jackie, are you not?”

Lydia nodded.

“I—I’m afraid he’s not here.”

“Not here?!” Lydia repeated incredulously. “Where else could he be?”

“Well, he has a job, you understand.”

There was something more to it. Lydia noticed the way the doctor’s shoulders had tensed, the way he was very deliberately blocking her view of the rest of the apartment, the way his voice had cracked. “Well, can I have his cell number to call him then?” she said calmly.

“I do not think—I do not think he would appreciate me giving that out to you.” The doctor shifted on his feet.

“Well, I guess that’s understandable.” Lydia leaned forward. “But what isn’t, is the fact that you seem to be hiding something.”

The doctor bristled. “I do not appreciate such accusations.”

“It’s not an accusation if it’s the truth.”

Rachel opened her mouth to say something, then decided against it. She took a step back. She’d been with Lydia long enough to know when she was getting ready to do something rash.

“Even if it was, which it isn’t,” the doctor continued, “since you are not on duty, and would not have a warrant anyway, you must leave when I ask you to, and cannot come inside.”

“Oh, really?” Lydia backed up a few steps, looking for all the world like she was retreating. And then she rushed forward and threw her weight against the door. It flew open, and she landed flat on her face inside the apartment. She groaned. Honestly, she’d been expecting more resistance, apparently the doctor wasn’t as strong as she’d thought, which still wasn’t that strong.

She climbed to her feet and looked around the apartment living area. This was the second time she’d been in here, and it looked basically exactly the same. Not only because the furniture and everything was the same, but also because the same collection of people were inside. Brody was curled up asleep on the beanbag, arms wrapped around his head like he was protecting himself from something. Sitting on the couch was a man who she couldn’t quite remember the name of, but who was dressed in a fancy vest and bow tie. His hands were frozen in midair, apparently having been interrupted in the middle of making a gesture of some sort. Next to him was—it was that crazy magician fellow. He was holding a black wand with white tips in his right hand, and had a strange book open, propped against his left hand. Both of them were staring at her like they’d been caught with their hands in the cookie jar.

“I’m really terribly sorry about all this,” Rachel sighed, entering the apartment. “Are you alright doctor? She pushed you right over.”

“Yes, I am—I am fine,” the doctor said, sitting up from where Lydia had knocked him down in her rush to get into the apartment. He accepted Rachel’s offered hand and let her pull him to his feet.

The magician snapped his book shut. “What the fuck are you doing here?” he growled.

“Well, certainly not looking for you,” Lydia growled right back. “I just wanted to find Mr. Parker. Though, you know, now that I’m thinking about it, you could probably tell me the same things.”

“Nope, not doing this, goodbye.” The magician stood up, but was interrupted from leaving when the other man—Lydia was pretty sure his name started with a J—grabbed his arm. The magician looked down and watched as the man made some gestures, too quick for Lydia to catch but apparently he understood perfectly. “Fine. Fine, one chance.” He plopped back onto the couch and glared at Lydia.

She sighed deeply. “Look, Mr. Moore, if I’d seen you even just yesterday, I one hundred percent would be calling the police right now. But apparently Malcolm heard you talking with the vigilante last night—who turned out to be Mr. Parker—about finding the Brody kids and getting them back, so now I’m in doubts that your confession was actually real.”

“Well, I really confessed, didn’t I? It’s not like one of my friends was about to get detained and most likely ultimately arrested, probably eventually giving in to his CLINICAL DEPRESSION again, and thus probably giving the real culprit what he wanted, which pressured me into saying whatever I had to in order to make sure that didn’t happen.”

Lydia truly, honestly didn’t know how to respond to that dump of information and sarcasm. Luckily, Rachel jumped in. “So it sounds to me as if you were just protecting your friend there,” she said. “Possibly not only from the police, but from whoever really took the Brody children?”

The magician stared at her. “I didn’t say I knew who took the kids.”

Rachel chuckled. “I never said you were implying you did. But the fact that you assumed that says a lot.”

“Well…fuck.” He slumped a bit deeper into the couch cushions. The other man next to him was smiling. “Don’t give me that look, JJ. That’s called a ‘shit-eating grin’ and it’s not something you give to your friends.” The man—JJ, apparently—gestured more. “Oh, shut up.”

“You KNOW who took the kids?!” Lydia gaped. “Well, why didn’t you tell us?! We could’ve used that lead, and avoided almost arresting him.” She pointed at where Brody was sleeping. “He must look a lot like you guys, if we believe the security footage. Is that why you didn’t say anything? Because you thought ‘there are already five of us, they won’t believe one more exists’?”

The doctor coughed. “It is bit more…complicated than that, I’m afraid.”

“What? Are you all quintuplets or something?” Lydia threw her hands up in the air. “Can’t get any more absurd than this!”

“Ah, love,” Rachel piped up. “Do you still want to see the vigilante man? I thought you intended to confront him at some point.”

Lydia had almost forgotten about the fact that she now knew who the vigilante in red was. “Yes, yes I do,” she said. “Is he really at work? Or are you all just hiding here like—like cowards?”

Silence. The three awake men exchanged sad looks. “He’s…not at work,” the magician admitted. “But he’s…not…here, either.”

Lydia took in the sad glances, the awkward explanation. “…something happened, didn’t it?” she asked softly. “Something happened to him.”

“The less you know, the safer you are,” the magician said, tapping the wand against his leg. “But…yeah. We’re…working on fixing that. Have been since last night, actually. Chase gave in and crashed, as you see. But the rest of us…”

“I’m…sorry,” Lydia whispered. She’d just barged right in here, in the middle of their crisis situation, and unknowingly made everything worse. You’d think that she’d learn how to think things through in her years as a detective, but nope. She’d always trusted the thinking to Malcolm.

The silent man, JJ, made a few small gestures. “He wants to let you know it’s okay, you didn’t know,” the magician said. “It’s, uh, sign language.”

“I see,” Lydia said. She wanted to ask more, to know more, but she couldn’t tread on their hearts anymore. But… “Just…one more thing. Last night, Malcolm said he ran into Parker and you, and he…saw some strange things.”

The magician raised an eyebrow. “You mean, like this?” He snapped his fingers, and a small burst of green sparks and fire flew out from the site of impact.

“Holy shit!” Lydia gasped, stumbling back a few steps.

“Hmm, wha…?” There was a sudden surge of movement as Brody opened his eyes and stretched. “Wha’s happ’ning?”

“Good morning, Chase!” The doctor waved from his spot by the door. “Or should I say good afternoon, because you fell asleep earlier this morning. Sorry about the commotion, I think the detective was just leaving?”

“Detective?” Brody blinked the tired out of his eyes and stared at Lydia with no recognition whatsoever.

“Yes, the detective lady,” the doctor continued. “From the case about the kids. She wanted to talk to Jackie, though I’m still not sure why.”

“Th’ kids?” Brody looked confused for a moment more before suddenly bolting straight into a sitting position. “Fuck, right, the kids! Oh my god, I’m so—god, I must really be tired, damn, I can’t believe I forgot they—fuck, I’m horrible.”

“You are not horrible, you have a lot on your mind, and just woke up.” The doctor walked over and sat on the beanbag next to Chase. “Is fine.”

“Alright, if you say so.” Brody rubbed his eyes, then looked over at Lydia. “Did you…want to talk about something?”

“It wasn’t about the case,” Lydia hurried to say. “It’s just—my partner, last night he saw your friends talk, and then some…unusual stuff happened, and I just wanted to make sure he wasn’t…imagining things.” She glanced over at the magician. “But apparently, he was right. Magic is real, I…fuck.” She looked at Rachel. “Tell me I didn’t hallucinate that.”

“The sparks?” Rachel looked a bit pale. “You did not. That is…some new things to take into account…”

“Yeah, no shit.” Lydia was starting to feel a bit dizzy, which was to be expected when one’s world got totally turned upside-down. Magic was real…she looked at the magician. “If…you really can do that, then…Malcolm, my partner, he saw some more things. A floating eyeball—”

“Sam,” Brody said. “They…were with Jackie. We need to find them too.”

Ah. It had a name. And existed. Fantastic. Lydia could feel a stress headache blossoming. “He also thought he saw…he said it was a demon, following him?”

The atmosphere in the room immediately changed, becoming sharper, more tense. All of the men exchanged glances. JJ signed something. “He said don’t think about it,” the magician translated. “Or, well, it sounded a bit more polite the way he spelled it out. But that’s the gist.”

Lydia stared. “Are you telling me…that demons exist?”

JJ signed something else, very rapidly. “They do, but this isn’t…that,” the magician translated once more. “It’s very complicated.”

“I beg your pardon, but why can’t we learn more?” Rachel asked. “Wouldn’t that be better to prepare ourselves?”

“Not when knowing this thing can draw his attention to you,” the doctor said in a hushed voice. “Not when he gets stronger the more people know. And quite a few know already.”

“Ignorance is bliss,” Brody said. “Really. Just forget about it, and you’ll be fine. Tell your partner to forget too.”

“I…don’t quite get it, but I’ll believe you, I guess,” Lydia said slowly. Maybe she should just forget this whole thing ever happened. Go about her business like nothing had changed. It would probably be better for her mental health that way. “Rachel, I’m ready to go now. You?”

“Yes, yes, we should,” Rachel backed out the door, and Lydia followed her. “Thank you for accommodating us.”

“It was no trouble,” the doctor muttered, clearly implying it was.

“Alright, well,” Lydia said awkwardly. “Guess I might be seeing you?”

“Hope you don’t!” The magician called, earning himself a smack on the ear from JJ.

“Yeah, well, same, honestly. Bye.” Lydia shut the door.

The boys listened to her and Rachel’s footsteps recede down the hall. When they could no longer be heard, Marvin opened up the book again. “Okay, let’s give it a couple more go’s,” he said.

'Are you quite sure about that?' JJ asked. 'You’re starting to develop those black bags under your eyes. Practicing all night without sleep can’t be good for your soul and body.'

“I’ll be fine,” Marvin shrugged. “I think learning how to open dimensional portals is a bit more important than sleep.”

“Jamie is right,” Schneep said. “If you do not sleep, you are no good to anyone.”

“Says the guy who runs on coffee like a car runs on oil.” Chase rolled his eyes. “Hypocrite.”

“Cars don’t run on oil,” Marvin pointed out.

“Oh, shut your face, I’m tired.” Chase yawned, as if to accentuate this. “I was having a good time, and then that detective lady and that other one woke me up. Who was that, again? Did she ever introduce herself?”

“That lady was a lawyer, and she was the detective’s girlfriend,” Schneep explained. “At least, I assume so. She was introduced as a partner, in that sort of awkward way you do when you are not sure where the other party stands.”

“I see,” Marvin hummed. He gripped his wand tightly and swirled it in a circle. Green whisps appeared and whirled about for a few seconds before dissipating. Marvin frowned. “That was a fluke, it didn’t even get close but I can do it better next time.”

'I don’t believe you can,' JJ signed with a sigh. 'I think you’re severely draining your energy, and you should really sleep in order to recover it.'

“I’ll sleep when I’m dead, which could be soon if I don’t figure out how the fuck to get Jackie back and stick it in that—that glitch bitch’s face.”

Chase wheezed, and then leaned over as he devolved into laughter. “Okay, okay, I love it,” he said after a while. “That’s the best thing I’ve heard in ten months.”

“He would not like that.” Schneep sounded vaguely amused by the idea.

JJ shook his head. 'Clearly, you are all loopy from lack of sleep. We all need to go to bed, NOW.' He emphasized the “now” part by making the sign a bit sharper than it normally would be.

“Okay, fine, maybe you’re right,” Chase relented. “Marv, bedtime.”

“Don’t try to dad me, it’s not gonna work,” Marvin grumbled, rereading the instructions for the spell.

“Do not make me count to five,” Schneep added with a smile.

“Two dads! Ay!” Chase made finger guns. “Now you have to listen.”

Marvin closed his eyes and sighed deeply. “Alright, fine.” He closed the book. “But once I wake up, I’m going straight back to working on this. We’re gonna have to double up if we want to use the beds here. Dibs on the one in Jackie’s room.”

Yet, he still couldn’t sleep, even an hour after everyone else had crashed. It wasn’t for lack of trying, or for lack of exhaustion. But he couldn’t stop thinking. His thoughts kept whirling through his mind in a cyclone, unable to halt for one minute. It seemed like everyone had been pretty safe during the week he was away. Nothing had happened until he ran into Jackie and Sam, and now look at where Jackie was.

Maybe…maybe there was a reason for that. He was the only one of the group with power. And he was the only one who…maybe stood a chance against him. Maybe that was enough to earn his attention.

He slipped out of the bed. He grabbed a pen and piece of paper from on top of one of Jackie’s dressers, scribbling a note to the others before creeping out into the main living area of the apartment. He put the note on the coffee table, then opened the window to the fire escape and climbed through.

He’d find a solution on his own. And if he drew Anti’s attention to him in the process, what of it? At least then it would be away from the others. At least this way, they’d be a little bit safer. They wouldn’t know anything about where he was or what he was doing, and it would be fine that way. After all, not knowing was a blanket of protection.
.............................................................................................

In another world entirely, someone was watching him leave through a broken computer screen, the only one that was lit up on top of a pile of more shattered screens. Its plug was dangling limply, but the picture was crystal clear. He was screaming at Marvin, telling him to turn around, to go back so he could protect them, to remember that there was safety in numbers. When Marvin didn’t listen, he banged his fist against the screen in a fit of frustration, making the image cut off entirely. Tears were threatening the corners of his eyes.

The pile shifted beneath his feet. When he tried to stand up, cords wrapped around his wrists. When he tried to kick his feet free, wires wrapped around his ankles. There was laughter, more laughter, seemingly as ever-present as the red glow all around. The cables dragged him down and he disappeared.

A JSE Fanfic
Chapter Fourteen: The Hole in the Wall
[This is part of an INCOMPLETE SERIES that I wrote in about 2018-2019. I don't know if I'll ever finish it, but I still think there's good stuff in it, and merit in reposting it here. Everyone’s panicking, Jackie and the kids are in trouble in another reality, where the reality in question is not what it seems, and a glitch in the world appears.]
.............................................................................................

Schneep wasn’t an idiot. When Marvin called—for the first time in a week—asked for Jackie, and then insisted everything was fine when he told him Jackie wasn’t there, he knew something bad had happened. Given that it was Jackie, there were any number of things that could be, but he just knew it was HIM. Why else would Marvin be so evasive? They knew he could hack electronics, he wouldn’t want to give too much away. So, immediately after Marvin hung up, Schneep turned on all the lights in the apartment, barricaded all the doors, and ended up huddled in the far corner of the main living room.

He didn’t actually think any of this would help. If anything, it would just make it difficult if Jackie actually came back. But it made him feel slightly better. His eyes kept darting back and forth between the lights, checking for flickering, the window, checking for shadows, and the kitchenette, checking to see that all the knives were in their proper places.

When a shadow actually did appear in the window, he immediately scrunched up tighter in the corner, not daring to breathe. He watched as the shadow struggled to open the window before falling back. It reappeared, and the lock of the window flashed green. The hands of the shadow lifted the window up, and then the shadow stepped inside…“N-nein!” he gasped, pushing back further.

“Wh—Schneep, no!” Marvin pulled his mask off. “It’s fine, it’s us!”

Schneep took a few deep breaths. It was alright. It was fine, it was just the others. If they were even really here, if this wasn’t a trick—

“Doc, are you okay?” Chase climbed through the window, followed by JJ. “Are you—are you having another one?”

“No, no, I am fine, I am fine!” Schneep closed his eyes and forced himself to relax. This was real. It was. He reopened his eyes and looked at the others. They all looked worried. Chase was half-crouched by him, Marvin was gripping his wand and glancing about uneasily, and JJ was standing slightly behind him. He looked Schneep in the eyes and made a sign like he was shaping a ball with his hands. Schneep felt a wave of relief wash over him. There hadn’t been any electronics around when the two of them had made that signal. That meant it wasn’t a trick at least. “Why did you not come in the door?”

“Well, we thought it would be best to be, uh, discrete. Also you might not have buzzed us in if you were…freaking out.” Chase pointed toward the barricaded door. “Looks like coming in the door wouldn’t have worked anyway. I think we made the right call.”

“Maybe so.” Schneep pushed himself to his feet. “What happened to Jackie?”

“Wh—how did you know?” Chase asked, surprised.

“I know because I am not a fucking moron. When Marvin called me, he sounded so strange, and like he knew Jackie would not be here. So something must have happened to him.”

“Well, fuck, guess I need to work on sounding casual under pressure,” Marvin muttered. Then he sighed, and looked at Schneep with sad eyes. “I’m sorry, but…he took Jackie.”

His heart stopped. He stumbled a bit, ending up leaning against the wall for support. Chase rushed forward and helped steady him. “…thank you, my friend,” Schneep mumbled.

“Are you doin’ okay? Do you need to sit down?” Chase asked. “I mean, you moved the couch but it still works.”

“I think that would be appreciated.”

Instantly, Marvin and JJ pulled the couch over from where it had been blocking the front door. Chase helped Schneep meet them in the middle, and Schneep collapsed on the cushions. JJ took the seat beside him while Marvin and Chase continued to stand.

“Are you sure?” Schneep asked softly. “Are you completely sure?” He repeated the question in a louder voice.

“At this point…unless he suddenly reappears in the morning or something…yeah…” Marvin said quietly. “I saw him, Schneep. I saw this—this demon or whatever he is. He was following us, and I don’t think he would have given up.”

“We are getting him back, right? We can’t let him—the same thing cannot happen twice! I won’t let it!”

“It’s different than what—than your situation,” Chase hurried to say. “We know what we’re up against this time. And Marvin thinks he knows where he is and could get there. Right?” Chase looked at Marvin pointedly.

“Y-yeah, of course.” Marvin started playing with his wand. “I mean…I haven’t done it yet, but with some practice I’m sure I can.”

“Then practice, Marvin!” Schneep shot to his feet and gripped the magician by the shoulders. “Do not give up until you’ve mastered it! We can’t leave Jackie to that place!”
.............................................................................................

“I don’t like this,” Jackie muttered.

He and the kids had been walking for what felt like hours. There was no way to tell how fast or slow time was passing, if it was even passing at all. The sky overhead remained red, and other than them, nothing moved in this bizarro version of the city. There was no noise aside from the constant humming that never died.

“Yeah. It’s creepy,” Trevor agreed, holding Jackie’s hand tighter with one hand and Sam closer with the other.

“We can get used to it,” Bobby said from where she was walking a few steps in front of them. “I don’t recognize this part. I don’t think we’ve been here before.”

“That’s good!” Jackie said. “That means there’s a chance we can find the way out here.” They were starting to approach what would’ve been the edge of the city in the real world. They’d walked what would’ve been east, and by now the buildings were starting to get shorter and farther apart.

“What if we don’t find anything?” Trevor asked. He didn’t sound scared, just curious, but Bobby looked back at him, suddenly wide-eyed.

“Well…then we just need to keep looking,” Jackie said quickly. “If there’s a way in, there’s a way out. How else could the monster get back and forth from this place?”

Bobby exhaled loudly, then nodded, this explanation satisfying her little-kid logic. She faced forward again, walking a bit faster. But Trevor’s question had brought up a point that Jackie hadn’t let himself think about. What if there was no way out? What if this place was meant to be a one-way trip, a final destination? He pushed the thoughts out of his head; they’d do him no good right now, and he couldn’t let the kids catch on that he was worried. That would only scare them.

After a while passed in silence, Trevor piped up, “I think we’re close to the end.”

“Hmm? Why d’you say that, bud?” Jackie asked, looking down at him.

“’Cause there’s a wall up there.”

Jackie looked back up. They’d been walking down a wide street without twisting, so he should be able to see whatever wall Trevor was talking about. But he didn’t. It was just more red, endless amount of red…wait, something was off. The buildings suddenly…ended. The street ended. “C’mon guys,” Jackie muttered, speeding up a bit until he was half running and the kids were racing to keep up with their little legs.

It certainly LOOKED like the buildings and street had ran into a wall. The buildings were cut in half, and the road just stopped like someone had taken a giant ax to it and removed the rest. But there wasn’t a wall at all. It was just more of the red light. But maybe that couldn’t quite explain the effect. The “light” looked more like something caught between energy and smoke. It didn’t move, it simply…hung in the air, like a curtain of mist.

The three of them stopped at the edge of the street. “Bobby, Trevor, you guys mind taking a few steps back?” Jackie asked. They did so. Jackie took off the glove on his right hand, then slowly reached forward, toward the smoke-light. He expected his hand to just go right through, but it stopped. It felt like touching the surface of water, but there were no ripples or changes in the smoke-light at all. And when he tried to push through, his hand simply would not move. “What the fu—heck?” Jackie breathed. He quickly pulled his hand back. There was no lingering sensation of wetness like there would have been if he was touching water, or even jello. It felt wrong. He quickly put his glove back on.

Then, there was a gasp behind him. “Trevor! Uncle Jackie! It’s the hole!”

Jackie spun around. Bobby was holding Trevor’s arm and pointing at a spot on the smoke-light wall some ways away. Jackie followed her gaze to…well, it looked mostly like a hole.

“Let’s get a closer look, guys.” Jackie walked back towards them, then the three of them approached the hole. It was about a foot above the street, and while it started out about the size of a basketball it gradually grew larger until it was big enough for Bobby to walk through without ducking. The edges were…static. Squares of colored static made a rough border, letting out a faint buzzing sound. When they looked through the hole, they could see the night sky.

“What do you think? Does this look like the hole you came through to get here in the first place?” Jackie asked, looking down at the kids.

Bobby nodded, but Trevor scrunched his eyebrows. “But when we went through it, there was red on the other side,” he said.

“Well, that’s because you were coming in here,” Jackie explained. “This goes outside, so it shows the outside. Like a window, or a door.”

“Oh!” Trevor gasped. “Then yeah.”

Jackie bit his lip, thinking. This couldn’t be this easy. They couldn’t have simply FOUND the way out. Anti wouldn’t let them go just like that. Cautiously, Jackie stuck his hand in the hole. Nothing happened. In fact, he could feel a cool breeze through his glove. It seemed legit…but it couldn’t be trusted, could it?

Something tugged on his belt. Jackie looked down to see Trevor staring up at him with wide eyes. “Are we gonna go, Uncle Jackie?”

“Of course we are! It’s the way out!” Bobby said, glaring at Jackie as if to say 'how dare you make my brother scared.'

Jackie’s will crumpled. He couldn’t let these kids down. He couldn’t crush their hopes. “Yeah, we’re going through. Just—”

“See?!” Bobby marched forward and pulled herself through the hole, landing on the other side with what sounded like the crunch of gravel. She turned around to look at the boys. “Look! I’m out! Now you need to follow me!”

“Alright, alright, we’re coming!” Jackie assured her. He’d planned to go through first, if they went through at all, but now that Bobby was outside he couldn’t just leave Trevor alone. He turned to face the little boy. “You still have Sam?”

“Uh-huh.” Trevor showed Jackie the little eye. Their glow was still worryingly low, but it was brighter than it had been back when they first entered this place.

“Great. You take them through next.”

“Are you sure?”

“Uh-huh. Keep them safe in the crossing. I’ll be right behind you.”

Trevor looked down at Sam, then nodded, determined. He climbed through the hole, falling and landing on the other side. He popped back up, smiling, once again showing Sam to Jackie. Their glow had suddenly strengthened.

“Alright, I’m coming.” Jackie started forward, putting his hand on the edge of the hole so he could pull himself through. Then he gasped and drew it back. It felt sharp. Like he’d touched the blade of a knife. The kids hadn’t shown any reaction to touching the edges like that. He’d have to be careful. He looked at the kids on the other side, then reached forward once more—

The hole snapped shut.

Jackie screamed; the edges had closed around his wrist, and it felt like his hand was stuck in a jar of broken glass. He pulled it out and backed away. The last few pixels disappeared, and the hole was gone. Jackie stared at the spot it had been. He wasn’t surprised. But knowing the kids had gotten through before him, and were now once again alone, filled him with an empty panic. He checked his hand real quick. It looked exactly the same as before, but he could still feel the sting from the pixels on the edge of the hole.

The constant hum rose to a whine. He turned around, facing the city at large. The buildings in the distance were spazzing out, glitching, both there and not there. The ones nearby were growing closer and closer together. He felt something push him forward, and he stumbled a few steps before turning right back around. The smoke-light wall was closing in, shrinking the size of the world. He backed away, keeping pace with it.

A mad, broken laugh echoed, coming from far away and right beside him. It was everywhere and nowhere, in his ears and in his head. “S҉o͢ ̷nice o̶f̸ you͡ t̴o j̡̢o҉i̵͞n͠ m̨e̶͞. After͝ ̴all,̵ I̡ ha̴v̨e̷ a ̨sp͠ot ͝op̕e̢n no̡w̢.̴”

The voice made his blood run cold. He’d never heard it before, but there could be no mistaking who it belonged to. “Anti…” he whispered. No use in being subtle about saying the name if he’s already drawn his attention. “Where are you?!”

The whine was increasing in volume, until Jackie had to cover his ears with his hands just to keep them from bleeding. The glitching from the buildings in the distance spread; another glitch wave was coming. Or rather, glitch waves. This time they were approaching from multiple directions, all converging on the spot where he was standing at the edge of the world. And much faster than before. He couldn’t run, there was nowhere without a glitch. He tried to brace himself against the smoke-light wall, but it suddenly shoved him forward. The waves were coming. Before they hit, he heard the voice again:

“I̲̱͖̮'͇̦m̵͈̦̤͍͟ ͡͏̱̳̲͖̘̻͓̝ͅe͏͍̘̪̭͟v̷̵͔̣͝e͖̤r̴͓̕y͏̝͖̗̣͔̞̥w̸̥̼͉̭̜̞h͏̴͎̮̖̝͖̞e̹̞͍̞͈̰̕͝r̷̭̼̞̟e̛͖̳̲̹̤͕͡.”

Then it all came crashing down. There was no up or down anymore, just endless tossing and throwing as he was lost in the glitch wave once more. Electronic screeching filled the air, if there even was air. He’d lost his breath before it even began.

And with the flick of a switch, it was over, and he was falling. It seemed like he fell forever, but then he landed in water, and it didn’t feel any worse than jumping into a pool. Except it was too deep. Where was up? Where was the surface? His lungs were tightening, he needed air now. He couldn’t see where to go, so he chose the easiest direction and swam and swam and swam until finally he broke through to the surface. But as he coughed and spluttered, he realized it was shallow enough to stand up in…and deep enough to get lost forever in at the same time. How…what just happened? His brain hurt just thinking about it.

Jackie stood up. The water came up to about mid-shin length. He wasn’t in the strange cityscape anymore, now it looked like a square room with metal walls. The floor was maybe six feet by six feet, but the ceiling was far above. He could see holes in it, letting in more of the red light, somehow enough to see. They were also letting in thin streams of water, pooling on the floor of the room but never filling it up, despite the lack of drains.

Wait. Water wasn’t red. Water didn’t smell like copper. “Holy shit,” Jackie gasped. He looked at himself and realized he was drenched in it. “Oh god. Oh fuck.” He covered his mouth and felt like he was going to throw up.

“Hmm,̢ ̕didn’t ̧re̶a̷lize ̕yo͞u̶ ͢had su̵ch a̛ w͢eak ̷st̨om̷ac͏h҉,͢ ̨J̷a̧c͏ķie͞!” Anti’s voice reverberated off the metal walls. “C̢a̕n'̵t ̨st͏a̵n̛d̸ ̕ą ̴l͏it̨t̴le bit̴ o͟f ͟bl̛ood?̢ ̢I͡n ̕y͞ou͡r͡ li̸n͠e̛ ̴o̷f w̛o̡rk͢?̢”

“Jesus christ, you’re fucking sick,” Jackie said, looking around for the source of the voice. It was nowhere to be seen.

Anti laughed again. “T̨h̵̡̕at͏͞ ̵w͏̸̵as͡n̷'ţ͠͞ o̢̢͞bv̴̡͡i̕o͠us ͟t͠͏҉o ̛y̨̛oų̧ ̸a̶̢lre͞ad͢͠y̷͝?҉!”

Jackie decided to just not think about it. That would be better for everyone. Moving on. “Okay, you know what? Shut up. You already separated me from the kids, great, good for you. Why did you even take them in the first place?! Did you just want to make Chase panic?”

“A͠h̸ ͢a̷ḩ ah~” Anti said in a singsong voice. “Y̶o͠u͏ have̸n’t ̛e͡ar͠n҉ęd t̨h͟a̕t̷ y͞et͞.̸ ̷And clear͡ly ͝yo͞u ̕can̡'ţ fi̛g͠u͏r̕e͝ ̶i͟t out on͞ ҉y̸our ̛o͢w̸n.”

Jackie clenched his fists. “I swear to god if you try to go after them again—”

“Ev͝er ͡th̨e͝ h̷e̴ro.̸ ͝S̷o̸ c͡ari̸n͡g.” Jackie started, then backed away until he hit one of the walls. It sounded like his voice was right next to his ear. “Even ̶whe͏n̶ t̵he ones ̕you'r͏e c͟a͝r̨ing̴ ͞ab͡o̸u̢t ̧aren̴'̛t̸ e͢v҉ęn r͠eal.͞”

Jackie couldn’t respond to that. He tried, but his mind had suddenly gone blank, whited out with a fear he couldn’t put a name to. After a while, he managed to get out a simple “Wh…what?”

“N͠o̴t ̕yet!̢” The voice drifted away, floating up. “I̢f ̨y͢o̷u͏ can ̶find ̴your͟ ̴way̶ ǫut w̕itho̧ut ̸n͏ee͢d҉i͞n͝g hel̸p, I'͢ll re̢wa̡rd ͏y͠ou wit҉h ̧an ̕exp̸la͝n͢a͟tio̸n.͡”

“Out?!” Jackie looked around. There were no windows or doors, nor were there any marks in the walls at all. Maybe something was hidden on the floor, but Jackie didn’t want to go searching around in…that. It was gross, and besides, he’d nearly drowned. Somehow. The only entrances to the room were the holes in the ceiling, high above.

Maybe the streams were the key. They were coming from outside, through the holes. He didn’t want to touch them, but he guessed he had no choice. He sloshed through the liquid to the nearest one, then really quickly ran his hand under it. But it didn’t…work? The stream moved in one solid line when he batted at it, like it was…a rope hanging from the ceiling.

“Oh fuck you,” Jackie muttered. He reached out and grabbed it. It felt slimy, clinging to his glove in goop strands. But it had a solid core underneath that. He gagged, then grabbed a section of the stream high above and pulled. One hand over the other, like climbing a rope in high school gym class. He’d never really been any good at that, so he counted himself lucky that he’d built his upper body strength through the years. One hand over the other, pulling up, legs wrapped around the…he didn’t want to think about it…but legs wrapped around it for a stronger hold. One hand over the other, and what seemed like an eternity later he pulled himself out of the hole and onto the ceiling of the room. The stream had apparently been coming from a tiny puddle, just an endless supply being produced by a source barely as big as his hand. Uh…sure. He was starting to catch on that physics weren’t a thing here.

Now he was standing on a slab of rusted metal, looking out at other slabs of various sizes and thickness, seemingly floating in the red light, stretching forever. He noticed he was perfectly dry, then leaned over the side and shuddered. He’d cured himself of his fear of heights a long time ago, but there was just something about looking down into an endless red abyss and knowing that if he made one wrong move he’d be falling forever that brought that fear back.

A hiss. A glitch. And suddenly there were lines of humming static floating in the air. The slabs were rotating, floating past, their edges fading away into pixels. “G͡o̷o̷d̕ ͠j̴o̴b̸,” Anti said, sounding almost sincere. “Y̴ou̢ ̧w҉ant̸ y̶our̶ p͠r̵įze̵ n̡o͠w?”

Jackie tensed. He didn’t want to play his game. But at the same time, he wanted answers. He wrestled with this dilemma for a second, hands on hips, the blurted out, “What did you mean the kids weren’t real? Were they illusions? Did you trick me?”

“N̵o ̧il͡l̛u͡s̕i͟o̢n̵s o͝f ͏m̡i̵ne,” Anti hissed. “B̴ut th͞e ̧r̕e҉s͟ult̕ is̵ t̨he̵ s̕am̢e͝. ͞Tho͢se̴ ̢c͢hild͠re͟n͠ ar͟e le͝s͟s̵ re̢a̵l̸ than ̵you, ̸a͢nd͞ I'͡d̢ ͟say͡ ̡y̸ou̧’re ̕r͟idi̡ng̴ ̶the͡ edge ͏of uņr͟eal̨įt͠y͡ now m̸o҉re t̨han ̡eve͝r.”

Jackie had expected Anti to gloat. To lord over him the fact that he’d fallen for his scheme. But now he was just confused. “No riddles! Give me a straight answer!”

“How l̷on͝g ḩa̢s ̛i͞t be͡en since ̧the̢y'̶vȩ seen ̨yǫu̧? ̧Ţw͡o ̛ye̷ar̕s a͟t t͝hi͢s͏ p̴oin̕t̢, I̸ ͠b͏eli̡eve̕.”

“Wha—who are you talking about?”

“L͝e̵t m̛e͏ ̷s͏h͝o̢w you͟…”

A metallic screech rang through the static, and Jackie looked down to see the metal beneath his feet cracking, breaking apart. Fighting down a sudden surge of panic, he jumped to another slab that was floating by, just in time to watch the one he was standing on crumble away, pieces falling down…down…down…

Then pictures appeared in the air. They looked more like holograms than anything else, flat and rotating of their own will. Each one gave off sound, voices mixing. The slab he was standing on floated next to one. “What…is that Henrik?” He would recognize him anywhere. He had that turquoise hair, the color it had been before he disappeared. “Is he playing a game?” It looked like one of Jack’s videos, facecam in the corner, game on screen. Except Schneep seemed to be taking it much more seriously than a game. Jackie watched in confusion as the video progressed, game and facecam glitching. "I need your help! Save him! Save Jackse—͠A͡n̷t̷i."

“W͞atc͡h ̡y͠our ̡fe̵ȩt ţh̡er̶e.” Jackie looked down to see once again the slab falling apart, and once again he jumped to the nearest one. This one floated by another holographic picture…

“Chase?!” It looked just like one of Chase’s videos, but Jackie could tell very quickly something was wrong. "This one’s called, ‘Stacy I love you, please don’t go.’ Bang!" Jackie gasped, almost backing off into the abyss in his shock. “What is this?! Are you mocking me? Mocking us?!”

“I̸ dįd̡n͏’t ev͞e͡n ̶mak̴e͡ ̧th̸e̕se̷ vi̵ḑeo͟s͞,” Anti said casually. “̕L̢ook̴ ou͢t̴ b̕ȩlow.”

Once again the slab crumbled, and Jackie was forced to jump to a different one that brought him past yet another video. And so it went, for god only knows how long. Scratch that. For only Anti knows how long. The lines of the videos blended together in his mind, and at some point mixed with an eerie singing of a song he almost knew.

…instead, what I’m gonna do is color in this mask…

“Wh͞e҉n I̢ ̶ca͏n'̸t ev̴en ̧rea͡d my͞ ow̸n stor̢y̢”

…a-hem, 100% real doctor here…

“What ͢g͢o͠od̵ ͞are wo͝rḑs wh̢en̴ a̷ s͝m͝il͠e ͟says̡ it̢ ͟all?”

…I just want to go back to when I was happy…

“And̸ i͏f h͖i̶̗s̬̥͎ w͡o̸r̡l͞d ̨won̕'t͢ w̢rite̡ ͟me ͝my̨ en͞di̸ng̨”

…come on Gerald! It’s time to die!…

“W̡h̕a͡t ̡will ͞it̛ ͠take just͟ fo̴r m͟e̷ to h̷ave it͢ ͠al͡l͞?͠”

…probably not! But I want to get further into the deep web…

“I don’t understand…” Jackie said quietly. These…these videos were sparking memories. They were almost things that happened, but different. Dramatized, shown through the lens of games and fun videos online. His skin crawled. It felt wrong.

“I̧sn'̕t i̧t̶ ob͞v̷io̧u͏s, ̕J̢ack͏ie̢boy Ma̡n?̨” His chosen name sounded even more ridiculous in his voice. “Y̴o̧u͡'̸re̡ ͢n͝o̕t r͢e͏a҉̷͟l̵.”

“Impossible.”

“N̵͝o͢͡ne̶̵͞ ̷̢o̴f͢ ͏̶y̡̛oư̸ ͢a̶͞re̴.̕͢ Ju̕s̨t͞ fra̢gm̵e͡nts ͞o̸f im̨a̧gin̕a̧tion͝, cr̴eat͟ed̴ ̷by͡ o҉ne̸ ͡m͢an who̵ ̶co̡u̡ld̨n'̷t ̛give̛ a ̡sh͡i̕t about ̕you̢r̛ ͢su͠ffe̛r͟ing.͠”

“You’re lying! You’re trying to trick me, to—”

“I'm̡ ̕b͠e̢ing ̡mo͢re ͞ḩo͡n̨est t̕h͝an e͢v̡er͝. ̢Y̴o͞u͢'re ̕a b̸it mo̕r̕e re̴sist͠a̧nt ̸t̢han ͟th̢e d͟oc̛tor̛, ̴but ̧he saw͠ ̛the̕ ̷tr̛uth͢ in t̨h͞e en̛d͡.͏ You͢r̨ ̧r͏e̷a͏li͡t͏y ̨i͠s a͞ lie. ̨You̵’re ͝fak͏e̡,͞ fan͏t̢as̸y̛. Accept̵ thi͞s͢ ̷f̕a͏ct̸, a͏nd ͢I p͏ro͏mise life i̵n͢ t̛his ͞wor̴l̵d wil̕l̢ b̛e m͝u͢ch easi̸e̡r ̶f̕or yo͝u̶.̵”

Jackie closed his eyes and covered his ears. Childish, perhaps, but it worked. “I won’t let you get to me,” he muttered. “I won’t let you get to me. I won’t let you get to me.”

Silence. And then: “Not a g̨o̕od i̴dea͢ ͢to̕ clos͢e yo̷uŗ eye̢s.”

For a moment, he thought Anti was talking about some weird, metaphysical sense of closing your eyes. But then the ground beneath his feet began to shake. His eyes flew open, and he saw the metal he was standing on falling away like sand in an hourglass. It was too far gone. There was nothing to jump to in range. The last of it gave out—

“ I'l͢l let yo͞u̶ h̡ąve̵ fun͢ ͟with ̢that͞.”

—and he fell.

A JSE Fanfic
Chapter Thirteen: Upside Down
[This is part of an INCOMPLETE SERIES that I wrote in about 2018-2019. I don't know if I'll ever finish it, but I still think there's good stuff in it, and merit in reposting it here. Where did Jackie go? None of the others are sure, but they know who’s behind it. Jackie himself is lost in a strange sort of world, but he’s surprised by what he finds in there.]
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Chase woke up with his heart beating unusually fast, covered in sweat. For a moment, the image of a red hallway lingers in his mind, a bright green light piercing the darkness…but then it fades. It must have been a nightmare. Weird. He looks over at the clock. It was almost two a.m., jeez, why was he up? Guess it was the nightmare. He’s about to fall asleep again when he hears somebody yelling downstairs.

No, that was probably fine, JJ had stayed the night…and then Chase bolted upright. No, that COULDN'T be an explanation for why there was shouting downstairs. How the hell had he forgotten? And who was in his house, then? Chase flung the covers away, pulling open his nightstand drawer and taking out his gun. It was unloaded, but it could work as a threat. He ran down the hall—having the strangest feeling of deja vu—to the stairs. Taking the steps two at a time, he followed the sound of the voice into the living room.

“—and if Jackie’s dead I swear I’m going to kill him!”

For a split second, Chase doesn’t recognize the people in the room. Then he wonders why he didn’t. There’s JJ, sitting on the couch still wearing his day clothes, probably having not slept at all. And there’s MARVIN, wearing his mask and cape, frantically pacing along one wall. Chase watches as he pulls out his wand and taps the front door’s knob, causing it to glow green for a moment.

“Wh—Marv, what are you doing here?!” Chase asked, lowering his empty gun.

Marvin spun around. “I’m freaking the fuck out, Chase! That’s what I’m doing!”

“Yeah, I can see that but why?”

“Because I saw him!” Marvin was shaking a bit. “Jackie and Sam found me, and there was that detective, and then he showed up in the phone, and-and we decided to split up, which was probably a bad idea but he wasn’t going to take no for an answer, and th-then he followed me, I could hear him there was static everywhere and-and-and—” he cut off, breathing rapidly, almost hyperventilating.

JJ stood up and walked over to Marvin. 'I think you need to sit down, my good man.' Marvin didn’t protest as JJ guided him over to the couch and sat him down on it. Chase stuffed the empty gun into the waistband of his pajama pants, then walked over to stand next to JJ.

'Now, we can’t help if you keep running around like a lunatic and won’t give us the whole story,' JJ signed. 'So if you would please start at the beginning.'

Marvin nodded, very deliberately taking deep breaths. Once he calmed down enough, he told Chase and JJ all about how he’d been in the north part of the city when Sam had led Jackie right to him. He explained about the conversation they had about pocket dimensions and how they’d found Detective Akela eavesdropping on them, recording every word. Marvin had tried to delete the video, only to find out that HE had tracked them down. Jackie had insisted they go different ways, and Marvin acquiesced.

“Wait, you let him go out on his own?!” Chase gaped. “You do realize that’s exactly what you’re not supposed to do, right?”

“Of course I fucking know!” Marvin yelled. “But you didn’t see the look on his face! He would’ve run away from me if he had to! He was just so…so determined.”

'What happened next?' JJ prompted gently.

“Well, I ran, of course. I-I didn’t want to leave him, but I did. And I had to run because I could hear him following me. He—he was in my-my head, s-saying things that—that—and I looked behind me and I s-saw him—” Marvin swallowed. “Like-like a man made out of three-dimensional white noise. Distortion. He was everywhere at once and his eye was glowing and I-I—I—” He cut off.

That description sounded oddly familiar to Chase. But why would it? He’d never seen Anti before. “And you think he followed you here?” Chase asked.

“He must have!” Marvin was shaking again. “Why would he stop? I tri-tried to ward your doors, but I don’t know if that will work.”

'It will.' The signs were firm, matching the expression on JJ’s face. 'Marvin, you are the most talented and GOOD magician I have ever met. I know he must have said things to you that would strike hard, but you must realize he lies. He just wants you to break down so he can get into your head.'

“I know…” Marvin sounds like he’s trying to convince himself. “No, I know that. It’s just…hard to ignore those thoughts.”

Chase winced. Damn, if that wasn’t something he could relate to. “Well, then, we’re gonna drown them out. Marvin, whatever he said is absolutely not true. He’s a bitch and you’re gonna not give him the satisfaction.”

Marvin removed his mask and put his head in his hands. He took several deep breaths. JJ sat down next to him and put his hand on his back, rubbing comforting circles. After a moment of this, Marvin looks up again. “Okay. Okay, you’re right. You are. But now what are we supposed to do?”

“I think we just hold out,” Chase said, glancing toward the front door. “Wait and see if he really followed you here. See if Jackie shows up too. I should…go find some of the clips for this gun. Keep ‘em in a different part of the house.”

“Good. You shouldn’t even have that in the first place, it’s illegal.” That last part was said half-heartedly. Marvin relaxed, leaning back in the sofa.

JJ smiled. 'Well, while we’re waiting, should I make some tea?'

Marvin laughed. “Only you would want to make tea at a time like this. But, yeah, if you’re offering, that would be appreciated.”

JJ patted Marvin on the shoulder before standing up and hurrying to the kitchen. Chase hesitated before turning around and heading back upstairs, looking for the storage closet where he kept the bullets for his gun. A week of no activity at all, of being worried about Bobby and Trevor wherever they were and wondering what Marvin was doing, and now the glitch just decides to show up again? What was he planning? And why just take a break in the middle of it when they’d had enough trouble dealing with all the shit he caused in just two days? He could have easily swooped in and fucked their lives up, but instead…what?

Chase arrived back downstairs with his gun actually loaded. Marvin was curled up at one end of the sofa, staring resolutely at the door and holding his wand in one hand. Chase had never seen him so tense. “It’s gonna be fine, bro,” he reassured him. “I think you outran him.”

Marvin didn’t look away from the door. “I doubt it. He’s not human, he wouldn’t get exhausted. And why would he give up?”

“I don’t know. Why would he take over Jack’s coma? Why would he take my…?” Chase trails off for a second, losing his train of thought. He blinked a few times and got back on track. “We don’t know how his mind works. Maybe he just wanted to fuck with you.”

Marvin laughed bitterly. “Maybe. Just show up and mess with my head, separate me from Jackie who I haven’t seen in an entire week—” he broke off. His eyes widened. “Wait…what if—Jackie!” He shot to hit feet. “I gotta—no, fuck, Jackie!—I—”

“Whoa, dude!” Chase immediately grabbed Marvin by the shoulders. “Calm down! What’s the problem?”

“He-he might’ve stopped following me to go after Jackie!” Marvin was panicking. “I knew I shouldn’t’ve left him! Fuck, dude, I have to—”

A loud knocking. Marvin and Chase jumped in unison to see JJ standing in the doorway to the kitchen, having just knocked on the doorframe for attention. 'You’ll be no good to anyone rushing off in a tizzy,' he signed. 'There are a million more rational things to do about this. Calm down and think about it.' He waited for a moment, staring down Chase and Marvin, making sure they weren’t about to rush out the door. Then he gestured behind him. 'The tea is ready, if you’d still care for it.'

Chase and Marvin glanced at each other. They hadn’t seen JJ this assertive in a long time. It was a little jarring, but somehow welcome. So they followed him into the kitchen and sat at the table while JJ poured the tea into cups for them.

“Okay, so.” Chase’s fingers drummed an anxious rhythm on the table surface. “We obviously need to check on Jackie. But he doesn’t take his phone on patrol with him, and when he does it’s turned completely off.”

“Why the fuck does he do that?” Marvin muttered.

Chase shrugged. “Apparently the noise got in in trouble one time. Even the vibration. But anyway, we can’t call him.”

JJ then makes two signs. The one for phone, which looked like one of those fake telephones children make with their hands, and then one neither of the others had ever seen before. It looked like a combination of two: first tapping his left wrist with two of his fingers like he was taking a pulse, then linking his two pinkies together.

“What was that?” Marvin asked. “Doctor…then that second one is ‘S’ right?” His eyes widen. “Wait, did you give Schneep a name sign? When did you do that?”

JJ nodded. 'I don’t see why I shouldn’t. We are…going to be close, after all.'

Wait, didn’t Schneep not like JJ? No, they made up. Chase and Jackie locked them in a room together until they did. Chase shook himself internally. How could he forget that? “Well anyway, you sayin’ we should call him?”

'He is staying with Jackie,' JJ pointed out. 'If Jackie has come home, Schneep would know.'

“But…he’s electronic and shit,” Chase said. “Wouldn’t he know if we call Doc? Could he mess with the call? Make a fake one?”

“Possibly, but I think we should try. Better than waiting.” Marvin digs deep into his pocket and pulls out a phone, then dials a number.

Chase raises an eyebrow. “New phone?”

“Yeah. Didn’t want the police or, y’know, him, tracking me.” The other line rings for a while before someone on the other side picks up. “Hey, Schneep? It’s Marvin.” This prompts a string of yelling so loud even Chase and JJ can hear it through the phone. “Schneep, calm down, I—yeah, I know—no, shut up, just listen. First things first, I have a question for you. Do you remember when we first met? What was the first thing you said to me? Yes, this is important.”

Chase gives Marvin an odd look, but Marvin just waves him down, listening to the other side. JJ signs, 'He’s asking a question only the doctor would know the answer to. Just to check if it’s really him. Great idea!'

Schneep must’ve given the right answer, because Marvin relaxed. “Okay. Cool. Just making sure. Now, uh, is Jackie home?” A pause. Then Marvin’s eyes widened and he started tapping the table nervously. “You’re sure? Maybe he just came home without you noticing. Can you check?” The next pause seemed to last an hour. Then Marvin made a strange sort of squeak sound. He forced himself to sound calm. “Okay, thank’s for checking. No, it’s fine. You can go back to sleep now. No, seriously, it’s fine. I just wanted to talk to him, but if he’s still out on patrol I can wait. Yes, everything’s fine. Thanks, bye.” He hung up the phone, took a shaky breath, then looked at Chase and JJ. “He’s not there.”

Chase feels a jolt of panic. “B-but that doesn’t mean he got to him? Right? Does it?”

JJ looks grave. 'I am…afraid. There’s a chance, but…the odds aren’t in Jackie’s favor.'

Marvin shuddered. “Fuck. Fuck, dude. We need to—well, we need to check on Schneep, he was starting to freak out on his end—but then we need to look for Jackie…just to make sure.”

“But…” Chase almost didn’t want to mention it, but it needed to be said. “Marv…if he took him, wouldn’t Jackie be in that-that pocket dimension place you mentioned?”

Marvin paled. “Yeah. But I…I don’t know how to access those yet. I—I need to practice. So we’ll start by checking the city.”

'If we’re going to check on the doctor, then we’d better do it sooner than later.' JJ stood up. 'Never mind the tea, I’ll clean up while Chase gets ready to go.'

“James, how are you so…calm?” Chase asked. “I thought you’d be freaking out.”

Jameson looked at him. There was an unusual, hard light in his eyes. 'That bastard can have my dreams, but he won’t have the rest of me. I won’t give him the pleasure. And he will not take my friends either.' He closed his eyes and took a deep, steadying breath. 'Now, let’s go check on the good doctor.'
.............................................................................................

Jackie opened his eyes, even though he couldn’t remember closing them. He was in the same spot he was before, kneeling on the sidewalk, holding Sam in his hands. But then he looked up. He didn’t see the night sky. He saw a vast expanse of red, no stars, no moon, no sun.

Slowly, he looked around. It was the city. He was still in the northern part, but…it was different. Other than the blood-red sky, that is. The street lamps were gone, and all the buildings were black—still made out of the same materials, stone and wood and steel, but now everything was dark as a void. The glass of the windows were solid white, no longer transparent. He looked toward the center of the city, where the tallest buildings were, and saw their black shapes rising into the sky. There was a constant, low-level hum that he couldn’t ignore. The air tasted metallic, snappy, electric.

“Sam?” Jackie looked down at the little eye. They were still unresponsive, barely glowing. But when he held them close to him, the glow increased the tiniest bit. “Hang in there, buddy.” He stood up, carefully making sure not to drop them. “I’m—I’m gonna get you out of here.” He didn’t know where to go, but he started walking anyway.

The ground didn’t feel solid. Every time he took a step, it felt like it shifted a little beneath his boots, like he was walking on gravel instead of plain gray concrete. There was light coming from…somewhere. Maybe the sky. Or the windows. There was no way to tell.

Suddenly, one of the buildings in the distance BROKE. There was no better way to describe it. One moment it was normal, the next moment the top half of it was sideways. It spazzed out, copies of the building jutting out at different angles, the white windows flickering in and out of existence. It looked like…like a video game glitch. Then the glitch spread, the buildings next to it copying, frantically malfunctioning, bugging. The wave of glitching buildings moved outward, coming right toward Jackie.

“Shit!” Jackie broke into a run. He didn’t care which direction he was heading, he just knew he couldn’t get caught up in the glitch wave. It was gaining speed, coming closer and closer to him, and as it approached the hum grew louder, into an ear-piercing whine. The ground was like sand, and he was running uphill. Every step took too much effort for how little he was moving. He glanced behind him, and the glitch wave was upon him, screeching in his ears. He ducked his head, hugging Sam to his chest. The glitches were around him, he was caught in their wild crashing and screaming. The ground gave up its hold on his boots. He felt like he was being tossed too and fro like a pinball in a pinball machine at the hands of a master. All he could do was curl around Sam and hope they’d both make it out okay.

He slammed into something hard with a painful smack. The glitches subsided. He was laying on the sidewalk—no, now he’s standing up, having not moved at all. How…actually it was probably better to not think about it. Jackie made sure that Sam was still safe, then gathered his bearings, observing his surroundings. It looked like he was in the dark version of the city park, with black, twisted trees and black soil underfoot that felt more solid than the sidewalk had. This was all the way across the city. Exactly what had that glitch wave done?

“This is gonna be harder than I thought, Sam,” Jackie muttered. He didn’t know if the eye could hear him, but it made him feel better to talk. “I guess we’ve just gotta improvise, then.” He started walking once again. Once he reached one of the park paths, he walked alongside it. He was pretty sure that it would be about as reliable as the sidewalk had been, with its not-entirely-there feeling.

He reached the park’s playground. It did not look like it had been made for children. The slides were black metal with holes rusted through them, the monkey bars had spikes on them so you would have to place your hands carefully, the swings were hanging by a single chain each, and the ground was made of sharp metal fragments instead of wood chips. Jackie shuddered. As dangerous as that looked, he had the feeling it could be much worse if it tried.

Something moved. He stopped in his tracks. He hadn’t imagined that, had he? He could have sworn he saw something over by one of the trees. “Who’s there?” he called, knowing it was probably a bad idea if the whatever it was could murder him.

Nothing. And then: “Bobby, I think it’s Uncle Jackie.”

Jackie felt his heart stop. He reached up and pulled off his mask and hood. “Trevor? Is that you?”

There was the sound of whispering, and then a small boy with his curly blonde hair tucked under a blue cap came running out from behind one of the trees. He ran right into Jackie with a soft thump, wrapping his small arms around him. “Oh!” Jackie gasped. “It-it IS you!”

“Trevor!” A slightly bigger girl with shoulder-length brown hair stumbled out from behind the same tree. “You can’t just do that! He could have been the monster!”

“Nu-uh!” Trevor’s reply was muffled from where his face was buried in Jackie’s leg. “I know him when I see him!”

“We thought we knew Dad when we see him too!” Bobby scowled.

With one hand, Jackie reached down and patted Trevor’s head. “You two are…okay? You’re not hurt?”

Trevor looked up at him with wide grey eyes. “Nope. But I’m hungry.”

Still scowling, Bobby marched over to the other two. She grabbed her brother by the hand and pulled him away. “Be careful!” she hissed.

“You two think I’m An—the monster, don’t you?” Jackie asked.

Bobby gave him a glare that could have fired lasers. “You could be.”

“Well, I’m not. I know I can’t prove it, but you have to trust me. I’m here to get you out of here.”

Trevor gasped. “You’re gonna defeat the monster?”

Jackie crouched, getting down to the kids’ eye level. “I’m going to try. But before I do that, I need to make sure you’re safe. Do you know where we are?”

Trevor shook his head. Bobby pulled him closer to her, then said, “Well, if you don’ know you’re maybe not the monster. He says this is his base. Like a supervillain. We walked through a hole in the wall and came out here.”

Jackie had no experience on the matter, but he was willing to bet this was one of those pocket dimensions Marvin had mentioned. Anti’s home base. “The monster hasn’t hurt you?”

Bobby shook her head. “He’s chased us. He said it was a game.”

“Like evil tag,” Trevor piped up. “Only we don’ wanna get tagged.”

“That’s a good idea,” Jackie mumbled. The kids didn’t look hurt, just tired. Obviously he wasn’t a doctor, but they seemed fine. They might need counseling once they got out of this place, but they were physically okay. “Have either of you seen a way to get out of here? Like, another hole like the one you came in through?”

“No,” Bobby said. “But we haven’ been everywhere.”

“Well, then. Tell me where you haven’t been, and we’ll start there.”

Bobby nodded slowly. She still wasn’t entirely sure that Jackie wasn’t the monster, but Trevor liked him so she’d go along with this. Trevor, meanwhile, pointed at Jackie’s chest. “What’re you holdin’?”

Jackie looked down. “Oh! This is Sam. They’re a friend of Uncle Jack’s.” He tilted his hand so that the kids could see Sam, curled up in his palm. “They’re not feeling too good right now.”

“Can I hold them?” Trevor asked.

Jackie thought about it, then nodded. “Sure, for a minute.” He passed the little eye to Trevor, who needed both hands to hold them. For a second, Sam’s optic nerve-tail twitched. They glowed a bit brighter. “I think they like you, Trev!” Jackie smiled. “Why don’t you carry them for a little bit?”

“Really? Okay!” Trevor smiled down at Sam, then gently hugged them. Bobby stared at Sam. “Why are they an eye?” she asked.

“I don’t know, why are you a human?”

She thought about this question, then shrugged. “I think it’s because Mom and Dad are humans. So does Sam have a mom eye and a dad eye?”

“Maybe. Like I said, they’re a friend of Uncle Jack’s. I don’t know that much about them.” Jackie straightened up. “Now. We have to get out of here. I’m counting on you two to show me where to go. Can I trust you to do that?”

Trevor nodded eagerly. “We’ll go to all the new places!” Bobby also nodded, though not as enthusiastically.

“That’s the spirit! Lead the way!”

The two kids scampered off, heading out of the twisted park. Jackie paused for just a moment, looking around. He had a feeling someone was watching him, and he didn’t like it. But he couldn’t deal with that right now. The kids were the priority. He had to make sure they were safe, no matter what. So he turned and followed them.

He didn’t see the green eyes blink open out of thin air behind him. He didn’t hear the giggle, hidden under the constant hum. He didn’t realize everything was happening just as he intended.