Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

He wasn't always there. He just popped up one day and told me what to do.

It was my fault. I listened to him.

But someone died and he was proud. I had to get rid of him. He was toxic.

So I did. I tied him up in the darkest reaches of my mind, where none could find him.

It worked. I was free. But I only enjoyed a few short months without him, because soon after I defeated him, I died.

And that's where the story begins.

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Slowly, I drag the blade from the man's hip to his thigh. He screams and pulls against the ropes tying him to the chair. I shush him.

"Shhh. We don't want anyone to hear us now do we?" I laugh and when he doesn't respond I dig the blade down into his thigh. "Do we?" My voice turns deadly quiet.

The man frantically shakes his head and tries to say something around the cloth in his mouth.

"What was that? I think you have a little something in your mouth." I cackle and bring the knife up to his face. "Such a pretty face." I murmur to myself. Then I grin, "I want to see it bleed."

I drop the knife and punch the man across the face. I punch him again, loving when blood sprays from his mouth. I punch him three more times before I back off and pick the knife back up. Without a word I cut off his left ear. The man screams.

I laugh, "That's right. Scream, scream, scream and cry it all out."

I grin and hold out my hand. I feel the usual rush, accompanied by the burn as the flesh of my hand melts. The man's eyes widen as my hand melts and leaves behind a sickly green liquid. I let it drip on the floor for a moment. I grab his hair with my good hand and pull his head back, then I hold the rest of my arm over his face. He screams as the acid drips onto his face and burns through his nose and chin.

Pulling my hand away, I let the flesh of my hand restore itself.

The man looks close to passing out. I grin and thrust the knife into his abdomen. He slumps over and I put my hand against his chest and wait. I feel his heart slow as he loses blood, then eventually it stops.

When I'm sure he's dead I step back from him. It ended too soon. Frowning I hold out my forearm and make another deep tally mark. Thirty-three. Blood wells up on my new cut and I bring it to my mouth and clean up the blood. A bitter, coppery taste fills my mouth. I sigh in happiness.

The taste of blood always brings me satisfaction.

I clean my knife off in the sink. I'm lucky the plumbing even works since the rest of the factory is in such shambles. After I clean my knife, I put it back in it's hiding place. I untie the cold body and throw it over my shoulder. I drag it to the vats of bright green acid in another part of the factory.

I toss his body over the railing and walk back to the place I now call my home.

I dig through the small pack the man had brought with him. Two water bottles, a sandwich, extra clothes, and a gun.

Eagerly I devour the sandwich, then chug the waters. I examine the gun. I don't really like guns, too quick for my taste. Death is meant to be dragged out and painful.

I throw the gun to the side. Knives are better anyway. Picking up the clothes, I know they are too big to fit me. I walk over to my makeshift bed and add the clothes to the other borrowed scraps that make up my mattress.

I lay down and close my eyes; today was a good day.

Chapter Text

He had heard the legends about the old abandoned factory on the outskirts of town. Everyone knew the legends. People who went exploring never came back.

A few years back there had been an accident. A worker named Sean McLaughlin had been pushed into a shelf with unknown chemicals on it, then fallen into the vats of acid below. Everyone knew of Sean McLaughlin, even before he died.

Everyone said he was insane. There were so many rumors about him and why he moved from Ireland. He had killed his sister, or his mom, or was it his dad? No one could agree on it. They also said he escaped from an asylum and was a wanted criminal in Ireland and the UK.

Mark had never met him, but he had heard a lot about him both before and after his death. After Sean died the factory shut down. They put a big fence around it with lots of signs to keep people out. Fat lot of good that did. People went in there and never came back. Their families couldn't report it to the authorities because they would have to admit they knew whoever went missing was going to break the law.

Mark knew he would probably never come back, but he was so curious. He would go up to the fence in the middle of the night just to stare at it and imagine what was beyond the walls of the factory.

He thought about the factory all the time. He was drawn to it. Something deep inside him longed to go there.

Why? He would ask himself. What's there?

But he would get no answer.

It was so tempting. Always there, unmoving, enticing him in.

One night he thought he heard screams coming from inside. He stood up and walked up to the fence, determined to find out what it was, but then the screaming stopped abruptly. He hesitantly sat back down. Had he imagined it?

A week later, while sitting outside the fence like any other night, Mark decided it was time. He needed to know. He went back to his house and grabbed a backpack. What would I need? He wondered. He got a flashlight and some spare batteries, water bottles, some energy bars, and a jacket. He put on his best walking shoes and set off.

When he got back to the fence, Mark realized he didn't know how to get through. He looked around for gaps in the fence but he couldn't find any so he climbed over. He pulled out his flashlight and started walking.

He explored a little bit, but didn't find anything except old rusted metal and rotted wood. The shadows seemed to move on their own and every sound made him jump.

Maybe I should have waited until daytime?

Suddenly something hit the back of Mark's head and his vision blurred. He fell to his knees and gripped his head. Then he felt it hit again and everything went black.

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Jack was sitting outside of the factory, near the fence. He was humming a song he didn't know the words to. When he saw a flashlight shine through the fence, he stood up excitedly. A figure climbed over the fence and started walking around. Jack could see that it was a man.

Instead of gasing them like he usually does, he decided this time he would knock them out with something a little more...primitive.

He found a long piece of metal on the ground and followed the man with the flashlight. When he got close to building Jack uses for torture, Jack leaped toward him and hit him hard in the back of his head.

The man fell to his knees and Jack swung the piece of metal again. Jack laughed as the man face planted into the ground. He dragged them into the building and tied him to the usual chair. He dug through their backpack and found some bars and water bottles. Grinning, Jack ate one of the bars and stashed the others. Jack pulled a jacket out of the backpack.

"Well it's a little big, but it'll work." Jack told the unconscious man. He put the jacket on and sat down directly across from him on the floor, waiting for him to wake up.

The man stirred. Jack stood up and walked over to him. He bent over and grinned widely. When the man opened his eyes he tried to jump back. Jack started laughing. He loved terrifying scaring his victims. The man watched him with wide eyes as Jack maniacally laughed. Jack abruptly stopped laughing and sat on the mans lap. Jack hadn't gagged him yet. He wanted to hear him scream.

"So what's your name handsome?" He winked at the man below him. The man didn't answer.

"Aww. Are you scared?" Jack smiled, "Good. Now tell me your name or I'll have to hurt that pretty face of yours."

The man quietly said, "Mark."

"Nice to meet you Mark." Jack put his arms around Mark's neck and placed his head on Mark's shoulder. "I'm going to make you hurt today."

Jack sat in his lap for a few minutes, waiting. When Mark didn't move or react, Jack sighed. He started to play with the man's hair. It was so fluffy, Jack just couldn't resist. He heard Mark's breathing speed up and could feel his heart racing; he was scared.

Jack got up from Mark's lap to grab his knife. He was surprised when he heard a voice behind him, "You know my name. S-so now you have to tell me yours."

Jack dropped the knife and spun around to looked at Mark. He had never heard someone speak to him after he got their names from him. The only other words spoken to him were usually begging him not to kill them; no one asked their own questions.

"You know what Mark, I like you. So I will tell you my name. Unfortunately then I'll have to kill you, but that would have happened anyway." Jack giggled then leaned in close to Mark's ear and whispered, "The name's Sean. But you can call me Jack."

Chapter Text

His warm breath tickled Mark's ear as he whispered. "The names Sean. But you can call me Jack."

Mark froze. No way. He thought. Sean McLaughlin died.

"B-b-but you died."

Jack smiled. "Aww that's cute. Do I look dead to you?"

Mark took in Jack's appearance. He was extremely skinny and his clothes, was that his jacket???, hung from body. His hair was green, but it didn't look like it had been dyed. His skin was the color of ash and his eyes.... Mark shuddered. His eyes were different colors. Bright crystal blue and acid green.

Jack stepped forward and, pushing his knife against Mark's throat, repeated his question, "Do I look dead to you?"

Mark responded without thinking, "A little bit."

Jack laughed. He laughed and laughed and laughed like Mark had said the funniest thing he'd ever heard. When he finally stopped laughing he grinned, "I like you Mark. It really is a shame I have to kill you." He took a threatening step towards Mark.

Mark's eyes widened. "Wait... Uh why do you have to kill me?"

Jack paused like he had never thought of that, "I dunno." He shrugged. "It's fun."

"But why would you kill someone you like?" Mark asked.

Jack frowned. "Stop asking questions."

Mark watched as Jack paced in front of him making wild hand gestures as though he was arguing with someone. Mark saw his mouth move, but no words came out.

After a while Jack turned to him with a grin on his face. "I'll let you live." He walked behind Mark and cut his legs loose. "But you have to come back and visit me. Do you promise?" Jack's voice reminded Mark of a little kid asking for sweets.

Mark nodded, "Yeah I'll come back tomorrow."

Jack clapped and skipped around the room, "Yay!"

Jack cut him free and Mark left. He went straight home and crashed. He woke up around midday and groaned. He was late for work.

Boss is going to kill me, he thought glumly.

Mark quickly got dressed and raced to the fast food restaurant he worked at. His boss was furious he was late again and fired him.

As Mark drove home he couldn't help but think about Jack. Should he go back?

Of course not, said the logical voice in the back of his mind, but Mark couldn't get Jack's laugh out his head. His laugh was made of pure happiness, and Mark wanted to hear it again. 

Mark shook the thought from his head. You cannot go back. He will kill you, he told himself firmly. And that was that.

Or at least he thought so.

When he got home, Mark lounged on the couch and watched TV. He knew he should be worried that he had lost his job, but he didn't really care that much.

After hours of TV, Mark had finally put Jack out of his head and he decided it was time to go to bed. He went up to his room where he saw his muddy shoes and broken flashlight. Mark put on the shoes and left his house.

I'm not going to go over the fence, I just want to look.

He got to the fence and sat down at his usual spot. The fence still intrigued him, but it didn't hide mysteries anymore. Instead, it hid Jack.

Mark stared longingly at the fence. Why did he still want to go there? There was nothing new to see.

Mark finally stood up. He intended to go back to his house, but he found himself scaling the fence once again.

He didn't have his flashlight, but he walked around anyway. He started looking for Jack. The little voice in the back of his mind kept telling him to go back home, but he ignored it.

He walked around the factory for half an hour before he started to worry. Had he imagined Jack? Was he starting to go crazy? He tried to find the building he had been in yesterday, but he didn't know how far Jack had dragged him.

Mark turned to leave the factory. He saw the silhouette of a skinny man duck behind a building. He ran after the silhouette only to find nothing. He sighed and walked over to the area of the fence he had climbed over to get in. As he started climbing a voice behind him said, "Leaving so soon?"

Chapter Text

Jack was excited when Mark returned. He followed Mark as the man wandered between the buildings. When Mark started climbing the fence to leave, Jack stepped out of the shadows and asked, "Leaving so soon?"

Mark jumped and fell off the fence. Jack giggled and said, "I didn't think you'd come back."

Mark looked confused, "I said I would."

Jack nodded. "Yes. Now I don't have to find you and kill you." He was happy. He finally had someone to talk to! He grabbed Mark's arm and pulled him toward the building Jack had tied Mark up in yesterday. Mark followed him and Jack started skipping, dragging Mark behind him.

He stopped in front of the building. "This is where I knocked you out." He said, a little bit proud of himself. "I was going to gas you but I decided not to."

Still dragging Mark behind him, he stepped inside the building. He pointed to the chair in the corner of the dark room. "That's the chair I use to kill people," he said. Then he had an idea. Giggling wildly he said, "Maybe I can show you one day." Mark face looked oddly pale.

He brought Mark through a few doors in the same building and lead him to the vats of acid. "I dump the bodies in here. Sometimes I don't wait for them to die." He giggled. He was so funny sometimes. "You know I fell in those. But I didn't die." He paused, not really remembering what happened.

"How did you not die?" Mark asked quietly. "You should have dissolved."

"I did! But I came back. I turned into smoke and then I turned back into myself," Jack explained. He didn't say anything else and lead Mark back outside.

"See you later Markimoo!" Jack grinned widely. Friends gave each other nicknames, so he spent the day think of one for Mark.

Mark looked uncomfortable, "Well, um... bye Jack."

Jack watched as he scaled the fence. Mark had called him Jack. Figuring he needed time to think of a nickname, Jack forgot it quickly. He had to get ready for the next time Mark came to visit him. He was so happy to have a friend.

He's been alone so long

Jack thought about what he could do with Mark the next night. Jack was stumped, he didn't know what people liked to do. Maybe they could just hang out. People liked that, right?

Jack shrugged. "We'll find something," he told the wall. He started humming and went off to sleep.

Chapter Text

Mark hadn't visited him in a week. Jack waited by the fence every night. The first night Jack just figured he was late. He kept telling himself that Mark would show up, but he never did. When the sun began to rise the next day Jack went back into the building he slept in. He hated the sunlight. He slept through the day and when he woke up the sun was setting.

Jack stepped outside. He flinched when the sunlight hit his face but he ignored it was walked over to the fence to wait again for Mark.

This time he was angry. Instead of going to sleep he spent the daytime staring into the vats of acid. Occasionally he would dissolve a body part and watch the smoke reform the missing limb.

The third night was the worst.

Jack cried when the sun rose. He hadn't cried since the accident.

The fourth night Jack made a trip to get more food and water. This time he also stole a knife.

He liked knives

The fifth night Jack checked the fence. He walked around the entire perimeter and when he got back to where he started he saw it was shaking. He quickly hid and watched as an unknown woman climbed over. She had the same brand of flashlight Mark had the first time he visited. Jack hated her.

Jack picked up a piece of rusty metal and decided to have some fun. He banged it against the building he was hiding behind and felt the familiar rush of adrenaline course through him when he saw her jump.

"W-who's there?" She demanded.

Jack ran to the building that echoed the most. He stepped inside and cackled ominously, knowing that she would be able to hear him no matter where she was in the factory.

The door to the building opened and he darted out. The woman let out a shriek and Jack knew she had seen him.

He turned and ran back into the room. He wanted her to scream. He advanced toward her slowly, dragging the rusty metal behind him. She shined her flashlight on him and flinched as he got closer but didn't back away.

Jack could see she was breathing fast and he could hear her heart beating wildly. He knew his appearance was terrifying. He called silently to the mist and instantly his acid green eye was surrounded in the color of mist.

"Who are you?" She asked shakily.

Jack grinned. He didn't say anything and continued to walk slowly towards her. He reached her and she started shaking in fright.

Jack reached up, wondering how far her bravery would go. He dragged a finger down the side of her face, then he suddenly grabbed her chin. She shrieked and tried to run but Jack grabbed her arm and yanked her down. He twisted her arm and heard it snap. She shrieked and Jack swiftly swung the metal into her head, knocking her out cold.

Grabbing her backpack off her back, Jack dug through it. There was a sweatshirt and some trail mix. Jack ate the trail mix and added the sweatshirt to his bed of discarded clothing.

He tied her up in his chair and placed his two knives carefully on the ground in front of the chair.

He skipped off to bed, feeling better than he had in days.

The sixth night Jack terrorized the woman he had caught the previous night. He tried to get her to scream again, but she proved stubborn.

He poured water over her bloody face and growled at her. He hadn't said anything actual words to her yet. He preferred not to talk to his victims until he was about to kill them, and he was not done having his fun.

They were not done

The seventh night, he gave up. He didn't bother to check the fence at all and he didn't visit his prisoner at all.

That was his mistake.

Chapter Text

Mark didn't go back to the factory for as long as he could resist. He was terrified of Jack and he didn't want to ever go back.

But there was something inside him that longed to go back. It was the same thing that had urged him to go inside in the first place, only now it was louder.

When he got home from his second trip inside the fence, he spent the night thinking about what Jack had told him.

He spent the next week locked up in his house trying not think about the factory and what was inside. He ignored all calls from his friends and looked for ads about job openings.

After six nights Mark went down to the fence. He sat in his usual spot and watched it longingly. He kept telling himself to stop, but he didn't listen.

The seventh night Mark decided to take a walk to clear his head. He didn't know where he was going until he came up to the fence once again.

Suddenly Mark realized he hadn't even thought about what Jack would be feeling. He knew that Jack had this weird attachment to him. Mark felt guilty. Jack must have been so sad when Mark come back to visit him.

That thought drove him to climb the fence. He made his way to the building Jack showed him. He quietly crept inside and, to his horror, saw that someone was in the chair. It was a woman, maybe in her late twenties. She was awake and spotted him instantly. She mouthed 'help' at him, but at that moment Jack walked back into the building.

Jack spotted Mark instantly and froze. He grinned and gestured for Mark to sit on the floor. Mark hesitated, but sat down to see what Jack was going to do.

The woman's face fell when she saw that Mark knew Jack and she started crying. Mark watched what happened next equally grossed out and fascinated.

Jack came up behind the woman and opened his mouth. It looked like he was going to whisper in her ear but his green eye started glowing. His saliva wavered and matched the color of his eye and hair. The now-green saliva slowly dissolved parts of his cheeks and jaws making him look like a zombie. He grinned and Mark shuddered at the sight. The green goo dripped on to the floor where it sizzled and burned the cement. Jack wiped some of it onto his hand. He let it burn through his hand to drip onto the woman's leg. The acid spit burned a hole in her leg and she screamed in agony.

He turned to pick up a knife. His eye still glowed but his saliva returned to normal. As Mark watched, Jack's cheeks, jaw, and hand regrew the parts that had been dissolved. He walked back over to the woman and lightly pressed a knife to her collarbone. He pressed harder and dragged the knife down until he reached the top of her pants. He extracted the knife from her stomach and started laughing maniacally. He stuffed a gag in her mouth and pulled off her shirt. He turned her chair around so her back was to Mark and Jack began to carve into her back.

The woman screamed but it was muffled by the cloth in her mouth. Jack started murmuring something under his breath. A green mist rose up around Jack and blocked them from Mark's view.

As the mist evaporated from around the two, Mark saw that the woman was covered in blood. Jack yanked his knife from her chest and calmly began to clean it. Mark was frozen in shock.

That was amazing. Mark was horrified by the voice in his head. No. No it wasn't! He yelled at himself. When Jack turned towards him, obviously about to say something, Mark ran.

Mark ran out of the building. He ran to the fence and flung himself over it. He ran to his house, locked all the doors and closed every window.

Mark collapsed on the floor in shock.

Suddenly a cold wind blew through him. Hadn't he just closed all of his windows? When he stood up to check, the world spun and his vision blurred. He felt his knees slam back into the ground and his body move without his permission. He struggled to take back control and felt a cold laugh come from his mouth before his consciousness faded and darkness overtook him.

Chapter Text

I was lost.

Where am I?

I was about to show Mark. Then everything went dark.

What is this? I feel like I'm floating.

Was it...? No. I defeated him. It can't be.

I killed him

But that was before. Could it have brought him back?

He can't come back. He doesn't exist anymore.

But the first time... A millennia ago.

No it isn't. It isn't him.

Mark. I wanted him to understand. I thought I felt something familiar in him. Something sinister.

I just wanted a friend.

It my fault. Now I am stuck. A passenger in my own body.

I'm so sorry Mark....

I am lost.

Chapter Text

He quickly used the knife to make another tally mark on his arm then followed Mark as he ran. When Mark vaulted the fence, he hesitated. He hadn't ever crossed this part of the fence and he didn't know what could be on the other side. He paced in front of the fence, unable to make himself cross it. He growled angrily at himself.

He needed Mark back. He needed Dark back He had felt Dark when Mark was watching him torture that woman. He had then used his new control over acid to try to impress Dark and coax him out, but he was too weak to take control of Mark.

He needed to do something. He remembered an old trick they used in their first bodies. He took some of his power and reached out to Dark's mind. He shoved the power into Dark and instantly felt the difference. He felt Mark receed as Dark took full control.

He felt Dark appear behind him as the light was sucked out of the air surrounding them. He grinned and turned around.

Dark was standing there, silent and brooding. He had his suit back.

Anti walked over to him and knelt down. He bowed his head and waited. Dark spoke, "Get up." The sound of his distorted voice sent chills of pleasure down Anti's spine. He stood slowly looking at Dark.

Dark looked back at him. Anti stepped forward and hesitantly locked his mouth onto Dark's. The second their lips touched, Dark growled and pushed him to the ground, kissing him full force.

They lay there for hours, drinking in eachothers presence.

"I'm back, my love." Dark growled quietly in Anti's ear and he shivered.

"I've found you."