Chase ran his hands over the smooth tabletop surface, eyes burning holes into the back of his hands. He was trying so hard to not let his mind stray from such the simple task for fear of what he might do otherwise. It was hard to keep yourself at bay when left with a constant reminder of what a f̶u̶c̶k̶ ̶u̶p̶ mess you are.

He let his hands flop by his side and placed his head down, losing himself into the monotonous ticking of the wall clock. It had to have been behind at least an hour, he meant to turn it back -he had ended up getting swarmed with paperwork however- but before he knew it the time had gone back to normal. He secretly hoped that the time wouldn't have been the only thing return to normal that year.

It was a pipe dream to even imagine that Stacy would want him back in her life. She had left him for a good reason. He was a "danger" to the kids she'd say. God knows she didn't shut the hell up about it. Courts favor the crying mother who fears for her life more than the desperate father anyway. It was rigged for Chase from the moment he put the ring on her finger.

Chase's hands curled into fists and his jaw clenched tightly at the memory. It was all a fucking lie and she knew it. She knows how much the kids mean to him. She knew how much he depended on them for his own mental sanity. She knew damn good and well that leaving would have only pushed him to have another one of his "spells".

His mind conjured up the last time he saw his family happily together, without officers and agents surrounding them. It felt as if it had been a decade since then, and it wouldn't be wrong to say it wasn't nearing that long either. Life begins to drag on by when you've lost everything you've ever cared for.

Chase bolted up right in his seat and opened his mouth to scream, half expecting for a large black cloud to leave his empty shell. However, all that left was a gut-wrenching cry that would have sent shivers down even the strongest person's body.

"Goddamn it!" He smacked his hands down roughly on the table and launched himself up from the chair, letting it hit the dry wall behind him. He turned towards the dull "thud" and threw the chair to the ground, making sure to give it a few good kicks once it had landed. Chase's hand collided with the painting and cracked the glass, splitting the skin between his knuckles. "I hate you!" He doubled over and ripped at his hair wanting nothing more than to make this stop. He just wanted everything to cease existing for a single fucking moment.

A small chuckle rang throughout the room, only adding fuel to his inexplicable rage. Chase let out a low growl, pulled himself up with the help of the table and let his gaze settle on the puppet sitting haphazardly across from him. Chad's stringy hair covered his eyes, sequined silver bowtie inches away from his lifeless body, shirt crumpled at the back at if he had been tossed onto the table with reckless abandon.

He could feel the doll's hateful gaze on him. This one stare from a children's puppet felt a thousand times more harmful than that of his friend's. It didn't make sense to him how an inanimate object made feel him so uneasy.

He bent over the table and grabbed Chad by his small hand, holding him a few mere inches from his face. "You think you're so much better than me, huh? How about you try focusing on your own damn life instead of mine for a change!" The doll swayed from side to side in Chase's grasp and stared at him with hollow eyes.

Chase quickly flung the poor puppet to the opposite side of the room causing it's small body to land with a loud and sickening crunch. The room grew incredibly cold causing Chase's breath to come out in visible wisps of smoke.

All of the rage previously bottled inside the man had disappeared, soon replaced with regret and fear. He moved towards the lump of bruised flesh on shaky legs -careful to keep his distance in case Chad suddenly sprung to life and attacked him- and moved a strand of yarn to the side. "Chad?" His voice came out in a broken whisper, clearly on the cusp of a breakdown. "Chad, you okay? Come on buddy, say something..."

Chase's vision had grown steadily darker, leaving nothing but him and the bloodied mess of skin and bones in front of him. His brow furrowed in confusion at the sight. It didn't make sense for there be a puddle of blood under Chad. He was a doll, full of stuffing and stitches for god's sake! The worst that could have happened to him would be for an arm to tear off, but not...not this.

His breath hitched in his throat as he realized what was actually in front of him. Of course it wasn't Chad. "N-no! I didn't mean to!" Chase scrambled over to the child's body, not caring that his hands were now covered in crimson. He rocked the fragile body gently in his arms -as if it would heal the bones sticking out at various angles and close the large gash in its' forehead- muttering to himself.

Sobs racked throughout Chase's body causing his throat to close up tightly and his chest burning as though he was being stabbed repeatedly between his shoulder blades. He could feel the blade slowly twist and turn inside of him, tearing his lungs to shreds.

The little breath he was still holding had left his body in one fell whoosh. Chase gripped tightly at his clothes with one hand and gritted his teeth. He knew he deserved this pain but it's not say it still didn't hurt like hell to him.

He pushed himself up -nearly falling down face first into the table- and shook his head, pushing his own problems to the side. Chase hugged the figure tightly to his chest and looked around the room frantically. He had to get help. Even if it was a passerby who heard him screaming, he still needed someone to hear.

He stumbled towards the door and flung it open, being greeted with an impenetrable void. Before he could so much as mentally form a sentence, he was knocked back into the wall. His head lolled to the side like a broken puppet being thrown to the side by it's resentful puppeteer.

"Now now, do you really think I'd let you get away that easily Chasey?" A laugh echoed throughout the room, changing frequency with each bounce off wall. Chase attempted to tilt his head towards the voice, only to fall back down at the sudden jolt of pain. He was sure he had pinched a nerve in his neck, at least, if not fractured his skull. "Aren't you supposed to be getting help for this thing?"

Chase frowned and looked down at his lap to see that the child had gone, now in Anti's possession. The demon twirled his knife and smirked down at the lump, before throwing it towards the large window. Chase watched helplessly as it bounced off the glass and landed at his feet. He half expected to see a puddle of mush in front of him.

Anti crossed his arms and snapped his fingers, hoping to get the other man's attention. "Earth to Chase." The demon growled out, growing frustrated with the silence. He knelt down in front of the man and grabbed a handful of stuffing. "It's fake. Stuffing. Nothing but yarn and empty dreams. Chad." The young man in front of Anti seemed to tense up at the name and then relax once he had understood the context. It was just a doll. It wasn't real. Of course he hadn't harmed somebody. He'd never harm somebody.

The demon huffed and crossed his arms again. "It's no fun tormenting you when you're stuck thinking about your bitch of an ex wife. You know she left you for good reason. Get over it or do something about it." Chase pushed himself into a sitting upright position and stared at the demon confused. What did he mean by "do something about it"?

Of course he had tried doing something about it! He spent months after months in couples therapy trying to make her happy, he let her go out and meet new guys in hopes she would come back and realize that Chase was the only man for her. He'd give his fucking life for her if he had to. So of course he tried doing something about it.

The demon leaned on the table, smirking down at Chase, his knife idly twirling in one hand and Chase's phone in the other. The words rung loudly in the other man's mind, trying so desperately to find a connection to what he was seeing.

Get over it or do something about it.

Chase swallowed hardly as he came to the realization of what the demon meant. It wouldn't have been hard for him to put two and two together earlier if he wasn't in this current state.

"It's up to you. Your fate, your choice." Anti continued to absentmindedly play with his knife, careful not to cut his hand open. "I'm just here to help give you nice little nudge in the right direction. But I should let you know that you're on a timer here, Chase. And if you don't pick soon, your dear family will end up like your old friend Henrik."

Chase pushed himself up slowly and braced himself, trying to find another way out of this situation. All he needed was time. Time for someone to come in or call or something.

"Anti, can't you find it in yourself just once to feel pity? I know it's hard for someone as ancient as you but," Chase shrugged his shoulders, unsure of where this would end up going. Anti just rolled his eyes and unlocked Chase's phone with ease, scrolling through the countless photos of his family that were still on the device.

Anti landed on a photo of what seemed to be Chase and Stacy's first date and he felt his heart sting at the sight. He really had fallen madly for this girl. Fuck, it was clear in his smile from all the pictures that he had really wanted the relationship to last. It was sickening to Anti.

The demon's thumb hovered over the "delete" button. He wasn't sure if he was doing this to anger Chase or help him. Anything had to be better than watching the poor soul going through memories and crying at them all the time. Just as the demon was about to press the button, he heard a poorly choked back cry from the man across from him.

Chase pointed towards Anti's hand with an open palm, inviting the demon to give the item he held closely over. Anti held the phone above his head between two fingers, not letting it slip from him just yet. "Is this what you want? It's pathetic that you're still so obsessed with them when they so clearly despise you. There's a reason nobody enjoys your company for long, you know." Anti let out a huff when Chase hadn't so much as blinked at his taunt.

Chase shook his head slowly and pointed behind Anti's head, at the upper section of the cabinet. A single key hung to the side, with a note that read Keep from Chase during his episodes. Anti glanced between the note and Chase's open palm before putting the puzzle pieces together. Chase was finally going to do something about all of this for once and Anti had the pleasure of seeing it happen from the front row.

The demon's heart fluttered slightly as he made his way towards the lock and key, trying not to let his excitement show. Anti let out a short laugh as he pulled the oddly heavy toy gun down. Were they really concerned about him killing himself with a NERF foam dart? They must have been as crazy as Chase if they believed it would actually hurt him.

Anti slid the toy across the table to Chase, eagerly wanting to see if would do some actual damage or just bounce off Chase's thick skull. The demon would never admit it, but, he secretly hoped for the latter. As nice as it would be to know you helped someone make the right choice, it was even more satisfying to know you had done it yourself.

Chase stumbled over the table, his fingers gripping the round edge tightly, and let out quick, shaky breaths. He mulled over his two options, silently weighing the outcomes. Either way, someone would get hurt -more than likely to be Chase in both scenarios- and he had wanted to avoid that as much as possible. However, if his own demise meant that there was a chance his family would be safe, it was a chance he was more than willing to take.

After all, he had said he would die for them.

Anti didn't have all day to waste waiting for an outcome, he had other things to do. More pressing matters that watching this wreck of a man. Anti snapped his fingers impatiently in front of Chase's face. Chase jumped slightly and placed a shaky hand on the toy gun. It was now or never.

Anti couldn't hide his glee as Chase raised it to his head, finger so close to the trigger. "It's about time you listened to my advice, Chase. You know, I'm gonna miss this when you're gone. All good things must come to an end however, right? You of all people should know the best, considering your extensive track record." Anti chuckled and shook his head. "Don't tell anyone -or else I'll have to kill you my damned self- but you were always my favorite. Maybe if 'Ze Good Doctah' is back in good working condition when I return, we can have this fun again."

Chase figured that now would have been the perfect time to tell Anti off, to tell him everything he thought about him. But, he found it quite difficult to think clearly with a gun pressed into his temple. His unspoken words will just have to be lost to the wind this time around.

He knew when to pick his battles -which ones he would have a chance at winning and which he would majorly fail at- and he knew that this wasn't one he could end up winning. Not unless he had a miracle of some sort happen and anyone could spot just how little luck he had left. Chase just hoped that Anti would keep his word and leave everyone else alone, but it's hard to know when an evil deity in front of you is going to keep their word.

"You win this time round. I hope you're happy to know just how much damage you've caused."

A deafening bang rang throughout the room, causing even Anti to flinch and cover his eyes. He didn't really think Chase would have gone through with this, he half hoped that the man would have tried to turn the gun towards Anti. He always thought that Chase would have gone out like a hero -just like his old friend Jackieboyman- but even he knew that endings aren't always set in stone.

Anti leaned over the table and scrunched up his face at Chase's body, a steady stream of blood trickling out of the man's left temple. Anti thought he even saw bits of brain splattered on the wall, but a demon could only hope for such carnage.

All he knew was that was going to cause a lot of trouble for Schneep to fix up later. It was a good thing he had some practice in raising the dead.

"You're right, I do win." Anti snapped his fingers and watched intently as the blood slowly faded away. "Now, if you don't mind I've got a flight to catch. I just wish you could have joined us."

~~

vent