Jessica and Jack walked side by side down one dark hallway after another. Whenever they came to a spot where they could turn in several different directions, Jessica was the one that made the call on where to go.
Occasionally, Jack would try to strike up a conversation, but Jessica shushed him, mentioning that there was plenty of time for talk later.
For quite a while, the only sound was from the squeaky oil lamp that jostled around as they walked, and the light footsteps against gravel.
While it wasn't exactly the best kind of place to be in, there was a kind of peace that came with aimlessly walking around, especially for Jack, who was usually cooped up in one room all the time.
Though, that changed when there was a faint sound of gravel shifting coming from the distance. Immediately upon hearing that, Jess froze in place and clasped one hand over Jack's mouth.
In response, he looked at her strangely but didn't forcibly say anything.
Jess narrowed her eyes and concentrated on the sound, trying to determine the direction the steps were going. Eventually, she let out a sigh of relief. She lightly tugged on Jack's hand, signaling for them to go back.
However, Jack didn't realize this.
"Hm? Why are you tugging on my hand?"
Jessica's expression froze on her face.
"You... Fuck, just come along with me and run!"
She ran away, while Jack remained on the spot, deciding to wonder what Jessica was talking about instead of heeding her warning. And while that was happening, the sounds of shifting gravel rapidly came closer to him.
Until eventually, the source was revealed by the oil lamp.
Jack turned to it with a smile and waved.
"Hi! My name is Jack!"
While he did a very normal introduction, the thing he was looking at definitely wasn't as normal.
Although it looked humanoid in some aspects, it would be better to call it a monster. The thing's body was incredibly emaciated, like someone starving. But worse than that was the coarse wrinkled skin that had a dirty brown color. If the surface of its skin was less bumpy, then it would look a lot like bark on a tree.
It walked on all fours, like an animal. However, there were still four other appendages that hung from the top, two of which vaguely resembled hands. And one of the hands was unnaturally large, nearly a meter long, but also pressed flat like it was dough rolled under a pin.
The fingernails of that hand were a disgusting yellow that stuck out far longer than normal, even for how large the hand was and bent like misshapen claws.
And at the front of it all, was what appeared to be a head. Except there were no eyes, nor was there a nose. Instead, there were only holes where said features were supposed to be. There was also something that vaguely resembled a mouth, but there were no teeth to speak of.
The thing did have hair, but while long, it was also white and frail. Certain patches on its head were missing the hair entirely, but whether or not that's because it fell off or that's just how it naturally grew was not clear.
Upon taking a step into the light, the monster froze, letting out a hoarse groan that was similar to a zombie, but more hollow and wet sounding.
Jack tilted his head to the side.
"Oooh Ooh? Is that your name?"
The monster continued to stare while standing in place, slowly tilting its head to the side as it did so. Then, it let out another strange and eerie groan. Jack scratched the side of his head.
"Um, I don't really understand. Could you say it again?"
The monster paused for a few moments before eventually reaching out with its uncannily large and flat hand. Seeing this, Jack put a finger on his chin.
"Are you trying to pat me on the shoulder? I think your hand will be too big for th-"
"Idiot! What the fuck are you doing!"
Before Jack could finish his sentence, Jessica grabbed hard onto his upper arm and violently yanked him away. Jack nearly tripped, but was able to regain his footing, though not for long since she began running, constantly keeping him in a state of almost tripping.
A screech echoed from behind them as the monster began chasing, slamming its many appendages against the gravel.
Jack blinked a few times in surprise.
"Eh? What are you doing?"
While huffing and puffing, Jessica yelled back at him exasperatedly.
"Excuse me? What I'm doing? I told you to run, but of course, you're still just standing trying to talk to the damn thing!"
Jack tilted his head to the side.
"Thing? Isn't that a person?"
Jessica felt her head spinning. She was now fully convinced that Jack legitimately had a mental illness of some sort.
"No! That's a damn monster! If I didn't come back for you, that thing would have carved you up."
Jack let out a hum while essentially being dragged along.
"So is it a monster or a thing?"
Jessica grit her teeth, hoisting Jack up so that he was easier to carry.
"Does that really matter right now? You nearly died back there!"
Jack let out a gasp in surprise.
"Eh? Really? I didn't even know."
Jessica eventually dragged the two of them back to the hub pretty quickly as she had memorized each turn they took. After making it back into the hub, she collapsed onto the ground, heaving, taking one breath after another.
As for Jack, he stumbled about, holding out his arms and waving them around in an attempt to balance, but ended up falling onto the ground as well.
"Oof."
A nearby middle-aged man who was walking in that direction saw that before turning tail and deciding to leave from a different reaction. Jack recovered soon enough and sat up. On the other hand, Jessica was still practically dying sprawled out on the floor.
In fact, as time passed not only did her condition not get better, but it actually got worse.
Her breathing sped up as tears formed on the edges of her eyes. She trembled gently as a frown crept up on her face. Seeing this, Jack was a bit confused. But then, he thought about what his father did when he was sad.
While puffing up his cheeks, he reached over and patted Jessica's head.
"There, there. Don't be sad."
Although it was a rather poor execution, Jessica did end up calming down, slowing her breathing. She put a hand on her chest and slowly sat up.
"...Fuck...Fuck."
She grit her teeth before slowly taking a deep breath. Jack tilted his head to the side.
"Are you ok?"
Jessica nodded a few times.
"Yeah, yeah. It's just... not my first time seeing one of those things."
Jack raised an eyebrow.
"Ah, that's why you know they are scary?"
Jessica pressed her lips together, without the energy to retort properly.
"I guess you could put it that way. Fuck. Just a week or so ago that same monster killed my best friend."
Jack let out a gasp with both hands above his mouth.
"Eh? So that means you can't see your best friend anymore no matter what?"
A shaky smile formed on Jessica's face. She let out an awkward and discordant laugh.
"Yeah. It means exactly that. But for some reason I can still see him in my head, yelling for me to save him. Telling me not to leave, all the while his body was crushed. And I... just run away without a second thought."
Jack pouted as he reached out to continue to pat Jessica on the head.
"There, there... there, there..."
At the same time, she clenched her fists incredibly tightly, fighting back the urge to break down right then and there. She took one shaky breath after another, as a tear slowly fell down the side of her face.
Then after a minute or so, Jessica snapped out of it, wiping away the tears and standing up once more.
That kind of recovery was incredibly impressive for someone dealing with grief, though it was more so bottling it up rather than actually dealing with it. Though Jack couldn't see all of that. Seeing Jessica calm down made him think that she had gotten better.
"Yay! All better!"
There was a bright smile on his face as he raised both hands up. Jessica wanted to snap back at first, but ended up smiling instead.
"Yeah. I guess so. Anyway, since we are here we might as well play a solitaire game to get back some twos."
After saying that, she headed to one of the Solitaire sections in the wall and inserted her pack of cards, disappearing entirely. Jack decided to follow suit and did the same. The game of solitaire was still incredibly easy since there were still only five total cards to sort.
His reward ended up only being twos, so he just took a pair of hearts and called it a day.
After coming out, he saw Jessica that was actually already waiting for him.
"Ok let's go, but not through the exit we just came from. I'm not too familiar with the other places, but hopefully, there's a better game. While that one is fairly reliable, it's too reliant on luck, especially with the new hard mode it sprung up on us."
She began walking, and Jack decided to follow behind.
As they did so, a guy that looked like a stereotypical gangster, with tattoos, earrings, and a black jacket, spoke up.
"Hey there beautiful, what the hell are you doing going around with some kid? Even if you are trying to take advantage of him, there are better ways to do it. Why don't you come along with me instead? I'm pretty damn good at these card games."
Jessica clicked her tongue.
"Shut up, I'm not going with you. Whether or not I'm with a kid is none of your business."
The guy raised an eyebrow and simply smirked.
"Oh? Tough girl are ya?"
Jack pointed at him while looking at Jessica.
"Is that one of the monsters you mentioned?"
The corner of Jessica's lip twitched. She couldn't help but burst out in laughter.
"Well, that's not exactly too far off."
Jack scratched the side of his head, confused. However, the guy took it differently, thinking that Jack said that on purpose.
"Oh? Defending your girl? It's not like she's your actual mom, dumbass."
Jack once again, was quite confused. Although his father explained the concept of a mother, he had never actually seen his own mother, so it felt too abstract to him.
"Hm? So is she your mom?"
Jessica's eyelid twitched, while the gangster guy looked a bit confused. Eventually, he just assumed that the kid was making fun of him somehow.
"Well, since you're so good, then accept this."
He proceeded to flip a coin. When it landed, he caught it and pointed at Jack.
[Austin (ID: 14663242) has issued you a challenge. Would you like to accept?]