{Reader's POV}

            Birdsong filled the air as I stepped outside, a warm breeze ruffling my hair. Sunlight filtered through the thick canopies of leaves above us, and a smile flashed across my lips as I inhaled the air, savoring the various scents of the woods around me. It had been more than a week since I'd last been outside, and the fresh air felt and tasted amazing.

            "Come on," Jack said, snapping me out of my reverie, and I nodded as I quickly followed him. After changing out of our night clothes, Jack had grabbed a backpack and led me outside. I paused as we passed Buddy's pickup truck, casting it an uncertain glance as it raised old memories, but I turned my attention away and continued following Jack. I didn't know why he was taking me outside, but right now I wasn't complaining. I highly doubted he was taking me somewhere to kill me. It was the middle of the day, after all, and his cabin was already isolated enough. Neither of us spoke as we walked the woods, following a faint dirt trail to places unknown, but that was okay.

            I glanced around in wonder. Growing up alone in the mountains, I'd always felt a strong connection to nature, so I felt perfectly content here. Fresh green leaves littered the trail, bending as we stepped on them but being too soft to break. Shadows covered most of the ground due to the thick canopies of the trees towering above us, but the sun managed to penetrate it anyway and cast plenty of light. I heard animals scurrying among the trees, and smiled as I saw a squirrel jump from one tree to another, almost gliding through the air before landing and continuing on its way nonchalantly.

             After about fifteen minutes of walking we reached a small clearing. Several dummies hung from the trees, covered in cuts and slashes with stuffing dripping to the ground. I shuddered slightly as I realized that most of the cuts were around the locations of organs. Obviously this was where Jack practiced. He gestured for me to sit on a tree stump as he set his bag on the ground, and I used my sleeve to brush off any bugs before doing so.

            "Are you good at sewing?" he asked as he sorted through the bag, and I shrugged.

            "I'm... so-so?" I hadn't sewn that often.

            "Good enough." He tossed me a small plastic red box, and I opened it to see it was full of several pre-threaded needles and swatches of fabric. As I removed one of the needles to examine it Jack cut down one of the dummies from the tree, grunting as he carried it over to me. Patches covered its surface where the cuts were, and he quickly tore them off. Setting it on my lap, he told me, "Sew new patches on it."

            So he brought me outside just to do chores? Oh well, at least I was outside that musty room. I nodded as I removed a swatch of blue fabric and laid it over one of the holes, carefully piercing the harsh material of the dummy with the needle. Meanwhile Jack removed another dummy and set to work with his own sewing kit. We worked in silence for a while, only the symphony of nature filling the void. After about three patches my fingers were getting sore from holding the tiny needle so I decided to take a small break. A glance at Jack's dummy revealed he'd managed to patch only two more holes than I had, and much more shabbily. Weird, I thought. I'd expected him to be better, since he probably had more experience.

            Then I realized he was sewing with the bandaged hand.

            I frowned as I watched him. I assumed he'd hurt it when he punched the wall or whatever. Why had he done that? It wasn't just because he'd had a bad night, that horrible wailing afterwards indicated something more. Again my earlier suspicion came to mind, but the theory still felt pretty outrageous. And yet...

{Jack's POV}

            Sewing new patches onto the dummy was taking a bit longer than it should thanks to his bruised hand. Bending his hand to grip the tiny needle created a dull pain, and he gritted his teeth as he tried to ignore it. He should have been done with twice as much by now, this was just getting more frustrating by the second. He uttered a small curse as he pricked his finger, sucking in a sharp breath.

            It was at that point he noticed that [Name] was staring at him.

            Frowning, he tilted his head and mumbled, "What?"

            "Nothing," she quickly replied. Pausing, she added, "Want to take a break?" Jack didn't respond, but instead just sighed and shrugged. It wasn't like he was getting much done anyway, he could use the time to cool off. He pushed the dummy off his lap and opened the backpack, removing a water bottle and tossing it to her. As she unscrewed the cap and took a grateful sip he watched silently, just... thinking.

            Jack wasn't sure why he'd brought [Name] along. It wasn't like he needed her help. Sure, he was having trouble, but he would have gotten it done eventually. He could have easily left her alone, but today he didn't feel like it. Last night he'd forgotten to take off her shackle, and he didn't want to make her wear it anymore than necessary, nor did he feel like locking her in her room. Except those shouldn't matter. Sure, he cared about her physical well-being, but she was just a pet to him, a plaything to toy with mentally.

            Maybe he just didn't want to be alone.

            After going to bed he'd been plagued all night by dreams of his captivity. Whenever he drifted off he dreamed he was back in that basement, completely immobile while that man's demonic cackling filled his ears. Panic and desperation filled him each time, emotions which were alien to the inhuman being. Yes, he created them in his victims, but he himself hadn't experienced those feelings in years. No matter what he did he never seemed able to wake up, and when he did he'd just cry softly before falling asleep again. Hearing the chains rattle when [Name] knocked on his door that morning hadn't helped, making him think for a brief, terrifying moment that Buddy had returned.

            Speaking of the chain... Jack cast a discreet guilty glance at [Name]'s ankle. Right now, he felt he was no better than his own captor. Sure, he gave her considerably more freedom than Buddy had given him, but that still wasn't much to talk about. Yesterday was the first time he'd become aware of the potential long term effects. While he'd lost circulation in his arms from being suspended above his head for so long, he'd still had his sleeves to protect his skin from the metal.

           A bit of guilt filled him as he thought about it. Sighing, he reached into the bag and pulled out the remains of the lung. He hadn't been too hungry last night so there was still a quarter of it left. Absently he lifted his mask a little and raised it to his mouth only to stop as he heard a small squeak. [Name] was staring at him wide-eyed, her face pale. Oh, right. Humans didn't like watching people eat lungs. Jack rose and circled a large tree so he was out of her sight, leaning against the trunk as he took a large bite. Not like she'd try to run away just because he couldn't see her. At this point she feared him enough to not do something stupid like that.

            As he quietly finished off the lung and licked his fingers a scent suddenly caught his nose and he tensed, snapping his head to the side. That smell... Was it...?

            Jack glanced around the trunk of the tree. [Name] was still sitting on the stump, drinking from the bottle. "[Name]," he said, and the girl gave a start, drops of water falling from the bottle and onto her lap, as she snapped her head to look at him.

            "Y-yeah?"

            "Stay here. Don't go anywhere. Got it?" Gulping, she nodded.

            "Um, yeah... Okay..." Satisfied, Jack turned and followed the scent. The closer he got the stronger it grew, and after a few minutes he came to a stop. Ducking behind a tree, he lifted his mask as he cautiously peered around the corner. A figure was sprawled on the ground, moaning softly with his leg mangled and bloody. A quick appraisal of the scene made it obvious that the man was most likely a camper and had been in that spot for quite a while, probably the result of a bad fall from the tree.

            Smirking, Jack lowered his mask and stepped into the clearing, deliberately stepping on a twig. The man's head snapped to the side, staring at him with wide eyes. A smile graced Jack's lips as he fingered the scalpel hidden in his pocket, his smirk hidden by his mask.

            Looks like he wouldn't be going hungry after all.