((Hey guys sorry this took a bit. I had a massive test to focus on and didn't' get time to write it. Anyway, enjoy! :D ))

~~~~~~Jack's POV~~~~~~

I felt the beat of his heart, the warmth of his breath, and the bittersweet taste of his lips. I felt Anti's chest swell with longing for a mere second, before being replaced with something darker, something cold. It caused his mind to blacken, it caused a foreign shade of green to cross his vision before that too went dark.

The beat of his heart slowed growing to a loud drumming as to signal an ever-coming war. His warm breath grew icy, catching in his throat as to suffocate, and rip any remaining life away. The bittersweet taste of his lips, similar to that of black licorice, fades away to one of copper. A bloody taste that causes my stomach to lurch with a sickness that made every muscle in my body ache dejectedly.

I watch his body slump to the floor, red dissipating to a hollow black in his eyes, any bits of life leaving once he hit the tiled ground.

That's when I again push for control.

I pull ahead rather quickly, Anti lost in the moment pulls back to my mind, yet I still feel his presence with the same intensity I would if he were to fight for control. I felt the power when Dark began to fade away, I felt the sting of that green light on his... my... palm.

It hurt, and yet for a second I felt unstoppable, I didn't want it to stop. I don't know if that was truly me or the demon in my head.

Pushing away these thoughts, and ignoring the throbbing in my head to the best of my ability, I kneel down pushing over the lifeless form as to see his face. His normally caramel colored skin looks almost gray, giving him the appearance of a carcass, his eyes closed peacefully, yet I can still almost see the blackness that had coated them moments before.

The only sign of life is the slight rise and fall of his chest, though it was so shallow I almost doubt really seeing it at all. Just as I began to consider calling an ambulance, despite the risk of me getting thrown back into the madhouse, his eyes open.

I watch him blink a few times, the inky blackness that took up the majority of his eyes slowly retreating back into the pupil, I'm silently thankful when, after a minutes wait, a pair of chocolate brown eyes stare back at me. Confusion evident in his gaze before he even managed to speak.

I feel a relieved breath leave me, and without thinking I let myself lean forward falling into his chest just as he sat up, almost knocking him down in the process. He takes a second before I feel his arm snake around me, hand resting on the small of my back.

"What...?"

He manages the one word, his voice croaky as if he'd been passed out for hours rather than a couple minutes.

"I don't know..."

I respond to his unfinished question honestly. I have no fucking idea what happened. One moment the two were making up, Anti was forgiving him, and then...

"Is Dark okay?"

The question surprises me for a second. However remembering the agonizing pain I saw in his crimson eyes scared me, I can still see it every time my eyelids drop. Mark looks at me for a second, eyes softening ever so slightly.

He stays quiet for a moment, it almost seems like he searches through his own mind, a glint of confusion in his eyes tells me he found nothing.

"He... He's not here..."

He mumbles the words under his breath, almost afraid to do so. I feel my heart almost stop.

He can't just be gone, he can't just disappear... right? I don't know much about these, things, but I do know they can't just come and go when they pleased. Based on what I've been told, what I've seen, things are too strict to allow that.

What I've been told...

I think back to the story Dark had told me, what he had opened up about. He told me why he's done what he's done, he told me why Anti is so dangerous...

Anti...

I feel myself perk up a little bit, a quiet realization bringing me back to the throbbing pain in my temples. I remember the feeling of something in my veins, I could feel it distribute with each thump of my heart, I felt it spread, I felt it burn. It was painful, the kind of pain that goes down to your core, the kind of pain one doesn't ignore.

"Anti..."

I can feel the Demon, slowly coming out of his hazy, power-hungry state, bringing his attention back at the mention of his name. Mark looks at me with narrowed eyes, a new horrified confusion wrapping his irises coldly.

"What did he do? Sean?"

I hear Mark's words, yet I can't seem to process them, a new sickness washes over me, my vision blurring over with tints of green, then black. I feel my body begin to slump, Mark's strong arms wrapping around as to keep me up. I hear his voice calling out my name, but a newfound exhaustion overpowers any urge to stay conscious. And I let go.
~
~
~
The darkness fades away after a minute that felt like forever, revealing the same scenery I'd been surrounded by so many times. Large, towering oaks, trunks thick enough to form a kind of threatening wall around me. However it looks different, the image looks less stable in a way.

The trees lose their leaves to an invisible wind, blowing them every which way yet I can't feel a single gust, a tint of darkness cloaks everything, I almost have to squint to make out details. An eerie cool rests over the small fielded area, and despite the rough swaying of the trees, that surround it, everything seems horrifyingly peaceful.

I let my eyes wander, taking note of the lush green of the grass below my feet, and the strangely vibrant blue bits of sky peeking through the dense branches above me.

"Sean."

The accent is familiar as it murmurs my name, however every other part of his voice is nothing but foreign. It's lower by about two octaves, seeming to crackle and glitch each word like you would expect from an old radio. His tone is cold, strangely indifferent despite the anger I see when turning to finally face him.

His eyes... His eyes...

I feel myself freeze merely looking into them. They no longer resemble a human's not even slightly. The whites of his eyes replaced with a deep black, it hardly reflected the light bouncing around us from the swaying trees. The only indication of life in those eyes is the irises, they kept their bright color, however the green seems to dance around within those eyes, as though playful despite the anger resting on his pale face.

"A-Anti... What..."

I can't finish my question, caught up in the disgusting hue of his eyes, they seem to stare straight through you, into your deepest dreams and darkest fears, studying each thoughtfully before moving onto the next.

The demon straightens his spine, hands clasping behind his back, the same stature Dark often took as a way to look powerful, I feel an instinctive lurch of my stomach at the ever familiar look. Despite the intimidation tactic he tried desperately to pursue, I don't feel any kind of fear join the concern tugging at my gut.

"I did what had to be done..."

His words sound almost unsure this time, tone of indifference breaking with a hint of guilt he struggled to hide under cold triviality.

"What did you do...? Where's Dark...?"

My demon's eyes narrow at the name, green of his irises moving downward to stare at the lush green beneath our feet. He watches the blades of grass sway, some of them beginning to brown beneath his feet, rotting with the destructive energy his presence gives off.

"He deserved it... We both know he did..."

Explaining vaguely a new emotion breaks free of his resilient façade. Longing perhaps? An ache of something lost? That in itself gives me more information than his imprecise words.

"You... It's not possible..."

Strangely I don't want to believe it. I hated that demon, he screwed up so much for me, for Mark... But... He didn't deserve to die... Especially not by his lovers hand.

"Anything is possible, my dear boy... He took something from me, and I needed it back..."

I feel my hands clench into unstable fists by my upper thigh, a new kind of anger boiling beneath my disbelief. The demon hesitates ever so slightly as my eyes harden, though I doubt they looked as intense as it felt.

"You killed him... But you..."

I'm the one to hesitate this time, feeling my nails dig into the soft flesh of my palms, I could feel the indents they made daring to draw blood.

"You loved him..."

I watch the green-eyed demon tense up at these harsh words, however covering with a glare how deeply they stung. Keeping his eyes on me, as to intimidate me into taking the words back I can almost feel the deep ache settling over his chest, I can see that glint of longing once more. He won't admit it, he never would, and his ego makes that next to impossible, but it's obvious, it has been for a long while.

Every time he looked at that other demon, underneath all the hatred, all the tainted memories, it remained. A certain type of idolization, he once relied on the other for everything. A kind of disturbed, unethical love would assault him every time Dark spoke. As messed up as it was, he loved him, there's no doubt about that...

"He hurt me! He made me into this!"

His words come out a jumbled mess, increased to a volume that echoed around the space loudly, seeming to shake the ground beneath our feet. His tone however is detestable, sad despite the pure rage dancing through his glowing irises, seeming to soak the blackness of the rest of eyes in a certain kind of dejected revulsion.

Any bits of his once sophisticated façade crumble, he slouches, hands clenched at his sides into fists that shake delicately, his mouth curls into a forced snarl giving him a rather rabid appearance.

"Anti... He-"

"I tried..."

He interrupts in a soft voice, yet despite its pathetic tone I still stop cold. Any anger he'd forced into his voice disperses, his words become more stable, any of the static that seemed to previously consume his words had gone, leaving him to sound human, a rather pitiful step down for the creature.

I let my eyes meet his once more, the glow of his irises going down to a mere shimmer of the unnatural color.

"I tried not to fall for him... I really did... but..."

He chokes on the next words, a silent sob seeming to catch just in his throat. I stay silent, waiting for him to continue.

"I was weak... And now, I'm not..."

The rage slowly returns to his tone, a kind of dark determination returning as does the glow of his irises.

"So what..."

I finally speak up again, gaining his attention as well as his annoyance.

"You're acting like a child Anti... You got hurt, and I'm sorry I really am, but this is not the answer!"

I feel my voice grow in intensity only to lower once more to a more caring tone. I step forward on unsteady legs, feeling a new kind of energy emit from him as I grow closer.

"I know they hurt you... I know what they've done to you, I've seen it..."

"You don't know the half of it..."

He snarls out the words, seeming to reel back as I take another tentative step forward, feeling a certain nausea pass over me as I come within a foot of his unhinged form. I pause, before giving a slight nod.

"You're right... I don't.... I can't imagine all you went through... but that doesn't make this right..."

Another step forward and this time he doesn't reel back, standing his ground until I stood close enough that I could see into the obsidian abysses of his eyes.

"You killed Dark already, what more could you want...?"

He takes a minute, only a minute to think. And as the words leave his tongue I'm sure he's completely lost sight of he used to be.

"They stripped me of my dignity, they stripped me of who I was.... I want... I need my revenge..."

I watch the fury dance through his irises violently, sending a sliver of a chill to move up my spine eerily slow.

"I want them to feel every bit of pain I did..."

"And then what..."

I let the words escape me before I can even think about biting my tongue.

"If you do this you're no better than them! Where does it end? How many people do you have to hurt before you finally realize how wrong this is...?"

His eyes narrow, almost a thoughtful gesture if not for his lip twitching upwards into a type of sneer. His eyes bore into me with a new kind of hatred, the emerald color of his iris shifting each second to a new hue of its effervescent pigment, and a silent threat dancing just over his pallid face.

"I'm not human, Sean..."

He spats my name with a new type of disgust, as if the single word left an unpleasant taste across his tongue.

"So why... Are you expecting me to act like one?"

I feel my mouth open but words catch just in my throat, and I realize... I don't know...

Here I am, trying to talk down a demon who has nothing to lose. I'm trying to put some kind of humanity to this... creature...

He's a demon... Even worse than that he's insane, he has nothing to lose... So what makes me think I can talk him out of this...? Why am I trying to help him like this after everything he's done...?

"You were once..."

I feel the words escape me softly, a quiet mumble compared to the brashness of his previous tone.

We share a look as an uneasy silence consumes the area, mine of a quiet hope, and his surprised if not still angry. However I take notice of his eyes, the glow of his irises soften to a plush green to match the brush around us, and his snarl falls gently into a mere frown.

Taking this as a good sign I continue.

"Look, what you went through, I understand why you want to hurt them, trust me I do... but what if you can't win...?"

I can hear more and more honesty enter my voice as I continue to speak, feeling his boiling anger to simmer down more and more with each word too, replaced with a cold emptiness.

"I don't know much about you, or what you are... I don't know what it's like down there but-"

I feel my throat close, the words stop just over my tongue. I sigh looking into his eyes once more after realizing I'd averted my gaze, the blackness slowly begins to fade back underneath his eyelid, beginning to make them look almost normal if not a bit bloodshot.

"But I know you can't win this... They have no reason to keep you alive after the stunt you pulled last time... And I know you can't take them all on..."

I speak truthfully remembering the story Dark had told me not long ago before he....

"They're going to kill you..."

I feel an empty type of ache erupt in my chest at these words. I'm not sure why the thought caused such a reaction, why should I care, he's spent so long driving me crazy... Yet he still feels a part of me, I honestly can't imagine him not in my mind to provide sarcastic commentary. I don't want him to die.

"Anti..."

I let his name roll from my tongue, leaving a bittersweet taste in its wake. His eyes meet mine after a second, the blackness had fully retreated underneath his eyelid leaving the bloodshot whites to give him a human like appearance once more. Even the neon green of his irises fades, until those too give way to a gentle hazel color, he looks human. Emotions swim through these newly colored eyes, a soft sadness coating each one before that retreats like the inky color had before it.

"You don't have to do this."

His human-like eyes lower from mine, shining with unshed tears that cover a small glint of doubt within his pupil. He seems to consider my words.

However just as soon as it all happened it all fades once again. The natural hazel of his eyes is slowly overtaken by the unnatural color I've memorized by now, glowing even more vibrant than they had previously. The inky blackness slowly leaks out, slowly swallowing the whites of his eyes until the color resembled that of a night sky, with a sickeningly vibrant splash of green directly center.

They remain downward however, that being the only other indication of humanity on his insipid face, studying each blade of grass that swayed beneath his feet with a quiet contemplation.

His hand fidgets uneasily against his side for a few seconds before slowly moving up to caress a few pale marks across his arm which barely peek out from below the sleeve of his black t-shirt. That hand travels even further upward, as though in some sort of daze, soon thoughtfully tracing the whitish scar across his throat, his finger follows every ragged line perfectly, with clear memorization, as if he'd spent every day of his life looking at the single, evident imperfection.

His unnervingly calm eyes alight with another small anger, as though only now remembering what had happened, however this rage is ice cold, certain. And as he utters the last dejected words before disappearing from my view altogether, I can tell there's no chance of talking him out of it, there never was...

"Yes I do..."