Chase blinked and suddenly he was in his old apartment he had been evicted from in the kitchen.

He whirled around, confused, "Wh . . what? How did we. . . "

Anti was next to him, staring at him blankly.

Chase fell backwards, leaning against the table, "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU!!?"

Anti blinked but instead of answering him, he started to look around, "We're far away enough for now. He won't come looking again for a while. I think he got hurt. It's safe for now"

"SAFE!?" Chase yelled at him, "YOU FUCKING KILLED LIKE A DOZEN PEOPLE BACK THERE, DUDE!"

"Dude" Anti repeated him in a slightly confused manner.

Chase acted quick and ran for the living room. He booked it for the coffee table that had a drawer in it and pulled out a secret gun already loaded.

He went to go back in the kitchen to confront the thing but it wasn't there.

"What?"

"That won't do anything to me"

Chase whipped around to see him sitting on the couch.

He pointed the gun at him, "We'll just see about that! Give me answers NOW or I'll blow your fucking head off, you freak!"

"Wouldn't be the first time you've killed someone. . . IF I could die, that is" Anti snapped back.

Chase shot him but was surprised to see the creature glitch and the bullet went straight through the couch.

"Wha-what? What'd you do!?"

Anti sighed and got up, walking to the TV, "Hm. . . . .I haven't been here long. I'll be needing to learn some things about this world"

Chase wanted to shoot him again but what good would it do?

He just gaped at him, confused out of his mind, "Just. . .PLEASE. . ..  tell me SOMETHING. You were gonna tell those other guys something before that other freak busted through the fucking wall. Why did you bring me with you? Why'd you bring us HERE of all places!? I'm not supposed to be here!"

Anti looked very nonchalant and relaxed, not really comprehending Chase's urgency and fear. He was corporeal but that didn't mean he was human.

"I need you"

Chase glared at him. That gave him a little courage in knowing that.

"You need me . . . so you won't kill me? Why not?"

"I need you." He repeated, "I need you so I can become human . . . or at least close enough to it. The other one. . . the dark entity is trying to stop me"

"Uh. . . Why?"

Anti just looked confused now, "I don't . . . I don't know. Not sure"

Chase finally lowered the gun, "You . . you were in my head before. Weren't you? Back at the facility? You were . .the other prisoner?"

Anti nodded, "Correct"

"Do you know why they were keeping us in that place?"

"They saw me as a threat. I brought you to the roof. They knew then I had connected to you"

It dawned on Chase then, "Wait. . . YOU teleported me to that parking garage!? You stopped me from killing myself!?"

Chase stomped towards Anti with a snarl, "Why would you do that?! What gives you the fucking right, huh?! You bastard! That wasn't your decision to make!" he shoved him out of anger, not comprehending the danger he could put himself in.

He didn't care.

Anit just stared at him, though, ". . . . . . I needed you then. Still do. I've been taking from you . . . to make myself corporeal. Solid."

Chase didn't believe it, "Taking from me . . . . You've been in my head. . . .have you been sending me those nightmares, too?"

Anti raised a brow, "Nightmares? What are those?"

"I guess not then . . . . . What have you been taking from me, then?"

"It's nothing harmful for you. Energy. You replenish anyway and soon, I will be able to replenish my own to keep myself whole."

Chase. . . he couldn't explain it but somehow, he trusted this creature that he was telling the truth.

It still didn't make a lot of sense to him but he knew that Anti wouldn't kill him.

Even  though there was still a little part of him that wished Anti would.

"I won't kill you." Anti read his mind, "You're too important to me"

Chase snorted, "Yeah right. . . . I've never been important in my fucking life. I'm worthless"

All of a sudden, he felt like having a drink.

He wondered if there was still booze in the house.

"Not to me", Anti blinked, reading his thoughts, "In the kitchen . . . cupboard by the fridge. You go eneberate yourself and I'll learn"

Chase rolled his eyes, already done with this creep, "Whatever"

No longer caring, Chase made his way into the kitchen.

Meanwhile, Anti stood in front of the TV.

He placed his hands on either side of it and it turned on, black and white static covering the screen. 

His eyes turned black and he watched.

____________________

"So where are they?" Jackie asked Henrik.

The doctor was on his laptop, currently looking up the coordinates for Chase's location off of the tracker he had put in him.

"I'm still looking. It's searching zhe entire globe, you know. Zhese things take a while"

'DING!'

"Nevermind, it's done"

He started to type on his computer, zooming in on the location.

Marvin looked over his shoulder, "Hm. . . . It looks like the closer you zoom in, the more glitchy the ping is. It's all over the place"

"Might be Anti's nature" Henrik agreed, "Tis unfortunate. I can't lock on any closer"

"But this is better than nothing" Jackie tried to be positive, "We know they're in Brighton, England. At least it's not across seas."

"How is this better, though?" Henrik snorted, "We can't just traverse all of Brighton. They could be literally anywhere if we can't lock on to Chase's location"

"So long as Anti is near him" Marvin commented, "That's what's messing with the signal. Anti."

"Look, I've done some food deliveries in Brighton" Jackie informed them, "I still have my app on so if he orders food, maybe we'll find them."

"That's a stupid idea" Henrik commented.

"Well, I don't see YOU coming up with any ideas, doc" Jackie snapped back at him.

"That's enough, you two" Marvin rolled his eyes, "Let's just go. Maybe I can work a spell that could narrow things down or something"

A light bulb moment hit Jackie, "Wait. . . .if Chase lives in Brighton. . . couldn't we just find where he lives through the city directories?"

Both Marvin and Henrik blinked, sort of surprised Jackie was the one to come up with that idea.

Marvin gave a smug look to the doctor, "See? I told you he'd be useful"

"Oh shut up" Henrik rolled his eyes.

Jackie looked offended but didn't argue.

Henrik sighed, "Vhat are we going to do about Mr. Jackson in zhe meantime, though? A lot of my men were killed today and we don't know if Anti or that shadow demon will come for him"

Marvin shrugged, "Then let's bring him with us"

Henrik hissed, "I don't know if that'll be such a good idea"

"Why not?" Jackie asked.

Henrik chuckled a little, "Vell. . .. he's not exactly a talkative one. Ve might have a hard time understanding him"

____________________

Chase found an old bottle of booze just where Anti had said it was. He planned on getting hammered.

After what he witnessed today, and what he'd been through in his time at that facility, he really needed it.

He wanted to forget it.

Chase didn't even bother asking Anti why he had killed all those people in the hall. He had already told him and those other guys they were in his way. Chase doubted he'd get an even more detailed answer out of him.

Chase really wanted to drink his troubles away. Get enerbreated just like Anti had said.

But for some reason, he just ended up staring at that bottle.

He didn't know for how long.

In the other room, he could barely hear the soft sound of static coming from his TV.

THE TV. Technically, he was being evicted from the place and it wasn't his anymore.

What did any of it matter at the moment, though?

Chase sighed.

'All my problems stem from you' he thought to the bottle of whisky as if it could hear him, 'Losing my family. . . . . me killing them. . . ..  getting teleported to that fucking facility. Everything started because I started drinking. . . . . Things would be very different if I hadn't ever touched you'

He sighed again, more heavily and turned away, mildly wondering what the hell Anti was doing to his TV.

When he walked back in the living room, Anti was still there standing in front of the static TV holding onto it. His eyes were black and it was very creepy.

'Looks like he's asking the girl from the Ring to come and play with him or something'

It gave him shivers just watching him.

'Maybe I'll just go to bed. It'll be nice to crash in my room after all this time'

He didn't say anything to Anti. It looked like he was in a trance anyway and probably couldn't hear him.

He got to his room and flopped on his mattress still in his clothes. He didn't have the patience or the energy to bother with it.

It didn't take long and he already felt himself drifting off to sleep.

The next morning, Chase felt himself waking up. He grumbled a little, still in a sleepy state of mind. He stretched with a satisfied whine and buried his face in the cool side of his pillow.

He could have almost fallen asleep again.

If he hadn't felt someone watching him.

Chase started to open his tired eyes only for them to snap open, seeing Anti staring at him, standing over the side of his bed.

Chase flinched and shouted, "GAH! WHAT THE FUCK, MAN!?" He accidentally fell off the bed on the other side.

Anti watched his reaction, mildly amused, a little smile on his face.

That was new.

Chase stared at him, confused, "Why the hell were you watching me sleep!? That's weird!"

Anti tilted his head, still lightly smiling, "Hm . . .. Just curious is all. . . . I don't remember sleeping. It's interesting watching you. You were mumbling something, telling someone to suck something. I didn't really understand"

Chase realized then that Anti had seen him have a wet dream, 'Shit'

"It's. . . It's none of your business. Just don't fucking do that again, alright? Geez. And why you smiling like that? You weren't really smiling yesterday"

Anti shrugged, "The TV. . . . I learned a lot of things from it last night. A lot of human things. Like smiling in the correct manner!" he smiled again, showing his teeth way too much for Chase's liking.

".  . . . . Right. . . . you might wanna keep practicing that."

"That and since we're closer, I was able to take more energy from you again. I  . . . I'm starting to feel things. More human things, I think"

"Oh?" Chase didn't even bother feeling offended that he took his energy without permission, "Like what? What are you . .. feeling?"

He hoped he wasn't feeling bloodthirsty or murderous.

But Anti started to frown, "I can still hear your thoughts, Chase. . . . I won't hurt you. What I'm feeling. . .. I recognize it. . . from you, I think"

Chase blinked, not too sure what he meant, "From me? Okay . . what are you feeling, Anti?"

Anti sighed and suddenly Chase recognized what he meant.

"Sad"

Oh.

____________________

The shadow demon slunk home, mildly infuriated by his small defeat back at the facility.

He had planned on killed Anti then and there after he had felt his presence awaken again.

But he hadn't counted on that doctor with the robot to come charging in like that. That bright light nearly burnt him, it was so strong.

He knew had had to get out of there before any serious damage was dealt.

'Damn thing' he thought to himself, slowly taking back his form walking to his claimed study.

He sat in a chair and fixed his suit.

He had grown accustomed to such ways of dressing. It was comfortable to him.

'I can't let that THING become human. I have to find him and kill him before he does. It's not natural for what he is'

He blinked and gazed at the box in front of him. The crystal on it was shining brightly.

'And I have to hide this before he finds it. He was too close before I trapped him. . . . I would have been rid of him forever if that delivery boy and those scientists hadn't freed him.'

He snapped his fingers and the box disappeared.

Closing his eyes, he took in the ambience of the room. It was quiet and calm. It soothed his souls from trying to lash out or break apart.

'Soon enough, it'll be time to set things right. The way they're supposed to be. And then this world will know reality. It will see true . . .darkness.'