___________________________
*Lucy's POV*

It's been nearly two weeks since Christmas. Most of us have spent our days training, sleeping and searching for LJ. Ever since that night with Krampus, he's been gone. Jack says it has something to do with LJ's box.

Speaking of Jack, with all of the stress around us lately, we've been doing nothing but arguing. Which has showed me his short temper in most situations. We've been sleeping in separate beds, training separately, and even eating at different ends of the table.

All of this nonsense arguing started when...

~One Day After the Krampus Attack~

Sleep. That is all I wanted. But to my dismay, a blonde haired, green clothed elf came bolting into the room yelling at the top of his lungs, "They're going to kill each other! They're going to kill each other!"

That was right about the time I felt a sharp blunt pain in my gut and knew Jack wasn't going to let me sleep if he was fighting.

"Ben," I yawned, "What is going on?"

"Jeff and Jack." He said out of breath, placing his hands on his knees, "Jack's been in everyone's face about LJ's box missing and he finally pushed a button with Jeff."

I rolled my eyes, "Of course he did. Wait outside of the bedroom door, I'll be right there."

Ben closed the door behind him and I flung the blanket off of me. I quickly grabbed a shirt and pants and slipped them on.

"Where are they?" I hollered through the door, trying to slip my shoes on.

"They're in the dining room. You might want to hurry." Ben yelled back.

I finally got my last shoe on and opened the door. Ben and I started walking quickly to the railing.

"You're the only one who got defensive, Jeff!" I could hear Jack snarl.

"Only because I'm sick of you badgering everyone about who locked LJ up and hid him!" Jeff yelled back.

I made it to the railing and looked over. The dining room table was completely pushed out of the way and all of the chairs were scattered everywhere.

"How long have they been at this?" I looked at Ben and whispered.

"I came and got you immediately," Ben responded.

I looked back down at Jeff and Jack.

"Hey boys!" I hollered down from the railing.

"What!?" Jeff and Jack said crudely at the same time.

"What the hell is going on? I was trying to sleep but somebody punched my boyfriend." I shot a glare at Jeff.

Jeff threw his hands up in defense, "I didn't punch anyone, I simply pushed him harshly with my fist."

"Jeff, shut up," Jack growled.

"You shut up!"

"Both of you shut up and listen." I hissed. "What is going on?"

"He thinks he can go around and pester everyone here to figure out where the dumb clown is hiding at." Jeff sneered.

"He's not hiding! Somebody locked his box with him in it and hid it! What don't you understand about this!?" Jack snapped, turning back to Jeff.

I cleared my threat, "Can we fight nicely? Like without fists? I'm sick of getting hit when nobody's actually hitting me."

"Sorry," Jeff muttered under his breath.

"You should be," Jack mumbled.

"And I'm sorry for this too, Lucy," Jeff said as he lunged at Jack.

Jeff flung his body at Jack and started chocking him as Jack punched Jeff over and over in the stomach. My breathing was starting to become heavy and I clutched my throat.

"Jeff!" I choked out, falling to my knees.

Through the railing, I saw Jack lift his knee up swiftly and nail Jeff in his crotch.

"What is going on out here?" Slender's voice boomed through the dining room.

"I am not explaining this again." Jeff groaned, laying in fetal position on the ground.

"LJ is gone and I will find out who did it," Jack growled, his nails starting to grow.

Jack spun around and pointed a long nail at me, "If I find out this had anything to do with the bet, you will be sorry, Lucy."

"Did you just threaten her?" Jeff coughed out, trying to stand up.

"No. I'm letting her know how it is." Jack snapped as he stormed outside.

I raced down the stairs and finished helping Jeff up. He gave me a pained look as he bent over. "He's got quite the temper today. I'd avoid him at all costs."

I nodded at Jeff and looked at the still open door of the mansion. Little did I know, that temper wasn't going anywhere any time soon.

~Present Day~

"Clock," I whispered through the mansions railing down to her.

She was seated at the dining room table, eating a bowl of soup. Clock jumped and looked up at me, "You scared me."

"Sorry." I gave her a small smile and let it fade quickly, "Is Jack down there?"

Clock looked around the room, "I don't think so. Still avoiding him?"

I nodded as I quickly made my way down the stairs and sat next to her. Her long auburn hair was tucked back behind her ears and she wore a plain white tank top and green cargo pants.

"Is your leg better?" I asked.

"Still gets sore, but I've had worse." She chuckled, taking another bite of her soup.

"H-h-hi L-Lucy." Toby stuttered as he walked into the dining room.

"Hey, Toby. Have you seen Jack around?" I whispered.

Toby shook his head and sat down with us. "S-Slender has a-a-a m-mission for w-whoever w-wants it."

"I'll take it. I need to get the hell out of here anyways." I stood up and patted Clock on the back, "Don't let Jack know I'm gone."

Clock grinned, "So stall him if he asks. You got it."

I made my way to the study and knocked on the door. It opened and Papagrande was standing there with a smug expression on his face.

"What?" I raised an eyebrow and walked by him.

"Nothing." He chuckled.

"What do you need, Luciana?" Slender asked.

I walked over and sat down on the chair. "What's the mission?"

Slender gave me a long hard look, probably evaluating my ability to even do the mission. I didn't care. I needed to get out of here. Jack was driving me nuts with this whole situation.

"You and one other would be going to a town that has a corrupted problem. There weren't much there when they were counted, so I think you could do it. You may start immediately." Slender shooed me away with his hand.

I stood back up and walked to the door when he added, "Your partner is waiting on the steps of the mansion."

I nodded and left the study. My katana was in its new hiding place. I found it easier to keep it downstairs instead of in my bedroom. The up and down crap really gets annoying after a while. I reached behind a cabinet by the dining room table and pulled Lethal Caress out.

"Leaving already?" Clock laughed softly.

"You bet. Be careful with Jack and don't let anyone fight with him. I've got corrupted to deal with." I commented as I opened the mansion door.

Sitting on the stairs was Hobo in his usual gray hoodie. I slammed the door before I could take a step out and whirled around, "Hobo is coming with me!?"

"Ouch. I'll really keep Jack busy then. If he sees both of you gone that won't be good." Clock gave me a sympathetic look. "Get going."

I sighed as I flung the door open, and walked out. Hobo turned around and grinned at me.

"Smile like that once more and I'll knock your teeth so far into the back of your head." I spat as I walked right by him.

Hobo sighed and stood up, following behind me closely. Cinder was running in circles around us, trying to get Hobo's attention. I couldn't help but laugh every time the poor dog tripped over its own paws and fell into the snow.

"Lucy, about the other night-"

"Save it, I don't want to hear it." I quickened my pace and walked straight through the portal.

When everything came into focus, I noticed I was in the woods, as usual. Hobo entered behind me and let out a sigh.

"Shut up. Don't talk." I hissed.

"But I only-"

I pulled my katana out and held it to his throat, "Did you hear me? I said shut up."

Hobo nodded slightly. I glared at him and spun around.

"Did Slender tell you how many were here?" I asked as we began to walk.

"The last count was at three, but spreading." Hobo said softly as he walked behind me.

"This shouldn't be too difficult," I stated, glancing around the wooded area we were in.

Hobo let out a small laugh but stopped when I glared at him. We walked in silence for the next few minutes. I studied and counted every tree to help find our way back easier. The small town slowly unfolded in front of us. Older brick buildings lined the cracked sidewalks. Bars, hair salons, restaurants, and miscellaneous stores were all on the first floor of the buildings while the top floors were occupied with apartments.

"It's quiet." Hobo pointed out.

"Really? I couldn't tell." I rolled my eyes and continued walking down the chipped sidewalk.

After a few more minutes of silence and walking, a deep growl erupted from the alleyway beside us. A faint buzzing noise vibrated my eardrums. I turned and readied myself. In front of us stood two men. Their skin crawling with black veins. Ooze seeped through every orifice on their face.

"There's only two here." Hobo said as he pulled out his five-inch switchblade.

"Quit stating the obvious," I growled as I pulled out my katana.

The corrupted started walking towards us, growling and snapping their jaw. Using all of my pent up anger, I charged one of them, letting Hobo deal with the other. Not even giving the corrupted a second to react, I plunged my katana deep into its chest. The corrupted sputtered as I twisted the blade around and pulled it out. It fell backward and convulsed on the ground.

I turned around and looked at Hobo. He was kneeling over the other corrupted's body, staring at it with amusement.

"There's still one other out there. We need to go." I snarled as I turned on my heel and left the alley.

I sheathed my katana as I stormed away. Hobo's footsteps echoed behind me. His presence was irritating me, so the sooner we get this done the sooner I calm down.

As we left the alley, I began to look around. Not a single soul was in sight, making this place seem like a ghost town. The only sound was mine and Hobo's foot steps on the bare sidewalk. Wherever we were, there was no snow.

"How do we track these things down?" Hobo asked.

"You don't really. They're going to be drawn to me. We just walk and wait."

Hobo let out a sigh. I was staring down at the ground when he pulled on my sleeve, "Like that?"

I looked up to where he was pointing to see a group of corrupted staring at us. The corruption must've spread to the whole town.

"Hobo." I wheezed out as I took a few steps back.

"What?"

"Run." I turned quickly and bolted for the woods, hoping Hobo was close behind.

I started counting the trees. Forty-seven was the number I originally counted, this should be too hard as long as I can concentrate.

"Luciana they're following us," Hobo yelled. I could sense the panic in his voice.

"No shit! They have nothing better to do." I hissed back to him.

The sound of our footsteps over the dirt in the forest were drowned out by the snarling sounds of The corrupted behind us. Thirty-four more trees to go.

"Lucy. We need Slender." Hobo shouted from behind me.

I turned my head to see the trees behind us rotting with every touch from the corrupted. A large mob was still after us. Each of them dripping with the black ooze. I didn't want Slender to always save us when we needed it, but right now I think it was necessary.

"Slender," I whispered into my pendant.

Twenty-two trees to go. Either Slender was going to take his sweet time on getting here, or we'd make it to the portal... I hope.

"They're catching up!" Hobo yelled.

I turned back to see them just a few feet from Hobo. Panic washed over me. Still running, I took my katana out.

"You're not planning on fighting them, are you!?" He yelled.

"Running isn't working. They're catching up! What else are we supposed to do?"

"You can come with me." Slender appeared in front of us.

He wrapped his tendrils around us and immediately we disappeared, landing in the mansion.

I kneeled over on the floor, trying to catch my breath. Images of the corrupted chasing us lingering in my mind. One whole town and everyone in it was gone, just like that.

"You told me three!" Hobo screamed at Slender.

"I told you three were sighted." Slender corrected him.

"You nearly killed us!" Hobo growled.

"You should've been more careful. You know the risks of taking a mission, yet you did it anyways." Slender responded.

"Are you serious? Maybe you should've sent out someone to see the damage of the place before sending us out there."

"Hobo, stop. We're fine now." I breathed out, glaring up at Hobo.

"No. I'm not dealing with this." Hobo snarled.

"Then you shouldn't have come here." Slender scoffed.

Hobo removed his switchblade from his pocket. He flung his hand backward, ready to aim for Slender.

"Hobo, stop!" I screeched, standing up.

As I stood up to get between the two of them, Hobo flung the blade. A sharp pain erupted in my lower abdomen. I stared into Hobo's eyes and then looked down.

"Why did you do that!?" Hobo flung his hands onto his head in frustration.

I looked at the knife that was now lodged in the bottom of my stomach. The handle of the blade was the only visible part of it. Five inches of metal was now embedded in my flesh. Blood was dripping down over my skin as I became light headed.

"He's going to kill me. He's going to kill me." Hobo kept muttering.

Before I could fall backward, Slender wrapped his tendrils around me and hurriedly picked me up.

The world around me was blurring in and out. I felt the blood seeping through my clothes and onto my hand. I laid limp in his grip.

"Don't touch it." Slender hissed at me as I tried to move my hand.

"What happened to her?" Clock yelled from the hallway.

"Just get Smiley ready. This shouldn't be too difficult as long as nothing major was hit." Slender rushed up the stairs.

I figured he didn't blink me there incase the feeling makes me too nauseous.

"We're almost there, Lucy," Slender reassured me as we rounded a corner.

I saw Jeff run over to us. "What's going on?"

"Just go make sure Ja-"

"Where is she!?" I could hear Jack scream.

He was the last one I needed by me right now. If he can't even control his anger about LJ, imagine what he's going to say about this.

I choked out, "Don't let him by me."

Very faintly, I saw Slender nod and his pace quickened.

"Jeff, keep him downstairs." Slender hollered.

"Where is she!?" Jack screamed again.

Footsteps echoed through the bottom level. The pain was becoming unbearable. If I just shut my eyes for a few moments, maybe it'll go away...

******
*Jeff's POV*

I was watching Jack break everything his hands could get on. Lucy's been up in the hospital room for almost an hour and we haven't heard a single thing.

"'Don't let him by me.'" Jack mocked Lucy's words.

Maybe I shouldn't have told him she said that it just made things much worse. We still don't know what happened or how bad it's looking. I was standing against the wall in the dining room, my arms folded across my chest. Jack was picking up anything he could and throwing it.

"Isn't trashing one room enough?" I asked, watching him whip a chair across the room.

"Piss off." He growled.

This whole LJ situation has gotten to him. I tried to convince him maybe LJ's just playing a really good game of hide-and-seek.

"I'm her boyfriend! Why would she say that?" Jack screamed as he picked up a lamp and hurled it at the wall.

"Do you not see the way you're acting? Lucy doesn't want you around and Slender is going to kill you."

"Good. He'd be doing me a fucking favor." Jack muttered harshly.

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair.

"Jack, quit your shit." Clock walked out of the kitchen.

Jack turned around. Without losing his gaze at her, he picked up a plate and smashed it on the floor.

"You're acting like a child." Clock snarled.

He let out a small laugh. "I'm going upstairs." Jack quickly started making his way to the stairs.

I bounced off the wall and ran after him. Sadly, the stupid idiot was faster than I was. I went to grab at his feet and trip him, but I just ended up face-planting into the stairs.

"Jack, stop!" I growled as I picked myself up and started running after him again.

He was already at the second staircase. I quickened my pace.

"Jack!" I yelled again.

He was completely ignoring me though. I had just made it to the staircase leading to the third floor when I heard the hospital room door open.

"Slender is going to shoot me," I muttered to myself.

When I made it to the room I peeked in. Jack was standing in the doorway staring at Lucy laying on the hospital bed. She was unclothed with towels covering her private areas. Slender, Smiley, and Papagrande were in the room.

"You suck at your job, Jeff," Slender commented.

"You try and hold down an angry boyfriend." I retorted.

Lucy was now stitched up. She had an oxygen mask covering her mouth and an IV in her arm.

"Who did this?" Jack asked, not moving a single muscle.

"Why? So I can tell you and you can shred him to pieces?" Slender responded.

"Who did this!?" Jack growled and lunged at Slender.

"Hobo. But if you touch him you will be locked in the basement."

"We'll see about that." Jack turned and stormed out of the hospital room, bumping my shoulder on the way out.

I looked at Smiley, "How is she?"

Smiley and Slender exchanged glances before he sighed, "She'll be fine."

I raised an eyebrow, "Okay? So what's the problem?"

"He hit her uterus." Smiley cleared his throat.

"What's so bad about that?"

"Well for one, it's going to be one hell of a recovery. For two, the proxy line ends here." Papagrande spoke softly.

Complete silence took over the room before I piped up, "Well, shit."

******
*Lucy's POV*

My eyes fluttered open. Immediately I knew where I was, I've been here before.

"Hey, you."

I turned to my side to see Jeff sitting in the chair next to me. I felt like complete shit.

"I'm going to puke." I managed to say.

"That's gross." Jeff chuckled as he picked up the garbage can next to him.

I slid the mask off my face and flipped onto my side, letting out whatever was resting heavily on my stomach. Jeff had my hair pulled back with one hand as he held the can with the other. When I finished I flopped back onto the bed.

"Where's Jack?" I asked Jeff.

"Well, he was looking for Hobo, but he's hiding. So who knows."

I rolled my eyes. Ever since Jack brought Hobo and Cinder here, it's been nothing but problems between them two.

"I take it he's mad?" I looked down to see myself covered with an off white blanket.

"Mad is an understatement. I just hope he doesn't flip even more when he hears the news." Jeff sighed.

From the other side of my bed, Devin cleared his throat. I rolled my head to the side to see him shaking his head back and forth.

"Why are you shaking your head?" I asked. Reaching over the thin blanket, I traced the stitches on my stomach.

Devin leaned forward in his chair and opened his mouth to say something. Before any words could escape from his lips, he sat back and closed his mouth.

I looked over at Jeff, "What is going on?"

"How do you feel, Lucy?" Devin asked quickly.

"Like shit. You're avoiding my question." I said as I placed my hands at my side and tried to slide myself up.

"Don't do that. It's not just a flesh wound," Devin scratched his head and continued, "Your uterus was torn open. I tried my best to do what I could. But I don't think..." he trailed off.

Raising an eyebrow at him, I spoke through my teeth, "You don't think what?"

"I don't think we could save it."

My mouth hung open and my breathing became heavy. Mixed emotions flooded over me. The curse was broken in a way, but that's not what I wanted. That was not how this was supposed to go.

"The proxy line ends here, Luciana. I tried, I really did. It also didn't help I to have Slender barking orders at me. But he was worried, too." Devin gave me a sympathetic look.

"I bet he was. That's all he wanted from me anyways." I responded coldly. "So Jack doesn't know then?"

Devin shook his head, "He took off to find Hobo. That's the last time we saw him."

"Good. He doesn't need to know. Can I be alone for a few, please?" I choked up. Feeling the hot tears drop down my cheeks, I looked back and forth between Jeff and Devin.

They both nodded and stood up. Devin started to walk away. Jeff looked at me and placed his hand on my arm, "I'll be right outside the door if you need me."

"Why are you guys doing this? You're all supposed to be cruel and cold hearted. Murderers to be exact. Why are you treating me different?" I cried out, staring up at Jeff.

Jeff looked up at the ceiling then back down at me, "Well, that's a long story and you just told us to leave. I can sit here with you and explain or I can go. That's all on you."

For a few moments, I thought about it. Talking to him would get my mind off of things, well a little bit at least. But being alone, my mind would go haywire.

"I want to know. Sit." I demanded as I wiped the tears away.

Jeff sighed and sat down. Leaning forward in his chair he began to speak, "Now, don't be offended by any of this. When you first got here, you weren't really liked. Slender asked us all to give you a chance. It doesn't help that the last proxy before you was a douchebag. Jack was actually really reluctant on making you stay here in the first place. We've been looking for you for months. Starting from the beginning, when you first saw Jack, it was at the party, right?"

I nodded my head.

"Before that, we were looking for you for almost four months. You appeared in the book and Slender immediately sent Jack and me out for you. It took us long enough. Usually, we find the proxy almost immediately, but you were always sucked into the large crowds at the club. We weren't able to go in there until around Halloween time. Finding you in the woods twice was just a mere coincidence.

Jack kept an eye on you, making sure the corrupted weren't around to ruin anything. He tried to convince Slender to just let you stay at home because he knew you were happy, but that would've meant death for your family. Are you following me?"

I nodded again.

"I didn't care much for you. You were too nice for your own good, and it was annoying. Clock befriended you and yadda yadda yadda, you know how that went."

"So why did everyone start liking me?"

"You changed Jack. He wasn't the same for a while after Nina killed Harvey. Even though we hated him, Jack blamed himself. Hell, even when Nina was here it was almost a hassle to get him to do anything. The way Jack is acting right now is the way he was before when Nina was around. After Nina left, he shut himself out." Jeff then chuckled, "I just find it funny he changed so quickly. He's told me about the proxy business, the blood line."

"Oh?" I cocked an eyebrow.

"Yeah. It's not that he was happy about it, cause, well, it's Jack. Kids aren't his thing. But he knew it was for you, and he didn't mind." Jeff laughed, "If anything, he was just nervous about, well, alone time."

I let out a small laugh at that statement.

"I don't think his threat to you was anything except just his anger getting the best of him. He couldn't hurt you even if he wanted to. As for me, I like you because you remind me of things before I was here."

"Isn't that the complete opposite of what you would really want?"

"Well, yeah. But I mean Christmas was kick ass this year. Imagine next year." Jeff cackled.

I rolled my eyes, "You would find Krampus entertaining."

Jeff's laugh died down, "But seriously, Lucy, I'm glad the book chose you. I might be an asshole sometimes. Jack might be an asshole. Forget it, we're all assholes here. But don't let that get to you. It's who we are. I don't think there's a single one of us who could've asked for a better proxy."

"You're getting sappy, Jeff," I noted, flashing a quick grin.

"I know. Don't get used to it." Jeff chuckled.

It was nice to know that I wasn't hated by any of them here. You'd like to think I'd be number one on their shit list because of me being constantly in the way of things. But I'm not. In fact, according to Jeff, I make life living here better.

"I think I needed to hear that." I smiled at him.

I opened up my arms and motioned for a hug. He gave me a surprised look but stood up and leaned over me. I quickly squeezed my arms around him as he awkwardly hugged at my shoulders. I guess a real hug isn't something I could do right now. I'd hate for Devin to redo any of my stitches.

Jeff sat back down and cleared his throat, "So do you still want alone time?"

I shook my head. "I'm good. It's better if I have someone to talk to right mow anyways."

And that's exactly what we did. We talked and talked and talked. Nothing much was important. He told me about what it's like sharing a room with Jinx and how Jinx came to the mansion. Apparently, our silent Native American friend isn't as innocent as he seems.

Jinx's father was the chief of a tribe in the early 1700's. His father would publicly torture any of the tribe members who disobeyed his orders. One day, Jinx was told to kill an American girl who wondered onto their land. Instead, Jinx took the girl and they both moved far away. A few years passed, they got married and the girl had a child in that time period. When the chief heard of his son's complete betrayal to the tribe, he sent out a group of Native American's to capture and bring the three of them back.

Unfortunately, they were captured and brought back. Jinx's father tortured the girl to death and killed their two-year-old son while Jinx was forced to watch. His father then cut out Jinx's tongue and killed him. What his father didn't know was that Jinx's wife was actually into 'some freaky religion', as Jeff called it. Jinx came back to life, seeking revenge. He slaughtered his whole tribe and is now around to prey upon the children of bad people. If Jinx couldn't see his own son grow up, then they shouldn't either.

When Jeff finished telling me about the story, I was left in complete shock. You'd never know by looking at Jinx that he was a child murderer.

"But he only kills the kids of people who don't deserve them." Jeff tried to reassure me.

"That's still sick."

"I know. Luckily, Slender found him and he's been here ever since. He hasn't killed a child in years. At least I don't think he has. I don't know, he doesn't tell me anything." Jeff joked. I laughed at Jeff's joke but was still freaked out about Jinx's past.

A knock on the door echoed through the room. My eyes widened and I looked over at Jeff. He stood up and slowly walked to the door. Opening it slightly, he peeked out.

"Yes?" Jeff asked, his voice sounding harsh.

"Can I see her?"

Jack...

Jeff poked his head back in and looked at me. I bit down on my bottom lip and shrugged.

Jeff turned back to the slightly open door, "I'll leave you two alone, but I will be standing right outside the door the whole time." He looked back at me, "If you need anything or if he starts acting up, let me know."

Jack walked into the room. Behind him, Jeff closed the door slowly. Jack stood there, gazing in my direction. I had my head down and I could feel his gaze burning holes in the top of my head.

"Hey," Jack said softly.

He began to walk over to me, but I held my hands up, "Just stay back there."

Jack crossed his arms and looked in my direction then down at the floor.

"What do you want, Jack?" I asked him bluntly.

"I just came to check on you," Jack said.

"I'm fine. You can go now." I pulled the blanket up closer to my neck and closed my eyes.

His footsteps approached the bed. I opened my eyes to see Jack standing at my bedside. I longed for him to make a move; to just drop this attitude of his and hold me close. But he won't. It was probably for the best right now.

"Is there anything I can do? Are you hungry? Do you nee-"

"I said I'm fine, Jack. You can go now." My words cut straight through his as I shot a harsh glare at him.

Jack nodded and I watched him walk away. Before he got to the door I saw his whole body tense up and he clenched a fist. Jack spun around.

"What do you want from me, Lucy?" He asked sharply.

"For you to drop the attitude. You've been an asshole and I'm sick of it. Slender's sick of it. Jeff's sick of it. We're sick of it." I snarled at him as I sat up on the bed.

A pain erupted through my lower abdomen, but the adrenaline that was beginning to race through my body didn't let it affect me. I wish I could bite my tongue, it would save him and I a hell of a lot of arguing.

Jack laughed coldly, "Jeff? You think I care what Jeff is sick of?"

"Well, you should! That's your friend." I raised my voice back at him.

He shook his head, "He's been hanging out with you more than he's been with me. That's your friend, Luce. In fact, he's been a little too close to you for my liking."

I scoffed, "At least someone's been trying to actually keep me sane while being here. I've been here for a few short months. It's still not easy for me."

"Keeping you sane? What do you think I was doing? Or at least trying to do!?" He yelled back.

"If anything, you've been the one driving me nuts! Between the temper tantrums like a three-year-old, threatening me, and trashing shit around here, you have been driving me nuts! You're not who I thought you were." I yelled even louder than he did. My fists were clenching the blanket that was keeping me warm.

"Then maybe you should've got to know me before you said you'd date me."

"You're right. That's a mistake on my part." I kept my glare locked on him. He seemed completely unfazed by my words.

"Who did you think I was anyways?" Jack asked, lowering his tone a few notches.

What a dumb question. Well, Jack, who I thought you were is not who you really are. You're bat-shit crazy. My Jack wasn't here anymore; and if he is, he's completely buried by this monster. I want who I thought you were...

"I thought you were someone who actually cared, Jack. What about those late night conversations? Hmm? Were they just a joke to you? Because to me, they actually meant something." I choked up, "You have no idea how hard it's been to distance myself from you. I'd see your fucking blue mask out of the corner of my eye and I'd run to a different room in fear of you yelling at me or threatening me again. This isn't you, Jack. If this is because of LJ, then you need to stop. He'll turn up. I know he will. Whether the box turns up or he does. It's LJ for crying out loud! I just want the Jack back that I thought you were. That I know you are! Or was that all one big lie?"

Jack scoffed, "This is me, Lucy. But like you said, your mistake. I'll have someone move your shit out of my room."

" I hate you... Just.. get out." Was what I whispered. What I really wanted was for him to stay... why was I doing this to myself?

Jack turned around and left, slamming Jeff backward on his way out. Jeff walked back into the room with a look of disgust on his face.

"Jeff, please go. I can't handle anyone right now. Just please go." I held my breath, hoping the tears would stop falling.

Jeff nodded silently and left the room, closing the door behind him. I pulled the pillow out from underneath me and threw it over my face. Pressing the pillow as close to my face as possible, I screamed into it. I screamed and screamed until I became light headed. By now, I was so tired and dizzy I didn't even realize I had left the pillow over my face and had fallen asleep.

******
*Jack's POV*

I was pounding on Slender study door. When it opened I flew right in there.

"Get her out of my room," I growled at the faceless man.

"Who?" Slender moved his glance from the papers on his desk to me.

"Luciana. I am not dealing with her." I glared at Slender.

Slender dropped his pen and rubbed his temples as he let out a long sigh, "I do believe she's the one dealing with you, Jack. She hasn't done a single thing wrong."

"Right," I scoffed, "I'll move her shit myself then."

I turned around quickly and made my way to the door.

"Jack. I left something on Lucy's dresser. Don't do anything you'll regr-"

I slammed the door, cutting off his words.

"Whatever old man." I muttered as I made my way up to my bedroom.

Ben was the only one I saw along the way, so I had to ask him to help me. He just shook his head and chuckled at me.

"What's so funny?" I asked him.

"That girl brings out both your dick side and your best side. I just find it funny." Ben grinned at me.

"Shut up. I want nothing to do with her anymore. She can go have her proxy shit heads with someone else." I snapped.

"Don't you think your overreacting lately? LJ is going to be fine." Ben gave me a reassuring smile.

"Okay, but what if he isn't?" I glared down at the elf-like boy.

"Dude, this is LJ we're talking about. I think he can handle himself. He's more than capable."

"Ben, he is in that box. Who knows what kind of a nightmare that must be for him. I'm not leaving him in there. I promised him that I wouldn't." I looked down at the floor.

"Technically, you're not breaking a promise. I mean, you haven't found him. It's not your fault." Ben stated.

I stared at Ben for a few moments. He was right, it wasn't my fault. But LJ was still somewhere.

"Maybe you need to take your anger down a few notches with everybody, including Luciana. We're all trying to find him, Jack. You're not the only one who isn't happy about this." Ben remarked.

"Sure as shit seems like I'm the only one who cares," I muttered as I started walking to the bedroom.

Ben followed behind me keeping quiet. Hell, I'm not even sure if he's still behind me at this point. I opened the door and flipped the light on. Looking over at Luciana's belongings, a pain sank to my lower gut. It didn't hurt, so I knew it wasn't someone hurting Lucy. It was more internal. I didn't want to do this, but what's been said and done and is done and over with. If she can't handle me, then she doesn't need to be around.

I grabbed one of her laundry bins and walked over to the dresser. Starting from the bottom drawer, I opened them up and tossed the clothes into the bin. When that drawer was finished, I moved onto the next one, and so on. It wasn't until my hand hit an object in her top drawer that I felt the need to stop myself. I looked over at Ben to see if he was paying attention, but he was too busy stuffing her things around the room into a black garbage bag.

I slid the object out. It was wrapped in blue and silver wrapping paper. A tag on it said:

To: Jack
From: Angel

I do remember her saying she was saving another present for a later date. Standing up, I made my way over to my bed and placed the present under my pillow. Right now wasn't the time to open it.

"I feel like a dick for doing this." Ben sighed as he threw more of her things into the bag.

"Then don't help. I can do it myself." I commented.

A knock formed on the door. Ben and I looked at each other. He walked over to the door and opened it.

"Give us a minute, please Ben." I heard Lucy whisper from the other side of the door.

Ben nodded and gave me a sympathetic look before leaving the room. Lucy stepped in. She was wearing a loose gown with a small blood stain in the middle of it.

"Jack, can we talk?" She closed the door behind her.

"What is there to talk about, Lucy? It won't change anything. Most of your shit is packed already." I pointed over at the bags and bins.

Lucy glanced over at what used to be her side of the room then back to me. She sighed and walked over to the bed. Gradually, she sat down, wincing with every movement.

"Are you even supposed to be out of the hospital room?" I asked as I watched her find a comfy sitting position.

"No," she whispered and hung her head down, "I just wanted to talk to you. I figured you wouldn't come into the room, so I came down here."

"You just kicked me out of the room. Why would I go back?" I gave her a confused look, though she probably couldn't tell through the mask.

She rubbed her hands together slowly and looked around the room. A few moments later, she locked her eyes on me. They were red rimmed and glossy, probably from the crying. My stomach dropped when I realized how her scar really stood out on her face.

"Jack?"

"What?"

She bit down on her bottom lip, "Have you ever said something you didn't mean?"

"Like what?" I sat down on my bed and crossed my arms.

She stared over at the door. "I told you to leave, but I didn't want you to. I... I said I hated you." She let out a soft short laugh, "I don't."

"Okay? I'm supposed to care because why?" I looked over at her.

Her blonde hair was pulled back into two pigtails, exposing her sharp jawline. Her ears had four small hoops in them; two on the lobe and two in the cartilage. The other side matched. But I knew that already, why was I studying this now?

"You don't have to care. I just came to say sorry." Her voice cracked, "If I did anything wrong or said anything dumb, then I'm sorry. I want to fix this."

Taking off my mask and placing it on the bed, I looked over at my pillow. Underneath it was the present Luciana had bought me, but was saving it for a different day. I reached over and pulled the present out from under the pillow. Standing up, I walked it over to her and held it out.

"Here. I was going to open it at some other point. But I want to give it back to you."

She held her hands up, "That's yours. I bought that for you. I don't need it anyways.

I looked down at the thin, long present. It reminded me of a flat shoe box.

"You can open it later." She stood up slowly and walked to the door. "I should get back upstairs anyways. Devin's going to kill me."

"That's another thing. Why the first name basis with him? Everyone calls him Smiley." I added.

I looked away from her. Next to her was her dresser. Shit, Slender put something on it, didn't he? I skimmed the top of the dresser and stopped when my eyes fell on the locket from the Krampus fight.

"I don't know. I thought it made him feel more like a human rather than a thing. If it bothers you, I'll stop." Lucy commented softly, but quickly.

"It doesn't matter to me what you do anymore, Lucy. Your things will be moved to-"

"Jack, please don't make me move out of the room. The only open spot in a room is with Hobo." She cried out loudly.

"It's for the best. Ask Slender to trade with someone." I looked away from her.

Lucy opened and closed the door. The only sounds I heard were her footsteps leading away from the door and her soft cries.

Truth be told, I hated seeing her that way. I want to fix things, but I feel like I've messed too much up. Maybe space was the best for us right now.

******
*Lucy's POV*

"This might tingle a little bit." Papagrande chuckled.

"Lucky me." I groaned.

He was applying a serum he made that would immediately heal my skin wound. It's been three days since Jack and I have called it quits. My things were moved from Jack's room to Jeff's and Jinx took my spot. For now, Hobo is staying locked up in the basement. Jack chased him through the whole mansion two days ago, threatening to rip his insides out and devour them.

So far, his anger and been getting better, well except that incident. He knows there's only so much we can do for LJ right now.

"There. All done." Papagrande smiled at me as I watched my cut disappear.

"Alright. You're all ready to go back out into the chaos." Papagrande chuckled as he helped me stand up.

I've been sleeping in the hospital room even though I was told I can go back to my bed. It just wouldn't be the same without Jack. Of course, I'd have to get used to that eventually.

I made my way out of the hospital room after thanking Papagrande. The large window in the front of the mansion showed the sun dipping down behind the tree, night was coming quick. Something was cooking in the kitchen, I could smell it as soon as I left the room. Food sounded pretty good anyways right now. I was in a pretty decent mood. I was finally able to move around without worry about tearing my stitches open.

"Well, well. Look what the cat dragged in." Jeff walked out of the game room and over to me.

"All healed and better." I giggled.

"Good. I'm headed to the kitchen, come eat with me. I bet you're hungry, roomie." He chuckled and wrapped his arm around my shoulder.

Jeff's been keeping me company for the passed few days. At one point, he even attempted to make food for me, though I'm still not quite sure what it was. I refused to eat it after I saw the brown slump in front of me.

We walked into the kitchen and I immediately turned around. Jack was sitting at the bar with Clock and Toby. His hand was wrapped around a can.

"Nope, we're eating." Jeff grabbed the back of my tshirt and spun me around.

"Hey! Look who's up and out of the room!" Clock giggled and ran over to me. "I'd hug you but I'm not sure if I'll tear your stitches open."

I lifted up my shirt just enough to show the scar, "It's gone now."

"Oh good. Looks like Hobo was no match for the healing shit Papagrande made." Clock grinned and pulled me into a tight squeeze.

Behind her, the sound of a can crushing made me jump. She spun around and we both looked at Jack. What used to be a can was no a crumpled up piece of aluminum in his hand.

"Y-you s-s-spilled your b-beer," Toby commented.

"Shut up." Jack stood up and reached into the fridge, grabbing another one.

"Still touchy, I see." I mumbled to Clock.

"He's fine. He's not too bad anymore." Clock whispered back.

"Lucy, I can't read your mind on what you want to eat." Jeff called from the pantry.

"Coming." I said as I made my way over to the pantry. To my luck, I had to pass Jack on the way there.

Jack was standing up against the fridge, staring at me.

"Excuse me." I muttered as I tried to push by him.

He pressed his back against the fridge and I walked by him. I could smell the beer on him. A sickly feeling spread through my stomach.

"I'm not hungry anymore, Jeff. I'm going to lay down." I announced as I walked the other way around the bar.

"Lucy, you've been laying down for three days. Come sit with us. We can catch-"

"I need to lie down." I quickly said as I picked up my pace.

Drinking. The last thing he needed to be doing was drinking. I gave it up completely after my silly incident. But, whatever. He can make his own decisions.

I made my way up the stairs and to Jeff's... I mean my room. As soon and I entered I walked to my bed and laid down. My heart was heavy in my chest. I put my hands over my eyes.

"Lucy?"

I looked to the door to see a blue mask poking its way in.

"I'm tired. Please go." I muttered.

"You're not tired, you're crying." Jack walked in and closed the door.

"Ja-"

"Just... just shut up and listen." He said firmly.

He walked over and plopped down on the bed.

Jack sighed, "I'm sorry. I talked to few of them and finally came back to my senses."

"Came back to your senses or drunk?" I commented slyly.

"Actually, you saw me crush the first beer." Jack chuckled. "I put the other one back when you left."

"Right. And you smell like it because why?"

"When I crushed the can it got on my hand. I literally just sat down to talk to Clock and Toby. Slender had me on a mission for the passed two days. I would've checked on you, but I didn't think you'd want me to. I was being-"

"A dick."

"Sure. Anyways," he lifted up his mask, "I'm sorry, Lucy."

I stared into his empty spaces, memorizing how the black tar stuck to his cheek bones.

"You're sorry? I've been a wreck for almost three weeks now and you're just now sorry?" I sat up in the bed.

Jack hung his head down.

"You just expect me to forget everything that has happened and move on?"

"I was hoping you would." Jack whispered.

I went to go say something, but just held my mouth open and stared at him. He was still looking down as he began to trace the seams on the side of his pants.

"Jack, I don't care if we're friends." I shot him a reassuring smile.

He just stayed quiet. I kept my eyes locked on him. For two months he made life easier for me. He showed me the light in all of this darkness. Secretly, I missed that.

"Are you going to talk to me, Jack?" I leaned forward and tilted his head up to look at me.

Immediately, a sinking feeling in my stomach took over.

"Well, I guess this is it then." Jack let out a small, pained chuckle.

"No, I said we can be friends." I reassured him.

"Yeah." He stood up and reached into his pocket. When he pulled his hand out, he looked down at it. "I found this on that Krampus night and thought of you right away."

I held my hand out and he dropped the object in it. I watched as he turned around and pulled his mask down before he exited the room. When the door shut quickly, I opened up my hand and looked down. It was a silver locket. A silver chain, with a silver heart that had small purple gems on it.

"Why do you make things so difficult?" I mumbled, referring to Jack.

Placing the locket on the nightstand, I laid back in my bed. Memories kept rushing back to me from the passed two months. For the first time since I got here, I actually felt alone.

******

It took me hours to fall asleep. I just kept drowning in memories. Eventually I managed to get some sleep. But it didn't last long. I ended up having a nightmare, and when I woke back up, I couldn't fall back asleep.

I was now wondering the mansion at three in the morning, trying to figure out something to do. The halls were dimly lit, making the place seem hauntingly beautiful. A part of me wanted someone to be here walking with me, but everyone was sleeping. Well, as far as I know.

I was standing at the second story balcony, leaning on the railing. The huge window in front of me showed the weather outside, which was beautiful to me. Rain was pouring down, hitting the windows and making the most soothing sound. Lighting would strike every now and then, lighting up the whole sky. But what got me was the thunder. With every crack of lightening, I held my breath until the thunder. The loud booming would fill the silent air and I'd jump.

Truth be told, thunder scared me, but I adored lightening. Usually, you can't have one without the other. The lightening would always come first and I'd stare at it, then cover my eyes and shut my eyes tight, waiting for the muffled sound of thunder.

I waited. Lightening lit the sky up a purplish white. I covered my ears. As the thunder rolled over, I felt something bump my hip. I jumped to the side and opened my eyes. Jinx was standing there leaning over the railing with me now.

"You scared me." I breathed out a sigh of relief.

He looked out the window then back at me. His hand went into the inside of his fur coat and he pulled out a notepad and began to write.

"I thought Jeff said you don't communicate." I grinned.

He looked up at me then back down to his notepad. I watched at the pen slid across the paper with grace.

He handed me the notepad. A bunch of small pictures were covering the top half of the paper. The first illustration was of a mask with black around its eyes.

"Jack?" I asked, pointing at the picture.

He nodded. The next one was of trees.

"Outside?"

He nodded again. The next picture was of the trees and scribbles were between them.

"The portal." My breath caught in my throat.

Jinx nodded.

"Why?" I looked at the Native American's eyes.

He just shrugged. Quickly I handed him the notebook.

"Thanks, Jinx." I took off running to Jeff's room.

Quietly, I sifted through my clothes and got dressed. What the hell was he up to? I grabbed the dagger and slipped it into my hoodie pocket. Sliding on the boots from Tia, I zipped and buckled them up. I grabbed my jacket and put it on, along with my hat and gloves and silently left the room.

My footsteps were quick, but quiet against the floors. The stairs that were now underneath me creaked every so often. I made it to the mansion door and opened it quietly as I slipped out.

I was standing on the porch, staring at the portal. The rain was eating away at the snow that had fallen for the passed few weeks.

I stepped up to the beginning of the stairs and took a few steps down. The pouring rain hit my face and made my hair stick to my skin. Running as fast as I could, I made it to the portal. The thunder made me jump every so often.

I was now standing and staring at the portal. I should've been sleeping, not wondering what the hell Jack was doing. It was none of my concern. But I needed to know.

Before I could walk through, a voice made me jump back.

"Why are you out here?"

I looked over to my right to see Jack standing up against a tree. His mask lit up with the bolt of lightening that spread across the sky.

"I was trying to find you." I said back to him.

A loud crack of thunder made me shriek quickly and stumble backwards a few steps.

"It's just thunder, Lucy." Jack chuckled.

"Easy for you to say! That was loud!"

"It's just thunder." Jack repeated.

The rain was soaked through my jacket by now. My already skinny jeans were even tighter to my legs. My boots were sinking into the mud.

"Why are you out here, Jack?" I yelled over the pouring rain.

He just shrugged.

"Where were you going?" I yelled as I took off my hat. My hair was already soaked underneath it.

"I couldn't sleep. Judging by the time of the night, you couldn't either." Jack walked over to me.

"I... uh... h-had a bad dream." I stuttered over my words.

"Well that doesn't mean you should come chasing after me." Jack brushed my hair out of my face.

I could feel cold droplets slide down my face and neck.

"You're going to get sick, again." He chuckled.

I shuttered. Either the coolness of the rain was making me shiver or it was his touch.

"Well, you shouldn't be out here." I cleared my throat and pulled away from his hand.

"I was thinking. At first, I was going to go somewhere, but I decided not to." He then chuckled, "if I would've got into a fight I'm sure you would've came looking for me anyways."

"Not funny. I hate feeling your pain." I commented.

"You don't even feel the half of it." He quickly said back.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" I hissed.

"Nothing. Let's get you back inside." Jack grabbed my arm and tried to pull on me.

I pulled back, ripping my arm out of his grasp. "What was that supposed to mean?" I demanded.

He turned around and lifted up his mask. "Do you really want to know?"

"I wouldn't have asked twice if I d-"

Jack slammed our lips together. I wanted to push away from him, to make it stop. But just as much as I wanted it to stop, I wanted it to continue.

He pulled back and pulled his mask back down. "My feelings, Luce. That is a pain you don't feel."

He turned around and started to walk back to the mansion. My fingers traced over my lips as I watched him leave. This was it. My decision to either fix this all or watch him leave.

"Jack!" I yelled.

I started running after him. Jack turned around and I threw myself into him. We both fell to the muddy ground that the still pouring rain had created.

I was on top of him, and I quickly moved his mask off of his face. "You think I don't feel that pain?"

He just gazed up at me, not saying a single word as he bit down on his lip.

"Between losing sleep, you hanging out with my friends and all of the memories we had these past few months, you honestly think you're the only one who is hurt by this?" I yelled in his face.

The rain kept pouring down, making the puddles of mud around us deeper. He didn't mutter a single word.

"Talk, Jack! Just say something at least." I cried out. I couldn't tell if I had actual tears or if the pouring rain was trailing down my face.

I rolled off of him and laid on my back, not caring around the mud. He is the single most difficult person I have ever dealt with in my life, and yet I still feel like I need him around.

Jack rolled onto his side and leaned over me.

"Go inside already." I muttered.

He just leaned on his side and stared down at me.

"I said go inside!" I cried out forcefully.

I went to punch him out of frustration, but he grabbed my arm and pressed it in the mud. Of course, I tried to do that with my other hand and he reacted even faster than he did before.

"You're pissing me o-"

Before I could continue, Jack had his lips pressed against mine. At first, I tried to fight him off of me, but after a few short and sweet moments, I went along with it.

His hands moved from my arms, sliding their way down to my ribs. He pressed his lips deeper into mine as the rain dripped down his face and onto mine.

"Jack." I turned my head, trying to say something.

"Shut up." He pressed his lips back to mine.

We laid there in the mud for quite a few minutes, but ever second of that was needed. He finally pulled away from me and helped me up.

When I stood up and turned to walk to the mansion, he started laughing loudly. "Your hair is caked in mud!"

"Well I was laying in the mud, Jack." I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Let's get you to the shower." He grinned at me before lowering his mask.

******

Jack and I both showered... together. Absolutely nothing happened except a lot of making out. It was awkward at first, I've never been exposed like that before in a situation like that. But he made me feel secure. The mud took quite a while to get out of my hair, and Jack kept laughing at me the whole time. The only reason I actually let him in there with me was to brush through the tangles in my hair, which hurt like a bitch.

We were upstairs now, cuddled closely in his bed. His chest was pressed to my back and his arms were wrapped tightly around me. Jinx was in my bed in Jeff's room for the night. Jack told him we needed time alone. Jinx just grinned and winked. That was not in my intentions, and it probably won't be for a while, especially with what Hobo had done to me.

"Are you sleeping yet, Angel?" He asked, taking an arm off of me and moving it through my hair.

"No. Just thinking." I admitted.

"About?"

"I'll tell you in the morning." I yawned as I closed my eyes.

"I'm sorry for everything. It won't happen again." He whispered.

"It better not."

After nearly three weeks of bullshit, I think it was safe to say we're going to be okay.

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You have NO idea how many times I'd delete over 500 words because I wasn't satisfied... I'm still not satisfied with it, but it's close enough!! Anyways, it took so long because I was grieving the loss of my Aunt whom took her life 5 years ago (if you guys EVER need anything, please message me). And this weekend I'm headed to Wisconsin for a birthday party! So it'll be a few days before I update!! But I'll be writing on my way down there and back!!
Love you, dolls! Thank you all so much for over 700 reads!
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Updated on: September 25, 2017 & May 23, 2018