Hunter [#19]

The moment John held one of the shards, he felt a compulsion to go in one direction within the mind, which he did- The first shard led him to a large hallway full of endless doors, each door had opened to another hallway full of endless doors, and within those doors there were other hallways with other doors that led to other hallways within. "What the fuck?" John was honestly confused, he tried to backtrack by the door he took to enter this hall wasn't there anymore, instead there was this long pattern of color that stretched out forever and ever- Above the infinite white with colors and images read a hanging/floating sign that read: [Imagination Room]. John took a step forward into the room and all he could see as far as his eyes let him were monsters, animals, beings, concepts, and many great things that he could not name for they were no named yet. Jackson's imagination was livid and thriving, and within this imagination he followed the shard's compulsion until he came into another Jackson.

This one had straight clothing, no wrinkles on his shirt, wearing a three piece suit and glasses? Huh, he was more stereotypical than he thought! "Jack?" The broken mess of a man turned around, he eyes were red and there was snot on his nose, he looked like a toddler who just cried himself to sleep! "This doesn't make any sense!" As he spread out his hands, a burst of color echoed, going from a red to orange to yellow, and following a whole rainbow in a wave around his body, like throwing a rock in a still lake- ripples kf color echoed around him, each color made a sound and together they made a beautiful little melody and jingle merry tune! "How is this happening? Where am i? How do i even get out of here!?" He looked lost, sad, broken- "I've been here for days!? Was it weeks? Months? Years? Or just simple seconds? I don't know!" John pitied the little one, he caressed his cheek before giving him the shard- There was this visible crack on his forehead, like a mirror missing a single piece, so John pushed the shard for Logical Jack there, amd it fit perfectly- The moment he did, Logical Jack stopped crying.

"Of course-" He grinned happily at John: "-It's imagination- There are no limits or logic, this is all conceptual and endless!" A door suddenly popped from beneath the ground before him: "Here, this door will lead you to the [Memory Room]- Or, well, what was left of it after the damages... I think you can find three or four of us there? Don't worry, the others will guide you to the next one of us- I must warn you though, the last one of us is too damaged to heal."

"What?"

"Good luck, Love." Before John could say anything, the door opened and a strong suction force pulled him into it as Logical Jack waved him good bye- He was falling, falling, falling- Until he wasn't. His feet touched solid ground, his hands touched solid walls, and his eyes stared at a beautiful scene before his eyes: Jackson Smiling and laughing. "C'mon Love, don't be like this~" John saw a bunch of shadows and mist roughly making a shape of someone? "You liked it, you liked what i did with my tongue there too-" John blushed as he remembered this! His shadowy self moved his head and look away for a moment and he suddenly heard Jackson's voice whispering: "Did i do something wrong? Was it that bad? I did something wrong didn't i? I fucked it up. I fucked it up- He'll never want me to touch him again-" The voice stopped once Memory-Shadow John looked back at Jackson. The whole scene flickered as Jackson appeared, he was looking to a mirror as words echoed around: "Worthless- Ugly- What are you doing? Cut- What are you doing with your life?" But they all ceased when from the mirror John saw a shadow walk by, it was his own reflection! "Beautiful-" Was a single word that echoed.

John remembered this- He thought Jackson was looking himself in the mirror because he heard him call himself beautiful! "Oh dear..." The scene flickered once again and John had to walk forward, opening the door out of the house into a forest? There were many, many trees! He walked forward until he hit an invisible wall, making him groan in pain for a moment as he saw a Jack hunched over a pond, looking into it- The reflection was always flickering, showing something either hideous or completely ugly, deformed, or broken in a way: "Love?" Jackson's head tilted to one side as he looked over at John: "I'm so jealous of you, so jealous-" His voice cracked as another face covered the bitter and jealous one, it was broken and ugly face, but still looked like Jacksom: "You can't possibly feel jealous, on which ground are you even allowed to feel jealous of him!?" The face change, from the broken to a rather sad and bitter face, groaning and holding his head: "SHUT UP!" John's eyes widened in fright for a second as the memory around him shattered, each shard started to spin and change, showing each and every time Jackson noticed him looking away from him, talking to someone else, touching someone else, or even just being in someone else's presence.

"You're Jealous Jack... And?" The Jack lifted his head and with a thick voice, said: "We're three- Jealousy, Possessiveness, and Insecurity." Three voices of Jack spoke at the same time, soon three faces grew out of the air and each face looked at him with different expressions and emotions in their eyes- John smiled softly at him, he loved Jackson, every single aspect of him. "I love you, y'know?" John softly touched the shard to the hole in Jealous Jack's chest, right where the heart would be. John watched as the cracks all over Jealous/Insecure/Possessive Jack's body closed until there was nothing there.

"We all love you too, Love." All the three voices whispered- John did not expect for the ground to suddenly open up and swallow him, making everything go dark around him.

-Scene Cut-

There was a soft melody, a violin and a flute playing together, for a second the melody was beautiful- Until the one playing the violin made a mistake. "Fuck!" Angrily, the boy tightened the hold on the violin, glaring down at his trembling hands with hatred in his eyes: "Again Jackson. Don't stop until you get this right." The woman holding the flute looked down at the boy without emotion in her eyes, John stood from the sideline, watching this all unfold: "Mother- I hate you, i hate you, i hate you!" An adult version of Jackson stood in the side, punching the wall as tears slowly fell from his eyes. John approached softly and touched Jack's shoulder, he was ready for him to lash out, but he wasn't ready for the man to suddenly fold into himself like a ball and start trembling, silently crying as he closed his eyes. Right before his eyes, Angry Jack turned into a child, afraid of his own shadow.

"Oh Jack..." John pulled him into his arms tightly as the tiny child cried in fright, fear and anger mixed together. "Why?" Angry/Afraid Jack whispered: "Why did she hate me? We went through so much together... It wasn't my fault, was it?" Before John could ask him what wasn't his fault, this Jack picked the shard himself and shoved it in his chest before pushing John away: "I'm warning you, Love, King Jack has been too broken for too long to be healed... Be careful of Horny Jack." John felt himself not falling, but floating, and in a second he was in a dark room, there was nothing but chains everywhere, and hanging in a wall was the one John thought to be Horny Jack, if the look he gave him was any confirmation. "Hi Love- C'mon Love, touch me here, i know you want me right? C'mon, touch me a little." John paused for just a second- Is this some kind of fetish Jack hasn't told him before? That he wanted to be chained down and touched by John? John hesitated before approaching, holding the shard that was needed for Horny Jack when-

"Hi~" Horny Jack was holding his wrist with his hand. "I love you Love~" John felt a bad premonition but couldn't pull back, soon a flood of self-hatred entered his heart accompanied by images, memories, sensations. John felt the blade cutting his skin, John felt the flood of ecstasy and sudden happiness that filled his heart at the prickly sensation of a needle, the feeling of being a failure, the overwhelming emptiness that invaded his psyche out of nowhere- The weight of the world pressed down against him without holding back and he felt like he didn't have the strength to get up, he felt like dying, he felt like no one would miss him, he felt the touch of someone he didn't want, he felt the burning sensation through his whole body, he felt disgusted with himself, he felt- Pulling back, John heaved, the sensations were terrible and he felt what Jack felt, he felt what happened to him- "You-"

"I'm Horny Jack- Or Hypersexual Jack, but I'm also the one who went through the hardest times, the one who suffered a lot, the one who gets to be trapped inside this fucking jail!" Jack shouted angrily, tears dropping from his eyes as he glared at the walls: "I pay a price for a mistake i didn't make! I am innocent-" He paused before he started to laugh maniacally: "Fuck, i really need another dose huh?" The chains on the wall pulled John back, but he didn't want to leave now, not now, not now! He needs to be here for him! John pushed against the chains, he stretched his hand and touched Jack's chest with a warm smile: "I love you."

"I know." Jack, with a final broken smile, bid him farewell as the chains dragged John into the darkness. Four Jacks (Jealous Jack, Angry Jack, Horny Jack, and Logical Jack- Which technically are Jealous/Insecure/Possessive Jack, Angry/Afraid Jack, Hypersexual/Dark Jack, and Logical/Imagination Jack, which makes it 9 Jacks he has gone through already) done, 6 more to go, and he already feels so fucking tired- Jackson has gone through so much and he can't help but admire him, for how strong he was.

"Not done yet-" John took a step forward, and he was before a large, large, large lake- It was better to call it an ocean. In the horizon, he could see Jackson, floating above it all. "-Not done yet." John jumped into the water, and the moment he touched the water he felt the salty taste of the ocean as he swam, but he also felt this freezing cold feeling all over his heart, he didn't even noticed it but he was sobbing, grieving, crying, breaking down in tears as he swam towards Jackson as he remembered every bad thing that he has survived and been through, every single thing was washed away with his tears as theh joined the sea beneath him. It took him a long time, but once he was beside Jackson, he didn't feel heavy, he floated with his every step as the weight of his sadness had been taken away by the tears that now were part of the Ocean. He stood on his feet, walking above the water, looking down at Jackson who was floating above the sea with tears still flowing out of his eyes. "Hi." Jackson looked at him: "Hi." John touched his chest and smiled softly as he took the shard for Sad Jackson. "Wanna know what the sea is?"

"Yeah?"

"My tears."

John touched foreheads with him as he whispered: "And they're mine too now."

-Scene End-

Author Note: There's still plot twists to come, have some angst.