A Tale of Nightmares (LJXReader) Part 4

“It’s you…I can’t believe it’s you…” you say, absolutely astonished. You’re sitting on your bed, staring at Jack. He was floating mid-air in front of you on his back with his arms behind his head. He turned to you with a smirk.

“Fascinating, isn’t it?” he said, chuckling. But every time he laughed; or even smiled, it wasn’t like it used to be; not joyful and full of glee, but sinister and dark.

“But, what happened?” he looked at you and rose an eyebrow.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, you used to be all…rainbows and sunshine, and now you’re all…” you trailed off, not finding the right word to describe him now. You don’t want to say evil. Yet. He sat up and looked at you, like he wasn’t even sure of the answer himself.

“Well…I honestly don’t really know. All I know is that someone, something, caused me to slowly drift off into insanity long, long ago.”

You remembered the way his bright, shiny blue eyes would flicker to a ghostly white.

“Well, I wouldn’t call myself insane. That’s a bit of a harsh word. I actually quite like the way I am now.”

You studied him carefully, taking a look at his new attire. What used to be colorful and rainbow were all replaced by different shaded of black, white, and gray. And his personality changed quite a bit, too.

You weren’t sure if you liked the way your former-best friend is now.

“Anyhow, looks like we have a lot of catching up to do, don’t we, best friend?” he said in another sinister tone, changing the subject. You look at your alarm clock. It read 7:15.

“Look, I’d love to, but I really got to go. It’s, uh, been nice seeing you again I guess.
Uh, see you later?” you say, running out the door of your room. You expected Jack to follow, but he didn’t. Some of you hoped that this was all just a figment of your insane imagination, and he would be gone when you got back, but another part of you wanted him to stay right where he was, waiting for you to come home.
******

You were glad that your test was at the end of the day, so you could brush up on a few topics last minute in between classes, just in case cramming your head with nothing but what your professor assigned you to read for two weeks every day wasn’t enough.

You just finished your first class and were on your way to the next class. You knelt down against a wall and got out everything you needed for that class. With your notebook and textbook in your hands, you zipped up your bag and got back up, only to fall backwards again at the unexpected-yet expected, sight of Jack.

“Jack?!” you say, getting back up. The last thing you needed here was your now-insane childhood clown friend. You were just glad nobody was in this hallway right now.

“Yes?” he asked as if nothing was wrong. His smirk, however, told he knew perfectly well he shouldn’t be here.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

“I’m just keeping my best friend company, is that so wrong?” he asked innocently. You sighed and momentarily rested your thumb between your eyes before looking back up at him.

“Look Jack, I appreciate your concern, I really do. But I’m not five anymore, I’ve made some friends now. I’m not ‘that weird girl who nobody likes that sits in the dark corner by herself’ anymore, okay? So just go back to my apartment and I’ll see you after school.” you say. Before you could hear or see his reaction, you ran off to your next class.
******

You step into the cafeteria with you pre-packed lunch, sighing. You honestly hate college, and enjoy every break you get.  You see three of your friends already sitting at the usual wooden picnic you sit at. Just as you head over there, the same pale white face meets you again. Jack stands in front of you with his arms crossed.

Once again, you jump back and gasp, but kept in the scream. Once you calmed down, your narrowed your eyes and grabbed Jack by the arm and dragged him over to a table all the way in the far corner that nobody ever goes to or ever really sees. You hoped that your friends wouldn’t be concerned with your absence eating with them.

You sit down on opposite sides. His chin is in his hand with his elbow rested on the table, grinning at you.

“Jack! Is it so hard for you to follow simple directions?” you growl, narrowing your eyes at the clown.

“No. I just don’t like to.” He said, smirking even more. You sighed.
He was a lot easier to deal with before all this.

“Fine, what do you want now? I told you I don’t need you here right now!” you say, and then cringed a bit. You hoped you didn’t sound too mean. He was just trying to be nice, after all. You open up your lunch bag, only to find it filled with various types of candy.

“Jack!”

“What? Everyone likes candy.” he shrugged. You rolled your eyes and ate some anyways.

“Jack? Don’t you think other people might find a floating clown in the building…odd?” you say.

“You know, (F/N), you have a terrible memory.” he replied, rolling his eyes. “Only you can see me right now, remember?”

Oh yeah, he can do that.

“Right. Wait, so, since nobody else sees or hears you…then I look like a crazy person talking to themselves?”

“Pretty much.”

You look over to where everyone else is eating, to see some of them stare at you in a weird and disturbed way.

“So, (F/N)…tell me about these friends of yours.” He said, saying ‘friends’ harshly. His grin faded as he tapped his fingers on the table. You sigh once again. He obviously wasn’t going to get over this ‘best friends forever’ thing anytime soon.

“Jack, I’m not replacing you. You’re still my…best friend.”

“Carrie, Mable, and Joey?” he said, his eyes not leaving your gaze. You stare at him,
shocked at how he knew your three closest friends’ names.

“How did you…” Before you could finish you question, Jack was gone within an instant. You sighed, reached into the candy bag, and ate a chocolate bar, getting chocolate all over your lips and face like an eight year old.
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