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HAUNTED | Eyeless Jack x Ghost!OC

Her threat crawled back into his head as he returned from his outing, remembering her vain words. Entertain her?

[Chapter Two]

Eyeless Jack was unsure where he stood with Carrie or what she really thought of him, but he hated to think that she expected him to dance with bells in order to accomplish her task. He wouldn't clown himself like that, but he didn't know what she wanted. She didn't give him any tells, so he figured he would try and interact with her again. He figured that the worst that could come of that is she mocks him for trying, but she'd find his attempt entertaining at the very least.

He held his breath as he entered his room, opening the door and peering within cautiously, searching for her. He slowly shut it behind him, turning to take off his mask and hang it over the doorknob, when he felt a pair of eyes watching him.

He whipped around, and there she was, sitting at the foot of his bed with her legs crossed and her hands folded over her knees. She was wearing something different than he'd last seen her in, but it was still a ghoulish, vintage garb. She wore a big, white bow in her hair that looked like ears tying her long locks half-up, and complimenting it were the satin ribbons tying her corset in the front, accented with pearls on the boning. The sleeves of her dress hung off her shoulders, hugging her elbow and draping around her wrists, and her floor-length gown poofed up slightly from how she was sat, likely the work of an underskirt.

"Welcome back," she greeted, smiling sweetly and tipping her head to the side. "Have you thought about my request?"

"You mean entertain you?" He asked, and she giggled before nodding her head.

"Yes, exactly! Very good, EJ," Carrie sang, clapping her hands together twice. "Well, go on, then. Give it your best shot!"

The demon straightened his posture, hands balling into fists at his sides. Oh, she really did expect him to dance. He had some self-respect, at least, so he wasn't planning on doing that. Instead, he took a deep breath, trying to refrain from sounding annoyed as he asked, "What- what exactly do you expect me to do?"

"A king does not tell his jesters how to jest," she answered, a sly smirk forming on her lips. She snickered when Jack huffed in frustration, gritting his teeth and groaning.

He bit his tongue so he wouldn't argue with her, which seemed to make her laugh harder, and he kicked his shoes off. He ignored her, following his post-mission routine and placing his scalpel on the edge of his nightstand before he changed his hoodie, stepping into his closet briefly due to her presence.

She was already looking at him as he returned to her view, waiting as expectantly as he'd left her with her piercing grey eyes drilling into him. He felt uneasy under her stare, but she liked playing games with him, didn't she? The realization gave him an idea.

"Let's play twenty questions," he suggested, watching her reaction. She hummed curiously, implying him to go on like she didn't know what that meant, and he added, "It's just a game with two players. All you do is ask each other questions."

She frowned, muttering, "Is there a winner?"

"We win knowledge about each other?" He quickly replied, though he didn't seem confident that it would convince her. Much to his disbelief, she hummed, intrigued by his offer, and she nodded her head.

"Okay. I'll start the game, then," Carrie decided, and she swiftly rose to her feet. Her puffy gown swished around her legs as she stepped towards him, grabbing his sleeve and pulling him to his bed, patting the space next to her. "Why wear that mask? I already know what you look like, EJ. It's pointless in hiding your identity."

Although he was reluctant to let her guide him, he followed her, but he was quick to withdraw his wrist and pull away when he sat down next to her. Of course she'd ask that.

"Yeah, it's pointless in hiding my identity, but I like to wear it. I'm not used to others seeing me when it's off," he answered. She hummed like she accepted it, regardless of her disappointed sigh.

"So you won't take it off while I'm around, then?" She asked, and he shook his head, denying her request. "A pity. I thought you were cute."

He cluelessly blinked at her, his brows furrowing. He wasn't cute. He was intimidating, and scary, and a monster. She was weird, but when she continued, he understood what she meant.

"You know, it's real funny watching you get frustrated when you can't figure something out, or when you're doing something tedious. Like the other day, when you were--"

He interrupted her, shaking his head and leaning back: "Alright, alright, it's my turn, now. How long have you been haunting me, Carrie?"

She winced, like it was weird that he was addressing her, and he made a note of that. She likely wasn't used to hearing her name spoken.

"Oh, um... I don't know, actually," she thoughtfully murmured, idly tapping her forefinger against her knuckles as she tried to recall the answer. "Since last Halloween, at the longest."

He looked incredulous at the answer, muttering an audible, disbelieving "what" under his breath. He couldn't believe it had taken him so long to do something about this, but when he thought back on it, that was around the time things started moving and going missing, so he supposed it made sense.

"Yeah, you aren't very intuitive. Observant, but not intuitive," she chided. "That'll come with time, though. The more used to me you get, the more you'll see of me. It's very draining presenting physically for you."

"And I rue the day that comes," Jack scoffed, and she laughed again.

"Oh, you're funny! I know why I keep you around, now." Carrie swiped a tear from her eye, simultaneously brushing her overgrown curtain bangs out of her face.

"That's... that's great, Carrie," he flatly stated, pursing his lips in a tight-lipped smile beneath his mask. "It's your turn, by the way."

"Yes, yes. Ah -- so, who really are your friends, hm? I try to follow you around, but you don't really treat anyone differently. I can't tell who you like or hate, y'know?" She commented, shifting how she sat and crossing her legs the other way.

"Oh. Um, I have plenty of associates. I'm not sure if I could call them friends, but they're the only social life I can really have, given my situation," Jack told her, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly. It was partially the truth, but most of it was that he really couldn't stand the majority of the other proxies in alliance with Slenderman.

He liked Jane, but she worked for Zalgo, so he couldn't see her in his right mind. He missed drinking with her, though. It was a shame their friendship ended.

Carrie didn't seem to believe him, but she didn't want to press him on the subject. Instead, she sighed, and nodded her head. "Ah, so I won't be able to expect any gossip from you, then. A shame -- I do know an ear who'd love to listen..." She trailed off, bringing one of her hands to her hair so she could twirl one of the long curls around her finger.

"That sucks for you, I guess," Jack said, but she quickly tutted, shaking her head and wagging her finger.

"Not me," she corrected.

"Oh, really? So, you have friends, then? Like who?" He boredly asked, crossing his arms and leaning back.

"Oh, no-one... just Kage. And lovely Janey, too," Carrie honestly replied, smiling as she mentioned the two of them. She didn't wait for his reaction before she giggled, fully twisting towards him and pointing at him accusingly. "Oh, she'd love to have a chat with you! You could've told her it'd be the last time before ditching her like that, y'know. Low blow, EJ."

Jack nodded his head slowly, forcing himself to accept what he was hearing as soon as he heard it. Well, isn't that lovely? He just got over cutting Jane off, and now her friend was in his life.

"I'll make a note of that, then. Anyways, it's my turn, so--"

He couldn't finish the question before she rapidly shushed him and shook her head, pressing her finger to her lips. He cursed and raised his hands in defeat, halting and waiting for her.

"No, you just took your turn, silly. You asked the same question I did," she argued, crossing her arms defiantly and indignantly looking up at him. "So it's my turn."

"What? Those aren't-"

"The rules you gave me?" She cut in, innocently blinking as he groaned, annoyed.

"Do you have to be so frustrating?" He sharply hissed, and she jumped back, raising into the air and twirling.

"Yes! It's part of my fun, you know," she laughed, twisting and dancing towards his mirror as she spoke. "I like to warm-up for my nightly duties with a little instigating, after all! It's a shame you returned so late, I would've loved to chat with you more, EJ."

"You're leaving?" He watched her prance towards the mirror and touch its surface, barely grazing it before the fabric rippled and slowly pulled her in. He watched her slip into its silvery surface, her reflection cast over the glass just long enough for him to see her wave. Her lips moved, but her words came at a delay.

"So you'd have it; I am needed at the palace," her voice echoed around his room as she shook her fingers, and then, she disappeared, walking out of view and presumably through the wall, seeing as she had left opposite the door to his room.

He was left not knowing how to feel, other than confused. He knew the encounter had given him more questions than answers, however, which hurt his head to think about. He had a long day, though, and he decided he could take his next step after taking a nap. At least he got a few potential leads.

[xiiideadroses]

HAUNTED | Eyeless Jack x Ghost!OC

He really shouldn't have been so afraid of a little ghost problem. He was a demon, after all. What was the worst that could happen?

Eyeless Jack wasn't afraid of anything. He could look the Slenderman dead in the face unflinchingly, and he could face-tank whatever punishment he'd be given afterwards, but when it came to paranormal activity, he couldn't brave it. He wouldn't say he was afraid of ghosts, he would never hear the end of it from Jeff if he did, but he couldn't deny how uneasy it made him when he'd be given evidence of the paranormal. Be it something rather tame, like noticing how things were missing and hearing footsteps when he couldn't sense anyone else within a five mile radius, or something more obscure, like the time he saw a few of his heaviest medical books floating in the air only to come crashing down when he opened the door.

He wasn't scared of anything, but he'd be lying if he said all the obvious signs pointing to paranormal activity didn't freak him out. He had tried consulting BEN on the matter, considering he was a poltergeist himself and likely had more information on the subject, but the blonde was about as useful as his gallbladder when it came to helping him find a solution. He was lucky the little rat didn't start running around laughing about it, but Eyeless Jack was certain there had to be a better method than creating a circle of salt around his room to trap the ghost in and hoping it would make itself known.

"Come on," BEN had laughed, shaking a cylindrical salt canister back and forth in front of Jack's face. "It's the only way to catch a ghost, bro. You wanna be a ghostbuster so bad? Whip out the salt."

BEN annoyed him, but he at least made an effort to give him a solution. He was quick to swipe the salt from his hand before expelling BEN from the premises, though he swore he could still feel his beady, ghostly eyes watching him curiously from afar. It made him uneasy, but he didn't stop to think about what he was doing. Instead, he flipped open the spout, and carefully, he sprinkled a little around the edges of his room, forming a circle with as much space as he could. He wasn't generous with it and used as little as he had to in order to form a clean shape, but when the task was done, the once full canister felt suspiciously empty.

He decided to ignore his suspicions, quite honestly fed up to the point he no longer cared to question anything. He was having some paranormal problems, so he figured he wouldn't understand anything, and if he did, then it was probably a trick. He would be suspect of everything, until he got rid of the ghost -- if it would be willing to listen, after all. He wasn't really in a situation to call an exorcist as a demon himself, so he had to hope it would take a bribe or bargain to finally leave him alone.

Jack was methodical as he moved, swiftly shutting the container of salt and setting it on his desk before he stepped to the center of his room. He felt a cold chill run up his spine, the hairs on the back of his neck raising, and he straightened his posture. He felt like he wasn't alone, but as he looked around his room, he saw nothing more than his own shadow.

"Are you here?" He lamely asked, his lips pulling into a taut, unimpressed frown. He wouldn't be surprised if BEN had lied, but then again, he didn't make any effort to ensure the ghost's presence before making a ring of salt around his room. He felt a little bit like a fool, but he had given it an attempt. He'd try a séance next time, something even more traditional than salt.

He didn't receive an answer. He waited for five minutes, but the only thing he heard was the soft ticking of his clock as the seconds passed by. A soft sigh left his lips, and he lowered his head. He didn't know what he expected.

Annoyed, he sat himself down on the foot of his bed, exasperatedly flopping backwards and staring at the ceiling. He hissed in pain and arched upwards, however, when he realized he'd laid back on his mask. He cursed and turned his head, looking behind him and sitting up to move his mask, but in the process, his gaze locked on his mirror.

He didn't know if he was seeing things, but in the reflection, he could see a girl sitting on his bed, blocking most of the view of himself. She was very lacking in color -- her skin was white, her hair was white, and so was her outfit, which consisted of a peasant top, an underbust corset, and a long, modest skirt. She had her head turned around, like she was looking at him, and she was sitting on her left leg, perched at the very edge of his bed.

Eyeless Jack blinked once, then twice, and he no longer cared about the uncomfortable feeling his mask had left on his back. He looked between his bed and the mirror as he came to the conclusion that while he couldn't see her in front of him, he could still see her reflection. He wasn't sure if she knew, but-

"You finally noticed?" Her voice was as ghastly as she looked, fitting for a ghost, but it sounded raspy, like she had just woken up. She turned her head, moving slowly, and she looked into the mirror to meet his eyes. She had a weird expression on her face, with her brows pinched together and a lopsided smile, but something about her was ethereal. "Your mirror is my Achilles heel. You've been able to see my reflection the whole time."

Jack couldn't believe what he was hearing. The only other ghosts he had spoken to were BEN and Sally, but they were both children, and she looked to be a young adult. The fact made him feel for her because he also died, in a way, when he was a young adult. Maybe she'd be easy to relate to.

"I don't usually use it," he muttered, and the ghost hummed softly. He didn't know what he wanted to say, but he criticized himself for uselessly standing around instead of planning out his speech before he noticed her. He was slightly relieved when she took it upon herself to keep talking.

"You know salt is just going to keep me here, right? It won't get rid of me?" She laughed, the sound like autotuned chimes. She shook her head, her grey eyes flitting to his eyeless gaze in the mirror.

She didn't seem to care about what he looked like, but he felt so naked with her playful gaze drilling holes into his. He cleared his throat and quickly put his mask on, trying his best not to look at her, but there was a weird tension starting to form between them as he hid himself. Jack had always been awkward in social situations, but he tried to tell himself that he had the power here. He was the one to trap her in with him so he could meet her, after all.

"Yes. I'm not trying to expel you, but I do want to... understand, I suppose, and I would like to come to an agreement of sorts with you," Jack explained, watching her reactions in the mirror. She only frowned, but she raised her chin in interest, curiously turning so she could look directly at him. Habitually, he did the same, but the only thing he saw was the impression of her weight on his mattress.

He heard her huff before witnessing her materialize before him, spotting into existence and slowly appearing right in front of him. He realized then just how frail and small she looked in comparison to him. It was harder to tell from her reflection, but her clothing looked too big for her body, yet it was cinched where it didn't loosely hug her so it would stay up. Her cheeks looked slim and she had bags under her eyes, looking a bit neglected if anything, but totally normal otherwise. He also noticed the giant scar on the left side of her face, which looked like a giant road rash. What he didn't notice, however, was how her reflection disappeared as she made herself visible in front of him.

"Stop talking like that," she huffed, rolling her eyes. "You sound weird. You don't talk to anyone else like that."

He cluelessly frowned, his cheeks heating in embarrassment. He muttered an awkward apology under his breath, but he didn't want to be seen as weak or vulnerable, so he cleared his throat and tried again. "Right. Uh, I want you to stop haunting me. I get that you're a ghost, it's what you do, but I'm a demon. You can't just do that to me," Jack started, and she hummed.

She looked contemplative, taking his words into consideration and weighing her options before she shrugged her shoulders with a cheeky smile on her lips. "Yeahhh, no. Do you even know how hauntings work?" She seemed offended, not giving him time to answer her before she continued, head tilting as she rolled her eyes. "It's like -- the only way to permanently end it, y'know, is to either kick the bucket or get yourself a priest to bless you. We can't control this, it kinda just happens, because believe me, I'd choose to haunt someone else if I could 'cuz you're a pretty damn boring individual, but-"

He didn't know why her words offended him so much, as they meant little to nothing to him, but he interrupted her with a scoff, "Rude."

The ghost curled her hands into fists and brought them to the corners of her eyes, her lips pressing into a pout so she could mimic a baby crying. "Wah, wah, wah. It's true: from what I've observed, the only things you do are sit around reading your medical books or reorganizing your jars of hearts, or whatever," she sneered, shrugging her shoulders nonchalantly and letting her hands fall back to her lap.

Jack sucked in a sharp breath and grit his teeth. He knew a lot of ghosts tended to be mischievous and playful, but she was just being brutal. It wasn't like she was wrong, though he was getting frustrated with her disrespect.

"That... doesn't help at all. I asked you to stop haunting me, not critique what I choose to do with my life," he grumbled, crossing his arms on his chest. He moved so he would be facing her, sitting with one of his long legs bent and tucked in front of him whilst he stretched the other over the edge of his bed.

He noticed how she watched him move, leaning back as her eyes fell to his lower body before returning to his. She kept her head lowered, looking up at him between her spidery white eyelashes, and she argued, "Yeah, that's because you interrupted me, duh. As I was explaining, though -- ghosts can't really choose who they haunt, you know. We just mess with some poor, unfortunate soul, drive 'em crazy, and sometimes attach ourselves to them, which is when the haunt begins. Do you follow?"

A small, sly smile formed on her lips, her eyes glinting with mischief. He had a sinking feeling in his gut about what she was implying, but he tried not to jump to conclusions. He was in denial, but he slowly nodded his head, and she continued: "Yeah. So, like, take a guess what happened here! Honestly, I'm a little embarrassed, but I could use some entertainment. It's been fun watching you try not to psyche yourself out for the past few weeks, even if you're a total social recluse and have no friends for me to mess with, too."

Jack tried to process what she was saying, but her insults kept distracting him. He huffed and shook his head, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his thighs. His head fell and he caught himself with his hands, his dark grey fingers curling into his messy brown tresses. He could feel himself stressing out, but he didn't want her to feel like she'd won, so he chose to brush off her rude comments.

"So, what you're saying is... you're haunting me, and neither of us can do anything about that until I die, or deal with a priest?" EJ asked, and the ghost nodded her head, her wavy white hair bouncing with the motion.

"Yup!" She answered, her sharp teeth on display as she impishly giggled. She didn't seem to care much about the implications of her words, but to him, it sounded like he'd unwillfully been married off to someone. "Finally figured it out, did you?" She cooed, and she leaned forward. He tilted his head up, watching her carefully, but she didn't stop herself even after his warning glare. She reached towards him and ruffled his hair like an affectionate dog owner, and he growled lowly, reacting almost instantly by snapping up and grabbing her wrist.

For a moment, she seemed shocked, her eyes wide as saucers and reminiscent of the full moon as she blinked owlishly up at him, and then she laughed. His hand tightened around her wrist, his sharp nails pressing into her unrealistically soft skin, but she didn't seem at all intimidated. Instead, she seemed more than amused, and she brought her other hand to his, running her thumb over his fingers. He loosened his grip, but she didn't let him pull away.

"Oh, wow. It's weird being touched by someone... I didn't think you'd have the balls to do that, I'm not gonna lie," she snickered. She wasn't taking him seriously, and that was obvious. She was unafraid of his physical strengths, which typically did him a good job of intimidating others to get his way, but he had forgotten that she was a ghost, and that she was likely letting him hold her wrist because it was entertaining watching him try.

He sighed, feeling a bit powerless. He was frustrated because he didn't know what more he could do, but now that he had at least some information, he could further plan out how he wanted to move forward.

Jack let go of her wrist, and she withdrew her arm slowly, holding her hand up like it was alien. Her other hand's fingers danced over where his had been curled around her limb, intensely looking over her hand in a trance with stars in her eyes. She acted so tough for someone who got so invested in little things like that.

"Sooo... since we're stuck together, do you have a name?" He asked, trying to cut the awkward silence that had fallen between them. She didn't answer for a few moments, and he thought she didn't hear him, so he parted his lips to repeat the question, only for her to cut in.

"Carrie," she answered, turning her hand over and looking at her unscathed skin. "And yours is Eyeless Jack, isn't it? But you go by EJ, or Jack, don't you?" Phrased like questions, but stated like she knew the answers already. She probably knew a lot more about him than she was letting on, which unnerved him. He didn't know how long she'd been haunting him, or how much she knew about him.

"Yes. You could've let me introduce myself, though," he nagged, but she only rolled her eyes. Finally, she looked at him again, but something in her eyes looked different.

"But that would've been boring," she mused, laughing once again. "And I just hate boring, EJ. So, I hope for your sake that you'll be able to shape up in time to entertain me before I get bored of you."

Her words sounded like a threat, delivered in the tone of playful banter as she booped the nose of his mask. He leaned back and scoffed, choosing to not get the clarification of what she meant, and he crossed his arms. He couldn't believe he was about to become the marionette of a pretentious ghost.

"I guess this really backfired on you, huh?" Carrie taunted, suddenly standing up and swiftly spinning herself around the long way to face him. She leaned forward, almost over him, and held herself up on his thighs, her face only a few inches from his. "Oh, and by the way, EJ -- you know it does have to be a circle to be effective, right? You're bad at basic geometry for someone with a doctorate."

Jack's personal space felt non-existent at that point, so he just ignored her, figuring she just wanted a reaction out of him. He tried not to let it bother him, but thus far, she'd only proved to be annoying as all hell and frustrating to talk to. Talking to her was like talking to a brick wall; she didn't listen to a thing he said, making sure she got her way and that was that. He regretted opening this can of worms.

"Gee, thanks. I'll keep that in mind for next time," he sarcastically muttered, crossing his arms and leaning back so he'd feel less suffocated by her closeness.

"Oh, no need! I'd still be here either way! You can't really keep me in or out with one of those silly little circles if I'm attached to you specifically, genius," she hummed. She didn't seem to get the hint by him moving away, a devilish grin highlighting the mischievous glow in her eyes as she slowly walked fingers up his chest, stopping at his sternum and jabbing him with her forefinger. "Just so you know, it's quite easy to get in and out of those circles when you exist on multiple planes of reality all at once. All I have to do is stay off the physical while moving around it and I'll be fine."

And just like that, any hope he had of having some form of control over her slipped through his fingers like sand in an hourglass. A defeated sigh left his lips, and he felt her move away from him. He looked up at her, or rather where she'd been, only to see his headboard and the wall behind her. He glanced in his mirror, and there, he saw her again. He couldn't hear her like he could before, but he saw her move like she was chuckling, and this time, she winked at him before disappearing from the reflection, too.

EJ wasn't sure what to make of her, or what had just happened, but he knew he had to take his mind off of it before it drove him crazy trying to rationalize any of it.

He sighed, standing up and grabbing his scalpel from his desk. He pocketed it quickly and exited his room, but as he stepped past the door, he noticed that the salt he'd spilled in a loose rounded square around his room's perimeter no longer marked the carpet. He assumed it was her doing, and that she'd somehow managed to clean it up without him noticing.

How peculiar.