Jack awoke to a hand gently shaking his shoulder, a distant yet sweet smell filling his sense of smell. His eyes fluttered to find his mother's kind brown eyes staring down at him. He'd always wondered about that. Neither of his parents had blue eyes, none of his many siblings did either. They all had brown or green eyes except him. And his brown-turning-gray hair was also, seemingly, not genetically given to him. Neither of his parents had much gray in their hair, both only seemed to just be getting their gray hairs in their fifties!
He never thought too much about it though. He knew asking wasn't going to get him anywhere. He remembered asking when he was younger and still in high school. His mother had just frozen up, a vacant look on her face. Her eyes had glazed over and she just... sat there. Staring at him. When she unfroze she had no memory of what had happened. She didn't even remember he'd asked a question and got up, still looking a little out of it, and went to make dinner. He'd never asked again, afraid she'd get that strange look on her face once more.
He was shaken from his thoughts with another push to his shoulder. He smiled at his mother and lifted himself up, resting on his one arm. He took in a deep breath through his nose and his eyes sparkled a little.
"Are those pancakes I smell?" he asked excitedly, a knowing smile resting on his face. He decided it would be best to leave his thoughts in the back of his mind for now. His mother nodded and smiled back at him, rubbing his hair a little.
"Damn right they are. Now come on downstairs alligator, and you can eat and tell me about that dream, alright?" She said, ruffling his hair again before pressing a soft kiss to his temple. Jack nodded his head with another smile and stuck his tongue out playfully as his mother booped his nose before leaving the room.
Jack smiled at his mother's retreating form before climbing out of his bed. He decided that staying in his pajama's would be fine, it was only his mother. He quickly went to the bathroom to do his business and brush his teeth. As he left his room he felt a tingle sensation on the back of his neck. As if something, or someone, was watching him. He quickly turned around, eyes wide and searching around the room quickly. He found no signs of anyone, and he shrugged it off with a tight chuckle.
Of course, no one would be in here... How would they have got in? Or past mom for that matter? He shook his head, but still backtracked into his room quietly. He couldn't help checking under his bed quickly as he passed it. He knew it was silly, but still. Popping back up from under the bed he grabs his Sam and holds him close to his chest before scurrying out of the room. He didn't care how childish he was acting. He quickly found himself in a doorway, watching his mother hum to herself at the stove. A pile of pancakes sat on a plate next to her.
"That was fast, Jackaboy. Are ya hungry?" his mother's voice seemed to float around him and he smiled, the thoughts of the strange feeling in his room fleeting.
"Yeah Ma, starvin'," he said with a smile, grabbing an empty plate and piled about half the pancakes onto it before covering it in syrup and grabbing his fork and knife. He sat down and dug in quickly, barely noticing his mother joining him at the table as he ate.
"Is it that good, Alligator?" his mother laughed and Jack just nodded his head as he continued to eat. He looked up at her with a smile. Or, what was supposed to be a smile. It probably looked more like some dude with chipmunk cheeks and a syrup-coated face.
His mother's hand was soon reaching out towards him as she came around the table, wet cloth held in said hand. She chuckled as she knelt to reach him, as he was still seated, and she began to wipe his cheeks of syrup. He smiled at her and she shook her head fondly.
"How can you be a grown little boy and still get so messy?" she asked, her voice teasing and loving. He shrugged and smiled, batting his lashes.
"I dunno, maybe it's just cause I'm still a little boy at heart," he said, his hand curling around Sam, whom he'd placed on the table in front of him. The mother and son pair laughed together goodheartedly.
"So, Jack... do you want to tell me about your dream?" Jack nodded his head, his smile fading slightly. He then stood and grabbed the two empty plates on the table. He gently placed them on the counter before turning and nodding his head to the living room area.
His mother smiled comfortingly and nodded, the two making their way to the couch. He sat and looked down for a moment, Sam pressed to his chest. His feet curled up beneath him as he leaned against the back of the couch.
"Uh... s-so... it started fairly nice. The... the family, with me and the brother and the parents..." he swallowed. He never told Andy's name, he didn't know why, but he just felt it wasn't something they were 'worthy' of hearing. No matter how strange that sounds. His mother nodded encouragingly for him to continue.
"It was nice... quiet. I was walking around and... and then there was the alarm. And fire... And... And I watched-I watched them-" he took in a shuddering breath. He didn't understand why he was so emotional about this. Every single time. "I watched them burn. Th-they burned i-in the house and-and..."
"It's okay, hun..." his mother's soothing voice flowed to his ears and he relaxed, melting into the arms that were suddenly wrapped around him. He clutched to his mother's shirt and cried. He hated his breakdowns after these dreams. He never knew why he felt so strongly about this literal dream family, but he did.
"They're a-all dead... I-I watched th-them all di-i-ie-" he choked on a sob rising in his throat and buried his head into the crook of his mother's neck.
"I'm sorry Sean... I'm sorry you had to watch all of us go... I'm still here though, just... different..." a mumbling staticky voice said behind him. Jack's head shot up from his mother's neck and he looked around. His vision was blurry due to tears and he wiped at his eyes to no avail.
His head swiveled back and forth as he looked behind himself. He almost forgot about his mother as he looked around for the source of the voice. He nearly jumped out of his skin when she placed her hand on his shoulder, yelping before turning towards her.
"Jack? What's wrong honey-bun?" she asked, her brown eyes soft and caring, her expression concerned. He shivered a little and checked behind once more. Nothing... Though I'm sure someone else had said something... I heard it!
Instead of answering Jack shook his head, "It's nothin' ma... Jus' tired I guess," he said with a small smile. He could tell she didn't completely buy it, but she let it go. A smile graced her face as well and she ruffled his green head of hair.
"Alright Alligator, you know you can tell me anything, right?" she asked. Jack just nodded his head, averting his eyes a little. His mother sighed and placed a kiss on his forehead before standing up, "I gotta go to work, hun. You want me to come by later, or no?"
Jack thought about it quickly, then shook his head once more, "Nah, I'll be okay. 'Sides, I gotta record some videos today," he said, standing up and brushing some hair from his face. He walked with his mom to the door and pecked her cheek before she left.
"I love you, little man," she said with a smile. Jack blushed and he couldn't help but smile.
"Love you too, Mom," he said as she left. Since her back was facing him, he didn't see the flash of pain and regret go across her face as she heard those words. She knew something, something Jack didn't know.
When his mother was out of sight, Jack closed the door wth a sigh and looked around. He was sure he'd heard something... he shook his head and made his way to the bathroom. He entered the room quickly, the door hanging open. He ran the water in his sink and splashed it against his face. He let his head hang for a few moments before he looked up. A flash of sharp teeth framed by a sad smile. A bright glowing eye. A scarred face.
Jack jumped and blinked, and when his eyes opened, his own reflection stared back.
"Sean? ...Can you hear me?" the voice was echoey, fading around him as it filled his ears. It sounded so familiar. Similar to his own, in fact. His head whipped around once more, trying to find the source of the voice. He spun himself in circles looking for it.
"Sean please don't panic! I won't hurt you!" he felt something touch his shoulder and turned to once more face the mirror, that was now behind him. The image had reappeared. The... other him. Familiar sharp teeth and a glowing 'septic' eye stared at him. The left half of the images face was scarred... as if it was burned...
"I don't want to hurt you, Sean... I just want to ta-" the voice faded and his image flickered and glitched about. Their eyes both went wide and the image seemed to reach out towards him.
"Sean! Please! I need you to remember! Even just a bit! It's me! An-!" his voice faded out. Jack could still see him though, and his mouth was repeating the same thing, over and over. It's me! An-something. There looked to be an 'ie' sound at the end... Ani? Andy? Anti?
Jack paused. Isn't Anti a character the fans made a while back? he looked at the image before him. It couldn't be real... though he... it looked monstrous. Demonic to human standards. He was surprised though because when he thought about it, he wasn't actually scared of this being. Instead, a kind of comfortable familiarity situated itself within him. Similar to when he was a child and his brothers would dress up, he knew them and that no matter how 'scary' they looked, they wouldn't hurt him.
Jack couldn't pinpoint why this was though... Why the image was so familiar... "Sean!" the word broke through and reverberated around the room loudly causing Jack to fall to his knees and clutch at his ears. He caught a glimpse of the image as he fell. Tears were in its eyes and running down its face. It looked pained... he looked scared...
A scream tore through his mother as the fire engulfed the rest of his family. She couldn't see it, but she knew what had happened. She understood her family was gone. And Sean was forced to watch. She hadn't meant for that. But this kept him connected. Sean had begun to wail as he watched his father, his brother, and his home burn. But the most painful part was in his chest. Inside, where it felt as if a part of himself was literally burning away. He couldn't help but latch onto it.
Even as a child, he knew he didn't want that part of him to be gone forever. So, through the pain brought to him, the small child held onto that piece of him that was slowly fading away. And it seemed to disappear and cool as he looked up. He felt as if there was still a part he'd managed to save. And still he wailed loudly, in confusion, in pain... and as he looked out to the burning house before him, his eyes connected with his brothers and they smiled to one another, before the older twin was gone and the younger was left to cry out till his voice was gone.
And then Jack was screaming louder. Though he didn't hear it over the sounds echoing through the bathroom, his throat hurt, and his mouth was open wide. The hands over his ears were coated in a warm liquid substance and his cheeks were wet with tears. It seemed to be forever before the noise sputtered out like a candle. And when he rose his head once more to find the image...
It was gone.