I don't think I can take much more of Jackson. It's like living with a two year-old: what's this, this is boring, what's changed - I can't take it! Feel like my brain is going to explode... I have an idea to take him around the city and explore, but I can't chance what happened at dance. Still trying to figure that one out...

-Mark

 

The sun shone brightly, chasing away the grey clouds that threatened to rain over the city. Cars were few as they usually were, but it seemed there were more people walking than usual.

Mark lay sprawled across his bed, his eyes closed and beathing calm. He sighed quietly as he enjoyed the silence of life.

Jackson stood beside the bed, looking intently at Mark. "Are you awake yet?" he whispered, floating above Mark's sleeping form as he watched him even closer. "Are you awake now?" he whispered.

Mark sighed, his eyes lightly fluttering open. "Jackson?" He asked. "What are you doing?" Mark sat up slowly, rubbing his sleep-filled eyes. "What time is it?"

"I was waiting for you to wake up." Jackson confessed, sitting with his legs crossed at the foot of the bed. "You've been asleep forever, can we go do something now?" he asked, tugging at Mark's white shirt.

Mark yawned, checking the time on his phone. "Jackson, it's only been ten minutes." he sighed, laying back down. "Gimme about twenty more minutes, okay? Then we can go out..."

Jackson huffed loudly, looking back at the sleeping Mark. "I'm hungry."

"You just ate Jackson." Mark grumbled. "Please, just let me sleep."

"Mark."

"Stop it Jackson."

"But Mark-"

"No."

Jackson sighed, looking at Mark with a wicked grin and floated above him, his form turning into mist as it fell over Mark.

Mark shot up, a smile on his face. "Jackson?" he asked as he looked in his mirror, his skin pale and eyes dark. "Jackson, get out."

"Not until you promise we can go outside."

"Jackson, I need to rest. I'm still- you know..."

"Still what?"

"You know...alive!" Mark screamed, sighing as he fought Jackson and layed back down. "I'm fragile dude, mentally and physically. I need to rest."

Jackson left his body, sitting beside Mark and looking at him with a light blush on his face. "That's what I said..." he whispered, his face looking almost horrified.

Mark sat up slightly, looking over at Jackson. "What are you talking about?" he asked. "When did you say that?"

Jackson perked up a bit, glaring at Mark momentarily and crossing his arms. "Nothing. Forget it." he sighed.

"No, when did you say that?" Mark asked, moving closer to Jackson. "Talk to me."

Jackson sighed, holding the base of Mark's neck and leaning his forehead against Mark's. "I was only eight..."

Mark closed his eyes as he began to see a room full of candles, rose petals, and pillows.

"It had been going on for four years. He'd come in, around and leave, but I had to go with him. Every night, it was terrible. Mom didn't care, I was only a way to keep customers. They loved the idea of a little boy to toss around like his mom. I kept trying to tell them: 'Please stop, I'm too fragile, I'm going to break! It hurts too much, please no more.', but no one would listen..."

Mark shook free of Jackson's hold and began breathing heavily, a cocktail of fear, anger, and sympathy boiling in the pit of his gut. "What..." he seethed. "what the hell..." he growled. "Why would she do that? To her son?" he thought, his hands beginning to tremble. "How did it stop?" he asked. "Tell, don't show..."

"Well, I was," Jackson looked up, trying to remember. "it was 1426, so I was 16." he sighed, laying back on Mark's bed. "Twelve years since it started. I'd tried running away from home multiple times. Lived in the sewers, alleys, and even in the forest, but I was always found and brought back to my mom. So during the night, I packed up some clothes, a blanket, a silk scarf, and made my way into the deepest part of the forest." Jackson smirked, closing his eyes as he felt around his neck. "I used that scarf for everything when I was there. Anyways, I'd been stumbling around for days, only stopping when I found water or food. Then I found this strange circle of stones where nothing grew, and the air was pretty cold. So, I decided to see what it was all about."

"Is that when you met that demon?" Mark asked, moving to sit beside Jackson. "Asom..Asme...?"

Jackson chuckled as he brought his knees to his chest, his arm brushing against Mark's. "Asmodeus? Yeah. Apparently, he saw everything that happened to me since I was born and pitied me, so he offered me a chance for revenge. I accepted, he saw me home, killed the guys, and here I am now."

Mark's brow furrowed as he looked toward Jackson. The feeling in his gut returned and he shivered. "So the stories about you sodomizing young boys aren't true?"

Jackson shook his head. "Nope." he sighed, laying down and closing his eyes. "History tends to blur things when it comes to demons."

"What about you...burning?" Mark asked hesitantly, fearful of offending Jackson. "Is that true?"

Jackson opened his eyes, looking at Mark uncomfortably and sitting back up. "Yeah." He nodded. "Mom caught word somehow that I had communed with demons and told the church."

Mark sighed, looking up at his ceiling before closing his eyes and picturing Jackson's scenario. "Can't imagine having to kill your kid. Nineteen years old, huh?" He shook his head and ran his hands along his bedsheets.

"Eighteen." Jackson corrected. "I was eighteen. My birthday would've been the next day." He added, holding out his arms to show his skin littered with burn scars and runes. "Sometimes it's like I can still feel the fire..." 

Mark felt his stomach drop as his face began to burn. He gripped his bedsheets tightly, resisting the urge to touch Jackson's arms. "I wonder if he'd be okay if-"

"Go ahead." Jackson announced, cutting off Mark's thought. "I don't care anymore..."

Mark took a deep breath, slowly running his fingertips along Jackson's arm. His skin was soft despite his rugged looking texture and as cold as ice. Mark looked closely at the runes, which began to glow dimly. "What are these? Why are they glowing?"

Jackson looked at his arm, pulling away from Mark and looking down. "It's nothing..." Jackson assured, getting off the bed and going back into the closet.

 

So my Tumblr is currently down, aka I forgot my password and I need to reset it but in the meantime, I'll put my A/N here. Hello everyone! Kind of a long chapter, not much to say, but the rest is kinda admin stuff to go over.

Mark: Poor kid, heart of gold. Much love. Someone snuggle him.

Jackson: My feels. I can't. I need coffee.

So about the admin stuff..

-This is the last of me you'll see for the rest of the month. I'll be traveling home, so I will see you guys in September.

- vlogs start Sept. 5, so keep an eye out for that.

-there will be one big story in October

-A new story will be going up in November.

That's it for now. See you guys soon!

Saranghae,

-Marzie♥