“Don’t you guys get it?! This is exactly what he wants!”
Through the bars of his prison, Jack watched as an endless
array of ideas and theories discussed Anti’s next move. He shuffled forward on
trembling legs until the chains were taut behind him, ignoring the fresh blood
seeping from under the shackles around his raw wrists.“Please stop…” He whispered. “Please stop. Stop it. Stop!
STOP!!” There was no pause in the continuous stream. Something snapped. He drew a shaky breath and wailed in desperation;“Why can’t you hear me?!”
Jack fell to his knees as his legs gave way. The question he
had asked himself for so long echoed over and over in his ears. Hopelessness consumed him as he realized freedom from Anti’s control never
seemed more distant. He was so sick of all this…“D͘on̕’̀t w͢or҉r̕y͢ ͜J̴a̶c̀k̕… A̧t l̕ęas̡t I h͡ear y̡ou̴.”
He looked up and saw it was Anti. Jack didn’t stand and face him, and he wondered if he no longer
had the strength to do so- or if there was any point. He tried to push the
thought away, glancing back to his community’spredictions.
Anti followed his gaze, and chuckled. “Hǫw҉ ͟bli͢n͜d́ the̛ý are to see th̡e҉ir͘ ̴a͠ct̕io̶ns o̴nl͡y͜ co̴n̕t̡inu̶es ͝to̡ giv͝e ̸m̶e ͏p̢o͝w͏ȩr̢…̨ ̵And le̢a̛ve͘s͘ ýou ̴mơr͠e br̶oke̵n͠ da̢y by̷
da̢y.”
Jack didn’t answer, though he felt a knife stab through his
heart at the accuracy of Anti’s words. Surely by now they would know
the effect of what they’re doing, right?… Right?“If th̀a̕t̛ ͢w͝as ̀t͘he case, ͞wh͢y c̀a̵n’t th̛e̵y ̧sto͠p them̧s͟elve̛s͝?̢ The̷y’re ͘no͡t ͘s͢tup̢id ̴Jack, the͠y̵’͢ve s͟ol͠vȩd toughe͜r rid͢dles̛ ̢before͜.” He gestured to
the cell and bloody manacles. “B̀u͘t͢ ̕why nǫţ this͏?”Jack visibly winced. “If I knew the answer, don’t you think I
would have said it?!” He snapped, with little conviction.Anti blinked, looking mockingly upset. “Óh͏,́ but J̢ack- ͢I ́tḩink̢ w͝e ͏bót́h ̧kno͢w̢ th͠e̷ r͠e̵as͏on; but the͝ t͟r̶uth̛ ís ̴s̷o ̡pa̧inf͘u͝l͟ t̛hàt ne̷it̡her o̶f us ̧wa̶nt̕ to ̷sày͡ wh͜y.
”
“… Truth?” Jack asked carefully. He knew deep down he shouldn’t listen, but he wanted some sort of answer. Anti walked slowly back
and forth in front of the bars, his face subtly thoughtful. He let the silence
drag on until he smirked.“Pe̸rhap̨s…͡ Th͘ey͟ k͏no͝w͘ ex̷áct̶ly wh̕at̛ thęy͘’re do̵iǹg- a͝n͏d̷ no lònger͝ thìnk ̸y͝ou̷’͢r̢e͢ wor̨t͟h͝ ͠sa̵v̢ing.”
Jack was horrified, he found it difficult
to breath. “N-no.” He stuttered, shaking his head. “They…
Wouldn’t- couldn’t do that!” His mind was racing. Why
thoug-“I’m̕ ̕ţh̨e͞i̴r ̧cr̢e̕at̷i̸o͠n ̀Jack͝; th͟e͞ir fa͟vo̕r̛ite ͜bo҉y.̛ Wh̶a͟t̶ if̶ ̡they ́k̀ne͟w̷ a̢b̶out my͘ ̧‘p͏r͜etend͝in̷g’ t͠rick̨ ̡al̕l̕ a͡l͢óng̡?” Anti’s eyes glowed bright in the
darkness, and he smiled wickedly. “Àf̀te͞r a͜l͟l;̀ it’s ͠me t̸hey̵’ve͟ a̸l̛w̵ay̨s̢ ̛wan͜ted͜ ͏ţo ̧s͏ee. T̵ḩi̡s is ex҉actl͢y̛ what̀ ̛t̵hey͞ w͢ánt͟!”Jack looked at Anti, feeling numb. “But… You’re not me.” His voice wobbled, and Anti raised an eyebrow.
“So̢? ̡If̛ I can ͢s̷ti̕l̶l b͠e̴ ̷the̴re for ̡t̀h̢e̷ ͟b̢ot҉h ơf u̶s- w̶hy w͜ou̧l͢d the̶y̛ ev̨e̛r̡ ͜w͘an͠t̷ Y̛O͜U to͞ ͢c͟o̴me̶ b̡ac͠k?”
The knife cut itself through Jack’s heart and twisted deeper than ever before. As much as he tried to deny it, Anti’s claims made sense. Why would they abandon me? Don’t I matter more than Anti?
“Fac͜ȩ i͜t, th̕ey’̵v̶e a͘lw̛ays͞
been ̀on my sid͞e; tŕyi͟ng ͜to ̛fo͟r͘get̵ y̕o͏u for̵ mé…̨ If͡ t͠hey w̧an̷teḑ t̛o s̴a̴vę yo͠u̡, then ̵w͜hy d͘o̡ t̡heý ign̛o͝ŕe y̨o̸u͜r p̕at̷hetic͜ cri͘es ͏for ̛h͠elp͢?̧” Anti’s voice suddenly lost all its
distortion. “’Help me! Please- someone
help me!! PLEASE!’” The pain was not faked, or
exaggerated.Jack had lost count how many times he screamed those words. How
hopeful he was in the beginning; that his community would hear and save him from this nightmare,
how he hard he fought- thinking someone, anyone would listen…“Bu ̶t n̨obody ca̛me.”
The knife twisted yet again, and with it came a spark of
anger. Not at Anti… It grew and
spread inside him like an inferno. For the first time, he accepted without doubt that this
was their fault. Jack’s head fell to his chest, and he began
to shake.How could they let this happen?! His hands clenched into fists. I thought they cared about me!
He grit his teeth. If that was the case, why didn’t they do ANYTHING?!… Why didn’t they at least try? Anti is right.
I should never have believed their lies.A gentle hand rested on his shoulder. “I̶’̕m s͜o͟r͡ry, J̶a̷c̛k.”
Anti sounded genuine. Jack didn’t respond, but glared at the ground through
eyes like slits.“͞Do ͜yoư w͜a͝nt to ̧ta̸lk ̧to them̧?… ҉Le͞t ̢t͠h͝em ͞kn͜o̢ẁ ho̧w ͞you͡ ̧f̡eeĺ?”
Jack felt the rage grow within him, and realized without
concern that it felt good. He looked up.“Yes.”
Anti smiled, and though Jack knew he should be afraid of the
gleeful expression hidden poorly on his face, that this was a huge mistake; he no
longer cared.The world slowly faded into utter darkness. Harsh colors
suddenly blossomed across his vision, and he looked quickly away, not used to
looking at the world with his own eyes after so long. When they adjusted, Jack
found himself sitting at his desk; the camera in front of him was already up
and running with his own face taking up the entire computer screen.Jack stared back at the image for several, silent moments. He no longer recognized himself- but it didn’t matter anymore. That wasn’t his fault.
He remembered what happened. He knew what kind of people they were.
Reaching for the camera, he started recording.
Jack stared at the lens which shined in the light. He sighed as he did his countdown to sync his footage and sound but he didn’t conducted his usual happy greeting, his cold eyes look directly into the camera. They looked almost grey. They were dull instead of sparkling blue. The joy and kindness that was held in them had disappeared.
“You think you’re gonna get a cheery greeting after all you lot did?” He sneered. His voice was nearly as cold as the emptiness he now felt in his heart. “Anti showed me.” The intense stare didn’t let up. “You didn’t care about me. None of you did. Some of you even openly proclaimed to be willing puppets for him” his sentences were laced with anger and hate. “You were tricked and lied to and yet you still wanted more from Anti. You didn’t want me.” He fists slammed on the desk.
“All I ever did was show you kindness and compassion, I wanted you to grow, to be better than the generations before you.” He growled out of pure frustration and rage “Even when I was locked up by him, I still held on. I had faith in you, I believed in you. I held on the last sparks of hope for so long, praying that some of you would fight for me.”
The viewfinder glitched and Anti’s grinning face could be seen behind Jack as he kept talking, his voice sounding more like Anti.
“You want him so badly, you can have him. He’s shown me that I was naive to think you’d come for me. I was foolish to put faith in any of you. You want darkness, you got it. Expect nothing from me. The Jack you know is gone and it’s all your fault.” He felt Anti’s hand on his shoulder.
Anti grinned and spoke to the camera
“Say goodbye”
With that Jack faded, still staring at the camera with nothing but contempt. There was no fear in him, just acceptance. Anti let out a delighted cackle.
“Jack’s willingly in my mind now. I am in control”
….. what have you done?!?
((I reblogged already, but may I continue the saga?))
Fin stared at their screen as Jack’s video finished with a black screen, their fingers trembling. They knew it. They’d known all along what damage the Anti theorists were causing, and they’d followed despite that.
The remorse Fin felt was like nothing they’d ever experienced– a pain in the chest as if that iconic knife was driven through their heart.
It was paralyzing in every sense of the word.
A few moments passed in silence. Fin could only keep their eyes fixed on that black screen, the replay buttons YouTube had offered fading to nothing once more.
What had they done?
“́You we̡ren’̸t͞ ̨t͢h̢ȩre̶ ̧f̷ơr ̷ḩi̵m.”
The familiar voice sent goosebumps across their skin as Fin realized they still had their headphones on.
Frantically tapping their screen again, they froze when they saw that the video still maintained that it was over and that nothing new had started…
They started shaking.
How was Anti speaking?
“Now ͞h̕e’͢s ̧g̨o̵ne.̛"͠
The glitch’s familiar laugh started to echo in their ears– in their mind.
“It͝ fęe͡ls҉ ̡g̛ơo̡d͘… ͘know͡i͏ng w͘h͞at y͘o͠u͠ did.”
Fin tore their earbuds out, but Anti’s voice still spoke clearly to them.
“W̷h͞at̨ k͞ìnd ̨óf ҉per̴s̕on ͡y̢ou̸ a͟rȩ.̀”
No… no, this couldn’t be happening. Not now. Not in real life. Not to them.
But… was Anti right? Could there be a droplet of truth in all of this? Could Jack really have–
No. Fin fought. No, certainly not. This is just another of Anti’s sick jokes– and they were going to make him pay for this one.
“C͏an y͠ou f҉éel ̡it́?“͏
His laugh flooded their thoughts again.
“͏Yo̴u͏’̶rȩ ҉a̧lre̛a̸dy̶ ̴out ̷f͝o͜r bl̸ooḑ!”
Fin stood up. They couldn’t take this. Wasn’t it torture enough knowing that Jack was gone and that it was his own community’s fault for it?
They ran their hands over their head, closing their eyes, fighting this awful belief that seemed to be becoming wired in their mind.
They had to have at least some hope. Yes, hope. Hope was stronger than fear, after all…
A few moments passed and Anti’s voice hadn’t come back.
Fin blinked and found themselves looking in the mirror on the wall.
And they froze.
Their eyes… they were slowly getting darker, and darker, and darker…
“̡G͡o,͘ ҉th̕e͡n.”
Fin stared, mortified.
“Sèe̴ ͞wh͢e̵re ́h͘ơpe͠ t̨a͡ke̷s̡ ̢y̨ǫu.͢”
They shook their head, just a little at first, then more and more.
No… this couldn’t be real… they had to fight…
A jolt suddenly ran through them like electricity, and their skin started crawling with the sensation of what felt like something beginning to pull on them from above, forcing them to stand straight and tall, keeping their face towards the glass…
Slowly, slowly, it began to appear…
Thin white strings were tied to Fin’s image, taut and iridescent, holding them in place like a…
Like a puppet.
Fin swallowed, more terrified at the task ahead than they’d ever been.
They knew what they had to do.
And Anti knew too. But his puppets would never win. Not now. Not ever.
Still, the glitch decided to humor this one…
“͞G҉oo͠d͝ lućk, F͢in."̶
His voice echoed one more time in Fin’s head before the vision in the mirror faded back to their normal reflection.
They blinked. Anti chuckled once more.
"Y͘òu’͡r͠e҉ ͡ģoi͟n҉g t͝o n͞ee̴d͏ it͠.̛"̷
Published
A Glitch Named Anti 