Where am I? Laid looked up. After Jack crushed his neck, he found himself adrift in a dark purple void. He could sleep here, he thought. He could swim through it—it felt similar to water, just a little thicker. He didn't know which direction was up, down, left, or right, but he knew he was somewhere. And he knew he should be dead.
Am I inside this void monster's body? Laid thought. Some void monsters have unique abilities. It seems like Jack's ability allows him to absorb the dead and store them inside himself. If that's the case, then I need to find a way out. I refuse to remain here for all eternity. But then again, there is no way out. So here I float, doing nothing, drifting through this purple abyss.
Laid always wore an emotionless expression on his face, and even now, that cold mask remained. If they manage to kill Jack, if anyone dies, I might be free. All I have to do is bet on Jack's death. Until then, I'll wait. After all, the best plans require patience and effort. Without either, your plan is useless.
Arthur woke. He opened his eyes and found himself in his bed again—one of the few occasions where he'd awakened randomly. The first was when Laid knocked him out in the underground area beneath their house. The second was when Laid threw him into a wall. And now, here he was in his room again.
Arthur climbed out of bed and stretched his young limbs. "Man, I'm hungry," he muttered. "Feels like I haven't eaten in days."
He walked toward the door and pulled it open. His mother Mary was nowhere to be seen. He checked her room—she was still sleeping on the bed where Jack had laid her down.
Where is he? Arthur thought as he searched the house. In the kitchen, he found a necklace with a heavy purple and black skull pendant. He picked it up and examined it, flipping it over, studying it from every angle. Nothing unusual—just an average black skull necklace.
Should I put it on? Something pulled at him, urged him to wear it. So he did.
The moment the necklace touched his chest, the skull sank into his skin. The chain vanished, leaving only a black and purple skull mark on his chest, hidden beneath his clothing. A burning sensation spread across his body. Arthur fell to the ground, clutching his chest as the marking seared into him.
Finally, he found the courage to lift himself up. He felt his chest—nothing unusual. But when he looked in the mirror and lifted his shirt, he saw the black and purple marking, identical to the one on the necklace.
"What is this?" Arthur whispered, frightened. How did this happen? And where was his dad—at least the monster version of his dad?
Suddenly, purple mist began flowing from the black skull on his chest. The mist bypassed his clothing and eventually took form—a skeletal monster with black fingers, bony white arms, legs, and skull, draped in a black robe.
"You called me," Jack said.
"I didn't call you. I just—"
"You called me. Do you need something?" Jack interrupted. His hollow, dead eyes stared into Arthur's.
Arthur stepped back. "I was just testing something."
Without another word, purple mist surrounded Jack as his body disappeared, flowing back into the black skull on Arthur's chest. Arthur noticed that when Jack emerged, the skull vanished from his skin, but whenever Jack returned, it reappeared.
He tried it repeatedly, forcing Jack out and back in, over and over for ten minutes until his energy was exhausted. Arthur collapsed to the ground. The process drained most of his magic reserves.
So if I'm low on magic, I'm really screwed, aren't I? Arthur thought, hitting the tiles.
Eventually, Mary woke. She stared at the ceiling, left her room, and opened the door. Across from her room, in the kitchen, she saw her son lying on the ground, extremely tired. She ran over, infusing magic into her legs to move faster.
"Arthur!" she cried, dropping to her knees beside her seven-year-old son. "Are you okay?"
Arthur looked up. "Yeah. Let me rest. I need to show you something."
---
"Where is he?" a man said. All five men stood in the underground area beneath the house, waiting for Laid. But Laid never appeared.
"Is he dead? I mean, I thought—"
"Quiet! He was turned into a void monster. Shut your mouth!"
The man closed his mouth, but another spoke up. "He's not even coming back," a younger man said, raising his hand. "I mean, he's been gone for like an hour."
"You're right. He's not coming back anytime soon. Screw it, let's just leave."
Three began walking up the stairs that led to another cavern with a door to the outside. The stairs were long, so they had to work their legs. The other two men remained behind.
"You all take your chances. I'm staying here. I'm not trying to get murdered," the first man said.
"He's right. I'm good on that one. I'm not trying to become a void monster," the second agreed.
"See you. Bunch of idiots," they both mumbled.
The three men climbed the stairs and finally reached the large platform. They had to jump high to reach it. Two of them bent their legs, infused magic into them, and leaped. The third hesitated mid-air.
"I can't," he said for a split second—and then he fell.
That one moment of hesitation cost him his life. Down into the infinite darkness, with no railing and a large drop between the stairs and the platform, the man plummeted. He saw the stairs drifting farther away. He screamed, flailing his arms, trying to grab something, but there was nothing. The last thing the two men below heard was a soft, distant crunch.
The two men on the stairs stood up. They couldn't see the others—the stairs were too long, the platform too high—but they did see one of them falling.
"See what I mean? You do that type of stuff, you're going to die!"
"We're not going to die!" a man screamed from above. The scream didn't carry far, barely reaching the other two men's ears.
"We made it to the top platform. Very much alive," the second man said, looking down at the others. "You're only specks, like ants."
They both turned and walked toward the door. They opened it, and bright sunlight filled the area. They crawled through to the outside world.
Finally free. The contract was done. Jack was turned into a void monster—that's all they had to do. They could be free. Finally, finally free.
---
Laid continued floating in the purple void, and he smiled. He could hear everything Jack heard. From Arthur forcing Jack out multiple times in ten minutes, Laid heard much.
Well, well, well. They didn't speak much, but the words they did say are very useful to me. So the kid can make Jack leave his body and return. And what's this? I'm trapped in a necklace? No—I'm trapped inside Arthur. No—I'm trapped inside Jack, and Jack is trapped in a necklace. That necklace is trapped as a black mark on Arthur's chest.
He didn't rage when he said these words. He remained calm.
Patience is what I need. If they keep slipping up, if they keep saying things they shouldn't, then I can gather all the information I need to eventually break out.
And when I do, I will show both Arthur and his monster father Jack—and his mother Mary—hell.
But first, I need to understand this bond. I need to know exactly how deep this connection runs. Because if Arthur controls Jack... then perhaps, with the right push, I can control Arthur.
The void pulsed around him, darker than before.
Soon, he thought. Very soon.