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Jack wakes up alone. This is not an unusual occurrence, as neither he nor Sammy are particularly good sleepers. With this in mind, Jack does not panic when he finds that the bed beside him is cold. If he tries hard enough, he can even hear Sammy moving around in the main part of their apartment, presumably trying to cook up something edible for breakfast. Only on weekends do they ever eat breakfast at home, and the thought of sharing a meal with Sammy so early makes Jack smile.
He gets out of bed, toes rolling inward against the cold of the faux-wood flooring. Really, they should get a rug to put in their room. Jack has been saying this for years, putting it on several different to-do lists over time, but it never gets done. He shakes his head, wondering when they had gotten so disorganized. Well, it’s not a matter of when, but why. Sadly, the two of them have always been like this.
It's cold in their apartment, so Jack grabs a hoodie off of the floor before venturing out of their room. As expected, Sammy is standing in the kitchen, poking at a pan of eggs with a meticulous eye. He looks up when the door to their bedroom opens, meeting Jack’s gaze with a hesitant smile. It is a little strained, and Jack is suddenly reminded of the argument they had had the night before. He shakes his head of the memory, not wanting to dampen the morning with petty fights.
He walks up behind Sammy, hooking his chin over his partner’s pajama-clad shoulder to look at the food. His arms go around Sammy’s waist, and they hug for a moment, sharing a silent, sleepy moment. Both had said some pretty nasty things last night, and they simmered in the feelings that came with what was said. “I’m sorry,” Jack says, words muffled by Sammy’s shoulder.
Sammy sighs, head tilting to rest on Jack’s. He moves the eggs off the stove and folds his hands over Jack’s, leaning into the hug. “Me too.” He fiddles with the silver ring on Jack’s finger, swallowing hard. “Let’s not talk about it? I just want-- just one day. Please.” It hurts. All Jack wants is for Sammy to understand . There is so much about this magnificent word that his love waves off with a shaking hand and worried eyes.
“Okay,” Jack says anyway. “I can… yeah.”
“Thank you.” Sammy lets out a heavy breath, his shoulders dropping with released tension. Jack hates himself for putting them in this situation. But, as much as he feels bad, he knows that his fixation on the supernatural won’t go away. If only Sammy would understand.
He pushes away the thought when Sammy pulls away. “Breakfast is eggs and toast.” He coughs, looking unsure. “That okay?” He has always been insecure, but it seemed to be coming out more frequently these days. Jack does not examine why that would be; instead, he gives a nod of assent as Sammy plates their food.
They sit on the couch with their food, the news playing on the television in front of them. Being radio hosts, they need to stay updated on LA news. This is what they tell themselves as they sit in silence, watching the screen with blank eyes.
“I have to go to the store today,” Sammy says, not looking at Jack. “We’re running low on some things.”
By running low, he meant that their fridge is nearly empty and that everything in their cupboards is snack food. “Okay,” Jack looks at his final bite of toast, unable to eat it. The rest of the sandwich-ish meal sat heavily in his stomach, and he felt a bit nauseous. “I think I’ll stay home. ‘M not feeling too well.”
Sammy signs-- he seems to be doing that a lot lately. “That’s because you didn’t eat or drink anything yesterday other than coffee.” He puts a hand on Jack’s forehead, checking his temperature. “It’s okay. I can go alone.”
They do not speak after that. Sammy gets ready to go out, Throwing on a slightly unwashed outfit before rushing out the door. His set of keys swing in his hand, clinking loudly in the quiet room. The sick feeling grows in Jack’s belly, working its way through the rest of his body until he feels downright horrible. He gets to his feet, steadying himself before walking toward the window by the front door to watch Sammy leave.
The sun is partly blocked out by a curtain of dark clouds covering the sky. This is why he doesn't realize what's happening until the light truly bleeds out of the area. The shadows in the air gather together, swirling in a mass of power that reaches toward the ground. Toward Sammy. Jack is running before he fully processes the situation.
They only live on the second floor of their apartment complex, but every step takes much too long.
The parking lot is nearly black when he runs out of the lobby. Distantly, he thinks of the unassuming book sitting in the backseat of his and Sammy’s car. The same car that Sammy is half-inside. Jack watches as his love’s face alights with fear as the raging shadow pours from the clouds above.
Sammy looks away from the shadow only once before he is fully enveloped by it, eyes locking on Jack’s frantically. The last thing Jack sees of Sammy is the pleading expression on his face, his mouth moving in a soundless yell of, " help me."
In an explosion of pure darkness, the shadow recedes. The parking lot is flooded with light once more. It blinds Jack momentarily, and he drops to the ground under the force of it. Oh god, Sammy; his love had been right in the thick of it. He must be feeling-- honestly, Jack isn’t sure. What does one feel after being attacked by a shadow monster?
Jack opens his eyes, squinting against the dim light of the sun. Their car is still standing, somehow. The front door is still open and swinging wildly with an abating force. Inexplicably, Death by Damnation sits open on the dark concrete of the parking lot. It is lined with shadows, the last flickers of that monster folding into its pages.
The worst thing about the scene before him, the one detail he will never forget for as long as he lived: Sammy Stevens, his lovely, horribly confused fiance, is nowhere to be seen.
Jack gets up, mind blank even as he scrambles to think of where Sammy could be that wasn't-- No, he couldn't be with those shadows. Perhaps he had gotten into the car-- or behind it-- to hide from the shadows. Perhaps he had been able to run and is going to appear from behind a corner of the nearest building at any moment. Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps.
The car is still running when he gets to it. Sammy is not inside it. Jack feels hot tears blur his vision as he looks around at his surroundings. Sammy needs to be here. Sammy has to be here. Sammy is not.
Jack calls the police knowing that they won’t be able to do anything to help. He knows what this really is, and he is the only one that can fix it. Still, he plays the part of concerned roommate, showing the police the still-running car and spilling some bullshit about how Sammy didn’t say anything about leaving; I got worried and came out to look for him. A gruff police officer asked him a lot of questions, glancing at the ring Jack was fiddling with a raised eyebrow every few seconds.
“And what’s your connection to Samuel Stevens?” The officer watches Jack with a critical eye.
“Best friends,” Jack says truthfully. “Roommates.”
“Alright.” The man looks at the notepad in his hand, exhaling loudly. “Do you have a number we can contact his family with?”
Jack thinks of Sammy’s deadbeat parents and brainwashed brother. “No,” he says. “‘S far as I know, he doesn't talk to them anymore.” He knows with absolute certainty that Sammy hasn't spoken to them since leaving college.
“Right. Well.” The officer shrugs, “We’ll need to contact them, anyway. Gotta look into all available leads. Did he mention wanting to visit them?”
Jack nearly rolls his eyes. Sammy would never go back to those people. It was equally unlikely that they would ever let him back into their home. He thinks the shouting match his fiance had had with his father on the night of his college graduation in which he was forbidden to return home. “Yes, because you can get to Florida from here so easily without a car. ” He points at the still-running vehicle parked just behind them.
“Sir, I understand that you are stressed--” The man’s tone sets Jack’s blood on fire. “But let's stay calm.”
“Calm,” Jack says shortly. “Right. You’ll tell me if you hear anything?” Who knows, that shadow thing could spit Sammy out anywhere. Police updates would be convenient.
He sees the officer’s pitying expression, and cuts in before the man can speak. “I’m his emergency contact.”
“Right, then. Yes. You will be contacted if we find him.” Dead or alive, goes unsaid. Jack nearly breaks down right there, but he knows he needs to wait. Just a few minutes, and he’ll be up in his apartment. In their apartment. Then he can cry. He can put on one of Sammy’s sweatshirts and sob into his empty pillow.
“Thank you.” Jack clears his throat. “Can I go now?”
The officer nods severely, patting Jack on the shoulder once before turning away.
It takes a moment for Jack to gain control of his limbs once more, and then he’s walking. His feet are heavy with the remnants of those shadows, cement blocks that kept him away from his Sammy. He finds that his front door is still open when he gets upstairs. He does not react to this, stepping inside the apartment, the numbness growing inside of him. The nausea is still there, but it’s muted now.
The bed is soft underneath him, and Jack doesn’t deserve its kindness. He finds that his phone is still in his hand, open to the telephone app. Lily is one of the first people in his contacts. He stares at her name for a long while, thinking of her anger at him and Sammy. It had been years since they had really talked; Jack isn't sure she would even pick up. He hit her contact anyway and brought the phone up to his ear, listening to it ring.
“ What do you want, ” are Lily’s first words to him in over two years. Jack finally cracks, a sob rising out of his throat with a painful force. Lily makes a questioning noise at the sound. “ Uh, Jack? ”
“Lily…” he says pathetically. They were a unit before they were a trio, and Jack only hopes that she still carries some sibling love for him. “He-- he-- I--”
“ Hey, Jack. What’s happening? You haven’t-- Are you okay? ” She sounds genuinely worried about him. Jack sobs again.
“He’s-- He’s gone. It’s my f-fault. It’s all my fault.” Saying it out loud solidified it into reality, and his cries became more consistent. They broke out of him in short gasps, and he could not breathe.
Any other time, Lily would say: What? Stevens finally ran away? Should have expected it, really. Instead, she starts counting, telling Jack to breathe. “ C’mon, you gotta take a breath for me, okay? ” Something shuffles in the background, coming out tinny through Jack’s speaker. “ Count back with me, Jack. Okay? Ten, nine, eight…”
His words come out strained and gasped, but he follows her lead nonetheless. “ That’s good, ” she says, “ seven, six… ” They do this for a while until Jack can breathe fully once more. He’s still crying, deep heaving sobs escaping him every few seconds, but he doesn’t feel like he’s going to pass out anymore. “ Tell me what’s wrong, bud. Do I need to come up there? Where’s Stevens? ”
Her saying his name makes him choke, and she starts counting again. A few minutes pass, and he lets out a thin, “sorry.”
“ Hey, it’s okay. What are big sisters for? ” She takes a deep breath, sounding a bit panicked. “ Can you tell me what’s wrong? ”
“It’s-- It’s Sammy. H-He was t-t--” He cuts himself off, folding in on himself. “Taken. He was taken.”
“ Oh… oh, shit. ” Lily exhales loudly into the microphone, making Jack wince. “ How-- What? ”
“Y-Y’know how I-- how I like all that s-supernatural stuff?”
“ Jack… ”
“No! No, Lily, this isn’t one of those things. It’s not werewolves, or-- or vampires. This is real, and it's-- and it’s big.” Jack rubs his eyes roughly. “It was the shadows.”
“ Jack, please. You need to tell me what really happened. I may hate Stevens, but I don’t want him gone. ”
“That--That was what happened! The sky-- it-- it opened up. The shadows came, and they took him. I saw it with my own eyes.”
“ Sometimes, when-- when people are exposed to traumatic situations, they-- ”
Jack isn't sure what he was expecting. She's never believed him before; why would she start now? “ No! ” he nearly yells, anger simmering under his skin. “It was that fucking book. Death by Damnation. It called them here. They-- They took him, Lily.”
“ Jack… I’m gonna come over, okay? I’ll stay with you for a bit until we find Stevens. Have you called the police? ”
“No, don’t come here. Just… Don’t.” Jack buried his face in Sammy’s pillow. “I have called the police. But I’m not just gonna sit around here, waiting for him to appear from thin air.”
“ Don’t do anything rash. Please, Jack. ” More shuffling from her end and the jingling of keys. “ I’m coming. Just stay put, alright? ”
“No, no. You're not getting it.” Jack wanted to punch something. “Don’t come here, Lily. I’m going to-- I'm going to King Falls. So, if you want to help me get him back, then you can meet me there.”
“ Jesus, Jack. King Falls? ” Lily lets out a frustrated sound. “ Enough with that fucking place. Going there isn’t going to help Sammy. ”
“Believe whatever you want, Lils. It’s better than sitting around in this-- in our apartment.”
“ Can you just-- ” she pauses. “ Make a plan. You’re good at those. Don’t just-- Don’t just go , okay? ”
Jack sighs, going lax. He’s so tired. “Fine.” He frowns. “You think I would go anywhere without planning it out first.”
Lily laughs, it’s a tight, strangled thing. “Of course you wouldn't. Be careful. And-- and you can call me whenever. I mean it.”
“Okay,” he says, not sure what else to do. It’s been a while since he’s trusted Lily as much as he did as a kid, but he’ll try if she does.
“ Okay ,” she says, the word is in exhale.
Jack is quiet for a moment, and Lily seems to be waiting for him to speak. "Will you come with me?" he asks, already knowing the answer.
His sister's teeth click together. " I have a job, Jack. I can't just pack up and leave. " She laughs again, " Pippa would kill me ."
"Right, of course." Jack sighs. "I'll-- I'll talk to you later."
He can hear Lily's frown. " Do you need me to call Dad? "
"Oh, god. No." He loves his dad, he does, but he cannot deal with his parental worry right now. "I'll call him soon. Just-- later."
" Okay ," Lily sounds so tired, and it occurs to Jack that he probably woke her up.
"I'll talk to you later. Get back to sleep, lazybones."
" Love you too, Jackie ," she says. Jack's glad he called her.