N I N E
▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃

An hour later, Jack stood pacing around his room, muttering curses to himself as he tried to think. After Dark had explained to him about the eye-situation, he had picked him up as if he were weightless and tossed him into his room, locking him there—but not before sealing the windows shut along the way, leaving no further hope of escape. At least he'd been alone for the past sixty minutes, which Jack supposed he was grateful for.

He was thoroughly exhausted and wanted nothing more than to sleep, but he forbid himself from doing so, continuously reminding himself that he had to assess everything and figure out what to do.

Mark had either gone completely, utterly insane, or Dark had actually 'taken over' and Mark was gone. . . Hopefully just temporarily. Either way, it was a lose-lose situation.

Jack wanted to cry. He had the strong urge to, which made him feel incredibly weak. His throat burned and his eyes stung as he pressed his hands against his face, trying to collect himself. Stay strong, stay strong, stay strong. Breaking down will not help you. It never has.

He swallowed before straightening, grimacing at the spark of pain that shot up his spine as he did so. He could thank Dark for that.

He stopped his pacing and began to form a plan. He would play it cool for a while. And by 'playing it cool' he meant not aggravating Dark. He needed to stay alive—because something told him Dark meant every word he said when he threatened him. If he messed up, said or did something wrong, he would be as good as dead. And he wanted to survive.

Then came the prospect of his fans. Would Dark let him still upload videos? He highly doubted it. Even the slightest chance of him trying to get help. . . Well, obviously Dark wouldn't be foolish enough to provide him with the opportunity.

So Jack was stuck. His fans would soon become worried. First Mark disappearing, then him? People would start piecing things together, start questioning things, maybe even come looking for them. And when they did. . . Would Dark leave, take them somewhere else and hide out there? Or would they remain here? And if they did stay, then what would happen if someone visited?

That couldn't happen. He wouldn't endanger anyone. So he had to try and persuade Dark to somehow let him continue being active on social media and YouTube, which seemed impossible. But then again, maybe it wasn't. . . He could use an excuse claiming that the less suspicion, the better. And maybe, if Dark let him under no-doubt supervision contact his fans, he could slowly build up enough trust to be allowed to go online alone.

Then, he could somehow find help. Private message a few people, explain the situation, no matter how crazy, and plead for assistance. Tell them where he was. And maybe, he could be saved. . . Plus, he could always delete the messages afterwards. . .

Jack took a deep breath.

At least he had a drafted plan.