Mad Alex

Jack was stalling, he knew he was but he couldn't help it. He did walk out of the incinerator room, but he stayed right outside the door, staring into the wall in front of him. His mind was clouded with Alex, as usual, the stupid cliche heart around his mental picture of his boyfriend was always tapped to the back of his eyelids. Truthfully, the blond boy was always on his mind, even if they were right next to each other, he was thinking about how perfect the other was.

Memories of all their small, cute moments they shared together filled Jack's mind. They never failed to make him smile as he slumped against the dirty wall, sliding down until he was sitting against it, legs spread out in front of him. He was tired, lonely, and above all else scared. Jack didn't know if he could save his boyfriend, if he needed saving at all. Perhaps Alex wanted this, planned for this to happen, but it turned against him because of how stupid he could be sometimes.

Sure, the boy was smart, but he did have some moments. Jack remembered that one time, in their junior chemistry class, Alex tried to show the teacher something he knew, but resulted in blowing up the experiment. He had gotten suspended, all while Jack laughed at him.

Alex liked to show off, basically anything he was proud of. The thing he was most proud of though, was Jack, he wanted to show everybody that Jack was his, which was something the younger minded at first. Jack wasn't as confident as he appeared to be now, he was shy and awkward and didn't know how to socialize with other people. Alex was smart, cute, and very social, they were exact opposites but the elder always showed interest in Jack. Just the thought of that made the younger blush at he stared down at his long legs.

Jack remembered their first time, it was awkward and he didn't even know what to do or how to even hold Alex properly but it ended up being loving and sweet. Alex didn't rush him into anything and they took it slow, they were dating for about eight months before Jack said he was ready. The elder kept asking him if he was sure, if he was positive or anything else, saying how they didn't have to do this, but Jack was determined and he wanted this. Eventually, Alex gave in and their relationship only blossomed.

A year and a half later, Alex told Jack that he loved him, the younger was stunned into silence. He didn't know how to react, he knew he loved Alex, but just the thought of his boyfriend loving a boy like himself was too much for his mind. So instead, he started crying, holding Alex closer to him and he gasped out "Oh god, Alex, I love you too. So much."

God, he loved that memory, they just kept growing closer and closer. Alex was a bit strange to Jack on some occasions, but not enough to make the younger not love him anymore, he just simply brushed it off and passed it off as Alex's mental stability. Hell, even his mom warned him about the elder's mental state, saying that he wasn't like the other kids and was overly interested in murders and the human body and medicine.

But he stayed. He'll always stay, just for Alex.

With that thought he finally pushed himself off the floor, brushing the dirt off his slightly torn jeans and walking ahead, knowing he had to find his beau.

---

Jack was hiding behind a rock, the undead dog from the kitchen was in the middle of the room, eating a mangled corpse. Although, when he entered the room and investigated the corpse, he saw a key inside it and was labeled 'Incinerator'. But now that the dog was eating the corpse, the dog most likely swallowed the key.

When it finally walked away and Jack searched through the body, he noticed it was indeed gone. With a large sigh and fingers tugging at his hair, he stood back up and followed the dog.

It seemed like every five seconds, Jack was entering another room and having to face another puzzle, which just added to his exhaustion. He wasn't just physically tired, but also emotionally and mentally. He just wanted his boyfriend, to cuddle with him, to hold him, to kiss him, to touch him. Jack just wanted Alex, but everything was making it difficult for him to have that and he hated that.

The boy just sighed as he followed the corridor before turning into a room. There were two ways to go, but in front of him was a door and when he tried to open it, he found it was locked, so he just went the other way. It lead him to a room with no door, in the room was one table, it had a puzzle pieces scattered around a frame. Some of the pieces were already in the frame, Jack guessed he was suppose to finish it.

The picture wasn't that hard, but when he finished it he realized it was a picture of him. Jack inhaled deeply, closing his eyes as he exhaled. He heard the sound of a door unlocking in the distance and guessed it was the door that was locked from earlier. When he appeared in front of the door, he slowly turned the knob before poking his head inside. A shiver went down his spine as he looked around before fully opening the door, allowing his body to slip in before closing it behind him.

Around him were potted plants, test tubes, a pot, and book shelves. Inside the test tubes were carrot looking creatures. Jack decided to look around the book shelves, he didn't want to break anything he wasn't suppose to, plus he guessed Alex had books in here that talked about the creatures in here. He pulled a book out, on the cover was a picture of a potted plant with a plus side next to it then the carrot looking creatures and the full view of what it might look like in the pot. It looked exactly like what was around the room, so he opened the book.

The book read:
"Alaune"
A perennia plant in the Mediterranean. Also known by mandrake or mandragora.

Due to its toxic composition, it has long been used for sleeping medicine and sedatives.

In folklore, it is used in magic and alchemy. Also, when uprooted, it gives a hellish scream that brings death to those who hear it.

"Well, that's useful." Jack mumbled as he flipped through it more, only finding diagrams and how this creature came to be, he closed it and put it back on the shelf. He walked around, looking at the creatures. He even looked at the pot in the center of the room, it had a white tarp over the opening and when he tried to move it he found it was heavy. It was too large to carry any of those 'Mandrakes' so he just pushed it over until it shattered on the floor.

Jack shifted through the items, big flows of junk fell out and he wondered if there was anything useful in here. He found many papers, some dirt, and leaves but he caught sight of some ear plugs. He decided that was all that was useful, put them in his pocket, and walked out of the room.

Further down the corridor, was an opening that led to a tunnel, stepping through he noticed it was a dead end and as he looked around he noticed that the undead dog from earlier has made it's home here. The dog was definitely faster than he was and no doubt stronger, so he had no idea how to kill it. He didn't want to kill the dog, but it swallowed the key he needed so he had no choice but to.

Jack sat there for a whole ten minutes before finding figuring out what he needed to. He turned on his heel and walked back into the room with the mandrakes, picking up a potted plant and walking back to the dead end. There were large rocks surrounding the area, so he just hid behind them as he stuck the ear plugs in his ears firmly, checking to see if he couldn't actually hear anything. Once he was sure he couldn't, he gripped onto the large leaf sprouting from the pot before tugging it up until it was uprooted, reveling a mandrake.

The boy saw the creature open it's mouth, but to him no sound came out. Eventually it stopped and dropped out of Jack's hands onto the floor.

When he peered over the rock he was hiding behind, he saw the dog laying on it's side, eyes wide open in shock. As Jack cautiously approached, he noticed that it wasn't breathing. With a sigh, he kneeled by the dog, knowing that he had to use the scalpel he pulled out of the girl in the incinerator room to get the key out.

Five minutes of crying, blood, and vomit later, Jack finally pulled the key out of the dog. Blood was all over his hands, shirt, and pants, some spraying onto his face.

He felt like a murderer, he killed a fucking animal. He didn't know how his boyfriend did this, it felt sick, twisted, and vile. Jack hated himself, but this was the only way he could save Alex, and with that thought he finally stood back up and walked back to the incinerator room.

---

Warmth ran across Jack's body, an uncomfortable amount. He approached the edge with caution, looking down and seeing the bottom spouting in flames. It was breath taking, it was actually beautiful, but it reminded him of hell, if hell was actually this beautiful he wouldn't mind going there with Alex when they died.

Jack held the doll in his hands, looking down to it as the girl's words ran through his mind.

"You'll going to have to destroy that doll if you want to go further. Burn it up real good and the spirit inside of it will burn up too, and then bam! goes the invisible barrier around the door,"

He held his right hand out, it was holding onto the doll, his grip loosening slightly as he prepared to drop it into the flames.

"You want to destroy me?" The doll's voice rang around the room. Jack couldn't form words, he just nodded instead as his head stayed bowed.

"I won't open the door if you do!!" Jack just sighed.

"We'll have to see about that,"

"Stop! Please stop! Jack!" His grip tightened on the doll as he spun around, facing away from the spouting flames below him as he gripped the doll in two hands,bringing it up to his face as he desperately stared right back at it. The voice it spoke in... that was May's voice.

"M... May?" Jack's voice softly whispered out.

"Please, Jack. Listen to your sister"

"No! You're not my sister!" Jack viciously shook the doll as tears streamed down his face.

"I want to see you... my sweet little brother..." The voice deepened.

"No!" Jack's voice screamed out, before he faced the flames again and threw the doll down as fast as he could before dropping to his knees as he watched the doll fall deeper and deeper into the flames before completely vanishing from his sight.

All Jack could hear was his deep breaths and sobbing echoing around him in the small room. He quickly stood back up before scrambling out of the room and back to the door with the invisible force that kept him out of it.

---

The boy opened the door with ease, allowing him entrance as he looked around. A bridge was in front of him, it was made of metal and around him were boxes, papers, and test tubes. Either shattered or occupied with somebody. But what caught his attention was what was at the end of the bridge.

It was a large test tube, it's doors open and inside was something that made Jack's chest tightened as he walked closer. Inside was a large portal. He stood right in front of it, a few feet away but still pretty close.

"That will take you to the other world.." A deep voice rang out. Jack jumped at the sudden noise, snapping his head behind him to see who it was. It was a man, pale white face, red eyes, he was wearing a black suit and a fedora. 'He isn't some Patrick Stump, but he can pull the fedora off,' Jack thought as he continued to stare at the man as he got closer until he was standing right next to Jack, looking at the portal himself.

"Alex...he's up ahead, isn't he?"

"Are you truly going? A reality too harsh for anybody may be awaiting you. Will you still go?" The man turned to face him as he asked the question. Jack just shrugged before nodding, acting like it was obvious what the answer was. The man just smiled as he shook his head.

"You seem adamant."

"Dude, I don't even know what that means but I'm just going to take that as a compliment and say thank you." Jack cheekily grinned at the man as he shook his head and sighed softly at him.

"Then let me give you this,"

The man passed a glass to Jack, it seemed like it was filled with water.

"What's this?" Jack asked as he turned it in his hands.

"Magic Water, a product of my company. Please, take this with you, the magic in the water will no doubt be of help to you."

"Can I save Alex with this, too?" Of course he had to ask, he was only doing this for Alex.

"Of course, the water has the power to seal the power of the curse." The man responded as he took off his hat and bowed to Jack.

"I pray for your safety..."

And that's all Jack needed to hear before he was walking towards the portal, unsure of what laid ahead of him. With thoughts of Alex, he stepped through and watched as the world went blurry.