Jack woke up at 12:15 AM to the sound of his name being called. He cracked an eye open slowly, unsure if he had actually heard anything or not. A few minutes passed and he closed his eyes again, then he heard it. His eyes snapped open, his heart racing, and he sat up in his bed. He searched around the room for a sign of anything, what he wasn't sure, maybe Anti hidden in the shadows, though it hadn't sounded like him.

"Anti?" He said into the darkness. There was no response, and he was fairly sure anyways that it wasn't him.

"Sean," the voice said, beckoning him. He looked to the window, where he had discerned it was coming from, and got out of bed. There was nothing outside of the house that he could see, but it was pitch black and he couldn't see much. The calling became more frequent, begging him to step outside. Jack walked out of his room and down the hallway, turning lights on as he went and pausing before the stairs. He laid a hand on the railing and listened, frozen in place. He shivered when he heard the voice again, and continued on down the stairs.

He walked up to the window in his door, reaching over and turning the porch light on before peeking out. He thought he caught a glimpse of yellow eyes from the shadows outside of the light's reach, but if he had they weren't there any more. He swallowed nervously, and took a few steps back. He clenched his hands into fists and took a deep breath, listening to the soothing sound of his name. A gust of air and a flash of green flew past him, Anti forming in front of the door and facing Jack. He stood with his feet spread apart, knees slightly bent, teeth bared.

"Do not leave this house," he said, snarling for good measure, then turned, unlocked the door, and closed it behind him. Jack stared into the wood of the door, stunned and feeling a little dreamy still.

"Sean. Come outside, Sean. Please! Sean, come here." The voice had grown significantly more desperate in its attempts to lure Jack to it. Jack shook his head and stepped even further away from the door. This time the voice was met with another.

"You don't touch him." Anti's voice was muffled by the walls of the house, but the anger in it was still evident.

"You're a liar!" The voice said, almost like a shriek. Jack ran over to the windows overlooking the porch, trying to make out what was going on. The voice calling his name had stopped. He could see Anti on the edge of the porch, in front of the stairs, and from the looks of it, he had his sights on something out there. He watched as Anti screeched and leapt off the porch, all but disappearing into the darkness. He held his breath as he heard the sounds of a fight, but couldn't see the outcome.

Then Anti stumbled backwards into the ring of light caused by the porch light, and his opponent followed him, closing in quickly. Jack gasped when he saw that Anti was fighting a horse, dark in color with piercing yellow eyes and a wild mane. It had an surprisingly sleek coat and huge hooves. As Jack watched it looked directly at him, seemingly into his soul, then reared up and came down onto Anti, who slid to the side and raked his nails down its belly. The horse didn't even flinch, and within seconds what could have been a detrimental wound had healed over.

Anti cursed under his breath and dodged another round of hooves aimed at his head. One hit him and sliced open a long gash into the flesh of his upper arm, gushing blood immediately. Anti cried out in pain and grabbed onto the wound, trying to stop the bleeding while still moving away from the dangerous creature trying to kill him. Jack pressed up against the window, latching onto the blinds and letting out a sound of anguish. Then, as suddenly as Anti had appeared in front of the door, another appeared a few feet away from him, dropping from the sky in a flurry of pink. Jack's draw dropped completely to the floor as he watched Dark fall into step with Anti, fighting on his side for once.

Dark shifted into the form of a dark hawk, flying into the air and distracting the creature as Anti took on the form of a cougar. Anti moved quickly, now abandoning the wound on his arm and jumping for the creature with both claws. Together they injured it enough to slow its healing and apparently make it think twice about this decision. The horse reared up one last time, then spun around and sped away into the night. Anti panted heavily, tripping over his feet and falling into the wall of the porch. He leaned all of his weight into the wall, both palms pressed into the wood above his head, hair hanging down into his face and sweat droplets dripping from the long strands past his vision.

Anti moved back into his human body and sank to his knees. Jack wasted no time in running out the door and over to him, gently placing a hand on his shoulder and helping him up. Anti stood up straight, but was too worn out to protest so he simply allowed Jack to sling his arm over his shoulder, tilting his head to the side to look at Dark, who hadn't moved since the fight ended. Dark stared at him briefly then flew off into the night, nothing but a wisp of pink smoke and blackness. Jack nudged Anti and began to edge forward, slowly helping Anti back into the house.

"I told you to stay in the house," Anti said, his voice breathy and strained. Jack smiled in disbelief and chewed on his lip, effectively ignoring Anti until he got him behind the door and could shut and lock it.

"What was that?" He asked.

"A Pooka," Anti said, grinning tiredly at him. That just made Jack more confused, but instead of pressing Anti for more answers he moved him into the bathroom to clean and bandage his wounds. He had a few small scrapes other than the deep cut on his arm that Jack made sure wouldn't get infected, but they both knew he would be fine. He too could heal quicker than a human, and it would take him only a few days to be completely normal again. Anti then pushed Jack off and went back into his room, actually going to sleep for once.

Jack made sure Anti reached his room okay then walked back down the stairs and sat on the couch, way too full of adrenaline to go back to sleep and scared to go back to his room for fear of being alone in the place where it had all started. He couldn't shake the feeling of being watched and just generally creeped out, though now he knew he was relatively safe when Anti was feeling generous. He felt better about that until he remember the shape Anti was in and sunk lower into his seat. It was going to be a long night, with all of the lights on.

-

The morning light severed through the windows of the living room, shining directly onto Jack's face as he woke up from the sleep he had eventually allowed himself to slip into. He yawned and stretched his arms, listening to his back pop and rubbing his face, stopping to pick at the crust near his eyes. He felt terrible, the restless sleep he had gotten in this awkward position on the couch had been littered with nightmares and echoes of his name. He felt even more tired as well as mildly pissed off. He heard thumps from upstairs, presumably what had woken him up, and soon Anti walked down the stairs. He looked like he had actually gotten sleep and felt better now than he had last night, though it was still obvious that he was lacking the energy he usually had. Anti caught Jack looking and winked at him.

"Sleep well?" Anti said. Jack groaned and shook his head, running a hand through his messy hair. "Oh, did somebody get scared?" Jack glared at him, but didn't respond. He got up and followed Anti into the kitchen.

"Are you gonna explain some things to me now?"

"Nope." Anti said, turning his head and giving Jack a sly smile. He began to put water in their kettle, grabbing two mugs from the cabinet. A chipped black mug for himself and the white mug with a small, floating eyeball painted onto it he knew Jack loved. Jack shoved him in the arm and looked at him expectantly. "Fine. I told you, it was a Pooka."

"Ok, dude, what the actual fuck is a Pooka?"

"Its like a small troll, or a- ah what do you call it?" He snapped his fingers and scrunched up his face.

"Goblin?"

"Yeah, well more of a gremlin. Actually I think its classified as a fairy, but like not a nice one. You know, an evil fairy. Basically it goes around and destroys stuff, destroying the countryside at night."

"Sounds like you."

"That's a compliment. Anyways, I was trying to cause trouble yesterday and we were nearing where that little guy lived so I thought 'hey let's go trick him' but it had some... unforeseen consequences."

"Uh huh. You almost got me killed."

"Hey, you should be thanking me."

"Yeah, cause you got all protective over me," Jack said, pointing a finger at him. Anti cringed and looked down. The screech of the kettle interrupted them and Anti poured the water into his cup, placing a mint teabag in it. Jack reached over and did the same, then the two sat on the counter in their kitchen slowly sipping at their tea and staring tiredly.

"There's gonna be a storm tonight," Anti said, staring out the window, eyes glossed over as if he saw something behind the window that wasn't actually there. Jack looked up at him and nodded, a moment of quiet passing over them.

"So why was it a horse the second time, then?" Jack broke the silence.

"They're also shape shifters. Usually they take on the form of a horse when they go out. They're also known for calling the people in a house by name when they want to take them." Jack stared at his feet, swinging them back and forth and bumping the wood beneath him. It had been a really weird night. There was one last part of the it left unexplained, but he didn't want to push it then.

Anti left shortly after. Once he had finished his tea he stood up and said he was going exploring. Jack knew it would help him decompress and heal quicker. He nodded and called a goodbye as Anti walked out the back door and was gone again. Jack put both cups in the sink, pausing to sigh at the dirty dishes in it, and went to his room to change.

He brushed his teeth and spit into the sink, looking up into his own face. He looked tired, that much was obvious, but he didn't look terrible. He ruffled his hair a few times before giving up and throwing on a snapback that had been lying on his drawer. He searched the floor for his favorite pair of black jeans, slid them on, and begun his search for a comfortable shirt that was at least semi-clean. He ended up with a plain grey hoodie he found hidden in his closet and took out his phone, lying back on his bed.

Jack: Meet me at the diner for a late breakfast?

He sent a text to Mark. Within a few minutes a reply came in.

Mark: Yeah, how soon?

Jack: I'm getting in the car right now.

Mark: Sure you are.

Jack smiled to himself and picked himself up off his bed. He took one last look in the mirror, readjusting his hat once more, then hopped down the stairs and out the door to his car. Town was only ten minutes away, so it wasn't a long drive, but he never went anywhere without music so he took a moment to plug his phone in and queue up some songs. He sang loudly and drove down the road, tapping his hands on the steering wheel to the beat.

Soon enough he was in front of the small diner they were lucky enough to have. He looked around quickly for Mark's car and found it with ease in the same spot he always took. Jack got out and locked his car, sticking his phone, wallet, and keys into his pocket. He walked in the door, the little bell chiming above him, and was met with a familiar pair of brown eyes. He moved into the seat opposite of Mark at their usual table and took a deep breath.

"Hey. I got stuck behind the slowest fucking person, sorry," he said.

"Oh yeah, of course," Mark said, rolling his eyes playfully and smiling happily at him. "So, what's up?"

Jack's smiled faltered for a second, of which Mark caught and immediately began to worry. "Lot's of shit to talk about dude. Been one hell of a night."

"What happened? You're okay?"

"I'm fine, just a bit spooked." Jack laughed, but Mark just raised his eyebrows. Jack explained what had happened the night before to him, trying his best to make it comprehensible with all the tangents they went off on. Mark looked slightly shocked about Jack's safety, but he knew this sort of thing wasn't that uncommon. Every few months or so Jack would come to him with some crazy new story about what Anti had done to him this time. He was glad, at least, for the fact that Dark never did anything like that to him, though for the most part Dark didn't much interact with him at all.

"Was it worse than the time you almost got eaten by a giant worm because Anti stole your hat and hid it in that cave?" Mark asked.

"Yes! It was fuckin' creepy, okay. Imagine someone standing below your window in the middle of the night calling your name."

"I think you've done that to me before," Mark said, laughing. Jack opened his mouth to say something, but instead just leaned over and hit Mark in the arm.

"Don't patronize me." They paused to order their breakfast, and Jack looked at his hands nervously. The waitress nodded before smiling and walking away, promising to be back soon. "Anti didn't, uh, he didn't... beat it on his own." Mark looked over at him with a surprised look on his face, before his eyes narrowed. He could see the answer to his own question within Jack's eyes.

"Dark?" He said softly, for confirmation. Jack nodded, watching Mark closely. Mark leaned back in his seat and mulled it over.

"I don't get it. Not in all the time we've known them have they ever shown anything but hatred for one another."

"Yeah, but if you think about it, they age just like us. There's 20 years of their lives that we have no clue about."

"You think they knew each other before?"

"I don't know I've been thinking about it. It's possible. They're born exactly like us, right? Aside from a few things like the eyes and wings and stuff. That much I've gotten from Anti, or at least from visions and shit. Well, if the circumstances were right, it would possible for them to meet the same people."

"So they were friends, just like us?"

"It's a possibility," Jack said. Mark let out a deep breath and pulled at the hair at the back of his neck.

"If that were true, what happened?"

"I don't know, but I definitely don't think they were expecting to see each other again when they were sent to us."

"What's different now?"

"Maybe it was just circumstance. Fuck, I have no idea." Jack placed his hand flat on the table away from his body. There was no making sense of it, not without the information neither demon was willing to give. Mark reached out and played with his fingers, fingertips softly brushing along his knuckles.

"Hey, its alright. Don't stress too much," he said. The waitress returned to their table and set pancakes down in front of both of them, Mark's plain and Jack's with chocolate chips in them. The two grinned excitedly and dug in, talking about much lighter subjects in between bites. It had only been a day or so since they last saw each other, but there were always things to talk about. When they had finished they got up, paid, and walked outside of the shop. They went side by side down the sidewalk, reaching Mark's car first. Mark shivered and looked around.

"I think it's gonna rain," he said.

"Anti said that too. I hope its not bad." Mark nodded absentmindedly.

"Yeah, stay safe out there."

"I'll be fine, you doof," Jack said, laughing.

"You wanna come over to my place for a bit?" Mark said.

"Yeah sure, I'll meet you there, okay?"

"Mhm, bye." Jack walked over to his own car and got in, leaning his head back on the headrest and closing his eyes. He was still really tired.