#zerothoughts13

Marvin gritted his teeth, extending his arms once again to unleash the full force of his powers on the locked door, separating him from his youngest brother. Swirling green magic erupted from his fingers, pounding into the door and causing it to shake within its frame, but there it remained. 

With a grunt, he halted the spell, bending over and panting, the continuous barrage of magic had taken a lot out of him, and seemingly nothing from the door, he thought wryly. 

“Fucking focus”, he muttered to himself. “Jamie needs you in there”. He had come home to find his brother now where to be seen, only the light on and muffled sobbing had alerted him to his presence. Jamie had locked himself in there, and was not responding to his calls. 

Manual force it is! Grimacing, he readied his shoulder, squaring up to the door before ramming into it, hard. Amazingly he felt a minuscule give. Bolstered by this progress, Marvin continued to slam into the hardwood structure, until one final shove, partnered with a tactical shot of magic straight to the lock, caused it to burst open. 

Startled, Marvin stumbled into the room, sprawling on the floor and smacking his head on the tiles. He groaned and pulled himself to his knees, but quickly froze again at the sight before him. 

The tiled walls were covered in tally marks, dark red streaks lining the surfaces, the walls, the ceiling, the floor. They looped and curled, forming concentric circles which blurred and merged with each other, and seemed, the longer he stared at them, to be moving. Squinting his eyes, it looked as if the larger shapes formed new, entirely unknown symbols, entrapping them in a dark cell, with even the window covered with the markings. Was it, blood? He wasn’t sure if he wanted to know. 

Sitting in the centre, barefoot and shaking, was Jamie. Head down and curled into himself, Marvin could hear him breathing, short, sharp inhales which only served to exacerbate his panic. He had the horrible feeling that if JJ could make a noise, he would have been screaming. 

As soon as he reached JJ, Marvin tentatively put a hand on his shoulder, willing him to look up. “Jamie-” he spoke, softly, taking some comfort in that the other didn’t pull away, “What is this? Are you okay?”. 

JJ kept his head down, but Marvin was relieved to feel his breathing evening out somewhat. A movement in his hand’s caught his eye, and a moment passed before he realised his brother was signing something. “I think-” Marvin muttered, speaking the words aloud as his brother made them. “I think- I’m going, crazy?” he breathed, watching as the movements repeated. Over and over. 

“I think I’m going crazy. I think I’m going crazy. I think I’m going crazy. I think I’m going crazy. I think I’m going crazy. I think I’m going crazy. I think I’m going crazy. I think I’m going crazy. I think I’m going crazy.”

Concern and anxiety coursing through his veins, Marvin grabbed JJ’s shoulder, forcing his head up to look him in the eye for the first time. A slack jaw greeted him, an unfocused gaze, and blank eyes filled with static. 

“What did he do to you, Jamie?”, choked out Marvin, unable to meet his brother’s gaze, as he continued to sign the same words, over and over again. 

“I think I’m going crazy. I think I’m going crazy. I think I’m going crazy. I think I’m going crazy. I think I’m going crazy-