Chapter 1
The sound of a door slam echoed through a house, so alike to the other ones surrounding it, followed shortly by mumbled swears and the footsteps of several people. The Dursley family stepped into the warm house, with five year old Harry Potter trailing in quietly after them. Vernon, a man akin to a fat walrus, was still grumbling about getting caught in a downpour, while Dudley, his son who looked like a baby whale even at five, whined about the rain ruining his trip to the amusement park. Petunia, Dudley’s mother, who looked like a hybrid between a giraffe and a horse, was wearing an unpleasant look as she hung up everyone's coat. She turned to the last one coming inside, Harry, after she finished.
"Boy, hurry up and get changed," she ordered before heading upstairs to put her purse away.
Harry, who hadn’t even been given a simple jacket, was soaked down to the bone. He went into his room, the cupboard under the stairs, and emerged a few minutes later in dry, though very large, clothing. His aunt came back downstairs and dragged him into the kitchen by his arm. “Even if Dudley-kins day at the park was ruined, you are still going to cook this.” She pulled out half of a thawed pig and practically shoved it into the small boy’s hands. “And if you even singe it, you’ll be back in the cupboard for a week!” The small boy meekly nodded, “Yes Aunt Petunia,” and had to practically drag the large swine into the sink.
While he was rinsing it off and removing the pieces that his aunt said “was too disgusting to eat”, Harry almost swore he saw a figure out in the storm, but that couldn’t be right. Who would be out in the rain at this time of the evening? Shaking his head, the malnourished boy continued preparing the ham, lest one of his family members come in and accuse him of slacking off. Rinsing, seasoning, and removing the swine’s head, it took all of the five year old’s strength to actually get it into the oven, which by that time had heated up, burning his arms. Turning back towards the sink (Aunt Petunia would throw a fit about it being unsanitary if he didn’t clean the mess that cooking the fat pig had left), Harry began to gather up all the leftover meat. (Petunia was disgusted at the fact that people used the bloody organs, for things like soup.) He was distracted however, at a familiar sound at the window. Peeking out he nearly fell over again. It was the figure from before! Only this time, he (at least Harry thought it was a he) was right by the window.
While most children would freak out about “stranger danger,” young Harry was never taught this; the Dursleys hoping someone would kidnap him out of their perfectly normal and not freakish lives. So, upon seeing the figure whom he had assumed was the one who’s stomach he had heard growling, Harry simply tilted his head. The man copied his head tilt, the blue mask with gaping black eye sockets catching the light. Harry had to hold back giggles; if Uncle Vernon or Aunt Petunia heard him laughing they’d be mad (freaks weren’t allowed to be happy like normal humans, according to his relatives) After all, being copied by an adult was something a five year old would find funny, and Harry, for once, was acting similar to his age. “BOY!” Harry almost jumped at his uncle’s voice. “You better not be lollygagging in there!” Harry almost flinched. “No sir. I’m cleaning the sink now!”
Harry sighed in relief at his uncle’s grunt, but him not coming into the kitchen told Harry all he needed to know. Looking back out at the window, Harry blinked. The man was still there, with his head tilted questioningly and the window open. Oh! Glancing at the organs (brains, eyes, livers, kidneys, etc) on the counter, Harry scooped them up and held them out towards him. “Here.. ‘ts not much…” The five year old whispered, listening out for one of his family members approach. Thankfully, none of them came. “Sorry I can’t give you somethin’ cooked…” The man shook his head, giving the boy a smile, which Harry could see, as the mask was lifted slightly to expose (now bloody) sharp teeth. Harry’s eyes widened as the man reached inside and ruffled his hair like he had seen parents and siblings do at the park. However, Harry was soon distracted when the oven gave a ding to show that the pig was now done. When he looked back at the window, the man was gone, with only the window being open showing that Harry hadn’t imagined it.
Harry was awoken by screaming and sobbing. Before he could even wonder what was going on, he was dragged by his uncle out of his room, the cupboard under the stairs, into the living room, and then into the car. Harry dared not speak, in case it drew attention to himself as they were driven to the hospital. Once there, they gained some shocking news, all of them, save for Harry, were missing a kidney. At first, the Dursleys blamed Harry who insisted multiple times that he did nothing, before the police came in and questioned if they had seen a man with a blue mostly faceless mask, save for black eye holes. Thankfully, they weren’t paying attention to Harry’s shocked look, as they were more interested in Dudley crying that he had thought he had seen something like that, but had thought it to be a dream. (Harry called bullshit) That led to Petunia hugging him and sobbing about her “poor baby,” and for Vernon to grudgingly accept that Harry had no part in whatever freakish thing did this to them.
Of course, when asked the difference between where Harry and them had slept, as the small boy was unharmed, the Dursleys bluffed that Harry’s room was downstairs and not in main sight of the door. The police simply assumed that the man, Eyelless Jack, had entered either through a second-floor window, or the door, and had simply not known that Harry had been there as well. Harry knew the truth however. Jack had known he was there, and had chosen to not go after him.
When the Dursleys were released from the hospital, and sent home, Vernon almost instantly bought and installed locks for every door and window (including one for the basement and cellar). The main change however, was that Harry was made to sleep in the living room at night, as the Dursleys believed that he could act as a distraction if the “ eyelessfreak came back.” Harry withheld showing his joy. Jack had already shown he held no interest in taking his organs, and Harry would be able to actually get food and something besides his allotted one cup of water per day! Though now, Dudley was downright insufferable. Sure at the Dursleys’ house he was terrified that “Jack would come back for him,” and started sleeping in his parents’ room, but at school he continued to brag and show off his “battle scar” to his “friends.” Really, who had a gang at five?!
Sadly for Harry, he happened to be their favorite victim, and the teachers always believed them over him when he tried to tell them what happened. So here he was, running from the other boys who had, during recess, decided it was time for some “Harry Hunting.” Harry had never been so glad that he was quicker than they were. However, Harry, while fast, was still one child, malnourished and constantly beaten into submission, against several well fed boys, whom had coraled him towards the forest near the park. Usually this wouldn’t have been a problem, but it seemed that young Harry had taken a wrong turn, and in his haste tripped over a root over a ridge, tumbling down a hill. Dudley and the others soon followed.
Harry was thankful that his baby whale of a cousin didn’t land on him, as he was already nearly unconscious from the pain. Blood was dripping from his mouth, and as he pawed at his shoulder he found some sort of branch piercing it. Whimpering slightly, as Dudley and the others were now getting up with groans, Harry prayed to whatever was out there that he wouldn’t die. “Whoa, dude, look at the freak!” Piers called to the others. Dudley looked disgusted at the sight, but made no move to help his cousin. “C’mon guys, let’s go. No one will notice if the freak doesn’t come back to school.” Dudley was an idiot, and didn’t realize that a, Harry was hurt pretty badly (he had cracked a few ribs during the fall and the branch was piercing part of his collarbone), and b, cops were already watching their street and would notice a missing kid.
Whimpering as the boys disappeared from his sight, Harry almost missed the footsteps approaching him. As his vision began to swim, a pair of worn sneakers entered the edges. The five year old groaned as the one wearing the sneakers placed their hand on his chest. “Don’t move… hurt…” The figure’s voice was raspy and deep, showing that the guy didn’t speak often. Harry let out a cry, scrunching his eyes close as the man lifted him off of the branch. “Sh…” The man wrapped Harry up in the hoodie he had been wearing before picking him up. Holding the unconscious boy to his chest, the now revealed Eyeless Jack withheld a growl. The boy who hadn’t been afraid of him and had started leaving out food for him was way to small and fragile.
If the small child wasn’t so hurt, Jack would have taken care of the boy’s so-called relatives right then and there. However, as it was, the child his demon side had unintentionally claimed as his own was hurt, and had been abused. Jack adjusted his grip on the five year old, being careful not to jostle him too much, and opened the door to the house he was using at the moment. Honestly, he was more than a little surprised that the police hadn’t found him. After all, there were only so many abandoned/unused houses in the area. Letting out a sigh, the brunette gently set the small (too small!) boy onto the couch and going for his med kit. The kid, Harry, he believed was his name, would have to not move too much until at least his ribs healed and preferably his collarbone. Jack sighed. Why had his demonic instincts claimed the boy as his goddammit?!