Chapter Text
The forest was... Dense, to say the least.
It's been a few minutes, heck maybe even hours since Jacob has arrived in such a place. His brain buzzed, confused and even scared. Even if he had a shotgun, it did not change the aching, primal fear that rooted in his bones. Questions filled his mind; he remembered the shotgun going off... The way he was so glad to finally be able to have a chance to see his 'father' again.
Is this where he was truly at? Was it? I mean, if it was... Jacob's 'father' would have already called with that familiar tone of his.
Was this some afterlife, a dream? No... Right, I mean if it was. Why does this all feel so real? The primal fear, the shotgun he holds to his chest. The density and fogginess of the forest, and each sound and step felt real.
Jacob kept his eyes peeled for any threats; a forest like this was sure to have some. But it was surprising; the only noise he heard was himself, the pumping through is veins full of adrenaline, the crunch of his boots against the cruel forest's floors.
Jacob wanted, and it even slightly felt like a need, to call for his 'father.' But every tensed muscle in his body screamed at him not to. Who knows, maybe... What if a threat heard? Sure, even if that shotgun could blow an entity's brains out. He would rather not risk it.
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Now it's at this point probably been hours. Adrenaline stopped clawing at Jacob's bones, and instead awake exhaustion. Jacob's form was now slump; the shotgun felt like it weighed 20 more pounds than it did just mere hours ago. Eyebags formed; the sun was just about to set. And Jacob had nowhere to go...
Nothing but dense forest, although the fog got way weaker than it did before, so maybe that was the right step? Despite that, exhaustion and hunger clung to Jacob's tired body, begging for at least a break.
But Jacob knew better than to listen; even a short break could leader to disaster.
So Jacob kept walking and walking, hoping and praying to find anyone that was friendly, maybe even his 'father?' but at this point... Even Jacob slightly doubted his father was here. That thought made his heart drop even more than it already was.
The memory of what Jacob did to himself was sharp in his mind, like a parasite. The shotgun, the click. And then, the black. The dark, Jacob thought he would see his 'dad.' But now, he was nowhere to be found, and the back of his mind still slightly had a buzzing sensation, as if a cruel reminder of what Jacob did.
Every thought of the incident Jacob tried to shut down, even if it did not work half of the time. Jacob had better things to do than to remember; he had to focus on finding shelter, finding something that was not green and forest.
Jacob had to find something; otherwise, Jacob would die yet again.
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Jacob almost lost hope. At this point Jacob stopped carrying the shotgun, putting it back on the holster on his back. Jacob's knees felt like they were about to give out after all the traveling, all the running and all the caution. He had been walking and the sun was almost down, even if Jacob did not know nighttime had extreme danger to it, Jacob already knew nighttime would lower his odds of survival.
Just not in the way he was thinking. No, something far more dangerous waited when the sun set, and the moon showed its head.
Eventually, Jacob finally found hope, it was just where the fog and the forest ended, there in the distance lay a home, it looked like those happy homes you would see in a Roblox build, but Jacob was desperate for shelter, for warmth.
Anything not to be out in the dark, anything not to be swallowed whole by whatever lay awake in the night. Not today, not ever again.
Jacob practically ran to the house, legs feeling like they could give out any second now, body aching and begging for rest and food. Tears already filled Jacob's eyes, heck what if his 'father' was here too?
By the time Jacob reached the doorstep, his knees already gave out. He caught himself on the door, body shaking of agony after the running, he took a few minutes to just breathe... 'In and out, in and out...' Jacob repeated in his head until his breathing relaxed enough to function.
Jacob rose to his knees, standing fully to knock on the door. He smiled slightly, not genuine. Just trying to seem more... Welcoming, a more hopeful chance at getting inside.
But no answer came. Not even a mutter, a shuffle from the house. Jacob grumbled, but kept the smile up, knocking once more, this time speaking for what felt like ages. "Hey... Uh, excuse me? is anyone there? I just need a place for shelter, I swear I don't mean any harm..!" Jacob said cautiously, this voice cracking and sounding off on several occasions, it made Jacob cringe a bit.
Still, no response. Jacob's eyebrows slightly furrowed, the smile gone. Even if it was never real in the first place. He just assumed the house was abandoned, and so Jacob turned the knob, expecting the door to be locked.
A click came from the door, Jacob could just open it... Strange, but Jacob could not complain one bit.
Jacob went inside, pulling his shotgun to his chest in case of any sudden dangers he may have to shoot. Each step of his boots let out a tiny creak from the floorboard, the happy home looked pretty plain. But, liveable, that's all that Jacob cared about. There lay about everything you would expect, a kitchen, living room, a hallway that led to the bathroom and a bedroom.
Jacob lightly smiled, not letting his guard down, still keeping the shotgun tightly to his chest, searching and checking every room for somebody that may be in the house, but nobody is here.
At last, Jacob put the shotgun back on the holster on his back, but still not putting his guard down. Not yet, and definitely not for a while.
But at the same time, Jacob was tired and the night was already here. So, with safety, Jacob locked the doors, slipped in the bedroom and finally... Finally let a tiny bit of his guard down, hitting his body on the bed, putting his shotgun right by the bed and letting the world turn black. Even if it was just for a moment.
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☆(3 DAY TIMESKIP! SWITCHING PERSPECTIVES OVER TO MATT)☆
Matt did not even register where he was, the burning sensation of his throat from Zack's hands lingered more than the world around him ever could. Matt held his neck in shock, curled up in the fetus position on some flowers in the forest. Trying not to burst into complete tears.
Everything seemed loud, so loud and overwhelming. The forest was quiet like usual, time from time some rustling could be heard. But Matt was caught up in his own spiral, the words from Zack and his action...
Was Zack even Matt's friend? Why would he do something like that? Matt thought Zack and him where having fun, why did it turn so bad all of a sudden? Did he do something to trigger Zack?
The burning on Matt's throat did not help, felt like someone lighted a fire in Matt's mouth. At least the flowers he was laying on where nic-
WAIT, Matt nearly jumped, flowers? where was Matt? he looked around and fear grew more in Matt's core.
He was in a forest, it was quite foggy in fact, it seemed to stretch on for miles.
Matt froze in confusion, shock and horror. In a forest, alone with no weapons... Matt quivered, shaking in fear as he looked around, but everything was the same. Trees. Fog. Bushes. That was it, just an endless amount of those (plus leaves n stuff...) everywhere.
Matt pressed his hands close to his head, closing his eyes to stop tears from falling. At this point he started to feel dizzy from the fog and the overwhelming sensation of everything, plus what Zack did to Matt still stuck fresh in Matt's mind, clinging onto the brain.
But Matt forced himself to move, sure he was overwhelmed. But he was fast, very fast. Matt's hands drifted from his head to his sides, running to test the boundaries, Matt figured the farther he got away from the fog, the better.
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And so, that's what Matt did. He ran far enough to the point were the fog was way less dense, only problem is Matt nearly ran and never really took a break. So, he was exhausted, to the point where Matt could have sworn it ached every part of his bones.
Matt sat down near a tree slowly; the sun had begun to set at this point. Every noise from a bush, every crunch startled Matt out of his drowsiness if only for a second, before he continued to lean against the tree with a tired expression; probably about to doze off.
It finally felt like, after all this time he could just slightly breath from his spiral from earlier, even if the memories of what happened between Zack and him where fresh in Matt's mind. He tried to shove those thoughts aside, for it only made Matt's throat burn more.
And then... He heard another noise come from nearby.
It did not sound like an animal, much heavier. Like a person, Matt froze there. Glancing from the tree he hid behind to see what it was...
It was a person holding a shotgun. They wore a scarf, A light purple sweater, the sleeves having a darker purple sleeve's and indigo pants. Man, this person really liked purple... Whatever it may be, Matt's breath hitched, they had a shotgun... Could have this been private property? Where they a threat?
But Matt kept his curious head poking out to long, for the person with the shotgun noticed. Now they both froze there, one looking at the other, waiting for someone to make a move. If Matt was one thing, he probably should have bolted by now. But his brain was... Fuzzy.
So, the person made the move first, approaching with caution, not pointing the shotgun. Not yet, Matt does not appear to be a threat, but they keep the shotgun close to there chest, Matt decided to pully come out of the tree, forming a weary smile.
"Hey... Uh, sir?" Matt spoke, his voice slightly cracking from the lack of use, which made them both slightly cringe. "I swear I mean no harm; I don't have a weapon on me. I'm just lost, where are we?"
The person's head tilted, not lowering their guard. But lighting there grip on the shotgun. "If I'm going to be honest with you, I'm just about clueless as you. Only place I know that's out of the forest is some house." The person cleared there throat, curious.
"So, what's your name? I'm Jacob." The person, or Jacob put their shotgun in their holster on their back. Reaching out there hand for a handshake, a slight ghost of a smile on his face.
"O-oh. I'm Matt! So nice to know you!" Matt exclaimed excitedly, immediately taking Jacob's hand and shaking it. Matt's expression went from cautious to overjoyed, happy to meet a person after hours.
But the sun was about to set, night was just around the corner. Jacob knew what came out of the dark at that point, and it was ugly. He would not even wish for someone to get mauled by these creatures on his worst enemies.
"Look, uh... Matt. I'm going to be honest, you do NOT want to be out here in the night, and I only know one house around here, what about you come with me? The house has plenty of things you need." Jacob said, hushing his voice down as if it was some sort of secret.
Matt tilted their head, wanting to ask questions.. It all seemed suspicious, but Matt was to overjoyed to meet this person, plus. Jacob probably knew a lot more than Matt. "Oh! Okay then, I can stay with you, must be something horrible out there.." Matt hushed there voice down to, not really for any reason.
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It was fully night now, Jacob and Matt arrived to the house, with Matt peeking out the window, weird black entitles lumbered around the house, one looking quite odd with deer antlers, a very tall figure with claws on its hands, and a type of robe.
The other entity looked like Skeet, but was fully black, with a imp like tail and imp horns. It almost looked like Skeet's Roblox skin, which was probably the least strange thing considering Matt himself looked like his Roblox skin as well.
Matt kept staring through the window, Jacob didn't seem to mind. He was on the couch, keeping an eye out for the little boy. He still kept his shotgun with him, Jacob wouldn't dare to even keep it out of reach.
"You should try going to sleep, Matt." Jacob said quietly, fear of scaring Matt was enough to make his brain subconsciously keep it down. Matt turned to Jacob, an awkward smile on his face.
"Yeah well... I don't think i exactly can... After everything that happened today. This feels like a dream if I'm going to be honest." Jacob let out a huff, a smile creeping up on his face as he stared at Matt.
"I thought the same thing, ive been here for about 3 days. If this really is a dream it's a damn near long one. But seriously, go to bed. There's a bedroom down the hall. I'll keep an eye out tonight."
A frown formed on Matt's face, but he nodded sadly regardless. He stood up, glancing at the window one last time. An entity looked like it stared back, but continued to walk around.
"Okay... Night, Jacob. I hope this is a dream i suppose."
"Goodnight, Matt."