Chapter Text
Joshua McHeath prided himself on being a lot. He was a man of many descriptors. There were the objective traits, the ones that everyone could see, like that he stood at a solid seventy two inches. He had red hair, his face was covered in tiny freckles, his eyes were hazel. Joshua was born and raised in Foxmoor, Ohio. His waist size was thirty one inches.
Then, there were the subjective descriptors, the ones that were what other people thought about him. Joshua was talkative, he was stupid, he was annoying, according to his peers. He was a handsome young man according to his mother. He was below average according to his high school GPA, above average according to his SAT score, and a really good guesser according to his guidance counselor. He was a Chad and a sigma male, or so he thought anyway, even if no one else did. In summary, he was a himbo, he was filled with nescience, and he was the personification of those just too-bright motel signs that you can see from the highway.
No one said that all of his descriptors were good. In fact, most of his traits were associated with negativity. But Joshua didn’t care because he loved himself. That was all that mattered right? His glorious ego triumphed over all of the hostility he faced from the world, including the terrible comments he got from his peers. His brain was heavily armored in that love; it was so smooth that every negative thing people could say just slid right off of it.
At the end of the day, Joshua knew that he was like a birthday clown. Sure, people made fun of him, and sure, they had every right to. He had silly jokes and tricks and most of the time, people were laughing at him rather than with him, but that was fine. People liked him for it, he meant, who else were they going to call for a terrible joke when they were having a bad day? Some people might even say they loved him for it. He was the life of the party and he knew that.
And that was why Joshua was so confused as to why he was sitting alone during one of the very few breaks that counselors had. He knew that the other counselors liked him well enough, but he just couldn’t help but wonder if there was something else going on. It wasn’t as though Joshua was missing out on anything though, he had a lot of personality and could absolutely keep himself entertained for the hour of solitude.
Or at least he thought he could. It took him about five minutes for Joshua to get bored and for his thoughts to wander.
For someone as unreasonably confident as Joshua, these moments of self reflection were rare. It wasn’t like he wanted this self reflection either; he would never even think about making a list of his traits if it weren’t for the conditions that led up to it. There was just something about the bright emerald sky that shone overhead, the welcoming eyes of countless woodland creatures watching him, and the radioactive blue sand beneath his feet that dragged him into the desert that he called his own mind.
Camp Here and There may be scary to most people, but no one could deny its beauty. With the blinding sun that never stopped shining, (literally, they had someone go blind two years ago) how could people that come here be anything but cheery and bright? With the lovely chorus of birds that sung out your personalized day of death and the trees that seemed to be staring at you from four different angles, how could you ever be lonely? With the plethora of bones, guts, and carcasses laying around camp, how could anyone choose not to be lively? Some could even say that it was more colorful than most camps, with the fluorescent lake and tri-colored. In spite of the fact that he seemed to be thinking for once in his sheltered life, Joshua smiled up at those weirdly pink clouds. Today was a good day. And on good days, it didn't take long before the warm summer breeze took his mind to other places, or more specifically, to other people.
Joshua had a multitude of traits, to the point where he couldn’t even remember most of the items on his trait list. But as he stood and stared at the hazy Unknowable Object that floated over the surface of the lake, (not for too long of course, he wasn’t a complete idiot) there was one trait that Joshua realized he never was: a man of mystery. Perhaps that's what intrigued him so much about Jedididah Martin.
Joshua thought that he was relatively normal, but he definitely felt he was too unique for opposites. However, if he had to pick one person to be his polar opposite, he believed that the opposite version of himself would be Jedediah Martin. The shaggy haired man had appeared out of nowhere, saying that he was the assistant nurse. Well, it was either that or Joshua was really bad at paying attention to the people around him, which wasn’t exactly a far-fetched concept.
The point still stood, though: nobody knew a single thing about Jedidiah, and that wasn’t even an exaggeration. Joshua had quite literally talked to every counselor and was met with the exact answers that he thought he would get. “Joshua, not the time.” Some counselors said. “Joshua, leave me alone,” other counselors insisted. “Joshua, did you just abandon your kids? Lucille is going to actually murder you.” A few of them cried. But most importantly, no one had a real answer for Joshua. No one knew where he came from, why he was here, why any of them trusted him, or why no one questioned him.
The other counselors didn’t give Joshua straight answers about the origin story of Jedidiah, which made Jedidiah so much more suspicious in Joshua’s eyes.
Some counselors eventually insisted that they knew where he had come from. Jedidiah had been going to the camp with them since they were little, same thing with the school. All of them had been going to this school and camp since they were younger, but if anything, that made it even creepier, in Joshua’s detective eyes.
Even if they knew where Jedidiah came from or why he was hired, it was creepy that they knew barely anything else about him. It was the fact that no one knew anything about him other than the basic details that bugged him. They knew his first and last name, and that he was an “assistant nurse”, but nothing else about him.
Maybe Lucille had more information on record, but despite the fact that they grew up together, went to the same school, camp, and college, Joshua had never even seen Jedidiah’s family. Joshua didn’t even know Jedidiah’s middle name, what his favorite color was, what the first experience he had with the supernatural was, or any other sort of basic information about him.
The only thing that Joshua actually knew about Jedidiah was that he was always in the nurses building, never seeming to leave or talk to anyone besides Sydney. For all Joshua knew, Jedidiah was a robot that was programmed and run by Sydney. And that wasn’t even feasible! Technology of any sorts, including robots, didn’t work at camp. He would know. He had tried it.
Joshua realized he was pacing at this point. The sand was flying through his favorite neon orange crocs, showing up as little clouds in the air around him. If it wasn’t for his bright and sparkly personality, he may have been taken for a madman.
Joshua took a deep breath, trying to get back into the calm and collected Joshua that everyone loved. He slowly walked himself to the edge of the faded wooden deck, dipping his legs into the gentle waters of the multicolored lake.
He silently took out his lucky pen and started to doodle on his wrist, a habit that he had had since he was young. Adults had always told him that one day he was going to get ink poisoning because of it, but his legs were currently submerged in bacteria infested water, so he didn’t think it was the biggest of his concerns.
This was exactly why Joshua didn’t like being alone. Being alone forced him to not do anything. He couldn’t propose his very flawed ideas or get into pointless debates with people. He couldn’t play real sports and he didn’t see the point of playing sports without the competition. Everything he loved was done with other people, and being alone meant that he had to actually listen to that voice in his head. Joshua didn’t like thinking and he didn’t care that not liking thinking made him dumb. They called it ignorant bliss for a reason, did they not?
Perhaps this was why Joshua was so unsettled by Jedidiah. Jedidiah was constantly in the nurses building, as Joshua previously noted. Not only that, but he had his own office where he was in complete isolation. Joshua couldn’t stand the silence or being alone for longer than five minutes, so how could someone tolerate being stuck inside the labyrinth of silence, with no escape in sight, for their entire lives? Joshua did not get it. It just didn’t seem natural in any way.
People would call Joshua annoying or too chatty or other terms, and honestly, he agreed. He wished that he could. It wasn’t like he was going to cry about it or anything. He wasn’t Juniper, for God’s sakes. But sometimes he did wish that he could tolerate being alone. Maybe then he wouldn’t have to beg people to be around him and maybe then, people would actually want to stick around him.
Regardless of his desires, Joshua wasn’t the type of person who could tolerate it. He needed to be around people all the time. He could never do what Jedidiah did, that was for sure.
Joshua thought that was why he didn’t even question it when he saw the silhouette at the edge of the lake. He was so focused on the fact that a living, breathing human being was finally near him. The end of the solitude was in sight for Joshua, and that’s all that mattered to him.
Joshua didn’t look up. He was so excited that someone was actually coming within hearing range of him that he didn’t care who it was.
In fact, he didn’t even notice that the man that was approaching him was the elephant man until the drawing on his wrist formed two big ears, two sharp tusks, a trunk. It was then that his last two brain cells left were able to make a connection: this was the creepy elephant man that was terrorizing people throughout camp.
The man in the pink mask was now behind him, at the other end of the dock. Joshua quickly looked around for an escape route, but there was nowhere for him to go. On both sides of Joshua was the rainbow colored lake, and in front of him was also the lake. Joshua could swim, but he had his priorities. He was wearing his favorite laughing emoji tracksuit top and his best pair of cargo shorts: there was no way that he was going to ruin them by letting the lake bacteria tie-dye them.
So, Joshua decided to turn himself away from the other side of the dock, so there was no way that the elephant man could touch him. As the footsteps of the elephant man echoed across the lake, he pivoted his legs to the other side and made it so his back was turned away from the elephant man. This worked well for a solid four seconds before the dreaded elephant man sat right besides Joshua. Joshua tried not to look at him. He knew the effects that seemed to come from looking at him, if they were correct. Still, he couldn’t hold back his own temptations, or in this case, curiosity.
It was obvious how the elephant man had gotten his name, even to someone like Joshua. He was wearing a pink elephant mask and it looked as though it had been pulled right out of a comic book. What Joshua didn’t quite understand was what was up with the wizard cloak. The man was draped in a purple cloak with silver stars that glittered in the sunlight. Joshua didn’t get what the purpose for this was or why he was wearing some cheap wizard cloak in the middle of Summer anyways.
More than that, what Joshua didn’t understand at all was his inability to look away. He was captivated by the elephant man, as though the elephant man had an attachment to him. Joshua knew that this man was dangerous and that he needed to get away, but he just.. Couldn’t. If anything, Joshua wanted to get closer to him, which was what all the common sense in his brain was telling him not to do.
Joshua felt as though he had known this man for years, like he was a good friend or family. He felt as though he knew the elephant man, which was completely bonkers; even Joshua recognized that. There was something about that pink mask that comforted him, just like the soft clouds that looked like pillows that floated overhead.
Then, the elephant man took off his mask, and the feelings Joshua had exponentially grew. The elephant man had a cheshire cat smile, a mop of blonde hair, and some sharp, perfectly straight teeth. Joshua felt his face heat up and felt as though he had a fly stuck in his throat, but yet, he could not stop looking at the, er, “beautiful” man in front of him.
Joshua was not typically the fall in love at first sight kind of guy, which was what terrified him. Immediately after seeing the elephant lover from the woods, Joshua felt as though he needed to get close to him. He wanted, or really felt like he needed to be the elephant man’s best friend, or preferably more. Joshua had sudden visions of him and the elephant man eloping off to Norway, where Joshua wore his full laughing emoji tracksuit complete with a laughing emoji mask and the elephant man wore his signature mask and gown. It was the first time that the reverend had done a wedding quite like that and it was only a vision, but it was perfect nevertheless.
Joshua didn’t even believe in marriage, but here he was, planning out their whole wedding. He could definitely be put on the “desperate” spectrum, but his desperation never rose to levels that were so extreme. He had never had feelings so severe so quickly towards anyone, not even actually hot people.
Logically, none of this made sense, even Joshua knew that. Still though, no matter how much Joshua wanted to look away, he could not pry his eyes away from the elephant man. As his eyes gazed over the elephant man’s aqua eyes, lustrous blonde hair, and dazzling ivory teeth, he couldn’t help but wonder if he was laying eyes on the most attractive person to walk the planet. Joshua’s eyes were glued to the man, and he believed they would continue to be for as long as Joshua could still see him.
Even in this altered state of mind, Joshua knew he was someone who felt emotions in full effect. What if he wasn’t that type of person? What if he was someone who hid their emotions, or quite possibly didn’t feel emotions at all?
“Do you take requests?” Joshua squeaked out, his voice wavering as he looked into the empty, blue eyes of the charming creep on the left side of him.
As the eerily tranquil man began to nod and a smile formed on his disgustingly wet lips, Joshua thought about the next words that he should say. “Do.. you know where the nurse’s building is?” He questioned.
The elephant man nodded again, smile deepening. “I’m aware of where it is, yes.” He replied in a light Russian accent.
Joshua nodded along with him, still not being able to stop the connection he felt. “Well, would you.. Um, there’s a guy that lives there. Glasses, like, half your height, lab coat, his name is Jedidiah Martin. Would you be able to, uh, pay him a visit?” Joshua, the notoriously loud and obnoxious, offered up a shy smile to the elephant man, hoping that may sway his decision in his favor.
This seemed to be just the question that he was looking for. The elephant man didn’t “respond” exactly, but he did look at Joshua for a while, holding that same, weird grin. “Of course.” The elephant man replied, smirk not fading. He gently lowered his mask while Joshua watched him, still enthralled. “Until I see you again.” The elephant man whispered to Joshua, as he got up into a standing position. The elephant man then waved his spindly, sharp fingers at Joshua, wishing him farewell as he slinked back into the dark woods, where he planned his plot against Jedidiah Martin.
As the elephant man left, two feelings fell over Joshua; one a feeling of freedom, and the other a feeling of loneliness. Joshua couldn’t help but sigh in relief as he realized he was back to his normal state. He had no more screwed up attraction to the probably evil cryptid that roamed the woods, nor did he feel attached to said cryptid. Joshua was free of that guy, and judging off the singular elephant man sighting, Joshua didn’t think he would be seeing him again.
Although the effect had gone away, Joshua believed in the elephant man. Joshua was relieved that the strange trance he went into had gone away, but he couldn’t help but have a positive feeling about the project that he had asked the elephant man to do. Joshua didn’t doubt that he was going to be able to find Jedidiah and make him react to something, which was normally very unlikely. Joshua was fully aware of the fact that he should not be siding with the homeless mask wearer from the woods to take down one of Camp Here and There’s very staff members, but there was just something about the elephant man that was.. Pleasant. Joshua felt he was the one person who may actually help Jedidiah act like a human being, which, for Jedidiah, was saying something.
Maybe it was cruel. Maybe he shouldn’t have done it.
Still, Joshua couldn’t help but grin at the elephant on his wrist. He was finally going to have some answers.