Chapter Text
Jay was weird. Not that that was a problem. After all, Tim did weird in spades.
Still, the conversation stuck in his head on his drive home.
“Okay, anything... anyone that you wouldn't assume would be in a place like that, a park or anything? Like a guy, a guy in a business suit?”
That question was a bit too weird. It almost made Tim wonder...but he was probably just being paranoid.
“Uh, I don't remember, I mean it was quite a while ago...and there may have been but I mean it's several years ago, and you're asking me about a guy in a suit, so...”
It wasn't a complete lie. It was a long time ago, there was stuff he didn't remember, and there may have been a 'guy in a suit'. It wasn't a guy, Tim knew that much, but that was besides the point.
“Okay, so you don't really remember --”
“No.”
“ – specifics about anyone you had to move off camera”
“No, I mean...it just...nothing out of the ordinary.”
That was a lie. There was not to get around that, but, what was he supposed to say?
“Okay, I was just wondering, since I have the raw footage of the tapes...”
What was on those tapes? Was it on there?
“Um, I'm really sorry, but I- I gotta get to lunch after this, so...?”
Another lie. It had felt like the room was getting smaller. Tim had had to get out of there.
....
“I'm not a psychopath! It's all Alex's fault – him and whatever it is that follows him around.”
“Maybe Alex isn't the problem. Maybe you're the problem!”
Tim's own words echoed back to him. It wasn't technically a lie.
Well...it might be.
“Not like it matters,” Tim threw the cigarette on the ground, stamping it out with his foot. He had to get back to work. Break was over.
....
White walls.
White coats.
More pills.
The thing.
Doctors and nurses, whispering with mommy.
“Seizures...violent...delusions...can hear us...”
They walk away.
Rosswood park.
Forest.
The thing.
Trees.
He was screaming.
It was getting closer.
Or he was moving closer.
They found him in the morning.
They weren't happy.
More pills.
The thing was there.
In his room.
With his white walls.
He screamed.
More pills.
A needle.
It was still there.
Tim woke up, desperately gasping for air. He jumped out of bed and turned the lights on. It wasn't there. He was alone, thank god.
The calender on the wall seemed to glare at him, reminding him. It'd been several weeks since he and Jay had been to Rosswood. The thing had been there. Tim had told Jay to run, so, hey, there was at least one good thing he'd done in his life.
The clocked ticked by the moments.
He took out his phone. Jay probably wasn't up, but –
“Hello?”
That probably shouldn't have been such a surprise, considering.
“Hey, Jay, it's Tim...we got to talk.”