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Jon settled at his desk, flicking a few papers around and putting them aside so he wouldn't fiddle with them while recording. Sat across from him was a tall and lean child. They couldn't have been more than 14 or 15 and were doing anything other than focusing on what was in front of them, choosing to pick at the skin of their fingertips and chipping their own nail polish.
The kid, Jayden as the eye supplied him, was here to give a statement on their interaction with the lonely. The phone call to set up the appointment mentioned something along the lines of everyone disappearing while they were at school. The idea that someone so young could have felt so isolated caused a slight hint of ‘uncomfortable’ for the Archivist but he pressed on starting the recording with a sigh.
“Statement of Jayden Hirst, regarding their school being suddenly empty in the middle of the day. Statement taken live from subject, date twenty-first of January twenty seventeen. Statement begins.”
Jayden looked uncomfortable for a moment, taking a deep breath and moving their hands to tap lightly against the table before starting
“It was just last week, I hadn't really been looking forward to school that day as I don't really have many friends to make it any fun but the friends I did have were pretty upset with me for some reason or another. It was around 12:30, the day had gone as normal but I needed a time out to calm down, the classroom gets pretty loud sometimes and the bathroom is much quieter and cooler. I put my hand up and asked my teacher if i could leave and she handed me a hall pass like normal and I left the room.
What wasn't normal was that the hallway was, foggy? As soon as the door shut behind me it went dead silent, so quiet I could hear the blood in my ears. Now I wanted quiet, yeah, but also the bathroom has some pretty good white noise from the fans and that is so much better than hearing your own blood pumping.
I kept going though, I'm not really sure why? The bathroom wasn't far but the fog was a bit too cold for comfort and there was a pretty large amount of panic building due to the eerie-ness of everything. The bathroom opened and it was even foggier than outside, it didn't roll out as I opened the door though, just stayed there like a wall. It felt better than the empty corridors and it was much more familiar anyway so I went in. The panic went away.
It was so calm in there? Maybe calm isn't the right word. It was just a void. All the panic from the classroom, from my friends being mad at me and from the fog it just all went away. I couldn't even see myself in the mirror. It was so dense there. Eventually, I kind of slid down the wall and sat on the floor revelling in it. I realised I didn't need my friends. They were just making me upset and not having them, well, I wouldn't be sad over them being mad at me if I never spoke to them in the first place. You know?
I stayed there for a while. In the fog. I don't know how long really but at some point, I started crying. Didn't even notice it, only did because the air was cold and the tears felt freezing on my face. Maybe it was a few hours but I realised I need to go back to class or home or somewhere other than the filthy bathroom floor.
No one else ever walked in, there was never any noise outside, and the hallway was still filled with this wet fog, maybe more than before. I headed back to my classroom and there was no one there. My seat was still warm but the room was filled with vapour that didn't move even as a breeze passed through.
As I was sitting, I went back to thinking about my friends, how much I loved them and how much they had helped me when we weren't fighting. But the fog grew thicker as I realised that maybe they never cared. And again when I realised that not even my family really cared. I didn't have anyone that would miss me or even hold me when I cried, they were lying to me and they hated me and I was never anything to them.”
Jon blinked owlishly as Jayden started to breathe heavier and heavier, their hands stopping their rhythmic tapping to pull at the strings of their hoodie and hug their body. If Jon paid enough attention he would see the same fog Jayden was describing start to roll off their shoulders and filter through the floorboards. But Jayden carried on through their statement, they had to, they were compelled.
“I felt alone then, the fog in the classroom, it was so thick. I couldn't even see my hands, the light. The light was starting to get darker and I couldn't- I couldn't breathe. It all felt so consuming and empty at the same time. But then my phone went off.
I forgot I even had it on me in the first place but I had received a message from an online friend. It was silly, something about them having fallen over outside their college and ruined their jeans but the shape of it was rather phallic. I don't know how that broke whatever was happening to me but it did. The fog rolled away and I was back in the bathroom, sitting on the floor in the end stall with my phone cradled in my hands.
It hadn't even been 5 minutes but I felt exhausted. I headed back to my class and slept the rest of the lesson. Everything was normal after that. I keep dreaming of those foggy hallways, I still haven't spoken to my friends, it feels wrong to do it.”
Jayden took a long breath at finishing their statement, they had tear marks staining their cheeks but the shaking had somewhat subsided and they fiddled with stickers on the back of their phone. Jon reached over and clicked the recorder off and slid it from the centre of the table.
“Well done, that’s all I need. You can stop by the reception and get a hot drink if you need the time to recover.” Jayden took a breath, making eye contact for the first time before muttering a ‘thank-you’ and sliding the chair back. Jon sat for a second letting the statement flit through his mind, the expression on this kid's face and the way that kid was so overwhelmed with fear. Jon didn't understand why it was getting to him so much, why the fear he saw scared him.
Martin went through that. Martin felt like that. The same clouds of fog had enveloped someone he truly cared for and he wasn't there to help. He wasn't even a text away. As if thinking of him summoned him there was a faint knock on the archive door.
Jon startled and shouted a quick ‘come in’ to reveal Martin, holding two cups of tea one barely sloshing over the edge.
“You look stressed, I saw that kid come in and knew you were in for a weird one so I came prepared. Tea?” It was a quiet invitation but something Jon appreciated endlessly, showing that with a slight nod and standing to meet Martin as he placed the mugs on the table.
“Are you alright? Would you like to tal-” Martin was cut off by Jon slipping his hands around his waist and tucking his head into Martin's shoulder.
Martin smelt of old paper and wood polish, a little of whatever deodorant he put on that morning. His jumper was this dark green that was well worn and covered in little bobbles that made it softer than it would've been new. Most importantly however was how Martin wrapped his arms around Jon’s shoulders and pulled him ever further into his chest while placing his chin into Jon’s hair.
Martin let out a small hum before pressing a kiss to Jon’s head and patting his back. Sure some days he'd feel the questions about the man's feelings for him start to bubble up, but it was moments like this that kept the cold fog out of his head. Kept him warm and clear.
After a minute or two Jon let go and pulled a seat around next to his, patting it for Martin to sit next to him. They drank their teas silently, Jon’s knee pressed into Martin's thigh, small points of contact, anchoring both of them in the present.