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It's so quiet here. Jonah, say something.
Jonah won't, not after that argument they just had. Funny how Adam keeps begging for Jonah to shut up, but the moment he does, Adam is not used to it anymore.
The cat leads him to a closed door. Adam places his hand on the doorknob.
You'd be joining her. I don't think you'd be yourself.
He pushes the door open.
There is only a lone television, sitting at the floor. Disjointed voices come out of the spirit box. Adam sits down, pointing the camera at the television. They are trying to throw him off balance, but he doesn't scare easily.
"What are you?" he asks.
They answer him with flashing images and incoherent whispering.
"What do you do?" he asks again.
Something whispers to him, and it's not coming from the spirit box. It sounds like it is right next to him. Adam turns to his left, and sees a distorted figure fade away.
"I know why you're here," the voices speak in a cheerful tone you'd hear in commercials. Adam instantly snaps to attention.
"She left you behind-"
"You'll never see her again-"
"She is dead and gone and we're never-"
Adam winces, then quickly recovers to a neutral expression. It feels like he just let them win, somehow. It takes a while for them to drop the taunting.
Fuck you too, Jonah. When we're done, you're paying for the pizza.
"Do you know what happened?"
"...wake up, Adam. Wake up, wake up," the voices continue to be as cryptic as possible.
"What does that mean?"
The television flashes again.
...
Adam emerges out of the house, completely intact, and still himself. Whatever is in the house doesn't stop him.
Those things don't offer a whole lot of answers, but this is a major breakthrough just the same. He encountered the real deal. He gets to interact with them. He has it all on tape.
He looks around for Jonah and his car, only to remember Jonah had said he's leaving.
Adam follows the road, and he walks, and walks, and walks. First there is a house, then there are a bunch of trees, and there is not a single car along the path.
Imagine living through the house only to die out here because your friend took the car and forgot you still need a way back home.
That would be really stupid.
But he has gone this far, and he is not going to give up now. Holding his camera tight, he finds the motivation to keep walking. The road is dark and the night is quiet, save for the echoes of his own memory, the voices trying but failing to reach him.
He keeps walking, and walking, and walking.
Until he stumbles across a light on the road. There is a car, finally, and the doors are opened, and nobody is nearby, and this is the easiest steal he has ever done-
This is their car. The one Jonah drove away in.
The headlights continue flashing. As he approaches, the voice navigation system comes back to life, as if suddenly finding good signal somehow.
"SHUT UP! SHUT THE FUCK UP!"
"You left him to die,"
"What have you done?"
He did the right thing, that answer will not change. Adam pushes down the uneasy feeling that is starting to root in his mind.
"...still run to them every chance you get-"
"What will he do without you?"
"...what are you seeing? Why can't you tell me?..."
It doesn't matter. They are just words. They can't do anything to him.
Adam tunes them out as he drives back home. The voices fade into static.
...
Jonah is dead.
Nothing is confirmed, he never saw Jonah's body, but Jonah never called back either. He just disappeared.
People keep vanishing and the only way to find them is to hunt down the very creatures he is warned to stay away from.
"'Not that big of a deal'? He was your best friend," Sarah accuses.
He never needed friends. All he needs is a partner, someone who can help him alongside his investigation. Come to think of it, even if he had done it solo, he would have still found the house all the same.
But he has gotten this footage now, Sarah has to see it. If only Sarah had the guts to come along, then maybe she can meet them in person-
"I don't care about your investigation, and I don't care about the footage!" Sarah shuts him down.
Well, her loss.
Sarah pushes her job on him, something about honoring their friend. If she really wants to honor her friend, she should take this material and make a good video out of it. This way everyone will know. Jonah's death would actually worth something.
...
How to make a memorial video for someone you have never cared about.
Now this is just a lie. He had cared once.
Step one. Pretend that you care. People want to believe that you care. As long as you are willing to play your part, they will buy into your lies.
Step two. Say words of condolences. Figure out what emotions they are feeling, then exploit them to your heart's content.
He should be feeling something. Grief? Remorse? Even anger. Anger at the things that keeps taking from him.
Step three. Don't worry about it. Procrastinate all you want. Your friends will finish it for you.
He doesn't have friends.
...
As much as Adam hates to admit it, he has to say that maybe, just maybe, Jonah had a point.
Hell no, he dismisses the thought as he goes through the footage again. He keeps spotting new figures fading in and out every time he watches the video. Once he finds them, they become obvious to see. It's like they're hiding in plain sight.
Find us, he understands their message, follow our words.
And he will. This is not just about finding his mom, or Jonah, or whoever else that goes missing in the middle of the night. This was never about that. He wants to know what they are. He wants to see what they do, and how they do it, and what else they can offer-
Adam takes a break from the video and looks away from the monitor. There, in the corner of the room, his friend waves at him. It sounds like bones grinding together.
His friend invited itself in his house. His friend talk, but he can't understand its words. Why can't it just use the spirit box, like others did in the house? Adam placed it right in the open. He made it obvious it can use them.
"Adam? Have you finished the memorial video?" Sarah asks. Tell her. Show her what you see. Ask for her help-
Adam sends her the finished video, and he will be out of her hair. This doesn't concern her.
"Adam. What is that? Did you edit all these in?" A part of him is satisfied at her alarmed reaction.
He can see his friend poking out of the dark. You are almost ready, it promises, you will see the truth soon.
What else does he need to do to be ready? He wants to see it now.
...
How about reuniting with an old friend? He can answer all your questions. He can't wait to see you again.
A man smiles at Adam from across the screen. For the very first time, Adam feels fear.
...
"Adam? Adam? Where did you go?"
"...I think my wife is hurt. I don't know what to do..."
"...a total of 3,426 children have gone missing..."
Everything fits together perfectly. All the mysteries are solved, just like that.
"When you stare into the mirror..."
"...bet if I'm the alternate, you would just know because really, who can get as stupid as me sometimes?..."
"Please Adam, stop! You used to be... you used to be not like this..."
Everything, except for one part. He refuses to see it.
When the fog lifts and Adam finally realises, in this rare moment of clarity, how much danger he had gotten himself into...
Is there anything he can still do about it?
"Wake up, Adam, open your eyes." These are not his friends. They are waiting for you.
"You will find great happiness with us," they offer. You will accept it. It's only a matter of time.
They are just words. They can't do anything to him. You won't stop at anything but the truth. You'll come right back to us.
It is not the truth. But it does make sense. Why don't you come and find out?
...
If Adam really is an alternate from the start, then Jonah would actually be wrong. Nothing has changed. This is still him.
But that does mean he has a whole other problem he has to deal with, because he refuses to be one of them. He did not see his friends and family be taken away, plunge into countless danger, live through all of it, just to learn that he is the monster all along. Fuck that.
Your moment of lucidity will end.
This is a simple trolley problem. He can't stop the train. It is inevitable. He can pull the lever, and the choice is obvious.
Sarah would have a fit if she finds out what he's up to right now. Sarah is not your friend. Or maybe Evelin would worry about him. Evelin left you. No, scratch that. He doesn't have anyone. Nobody would miss him.
It's better this way, so nobody will start another stupid journey over finding out what happened to their loved ones again. But then they're not the alternate, so they'll probably be fine. They would just get themselves killed.
Are you really prepared to die?
"Fuck you," Adam chugs the poison down.
It hurts. It fucking hurts. Fuck it burns. It'll be over soon-
You are finally ready.
It should not hurt this fucking much.
Wake up, Adam.
Just pass out already.
Your role is about to begin.
And with a horrific realisation, Adam finally learns the truth.
It begins today.