Chapter Text
Noah Maxwell laid on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. He hadn’t left his house in many months, it felt longer, but time was weird for him at this point.
The dim light of his side table lamp was all that filled the darkness of his room. His camera sat besides it, gathering dust.He had no use for it he could think of, who would even see the footage?
With a heavy sigh, he sat up, his black, unruly hair fell to his shoulders, his equally dark eyes sunken in with years of exhaustion. He couldn’t remember what a good night's sleep felt like.
Rubbing his right eye, he glanced down to his left where his useless phone lay beside him. It was quiet, cold. No messages or calls had woken it in four months.
Before, it was his only way of communicating to the outside world, besides his personal demon and his distant uncle who visited from time to time. He only visited to give cryptic information, nothing more than that.
His personal demon, called Firebrand, was even more cryptic. That being was a time paradox, a future version of Noah who was destined to possess him.
But when?
Noah had a strong feeling that time was fast approaching, and that thought scared him still after these years of knowing his fate. It was still hard for him to fully grasp, though he’d gotten more used to it over time. He just couldn’t imagine what it was like to be possessed.
He’d seen what it could do, with his old friend Kevin being a victim to it. Apparently suffering for many years.
It was clearly unpleasant, but it may be different with Firebrand. It could be an agonizing hell, but he would argue that he was already in that sort of hell. Trapped in his house in perpetual darkness.
While being secluded like this, he had been depending on his internet connections, and his communication with Robert and Firebrand. Yet, four months ago, the internet went completely dead, no word from his uncle, only one text message sent a few days ago from the demon god. It only said, “Don’t move, wait.”
He had no clue what it could mean, but it made him worry. It had something to do with the strange shift he felt in the pit of his stomach. Was the loop broken? Was it Noah’s fault? He wasn’t sure.
Noah’s last tweet to the outside world was in May, it was now September, he believed. If the time on his phone was correct, and he had a lot of doubt in that.
He was even more alone, and that had the ability to drive him completely insane, if he wasn’t already.
Noah threw his legs over the side of bed, his thoughts going back to the possession, as nothing could distract him from that reality now.
Was it really necessary?
It was to maintain this hellish loop, yet, something seemed to have changed since those connections went dead. ]
What had occured? Why wasn't anyone telling him what was happening?
Shaking out his greasy hair, he stood on his shaky legs. With this idea that his sacrifice would save humanity from the Dark Times that plagued him now, he was willing to be possessed to save his loved ones.
Unfortunately, everyone he cared for was killed anyway. His parents were the last to go, they had died at the beginning of the year and he was still processing their loss. He thought he could keep them safe and away from all of it.
But, no, the collective got them, in some fashion they were able to set their home ablaze while they slept, oblivious.
Maybe that was best, for them to go sleeping and unaware of their fate.
Thinking about this, tears brimmed his eyes as he stared at the dusty floor and he pushed them quickly away.
The collective stopped at nothing to break him down to his weakest point, it worked for the most part yet he refused to give in to their demands. His deep stubborn nature kept him going and he saw that same stubbornness reflected in Firebrand. That was a faint comfort, seeing how a little bit of himself was still there.
But, due to the wear on his mind, he would consider himself a deranged lunatic, lonely, broken and crazed at times. Despite that, he fought to keep himself together.
He walked into the hall, looking down at the darkness. The house felt very warm, like late Florida summer, yet the silence of the place was chilling at times. Sometimes he didn’t mind the ringing silences, other times it drove him mad, causing him to mumble, talk aloud, or even sing to himself. It helped somewhat. The other journal, which forced him to learn German, gave him more questions than answers. Yet, it helped him understand a little bit of what was going on. He may be missing something.
He would have his music playing if his CD’s weren’t corrupted, all the radios too, they played the music slowly and backwards, full of static.
When he wished to speak aloud, he found himself talking to the small black journal he kept beside him on the bed. It used to belong to his cousin, Milo and there was a time it spoke to him. But it didn’t anymore, it only sat in silence, That didn’t stop Noah from speaking to it like an old companion. It kept the ringing silence at bay.
At this time, though, Noah didn’t mind the quiet, he was too wrapped up in his own thoughts to give much attention. He was in the mi9ddle of a waiting game that he was used to.
Heading to the kitchen, he felt a sudden pang of loneliness again, without the observer following him around this house, there was a brief moment Noah missed him. This made him shake his head, a terrible thought.
Opening the fridge, he glanced at what little he had. Only a few water bottles and zip lock bags of dead rodents half eaten.
His appetite had shifted drastically over the many times he was trapped in ‘The Other Place’. The dimension of the monsters. Food wasn’t a hot commodity there, for the monsters didn’t have to eat to live. They just enjoyed eating people for the fun of it. Noah had to eat whatever he could find while trapped on the boardwalk.
At one point, he had begun to eat whatever flew into the monster world from the human dimension. Like, a white ibis for example.
Noah remembered a future version of himself claiming the Tall Guy wanted to eat him, and he wondered how the blank-faced thing ate in the first place with no visible mouth. This made him shudder, now not really wanting to figure that out.
Quickly, he grabbed a water bottle and shut the fridge door, drinking from it. The plastic crinkling sound echoed through the buzzing silence. He set the bottle down on the granite countertop, the silence beginning to get to him now. This caused him to tap his foot, his bare foot against the cold floor filled the room. This was followed by humming, his voice filled his ears.
As he did this, he glanced over to the front door, expecting his uncle Robert to walk in to give him an information dump regarding Sensum, but that didn’t happen. Noah had some fun with it, even if it was annoying at times. His loneliness caused him to miss it.
Sighing, he walked to the door, his humming never stopping. He was humming an old song he used to listen to, yet he couldn’t remember its name.
Singing under his breath, he opened the door slowly, peering out only to see a mass of void surrounding his house. This strange barrier appeared the same day the internet shut itself off, it was no stretch that they were connected. It prevented him from leaving his house, too.
My own personal trial of the Dark Times, he thought.
He really hoped the darkness only covered his house, he wanted the outside world to be oblivious to this hell. What did his house look like to the people outside? Normal? Or was it just invisible to their perception?
He shut the door, a sinking feeling of sadness overwhelmed him, tears filled his eyes again, spilling down his cheeks. His humming chocked but he continued.
Alone.
Abandoned.
Cut off.
Walking back to the hallway, the deep sadness made him want to curl up on his bed and try to sleep again. What else was there to do? Just to wait and do nothing.
Noah paused. Something was slightly different about the hall. He couldn't place it. This caused his pacing to slow just a bit as he approached his room.
He was ready to flop face first onto his bed if it wasn’t for the terrifying sight of a black, void-like figure standing in the middle of his bedroom. This cause Noah's mindless singing to cease as he let out a surprised cry of terror, making him slip backwards and fall on his ass.
The dark void stared at him with bright, pinhole eyes and an upside down crescent grin. \
“Jesus, fuck!” Noah exclaimed in anger, glaring at the figure.
His future, demon self always had a knack for being subtle, while also having a habit of just showing up to scare the shit out of Noah.
Staring at the figure made him feel nauseous, he guessed it was the eyes and the fact that was his future self. Some kind of paradoxical sickness. His frustration didn’t lessen though.
“I’ve been waiting four months for someone to talk to me, I get no answers from you as always!” He sat forward, but didn’t get to his feet.
His tail bone ached from the fall and he clenched his teeth from the throbbing pain. "What the fuck happened?”
Firebrand's grin faded, leaving the unsettling white dots. "An unexpected shift occurred. I’m sure you’ve felt that.” His voice echoed around him and within Noah's mind. It sounded like multiple voices, but still one person.
Firebrand continued. “The loop has been compromised.”
Noah frowned, puzzled. “Compromised, how?”
“Sensum has been broken by an unknown variable.”
This made him more confused. It was always the same cryptic words. “Unknown? It wasn’t the Collectives doing?”
Even though Firebrand's form was abstracted by the shadows, Noah could tell he shook his head. “I don’t know the exact cause at this time, it is beyond my sights, as well as the collectives.”
Great, Noah thought to himself in disdain. Now, even my omnipotent self is clueless.
“What do we do, then?” He slowly got to his feet, ignoring his pain as it began to subside.
He stayed in the middle of the hallway, not wanting to get any closer to that speaking void.
“Merge.”
Fear suddenly clutched his throat. He had a feeling it was soon, but not this soon. He took a few steps backwards. “Even with the loop broken?”
“It must happen, as it has always happened. It is unavoidable.” His tone darkened. “The collective will always be after that journal. Always, until it’s destroyed.”
Noah glanced over to where he kept the specific journal, the German one his grandfather had kept for many decades. It sat inside an old messenger bag with an antique knife. He understood his future self to speak the truth, but he didn't know how to actually destroy it.
As if reading his thoughts, Firebrand spoke again. “It’s the only thing that can stop them, we can’t destroy it because of the information it carries. This includes Milo’s journal.”
Noah looked back up to the darkness as the mention of his cousin. “It’s just as revealing.” He muttered, agreeing.
“If we merge now, we’ll still have an upper hand. We must leave this place.”
“Leave? And go where?”
“Don’t worry, I know the destination”
Noah felt his frustration again. “Always keeping things from me-” He paused. “What about Robert?”
“He’s safe for the time being, he knows how to hide well.” The chilling grin returned. “Cease your worrying, Noah. Worrying is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do, but it gets you nowhere.”
Noah went quiet at the familiar words.
“You need rest, after all.”
That comment angered him again. “I’ve been needing rest for years!” A few steps forward and another wave of nausea hit him as he was closer to Firebrand. “How is getting possessed like this a chance to rest?”
“You’ll see.” was the cryptic answer, this unnerved Noah.
Backing up once again, his back against the door that leads to the laundry room. Firebrand's vagueness always pissed him off, but now he felt afraid again. He couldn’t hide that fear as he noticed Firebrand moving closer to him.
Noah had no one left on this earth, he should have been more willing to accept this, for what else could he live for?
The sick feeling didn't let up. “I-is it painful?”
He got no answer at this, Firebrand only moved closer. Without the sound of footsteps, the void moved quietly like a thick cloud of smoke. In fact, as he drew closer, Noah could smell smoke, like a bonfire was nearby.
Sliding down onto the hallway floor, he began to cough as if felt like the smoke was entering his lungs. Now it felt like a wildfire surrounded him. The smoke felt dark and ashy.
“Wha-” He tried to speak, but a coughing fit interrupted him, his vision darkening.
His chest began to hurt, his skin was burning. Was he on fire? He saw no flames but it felt as if he was. Panic flooded his thoughts and he let out a scream, unable to breathe in clean air. The smoke enveloped him.
As he was consumed by the pain, his thoughts and overall feeling suddenly went dark, numb.
And he was left in total nothingness.