Chapter Text
Jay didn’t consider himself to be an intelligent man; in fact, he thought himself to be quite stupid at times. Now was definitely one of those times when he wished he was just a bit smarter.
He’d finally gotten settled in after college, attempting to get on with his life to retain some sense of normalcy in his despairingly dull life. He was still unpacking the boxes and setting things up around the apartment, and it was taking him a painfully long time to do so.
“I wish I would’ve thrown all this crap out; what am I going to do with a bunch of tapes?” Jay muttered to himself, digging through a box that he didn’t remember keeping.
He remembered begging and pleading with Alex to give him the fruits of their labor. They had spent the majority of the year working on his student film project, subsequently named ‘Marble Hornets,’ but Alex had cut it short, not even bothering to finish it. He couldn’t bear to see it go to waste, especially when they had spent so much time on it.
Strangely though, he didn’t remember actually acquiring the tapes in the first place. In fact, he’d forgotten about their existence entirely.
He sighed, pushing the box into the far corner of the open area he was determined to turn into a ‘living room.’ “I’ll sort through it later.” He promised, flopping down on his couch.
Jay didn’t remember falling asleep but was startled awake by a loud crash emanating from outside the apartment. He nearly fell off the couch in a daze as someone began pounding on his door.
“I’m coming; hold on!” Trudging to the front door was a pain, and he hoped whoever it was would stop the relentless banging.
“Damnit, stop doing that; you’ll break my door!” He screeched, pulling the door open.
It wasn’t who he was expecting, he hadn’t really been expecting anyone anyways, but this most certainly was a surprise and not a good one.
Alex Kralie stood in his doorway, dripping wet. Jay could only stare; Alex looked like he’d been running through the woods or something, his glasses were broken, and he looked like a hobo.
“Jesus, what the hell happened to you?” He frowned, trying to disperse the unease and tension in his gut.
The man almost looked genuinely surprised that Jay had answered the door, but his face quickly righted itself back into a neutral expression.
“Let me in.” It sounded more like a demand than a request, and the way he said it only made Jay’s nerves worse.
He simply nodded, letting Alex stand awkwardly in his entryway. “I’ll go get a towel; wait here.” He tried his best not to provoke the man; it seemed like any single thing would set him off. The last time they had interacted was when Alex told Jay he was leaving college, then proceeded to quite literally shove him away after Jay tried to talk him out of it.
‘ I can only hope his temper’s gotten better than before.. ’ What exactly was Alex doing at his house this late anyways? More importantly, how did he find where he lived?
Upon his return, Alex snatched the towel from his grasp without so much as a thank you.
“Listen, Alex; I’m going to get straight to the point; what are you doing here?”
“I was in the area, thought I’d visit.”
“That doesn’t explain how you knew where I lived. Besides, I haven’t seen you in what, three years? Kind of a weird time to visit, don’t you think?”
Alex scowled but offered no answer.
“Whatever, I guess it’s nice to see you.” He waved a hand dismissively and stumbled into the kitchen. He glanced at the clock above the oven; it read 8:47 in bright green numbers.
“Do you want tea or coffee or something?” He turned slightly, nearly jumping out of his skin, when he saw Alex just a few inches behind him. “Jeez, warn a guy before you follow him around.”
“I’d like coffee.”
“Right, you can go wait on the couch or something. Try not to trip on the boxes.”
He’d expected at least some sort of reaction from Alex, but the man simply nodded and wandered off into the living room.
‘Just what the hell is up with him? He looks like he’s about to bite my head off, but he’s acting so calm .’ He cautiously watched Alex as he turned on the electric kettle. He hadn’t unpacked any of his cups yet, so he’d have to rummage through a few boxes to find them.
Jay had sorted out which boxes went where thank god for that, but it still took going through three different boxes just to find where he kept the coffee mugs.
“You just moved in?”
Jay screamed. Alex had appeared behind him, once again, and scared the ever-living crap out of him. The man was simply staring at him, face pulled into a mix between a scowl and a frown. (Probably both, if we’re being honest)
“Damnit, Alex! Didn’t I tell you not to do that? God.” He ran a hand through his hair and took a deep breath, attempting to calm himself again.
“You were taking too long.”
“Yeah, I had to find the damn mugs.” He was too tired for this; controlling his emotions was the last thing on his to-do list.
“When did you move in?”
“I don’t know, a couple of days ago, I’ve been busy with work, so I haven’t really had the chance to unpack everything.”
“You have a job?” The way he said it held genuine curiosity. Did Alex think he was jobless? What kind of person barges into someone’s house dripping wet and insults them like that?
‘That’s Alex for ya’ a real piece of work he is.’ “No, Alex, I’m the heir to a wealthy family. Of course, I have a job, asshole; how do you think I paid for this place?” He couldn’t help the sarcasm that dripped from his words.
“I see. What kind of work is it?”
“I don’t think that matters right now. You need to tell me why you’re really here.”
“I already told you.”
“But I don’t believe you. You left college and haven’t contacted me since, so what possessed you to find out where I live and barge in unannounced?”
He didn’t answer. The man turned and walked back off towards the couch.
Jay couldn’t help but feel a bit worried; Alex really seemed out of it. Something obviously happened, what that was; he had no clue. Despite the man’s assholey nature, Jay still cared for him. Perhaps it was a remnant of sympathy from when they were actually close.
Part of him missed Alex; sure, he wasn’t the best person, but he was still there, like an ever-present fog that floated around.
‘ Damnit, Jay, quit thinking about that stuff; you’re going to get worked up over nothing .’
He stepped over a box and out into the living room, handing a mug of coffee over to Alex and sitting beside him.
“Here, it’s hot, be careful.”
Alex hummed quietly in response.
“What brings you to the area?” He was suspicious, rightfully so; Alex hadn’t dropped the weird, almost doll-like movements and responses.
“Filming.”
“Oh?” That was certainly a surprise, “I thought you’d sworn that off after the disaster that was Marble Hornets.”
“It’s the only thing I can do.”
“You really have no other skills?”
Alex scoffed, “What would you know?”
Jay froze, startled by the sudden change in attitude. “Nevermind; by the way, why were you dripping wet? As far as I’m concerned, it hasn’t rained in quite some time.”
“It hasn’t? I hadn’t noticed.”
‘ As expected, he avoided the question. ’ “Do you want a change of clothes or something?”
“If you don’t mind.”
The polite nature that Alex had adopted weirded him out and definitely didn’t fit the expressions his face made. “I’ll be right back.”
He returned, once more, with a change of clothes that he’d hoped would fit the man and shoved him into the bathroom to do whatever he needed to do.
As the night stretched on, Jay desperately tried to get Alex to leave, but the man refused to move so much as an inch away from the couch.
“It’s pretty late, and I have a lot to unpack tomorrow; I should get some sleep.” Jay began moving up from the couch.
Alex grabbed his wrist and pulled him back down. “I could always help you.”
“I’m good; there’s no need. Besides, I’m sure you have things you need to do for work, right?”
“No, I have some time to catch up with you.” He leaned closer to Jay, curling his lips up in what he assumed to be a smile. It didn’t quite look right.
Jay shoved him back to the other end of the couch. “Of course you do. I need a drink. Do you want one too?”
He’d bought some beer as a moving-in gift for himself and planned to use it after he’d finally unpacked, but he really needed something to dull the pain in his ass that wouldn’t seem to leave him alone.
“Sure.” Alex nodded slightly, watching as Jay left the room.
Jay could feel Alex’s eyes on him the entire time he was away from the couch; he dared not turn around.
They sat there talking, well mostly Alex trying to keep a conversation going while Jay tried not to pull his hair out in frustration. He was tired, slightly drunk, and unwilling to deal with his former friend. It all got too complicated, and eventually, he nodded off to sleep.
His eyes pried themselves open a great deal of time later, and he was met with more darkness. He groaned, tugging at his hair in an attempt to stop the pounding headache that began squirming its way through his skull.
A light he hadn’t seen before flashed in his face, blinding him for a few moments. “Who-” He was cut off as a hand slapped over his mouth, and the light flashed off. He was too delirious to resist and slumped back into the couch, eyes snapping around the room.
There was an uncomfortably long amount of silence; the stranger’s breath brushed against his face in the most unsettling way possible. He couldn’t handle it anymore and shut his eyes, trying his best to even his breathing so it wouldn’t seem like he was hyperventilating.
Something crashed and moved around in the darkness, making audible, albeit faint, screeches. The stranger muttered something and hopped up on the couch.
“Damnit, what the hell are you doing!” Jay whisper-yelled, shoving the stranger off of him.
“Shut up, Jay! Stop moving, or you’ll get us both killed!” Alex nearly yelled at him, clamping another hand over his mouth and positioning himself in the most awkward way possible over Jay.
At the realization that the strange man towering over him was Alex, Jay nearly screamed. What was he going on about? Was there someone in his house? Were they after Alex?
He had half a mind to chew the hell out of Alex but decided that if someone was in his house, then it would be better if they stayed still.
There was occasionally an uncomfortable bone or movement from Alex that pressed into his stomach and arms, but all in all, there seemed to be no sign of the ‘guest’ nearing them. After almost fifteen minutes of awkwardly positioning himself around Alex, the man sighed and flashed his light on again.
“It’s gone.”
Jay squinted past the bright flashlight and at what he assumed to be Alex’s face. “What just happened, and who was that?” Jay tore the flashlight from Alex’s hands and shined it in his face, attempting to get a better look at his companion.
Red dripped down his face, and his glasses seemed to have broken further.
“Damn, what happened to you?” He yelped, squirming around on the couch, searching for an exit from the other man’s grasp.
“Doesn’t matter, I need to….” Alex’s voice was drowned out by static. It bounced around in his head, prodding at his senses.
Jay tried his best to keep his eyes open, but they seemed to shut without warning. He could hear something in the background, something loud and screechy. He couldn’t quite tell. The last thing he felt was a prickly sensation that seemed to explode from his midsection.
The next time he awoke, he had a pounding headache, and the sun was glaring at him through his blinds.
‘ When did I get back in bed? ’ The events from last night were fuzzy at best. He certainly remembered something happening, but his mind simply refused to enlighten him on what that was.
‘ Is Alex still here? ’ He grimaced, wandering out into the kitchen and grabbing a glass of water. There was no sign of his guest from the previous night.
“Good.” He muttered bitterly; that man could go die in a hole for all he cared. Well, not really, Jay still held an unusual amount of fondness for the man, but ever since he abandoned him without a reason, there was an unspoken resentment.
He felt as though something of importance, whether minor or not, happened last night. Jay knew he should remember it, but his memory was foggy at best.
“Just what happened last night anyways?” His back throbbed, aching slightly, and he felt like crawling onto the cold tile floor and laying there for the rest of the day. “So much for finishing the unpacking.” Grumbling to himself, he wandered into the living room, carefully inspecting if anything was out of place.
Lo and behold, there was blood on his couch, or at least something vaguely resembling blood, as well as a small note on his coffee table. For now, he ignored the blood and picked up the note. It read accordingly.
‘Jay, sorry for dropping in on you so suddenly. I hope everything is alright. If you notice strange events, call me. Also, if you find a box of tapes, do not watch them; inform me immediately. I have been looking for them.’ Along with a string of numbers that Jay assumed was Alex’s phone number.
“So he’s just not going to mention the blood on my couch? How nice of him. And why’s he getting so worked up over some tapes? He acts like they’re cursed.”
Jay spent the next few hours scrubbing the small amount of blood off his sofa, seeing as it was around noon, and he wasn’t too keen on eating in his house, especially not when it smelled like cleaner and disinfectant. He drove off into town, attempting to find a reprieve from his stuffy apartment.
His short reprieve turned into an all-day excursion out into the town to wander about and familiarize himself with the place. The people here seemed nice enough, and the city wasn’t too overwhelming, and yet somehow, this feeling, one he couldn’t quite describe, followed him around all day.
Upon his arrival to the apartment, one thing, in particular, stuck out to him, a small video camera, which he doesn’t remember owning. At first, he thought it might be something from a while back and that it had unearthed itself while he was in a drunken stupor last night; his theory was disproven when he saw what was on it.
The last entry was from last night, and the camera just so happened to be equipped with night vision.
“Expensive much? These things cost a fortune; how did Alex get his hands on this?” he marveled at the camera, carefully inspecting it before resuming the footage. He couldn’t help it; he didn’t get many chances to fiddle with a camera, not since Marble Hornets.
The video began, strange visual tears scattered throughout; it seemed to be the interior of his apartment.
“Creepy much; what was he doing filming my apartment anyway?” Jay shivered, thinking back to Alex’s odd behavior.
The camera steadily moved around, rummaging through drawers and sifting through boxes. A strangled, faint screech resounded in the background. The camera’s owner, Alex, froze, turning off his flashlight. After a few moments, he continued digging through boxes, slowly moving into the living room.
A groan came from the couch, and Alex moved swiftly over.
“Who-.” He watched the camera hover over himself. Apparently, he had fallen asleep on the couch last night. Alex’s hand descended over his mouth before he could utter another word.
‘ Then why did I wake up in bed? ’
He watched his form slump back into the couch, face scrunching into a grimace.
The audio began to cut out at the sound of screeching in the background, and the visual tears progressively worsened. It seemed like Alex had jumped on the couch and was arguing with ‘past Jay.’ They fell silent, and the screeching faded away.
“It’s gone,” Alex muttered.
“What just happened, and who was that?” he squinted at the camera before grabbing a flashlight and shining it at the camera, which dropped out of the way. “Damn, what happened to you?” He heard himself screech as the audio distortions began to return.
“It doesn’t matter; I need to know where you put them!” The footage shot back up to show himself shaking and coughing violently, curling in on himself.
The camera whipped around to reveal a tall man, far taller than natural, adorned in a suit and a face with no features.
Jay’s stomach churned, paranoia and fear crawling up his spine. He carefully peered over his shoulder out of habit, and a small part of him was relieved that nothing was there; another part of him was far more terrified, convinced there was something he couldn’t see watching him.
The footage continued a montage of running and yelling as Alex bolted off the couch and tried to attack the strange intruder. It vanished the moment he approached, and another figure revealed itself. They were wearing a mask of some kind that had a poorly portrayed frown on it.
Alex cursed as the figure ran through the front door, seeming to decide that going after them wasn’t a good option.
The camera settled on himself once more, still amid a coughing fit. Alex moved closer to him and shook him violently.
“Hey, Jay, are you done?” He sneered.
The coughing died down, and Jay looked simply miserable, a dark substance splattered across his face and covering his hand. It took him a moment to realize that it was likely blood.
“Alex, what the fuck? What is this? What’s going on?” He rasped, swaying lightly.
“Shut up; I need you to tell me where you put them!”
“I… I don’t….” He fell over, sliding off the couch and hitting the floor with a thud.
“Damnit!” Alex screeched, throwing the camera off to the side, making the footage go dark.
Jay quietly set the camera down, handling it with such care one would think it was fragile. He sat there for a good while, Deathly still and petrified.
The rational part of his brain screamed at him to call the police, to leave the whole situation in their hands. However, another part of him itched to call Alex and interrogate him into revealing what was happening.
He sat there for what must’ve been hours before he regained some sense of rationality, if you could even call it that. His mind came to the helpful conclusion that this was a very, very elaborate prank. There was no way any of this was real.
If this were real, what could he do about it?
“The tapes.” He uttered the words as if coming to a revelation of sorts. Alex seemed very torn up over some tapes and looked through his stuff to find them. They had to contain the answers to this.
He padded over to the box he remembered finding the tapes in and dug through the box.
“What’s so important about these tapes anyway? All they have on them is random footage from that film project.” He pulled a few tapes out of the box and began watching them.
The first few started out mellow enough, just Alex being an ass and yelling at everyone, along with the occasional scouting locations and whatnot. The audio and visuals were distorted and wonky, but they had been sitting in a box for a few years.
A couple of them had things that he didn’t even remember happening on them. It was only until he began watching a few that seemed to occur outside the student film project. It was almost like Alex was filming himself every second of every day. Weird but not exactly something to write home about.
However, the masked man from the camera, Alex, had made several appearances along with the tall featureless man and another masked man. Whoever they were, they seemed to terrorize Alex at every corner, sending him running off into the woods and talking to himself.
A part of Jay couldn’t help but wonder if this was the source of Alex’s behavior both now and back during the project.
‘ I need to call him .’ It was the first and only thing on his mind, and he quietly shoved the tapes back into their box. ‘ I really don’t want to get caught up in whatever this is .’
He quickly dialed the number, and Alex picked it up before it could ring.
“Who is this? Why are you calling me? Who gave you this number?” He was immediately bombarded with questions and accusations.
“It’s Jay, and you gave me your number.”
“Oh, right; why are you calling me?”
“Look, I just… I need to know what all of this is.”
“What are you referring to?”
‘What am I referring to?! Who talks like that? ’ “These tapes and the video on your camera; I want to know why you brought these people to my house last night!”
“You have my camera ?” Alex screeched at him.
“Yes, and I want an explanation!”
“You mentioned tapes. Did you watch them?”
“I did; why didn’t you say anything about it back when we were in college? None of us would’ve blamed you for being an asshole if you just told us!”
Alex didn’t speak for a minute, his heavy breathing drifting through the phone line.
“You had those tapes, the ones from college?”
“Well, yeah , what other tapes would you be talking about?” He began to feel that this may not have been the best way to deal with the situation.
“That’s… dammit , Jay. I told you not to watch any tapes you find!”
“You didn’t tell me anything; you wrote me a sticky note and left without any explanation!”
“I couldn’t stick around; I didn’t want you to be involved with this.”
Jay paused; it kind of seemed like Alex cared . Is that why he never said anything, because he tried to keep them out of it?
“Then… why visit me after all this time? If you really didn’t want to involve me in whatever this is, then wouldn’t it be best to… I don’t know; keep your distance?”
“...I hadn’t planned on visiting you. I hardly remember anything until I woke up at your house.”
“Don’t remember, as in you were drunk or like amnesia?”
Alex sighed, “It doesn’t matter, but you need to either give me those tapes or throw them away.”
“But-”
“No, give them to me or burn them. Yeah, burning them would be better than throwing them away.”
“I… you want me to burn them?” Jay sputtered, glancing warily at the tape-filled box.
“It would be preferable, yes.”
“I don’t… I don’t think I can burn them.”
“Why not?” He kept acting like burning a bunch of tapes was the most normal thing in the world; what sane person would burn them? Were they actually cursed or something?
“B-because; they might have something… useful on them.”
Alex hummed in acknowledgment, “I suppose you have a point, but that doesn’t change the fact that someone needs to burn it eventually.”
“Should I just pass them on to you then? You can take care of it, right?”
“Is there any other option? I don’t exactly trust you to burn them correctly. You’re the reason they’re still intact anyway.” He murmured, a sharp edge of distrust in his tone.
“If I give these to you, then this will all die down and stuff, right?”
“It should.”
“It should ? Why would those people come after me again if I don’t have anything they want?”
Alex sighed, “I don’t have anything they want either, but here we are. You haven’t been involved in this for very long, so hopefully, they’ll just ignore you. At least they better .” The last bit sounded almost like a threat.
“Right; when do you want to pick them up?”
Alex snorted, “I can’t pick them up; if I return to your apartment, there’s no guarantee they’ll just leave you alone afterward.”
Jay ignored the condescending statement and grumbled, “So where should I give them to you then?”
“Somewhere far away from where you live.”
They eventually agreed on where to meet. Apparently, Alex had some business over in Alabama, somewhere in a town Jay had never heard of about four hours away.
‘ Figures he would pick somewhere in the middle of nowhere. ’ Jay decided he wasn’t going there today; too far to drive, and not enough hours of daylight to make him feel safe wandering around with all this going on. Not that he was scared, he definitely wasn’t.
He made sure to lock and deadbolt every door and window, just in case, and kept one of his larger cooking knives, which he never touched, near his bed. For safety reasons, of course.
He awoke with the strange feeling of a dream slipping away, he couldn’t remember what it was, but it unnerved him.
He set out on his venture with the tapes very securely packaged in the back of his car and Alex’s handheld camera beside him. The sounds of an old broken radio sent static throughout the car, singing a pleasing tone. He usually kept the radio off; the static would agitate him, but not today. Today it felt like a peaceful melody, quietly playing in the background of his life.
Before he knew it, he was sitting in the parking lot of an old park, waiting for Alex to show up. He’d gotten there far earlier than anticipated; how that was, he had no clue, but either way, he still had some time to kill before Alex showed up.
He debated going for a walk on one of the forest trails but eventually decided against it lest Alex arrive while he was gone or something unfortunate happen while he was in there. However, he still kept a close eye on the woods; something about them seemed off, for lack of a better word.
The rumble of a car engine snapped him out of his stupor, and he looked up to see Alex’s car pulling up in a nearby parking space. He tentatively wandered over to the car, watching Alex step out and brush past him to open the trunk.
“No, hello Jay, how are you? Hopefully, you’re okay?” Jay muttered under his breath, following Alex to the back of his car.
It was filled to the brim with various filming tech and duffel bags. Jay could feel his eyes bulge out of his head as he stared at the arsenal of stuff.
“What’s all this for?”
“Do you have the tapes?” Alex continued digging through the pile of things, not bothering to spare Jay a glance.
“Of course I do; why else would I be here?”
“Get them.”
“Of course, whatever you want.” He slinked back to his car, carefully pulling the large box of tapes out of the back and carrying them over to Alex’s car.
“Here you go,” He offered the box to Alex, who promptly snatched it away from him and shoved it in the backseat of his car.
“You can go now.”
Jay blinked incredulously at Alex. ‘ Oh, he’s serious! ’ “You really called me out here just to leave? We’re not going to talk about any of what’s happened?” A hysterical laugh rumbled at the back of his throat. ‘ I should’ve guessed he would say something like that. ’
“You need to stay out of this. Telling you anything would do more harm than good.”
“I get that, but….” Something inside him wanted to know, like an itch, he couldn’t scratch. “What if it’s too late? What if I’m already involved in whatever this is; wouldn’t it be better if I knew so that I could prepare?”
Alex stared at him, hands twitching slightly. “You never change, do you? Always an idiot.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Tsk, you should leave while you can, Merrick . Something bad might happen if you don’t.”
“Is.. is that a threat?” He took a cautious step back, his instincts running rampant and screaming at him to run. ‘It’s almost like his personality did a 180 in a matter of moments. ’
“It’s a warning.” His voice softened as he turned away from Jay.
‘ Is… is he really worried about me? ’ “Okay… I’ll leave if that’s what you want, but you have to at least remind me that you’re alive every once in a while, got it.”
Alex side-eyed him briefly before sighing, “I can’t promise anything, but if that’s what it’ll take for you to go, then fine.”
He silently got back into his car without saying goodbye to Alex. He merely watched him walk into the woods before driving off into town.
It was too late for him to drive back home without having to drive in the dead hours of the night. Something about that unnerved him, so he rented a hotel room and went out for a drink.
He stepped out of his car, glancing over at the passenger seat where a small lump sat.
‘ I still have his camera. ’ He groaned, grabbing it and wandering into a bar.
He wasn’t sure why exactly he brought the camera in with him, but he was too done with everything to care much. All he wanted was to slip away into some dark corner and drink himself into a coma.
“What can I get ya’?” A cheery woman asked, a thin smile plastered on her face.
“Oh, something strong; I could care less what you give me so long as it’ll kill me five ways from Sunday.” He twiddled with the camera, nerves creeping up on him as she smiled at him.
The woman laughed and began mixing up a drink before setting it on the counter in front of him.
“Thanks a lot; you have no idea how much I need this.” He took a large swig of his drink, feeling it burn down his throat. The nerves that entrapped him slowly melted away, and he felt his social awkwardness fade.
“Bad breakup?”
He snorted, “Close enough; I met up with an ‘old friend’; he’s gotten himself in a nasty situation.”
“Oh yeah, what happened?”
“I don’t know all the details, but he showed up at my house a couple days ago and refused to leave. I later found out some weirdos broke into my apartment that night because they were looking for something, and he led them there.”
She blinked at him a few times and leaned on the counter, fully engrossed in his story, “that’s certainly not something you hear every day. Do ya’ know who those people were?”
“No, and he won’t tell me either, doesn’t want me involved or something.”
“That’s sorta sweet, in an odd, sorta, twisted sense.”
“It would seem that way, but apparently, it has been going on for a few years now. Honestly, if I weren’t so mad at him, I’d be really fucking worried about him.”
“Sound like you two are pretty close.”
“I wish , maybe if we still were, he’d actually talk to me about this.” He frowned, his eyes suddenly beginning to sting as he laid his head on the counter with a thud.
She raised an eyebrow at him as he finished his drink, the pleasant buzz of alcohol swirling in his mind.
“There has to be some kinda story there; am I right?”
“ That would require another drink, my good friend.” He could feel all sense of rationale slowly slipping away, but he didn’t care.
“Comin’ right up!” He watched her dig through the bottles, “Ah, sorry about that; seems I’ve used the last of this.” She held up an empty liquor bottle, waving it around so much that he couldn’t read the words. “I’ve gotta go back and grab some real quick.” He watched her disappear behind a door, waving at him as she went.
His eyes wandered around the bar; it was mostly empty, as expected of a small town. A few people here and there enjoying their night.
The woman re-emerged from the back, carrying a bottle in her hands. “I’m ba-ack! Didja miss me?”
He smiled at her, “I certainly missed my drink, that’s for sure.”
“And I missed your story, my good sir.”
“‘M glad you appreciate it.”
“Hey, Mandy!” A voice from across the bar shouted, grabbing both his and the bartender’s attention.
“Ay, waddup Timtam?”
The man, Timtam, apparently, sighed. “Jacob’s out front and wants to talk to you.”
“Him again?”
“Yeah.”
She grumbled, “Don’t worry, I’ll deal with him, give my friend here something strong; he needs it.” She then pranced off to the front door. “Let me get that story from you soon!”
“Don’t worry; I’ll be here a while!” He yelled back, giving her a small smile.
“You’re not hitting on her, right?”
Jay choked on air at the question. “No, no, no, we were just talking; sorry, are you her boyfriend? I didn’t mean to offend you or anything.”
The man visibly relaxed, letting out a small sigh of relief. “No, I’m just looking out for her. She tends to attract some bad company.”
Jay gave the man a curious one over; he seemed familiar; maybe that was just the alcohol talking, though. “I get it. I know someone kinda like that.”
“Hm.” He opened the new bottle of alcohol and began making a drink.
“Stupid asshole’s been getting stalked for the last three-plus years, and I’m only finding out now , and now that I know I want to help him, but he’s so stingy.” He graciously took the drink the bartender offered and continued. “He’s all like ‘leave while you still can, Merrick,’ and ‘Don’t get involved, Jay.’” He began mimicking Alex’s voice. “I mean, I know he’s an ass, but he’s a sad ass, y’know? And I don’t care if I ‘get involved’ or whatever; I just want to help.”
He hadn’t realized the look the bartender gave him or the way he stopped what he was doing to stare more intently at him.
“Jay?”
“Yup?” He blinked, looking up at the man who was now actively leaning over the bar to stare at him. He jerked backward, startled by the bartender’s closeness. “Do you need something?” He shifted uncomfortably under the man’s gaze.
“Jay, as in Jay Merrick?”
“How…” He squinted at the bartender’s face, an odd sense of familiarity making itself known. “ Tim ?”
“Holy shit, it is you.” He laughed, running his hand through his hair. “I never thought I’d run into you here.”
He never quite really knew Tim, sure they interacted, but it felt more as though he were a friend of a friend than someone he was especially close to. Tim’s reaction upon finding out who he was was a little odd, it was that feeling when someone sees you as their friend, but you’re still unsure of your status with one another; you’re still in the in-between of Awkward friend and good friend.
“I wasn’t expecting to run into you either,” he chuckled nervously. ‘ Seems like I’m running into a lot of people recently, huh. ’
“So, what exactly brings you here?”
“Oh…um….” ‘Damnit, wasn’t Tim always the socially awkward one? Why am I struggling with this.’ Not that Jay was generally social; he just got uncomfortable around people because he had no idea how to respond to them.
“I was meeting up with Alex. I had to return some things.” It wasn’t a lie, but he couldn’t tell Tim that Alex was the one he had been talking about when he mentioned him getting stalked. Alex would throttle him if he ever found out. Then lecture him about not getting other people involved. He shivered inwardly at the thought.
“You actually managed to get ahold of him? Didn’t he drop off the grid during college?”
“Ah, well, he sorta dropped by my apartment unexpectedly a few days ago. I hadn’t heard from him before then.”
“Mn, I see.”
They sat there awkwardly for a good while until the other bartender, Mandy, came bursting back through the door.
“Everything alright?” Tim moved out of the way as she slumped over in one of the bar stools next to Jay.
She stuck out her tongue, “Jacob was just bein’ a creep again, but I took care of it.” She beamed at him.
“Again?” Tim sighed.
“Yup, but he shouldn’t bother me for a while.”
Jay wasn’t sure he wanted to know what she did to this Jacob person and was content with leaving things at that.
“So, are you going to continue with your tale of grandeur, my good sir?”
“Ah, well…”
“Comon’ you can’t leave me high and dry over here; I need to know the story between you and this ‘mystery man.’”
Tim raised an eyebrow, “Mystery man?”
“Can I have that drink now?”
“Whatever you say.” Tim nudged the glass towards him.
“I see you two are awfully chummy. Did he catch you up to speed on his tragic tale?” Mandy interjected.
“Tragic tale?”
“Yes, his poor, poor friend who’s fallen down the wrong path with some loan sharks.” She brought a dramatic hand to her forehead and spun in the chair.
“He’s not involved with loan sharks; I think… do loan sharks break into people’s houses?”
“Probably, they seem like the type.”
“Hold on, break into people’s houses, Jay; what is happening?”
“That… that is a good question. Honestly, that’s what I’m trying to figure out.”
“This ‘friend’ of yours she’s talking about, is that Alex?” Tim’s expression shifted, a far more serious look replacing his exasperated expression.
Jay averted his eyes, “I don’t think I can disclose that.”
“So it is him. What kind of trouble has he gotten himself into now?”
“I don’t know; he’d probably kill me if he found out I was talking about this in the first place.”
“Am I missing something; do you two know each other?” Mandy pushed herself between them, a mischievous look on her face.
“We were friends in college,” Tim responded curtly before turning back to Jay. “Is Alex the one you were talking about when you mentioned someone getting stalked?”
Jay shrank into his seat, “Yeah….”
“Sorry, I’m just… worried about him.”
‘ You certainly don’t sound like it. You sound like you want to find him and bury his bones .’
“I think I should get going; I have a long drive ahead of me tomorrow.” He downed his drink and pushed away from the bar. “Let me close my tab.”
“...Okay.”
They both silently walked over to the register, and Jay paid for his drinks before turning to leave.
“Hey, wait.” Tim grabbed his wrist, pulling him back to the bar.
Jay froze, breaking out in a cold sweat. “What?” His voice strained.
“Sorry about all this; it’s probably a really shitty reunion, huh?”
Jay nearly laughed at that. “Not as bad as Alex’s; don’t worry about it; I’m just a little frazzled, is all. I really do need to be going now; tell your friend that I apologize for not finishing my story.”
“Alright, bye, Jay.”
“... Bye.” Something about the departure seemed bittersweet; sure, he wanted to catch up with Tim, but on the other hand, he was… a little weird. Not that that was a bad thing, he’d always been a little off ever since they met, Jay would always ignore it, but if he was being honest, something about it scared him a little.
He wandered back to the hotel; he’d rather not drive drunk. He passed out as soon as he clambered into bed.