Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Alex woke up with a scream and a harsh, phantom pain in his throat. It took him a few seconds to remember. To remember what happened, what Tim did to him. His hands flew to his throat, as if to stop an imaginary spray of blood. There... should be blood, right? Tim had definitely slashed his throat and left him to die... He had died, hadn't he? He’d died clutching his throat, trying to stop the bleeding but knowing ultimately that he was going to die from it. He remembered taunting Tim in his last moments, despite the overwhelming pain in his throat, the blood making his voice wet and gurgly. There didn’t seem to be a wound there now though, just an aching, phantom pain. 

He shakily got to his feet, catching his reflection in the shattered glass of one of the broken windows in the abandoned building. There was a faint, shimmering scar across his throat. Exactly where Tim has used the knife on him. It hurt to remember, to think about.

Speaking of Tim, where was he? And... why was his head so clear, free of that foggy, static-filled mania that he’d been fighting against (and failing) for the past few years? Shit, what about Jay and Brian? Alex remembered finding Brian’s lifeless body, seeing his former friend clothed in that old hoodie and poorly bleached mask, finally free of the insanity that had plagued all of the friends he had convinced to work with him to make his shitty college movie... And Jay... He had shot him. He had shot his best friend. Had left him for dead, uncaring of the fact that Jay wanted to help him, to save him. Fuck. This was all his fault, wasn't it? Shaking his head, he steadied himself on the wall. He could grieve and process everything later. Right now, he needed to leave the building. And locate Tim. Hopefully, he was still alive... 

Coughing, Alex stumbled out of the room, into the hallway. Pausing, he noticed the bloodstains on the floor. Was that... his blood? Or was it Tim’s? Shaking his head again, he carefully walked down the first flight of stairs. Pausing at the bottom of it, he noticed an old, bloodstained pocketknife. That... was the knife Tim had used, wasn't it? Walking back up the stairs to where it was at, he picked it up with shaking hands and carefully closed the blade, slipping it into his back pocket. 

Huh, his phone was still there too. Maybe.. Maybe he could try to reach out to Tim? Or at least see if Tim’s still alive? He pulled it out, opening up the messaging app and finding Tim’s contact. He started typing, and then paused. The channel. He should check that first.

Closing the text app, he switched over to the internet app and typed in the channel name Jay had come up with. Marble Hornets. The same name as that damned movie he had been trying to film back then, the one that dragged them all into this hell. Clicking on the YouTube channel link that popped up, he paused. There was two new entries, it seemed. He clicked on the newest one, uploaded on a few hours earlier, titled Entry #87. Watching through it, he hummed quietly. It seemed like Tim had survived then. 

He opened up the texting app and finished typing his message, before hitting send.

Are you still alive?   Sent at 3:45pm

Almost immediately there was a response.

Who is this and how did you get that phone.  Sent at 3:45pm

Snorting quietly, Alex rolled his eyes. Did Tim always have to be so dramatic in his texts? He carefully typed out his response and hit send, hoping that his vague explanation was enough for Tim.

It's Alex. You left my phone in my pocket when you… Killed me, I guess? I don't exactly know what's going on but I'm still here. I found the pocketknife, by the way. You left it behind. Sent at 3:47pm

And... For the record, I'm sorry about everything.  Sent at 3:47pm

He stashed his phone in his pocket again and walked back down the stairs, trying to locate the entrance to the building so he could leave. At least, that had been his plan, until his phone started vibrating. Was... Was Tim calling him? He pulled his phone back out and saw that Tim was in fact trying to call him. 

Taking a deep breath, he hit the accept call button.

Chapter Text

Tim was already having a bad day, even before he had uploaded that final entry to the channel Jay had made. Jay. His friend. Who was dead, because of him. Because of that thing that followed him around since his childhood. That thing that had caused the deaths of all the people he had ever been close to. Brian. Jay. Seth. Amy. Alex. 

Alex had been right, hadn't he? It was all his fault this had happened. He never should have gotten close to anyone in college, should've just stayed to himself and coped with the loneliness. His train of thought was interrupted by his phone vibrating.

Confused, he picked it up. No one should have his number except Jessica, and last he remembered, she was in the middle of a shift... 

Opening his phone, he saw who had texted him. Alex. But that was impossible. He had killed Alex himself, used the shitty pocketknife Jay had had on him before he had died to cut Alex's throat. He had even stayed in the room to make sure Alex fully died before leaving and passing out in the hallway from everything that had happened. So how was Alex texting him...? Someone must've found Alex's body and stolen his phone. For some reason, the thought of some random person finding Alex's body and desecrating it like that, taking his personal possessions and using them as if it were their own, made him angry.

In his anger, he clicked on the message and typed a response, too infuriated at the thought of someone else using Alex's possessions to formulate an actual response to the message that had been sent.

Are you still alive? Sent at 3:45pm

Who is this and how did you get that phone.   Sent at 3:45pm

He stared at his phone impatiently, waiting for a response. After a few minutes, he got one.

It's Alex. You left my phone in my pocket when you… Killed me, I guess? I don't exactly know what's going on but I'm still here. I found the pocketknife, by the way. You left it behind.   Sent at 3:47pm

And... For the record, I'm sorry about everything.  Sent at 3:47pm

He blinked. That was impossible. Alex couldn’t be alive. But... No one else had been around when Alex had died. No one else would’ve known about the knife. Or known that Tim had been the one to kill him.

There was only one way to actually know if it was truly Alex, though. His finger hovered over the call contact button, before clicking it.

Ring. Ring. Ring.

And then the call connected. Alex Whoever had the phone had answered his call.

He took a deep breath and tentatively spoke into the phone, “Alex?”

He heard a sharp inhale on the other side, before a familiar voice answered.

“Tim. Um. Hi? Ow, fuck... Throat definitely has some sort of damage...”

How was he even supposed to answer that? More importantly... “Alex, how are you even alive?” Tim asked. “I thought I-”

Alex snorted, cutting him off mid-sentence. “You killed me? Yeah. You did. I don’t know how I’m alive. I just... I woke up exactly where I died, except my throat isn’t...” Alex replied, trailing off into silence.

Tim paused, before quietly finishing Alex’s sentence for him. “Cut open and gushing blood?”

There’s a sharp inhale, followed by a small pause on Alex’s end, before he replies, “Yeah. There’s just a thin scar there. And a constant, phantom pain.”

Tim... honestly didn’t know how to respond to that. Especially knowing that he had been the one to cause the wound.

After a few long moments of silence, Tim heard Alex speak again. “I saw the last entry. Are... Are you okay?”

Tim blinked in surprise before sighing and replying, “...Alex. Do you think I’m okay? After everything?” Unsaid, but definitely implied, was the After seeing everyone we care about die? After years of dealing with that being? After killing you?

Alex hummed on the other end of the line, before responding. “That’s fair, yeah... Where are you, currently?”

Tim looked out the window of his car, at the dirty, unassuming motel he was planning on spending the night at. “Mmm... Parked outside a motel on the outskirts of Columbus. Why?”

He heard Alex sigh before responding, “Because-” He stopped talking for a moment, before cursing. “ Shit, is that Jay-? ” 

Jay? Is... Is he alive too...? Tim wondered before shaking his head and asking, “Alex? What do you mean, is that Jay?”

He could hear more cursing from Alex, along with the sound of him running.

“Fuck, it is him-. Tim, can I put you on speaker while I check on him?” Alex asked.

Tim paused in shock, before replying, “I- Yeah. Yeah, you can.”

Chapter Text

Jay awoke slowly to the feeling of pain in his abdomen, distant voices, and a shadow over him. Groaning, he opened his eyes, only to freeze in terror at the person standing over him. Alex. His friend. The one who had shot him and left him to bleed out. Was he- was he there to finish the job?

Jay could hardly hear anything over the ringing in his ears and his panicked thoughts. He could hardly breathe. Alex was going to kill him, wasn’t he? He was going to-

His panicked spiraling was cut off by seeing Alex crouch down next to him, saying something and holding his phone. Was he trying to talk to him...? Slowly, words started to filter back in as the ringing in his ears quieted.

“-Jay? Jay, can you hear me? I need you to breathe, birdy. Everything’s gonna be okay.”

That was Alex’s voice, wasn’t it? And that nickname... Alex hadn’t called him that since they were in college, back before... Back before everything happened. Everything from back then felt like a dream, compared to the past few years.

Without realizing it, Jay’s breathing had evened out, and his thoughts were starting to calm.

“There we go, just keep breathing, birdy. I’m not gonna hurt you, I promise.”

Jay opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by another familiar voice, coming from Alex’s phone.

“Alex, you should check where he got shot. See if it healed the same way your throat did.”

“Tim...? Alex...?” Jay managed to mumble.

Alex seemed to relax at hearing him talk, for some reason. Jay couldn’t imagine why though. But it was fine. Everything was fine. Right?

“Birdy, you done spacing out? Tim is right, I need to check where I shot you. I’m... I’m really sorry about doing that, by the way. I wasn’t in control of my words or actions by that point in time. I know it doesn’t change what I did to you, but you deserve to know the truth,” Alex said, gently brushing some of Jay’s loose hair out of his face. 

Jay blinked, staring up at Alex in confusion. What was even going on right now?

“Hey Alex, I think you may have broken him. Jay, are you okay currently? Does anything hurt at the moment?” Tim said through the phone.

Blinking again, Jay shook his head and quietly responded, “My abdomen hurts... Feels like when I was shot... I... Tim, what’s going on?”

There was a pause, before Tim replied, “I’m not sure, in all honesty, Jay. You died, and now you’re alive again. Same with Alex. Shit, are you guys still in Benedict Hall?”

“No, I moved us both outside, I’ve got Jay sitting against the wall currently. You said you were driving back here, right? To pick us both up?” Alex inquired.

“Yeah, I’ll be there in half an hour. Keep each other safe until then and stay together. And... If you find Brian, tell me immediately,” was Tim’s answer.

Jay made a broken-sounding noise, a mixture of an attempt to laugh and a groan of pain. “I’m not sure I could get up to run away even if I tried, Tim,” he said, before Tim hung up.

Snorting at his comment, Alex sat down beside him and carefully started pulling up his shirt. Jay cringed at the feeling of the dried, bloodstained fabric being pulled off of his abdomen. It was such an unpleasant feeling, the fabric pulling against his skin despite how careful Alex was being. Eventually though, Alex had finished pulling it up enough to actually check where he had been shot.

“Huh. Your wound is the same as mine. Same silvery sheen and light scarring and everything,” Alex said as he gently traced around the scar with his fingers. 

Jay didn’t know what to do. Alex was so close to him, actually touching him and looking at him like he actually cared about him again. Like the years since college had never happened. Like everything was okay again. Like he could lean forwards and kiss Alex without the fear of being rejected. It was all too much for him.

So he did the most logical thing: he shoved Alex away from him and doubled over, coughing heavily just from the effort that simple movement took. His side was hurting so badly, but he managed to steady himself against the wall again, breathing shakily.

“Jay? Birdy, are you alright...?” he heard Alex ask him.

Hah. Alright. How could he be alright when all he could think about was how close Alex had been to him, how easily he could’ve kissed him. Fuck, why couldn’t he just go back to ignoring his feelings about Alex again and pretending to be interested in girls, like he did in college. Everything was easier back then, with Alex dating Amy, a clear sign to Jay that Alex wasn’t interested in boys. Like a normal person should be. Fuck, why couldn’t he be normal? Why did he have to be a freak who liked boys? Ugh, he was getting sidetracked again, wasn’t he?

Shaking his head to clear his mind, he looked away and quietly responded, “I’m not sure any of us are alright anymore, Alex...”

He heard Alex sigh and turned to look over at him. He looked so utterly tired, like all the fight had been drained from him, which was... probably accurate, in all honesty. There was a distinct possibility that dying had removed all traces of madness and anger from him. From himself as well, considering how easy it was to think clearly again, rather than being lost in a haze of paranoia, constantly recording his surroundings in case his memories disappeared again. Shit, where was his camera?

“My- my camera, where’s it at?” he managed to ask, starting to panic at the thought of it not being on him. Of not having the comfort and familiarity of it in his hand.

“Tim’s got it, Jay. He’s been uploading videos since you... Since I shot you.” Alex replied, cutting off his panicked thoughts. 

That caught him off guard, as Jay hadn’t expected Tim to continue his recordings after everything that had happened between the two of them. He tilted his head and decided to ask Alex what all had happened since he had... died, apparently.

Alex laughed and began to tell him what all had happened since then, to pass the time until Tim arrived, and Jay couldn’t help but feel fond of the way Alex’s face lit up at the opportunity to put his storytelling skills to use again. Scooting a little closer, he laid his head on Alex’s shoulder and listened to him talk.

Chapter Text

Tim pulled up to Benedict Hall as the sun was starting to lower in the sky. Sighing to himself, he parked the car, before grabbing Jay’s camera and getting out of the car. Looking around, he didn’t see Alex or Jay anywhere, but he could hear Alex’s voice nearby. Walking towards the building, he decided to check the back of the hall, to see if maybe they were there.

As he neared the building, Alex’s voice got louder. Tim’s heart sped up a bit, which was weird. Usually that only happened when he was around Jay and Brian. The only two people he had ever had feelings for. Fuck, did that mean he had feelings for Alex as well? That had to be impossible, considering how much of an asshole Alex was towards everyone. He wasn’t always like that though , a voice in the back of his mind said. That... was true. Alex had been a very caring person towards everyone he interacted with back in college before he tried to film his movie, before everything had gone to shit. Before the patches of memory loss and static, before Tim’s past had come back to haunt him and destroy everything that he had come to love. 

Tim sighed again. He really needed to stop dwelling on the past. Walking around the corner of the building, he immediately stopped at the sight of Jay seemingly asleep on Alex’s shoulder. The both of them looked like hell, which was a pretty accurate summary of everything they’d been through. Alex’s shirt was covered in dried blood from the collar downwards, while Jay’s had a trail of dried blood down the side. 

Jay looked... peaceful, as did Alex, like they were in their own separate bubble, isolated from the outside world. Like the only thing that mattered to them was each other. It made Tim’s chest hurt, seeing how fondly Alex was looking at Jay. He couldn’t ever remember a time Alex had ever looked at him that way. Probably because Tim was broken and defective, seemingly cursed to always hurt those close to him. Unlovable, better off on his own where no one could get hurt. 

Fuck. How was he going to manage spending time around both of them without them getting hurt again because of him? And without the two of them realizing that he had feelings for them both? 

Shaking his head, he took a step forward, careful to make enough noise to alert Alex to his presence so he didn’t startle the two of them. Nevertheless, Alex flinched at the sudden noise and his head snapped towards where Tim was standing, body tense as if ready to fight whoever was there. The moment he made eye contact with Tim, his posture relaxed, which definitely surprised Tim. Honestly, if Tim didn’t know better, it almost seemed like Alex was trusting him to keep the two of them safe while Jay rested. But that wasn’t something Tim was even capable of, considering he was the one who dragged them all into this nightmare. That’s not true, we know how to keep them safe from It , that same voice in his mind said. They were right, of course, but he didn’t want to dwell on it. 

He stepped forwards, walking towards the two of them and sitting down on the ground in front of them. Alex looked at him with eyes that seemed to be free of the madness that had haunted their lives for years, eyes that seemed to be able to look right into his soul and see how utterly broken and tired he was. The thought of Alex being able to read him that well made Tim uncomfortable, considering the only one who had ever come close to being able to do that was Brian. He really did miss Brian a lot...

Before he could continue down that line of thinking, Alex spoke up. “You look like shit.”

Snorting in amusement, Tim immediately replied, “Says the one covered in their own dried blood.”

That managed to get a quiet laugh out of Alex, at least. “That’s fair, I guess... It’s... It’s good to see you again, Tim.”

“...Yeah. Is Jay alright?” Tim managed to say, trying to ignore how that had made his heart speed up a bit. He looked over to Jay, noticing how in his sleep he seemed to be unconsciously leaning into Alex’s side. It was almost endearing, in a soft sort of way, that despite everything, Jay still felt comfortable in Alex’s presence. Honestly, Tim was envious of that fact. 

“As alright as any of us are. Traumatized to hell and back and paranoid of everything,” Alex responded, before sighing and looking at Tim. “Is... Is that thing gone? Did you manage to get rid of it?”

Tim honestly didn’t know how to respond to that. There was no real way to be sure that it was gone, that they were all free from it. He shook his head, quietly responding, “I don’t know for certain. There’s a possibility that I did, but it’s not a guarantee... My plan was just to get as far away from here as possible, just in case.”

He sighed before standing up. “We’ve already been here for too long. I never wanted to come back to this place, but I didn’t want to just leave you two here. Can you wake up Jay so we can go to the car and get the hell out of here before anything else happens?” he asked.

He watched as Alex shook Jay’s shoulder lightly, rousing Jay from his nap. “Cmon Jay, Tim’s here,” Alex said, which seemed to get Jay’s attention. He blinked sleepily a few times before startling Tim by shakily getting up and lunging at him. Tim had to steady himself to keep from falling over from Jay’s additional weight and impact.

“Ow... I guess you’re happy to see me, huh?” Tim tried to joke, before realizing that Jay was actually crying. Panicking, he looked over to Alex, who just shrugged and mouthed ‘ He missed you a lot ’ at him. That was definitely surprising to hear. Tim had honestly thought neither of them wanted to even be around him after everything. Before he could fall back into that spiral of depressive thoughts, though, Tim realized that Jay was trying to ask him something. 

“Tim? Do you have my camera still...?” he heard Jay ask. Was he seriously still obsessed with recording everything on that camera? Tim had really hoped that that paranoia streak in Jay would have disappeared after his death. 

Sighing, he nodded and responded to Jay. “Yeah, it’s in the car still, I held onto it just in case. I uh… I used it for a while to record like you did. Hope you don’t mind.”

“I don’t mind much… Just feels weird not having it on me, y’know?” Jay said, which made sense to Tim. There was an odd sense of comfort and stability that little camera seemed to radiate. Like a form of protection against the nightmare they’d been living through. Especially since it gave them all a way to record what happened even if they ended up forgetting it entirely.

Tim nodded again and awkwardly stepped back from Jay, trying to get a bit of distance between them in case Jay started to cry again. “Yeah, I know the feeling. Um… It’s in the car. We should probably head to it anyways.”

He started walking towards the car, hoping that the two of them would follow. Walking around the side of the building, he froze. There was someone slumped against the side of his car.

Chapter Text

Brian’s head hurt. Badly. So did his back, actually. It’d be more accurate to say his everything hurt, in all honesty. He could hear voices all around him, louder than the ones in his head. It was too loud, the noises just made his head hurt more. He made a grunting noise, hoping that would manage to get the voices to quiet down enough for him to actually be able to think clearly.

Instead, that only made the noises louder, which frustrated Brian greatly. Grunting again, he opened his eyes slightly, immediately wincing in pain from the light. Why was everything so bright? Usually his mask filtered out most of the light to an acceptable level. If it was this bright then… Someone had to have taken off his mask then. That was definitely concerning, but not something to immediately panic over. Trying to open his eyes again, he could vaguely make out the shapes of a few people, though they were still extremely blurry. The light still hurt his eyes immensely, but he tried to fight through the pain to see who exactly was around him.

One of the figures crouched down next to him, saying something he couldn’t quite understand. His hearing was definitely fucked up somehow, which was beyond frustrating. If he couldn’t hear properly, he couldn’t survive. He wouldn’t be able to warn Tim about Alex. He was sad Jay hadn’t survived, but he hadn’t listened to Brian’s warnings. Brian was knocked out of his thoughts when the person crouching down next to him reached out, brushing some of his long, knotted hair out of his face, still trying to talk to him. 

He squinted at the person, trying to recognize them. They definitely looked familiar in some way, and he could tell that they were wearing a plaid shirt of some kind. They kind of reminded him of Tim, in all honesty. He really did miss Tim a lot. He hadn’t gotten to interact with him in a while, right...? Incorrect, you’re forgetting things again , one of the voices in his head responded. They were probably right about that; his memory had gotten so blurry over the years. They’re talking to you again, pay attention to them, the voice pointed out. Who were they referring to...? The people in front of you, idiot. Oh. That’s right, there were people there…

He tried to focus on the words the person was saying, even though it hurt his ears badly. The words felt like they were being spoken underwater, distorted and muffled. “Brian? Can you hear me?” the person said.

Huh. So they did know his name, which meant that they probably also knew him. He should probably respond, right? Yes, dumbass. They clearly know who you are, which means they care about you, the voice in his head responded. Did it have a name? That’s beside the point. Just respond to the person’s question, please.

It took a bit of effort, but he managed to grunt again in response to the question. Whoever the person was, they clearly could tell he wasn’t able to talk currently. They did seem relieved that he had responded though. He could see one of the other people walk around whatever it was that he was sitting against. They were probably looking for something, then. He heard a shout and then someone was shoving something in his ear.  

He tried to move away but the motion caused pain to radiate through his back. Just try to stay still, they seem like they’re trying to help you . Fine. He could do that. Not like he was able to move anyways. The person shoved something in his other ear and then hit something on both of the things. Oh. They were hearing aids. That explained why he couldn’t hear earlier.

“There, hopefully those work? Brian? Can you hear me now?”

Huh. That sounded like Tim’s voice. 

“He’s probably in a lot of pain right now, dude. I doubt he’ll be able to speak.”

Was. Was that Alex? Was that fucking Alex talking? Why the fuck was Alex near him. Why the hell was Tim not panicking that Alex was near. Shit, he needed to protect Tim. 

He turned his head towards where he had heard Alex’s voice from. Yep, that was definitely Alex crouching on the other side of him, although he was very blurry and hard to see. Gathering all his energy, he managed to lift up his arm despite the pain, before curling his hand into a ball and punching Alex in the face as hard as he could. 

“Ow! Brian what the fuck was that for?!”

“I mean, I can’t say you didn’t deserve that, Alex. He’s probably still running on instincts right now. Jay, did you find anything else in that bag?”

Huh? Jay? A bag? What was going on? Why wasn’t Tim running? Nothing was making sense.

“Uhh… Yeah, there’s piles of stuff with each of our name’s on it? Brian’s has a collapsible cane, a back brace and a neck brace, and a bottle of meds? I think the braces should help with the pain he’s in…”

That was definitely Jay’s voice. But Jay had died? You’re spiraling. Calm down. Let them care for you. How was he supposed to calm down when he couldn’t communicate with anyone? He was basically trapped in his head! You know there are other ways to communicate, idiot. Morse code. Use it. 

Internally sighing, he started carefully tapping out a rhythm on Tim’s leg, hoping one of them would pick up on it. Dot dot dot dot. Pause. Dot dot dash. Pause. Dot dash dot. Pause.  Dash. Pause. Dot dot dot. Pause. Repeat.  

“Yeah, bring the braces, Jay. Tim, are you okay? You have a weird look on your face.” 

Alex again. Why was he concerned about Tim? Wasn’t Alex the enemy? Out to kill them all?

“Trying to translate something. I’m fairly certain it’s morse code? Jay, is there a pad of paper in there?” he heard Tim say.

“Not that I can see, though I’m grabbing the cane and braces. I think there’s a note on the bag though?” was Jay’s response.

“Not important right now, just hand me the braces,” Tim said. Brian saw a few blurry objects be handed over him to Tim, who seemed to be shocked at the items. Maybe they were higher quality than he expected? Of course it's high quality, you know It always looks out for you. He made a quiet noise of agreement, which seemed to snap Tim out of his daze.

Brian winced as Tim maneuvered him so that the braces could be put on. Alex seemed determined to be the one to put them on him, which made Brian wary. After the braces were on, though, he had to agree that they helped a lot with how bad his body felt, and he felt a wave of exhaustion hit him. It was so hard to stay awake now. The last thing he saw as he drifted off was Tim’s face, looking concerned.

Chapter Text

Jay sighed and stared out the window of Tim’s car. Brian was laying on his leg, asleep. It had taken both Tim and Alex to move him into the car once Brian had passed out, and Jay had volunteered to sit in the back of the car to monitor him. Mostly because he didn't want Alex to be in the back with Brian, in case he tried to punch Alex again. And because he couldn't look at Alex without his thoughts drifting to other things. So it was better for Tim to drive and Alex to be in the front seat with Tim.

He sighed again. He definitely needed a distraction. Looking down at the strange bag on the floor in front of him, he grabbed the letter that had been pinned to it.

A gift to help you all this time around. Do not waste your second chance.

The letter wasn't signed, but at the bottom of it was a string of numbers.

25-15-21-18 2-5-14-5-22-15-12-5-14-20 7-21-9-4-5 20-15 20-8-5 1-18-11

It looked like a code of some sort. Most likely a hidden message to decipher. Focusing on the numbers, he started to decipher them, realizing that it was most likely a simple cipher.

Y-O-U-R B-E-N-E-V-O-L-E-N-T G-U-I-D-E T-O T-H-E A-R-K

To the ark. Like the name of that cursed channel that had kept responding to his videos with ominous cryptic messages. The channel that had hacked his account at one point, and that had filmed him without his knowledge multiple times. Why was the person who ran that channel trying to help them now of all times? And what did they mean by a second chance?

“Jay? You alright? You look upset,” Alex said, snapping him out of his thoughts.

“Ah, yeah, just thinking about this note. I managed to translate the code at the bottom of it, at least,” he replied.

“What does it say, exactly? You didn’t tell us earlier,” Tim said, sounding so tired.

“Ah, uh. Let me read it out loud then. ‘A gift to help you all this time around. Do not waste your second chance.’ At the bottom, the code translates to ‘Your benevolent guide to the Ark’. I’d assume it’s referring to whoever is running that channel-” He was abruptly cut off by Tim swearing.

“Fuck. No, it’s not the person running it, cause Brian was the one running that channel and he’s definitely in no shape to be writing messages like that. I don’t know who it is, but they’re clearly just as involved in this mess as we are.”

“Wait, Brian was the one running the channel?” He asked, surprised. Looking down at the man lying unconscious on his lap, he could hardly comprehend that his friend would do something like that.

“Yeah. It surprised me too at first. But as far as I know, it was only him. So I don’t know who wrote that letter. What else is in the bag again?” Tim asked. 

Reaching down, he opened the bag and carefully dug through it. “Uh... A few canes, inhalers, a box that says not to open...? There’s also a med kid, some bottles of medication, a book, some glasses, a few sets of hearing aids? Oh! There’s a pile of tapes and batteries for my camera!” he said.

“Wait, glasses? Can I see one of them? I don’t exactly remember where mine went, maybe they’ll be a decent replacement for now,” Alex said, leaning over his seat to look back at Jay.

Blinking, Jay nodded and handed him one of the pairs of glasses. Honestly, it was really hard for him to focus at all right now. What he really wanted was to be able to sleep for a little bit and let his mind have the time to process the past hour or two. So much had happened since he’d woken up...

Alex’s voice cut off his thoughts before he could start to think about it all. “Huh.  That’s odd. These are almost exactly the prescription that I used to have.”

“Oh...?” he asked quietly, not fully paying attention to anything happening. Without really thinking about it, he grabbed one of the tapes from the bag along with a few of the batteries, loading them into his camera. Turning it on, he hit the record button, so he could have a record of everything again. Just to be safe, of course. Totally not because of the ever-growing paranoia that once again they were being stalked by something. He’d find a way to upload the video soon, considering there was a good chance that the people who’d been invested in his channel thought that something had happened. Or that this was all some silly fake video series he had made for fun...

Sighing, he focused back on the camera and on making sure it worked correctly.

Chapter Text

{Start transcription}

A quiet burst of static covers the screen, followed by a quiet mutter of "Did I load it in correctly?" from someone.

A click. Visual feed appears on the screen, the camera able to record footage again. It's focused on a bag on the floor of what seems to be a car. The bag has a faint halo of static surrounding it.

Another voice. "Jay, are you seriously already recording stuff again?"

The camera shifts upwards, and a familiar person comes into view, seated in the passenger seat of the car. One Alex Kralie, shirt and neck covered in what seems to be dried blood. He looks both annoyed and also fondly exasperated. 

The first voice talks again, this time easily identified as the voice of Jay Merrick. "I'd rather be paranoid and record everything than be caught off guard again. Besides, there's a whole pile of blank tapes for me to use up."

A quiet laugh is heard, and the camera pans over to reveal Timothy Wright in the driver's seat of the car. He's focused on the road, hands holding the wheel tightly. "He's got a point, Alex. None of us know what's gonna happen now considering death apparently decided you guys weren’t good enough for it."

A snort comes from off camera, and Jay is heard speaking again. "Or maybe it decided we haven't suffered enough." The two men up front in the car are silent at that response. 

The camera shifts down. Jay's lap is visible now. There is a man laying on his right thigh, seemingly asleep. He looks extremely beat up, but it's quite obvious that the man is Brian Thomas. A hand comes into view, gently running its fingers through the man's hair.

"Tim, how long until we're at the hotel?" Jay's voice says.

A sigh is heard from the direction Tim is in. "An hour, at the very least," is his response. 

"At the very least? What, did you choose a different hotel than the one you were originally at?" Alex can be heard asking.

There's a long pause. The camera moves and seems to be placed on the seat of the car, facing Jay. He looks disheveled, his shirt covered in blood, presumably his own. Brian is also in view still, laid out across the seat.  Visible from this angle is a medical-grade brace on his back, and what seems to be another brace on his neck. 

Jay turns to look out the window at the scenery outside as the car moves. Occasionally, the car window seems to momentarily flicker from fading blue sky to dark wooded forests, always accompanied by a quiet hiss of static. Upon closer inspection, the moments of scenery change appear to be almost identical to that of Rosswood Park at night. Jay seems to not notice this at all. 

Roughly two minutes pass. Jay reaches down towards the floor of the car and pulls out a book from the bag that was lying there. The screen seems to glitch at the exact moment when his hand enters the bag as well as when it exits the bag with the book. The title of the book is not visible, as the cover of the book is covered in static. This does not seem to be noticed by Jay, however.

Brian is seen moving a bit, before his leg hits the camera itself and knocks it onto the floor of the car.  A quiet "Goddammit Brian-" is heard before the camera turns off. 

{End transcription}