Chapter Text
Mark was by no means reckless. Cesar? Very much so. But if you put the two side by side you’d probably think the opposite. Mark was unkempt, had acne all over his face, and wore the same hoodie everyday. Cesar always had his hair neatly straightened and combed back, wore a suit everywhere he went, and had the world's most pristine posture. But Cesar was always the one getting them into trouble. They had been called down to the principle their junior year more times than they could count. Each time? Cesar's fault. Mark had to be the one to nail some sense into his head most of the time. So when Cesar called him around 9pm asking him for a favor, he didn’t object.
“Hey it's Cesar, I hope it's not too late.” His voice was steady. Mark prepared himself for the worst anyway.
“No, it's fine, don't worry. What's up, are you alright?” Mark leaned back into his couch, twirling the phone cord around his index finger.
“Yeah, it's not me, it's my mom.” Cesar stayed eerily calm. He only really had his mom and Mark to lean on so it surprised Mark to hear him so nonchalant. “She's knocked out cold and I have no idea why. I'm on my way to the ER,” Mark heard faint shuffling from the other line, maybe Cesar putting his suit jacket on. “But could you do me a favor?” Mark nodded even though the other boy couldn’t see.
“Yeah of course. What is it?” Mark leaned forward, resting his chin in his hand.
“I just need you to come over and turn on the cameras we have set up. You know the ones that we installed after we were robbed?” Cesar seemed to have sat down somewhere. Mark's mind harkened back to the day after Cesar's family was robbed. He had been the one to come up with the idea of setting up cameras even after Cesar's annoyed protests. Was this a similar situation? Maybe an escalation? Then why would Cesar call Mark and not the police?
“Oh, yeah. Would you mind if I asked why?” Mark's voice shook slightly. He silently hoped Cesar couldn’t hear.
“...Well... She screamed really loud right before I found her on the ground.” Cesar seemed to shuffle uncomfortably. “I-I just-” Mark sighed. Of course Cesar wouldn’t know what to do!
“Well, do you have your doors and windows locked? Like what the broadcast told us to do?” Mark's voice seemed more impatient. He had warned Cesar multiple times to be careful. After the uptick in alternate sightings, he’d been paranoid of something happening to Cesar or himself.
“Yeah, that's the weird part. Maybe she saw something? I don't- I don’t know.” Cesar's voice shook.
“Alright, I mean it shouldn't be too bad. I'm just gonna switch them on and get outta there though. You know how I feel about your house.” Mark had been scared of Cesar's house ever since they were kids. Cesar would always make fun of him for it. Mark heard Cesar chuckle a bit over the phone.
“Yeah, that's fine. One last thing, try to get a good view of the back hallway, if you don't mind.” Cesar's voice came through dead despite the earlier laugh. It made Mark shudder a bit. Despite himself, he answered a small,
“Okay.”
With that the line went dead. It was unlike Cesar to hang up without saying goodbye but with the severity of the situation he figured he merely forgot. His neighborhood curfew had definitely started and he knew he shouldn’t go out this late but it was Cesar! His best friend since… forever! It wouldn’t take long and it wouldn’t even seem like he was gone at all.
His hands shook as he gripped the steering wheel of his car. It was just Cesar's house. It was just Cesar. He was so wrapped up in his own mind he didn’t even realize he was at Cesar's house until he pulled up into the driveway. The porch light was on, that was normal, that's good. His hands were sweaty as he fumbled for the spare key to Cesar’s house. He nearly dropped the key a dozen times while trying to unlock the door. As the door opened Mark immediately was hit with a cold breeze. A shiver ran down his spine as he walked into their living room. Photos of Cesar with his mom hung by the back hallway. Some were of Mark and Cesar as kids, probably after church judging by Mark's stupid choir robes their priest had made him wear. The memory was a stark contrast to how he felt at the moment.
He made his way over to each camera and carefully switched them on. He had purposefully saved the back hallway camera for last. Mark hated how scared he was of that hallway in particular.
“Toughen up, Mark! You’re 18, you’re a grown adult. You cannot be scared of a hallway at your age.” He chided himself. Carefully he walked over to the camera in the corner. He remembered setting this one up with Cesar. Cesar had made Mark drill it into the wall because he was the taller one of the two. He switched the camera on and immediately felt uneasy. He gripped his cross necklace tighter, muttering small prayers to himself. He practically ran out of the house, locking the door behind him. As he closed the door to his car he couldn’t help but feel like he was being watched. He checked his rearview mirror, nothing. He checked again, still nothing. But as he backed out of the driveway, he swore he saw something out of the corner of his eye.
By the time he got home, he was already panicking. Alternates. That's what that was. He wasn’t safe. He bolted to his moms room and into her closet. He grabbed the shotgun and ammo out of the locked box saved for ‘emergencies only’. This was definitely an emergency. He slung the gun over his shoulder and ran to his room. What did the broadcast say? Lock your doors right? He ran over to his bedroom door and locked it. As he stood by the door he heard something walking down the hallway.