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Jay should have known something wasn’t right when he pulled out of the hotel parking lot. A parking lot that mocked the many he stayed at before tapes meant anything but a new film project.
Yet here he was, in his 2002, white acura TL, driving to that same destination as though it was somewhere he’d frequented. Maybe he did visit this place often, but that was exactly it. He did. If it was up to him, he wouldn’t be coming back, but it’s never been up to him, not since Alex had given him those damned tapes. What he did depended on how long between sightings of… whatever that thing was, his dwindling savings account that was meant to pay for his college debt, now being used on renting shitty hotel rooms in the sketchy towns of Alabama, and his want- no, his need to figure out what exactly was going on.
Of course, Jay knew in theory what was going on. He knew that Alex had been stalked by some camera-distorting, long-limbed freak of nature, knew that Alex had hesitated for good reason to give Jay those tapes, knew that he’d resurfaced something his friends had fought to ignore for years, and knew that he was barely even five minutes away from that damned building he tried so hard to forget about.
He could feel his hands getting clammy as he gripped the wheel tighter, despite him being nearly certain whatever had made his life hell for the past however long had moved on by now. But despite all that, he’d still made his way out of the shitty hotel room what felt like hours ago, hopped into his shitty car and drove.
He turned up the radio that seemed to be fighting with the static, before rubbing his sweaty hand in his jeans, most of his grogginess being replaced with anxiety and adrenaline as he turned on his signal light and pulled into the lot.
It was barren, unsurprisingly so considering it was only quarter-past two in the morning. Jay unbuckled his seatbelt that he’d only put on due to habit, and reached for the Sony HDR-SR5, taking a deep breath before turning it on, half expecting it to be dead. The rectangular screen switched on, and Jay let out a heavy sigh before hesitantly leaving the safety of the car in favour of doing what he actually came here to do.
He allowed himself one last look at the car before he made his way into the forest, following the trail which familiarity didn’t help the eeriness of this whole situation subside, and instead sent a shiver up his spine, causing the hairs on his arms and legs to stick up.
He whipped around, a nervous habit he’d picked up after months of being chased by an unknown entity. When he was sure nothing was following him, he continued his venture through the wooded area. The air was crisp and stung when he breathed in, making him glad that he’d stolen Tim’s journeyman shirt which served just as much comfort as it did warmth.
Jay had almost forgotten how quick being alone could set him on the edge. He’d been so certain he just heard a second pair of footsteps behind him, only to turn around and see nothing but an empty trail. He’d never felt at peace near these woods. Something always went wrong, whether he came here alone or with someone, there was always a twisted event waiting for him in some vandalized concrete building, or some old two-storey farm house with rotting wood floors, or in some sunlit clearing. He was right to be scared, and as much as he knew that true, he wished it were unreasonable.
As he continued down the trail, he remembered when he, Alex, and Jessica did the same. Jessica and Jay maybe five metres behind Alex, for good measure, but following like blind sheep. He should’ve known something was off, but how could he? There was something off with all of them, ever since he’d watched those damn tapes and got involved. God why did he have to get involved. Alex told him never to talk to him about the tapes again, never to share them, and he was right, sharing them online was implied with never sharing them. Yet he did, and now he was back at this stupid park. Filming more dreadful tapes, just incase.
It felt like he’d been walking for ages when he finally got to the old farm house. The rundown building practically begging for Jay to come inside. Despite his better judgement, or lack thereof, he sauntered towards the damned place, looking anxiously over his shoulder before he scuffed towards it.
The closer he got to the building, the faster he seemed to move. Why the rush he wasn’t sure, but he didn’t slow until he reached the entrance, taking a swift glance around the bottom floor before letting his hand leave the doorway as he gave a closer sweep around, noting the bullet hole in the ceiling and the glassless windows. There seemed to be a layer of dust coating every surface, as though itd always been meant to be that way, as though fate never planned for him to follow Alex here, so the place needn’t be tidied.
Despite the clear lack of anyone living here for at least a few years, and the many times he’d broken into houses within the last couple years, he still felt weird being here. Whether from some weird sixth sense or the feeling of wrongness, he wasn’t quite sure, but he felt like he needed to leave, and that he needed to leave now. So, Jay combed the camcorder’s camera around the room, and went towards the same way he’d came in. Stepping over the rotted wood on the floor and ignoring the rusted nails, he made one last look behind him.
A familiar tickle in his throat appeared out of practically nowhere, and he didn’t know whether to curse whatever God certainly didn’t exist or to pray that he had just breathed in too much dust. So he did neither and booked it out of the building, gripping the definitely glitching camera in his hand as he kicked up grass, dirt, and whatever else tried slowing him down.
“Why me, why me.” Jay cried, his lungs already heaving as though he hadn’t been running from this stupid thing for ages already.
His knees were getting weak, and he was beginning to trip over his own feet, but he dared not look back, tears pricking his eyes from the cold night air and the harsh burst of sudden exercise.
His surroundings became more and more distorted as he continued, but he couldn’t stop, not now, not when he had been so sure it had all been over. Not when he knew Alex was probably nearby.
He hadn’t even registered the chill of dirt and debree on his cheek until seconds after he fell. The tickle in his throat became painful, so he coughed, not quite the dry cough of exercise or the wet cough of a cold, but a guttural almost desperate sound. He felt like he couldn’t breath, and he’d barely registered the hot pain in his wrist until he tried to cover his mouth, his vision going vinaigrette for a few moments.
He was coughing still, only now he could register the searing pain in his wrist, the uncomfortable stabbing of rocks and twigs at his chest, the numerous scrapes across his body, and the familiar ringing of his ears when that thing was around. The coughing hadn’t died down, and it didn’t get worse, neither had the vinaigrette still obstructing his vision.
The ground was damp from rain earlier the previous day, and he felt the water seep into the fabric of his jeans and the shirt he wore, suddenly very thankful for stealing Tim’s jacket again.
He refused for this to end here, with the coughing divulging into wheezing and the tears that had previously stung his eyes now rolled down his cheeks like a child as he fought his body to look at his surroundings, noticing the absence of his camcorder. He scanned the forest floor, but with no avail to find the camera.
He felt as though everything was against him. It couldn’t have been more than an hour since he left his and Tim’s shared hotel room, all the intent of returning shortly after, relieved and with good news. Except that wasn’t how this played out, and now he was on the damp forest floor, letting out occasional coughs as his vision blurred, unsure of where he was and what had happened to his camcorder.
He barely registered the faint buzzing of a phone in his pocket, fumbling on the floor as his hands desperately located the hunk of metal, answering the call to a very staticky and very fast-spoken Tim.
A breath he hadn’t know he was holding was exhaled as Tim spoke, a few coughs leaving him as he tried to pay attention to whatever the other man was spouting.
“What the hell were you thinking? Leaving the hotel room so early with a sticky note saying “back in thirty”!” Okay, so Tim’s mad, that much Jay could register, his breathing relaxing before almost immediately picking back up when he realized why he was on the floor of Rosswood Park.
He tried to push himself up to continue running, except he completely forgot about his injured wrist and yelped before collapsing again, nearly biting off part of his tongue. “-got to this hotel room, what, four hours ago? And you’ve already run off somewhere?!—“ Jay registered a pause before Tim started speaking again, this time much more worried than angry. “Jay? Are you alright? Where are you?” Jay would’ve laughed at the irony of the question if his clothes hadn’t been soaked through by the grass and if his wrist hadn’t been bent too far towards himself to be natural.
He opened his mouth to speak before he heard leaves rustle in front of him, kicking himself onto his back and scrambling away from the noise like a scared animal.
He’d known where he was now, but it brought no comfort to him. “Jay?-“ Tim had began before getting cut off. “Culvert. Rosswood.” Laboured breathing followed as the coughing started back up. He knew where he was, and he knew that he’d either run way faster than he thought possible, or it wasn’t just dust inhalation that caused the coughing. “What? Rosswood- Jay you took the car. How the hell am I supposed to get there?!”
Tim had been blocked from Jay’s ears after that, the repressed memories of what had happened at the culvert resurfacing, forcing Jay into panic as he tried to quiet his quickened breathing. “Jay? You still there buddy?” Tim’s voice had a false sense of calm to it, and Jay tried to claw and grasp at any emotion that wasn’t threatening as he stared down the culvert as though he could scare it away.
“Jay?” He realized he’d yet to give an indication he could hear Tim, so he let out a noise that sounded more of a whine than a confirmation, but Tim didn’t seem to mind. “Alright, good.” It wasn’t, Jay knew it wasn’t, but he ignored his too-smart brain for now, pretending he wasn’t at a place he’d watch someone get murdered in favour of listening to what he’d hoped would be more of Tim’s voice.
Except it was Jay, so of course his phone was kicked out of his grip by the very someone who allowed Jay to get his hands on the damned things that messed up their lives.
It wasn’t long before another blow was aimed at him, causing him to wretch before he registered he’d been hit. Adrenaline coursed through his veins as he scrambled to his feet, feeling as though a small breeze could knock him right back down.
“Why did you do it, Jay?! Why did you have to snoop around! Why couldn’t you just keep those clips between you?!” Another hit had been swung at his head, but it wasn’t calculated and had just barely brushed against his jaw. “And then you brought Jessica into this! And now look!”
Jay had dug into his back pocket for the boxcutter he’d always had on him, flicking out the sectioned blade and slashing in front of him with it, seeing Alex reel in something akin to shock as he dodged the sorry excuse of a weapon. Recovering from the initial shock, Jay slashed again, except this time the blade came in contact with Alex’s arm, causing him to hiss in pain as he covered the slash with his hand before sending a kick Jay’s way, hitting him in the legs.
Jay was back on the ground, except this time he had no time to register any new injuries, as Alex had immediately straddled him. He’d faintly registered hands gripping his throat before gasping for air, remembering the boxcutter in his hand and plunging it somewhere in Alex without much thought on where. He’d recognized a pained gasp as he lifted himself to his feet, watching as Alex fumbled with the box cutter while he looked for his phone and camcorder. Finding the former of the two, he took off. Rushing towards where he thought the trail to the lot had been, not registering the panicked calls of Tim as he huffed, no longer armed, and no longer being hunted by a former friend.
“Hello? You little- answer me! Are you alright?” There were still breaks in Tim’s voice from the static, but it got clearer the further from Alex he’d ran. “Yeah, fine- ‘m fine, trying to… car.” He spoke through laboured breaths, as though his lungs had become immune to the cold air. Slowly, the scenery had become familiar again, and he estimated only a few seconds until he reached the old car.
Tim seemed to let out a breath, of frustration or relief Jay didn’t unpack, but he stayed on the line as he fastened his seatbelt, turning the keys he didn’t bother taking out of the ignition, getting scared by the staticky radio and turning the volume to 0. Pulling out of the lot and away from whatever the hell had just happened.
“Jesus, Jay. The next time you plan on doing- whatever the hell you just did, maybe don’t?” Tim paused before continuing. “Or at least drag me along? Itd be a lot easier to beat the hell out of that asshole if there were two of us, yeah?” Jay nodded, before realizing Tim couldn’t see him and hummed.
Not much conversation happened over the phone, but Jay was sure once he’d gotten back to the hotel room that he’d get an earful.
He pulled into the hotel’s parking lot, shutting off the car and taking the keys with him this time, the phone had been hung up a few minutes ago, and Jay opted to carry it in his hands, thinking better than to put it in the wet pockets of his jeans.
The trudge through the soggy smelling hallway made Jay recognize just how tired he was, and while he seriously debated just sleeping in the corridor, he decided it wouldn’t be fair to the staff to find a soaked and dirt covered man first thing in the morning, so he continued, shuffling his feet along the carpet before knocking on the room door.
Mere seconds after some quick shuffling behind the door, Jay had been pulled inside and forced into the not unwelcome embrace of a hug. After a few seconds of remembering which wrist hurt to move and which one didn’t, he hugged Tim back, albeit pathetically and with a single arm.
Jay felt a pressure on his shoulders before he registered being looked at, Tim’s eyes darting across him as if he’d held the secrets to the universe and they were somewhere all over him. His eyes moved back to Jay’s after a few moments of this, before he started speaking. “Are you out of your goddamn mind?! What the hell possessed you to go back to Rosswood?”
Jay knew Tim had continued speaking, but his brain couldn’t keep up, and all he could understand was that he was so damn tired. He knew he was back at that stupid hotel room, and that whatever happened back at Rosswood could be processed tomorrow when they drove to another hotel sometime that morning.
The feeling of the firm hotel mattress underneath him didn’t register until he’d closed his eyes, feeling the mattress sink down next to him. No doubt a very frustrated and concerned Tim.
He was half tempted to look to make sure it was Tim and wasn’t some weird faceless spaghetti-limbed creature, but felt as though it’d be better to just stay oblivious.
They had a whole day of driving ahead of them, and he could process what had happened at Rosswood during that drive. Right now, all he knew was that consciousness and adrenaline left him, and an odd calm settled into his body.
The weird pull and longing to return to Rosswood that morning had left, and they could analyze it during the drive, but right now, Jay needed sleep.
So, he slept. It wasn’t refreshing or sound, but it was enough that he could deal with the grogginess that came with all he knew when he inevitably woke up the next morning.
And if the only companion he had during the past year was next to him when he woke? Well, there was no one to mock the feeling of relief.