Chapter Text
Tim felt his eyes growing heavy, the road ahead blurring into a muddle of black and yellow. Trees whizzed by and looked more like an abstract painting of greenery. He knew he should probably pull over by now, the sun started to set hours ago, and the roads were vacant of cars. It was late, and oh how tired he was…but he just couldn't get himself to stop.
White knuckling the steering wheel until his hand prints made way in the faded leather. He would not stop, he couldn't stop. Not until he was completely sure he was out of any vicinity it was in. If there was any hint of that thing…any static…he would bolt.
Is this how he would spend his life? Running away? He had been running his whole life…was he just destined to run?
Brief imagery of his worn out work boots colliding with the forest floor made way into his mind. He could practically feel his chest tighten with phantom coughing fits. From the hospital building to the motel, he ran.
Tim shook himself from that thought as red blinking lights made his vision. A red light ahead blared its glow, screaming at him to stop. He inhaled tightly as his car came slamming to a halt, his chest leaping forward with the sheer force of the delayed stop. And for a moment, he was silent. Labored breaths fogged the car window, and he let his two hands slide down his face in exhaustion.
There was nobody around, and yet he felt the need to do a double take of his surroundings. That familiar paranoia crept up his spine making him feel ill. No matter how far he’d be, states away, he knew that feeling would never go away.
Starting his car back up, he kept an eye on the road and another eye out for any blinking signs of life, a motel sign, a holiday inn….anything to take a rest for the night. He didn’t think his back could take another fitful rest in his backseat.
……
Tim had booked himself a few nights at the first inn he had come across. Hauling his few items hidden away in a duffel bag up the stairs into his room…he couldn’t help but feel melancholy. Checking into hotels was one thing….to be alone was another. Typically he had….
The thought of his name made Tim want to throw up right where he stood outside the door. But he couldn’t, he had to push forward. That’s what Jay would have wanted. Or– that's what he hoped anyway. A bitter consolation of what could have been. Maybe Jay would have hated him, called him a coward and hoped every night of sleep he had was fitful….who knows.
With a sigh, he wrestled his pockets for the key, the number written on the faded plastic reading ‘144’. The jingle met the silent cool air, and he made his way inside. It was nothing to brag about, but it had a TV, so that was a bonus.
Throwing his bag onto the end of the bed, he made way for it, not bothering to turn on a light, or to set his things up. There would be no point, there was no point in making himself feel at home. The make believe that he was okay faded a long time ago, Tim was now settled with that fact of unease, that he would never feel fully safe or comfortable again.
His eyes were shut for a long time, trying to will himself into some sort of peaceful sleep, but it never came. Instead, he huffed, climbing up the bed and settling into a criss cross manner, grabbing for his laptop. The feeling of anticipation was eating away at him, and he couldn’t help himself.
After a long battle with his mind, his fingers shakily input his password, and the mouse lingered on the platform ‘youtube’, the red logo staring at him mockingly. Finally after a minute or two he clicked with bated breath. It was a whole other story before he typed in the search bar
‘Marble Hornets’
He knew he was out of his mind for going back on the page. He swore he would delete it all after his last entry. There was no point in keeping it up, all the memories that surfaced were not worth keeping. Expecting nothing…this was more to ease his worries that it was all over. Maybe scroll through some concerned comments.
Though…when he found the page, the last thing Tim was expecting was to see a new upload, the screen black with the title “entry #88”
.