Hello! This is a picture of a well, and trust me when i say, it's important in this chapter. Enjoy!
May 9th, 2011, 7:07 am
Hoodie's pov
As per usual, my night was filled with coffee, video games, and the nagging voices in my head. every night, they would speak about some bullshit that happened already, or shit that I did years ago. My body shook to do something, as heavy footsteps came pattering down the stairs. I rushed over to the kitchen, grabbing the rags and cleaning supplies, and trying to rush over to the dining table. key word, "trying".
Slender came down the stairs, the steps creaking in every step. Before I could turn for the dining table, I felt his presence behind me, as always, and I shook slightly when I felt his breath on the back of my head. He reached over where I stood, grabbing a small pink mug off the shelf. I shifted my weight and turned to face him, only to see his back, facing away from me. I let go of the breath that I didn't even realize I was holding, as shady figures ran across the living room, and the pictures that hung on the walls shifted and morphed into each other.
The 'family' picture that hung in the middle of the living room swung side to side, and the faces of respectability turned into sinister ones. my hands gripped the spray bottle and rags, with their deep laughter from within the pictures.
"Brain. What are you looking at? Have you even slept?" Slender asked. I turned to look, shaking my head at his words. "Nothing of importance." 'Just the pictures moving and voices. nothing out of the normal. I thought to myself. For a short while, it was just me and him in the silence of the kitchen and living room.
The silence was oddly more comfortable then other times, most likely because I had gotten so used to Slender watching me from afar. Or the fact that this time he was focused on something else. I felt relieved, for once in this mansion of misery, but at the same time, I felt confused at the way that he was looking down to the table. 'No. Be grateful, that for once hes not analyzing the fuck out of you. Be fucking grateful.' That's what my mind told me. That's what I wanted, this entire time I was here, right? So then why now, that he focuses away from me, it's such a big deal? I felt my mouth open, with words that just ran past every filter that I had in place.
"Uh.. Hey? Slender, are you okay? You seem a little different." 'No! Why that fuck would you ask that?Jesus Christ! Fucking idiot.' I slammed my mouth shut, as soon as he turned to look at me. His head was held up by his hand, with coffee in the other. "i am trying to understand something. It's filled with odd symbols. Very old writing. I am not even sure if these are meant to be used as letters or just what someone thought of writing." He answered. I went against every one of my natural instincts, etching closer to him. I found myself standing next to him, now looking at the paper.
He was right to say that it was in a weird array of writing. Filled with circles, squares, triangles, and lines going through them. The paper was old, probably over at least a century. It had been burned, as the edges were singed, with black ash making the area crumble if you even blew on it. Droplets of dried blood surrounded the symbol in the center of the picture, as if the mapping out of everything had been cut off.
It looked beyond odd on its own, but the symbol in the center gave me a sinking feeling. It was a circle, with smaller ones in it. The line in the middle divided it into triangles, it seemed to have been traced with that dried blood. "Slender, What exactly is it?" I asked. I didn't even know what to make of it.
His voice was tired, and he rubbed the temple of his head with his fingers. "I read over the book that Jonathan brought to me, and I am trying to understand if this is mapping out how it should be done." "the ritual?" He nodded his head. I looked back down at it, noticing something that he may have not noticed. "Hey, call me strange, but the smaller circles looked like the placements of where everyone should be. You know, because in between the lines there is one circle, and Jonathan said that there had to be 6 people, right? so.. Maybe that's where everyone is meant to stand?" He looked harder at the paper, nodding his head and sipping his coffee on last time.
His head turned to me. "Thank you Brian. I didn't think about it like that before." I could see how tightly his skin wrapped around his skull. It always seemed so tight, like if he even winced, it would tire right off. I could see his cheeks allow a smile to spread across his face. He would often smile at us, even if we couldn't really see it. I watched him step away from the table, placing his cup in the sink.
Chuckling, I finished up with cleaning the table and counter top. I heard another pair of footsteps patting their way down the stairs, And i looked over. What stood there drained the color from my face. 'Alex Kralie'. An old friend of mine, from college.
He was just like how I last saw him, when he was still alive. His pale skin and brown hair seemed dimmer. He gave me a weak wave, adjusting his glasses. I could see his stupid smile, and feelings of regret and guilt attacked me. "Brian, how about you take a break?" "No. I am fine really." I rubbed my face as I yawned. I felt the bags under my eyes, with the additional weight of my eye lids. my hands twitched as I held them within each other.
My eyes stung. They did so, every time I closed them. "Brian, that wasn't a question." 'Shit.' was really the only thing I could think of. I sat down at the dining table, quietly, and laid my head in my arms. I followed in 'Suggestion', as it would be easier for everyone.
My body immediately felt like someone was dragging it into a warm embrace. I didn't fight it off, instead I got closer to it, feeling comfort I hadn't felt in so long. The voices around me were being drowned out by the silence in the room. Shady figures were no more. That warm embrace coddled me, like a mother would to her child, giving me a reason to sleep. At this point, I was already knocked out. I forgot everything around me, who I was, and who I was with.
The Dream
My eyes fluttered open, the breeze hitting me. I was looking up, at the sky, with my back against the ground. I had seen this place, all too many times. It was a meadow, with grass as tall as my shins. hills were covered in grass, with dots of flowers.
Sitting up, the wind left soft kisses on my skin. I remembered this place, and how everything could easily go downhill or uphill from here. This was always where my dreams would start, from what I remember of them. It was always peaceful, to an uncomfortable level, and something would come and rip everything apart. I stood over where I had been sitting, and my hands dug themselves into my pockets.
It was so quiet, with the exception of the whistling birds that hid within the trees. A small well was at the top of the hill, with a stone slab covering the opening. I walked away from it, knowing that it would let out whatever demons would haunt me. The path through the trees was blocked off, with thick vines. it was a clear path, one that I never been able to get to. It was different, as someone stood in that path. Waving at me. His face was obscured, which only made me curious.
I ripped away the vines, trying to quickly squeeze myself though them. This was a terrible idea on my part. Just as I was leaving the vines, and making m y way through, the vines wrapped themselves around me, climbing up my leg. My smile dropped from my face, as the vines wrapped around my legs, with a grip that could make flex tape look frail. They pulled me from right underneath, my face slamming against the cold dirt. It climbed up to my waist, and on to my chest, squeezing my like a cobra. I heard my body making cracking noises, and pain shot through me. My ribs were cracking under the pressure, as it dragged me away.
I shot the path a look of pain, with the vines dragging me back to the beginning to the tree line. The person stood there, on the path, watching me disappear. It was a man, and he was shadowed in darkness, but I could still see the details in him. His hair was combed over, and he was in 40s style attire. He gave me a pitiful smile, waving his hand sadly.
He turned away from me, and I could see his face in the light momentary. He had (S/C), and (H/C) (H/L). I heard him laugh, a low chuckle, and color drained from my face. "(Y/N)?! Where are you-mph!" I was interrupted by the vines. I bit down on them, that only reaction being an awful tasting liquid spilling in, onto my teeth. The bitter taste made me wince.
'What the fuck! Why isn't he helping me? He would never do something like that! would he?' I felt powerless in this situation, just watching him walk away, and being taken to wherever. My chest hurt, not because my ribs were possibly broken. My chest was giving me a sinking feeling, like being pulled down into an ocean. only this ocean was filled with betrayal, and hurt. The rocks cut my skin, and the light from the meadow emerged.
Now we had made it to the tree line, and the vines threw me, like garbage. I landed on my side, with my elbow hitting itself right up against my ribs. Not only that, but that slam knocked the wind out of me. I could barely breathe, with my body aching in pain. It took me a few minutes to regain my breathing. I mumbled "Fuck..". I rolled over, allowing my side to take a break from the sudden shock.
I stared blankly at the ground, huffing and puffing. Everything was in pain. My lungs burned, my chest was filled with anguish, and the lower half of my body felt flimsy. But what hurt the most, was seeing (Y/N) just walk away. Like nothing mattered.
I was well aware that this wasn't real. That he wouldn't just abandon me like that, but that fact didn't make me feel any better. And seeing how easily he did it, with confidence and pride. I don't exactly know how long I stayed like this, but by the time that I actually stood up, the cover over the well had been removed. I coughed a bit, still holding my stomach.
I inched to the well, creeping next to it. The moss covered it, and the smell of it reminded me of a decomposing body. I gagged, but still too a peak into it. the stung stench burned, and my eyes watered but something glimmered from the inside. It was extremely dark, and a chill made its way down my spine, when I heard a voice from below.
"Come down here.. The water is nice.."
A whisper came from the very depths of the well. "What? Who's down there?" I asked against intuition.
"Come here and I will show you.. Don't make me come up there. Don't you want to join your old pal, Brain?"
I backed away from the well, uncertain on what exactly to do. I was so used to having things chase me, and then be obvious on what they were. This was just out of the ordinary for my dreams. A hand trembled its way to the edge of the well, and pulled itself up.
"Now you got me upset.. Why don't we play a game,like we did as friends back in college?"
I could see him clearly now. "Al- Alex?" I stuttered. I dropped that habit as a kid. And it is back again.
"You remember me! Hey, have you seen my glasses?"
He asked. He looked worse than the hallucination I had of him. His voice was raspy, and his body looked like it was decomposing. the wounds on his neck were severely infected. maggots ate away from his face, and crawled in and out of the wounds. His arms, neck, and head decayed, at horrific rates, as they were a mix of blue and black. He dragged his feet against the grass, and his jaw was clinging onto whatever was left of his skull.
I backed away from him, my heart racing. His legs were battered, maybe with the fall of being in the well.
"How could you let Tim do that to me? How could you steal those tapes, work for 'IT'? Your limit is gonna be reached. And your little savior (Y/N/N) Isn't here to save you from yourself. You'll never get rid of me."
His 'joyful' smile dropped. his clothes were bloodied and torn. full of dirt and digesting water.
"You knew I died. And you didn't do anything. you left me there, you abandoned me, THIS IS YOUR FAULT!"
He yelled, anger and pain seeping through. I covered my ears, shaking my head. 'No.. It's not my fault. I couldn't control what happened. I couldn't stop anything.' He pushed me from behind, forcing me on my knees. He pulled my back to the ground by my hoodie, strangling me for a second. His hands grabbed my face, forcing me to look at him directly. My eyes watered, realizing what I had been doing. Running away from him. My past. My Guilt.
Alex Kralie, was the embodiment of everything. "I'm sorry.. I am so sorry." I finally said, letting the tears escape from my eyes. He let go of my face, still looking at me.
"It's time to wake up." He said. "What? Alex i am sorry for everything. please I just want to talk!" I cried. He pushed me further into the ground.
"We can talk later. Just help (Y/N)."
Those were his last words, before the ground engulfed me.
End of dream
May 10th, 2011, 8:23 am
I shot up from the table, tears streaming down my face, and Tim shaking me awake. "Dude? wake up. are you okay?" He asked. His hair was messy, and the smell of cigarettes was a bit stronger then before. He had his mask on the side of his head, so that I could see his actual face. "You have been whimpering. What's wrong?" I wiped my eyes, and it was true.
my face was stained with tears. They were still going too. "I just.. had a nightmare. that's all." "Well what happened in it?" He always asked those types of questions. A good guy at heart is what he was. We really only had each other.
I rubbed my head. "I saw Alex." I muttered. Tim stayed quiet, surprise on his face. "Did he say anything?" He grounded down his last cigarette. "Just to try and redeem myself, i guess. It was just a dream anyways." I told him. 'It shouldn't really matter, right?' But I know that it did. "How did he ask you to 'redeem' yourself?" he questioned. Before I could answer, I heard Sally call me.
I saw Sally walk downstairs, holding (Y/N). They smiled at me, as Sally set him down to his own 2 feet. "You're finally awake. I was hoping you would be awake by now." He laughed, his voice was sweet, and nothing like his laugh in the dream. But I was confused by this. "Wait. How long have I been out?" Tim looked down at his watch. "Slender said you you fell asleep at 7 something, yesterday, and -" "Wait, yesterday?I have been asleep for a full day? why didn't anyone wake me up?" They all looked at each other, looking for a way to respond. Sally finally answered. "Well, we wanted you to sleep." was all she said, before leaving to get something to eat.
(Y/N) perked up, trying to drag me out of the dining room. "I want to show you something that Jonathan showed me. He told me that it could be my new body!" he said excitedly. I followed him, Thinking of what Alex had said. 'We can talk later, Just help (Y/N)' silently, I nodded at the thought. (Y/N) dragged me off past the dark halls. And in each one, I felt like Alex was watching me from beyond. And even if he wasn't, I was still glad that I could, maybe, redeem myself.
I just hope that it will be enough to let him forgive me.
Good morning/night! Alex is a character from the original Marble Hornets. If you have any questions on how he is being used, then ask, and I will gladly answer. I am more or so using Alex as a representation of Brian's guilt for what happened and everything that has happened. Brian will start to look at you as the person who may have the answers to how he is truly feeling. He believes that you can help him and that he can help you. I hoped that you liked this chapter, and sorry for the long wait.