There was nothing that anybody could have said or done to make it easier on me. Not that I would have taken any advice anyway.
Each footstep that brought Brian and I closer to Jack's cabin was a slow, agonizing one. For once in my life, I found myself unwilling to end someone's life. In such a short time, (Name) had been able to drudge to surface the past I had thought was long buried; her smile was Alex's before he had completely succumbed to the sickness, and her quick-wit was Jay's.
She was all the best qualities of those passed that I had both loved and hated, and the intoxicating brew was just too tantalizing not to sip from.
I sighed heavily from under my mask. How had it come to this?
Not just to the prospect of having to kill (Name), but how did it all come to this?
Never before had I questioned where my loyalties lied, but never before had a situation risen to cause me to question, either. I knew that meeting (Name) had changed something in me. My perspective was beginning to broaden, and my inward inquiries were never-ending. Did I really enjoy being a proxy, or was it my only option? Was it still my only option? Would it always be?
How had we gone from being just two dumb fucking college kids to trained murderers? How had we allowed it to happen without fighting? We showed no resistance to The Operator, and had reasoned with ourselves and with each-other that his hold was just that powerful. But, was it? Could he really void us of free will?
He could alter memories if not erase them in completion, but how far did his power reach? How far could he bend us until we broke?
I halted in my tracks, thoughts overbearing and much too consuming for my liking. Never had such a simple assignment taken such a huge fucking toll on me, and the assignment wasn't even my own.
Brian failed to notice that I had stopped, and he crashed into me from behind.
"Fucking watch where you're going, asshole,"
I turned to face him, shoving him hard enough to cause him to lose balance.
He steadied himself, adjusting his sweatshirt.
"Tim, this isn't my fault. He knew we were strong enough to handle business, and that's what he has trained us to do. Are you too weak now to handle business, Tim?"
Dripping with sarcasm and laced with venom, he threw his accusatory words at me with little regard for the consequences.
If the Operator told him to do something, he would always just roll over on his belly and do it without hesitation. He was a little fucking golden child, always following the rules and always carrying out orders without any thought behind it. Had he really thrown away his free-will so completely and entirely? Had his memory really been wiped enough for him to forget who he used to be?
"You are just itching, just fucking itching, to get on my fucking bad side,"
He scoffed, pushing past me with a harsh bump into my shoulder before carrying on in the direction we had originally been heading.
He may have signed over his free will, but I certainly hadn't. I was well aware that I was one of three of the Operator's trusted pawns, but I wasn't aware that it was required to John Hancock your thoughts, emotions, and autonomy to him.
Quickly, I slipped my phone out from my jacket pocket, thumbing through the contacts before finding Jack.
I glanced ahead of me, finding that Brian hadn't stopped.
'Get her out of there. Now.' sent at 1:45 A.M.
I never wanted any of it. I really, honestly had thought that I was getting better back then. The blackouts had become minimal and even my doctors were commenting on how far I had progressed. I had done so good, I had done everything they had recommended.
Just as I thought I had broken free, he came back. He always did. I was forever marked as one of his pawns. I may not have been able to choose back then, but I could choose now; I wouldn't let her go through the same crippling fear, the same dark, deep depression, or the same soul-eating anxiety I had had to go through.
I took a sharp, deep inhale before bounding forward after Brian, crowbar that had been latched in its place on my belt loop drawn.
He was right, it did have to end now. All the corruption, all the pointless executions, but most of all, the plan of killing (Name).
Would I really kill someone I had known my entire life? Brian was my best friend at one point, I had even called him a brother. But that was back when we were Tim and Brian.
But after everything we had went through, we had changed. He embraced his new self while I writhed in agony on the inside every time I was made to do the foul creature's bidding.
He had become Hoodie, not leaving a single of trace of Brian behind. And I had become Masky; but underneath it all, I was still Tim; I was still the college kid who was confused and damaged, yearning for the help and friendship I had needed.
I came up behind him, crowbar drawn, ready to come down on him as it had on thousands of others.
I wouldn't be the reason that (Name) died. I saw too much of myself in the kid; saw too much of the other helpless people I loved who had been dragged down with me in her. She didn't deserve any of it; neither did I, and neither did Jay, Alex, or Jessica.
I made my choice back then to become Masky, and I took full accountability for that. But no matter what mask I wore or what stupid nickname I went by, I was still always Tim.
--Jack POV--
Hearing her speak about her nightmares was just solidification of what I had already assumed; the Operator was involved. Why he had chosen to inject himself into it was another question entirely, but at least my suspicion had been confirmed.
She looked up at me with wide eyes, suspicion present in her eyes.
"Do you trust me?"
I asked it again, locking my gaze with her own.
After a moment of consideration, she hesitantly nodded.
"Yes,"
A chuckle escaped me at her unwillingness to verbally admit it to herself. She was smart to be weary. I hadn't given her much reason to trust me, yet there she sat, nodding.
"I need you to do something for me,"
I cast my gaze back toward the laptop, hoping she'd follow my lead. And, as if we were on the same page, she did.
She sat on her thought for a moment, as if she was trying to form the words to speak the questions she was forming. But as soon as I had formulated the plan, I had accounted for all the possible things she could've asked as well.
"I'm going to fulfill my assignment,"
Fear erased any quizzical look she had left, her skin draining to a paler shade than usual.
"But with a twist, of course. I'm far too invested in you to end it now."
And just like that, her face flushed red. A small smirk crossed my face as I soaked in the fact that I now had this ability on her, though I always knew I could be quite charming when necessary. Though, it felt quite different doing it to (Name) in good fun rather than using it to try and lure prey in.
She allowed a single breath to escape her lips, her posture visibly becoming more relaxed.
"What do I have to do?"
I paced my way to the device that had sat unattended for much too long and opened it before setting it on her lap.
"I need you to log into his employer's financial transferring department,"
She looked at me expectantly, as if I wasn't done speaking.
I nodded toward the device, and once she was past the lock-screen, she studied the desktop carefully, looking for an icon, an app, or some semblance of what I had asked.
She looked back up at me, and I instantly knew.
She didn't know the passwords. She barely knew how to operate the thing. It didn't make sense that she would know the codes in the first place, but being so focused on the assignment, I had failed to question why a financial advisor would ever give away the passwords to such important accounts.
What was the Operator really up to? He had stirred quite a big cauldron this time, and his motives were always shrouded in mystery. Had he been trying to test me? See how much it would take for a human to intrigue me to the point of granting them safety?
Had he been trying to ensure my last mission never ended, forcing me to be stuck in servitude to him?
But, on the other hand, he could have also been testing her. Seeing how far she could be backed against a ledge before jumping off. How far she would bend before she broke. Well, the way it was going, it seemed as if the girl was made of rubber; pulled every which way, but never broken.
"You don't know the passwords,"
I didn't phrase it as a question, more or less stating the obvious.
She shrugged gently, fear crossing her features once again.
"He would never tell me something like that, he barely ever told me where he was going,"
And then, it clicked.
He had been abusive, that was clear. But was he violent due to his personality, or was he violent due to substance? Humans were known for having adverse reactions to alcohol and a few other substances, it definitely could have played a part.
"Did he drink? Or do drugs, to your knowledge?"
She looked up at me, fear still lingering in her eyes as her fingers hovered over the keyboard.
"He loved to drink, it was like a hobby to him. But drugs? He wouldn't have ever done drugs,"
A twinge of something unknown flared inside my chest. I didn't like speaking of this Henry, and certainly didn't care to hear her tone become protective when she spoke of him. I pushed it aside for now, looking over the home screen of the device myself from over her shoulder.
I threw a glance over to the phone that sat upon the dining room table. I had disregarded it when we had come in as there were much larger issues at that moment that needed to be addressed. I hadn't been able to put it on charge, but once I found the time, I'd shoot Tim a message and ask if her ex-fiancé was ever a "customer" of his. It wouldn't be surprising.
They had been charting his actions for months before deciding to strike, which didn't make them any more successful, but it did make Tim a prime suspect in this case.
The Operator supplied Tim with mind-altering pills as he had faced some rather unpleasant side effects due to his conditioning; these pills would induce a nearly numbing state of euphoria in the user and, depending on the strength used, complete memory loss. I hadn't had nearly enough time to study the pills in detail, but I knew they were quite powerful.
Perhaps the reason why Henry hadn't ever told her about where he had gone or what he had been doing was that he just simply couldn't remember. What better way to fake a disappearance than to target an already problematic alcoholic and get him addicted to substance? If they had it all planned out, why did they decide to rob him in his vehicle?
I'd definitely have to have a conversation with Tim later; for now, I needed to hunt and to clearly sort out my thoughts. Without warning, I shut the laptop and tossed it onto the couch and reached down to the floor where I had haphazardly thrown my mask earlier.
When I had kissed her.
When her lips met my own, nothing mattered. It didn't matter that I wasn't human, it didn't matter that she was. It didn't matter that she had captured the attention of every man she had met so far; all that mattered was that she had captured my attention, and Goddamn it, she held onto it with a vice grip. I wouldn't be rid of her anytime soon, if ever. And, strangely enough, I was more than in agreement with that.
I sent her one last look, to which she returned. Intensity and yearning burned in her eyes, mirroring my own.
I swept up her lips in a parting kiss. It was intoxicating. Never had I ever had the urge or desire to have such intimate contact with a human. But with (Name)?
If she ever uttered the word, ever gave me the consent, I'd ruin her more than happily.
--ANNGJIGNAONGIOAJIJIOAGNONFONAIOFNInfongdngonnfdognofdngodnzn??????!!!!!
I am obsessed with EJ and nothing can change my mind, periodt.
<3
And as always, if you're going to Meatball, do it Extravagantly.--
**I won't be able to update for a couple days, I'm working like 24/7 this week fml**