Afraid of the Dark

Chapter Twenty-Five

It took a few minutes, but eventually Mark could sense the adrenaline beginning to course through the older man's veins as the affect kicked in. It was the only thing that was going to save his life.

He nodded approvingly, before strolling outside of the room to where the sofa was. He remembered that his host... correction, he had taken off his hoodie in this area., deciding that it had been contaminated with the toxin and therefore was too dangerous to wear. A rather feeble attempt to stop an infection that had already taken hold of him.

The toxin, or more specifically the spores from the parasite which created the toxin, could only survive when inside of a living human or on the surface of specific metal alloys. They would die on clothing within a few minutes, meaning that the only danger the 'contaminated' hoodie had was the smell of the other substances which Seán had thrown up.

"How's it going?" Ethan asked shakily, wiping his eyes as Mark approached.

"Don't worry about it," the older man said smoothly, picking up the desired item of clothing along with a blanket that was draped over an arm rest. "Can you give me your hoodie please?" he asked, curiously glancing towards a nearby hallway where a bright light would periodically flash. It looked like they had done everything that they needed to get the camera.

"Uh... why?"

"You'll get it back."

"That doesn't answer my question... but okay." He took off his hoodie and held it out towards where Mark stood, who grabbed it without hesitation and made his way back to the freezer room.

"Ah, welcome back to the land of the living, Tyler," he said with a smile, as he saw the older man had opened his eyes, which were narrowed with fear. Mark pulled off Tyler's ice-cold hoodie and replaced it with his own, before draping Ethan's hoodie over the top, with the blanket on top of that. At each touch, Tyler flinched. Mark sat by him for a while, grinning as he watched the older man react to things that were not real as his fears were brought to life before his eyes, his body frozen still - but not because he was cold, because he was paralyzed with fear. His mouth would occasionally open to try and speak, but his teeth were still chattering after being trapped in the freezer, meaning nothing but broken up whimpers would come out. It was a highly amusing sight to watch. Although this effect would eventually wear off on its own, Mark took it upon himself to do the gracious thing and end it himself.

He gripped Tyler's shoulder and squeezed it firmly. "Tyler? Tyler, can you hear me? Are you okay?" he asked with fake but believable concern as Tyler looked around with panic.

"Wh-wh-wh...?" His teeth were still chattering too badly to make words.

"Hold on, take a moment to warm up. I've got you some blankets and clothes and stuff." Mark instructed, looking towards the freezer with a questioning look. "How long were you in that thing for?" He wasn't faking his curiosity here; he genuinely wanted to know.

"C-c-c-c-c," Tyler stuttered.

"I... don't know what you're trying to say, sorry." The older man gripped the blanket that had been draped over his shoulders and began to cry as he tried to process everything that he thought he just witnessed, the sound being loud enough to alert the younger man outside.

"Mark?" Ethan called through. "Are you crying?"

"No, that's Tyler," Mark replied with a raised voice.

"What!? Hold on, I'll..." Crash. "Ah, f***! I'm coming, I just need to..." Thud. Mark muttered something under his breath, which no one else heard.

"Just wait there, we'll come to you!" He called through, before turning back towards Tyler. "If I help you, do you think you can stand up and come with me to the couch? It'll be better than having to lay on a stone floor, am I right?" Tyler managed to smile shallowly and nodded, pushing himself off the floor with stiff muscles. He tightly gripped the blankets around himself and shuffled out of the room with Mark's support. The two emerged from the room to find Ethan laying on top of a broken coffee table that he had clearly fallen onto. Mark helped the older man to sit down, before pulling Ethan up and helping him sit down too.