📹Marble Hornets: A Visit

I'm not sure at first what woke me.

Bird song hits my ears, then a gentle hum of wind through the forest. I'm still half conscious, my soul split oddly between the dream world and the waking one. I can't tell where I am, let alone who I am. Change is the only constant. That is all I know.

The dream world still calls to me, scraps of images lingering, whispering of magical unknown universes I can wander, all the limitless forms my soul can take. It's tempting to sink back into those different realities, no less stressful than my current one, but with an added perk of being able to run and swim and fly like a wild, free animal.

An animal who didn't have to worry about things like love or grief or revenge. Something released from the trauma of one's human life, yet buried so deep within it that it follows one across time and space.

A jolt runs through my body as my "self" reconnects fully with our current existence. I resign myself to being awake and open my eyes. Somehow, I always expect to see something different than the dirty concrete walls around me. Their familiarity isn't really comforting, but they remind me of my present. I'm laying in my shitty bed in a shitty abandoned building in the middle of some shitty woods.

I sigh as I turn my head towards one of the windows. It's unfair to accuse the woods of shittiness, when they hid and sheltered me for so long. In fact, the gentle presence of Mother Earth is perhaps the only friend I have.

Well, I admit reluctantly, perhaps not my ONLY friend.

Tim. Jay. I remember their names before my own. Their names matter so much more, after all. I try to ignore the image of their friendly, lovely faces. Thinking of either of them will only fill me with a twisted kind of sorrowful rage that inevitably turns into suicidal ideation. No, not now. I can't do this right now. I can't do this, ever, really.

I push the thoughts away and blink the tears from my eyes, as I watch leaves dance along outside. Slowly, I piece myself together into something somewhat comprehensible. Fractures of my mind squirm against each other, one of them pushing itself to the forefront. A familiar splinter of anger and fear. It has no name, just as I.

Together we lay there in our shared body and broken brain. I suppose eventually we would get up and look for Alex, or just go for a nice walk. As much as I long to see Tim and Jay, I feel too volatile right now to track them down.

With another deep sigh, I roll over and immediately hear twigs snapping underfoot. I've gotten quite attuned to that particular sound, after endless nights of paranoia looking out for Alex stalking me. The muscles around my ears twitch on their own as if trying to angle them towards the noise.

Heart lunging into my throat, I scramble to sit upright, pressing my back to the cold wall. I try to breathe as quietly as possible, tensed to run or fight, boring my gaze into the empty space of the open door frame across from me.

I can't tell how much time passes as I wait, straining to hear anything besides the normal sounds of the forest. Then, a small shifting scrape. Slow footsteps. An unmistakable shadow creeps around the entrance.

My heart skips painfully, and the violent part of me curls our fingers like claws, expecting the silhouette of Alex before us. But the next moment we're gaping in shock.

It's not Alex in the doorway.

This person is shorter, skinnier, wearing a dark brown jacket that we recognize. But it's the mask they wear that gives them away. The visitor's pale face and wide, drawn-on grin are achingly familiar.

I open my mouth again, but can't speak. Skully. The nickname for Jay's alter pounds through my head and chest. Oh, we've met before, several times in fact. But never have they appeared to us like this, nor have we ever told them where our secret hideout is. The fearful splinter of me flinches in panic at our uncovered face, and our hands twitch for our own mask that lay on the edge of the bed.