A lot's On My Mind

You know that funny feeling you get in your stomach when you're free-falling on a roller coaster? That was the feeling The Hooded Man was trying to focus on while he was free-falling towards the concrete floor. He hit head first, making sure to lean back to ensure his death and escape the monster tormenting him. He heard his head crack open before he felt it but the pain didn't last very long before he was pulled into nothingness. He almost missed the sight of his old best friend peeking over the balcony.

God, he hopes Tim will understand.

The nothingness is still there but he knows he's somewhere else. A place he has escaped time and time again but only really remembers when he's there.

The Ark.

The last place he wanted to end up after that stunt. He can't find it in him to stand again despite the pain being gone.

Everything Is Normal.

The sky is so dark that he can't tell if he's closed his eyes or not and the thought makes him so tired. He just wants to sleep now but if he is still alive then he needs to leave this place. He doesn't want to know what would happen if he let himself drift away here.

Food For The Ark.

The thought hits him hard enough to make him fling upwards, the motion causing his head to spin. He brings his hand back to assess the damage, cringing at the squishy feeling of what could only be blood and deciding not to look for his sanity.

Everything Is Fine.

He decides that it's probably a concussion, not the worst thing he has dealt with and it won't be the last - probably. He'll have to worry about that after he escapes. He digs a flashlight out of his hoodie pocket, using it to at least see the ground in front of him.

The Hooded Man pushes himself to his feet, stumbling over his lanky legs while fighting the blurry vision caused by his small headache. That was the one thing he enjoyed about The Ark - its ability to at least numb most of the pain. His normally dry throat didn't burn while he breathed, he almost felt like he could speak clearly if he tried but what was the point when there was no one to speak to?

A part of him missed talking, he remembers never being able to shut up when he was younger and made acquaintances everywhere he went. Everyone knew of him- or at least knew he was a friendly guy. He was never alone, always having someone there to talk about the latest shitty movie or any other pointless thing that mattered at the time. But he was alone now, alone and staring down into a dark hole that seemed to go on forever.

Maybe a fall from there would work better.

He turns away from the hole and is met with the sight of someone else lying on the ground.

Jay.

By the looks of it, there's nothing left but a shell - A broken mind.

There is nothing he can do for him now and so he walks away. But the darkness swallows the light and causes his flashlight to be worthless.

Keep moving.

He can't stop, he has to get out he has to see them again.

His flashlight works enough to land on The Operator's blank face.

He is falling- no, he's sinking in the water now. It's cold but that's the least of his problems with all the worries running through his head. He doesn't want to die, he just wants to get away from its influence. He misses being normal, he misses his friends-  He misses his mom.

He couldn't stop himself from mourning a life he could no longer have- it infected him with something incurable, something that was going to always come back. The tears mix with the water while he thinks of the worst.