A Different Iteration | MH/EMH crossover

Chapter 4

Jay wakes up the next morning feeling utterly exhausted. He is the first to wake up while Evan sleeps peacefully in his bed. Jay slowly shifts out of the bed, moving to grab some clothes out of his bag. He decides to take the first shower, slipping quietly into the bathroom without waking Evan. The shower is quick, just enough time for Jay to try and process what had happened the previous night. Totheark’s threat had run Jay through an emotional rollercoaster, leaving him feeling anxious and alert. It ran through his mind like a broken record. Stepping out of the bathroom, Jay notices that Evan is up. He is scrolling on his phone. Evan looks up when Jay steps out.
“You doin’ alright buddy?” He asks hesitantly. Jay nods, even though he feels like he just got hit by a truck. Evan seems to sense that since he straightens up on the bed. “How about we get the others and go get some breakfast, huh?”Jay just nods blankly, following Evan out into the hall to wake Jeff and Vinny. The two men stare unashamedly at Jey with concerned looks on their faces. Jay tries to ignore it, knowing that he too would be very confused after his outburst the day before. The four head down into a small room filled with people for breakfast. Jay’s hands clench as his nerves begin to take over. ‘Any one of these people could be Totheark. They could be here for me.’ He is brought out of his thoughts as Jeff shakes his shoulder, looking at him weirdly.’ Jay startles a bit, feeling slightly embarrassed.
“Sorry,” Jay mumbles, stumbling forward to awkwardly shovel some food onto a paper plate. As soon as he has grabbed his fill Jay is out the door, heading back to his shared hotel room. He can feel Jeff, Evan, and Vinny behind him, although they don’t say anything. Jay unlocks the door to his and Evan’s room, leaving the door open to allow the trio of friends in after him. He plops down on his bed , picking briefly at his food while watching as the others settle into their own spots. They allow him to keep the silence for a while, until Evan decides to speak up.
“We need to talk about what happened,” Evan sighs, shifting his body to face Jay’s. The others follow, turning towards Jay with almost pitying expressions that Jay hates.
“What is there to talk about?” Jay grumbles, avoiding the gazes of the others as he picks at his food. Vinny scoffs a bit, clearly annoyed by Jay’s attitude.
“We watched you almost work yourself into a panic attack over this totheark,” Jeff states calmly, as if deciding to take a peaceful approach to the conversation. Jay flinches a bit at his choice of words, knowing they had him there. Evan seems to take charge of the conversation, which is feeling more like an intervention by the minute.
“Look, we said we’d help you, Jay. We can’t do that if you’re hell-bent on not telling us why you are so afraid of this guy,” Evan says bluntly. Rolling his eyes, he considers what they’ve said to him.  He had been pretty forward with them about what was going on but they had yet to experience just how close Jay had come to being hurt by totheark. They recorded him after he was kidnapped by The Operator for god’s sake.
“Okay, okay, I’ll explain,” Jay sighs, shuffling a bit in his bed. “ The reason I was so panicked is because totheark has kidnapped me.” Jay watches as the other three look at him with varying degrees of shock. He rushes to explain more clearly.
“Well, actually it was more like he filmed me after I got kidnapped by someone else? It’s kind of hard to explain,” Jay says as he scratches the back of his head. Deciding to just show them, Jay pulls out his phone and pulls up the “return” video from the totheark channel.
“This video was released by totheark directly after I posted entry nineteen, where I had shown some security footage of my room. The masked man had apparently shown up at my window and got inside, staring at me for a while before we both disappeared together.” Jay shudders a bit at the thought of him being so close to The Operator.
“I had no memory of coming face to face with them, nor do I remember when I just casually walked back into my room two hours later and fell asleep.” He sits stiffly, watching close to gauge the guys’ expressions. Evan is looking at him with interest, Jeff with concern (or was it pity?), and Vinny seems to be shocked. Evan is the first to speak. “We’re gonna want to get out of here soon. If tothark is really after you then we should try to get some distance from your apartment.” He suggests, throwing away the empty plates littering the room. Jay watches for a second before nodding. In thirty minutes they are all packed into Jay’s car with everything they brought, setting down the road towards a hotel about an hour or two away.
The car ride for the most part is peaceful, with Vinny and Evan in the backseat messing around. Jeff sits in the front, conversing with Jay while helping to navigate.  By the time they make it to the hotel, the energy has been restored a bit  from the morning. However, in an unfortunate turn of events, the new hotel only had a two bedroom available. So, they booked the room and settled in. After about an hour of chatting about random things, Jay’s phone started to ring.
“Sorry, let me just take this real quick,” Jay flashes a smile and stands from the bed, going to stand near the door to answer. To his surprise, it’s one of his college classmates. He had never really been close with him, really only talking when he had come over to Jay’s apartment for a project. As Jay answers the phone, he can hear the dull drone of the news in the background.
“James? What’s up?” Jay asks, stuffing his free hand into his pocket.
“Jay? Oh thank god,” James mUmble the last part under his breath but Jay could hear the undertone of worry. “You need to turn on the news. Like, now.” Furrowing his brow, Jay hangs up and scrambles for the remote, turning on the small television in the room. He also makes a point to grab his camcorder and start recording.
Jay? You alright? What’s going on?” Jeff is staring at him, glancing between him and the TV. However, Jay can barely hear him over the overwhelming train of thought in his head. Jay stares blankly at the TV which is showing a clip of a burning apartment complex. His burning apartment complex. They zoom in on the window where a fire rages in one, his, apartment. Sitting on his knees in front of the TV, Jay can feel his world collapse. Totheark came. It wasn’t just an empty threat. They had burned down his apartment with the idea that he was inside. Slowly, his hearing returns and he can hear the way Evan, Jeff, and Vinny are trying to ask him what’s wrong. Sitting back against the bed, he rests his head in his hand, closing his eyes.
“That was my apartment. My apartment was on fire. Which means that totheark did come for me. They would have killed me.” Jay can feel his hands shaking against his head and he lets his fingers curl in his hair to try and relieve some of his stress. Jeff kneels in front of him, grabbing his attention as he lets his hands fall into his lap.
“I’m so sorry, Jay. Look, why don’t we all just go to bed and we can leave in the morning, get some more distance?” Jay nods slowly, standing from his spot on the floor to slip into the bed he had claimed. He closes his eyes, but he doesn’t actually fall asleep until an hour later, after everyone else is asleep. As he gives into the tiredness, he thinks maybe he should have never gotten involved. When Jay wakes in the morning, he can tell something is off. He looks around, noticing that Evan, Jeff, and Vinny aren’t in their beds or even in the room. Jay’s stomach turns and it leaves him feeling nauseous. He slips out from under the covers, shuffling to the bathroom to change. When he exits the bathroom, Jay feels the stabbing pain of static in his head. The pressure is so high that Jay thinks his eyes might pop out of their sockets. In the corner, the operator stands, unmoving. Then, Jay is somewhere else.

1.4k words

Sorry this took so long to update! Ive been really busy with school and i just recently had surgery but now im back on the grind.