Static memory// 18+ // A marble Hornets romance.

#14 . Lucky escape

I mumbled profanities under my breath as I ran as fast as I could, trying my best to keep in mind what turns to take to make it to Noah's house. Adrenaline pumped through my veins, making my heartbeat skyrocket. 

But the panic increased when I heard hurried footsteps behind me. He was surely after me, I knew that, but I hadn't expected him to catch up so quickly.

I tried to think of any other escape routes. To get him away. Running all the way to Noah's house with him chasing me was no solution. He would surely catch up with me, he has always been a fast runner. And I could hear the footsteps getting closer and closer. A fearful tear fell down my cheek, one which I quickly wiped away. Not a moment to show weakness. He took advantage of that.

But I was surprised to hear a second set of footsteps, coming from our side. I didn't turn my head to look. It could've been his friend or something, helping him in hunting me down. But my suspicions faded when the man chasing me let out a surprised shout, and the sound of something-or someone- harshly hit the ground. I finally turned my head to look, and my run halted when I saw the scene before me.

My eyes widened. On the ground was my 'dad', tackled by what seemed to be Masky, if his regular tan jacket confirmed his identity. As opposed to other times though, his mask was off. He clearly tried to keep his face out of view from me, but I managed to get a few peaks before deciding to look away as a respect for his privacy. As weird as that both sounds and feels. 

Dude sure loves to tackle people, doesn't he?

I felt a hand on my left shoulder, and I quickly swiped around in alarm, but to my bewilderment relaxed upon recognising the man as Hoodie. Unlike Masky, his mask was on.

"I think you should go." He spoke calmly as always, though that demonic effect to his voice sent a shiver down my spine. I nodded, turning to look at Masky again.

"Urm...thank you...!" And then turned to Hoodie, nodded once, and ran off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When I made it, I was sweating and panting, legs hurting from the long run. I rang the bell, and it took a mere few seconds for Noah to open the door. He immediately pulled me inside and closed the door, locking it. He looked tense. Panicked, but trying to hide it.

"Noah? What's wrong?" I spoke immediately, but he just turned around and looked at me head to toe.

"Where were you? Why do you look like you ran a marathon?" He asked instead.

"I'll explain later, I need to sit down." I replied breathlessly, walking over to the couch and plopping down on it. He quickly joined me, body rigid.

"Noah, what's wrong." He looked around the house absentmindedly, but it looked more as if he was searching for something. It reminded me of how wary Hoodie was in my dream after we encountered The Operator.

Another thought occurred from that. Tension formed in my throat. I swallowed thickly.

"...You saw it again..didn't you..?" He briefly met my eyes for a moment, but sighed and lowered his head, nodding. I sighed as well.

"How...? Where?" He hesitated on the response, but replied nonetheless.

"Out the window. It looked as if it was circling the house." I went quiet after hearing that, thinking it over.

"...or possibly looking for something..or someone." I muttered. He immediately shifted his eyes to me, the look in them showing that he did in fact understand what I was hinting at.

"No. Don't say that." He gritted out, standing up and 'casually' pacing around the room.

I didn't speak, keeping my eyes locked on the floor, thinking still. But he halted in front of me and looked down at me. "What about you? What happened to you?" 

I looked up, making eye contact. But I remained silent for another moment. Until I replied with a hopefully firm voice.

"He's out of prison." 

Noah's brows raised in shock from this, but he cleared his throat at sat beside me. "Why did you run then...?"

"He tried to kidnap me." My answer was instant this time. No hesitance. Noah tensed more.

"And how did you escape?" 

"First I managed to get out of his grip and run off, then when he was about to catch up with me Masky tackled him and hopefully beat him up or something." The man's expression soured when I mentioned The Masked Man.

"The hell was he doing there?" He spit in annoyance, to which I narrowed my eyes.

"Look, I know they're not the best, but he did save me. And they seem to be trying to help, if what they're saying is truthful." 

His eyes squinted in disagreement. "I don't think they are to be trusted."

"I know, I don't trust them either."

"Really? Cause you seem to feel the opposite." I scoffed at that.

"Noah, just cause I'm not constantly trying to run away from them or shoot them or whatever, doesn't mean I trust them." That didn't seem to convince him.

"Then tell me, when the fuck did that 'Hoodie' guy tell you The Operator is a demon, huh? Cause as far as I remember, I was with you the whole time."  

I went quiet for a moment, before adding with a murmur:"It's not my place to tell you." 

He chuckled in disbelief. "You know what? I'm starting to think there is shit you're hiding from me and doing something behind my back. What connections do you have to them, Evelyn?" 

"No more than you do." I defended myself, "And if you don't believe me, that's on you. I have enough things to deal with to have to worry about you taking shit the wrong way." I stood angrily and walked away. He went silent, not moving, just watching me ascend the stairs and go into the bedroom, slamming the door behind me.

I got into bed and covered myself up, not bothering to change. It didn't take long for fatigue to take over and I drifted off into a troubled sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Reread the whole book up till now and slightly cringed- I need to do some serious editing of this thing.

I had to write this chapter in a hurry cause it's 12 AM right now, but I didn't wanna delay any longer. 

Anyways, have a good day/afternoon/night.