Operation Anti - Marble Hornets/Darkiplier/Antiseptic

rewind

KNOW THE LIES THAT LIE BEHIND THE FACE

A STIGMATA WRITTEN ON THE BROKEN PLACE

Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click.

Joseph jolted awake. Silence. Nobody was here. He stood up, and checked his phone. A tweet or two and a low battery. He stood up and brushed off the dust from his back and pants and started walking towards… somewhere. Ever since the news story with jackspedicy or whatever Joseph had been waking up hours away from home, sometimes after days had passed. He used what little battery was left to text Mei about it happening for the fourth time this month. Joseph shrugged and continued walking, not quite sure where he was. He almost recognized the area, as if he had been here before, but he couldn’t see how it would feel the same. He was in an abandoned building, that much was for sure. There was tons of peeling paint littered on the concrete floor which cracked as he stepped on it. He frowned as the curious litter snuck into his shoes and socks and kept walking. Eventually he looped around the front and heard police cars. He ducked for cover, wondering if they were looking for him. Had he done anything stupid that he couldn’t remember? He prayed that he hadn’t. He sat, hidden for a good minute at least before an all-too-familiar voice greeted Joseph’s ears. Troy is here? Why..? He didn’t have enough time to finish his thought before the familiar face of Troy Wagner came running through the main entrance and around a corner. Joseph, curious, decided to follow him, running as fast as he could to try and catch up with Troy.

Unfortunately, Joseph quickly lost track of the person he had once considered a friend and was once again lost in the building. He wandered for a bit until he came across a hooded figure, the mustard coloured jacket spurring Joseph’s memory instantly. The person turned around and was wearing the mask that had been used for Hoodie in Marble Hornets. He called out to the person, but they ran off before Joseph could talk to them. This time he was determined to chase the familiar person.

“Hey!” He sprinted after the person but they seemed to have a lot more stamina than Joseph did and quickly outran him. Joseph collapsed to his knees, coughing violently and shaking furiously. The arm that was holding him up gave out on him and he landed quite uncomfortably on his jaw and throat, winding him. As he struggled for breath and tried to cough on the ground he felt someone walking by him, but couldn’t see because the tears in his eyes blurred his vision severely. He hacked up some blood, then started attempting to catch his breath again. After an excruciating thirty seconds he was able to breathe again. Not perfectly, but at least he was getting oxygen and that was close enough for him. He stood up and saw a tape on the ground. Pocketing it, he turned around and attempted to find the exit of the building. He wandered for about an hour and it was already incredibly dark. Blindly stumbling around Joseph tripped over a rock and landed in some grass out of the front of the abandoned building. He stepped back a bit and looked at the rotting facade of the structure and all of his Marble Hornets memories snapped back. Somehow Joseph had forgotten that this was their primary filming location for a lot of season two and three, bit that was the least of his worries. This meant he was in Alabama, a state in which he no longer lived. He dropped to his knees when someone approached him from the darkness. He had a hood, blocking Joseph from seeing his hair, eyes and anything else that would allow him to distinguish the person. Although, the copious amount of piercings, sharp teeth and cigarette would be enough to identify the edgy stalker any time. Joseph stood back up and took a few uneasy steps backwards. The person frowned and stood up as well, the short hoodie revealing some skin. Joseph fought to find the words to say to this maniac, but almost as quickly as he appeared he was gone, looking for someone. Or running from someone. Joseph cast his eyes about the area, seeing nothing but a few trees scattered around a large clearing. He shook his head and continued on, wanting to forget the creepy man that had approached him. He just sort of wanted to get home to be with Mei.

He sighed and started walking again, this time in the right direction. He was feeling fatigued when he came out to an open stretch of road, the moon high in the sky, a thin crescent of light that glowed brightly against the cloudy backdrop that was sewn to tonight’s sky. The flash of headlights paused for a minute and Joseph exited the grasp of the woods, walking across the street towards the nearest not abandoned building, then to the next. It must have been an hour before he found a decent cafe that was open late. The person at the counter offered him a phone charger and he accepted, thanking the woman for her hospitality. He plugged his dying phone in and whilst he waited for it to charge he looked at the tape that he had found. Written crudely on the case’s label was the word rewind, all lowercase in an almost stereotypical fashion. He rolled his eyes slightly at the sloppy writing and tucked it back into his pocket. He thankfully had his wallet on him, so Joseph ordered a coffee and sat alone at a small table in the middle of the diner. When his phone was fully charged he thanked the waitress for her kindness and left. Joseph turned his phone onto the lowest brightness setting and looked for the earliest bus back home. When he found it, he booked a ticket and found the stop in the nice little city, deciding to wait there until six.

He hadn’t realized he had dozed off when an alarm he had set just in case went off and abruptly woke him up, fifteen minutes before the bus was to arrive. He pulled up the ticket on his phone and waited for the next fifteen minutes. The bus pulled up to the stop with a tired sigh and Joseph climbed on, showing his ticket to the driver then finding an empty seat wherever he wanted. The scenery was stunning, long expanses of flat land, or thick forests on the horizon. At one point Joseph was sure he saw a tall man in a business suit, but realized it was probably just a tall tree. It was a few hours before Joseph was in his home state, and the most he had drank or eaten was the coffee from last night. He sighed, and as he thought about his fast for who knows how long his stomach decided to rumble loudly. Joseph cringed and allowed himself to revel in his misery, them pushed food out of his mind. That would be top priority later. Thank goodness it wasn’t that long before he got home and away from creepy men with sharp teeth and piercings in the middle of the woods. He leaned back and shut his eyes. Never quite falling asleep, Joseph managed to push yesterday’s events out of his head. The bus pulled up to a spot in his home city and Joseph got off, making sure to thank the bus driver. He texted Mei to come pick him up, but she never responded. Joseph bit his lip. Maybe she was out somewhere. The night was beginning to set in and Joseph dod not want to be outside another night so he walked. Fortunately the bus stop was in close proximity to his home so that wasn’t much of a problem.

Joseph rummaged around in his pockets for his keys. Deciding against it he punched in the six-digit code for his front door into the numeric keypad. As he pressed each button it made an obnoxious beep, and the door unlocked with a click when he completed the code. Joseph opened his front door and things were dark, as they would be if Mei had gone out. He entered the house and shut the front door, locking it. With a sudden burst of intense paranoia Joseph scanned his house and made sure every set of curtains or blinds were closed tightly. Then, exhausted and sore, he walked to the kitchen and made some eggs to fill his stomach at least a little bit before he went to bed. Almost hesitantly he sat down in front of the television and turned it on. On top of his gaming console was a tape player, sitting casually among the mess of wires that looked more like a fire hazard than a setup for a TV to its cable box. Somehow the device was already hooked up to the screen, and was what was playing static. Zombie-like, Joseph got up and put the tape into the tape player, hit play and sat back down.

He was horrified at what he saw. He saw the silhouette of him sleeping on the bench at the bus stop. He saw the face of the creeper from earlier.

The last words, though, were horrifying to him.

DID YOU MISS ME?