Mute The Sound

Voicemails.

Mason sits in his gaming chair, feet at the edge of the cushion with his knees pressed to his chest. He hums to himself while Cameron, Jay, and Swagger playfully joke about how they are going to die one day and how they want to go.

"I think I want to go slowly," Cameron speaks up, "I want to be able to joke around with my killer before I die."

"Really? I'd rather die quickly," Swagger retorts, pushing another chip to his lips.

"I think I'd want to be recorded." Jay chimes in, "Mase, I want you to post it!"

Mason doesn't say anything, in fact, his microphone had been muted during the entire conversation. Despite the amount of focus he put into twiddling his fingers, his mind began to race and he finally unmutes after a solid half hour of silence from him.

"Aight boys, I think it's time I head to bed. It's been a good talk." He speaks low, not wanting his mother to wake up.

A string of 'Goodnight, Mason' floods his ears. Anxious and on edge, Mason shuts down his monitor and walks to his bed, plopping his body onto his mattress with a soft "oomf". He pulls out his phone and opens up his recent video from that day to scroll through the comments. Reading the nice comments from his viewers always calmed his nerves.

Love your videos man, missed the uploads :)

This months video was great! Can't wait for the Augusts one!

Once relaxed enough, Mason plugs his charger into his phone and waits for the soft ding to cue the charge before he wraps his blankets around his body and closes his eyes, heading off to sleep.

4:37 A.M.

Mason wakes up in a panic, his breath hitching while he sits up and frantically looks around for any remains of the disturbing image that was in his mind only seconds before he woke up. He looks down to his hands, looking for blood but finding nothing. After several attempts of trying to calm his breathing, he picks his phone back up and opens up the Discord server again. Mason constructs a message to the boys to find out their current state of health. These late night messages from the young Aussie boy were normal, everyone knew about Mason's nightmares and mental struggles so they always were quick to be by his side when he needed it.

Cameron and Swagger answer to Mason right away, reassuring him that they are okay and have no wounds, at least none that Mason had mentioned from his nightmare. Mason's nerves loosen enough for him to head back to bed. He gives the boys a sincere thank you before he closes his eyes and heads to sleep for the second time that night; before Jay could message the group with his state.

10:38 A.M.

There is a slight buzzing on the bedsheets and with avail, Mason's eyes peek open only the slightest. Cameron's name is what stands out to him most through the blur of his morning vision, but he shuts his eyes again and rubs his palms into his temple.

It's way too damn early.. Mason thinks to himself, sighing aloud. An overplayed ringtone echoes throughout the empty bedroom and slowly becomes too much. The young male groans. He picks his phone up nonetheless and declines the call from Cameron; revealing a long list of text messages from the boys and endless missed calls from Swagger, Cameron and Jay's parents.

His tone is low and his voice is husky as he speaks to himself, his eyes squinted to make sure he read the words right.

"Jay's parents?"

Mason takes his palms to his eyelids and rubs them softly while he sets himself up in his bed, his back resting against his pillow. He lets his eyes scan over the name again to make sure he read it correctly. It was indeed Jay's parents. He opens up his voicemail and starts to play the first message left by his parents; maybe they had planned a Thanksgiving dinner with him invited?