The Call (A Marble Hornets inspired story)

Chapter 6: Text

I finish getting dressed, grab a cap and grab the key to my room. Man, I'm starving. I don't think I've eaten in, what, three days? The receptionist said something about free breakfast so that was the best idea. I leave and start walking downstairs to get something to eat or, at least, drink . "Hi sir, what would you like?" I hear the waitress ask me, it was the receptionist. Does she run the place by herself? "Oh I'd like..uh..just a coffee for now." I say, smiling. Thank fuck I took acting classes. "Ok! Right away sir!" She says cheerfully, leaving me alone once more. I think about that dream I had. What does he mean by 'can't influence me like he could him'? Does he mean Brian? He does, doesn't he. But what influence? Is it that creature? But..how did Brian not get affected? Is it because he was already being controlled? was it the pills? I have so many questions! "Here's your coffee, sir!" The waitress says happily, snapping me out of my thoughts. "Ah, thank you!" I say, taking the coffee from her. "Anything else?" She asks. "I'm okay with this, thank you." I reply. "Ok sir!" She says, going over to serve other tables. I look around as I drink my coffee. I'm not that used to hotels but I'm pretty sure you don't get served, right? Guess it's just this one. There are other waitresses and waiters so she isn't working alone. I finish my coffee and leave, thanking the waitress.

I look at the surroundings and figure out that I had managed to book myself into the same hotel Jay stayed in when he first met Jessica. What are the chances of that? I start to walk down the road, looking at the contacts on my phone. 12 unanswered texts, one missed call. I look at who the missed call is from, of course it was Jay. What about the texts? I open the in-box. Marketing, marketing, scammer, marketing. But then I see a number I didn't think I'd ever see again. I open the text. "Hey, Tim. I need to talk to you." He typed. "Seth? Why are you texting me?" I reply. I haven't heard from him since we started Marble Hornets. I mean, the actual movie Marble Hornets. "I have reasons. Just come to the tunnel." He texts back. "There is no way in hell I'm going back to that tunnel. Ever again. How do you even know I'm here?" I ask. "And how did you get my number?" There is no reason he should have my number. We hardly talked since he was a cameraman and I was an actor. The only reason I know his number is because I saw it when Jay was searching through his phone. And with Alex being the director, we didn't really need to talk. It was best that we didn't since if we somehow got onto bad terms with each other, we could make the other person's life a living hell. "I'll tell you when you get here. And I'd suggest you come alone if you want to know more about that 'nightmare' you had." he responds, sending a video immediately afterwards.

I gulp, scared as to what it could be. It was the nightmare I had, recorded from just beyond the treeline. I skip to the end to where Brian pins me against the tunnel by my neck. I watch as the camera goes forwards as Brian puts the gun up to my head. He said he wouldn't kill me! I watch as whoever was holding the camera runs forwards and tackles Brian just as I pass out from lack of oxygen and fear, causing him to pull the trigger, which in turn causes the bullet to just skim my shoulder instead. There's a struggle between the two until the creature comes out of nowhere, causing Brian to go into a coughing attack. Why is he affected now? The person holding the camera aims it up at the creature, then to Brian, then to me. The screen goes black for a second until switching to a view of my room from the window. It shows the panic I had after waking up. The video ends once I enter the bathroom. I stare at my phone with my mouth wide open for at least ten seconds after the screen cut to black.

"Hey! Tim!" I hear Jay say, shaking me out of my thoughts. "What do you want, Jay?" I say, annoyed at his persistence. "Sorry about the way I acted back in the house, but it looked like a really bad in- Hang on a sec." He says, cutting himself off after noticing the cap I had on. "Isn't that mine?" He says, looking at me suspiciously. "How did you get that? Did you steal it from me?" He says, beginning to bombard me with questions again. "Listen. It was in my backpack, ok? " I say, hoping that I had answered all his questions with that one statement. He pauses. "What was you watching?" He asks, pointing to my phone. "Nothing" I say. I should've said something else. Jay may be stupid, but he knows when something's up. "You was watching something." He continues. "Can you quit filming me?" I say, hating the fact that he just had to get into my personal space with that stupid camera. "No." He says bluntly. "Now tell me what you was watching!" He says, grabbing my phone off me and quickly tapping play on the video. "Jay! Give me my phone back!" I yell at him as he pushes me away. The video starts to play and he gets surprised at the scene. I grab the phone off him before he can watch even five seconds of it. "W-was that-" "No." I say, walking away from him. "Tim! Wait up!" He says, chasing me. I begin to run and he follows me. I run into the hotel and into my room, slamming and locking the door before he can get in. He starts pounding on the door, begging to be let in. "Fuck off, Jay!" I yell at him through the door. I hear him mutter something and leave. He is so fucking annoying! I sit on my bed and look at my phone. He didn't get that far into it, only a few frames to be specific. Thank God for that. I wouldn't know how to explain that to him. I don't even know how to explain it to myself! Now what do I do? Jay's definitely going to book the room next to me. I look back at my phone. I guess I have no choice. I text Seth a time, a point when I know when Jay would be asleep, and tell him to meet me there then. I guess if anyone can tell me what's going on it'd be him, seeing as he somehow got this footage. I hope I'm not making a mistake.