Oakside Forest (My 'Masky' and 'Hoodie' origin story)

Chapter 3: Unsettling Day

I sit bolt upright as I begin to scream, someone clasping their hand over my mouth as I do. I look at the empty chair across the room, then at the person covering my mouth. It was Tim. He takes his hand off my mouth and mimes "shh, Jay's still asleep" to me. I sit in that position for a while, staring at the sheets with pure shock and terror in my eyes. Tim must've noticed this as he sits down in front of me, causing me to look up at him. He has a slightly worried expression, covered with a smile. "Nightmare?" He whispers, holding his arm out towards me. I instantly latch on and hold it for a while, trying to get my bearings back on reality. I never realized why he did this, but now I see how it works. It's to relieve fear and make sure you're awake, since you're holding onto them so tightly, your hand actually begins to hurt. "Wow, you have a strong grip.." he says, grimacing from the pain. He is stronger than me, but not as tolerant. I loosen my grip slightly, giving his arm a bit of a rest. I let go after another few seconds, allowing him to retract his arm and look at the markings I gave him. four white lines surrounded in red. "Sheesh, now I know how you felt when I was in the car.." he mumbles, rubbing his arm while looking up at me. I don't reply. "Don't forget to breathe, Brian.." He says, nudging me slightly. I was forgetting to breathe. I exhale and inhale slowly, focusing on that and not the terror I just endured. "What was it about..?" He asks, trying to see if he could play 'what does your nightmare mean' with me. I stay silent. He has nightmares nearly all the time...is that what he goes through..? "H-hey, I didn't mean to upset you! Y-you don't have to tell me if you don't want to!" He stutters out, noticing my tears before I do. I shake my head, denying that he was the one to make me cry. "I..I-.." I try to tell him, but my words don't want to work. This fear is overwhelming. I pull my legs up to my chest and cry. I don't care if he sees anymore. "Hey, it's alright...It was just a nightmare, it wasn't real.." He says, rubbing my back to try and calm me down. It's pretty funny how someone as sarcastic and defensive as him can calm someone down so quickly just with a simple gesture most doctors use and a few kind words. "I...I don't want to t-talk about it.." I say, still hiccuping and crying. "Ok then." He says, not pressuring me to tell him like others would. Jay moves a bit, wrapping the already tight covers over him again. How does he even sleep like that? "What time is it..?" I ask, still shaken from my first ever nightmare. "Uh,..3:25." he replies. Wait, how is it 3:25? Was the first time I woke up part of my nightmare too? Maybe I just read his watch wrong...yeah that was it...Tim gets up and walks back over to his makeshift bed as I get back into my own. "Try to get some sleep" He says, before throwing the covers over himself and falling back to sleep nearly instantly. I lie there for a few minutes until finally going back to sleep.

I wake up to the shower being on and Tim sitting on his chair reading a 'guest services' brochure. "Oh, you're up! Jay's just in the shower. We're going to get breakfast once he's done. Also, it's 7:34." He informs me, looking back at the brochure. I nod and get up, putting my clothes and shoes on silently. "...That nightmare really messed you up, didn't it..." He says randomly, getting up and walking over to me. I nod and continue getting dressed. "...Why aren't you talking, it's starting to scare me.." He continues, tapping my shoulder. I freeze at this. I don't know why, since I know Tim won't hurt me... I don't know why i'm acting like this all of a sudden. I see his mood shift from concern to sadness. "Listen...I know how you feel..My nightmares are pretty fucked up as well.." He says, assuring me that I wasn't the only one with this fear. I stay silent. "Brian...are you ok..?" He asks me. I nod but don't verbally respond. He starts to show concern again. I must be really worrying him. The shower turns off and Jay walks out of the bathroom with a green t-shirt on with jeans. "Is everything alright..?" He asks, looking at me and Tim. I still don't reply, which scares Tim even more. "Seriously Brian...I don't like how you're acting right now..." He says, reaching over to me. He grabs my arm and I jump back onto my bed, yanking my arm out of his grasp in a panic. He takes a step back in surprise at my reaction, holding his arm which I'm pretty sure I nearly ripped out of it's socket with the force. "Brian, what the fuck has gotten into you!" He asks, not getting any closer to me. I don't know, then I think: How long has it been since I last had the pills? It must be somewhere close to a week now. "How about we go downstairs and you come down when you're ready..?" Jay offers, Tim agreeing to it. I nod without paying attention to the comment and just think about how overdue I am for taking my pills. They leave and I instantly start digging through my bag looking for them. I find a bottle with two left. I grab them both and shove them into my mouth, forcing myself to take them. I wait for a minute, the pills starting to kick in and calm me down. I can't believe that I forgot to take them. "What have you gotten yourself into, Brian" I ask myself, standing up and going over to the bathroom and looking at the mirror. My hair is casting a dark shadow over my eyes, causing me to look up and see the pain in them. I start coughing. I get weaker, slipping from the sink and falling onto my hands and knees, blood beginning to drip out of my mouth onto my hands and the floor. He can't be here, can he? But, why am I having these symptoms? I can't breathe as I stay on all fours choking on my own blood. Suddenly the coughing stops and I spit the blood into the sink, running the water to get rid of it, washing my hands and cleaning the blood off the floor. I stand there breathing heavily, gripping onto the sink as though i'd die if I let go. I cough a bit more, a lot lighter this time, as I stumble back to my bed. I can't believe I just had an attack...It shouldn't be possible, right? He can't leave Rosswood- that's the reason Alex and Tim left in the first place. I sit down for a minute, hiding the pill bottle in the bottom of my bag. I can't let Tim and Jay know I still need them. I look at my phone, 7:39. I've been in here for five minutes alone, and it's already affecting me.