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

Chapter 5: Hallucinations

I wake up and look around the room. "Hey, Tim! He's waking up!" I hear Jay say, as Tim gets up from the chair and half walks half runs over to me. "Brian? Can you hear me?" He says, shaking my arm slightly. "Y-yeah..?" I say, really confused as to why my head is hurting so much. I try to remember what happened, but anything past stepping into the forest is completely erased from my memory. "How're you feeling..?" He continues. "Confused as hell with a headache worse than getting hit by a truck." I respond, sitting up and putting a hand to my head, blinking a few times to clear my vision a bit. "Well, what would you expect after being attacked by you-know-who.." He replies, sitting on the edge of my bed a lot calmer than i'd expect...Calmer than he's ever been talking about Operator..."So that's why it hurts so m-" I cut myself off as I look at him. My eyes locking with his, as I stare at him wearing the same white mask he abandoned in Rosswood. "Brian? Are you ok?" He asks. I rub my eyes and shake my head, the mask now being gone and a look of slight fear replacing the blank features. "I..yeah..Just waking up..." I respond, smiling a bit at him. He doesn't seem to find the gesture comforting, as he frowns and gets up, walking over to the table and picking up an empty bottle of his pills. "So..Found this hidden in your bag. Care to explain?" He says, swapping the bottle from one hand to another. So he's not calm. He's just so annoyed that his voice is calm.

"Listen, I-" "I don't want to hear any excuses!" He snaps. "I mean, it's not coincidence that you were pretty much unconscious outside the hotel, and there's an empty bottle of my pills in the bottom of your bag." He says, louder this time, as he clenches the bottle, nearly crushing it. Wait, what does he mean 'unconscious outside the hotel?'. I thought he was just referring to the pills..."What..do you mean by that?" I ask him, bracing myself for an onslaught of questions and yelling. He stays silent for a second, then throws the bottle hard at the side of my head, which causes it to cut dangerously close to my eye. I grab where the plastic hit, feeling blood and pain as I do. Now I know i'm not in a nightmare, but I really wish I was. "T-Tim! Calm down, he can't remember it!" Jay says, standing up from his bed. "Fucking liar!" He yells at him, throwing a punch. "Tim! Calm down!" I yell at him, grabbing Jay and pulling him back so he doesn't get hit. "No! You said he wouldn't follow us here! You said we were safe! You sai-" He gets cut off by coughing. "Tim? Are you ok?" I say, getting up as he falls to the floor, the coughing becoming a lot more violent. "Tim! Tim, please calm down!" I yell, kneeling next to him as Jay searches through Tim's bag for more pills. I wipe the blood off my still bleeding cut as Jay hands me a pill. "Take it!" I say, shoving the white capsule towards him. He shakes his head, he wasn't going to take it. I cup it in my hand and go behind him, throwing my hand over his mouth while forcing him to sit up. I do this because it's a lot harder to hurt someone if they're behind you. He refuses to take it, tearing at my arms while also causing them to bleed in several places. "Take it Wright!" I say, not giving up despite the pain i'm in. He's still coughing but he finally takes it, getting me to let go while rolling onto his side. 

I get up and look at my arms. There are about ten cuts on each of them, some of them mimicking my scars. I stare at them for a minute before being broken out of my thoughts by Jay calling my name. "Yeah?" I say, looking at him. "What the hell happened to your arms?" He says, concerned, while staring at my multiple open cuts and scars. "Well, Tim just fought me and scratched my arms a lot.." I reply, trying to ignore what he was actually referring to. "What about the scars?" He asks. He really doesn't catch on, does he. "I don't want to talk about it.." I say, trailing off a bit. Tim's coughing has calmed down a lot and he's managed to get up. "Actually, Brian. I think you need to tell us after the hell you put us through!" He yells, leaning on the dresser for support. "Actually, it's my life, my scars, and I don't need to tell you anything!" I yell back, walking over to my suitcase to get out a first aid kit so I can treat the 20+ cuts Tim gave me. "Oh no you don't" He says, grabbing my arm and throwing me onto my bed, standing between me and my equipment. "You're not doing anything until you explain those scars to us." he says, stabbing his finger at my chest hard. "Am I not allowed to stop my arms from bleeding first?" I reply, looking at his hand that was smeared with my blood from grabbing me. "No." He replies, standing firm. "They were from fights me and Seth would get into, ok?" I say to him, giving him a death stare while doing so. "Anything else?" He continues. "You don't really think i'd- What the hell is wrong with you!" I yell, getting ready to stand up and push past him so i'd be able to stop my cuts from getting infected. "Guys, calm down!" Jay says, tugging Tim's sleeve to try and get him to move. "Shut up, Merrick. This doesn't involve you!" He yells, my vision shifting a bit. I look back at Tim and see that mask on him again. I rub my eyes but it's still there. I look at Jay and begin to panic. "So? I'm trying to stop you both from fighting!" He responds, Tim yanking his grip away. "I fucking hate you, Brian. You know what? For the hell you've put me and Jay through, you can go into that forest and never come out! In fact, that's what you should do!" He screams at me. I suddenly feel myself snap as I lunge off the bed and onto Tim, my hands wrapping tightly around his throat. "B-Brain! Get off him!" Jay yells, trying to pull me off. Tim claws at my arms and neck, trying desperately to breathe. I doubt that mask has any benefits. I keep a firm grip, Tim's attacks becoming weaker and less brutal. I feel a smile start to form. Am I going to kill him? I don't want him to die! I try and will my hands off his neck but they stay there tightly, his eyes beginning to close with tears streaming down them, the mask now being gone. I feel a sharp pain in my chest as Jay manages to pull me off, turning Tim onto his side while trying to help him to breathe. "Tim? Stay with me..come on..." Jay's voice fades out as I'm left lying on my back with my thoughts. I can't believe I just nearly choked my best friend to death...What is wrong with me? I know he made me angry, but I wouldn't just..Attack him like that! I feel my chest get tighter and begin to feel dizzy. I can see Tim's breathing is extremely heavy. My body begins to shake from being in shock, the rush of adrenaline blocking out the pain in my arms and chest. I hear my name being called as my senses dim slightly. I feel someone shake me, probably Jay, to keep me awake. I feel my breathing get worse and my heart rate begin to slow down as he mutters 'oh God' while pressing something onto what I could only guess was a stab wound. This isn't good. I try and keep myself awake but it only makes me worse. The pain soon becomes unbearable as the adrenaline fades, causing me to pass out again.