Lady Luck

16

[0:00] Video opens with footage of Tim driving a car down a road.
[0:04] White text appears over the image.
'It's been three months since the last video was posted.
Yesterday I woke up in an unfamiliar car with no memory of the past two and a half months.
And I wasn't alone.'
[0:18] Scene changes to show a female in the passenger seat holding a phone, the camera angle cutting her head out of the shot. She groans in audible frustration and drops the phone.
[0:21–0:28]
Tim: "So still don't know the password?"
Lady Luck: "Hell no."
[0:29] Black screen. White text appears.
'My friend was in the passenger seat and also had no memory.
Out of respect for her wishes for privacy, I'm going to call her Lady Luck.
After posting the last video we'd split up and agreed to never meet again, for our own safety.
For the record, she didn't have a cell phone when we last saw each other. She doesn't know the password.'
[0:51-1:02] Footage of Tim walking through unknown woods plays. Tim pauses to look around before turning to the camera.
[1:09-1:26]
Tim: "Yeah, I think it was around here I lost him."
Female Voice off-screen: "And you don't know where he went?"
Tim: "No, I didn't see that."
[1:27] Screen goes to black with white text.
'When we woke up in the car, the hooded man was in the back seat.
He ran off into the woods. I tried to follow him, but lost him.'
[1:43] Tim is sitting in a hotel room, sorting through a clear plastic bag of memory cards. White text appears over the image.
'After finding the nearest town we found out we were already checked into a local hotel.
There was a safe in the room with a digital camera and a bag full of memory cards.
None of them are labeled.'
[1:57] Scene changes to show Tim sitting in front of a laptop, inserting a memory card into it before screen goes black.
[2:01] White text appears.
'We have a lot of footage to watch. We might post something, might not.
Either way though, we're still stuck in this mess.
We failed to get out.'

~*~

Chugging down what little remained in the water bottle, I screwed the cap back on and set it to the side so I could refill it later. No point wasting a brand-new bottle just because I finished off what was already inside. Maybe that mindset came from being homeless and having little money to spend on multiple bottles of water, but now throwing it away just felt wasteful.

Not that my reasoning for not throwing away the bottle particularly matters. It just turned out thinking about it was WAY more interesting than watching the footage.

Marble Hornets videos were always so short. The longest ones are probably about fifteen minutes, if that, while the shortest ones didn't even last a minute. There's no "filler" in there like TV shows, no useless information that doesn't matter. Only necessary scenes and information are shown, the episodes just kept straight to the point without messing around.

The only reason they were so short and concise, though, was because Jay, Tim and Hoody edited the footage.

Hours of useless video and information were stored on the memory cards we found in the safe. While watching them it quickly became clear that during the past two and a half months, Tim and I had recorded everything—and I mean everything. Sleeping in hotels. Driving in total silence. Walking through woods or parks. Having breakfast at local restaurants.

Hours.

And hours.

Of nothing.

"Did you have to watch this much footage when everything was just on tape?" I grumbled on day four of the marathon as I skipped through another video of me sleeping.

"Not this much, but a lot," Tim replied, not looking up from his own laptop. "After everything that happened the first time, I guess I was afraid to miss anything. I had a split personality I didn't even know about, remember?"

"Oh, right, Masky," I muttered, thinking back to the white-masked man who had accosted Jay on several occasions. Though he and I never talked about it, I knew from the speculation threads that he only found out after seeing the episode where he was unmasked. Naturally he didn't take it too well, especially since he got a permanent limp in the same episode with no memory of how he got it. It made sense for him to be paranoid it might happen again.

Logical as it was, though, that still left lots of useless footage. Even splitting the viewing evenly by using two laptops and playing each video at double- or even triple-speed, we still had a LOT of videos to watch. Sighing, I closed my laptop and got up, stretching my arms over my head. "Screw this, I need a break or I'll go crazy."

"Where are you going to go?" Tim asked, finally glancing at me.

"I'm going to check out the local shops."

"Uh, why? We kind of have limited funds here already. I mean, I don't even know if we'll be able to afford the hotel rooms anymore."

"I'm not going to buy anything, I just need some fresh air," I said as I unhooked a black cat head keychain from my backpack. "Besides, we also need food, and I'm kind of sick of ordering Chinese every night." Contemplating my words silently, after a few moments Tim finally shrugged and got out his wallet.

"Eh, fair enough." Fishing out a couple bills, he tossed them to me and I quickly caught them. "Nothing too expensive though, just grab a burger or something. We're running low on cash and I'm not sure we'll be able to afford food."

"Why don't you take a break and look for a bank or ATM?" I asked as I counted the bills. "You probably have some money in your savings account."

"I will, but I want to finish watching the videos on this memory card first. There's only a couple left."

"You said that yesterday, and the day before that."

"And this time I mean it."

"Riiiight." Rolling my eyes, I stuffed the bill in my pocket as I headed for the door. I already knew Tim wouldn't leave the computer anytime soon. After finishing the videos on this card, he'd just pop in another one and watch that one. Looks like it would be up to me to get more money.

Fortunately for us, though, I'm Lady Luck. Being Lady Luck means two things. One, I will run into trouble at some point without fail only to escape unharmed against ridiculous odds that should be stacked against me. Two, after these incidents, whenever I run into one of these incidents, something ridiculously good will happen as if the universe is trying to balance out my luck.

And given the week I'd had, the universe owed me a GIANT payout, and I intended to cash it in right now.

Reaching the main part of town, I walked around a bit until eventually I found a gas station selling scratch cards. Ten minutes later, I happily departed the station now five hundred dollars richer than when I entered. A smirk quickly filled my face as I counted the wad of bills, more than pleased with my haul.


"Lady Luck strikes again," I muttered to myself. I didn't even bother trying to hide the money as I walked along, because I knew that if some petty crook tried to grab it something would happen to them and I'd be safe and sound. They might grab it only to turn around and bump into a police officer, or they might run into the road and get hit by a car, or they might trip over their own shoelaces and break a tooth after falling.

It's almost like it's another law of the universe: "Bad stuff will happen around (Name), but she will never be directly hurt by it." Egotistical to think that way, I know, but after experiencing so many situations that should have ended with me dead or in a hospital, it's hard not to feel like I'm untouchable.

The only exception to that pseudo-law seemed to be the recent events involving Marble Hornets. While I didn't get injured, I did lose all memory of the past two and a half months. And honestly, part of me felt like that was even worse than getting hurt. Bruises and broken bones usually heal, but my mind? That's completely different. I had no idea if the memories would ever come back, or if I'd just have to see them through old videos.

Slowing down a bit as I thought about it, I hugged my winnings to my chest with a shudder. For the first time in my (age) years of life, something bad happened to me. Something irrevocably bad directly affected my life in a negative way, and my luck couldn't prevent it. Doubts flooded my mind, all of them ultimately circling back to one thought:

"Am I not untouchable after all?"

Shuddering, I quickly stashed the money into my pocket and hurried towards the shops. Enough of that. I had five hundred dollars burning a hole in my pocket, and after everything I'd been through I deserved to pamper myself a little bit. Splurging on big purchases was out of the question since we needed as much money as possible, but I could still afford to buy myself little treats.

My mood brightened a bit as I began browsing the shops, looking at clothes, toys, accessories, candy and other sweets. Just little treats, nothing big. After spending fifteen dollars on a new hat and a second keychain, I finally decided to head back to the hotel. Keeping Tim's request in mind, I glanced at the menus in front of the local restaurants, scrutinizing the prices to keep an eye out for the best deal.

As I decided against the third cafe I passed and continued onwards, suddenly a hand grabbed me by the arm and pulled me into the shadows of the alleyway.