Lady Luck

21

     When morning rolled around, Tim didn't bother relocating his laptop to my room. Shortly after I woke up, I heard a knock on the door and opened it to see him standing there with a plastic bag filled with memory cards, but rather than that my attention instead instantly focused on his face. Heavy bags hung under his brown eyes, his features looking heavily drawn and worn with a sort of empty, tired expression.

"Are you okay?" I asked, immediately concerned. "You look awful..." He just shrugged, his expression barely changing.

"Didn't sleep that well," he muttered. "Had a lot on my mind. Here." Before I could say anything he held out a plastic bag full of memory cards. "Couldn't find the continuation of that video. I only checked the thumbnails of the first few videos on these, didn't really watch many actual videos. Split the cards I checked into a new bag to watch today, these are the ones I didn't check. Hopefully you'll have more luck than me."

"...Right." I frowned as I took the bag, still concerned. Something about Tim's entire demeanor didn't sit right with me, made me feel on edge. I didn't get a chance to even try to broach the subject though before he turned and headed back to his room. Needless to say I was left feeling pretty unsettled by the encounter, but in the end I pushed it out of my mind and closed the door.

I spent the rest of the morning checking the memory cards for the continuation of the video that spawned that disastrous trip to the park. Following Tim's cue, I glanced at the thumbnails for the first few videos in search of decayed buildings and forests rather than watch the videos themselves, but I didn't have much luck. The few cards I found that DID meet the criteria were quickly dismissed after watching the video for a few minutes.

By the time noon rolled around I had a decent pile of duds gathered on the desk, and more than a little pent up frustration. Noting the time, I grabbed my cat head keychain and exited the room, knocking on Tim's door. When he didn't answer, I frowned slightly and called out, "I'm going out for a walk for a while. I'll be back later." After a few moments, I heard a quiet grunt of acknowledgement from within. Good enough for me.

With that settled I headed out to meet Hoody. Even after stopping at a fast food place to grab some lunch on the way, it still didn't take long to get there. When I arrived at the alley where I'd met Hoody mere days ago it was just after twelve forty, twenty minutes before the scheduled meeting time. A bit early, but that was fine by me.

As it turned out, I wasn't the only one who decided to arrive early though. Hoody was already waiting in the alley when I arrived, his faded golden sweatshirt popping out against the brick facade of the buildings. "You're early," he commented as I entered the darkness, and I shrugged.

"So are you," I replied, and stopped a few feet away from him. "So, why'd you call me out? Is this some kind of trap or something?" I heard him snort, his smirk almost audible in his voice as he spoke.

"Yeah, no. I've seen what happens when people try to attack you. Either the universe steps in and something ridiculous happens to stop me, or you stab me in the leg again. Not really a fan of either of those options." Glancing behind me, he added, "Besides, if I really wanted to launch a trap, I'd ask you to meet somewhere more secluded. If you screamed here, someone's bound to hear."

"Smart decision," I remarked with a smirk, and he crossed his arms as he looked at me.

"You know, you're pretty cocky for someone who's basically the ultimate damsel in distress," he commented, making me pause and look at him in surprise.

"Damsel in distress?" Images of princesses locked in towers and women tied to train tracks waiting for some dashing young hero to come rescue them flashed through my mind, making me frown slightly. Was he really comparing me to one of those helpless girls?

"So you don't even remember what that's about, huh?" Hoody mused, breaking me from my thoughts. I frowned slightly at his comment.

"Should I know?" I asked, and he seemed to study me for a moment before shrugging.

"I'm not sure. But I was hoping you'd remember that at least." Remember. That word instantly stuck out in my mind. I already knew Hoody remembered more about the missing two and a half months than I did, and apparently this was a little reference to that time period that sailed right over my head. A reference that we must have shared at some point.

"What's that line even about?" I asked, frowning, but he just waved a hand dismissively.

"Doesn't matter. It really doesn't," he added quickly when I opened my mouth. "It's just something trivial, I wanted to see if you'd remember it, that's all. Nothing important." Irritated at how quickly he dismissed the subject after bringing it up in the first place, I considered demanding an explanation but ultimately decided against it.

"Is that all you called me out for then? Just to see if I remembered that line? And how'd you even leave that note, anyway?" I asked as an afterthought before he could reply. "The hotel room needs a key card to open it. Did you hack the computers or something...?"

"Of course not, I'm not that good with computers." Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a card identical to the one for my room, save for a gold band on the side. "They left two of the master keys on a table in the break room, so I just borrowed one."

"You did—wha—you..." I stared at the card in shock, and managed to sputter out, "How'd you sneak past the front desk?"

"I didn't. No one was manning the desk. There was even a sticky note saying which rooms were checked out and who had which one. Managed to get to your room, leave the note and get out without running into anyone, took less than five minutes total." Pocketing the card, Hoody added, "Either the hotel staff doesn't care about security because business is so slow, or they're just incompetent."

"...I should seriously lodge a complaint with corporate," I grumbled, and heard him give a small snicker. Sighing, I asked, "Look, can we just get to the point?"

"You're the one who asked how I got in your room," he replied plainly, a smirk audible in his voice again. "You started this tangent, not me." That did it. The flippant tone to his retort was the final straw, and at this point all my irritation at this encounter came boiling to a head.

"I don't care who started it!" I snapped angrily, making him freeze. "Just get to the point! Why did you want to meet me here!? Why'd you call me out!?" Hoody didn't respond right away, clearly surprised at my outburst. Soon, though, he slowly nodded, his body relaxing a bit.

"...Fine," he said. "I'll get to the point. First though, let me ask: have you found anything useful on the memory cards yet?"

"No, we haven't. The only thing we've found so far is you walking through the park from the first couple Marble Hornets videos, the one with the gazebo, but the video ended right after we sighted you. We still haven't found the card with the rest of it."

"Is that where you went yesterday?"

"Why do you want to know?" I growled, and he cocked his head to the side as he studied me.

"...Alright then, you don't need to tell me. (Name), do you know how many hours of footage have you and Tim watched so far?"

"I don't know, I haven't really kept track. Feels like almost one hundred by now, but probably closer to, like, fifty."

"So one hundred hours of footage between the two of you, and you still haven't found anything," Hoody mused aloud thoughtfully. My irritation and annoyance faded into wariness as he spoke, sensing he was leading the conversation in a certain direction. What that direction was, though, I didn't know.

"What are you getting at?"

"Not yet. I have another question first. Have you gotten into your phone or the glove box?" I tensed slightly, suddenly ever-conscious of the key sitting in my pocket. I didn't dare leave it at the hotel and risk Tim somehow getting in my room and finding it, so of course I'd brought it with me. Growing warier by the second, I decided not to explicitly mention the key to him when I answered.

"...No," I said slowly. "My phone's still locked, but I think I found a way to get into the glove box at least." Hoody paused.

"Have you told Tim?" he asked, and I shook my head.

"No, I haven't."

"Good. Don't tell him anytime soon, either. When you open the glove box, make sure he doesn't know about it or see you." So he still insisted on keeping Tim in the dark then. I frowned a bit, wondering why he was so adamant about that, but I decided not to press this particular subject and just move on. I'd probably find out when I opened the glove box anyway.

"Now will you tell me what you're getting at? Or do you have more questions before you tell me what this is about?" Hoody took a few seconds to think over his response before speaking.

"The odds of watching one hundred hours of footage without finding anything useful is weird," he said flatly. "I'm not going to tell you what happened during those months, but I do know that you didn't record nearly thatmuch footage. One of you should have found something by now."

My frown grew as he spoke, only this time it was because I agreed. Lately I'd been thinking the same thing, that we should have found something by now—and I didn't like that he thought so too. "So why do you think we haven't, then?" I asked warily.

"The way I see it, there are two possibilities," he replied, and held up a hand with his index finger raised. "One, Tim did find something, but decided to keep it from you."

"What?" Caught off-guard by this first suggestion, I stared at Hoody in shock for a moment before narrowing my eyes. "Why would he hide it from me? We've both been watching videos for hours!"

"He hid tapes from Jay to try to protect him and keep him out of the mess," he reminded me casually. "He might be doing the same with you. Or it could just be he found something he doesn't want you to see."

"Like what?" I challenged. "Do you know any specific events he wouldn't want me to know about?"

"There are a few things. I'm not going to tell you about them, though. That's for you to find out on your own." Great, he was still playing the secret game then. Glaring at him, after a few moments I just sighed and pressed a hand against my forehead. I really wanted to know what he was talking about, but I was also getting really tired of having to keep pressing him for information.

"Know what? Fine. Just tell me the second possibility." Couldn't be worse than the Tim theory, I thought grimly.

"Alright then." Nodding, he held up a second finger as he continued. "The second possibility is that you two separated the more important memory cards from the rest, and put them in the glove box." ...Aaand I stood corrected. Stunned, I gaped at him in silence for a few moments as I processed the implications.

"Wait a—I thought you knew what was in the glove box!" I blurted. "Isn't that why you've been telling me not to let Tim see what's inside?"

"I know at least one thing that's stored in there," he replied, unfazed by my confusion. "But I don't know if there's anything else stored in there."

"What—" I abruptly broke off as it finally clicked, and then just stared at him in disbelief. "You've never even seen inside the glove box, have you?" His silence was answer enough, and I felt my stomach sink, staring at him in horror. "That's just—then how do you know what's in there? Are you just—just guessing!?"

"I'm not," he replied flatly to my sputtering. Agitated by his utter calmness and nonchalant attitude, my eyes flashed as I glared at him, trying not to explode with rage.

"Then how can you know for sure if you've never even seen inside!?" I demanded angrily.

"Because you told me."

As soon as the words left his mouth I froze, staring at him in pure disbelief. Processing his words, I questioned my hearing as I slowly repeated, "I... I told you?" Hoody just nodded, though, once again totally unfazed by my reaction.

"We talked a few times, not that you remember any of it. That doesn't matter right now, though." I quickly opened my mouth to object but he didn't give me a chance to even utter a single sound as he continued, "So you have two explanations now. Either Tim found useful footage and is hiding it, or you put the cards with useful information inside the glove box. Or maybe you guys are just unlucky so far, but really, I don't think that's as likely. Just take your pick."

I frowned at the "options" Hoody presented me, but I didn't say anything because I knew he had a point. As much as I disliked both explanations, they did make more sense than just a long streak of bad luck. I couldn't just dismiss them with a wave of a hand, no matter how I felt about it.

Seeing I didn't have any counter arguments this time, Hoody nodded to himself in apparent satisfaction. "So I take it you see my point."

"...I do," I admitted reluctantly, and that seemed to further satisfy him.

"Then I've done my part. The rest is up to you." With that he nonchalantly walked past me towards the street. His manner was so casual it caught me by surprise, and I stood in shock for a few moments before recovering. Spinning around as he passed me, I grabbed his arm and clutched it with a vice grip, making him stop in his tracks.

"That's it?" I growled, glaring at the back of his head. "You're just going to leave it at that?! I still have a bunch of questions you haven't answered yet!" Hoody didn't reply, didn't even glance at me.

"...See you later, Lady Luck," he finally said, and jerked his arm free before walking away.