Lady Luck

23

"Sorry, (Stuffed Animal)."

Clutching (favorite stuffed animal) to my chest in a tight hug, I closed my eyes and rubbed my cheek against the (color) fake fur on its head, trying to memorize its texture against my bare skin. Eventually I opened my eyes and stared into its (color) eyes, a dull gleam reflected in the (glass/fabric) from the moonlight outside my window.

"I wish I had room for you, but I don't... I'm sorry." Gingerly placing it on my bed near the pillow, I carefully positioned its (paw/hand/foot/appendage) over the piece of paper already resting on my bedspread, neatly folded in half with only a (single/handful of) name(s) scribbled on the front. Once I was satisfied, I gave (Favorite Stuffed Animal)'s head one last pat before grabbing my backpack.

Glancing at the clock, I quietly left my room and closed the door behind me, not daring to look back. Funny how leaving a toy would leave me so emotional compared to literally everything else, but then again it was a reminder of my childhood. A reminder of all the happy days when I was just a little girl, of good memories full of so much magic for children. I could still remember when I got it—

No.

Don't even think about that, I can't waver now.

I pushed it out of my head as I quickly hurried down the hall, not glancing into any of the open doors I passed as I headed to the back door. Opening it slowly and carefully to minimize noise, I took a deep breath and then stepped outside, stealing away into the darkness of the night and fleeing my home once and for all...

"(Name)... (Name), wake up."

Groaning groggily, I peeked open one eye to see Tim's face hovering nearby, peering at me with a serious expression. Sleep still fought to control my brain and I yawned as I rolled over, burying my face in the blankets. "Five more minutes..."

"(Name), I found the rest of the video!" Sayonara, sleepy brain. Immediately my eyes popped wide open as I jolted upright in bed, staring at him in shock.

"The Hoody one?" I asked, and he nodded.

"Yeah! Come on!" As he rushed to his laptop I quickly threw off the covers and got out of bed, wide awake as I chased after him. Of all the ways to wake me up, this seemed to be the most effective one yet. As I joined Tim at his laptop he explained, "I woke up early today and figured I'd get a head start on watching the videos."

"And then you finally got lucky," I finished with a grin, but to my surprise he shook his head.

"Not exactly," he said. "I decided to run out for a coffee before I got started. I was running a bit short on cash though, and earlier I'd noticed there was change in the side pocket on the car door, so I started rummaging through it. And lo and behold, I found two SD cards there."

"Two?" Surprised by the number, I looked at him curiously as I asked, "Did you watch the other one yet?"

"Actually, yeah. It was the first one I watched, but it was just me sleeping again." Shrugging, he added, "I think I put those cards in the side pocket while switching them out for new ones, and then just forgot about them."

"Who cares why they were there? Just show me what's on the Hoody video!"

"Right, right, already got it all queued up." Pressing the space bar, I watched as the forest scene already open on the screen suddenly sprung to life, the camera shaking a bit.

"Okay, looks like it's working," my voice remarked in a hushed tone, aiming the camera at Tim who quickly nodded in approval.

"Good," he whispered. "Now be quiet, and let's hurry after him!" With that we both fell silent as we hurried off in pursuit of Hoody, wasting no time. As we did the image took on a grainy quality, the colors crackling like static for a few moments before the audio abruptly cut out with a sharp electronic squeal.

"The Tall Man," I breathed in the present, recognizing the distortion. Tim nodded but didn't say anything, just watching the video intently as the graininess gradually faded and the audio slowly returned.

"...uch else around here," Tim's voice whispered, barely audible.

"That's a great plan and all, but I don't know my way around the area like you!" My own voice was much clearer since I was the one holding the camera, so we could hear the hint of annoyance in my tone perfectly. Video-Tim didn't miss it either, and glanced back at the camera with a wry smirk.

"Just run in any direction and you'll be sure to find him, 'Lady Luck'." Though we couldn't hear it I knew I probably huffed quietly at the remark, and I mentally debated the morality of punching Tim in the shoulder for a joke he couldn't remember making. I quickly forgot about it though as the camera's movements came to an abrupt stop, Tim and I quickly crouching down.

Leaves filled the screen as I moved the camera to peek through some bushes, momentarily obscuring the lens until the camera was adjusted properly. Hoody stood nearby, his faded yellow hoodie and blue jeans popping out against the dirt as he approached a red, metal structure in the middle of a clearing—the infamous Red Tower. Stopping by the wall facing us, he used his sleeve to wipe over some black marking, clearing away the dust.

As he looked at it, suddenly Tim appeared in the frame charging right at him. Spinning around just in time to see him, Hoody started to move when the camera abruptly shook. The image became a blur of random colors and motion as both men were heard yelling, my own voice contributing a startled yelp to the chaos. Footsteps could be heard snapping twigs as I ran towards them, and then the camera righted to reveal Tim pinning Hoody to the ground with both hands held behind his back.

"(Name), get the duct tape!" he yelled as Hoody struggled to break free, grunting with the effort it took to keep him down.

"Right!" The image shifted as if I was about to set down the camera, but then the motion froze. Suddenly the contrast of the image shifted, the colors shifting to nearly black and white as the image blurred. There was a flurry of motion as static and screeching erupted from the speakers, but even with the distorted image I could see two figures fleeing as the camera bounced along.

Then the camera flipped around to briefly look behind us, revealing a single circle of white against the near-black backdrop of the Red Tower.

The Tall Man. My heart skipped a beat as I recognized the featureless face, leaning closer to the screen as I watched the video distortion fade and fluctuate. The distortion finally died down as we reached Tim's old car and hopped inside, the engine revving as Tim pulled out and shot out of the parking lot.

It was only then I noticed that I'd been holding my breath in the present, and my shoulders slumped as I exhaled. "Woah," I breathed, placing a hand on my chest as I waited for my heartbeat to calm down. "That was... really intense..."

"Yeah," Tim muttered with a nod. Mind still reeling, I replayed the entire scene in my head in silence, trying to let it all sink in. Well, we finally knew what happened: We chased down Hoody and Tim tried to tie him up like a hog, but then the Tall Man showed up and we all ran like dogs.

As I mulled over it, I asked, "What do you think we would have done with him if we actually caught him?" Figuring out our motive for capturing Hoody wasn't that hard—even back then we'd have a million questions for him—but I still wondered what we would do after that.

"Other than asking questions? Not sure." Tim shrugged, considering it thoughtfully for a while. "I guess it'd depend on his answers."

"What do you mean? Do you think we'd team up with him?"

"...I'm not sure. Hard to say, even hypothetically. I mean, he's kind of unpredictable." I slowly nodded in agreement. Even with my luck "shielding" me from harm, being around Hoody still left me on edge feeling pretty apprehensive. I couldn't figure out what was going on in his head, I never knew what he might do. It was honestly kind of exhausting being around him because I was just on guard the entire time.

"I'm not sure we could ever trust him as an ally," I commented thoughtfully as I reflected over it.

"Funny you should say 'ally', when we still don't know what it is he wants," Tim remarked. "Our goal is to just get out of this mess alive somehow and go back to normal lives. Or at least that's my goal."

"No, that's mine too," I interjected. "Or as normal as my life can get, I guess."

"Alright then, so we're on the same page," Tim said. "But at this point, I'm pretty sure he isn't. I just wish I knew what page he is on." I frowned as he spoke, finding myself agreeing with him once more. At this point I'd settle for even just the chapter that page was in, if only I could have some sort of clue about his intentions were...

Thinking over it, I leaned forward to rewind the video and paused it just before Tim entered the frame. "What's that thing?" I asked, pointing to the black mark on the wall where Hoody was looking.

"Graffiti," Tim replied plainly. "I saw it when we went there last time, the tower was covered in it. I think that one just said 'Go Bulldogs' or something."

"...'Go Bulldogs'?" A snort escaped me as I repeated it, covering my mouth with a smirk. "Well at least the delinquents around here have school spirit." My smirk quickly faded though, and I sighed as I looked back at the screen. I'd kind of hoped it could be some kind of clue, but obviously it wasn't.

"At least we finally know what happened after the end of the last tape," Tim said, sensing my disappointment, and I just gave a small nod before we fell silent.

"...So, what should we do now?" I finally asked. "We need a plan from here on out, right?"

"Yeah. I'm kind of sick of all the mindless guessing." Picking up the notepad he'd used yesterday while going over what we knew, Tim began reading over it silently and remarked, "Well, we still have a lot of questions, but we're mostly out of solid leads right now."

"Mostly?" I raised an eyebrow. "What leads DO we have?"

"Not really many, but one did pop up..." Ejecting the SD card, he inserted another one laying on the desk and then opened up the files. All it took was a single glance at the single thumbnail to instantly figure out the video's contents.

"Oh, joy, another video of us sleeping," I grumbled, rolling my eyes. Tim shook his head though as he opened up the videos.

"Yeah, but this one's a bit more specific than that," he said, and scooted to the side a bit as he added, "Take a closer look." Wondering where he was going with this, I obediently leaned forward to scrutinize the video. Soon, though, I realized exactly what he was getting at and my eyes widened.

"Wait... That background..." Peering at the gray cement walls and pipes on the floor, I asked, "Isn't that...?"

"It is," he confirmed with a nod, and smirked. "So (Name), how do you feel about going to college?"