The Encounters

Just a Visit

This fic takes place a while after "Unabridged", but before "Reprimand". I see it happening sometime in the 7 months of Jay's missing memory.

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Jay stumbled to the sink in his near-pitch-dark hotel room, stepping over dirty clothes, videotape cases, and discarded snack wrappers.

He didn't want to look at the clock on his nightstand—this was the fifth or sixth time he'd had to get up tonight, to alternately get a drink of water or got to the toilet. His throat felt parched, and his chest and stomach both hurt like he'd been coughing and shivering in his sleep. He hadn't had uninterrupted rest for at least two weeks.

Winter had arrived, and outside the hotel there was a steady downpour of snow, accumulating fast. Jay had long since lost track of the days, but it had to be sometime around Christmas. He wished he could go home, but he couldn't risk his family getting pulled into this investigation. This inexplicably strange situation he was stuck in had proven too volatile and damaging. He planned to hide and hibernate for a while, as long as his credit cards held out.

Jay barely opened his eyes as he entered the bathroom on auto-pilot, and turned on the sink to suck up several gulps of cold water. He made an effort to not look at his reflection in the darkened bathroom mirror. He wiped his mouth and sighed heavily, willing his nerves to settle. It felt like he was two different people when he was awake and asleep. Awake, his body ached and he seemed to float on the surface of a deep-rooted anxiety. There was the constant feeling of missing something, of forgetfulness, and paranoia. He had developed a debilitating fear of the dark, but fought against it as best he could.  He suspected his dreams were all nightmares, even if he couldn't remember them. Loss of sleep, being holed up in this dim, chilly room for days on end, reviewing the old Marble Hornets tapes over and over, and keeping continuously poor nutrition and hydration, had all taken their toll on Jay.

Leaving the bathroom, Jay tripped over the same pair of shoes for the umpteenth time, and once again, didn't bother nudging them to the side.

He stopped, though, staring down at the amorphous blackness of objects littered around his feet. His vision swam slightly, and he wondered if he felt as drained as looking up at the clock would prove he was. Looking towards the nightstand, his tired eyes searched for the familiar red glow of a digital timestamp, but were met with a much more unsettling sight.

Totheark was in his room, standing silently next to his nightstand, masked face impenetrably creepy, jacket-clad arms hanging unthreateningly at his sides.

Jay blinked and wondered if he was hallucinating. How did he get in the room? This was the second floor, and though the window was large enough for a man to fit through, it was always locked. Jay felt a wave of fear rush over him as he once again contemplated the possibly supernatural qualities of the familiar masked figure. Was it really Tim, like before, or was this some new spectre?

Jay's instincts told him to run, and he was in no shape to rationalize things. He took a shaky step back, tripping over the shoes again, and fell backwards completely before scrambling for the bathroom. Totheark didn't make any immediate moves to chase him.

Jay closed and locked the bathroom door behind himself, leaning on it for good measure.

An excruciating minute of stillness passed, in which all Jay could hear was his heart thudding in his ears. His extremities trembled with adrenaline. When a soft knock came from the other side of the door, Jay jumped back in surprise.

"L-leave me alone! Get out!" He managed.

Totheark didn't comply, of course, but knocked again on the door, just as softly and calmly as the first time.