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Another motel. It wasn't so different from all the others they had visited this far. From the oddly patterned carpet to the motel key that never seemed to work just right. All of them had started to merge into one. At least it was better than sleeping in a car or having Alex know where they were.Jay felt as he could pass out at any given moment as he shuffled into the new motel he was going to be staying at with Tim. They had agreed that Jay will go and get them a room as Tim drove to a nearby store and buys them something to eat. Jay paid for a room for one night and traversed the halls until reaching the room 304, the number he also texted Tim. He unlocked the door and dropped his backpack into the corner. He felt as his eyes were almost closing on their own. Sleepless nights of driving and going through the seemingly endless amount of footage he had found. It felt like for every tape he viewed, another two tapes plus a USB appeared in his possession. Jay took off his jacket and tossed it about where he thought he also put his bag. He then let himself fall onto the bed. The white motel sheets that usually made him ponder when they were last cleaned felt like heaven on earth at this moment. Through Jays pure bliss of getting to lay on a bed he didn't notice himself nodding off and in what seemed like a second someone was already knocking at the door. A familiar pattern of knocks, a tune Tim always knocks, one that seemed familiar to Jay but he hadn't quite yet managed to put his finger on where it was from.Jay groggily lifted himself up from the bed and walked to the door, opening it. Tim stood there with a small plastic bag in one hand and the other in his coats pocket. He also seemed tired but nowhere to the levels Jay was. Tim walked into the room as Jay immediately walked back on the bed and plummeted face first into the pillow. Tim couldn't help but let out a small chuckle at the scene as he slightly rolled his eyes. He always told Jay to sleep, every night it was like a debate and although Tim was clearly in the right, with overwhelming evidence, he never managed to defeat Jay's stubbornness.Tim put down the plastic bag on one of the chairs, he always made sure not to buy anything that would need to be refrigerated unless he knew for a fact they were going to eat it right away. He took off his coat and hung it on the coatrack in the corner of the room. He also picked up Jay's jacket that was randomly in the middle of the carpet and hung that up as well. Tim turned to Jay, who hadn't moved an inch after touching the bed. Tim sighed a bit as his eyes casually travelled through the room. He paused. Something was missing. Tim did another sweep of the room with his eyes, even glancing behind him.Jay felt as a hand lightly grasped his shoulder and shook him a bit. He lifted his head up a bit, mumbling something incoherent before putting his head back down on the pillow."Jay." Tim said, trying to get Jay to actually pay attention."mhhmfmf." Jay responded."Okay." Tim shook his head as he straightened out a bit. He would have gone to bed, he was admittedly sleepy, if it wasn't for the fact he did not have a bed to go to. Tim walked to the small table in the corner of the room and sat down. Jay had probably forgotten to mention to the front desk that he needed a double and since he was alone they had just given him a single. Tim decided to grab Jay's laptop. If he was going to be awake he might as well do something productive. He knew Jay had a lot of footage he hadn't gone through yet. After a few hours Tim finally understood how Jay could stay up for nights and end up with only five minutes of video after the fact. Most of it was always either corrupted and Tim found himself smiling every time he found an actual coherent frame or two in the midst of the static."Whose the one up at an ungodly hour now." A tired voice echoed through the room. Tim lifted his gaze to jay, who was sitting crisscross on the bed, leaning his head on his hand as he didn't look any less tired as he did before."And where would you, our room getter, suggest I go sleep?" Tim retorted. Jay opened his mouth as he was ready to point at the other bed but after a few seconds of him looking around he let out a long sigh as he lowered his head in defeat."Shit, sorry." Jay mumbled as he raised his head up to meet Tim's eyes again. "I didn't even realize.""It's okay." Tim shrugged as he made sure to save all the progress he had made on the footage and closed the laptop. "We can go and ask for a room change." Tim said, standing up and stretching out his back. He felt as Jay was intently watching his movements."Or what if we didn't?" Jay said as he sized up the bed he was sitting on."What." Tim raised an eyebrow."I mean, we'd definitely have to pay extra." Jay said as he scooted his legs off the bed."Jay, you are not going to stay up all night again." Tim crossed his arms."Then, we could share." Jay said as he tucked his lips into a small smile."Share? The bed?" Tim asked, letting his arms fall beside him. He sure wasn't expecting that response."We would fit." Jay shrugged."You want us to sleep in the same bed?" Tim asked again."I am simply suggesting that we do." Jay chuckled nervously as he shuffled his feet on the ground. Tim took a deep sigh. Jay did have a point, most likely they would have to pay extra to upgrade or switch rooms and they could probably fit on the bed together, even if they had to be real close for neither to fall off. Tim wouldn't mind sleeping next to someone either, especially Jay."Okay." Tim agreed."Wait, really?" Jay asked as his eyes widened a bit."Yeah and if you shove me off while sleeping then I'll shove you back." Tim joked, although his joke hadn't reached Jay as the other just nodded in agreeance. Tim shook his head slightly as he went and turned off the big light in the room, leaving only a bedside lamp to illuminate the space.Jay shuffled more to the side, making room for Tim. The two laid down next to eachother as Tim was pleasantly surprised about how well they actually fit. While Tim was getting comfortable Jay laid still like a mummy, only his hands fidgeting slightly as he stared up at the ceiling."Can you get the light?" Tim asked, his eyes already closed. Jay nodded, although Tim didn't see that and he turned the light off. Now in the darkness Jay took a deep breath. He knew what he was suggesting but he wasn't actually expecting Tim to agree. Just another example of how saying shit, gets you into shit. This time Jay was lucky enough that the 'shit' he was in was actually not a bad situation. Even though Jay felt as his body was tired and how his organs were working overtime but he couldn't fall asleep. He felt as the bed was slightly tilted on one side and he heard Tim's slow and steady breathing. Jay also felt as his heartbeat raced and his body got oddly warm. He felt like he wanted to scoot closer to Tim, to hold onto him, to rest his head on his shoulder, he wasn't sure how Tim would react. Their situation wasn't appropriate for feelings like these so Jay made the decision he made every time he found himself get butterflies in his stomach because of Tim. He turned his back to them, to Tim. He didn't have the courage to pay any mind to his feelings. For now they were better left unknown.
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A single sneeze echoed through the living room.Then a cough.After a small while another sneeze and a sniffle.Firebrand raised his gaze up to look towards the couch. HABIT sat there, acting like nothing was out of the ordinary. Firebrand squinted his eyes a bit. HABIT felt as a strong glare was aimed at him and he looked towards the other. They stared at each other, both wondering what the hell the other was doing."Are you sick?" Firebrand deadpanned. HABIT scoffed."I DON'T GET SICK." He turned back but as he did his nose scrunched up and another sneeze echoed through the room. Firebrand let out a deep guttural sigh as he walked up to HABIT and with no warning placed his hand onto HABIT's forehead."THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU-" "You're heating up." Firebrand mumbled as he pulled his hand away."I GET IT. YOU THINK I'M HOT." HABIT retorted, his face in a grin. Firebrand stared at HABIT, unimpressed with the others antics."You need to take better care of your vessel. You mess his health up and soon you won't have much of a vessel left." Firebrand lectured, crossing his arms."I TAKE VERY GOOD CARE OF EVAN." HABIT exclaimed, standing up from the couch to face Firebrand. Taking a moment to balance himself out before putting his hands on his hips."Okay. Have you been sleeping enough?" Firebrand tilted his head a bit."SLEEPING?" HABIT's eyes narrowed a bit, although his grin didn't falter."Yeah. Sleeping." Firebrand said. "You have been sleeping, right?""WELL," HABIT narrowed his eyes as his grin grew but not out of confidence."Alright." Firebrand hummed. "Have you eaten?""THAT IS-" Firebrand cut HABIT off as he lifted his finger up slightly."I have heard enough." He murmured and pushed HABIT so he would sit down. It took way less effort than it would have normally, considering HABIT had to take a few seconds after moving so he wouldn't loose balance completely. "Stay there." He commanded as he just got an annoyed groan and bunch of something's muttered at him under HABIT's breath. HABIT stayed put but he did cross his arms and pucker out his lower lip a bit, just so it would be really obvious how much he didn't like to do what he was told. After not too long he heard as Firebrands footsteps walked back into the room but he wasn't going to look at him, no, he was going to sit right here and then a blanket got thrown onto him. HABIT looked at the nice fabric as it sat unceremoniously on only half his body."REALLY?" HABIT raised an eyebrow as Firebrand nodded, walking back to HABIT."Lay down." Firebrand ordered."RIGHT, YEAH. WELL I AM NOT GOING TO ABIDE BY YOUR WILL JUST BECAUSE YOU TELL ME I'M SICK-" HABIT was cut off yet again when Firebrand suddenly grabbed his head and violently shook it a few times. He took off his hands and watched as HABIT's whole body recoiled from the shakin'. It took only a few seconds before HABIT all by himself slid himself onto his stomach and laid down. He didn't say a word as Firebrand carefully pulled the covers over HABIT, tucking him in. Firebrand stood straight and walked off. In the kitchen he turned on the kettle while scavenging the cupboards for tea packets. As soon as the kettle was done heating up the water he found what he was looking for. He put the Chamomile packet into a mug and poured the boiling water in, he also added a spoon full of honey. Firebrand looked at the tea, knowing HABIT he would probably down the scorching hot liquid in a second without thinking so he set the mug aside for now. Next stop on his journey through the kitchen was to the fridge. Looking in, there was barely anything up for consumption. Let alone for someone who was at risk of throwing up. Luckily in the freezer he found some frozen dumplings. Looking at the box the expiration date couldn't even be seen from behind all the frost that had grown around the box. Firebrand shrugged, how could something that's frozen go bad anyway. In a few quick minutes he had a bowl full of boiled dumplings. While holding the bowl, Firebrand took the cup of tea, taking a small sip from it. It was still warm but it couldn't burn anything. Content with his doings he turned back to the living room. Surprisingly HABIT was still laying down, he had turned himself a bit but his face was still in the same place."Here." Firebrand said as he placed the food on the coffee table, moving it closer to the couch so it would be easier to eat from. HABIT didn't respond. Firebrand leaned down to the other's face and the smallest smile grew on his face. HABIT's eyes were closed and he seemed to be, for once, not pretending to sleep. Firebrand thought for a moment before brushing his hand against HABIT's face slightly. HABIT's eyes shot open immediately as Firebrands hand made skin-contact. Neither said anything as Firebrand slowly ran his hand over HABIT's cheek, ear and hair. He then gestured to the bowl and cup on the table. "Eat."HABIT slowly sat up, keeping the blanket over himself. He slowly took the bowl and ate. Firebrand sat next to him, admiring the once in a lifetime opportunity of seeing HABIT do something calmly. After a small while HABIT finished eating and had drank half the tea. He slowly leaned back, letting out a deep breath. Firebrand lifted up a part of the blanket HABIT had and crawled under it as well. He scooched closer until their shoulders and knees were touching. HABIT slowly turned his head to Firebrand as Firebrand did the same."WON'T YOU GET SICK LIKE THIS?" HABIT scoffed as Firebrand rolled his eyes a bit."God's don't get sick." Firebrand retorted."I'LL SPIT IN YOUR MOUTH AND THEN WE'LL SEE WHAT YOU SAY." HABIT remarked.Firebrand didn't respond, he just rested his head back on the cushion. This felt nice.
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The terrain went up and down as a wave, soon engulfed in forest and brush. The green and dark filling the view as Evan looked away from the window and towards Vinnie whose two hands were sturdily on the steering wheel. Evan moved his gaze back out of the car window. It was going to be a while before they reach their destination but even so they have time to spend.The dark green rushed past but through the blurry scene Evan managed to get a glimpse of something. Something darker and big.“WAIT! Stop the car!” Evan shouted out as Vinnie slammed on the break, his first thoughts being that something horrible happened and his second a thank you that they were on a desolate road.“What!?” Vinnie asked as he took a few longer breaths considering his counterpart had just scared the living shit out of him. Evan didn’t answer, he just opened the car door and jumped up from his seat. Vinnie took a deep sigh as he, as quickly as he could, somewhat parked the car on the side of the road and got out himself. He looked down the road as Evan was standing at the edge and staring into the woods with his hands on his hips. Vinnie walked up to him, looking in the same direction. His gut dropped a little as he too saw the broken down house in the woods.“What do you think that is? A hospital? Could be a school.” Evan thought out loud.“It’s a bad idea is what it is.” Vinnie said as he glared at Evan a bit.“Cmon, we could just peek in. You can’t tell me that this trip has been exactly exiting and fun, so let’s make it fun.” Evan gave a grin to Vinnie.“Your idea of fun is going into a random abandoned rundown building at the side of a desolate forested road when we can count a minimum of three deities who are out to get us, two of which mainly reside in the woods?” Vinnie recounted with a tired voice.“Yeah.” Evan shrugged.“Okay let’s do it.” Vinnie nodded as he started walking towards the house. He could hear Evan let out a little ‘yay’ as he started walking.The house was further then they had first thought and after stomping around in sticks and probably poisonous plants for a few more minutes than is preferable they made it. The house, or what could be more accurately described as a building, was huge. It loomed with the trees and seemed to be almost a part of the forest at this point. The original paint of it was long gone and most of its windows were broken and the glass littered the forest floor as a makeshift defense against intruders.“Who do you think broke the glass?” Evan asked as he looked at the almost sea of it.“Maybe animals that have been stuck inside?” Vinnie shrugged a bit, hoping that was the answer.Evan nodded as he went up to one of the windows and looked inside. The inside was dirty and old but it wasn’t very messy. There was no graffiti and all the furniture seemed to be in place.“Yeah, I think this was definitely some type of hospital.” Evan stated as he took a few steps back. “Where do you think the door is?”“We’re going inside?” Vinnie asked as he squinted his eyes at Evan in slight disbelief.“Why not?” Evan recounted. Vinnie couldn’t think of any better reasons why not to go inside and to be frank he was curious to see inside himself. He had always liked the aesthetic of abandoned buildings and the odd nostalgia that came with them. Soon enough they had walked the entire length of the building, making their way almost entirely around before getting to the big double doors that led inside. Evan hopped up the few steps and put his hand on the handle. He pulled but nothing happened, he also pushed but nothing happened.“Fuck.” Evan cursed as Vinnie walked next to him. He also put his hand on the door and pulled and pushed but the thing did not budge. The two almost unanimously sighed as they looked at each other in silence for a moment.“So, we’re breaking it down?” Vinnie asked“Obviously.” Evan confirmed.They both positioned themselves with their sides to the door and with three countdowns of three and the two of them basically launching themselves at the door, it broke open.After almost stumbling right down some stairs that stood basically right in front of the door Evan straightened out his back and threw his fists up in the air as a small celebration.“Good going.” Vinnie said as he was looking around the odd entrance.“No wonder this hospital went out of commission. All their patients who came in just fell down the stairs immediately.” Evan said as he peered down into the darkness downstairs. Vinnie looked over Evan’s shoulder down at the abyss.“Yeah, let’s not go there.” Vinnie mumbled as Evan silently agreed as they started walking into the other hallway. Inside the building was dim and almost had a blue hue to it. Every step they took the crunchy sound of the worn floor echoed out into the oddly empty rooms. A long hallway seemingly endless, leading to countless different rooms.
“I think this might have been some type of asylum.” Vinnie commented.“Probably.” Evan breathed as his eyes traveled around the old lights and broken ceiling. “You think this place could like fall down on us?” He asked as he slightly pointed up. Vinnie’s gaze followed Evans hand and he pursed his lips.
“The floor sure looks way cleaner than the ceiling leads on.” Evan commented some more. He had an odd feeling in his chest. A sort of wonder about this place. He felt a pull pulling him deeper into the building. He wanted to explore every room and touch every object. He felt like this building had a secret within it that sat somewhere, waiting to be discovered. His feet almost carried him on their own as he kept walking. Vinnie followed Evan but his sentiments towards the place were unlike Evans. He felt a sort of nervousness being inside but not for any normal reasons. He felt like he wasn’t supposed to be there, like he had been personally banned from this place and yet he found himself walking the halls. He found himself unconsciously sneak around although it was unlikely that anyone except Evan was here. The usual nostalgic feeling of abandoned houses was replaced by a sort of dread. Like a kid who just broke their fathers TV. The feeling that there is nothing anyone could do to prevent something bad from happening.“This place is,” Vinnie trailed off a bit. Although he was freaked, the place oddly enough wasn’t unwelcoming.“It’s the shit.” Evan said as he picked up another random item that was strewn about.“I don’t know what it is.” Vinnie said as he stepped into yet another room. They all looked the same. All had a bed or two and a table or two. Must have been the patient ward.“I think it’s sick.” Evan smiled a bit as he ran his hand over one of the still sheeted beds. He pulled his hand back and turned to Vinnie. “But, we should probably go.” He said with a heavy heart.“Yeah. That’s probably for the best.” He nodded and turned towards the door. As he did he almost walked straight into a wall. “What the?” Vinnie said as he instinctively jumped backwards and grabbed a hold of Evans shoulder to make sure he was still there.“Well,” Evan said, his voice having a small shake to it as he looked around the room. He pointed toward the door, which was on the complete other side of the room now.“We keep doing this to ourselves.” Vinnie muttered as he now carefully approached the door, Evan still firmly in his grip. He reached it and with his hand he pushed it. It did not budge. Vinnie inhaled sharply as his grip tightened on Evans shoulder. Evan pat Vinnie’s hand as he approached the door himself, disconnecting them from one another. Evan tried the door more forcefully. Nothing. He pulled and pushed but it did not let up.“Shit.” He sighed and turned to Vinnie. “Do you have your phone on you?” Vinnie searched his pockets and did indeed find his phone but had exactly zero bars.“No service. You?” Vin asked.“Only this.” Evan shrugged while gesturing to the knife on his belt. “Should we call 911?”“I think that’s a bit too early for that.” Vinnie mumbled.“Well when would be the right time? In a few minutes? An hour? A week?” Evan crossed his arms.“I don’t know. Let’s just see if there is any other way out of here.” Vinnie sighed as he looked around the room. The walls very white and the whole room seemed to be brighter than before, more straining for the eyes.Evan made his way to the barred window in the room. He tugged on it a couple of times with no luck. He turned to Vinnie with a nervous grin, “You think now would be the time to try and call the cops?” Vinnie nodded in defeat. He put his hand into his pocket in search of the small device. He then checked his back pockets and then his front pockets again just in case.“Evan, did I give my phone to you?” Vinnie questioned as a slow realization set in.“No? Is your phone gone?” Evan asked with wide eyes.“I- I swear I put it back into my pocket. It’s nowhere on the ground I-“ Vinnie looked around the pale ground. They looked under the beds and yet the phone was nowhere.“Okay, okay. Check your pockets again.” Evan said as he pushed himself off the ground.“I have about a thousand times.” Vinnie sighed.“Look again or I will start looking for you.” Evan threatened. Vinnie just rolled his eyes as he turned his front pockets inside out and then checked his back pockets again. Evan nodded as his breathing grew a tad heavier while watching Vinnie find nothing. “You don’t have any other pockets?”“Nope.” Vinnie said as he looked down at his T-shirt and Jeans. “Definitely not.” Vinnie watched as Evan fell into thought as he paced the room. Vinnie sat on one of the beds with a sigh, “Okay, well, the car is right at the road and someone is pound to come across it.” Vinnie tried to make the situation a bit better.“When have you ever stopped and pondered about the owners of a random car on a random road in the woods?” Evan retaliated as he kept walking from one edge of the room to the other.“Okay but when people actually start looking for us then they will start pondering.” Vinnie assured, “and we are expecting in a few hourse, if not someone then Jeff or Steph or even Alex would be worried and start looking. We have people who will look for us and soon at that.” Vinnie sighed a bit as Evan seemed to have calmed down a bit.“And until then we just sit here and wait.” Evan said in a tune as he sat right next to Vinnie. They sat in silence for a moment that felt a lot longer than it actually was. Their knees touched as Evan threw himself backwards onto the bed. Vinnie felt the small rush in his heart as his friend calmly closed his eyes and with a deep breath let himself relax. Vinnie looked around the room. Everything in the room seemed so well kept. Nothing looked like it had been abandoned for more than a week, let alone however many years this building had been standing. The lights in the room blared down on them as Vinnie got a small pit in his stomach. Something was off but he couldn’t quite catch what exactly that something was. He looked back at Evan, who was still resting. Vinnie slightly grabbed the others shirt just in case he would dissapear. He paused.“Evan, where’s your knife gone?” He asked. Evan’s eyes shot wide as he pushed himself to sit and pat down his sides. He opened his mouth to say something but before he could the door to the room opened. Both of their heads spun to look at the door. A lady in an old timey nurse’s outfir stood there. She had a set of keys and a sour expression on her face.“Now, boys, what have we said about sneaking into each other’s rooms? You can see eachother but not on your private times, okay?” The nurse spoke in a firm voice as she stepped away from the door. “Cmon Evan. Let’s leave Vincent alone for the day.” The lady said as she expectantly looked at Evan and Vinnie who were both completely frozen by the situation.The lady sighed deeply as she even almost rolled her eyes. “Habit, cmon.” She repeated. Vinnie and Evan slowly looked at eachother. Neither of them sure of what to think but both sure that there was no way they would leave the other alone.“Of course.” The nurse lady sighed as she walked up to the two and grabbed Evan by his arm. Evan jumped at the sudden contact and the fact that this eas actually real and happening. He struggled. He struggled a lot but yet no matter how much he did it felt like a kid trying to escape his decade older brother in a playfight, impossible.The door slammed shut before Vinnie even realized what was happening.The light above his head buzzed in a familiar song.