A Different Iteration | MH/EMH crossover

Chapter 3

A/N: For the record the events are a little out of order to incorporate EMH but it isn't anything too big.

Jay swears under his breath. Of course Tim didn't pick up. He takes a deep breath to steady himself. Surely the others wouldn't mind, right? It's not like it's Jay's fault. He turns around, walking back into the apartment. The boys are sitting together on the couch and they all look up at him when he walks in. Jay swallows sharply. Rubbing the back of his neck, he steps further into the room.

"I couldn't get a hold of Tim," Jay says sheepishly, stuffing his hands into his pockets. They each seem to deflate a little, Jeff the most. Jay looks down at the floor guiltily. "I also can't spend all day trying because I have tapes to get through."

"Tapes? Why are you going through tapes?" Evan asks, standing from the couch. Jay takes a step back.

"I'm trying to find my old friend. I've been looking through tapes to see if I can find out what college he went to," Jay replies, looking away. Hopefully it will be harder to see he is not telling the full truth. Of course, things never seem to go his way.

"Bullshit." Evan crosses his arms over his chest. Jay grimaces, knowing he's been caught. "What are you really looking for?"

Jay gazes over at Vinny and Jeff, who have stayed silent throughout this exchange. They have their full attention on him. He thinks for a minute about whether to tell them the real truth. He doesn't know these people. How is he supposed to trust them enough to tell them anything? Then, Jay thinks back to that thing from the woods. They weren't surprised to see it and looked like they had encountered it before. It was on par with the Operator. Sighing, Jay starts to speak.

"I'm looking for my friend Alex. He ran off to a new college a few years ago and left me the tapes from his film project. In the footage, it looks like he is getting stalked by this tall, white, faceless thing. The most recent footage of him is him bleeding from the head before it cuts off," Jay informs them. They all have a varying degree of shock on their faces, Evan having the least and Vinny having the most.

" Are you talking about Slenderman?" Vinny asks. Although, he sounds like he believes Jay. Jay shakes his head in return.

"No, I've seen the rumors. This is something.... Different. We call it the Operator," he replies softly, as though saying the name might summon him. Jeff furrows his eyebrows and stands as well.

"We?" The question rings in Jay's mind and he realizes he was talking about totheark too. He sighs deeply.

"There's a channel that responds to my videos about my predicament. They named it." Jay walks over to the couch and sits down, now too mentally exhausted to think about what his connection with totheark is. Vinny sits up on the couch.

"Channel? You're posting about this on Youtube?" Vinny is clearly hesitant about the idea.

"Yes. I figured it might help me, if someone who knows Alex, or Alex himself, saw the channel. But now it's mostly about finding answers." Jay closes his eyes and leans back into the couch, trying to push the image of a bloody Alex out of his mind.

"What if we help you?" Evan inquires. Jay shoots up straight and opens his eyes.

"What? Help me?"

"Yeah. Besides, Tim'll show up at some point. Least we could do in the meantime is help you find your friend," Evan offers. Jay raises his eyebrows in surprise.

"Sure, I'd appreciate the help," Jay replies gratefully. Evan waves him off. Jay stands from the couch, making his way to his room where the tapes are. He brings them out to the coffee table and sets them down, connecting his camcorder to his laptop. He loads up a tape. Evan, Vinny and Jeff squeeze onto the couch beside him to watch. The tape is inside Brian's house during a scene with Tim, where Jay is talking to him. Just vaguely in the window behind them Jay can see it. The Operator. Staring inside the house from outside the window. It sends a chill down his spine. A few minutes into the tape, it freezes, basically broken. Jay sighs, annoyed.

"The Operator has a habit of interfering with footage," he explains to the others. "Every tape I see him in has some type of corruption."

Jeff looks over at Jay and quirks his head. Jay gathers it means he is confused but he doesn't know what else to say. Taking the footage of the tape, he adds his own commentary and posts it as Entry #20. The guys watch the whole thing, almost as if they are taking notes. He plays a few more tapes that are nothing but background scenes. Groaning, Jay sets his face in his hands. Evan, who is nearest him, pats him on the back

Jay puts away the tapes and plugs in his camcorder. Then, he goes about his business. He goes to work at his part time job, does some college work on his computer. Generally, Evan, Jeff, and Vinny don't bother him all that much. They eat together during meals when Jay isn't busy, play some card games on the weekend. Jay finds himself liking their presence around the house. Sometimes, they will go out to see if they can find Tim, but with no luck. On one of Jay's off days, he checks his phone and realizes that there is a new post to the channel. One he didn't do. He'd posted a few videos over the past few weeks since Entry #20, although he had not been keeping up with totheark lately. Pulling his laptop out, he brings up the video. A video from totheark on the main channel. As Jay watches the video, an all consuming feeling of dread washes over him. They threatened him, directly. Jay shoots up from the couch, pacing the length of the living room.

"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit-" He rambles to himself, hands holding a tight grip on his hair. Tothark's words echo through his mind. 'I am coming for you, I am coming for you-' Jay stops abruptly once Evan, Jeff and Vinny enter the room.

"What's going on Jay? Are you okay?" Jeff asks worriedly. Suddenly it occurs to Jay that if totheark shows up for him, they might go after the other boys too. Scrambling for his bedroom, Jay grabs a bag out of his closet and starts stuffing clothes into it.

"We need to go, as soon as we can," Jay replies frantically, scanning over his room for any missed valuables. He grabs the stuff for his camcorder and dumps it and the bag on the couch. Grabbing a couple extra bags from a hall closet, Jay packs up his camcorder and laptop stuff, then shoves the tapes in there too.

"Woah, Jay, what the hell? Why the rush?" Vinny speaks up from behind him as Jay pushes past him.

"Totheark knows where I live they are going to be coming for me so we need to GO," Jay emphasizes the last word gathering all his stuff onto his back to bring to the car. Evan steps in front of him before he can walk out the door.

"Jay, what does that mean?" Evan asks, slowly. Jay shakes his head and groans.

"Why don't you guys get it! Totheark is going to come here and, I don't know, kidnap or hurt me or something!" He exclaims in an exasperated tone. The three other boys share a look but Evan steps aside to let Jay pass. Shoving his shoes on, Jay stumbles out of the door with the others behind him. He dumps his bags in the trunk of his car and looks over at the three.

"Do you guys need anything from the apartment?" Jay inquires. They all shake their heads. "Good, get in."

All of them pile in the car, Jay driving, Evan in the passenger seat, Vinny and Jeff in the back. Jay drives for about two hours, turning on the radio at some point to fill the silence. He manages to get them to a hotel where he pays for two rooms for all of them. They settle in fast, Vinny and Jeff in one room, Jay and Evan in the other. Jay sets up his laptop and plugs in his camcorder on the nightstand. Evan sits there and watches Jay as he trudges around the room, making sure everything is locked and secure. By the time Jay is satisfied enough to take a seat on his bed, it is dark out. Jay lays down on his bed and closes his eyes, falling asleep shortly after.

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1.4k words

Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! It was a little wonky to write because I want to follow the marble hornets entries but not excessively. Next chapter should be posted soon!