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lordprettyflackotara · 9 months ago

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Hitchhiker || Chapter Eighteen || The Proxies

tw: this chapter contains very sensitive topics that can be considered triggering. viewer discretion advised.

<— previous chapter

Headlights.

You blinked slowly, soaking in your surroundings. Your hands were gripping a steering wheel, your foot pressed against the gas petal of what you recognized to be Jacks truck. You had never seen the interior before. It appeared to be night time, the skies pitch black and the headlights on his truck the only source of light you could see. The back roads you were driving down appeared to be endless, no buildings or distinctive land marks on the side of the road. As you regripped the steering wheel you glanced down at the ancient radio, static waves coming out of the trucks speakers.

You recognized wicked games by Chris Isaak fighting to play through the static. Logically you concluded you must have been almost out of range with the radio station. Expecting to see one of your lovers or friends you turned around, looking around the truck. It unsettled you to find it empty. Tim’s tattered and discarded jacket sat in the drivers seat, dried blood coating the fabric. Why were you driving like this alone? The snow had finally subsided, but that didn’t take away the cold temperatures outside of the truck. The coldness was nipping at your nose, the heater inside of the vehicle broken with no plans of being repaired. It occurred to you as you drove past a group of frozen deer, there was only one logical explanation.

Why yes of course, you were dreaming.

Shifting in your seat you laid back, now a bit more comfortable as you processed your realization. You were dreaming, none of this truly mattered. You could just ride out the dream, your actions had no consequences. Strumming your fingers on the wheel you grabbed one of the knobs on the center console, attempting to find a radio station that actually worked. Static and muffled voices played as you spun the little wheel, until you finally heard an actual human voice.

‘On tonight’s news we again report the absence and missing person Nova Parker. She has been reported missing for over a month now, her family and colleagues still hopeful she’s out there. If anyone has seen or heard anything, please contact us at 1-800-555-6279. Back to you Jim.’

You quickly pushed the button on the stereo, a new form of remorse washing over you. Your decision making skills landed your best friend to become a missing person. Everyone she’s ever known is now concerned she’s dead in a ditch somewhere for all they know. You stripped her away from her hard earned life. Her career. Her relationships. True, now she had Jack. But she also now had a demon attached to her and no feelings in her fingertips. You truly had fucked your best friend over when she had done nothing but love you and look after you. How could you ever repay her?

The thought alone began to nag at you, like a ghost whispering over your shoulder. You sighed, leaning over slightly to grab the fabric of Tim’s discarded jacket. The clothing held more memories and emotions than you could truly describe or comprehend. You rubbed it between your fingers, the item sentimental and bringing you comfort. You glanced to your left, noticing another pack of frozen deer. That was odd. You weren’t too concerned though, the comforting knowledge of this all being a dream leading you to not care at all. It was then you jumped at the sound of sudden static leaking from the trucks speakers. You could feel your heart pounding, your eyes widening at the sound. You clenched your jaw, refusing to let this turn into some sort of horrifying nightmare again.

Aggressively you slammed your hand on the power button of the center console. The static didn’t fade, if anything the sound ignited louder. You glared at the radio, slamming your hand against it even harder. You ignored the pain forming in your palm, your anger overriding it. You were so sick. So fucking sick of hearing the dreaded static that plagued your mind. You were so focused on stopping the sickening sound you hadn’t seen the deer in the road, a gasp leaving your lips as you abruptly turned the steering wheel to the right. Your brain refused to process what happened next, your body shooting forward as you crashed into the unknown. A jolt of pain went down your spine. Your vision temporarily going black.

You could feel yourself breathing and your heart pounding, your lungs struggling to breathe in air. You swallowed as you forced yourself to wake up, blood dripping down your forehead from where you had hit yourself on the steering wheel. Great. You briefly touched the dripping blood, the crimson red staining your fingertips. You rubbed them on your shirt, looking up and through the cracked windshield. It was almost entirely shattered, glass shards scattered through out the front dash and seat. Looking down it also laid on your thighs, causing you to shove the glass off of you. “Fucking hell,” You grumbled. The truck appeared to be slanted, having crashed into what you assumed to be a ditch. On your right you could see wet grass, fresh and freezing cold water below the vehicle.

Fuck.

Your eyes wondered upwards, the power line pole knocked out of place from your crash. Pulled apart split wires danced above the pond of water, electric sparks flying in the air. Gulping you stared at the pool, recognizing that you would no doubt be electrocuted if you stepped inside of it. Unsteadily you gripped onto the open truck door, awkwardly balancing on the side of the truck. You were thankful you were wearing shoes, your nose beginning to twitch from the cold temperature. Looking up you estimated the jump to land to be maybe five feet, but you weren’t entirely sure. The sparks were your only source of light minus the crash headlights. Gulping you prepared yourself, flinging yourself over the electric pond. Your eyes were screwed shut, the cold air blowing past you.

You only had one opportunity to do this. You could feel the cold air flying past you, whipping you in the face as you jumped. Holding your breath you landed on solid ground, a sigh of relief escaping your lips. Your relief was short lived, an unaccounted for pile of mud causing you to slide backwards. You gasped, the air knocked out of your lungs from terror as you slid backwards. Your eyes shot open, an all too familiar hand reaching out and grabbing a handful of your shirt. Taking a deep breath you managed to think straight as you recognized Toby. He tossed aside his hatchet, grabbing your shoulders.

“W-wake the f-f-fuck up! Are you i-i-insane?” Toby hissed. Gasping you pawed at his hoodie, your eyes wide as you looked around. “W-what? I don’t understand,” You sputtered. Nervously you looked behind you, Jacks truck truly crashed into the electric pole. Toby abruptly grabbed your shoulders, regaining your attention. “You w-w-were sleep walking and snuck-k-k out. Scared the shit out of us,” Toby explained. His eyes were wide, full of panic as he examined you. “A-are you h-hurt? You could’ve killed-d-d yourself,” Toby told you. He looked up at your forehead, noticing the fresh blood. “Relax Toby i’m fine. I thought I was dreaming,” You replied, nervously glancing over at the wrecked vehicle. “Where are the others?” You asked. It was the dead of night, the moon concealed behind ashy gray clouds. It was a miracle they even found you.

“I’m t-the fastest runner. N-not that I c-c-care but i’m obligated to ask. Nova isn’t with you?” Toby asked. You began to panic at his question, your breath becoming visible as the temperature dropped lower. “No? She isn’t with you?” You questioned. A loud crash interrupted your questioning, Jack having jumped on his truck. He dented the back metal, elbowing the back window. The glass shattered, causing you to cringe as he looked around the abandoned truck. Once he realized it was vacant he jumped over the pond with ease, grabbing your sleeve. “Nova isn’t with you? Where is she?” Jack questioned. His words were said quickly, the words borderline running together. “I don’t know I thought I was asleep. You weren’t watching her?” You asked. Despite his mask being secured to his face, his body tensed up in anger. “I’m not a goddamn babysitter. You’re her best friend,” Jack snarled. You yanked your arm out of his grasp, glaring up at him.

“Oh im sorry, if you weren’t watching her what exactly were you doing? You don’t exactly have a job,” You snapped. An animalistic growl was bubbling in the bottom of Jacks throat, one that alarmed Toby. “You really wanna know? I was out hunting. You wanna find out what I eat? I’ll show you,” Jack argued, taking a step closer to you. It was then two sets of hands threw you behind them, Tim, Brian, and Toby intervening. “Enough horseplay. Let’s find the girl and go the fuck home,” Tim spat. His tone of voice indicated to you it was actually Masky. Curiously you peaked over his shoulder, both his mask and Hoodie’s on. You furrowed your eyebrows as to why they were fronting. “She’s not here, quite obviously,” Jack huffed. You pushed past your lovers, determined to be apart of the conversation. “Okay so use that medical brain of yours. If she’s not with Y/n, where could she be?” Hoodie questioned. Your brain was racking itself, freshly fallen snow dancing across strands of your hair.

Logically The Operator could’ve had her kill herself. That alone was nipping at your conscious. There was a reason he wasn’t. Looking up at your three lovers it occurred to you if he was malicious enough to use them as slaves for eternity there wasn’t any hellish bridge he wouldn’t cross. “What words did she specifically use when she was in Jacks room?” You asked, beating around the bush that she etched messages onto his walls. Masky shrugged, finally facing you. “All of the ominous bullshit The Operator puts in your head. That he’s coming, it’s the end, all of that bullshit,” He replied. If The Operator was coming, surely that might be why Nova was on the run. “She did put home is where the heart is, which i’ve never seen before in all my years,” Hoodie mentioned. You froze, eyes widening. You grabbed Hoodie’s sleeve, shaking it. “The Operator was coming and she ran away to home! She’s at her apartment! You’re a genius!” You exclaimed. You lifted up his mask, pecking him on the lips before turning to the others.

“We need to get to Nova’s apartment and we need to get there now,” You said firmly. Masky nodded affirmatively. “Toby and Jack you both can run ahead. We’ll find a way to catch up,” Masky said. You audibly scoffed. “As if. What are we going to do? Hitchhike?” You questioned. Looking over at Toby you took a step towards him. “Can you carry me there?” You asked, shivering. Toby nodded, signaling for you to jump on his back. “A-anything for y-you,” He agreed. You hesitantly jumped on his back, his arms wrapping around your legs to secure you in place. Afraid you may fall you wrapped your arms around his neck, burying your face in his shoulder. You screwed your eyes shut as he took off, carrying you as if you weighed nothing at all. Cold wind whipped past you, your hair flying through the night as he ran. His grip on you never wavered, neither did his stamina. Toby never took a moment to breathe, he acted as though he didn’t need to.

Worry clouded your mind, Novas absence daunting any form of hope you could have. You felt your stomach churn as Toby eventually set you down, outside of Nova’s apartment building. Pushing the door open the three of you ignored the receptionist, who thankfully was too indulged in her youtube video to look up and notice two masked men and a missing girl walking by. The wait in the elevator was tense and anxiety filled, your hands nervously clenching and unclenching until the door dinged open. You felt your heart drop at the sight of yellow caution tape covering her front door. As if Jack could read your mind he pulled out his scalpel, flipping it before slipping through the tape carelessly.

He yanked it down, kicking open the door. Stale air and dust hit you, the cold apartment unoccupied. “Nova!” You called out, your voice echoing off of the abandoned walls. All of her belongings were still in place, down to her badge and uniform neatly laid out for what she assumed to be her shift the following day. Jack stormed past you, searching through each room. You stood motionless. Were you wrong? What if The Operator was truly careless enough to just chuck her off of a cliff? Toby stood beside you, eyeing you carefully. “W-what are you thinking?” He asked. You looked around, little numbered cards littering different areas that Nova once called home. Nova was a neat person, the scattered items signaling to you that either the police or someone else had rummaged through her things. Jack was out of breath by the time he emerged from her guest room. “Empty,” He panted. You sighed, flopping down on her couch.

You rested your head in your hands, nervously combing through your hair. How could you be so wrong? “We’re missing something,” You finally answered. Out of the corner of your eye you thought you saw a shadow, causing you to look up. Your gaze landed on a picture of you and Nova, celebrating one of her birthdays. You approached the photo on the wall, tilting your head. Dust covered the glass, your smiles permanently printed for viewing. The realization hit you like a ton of bricks, your eyes widened as you turned around. “This isn’t what Nova considers to be home. She wouldn’t be able to come back here anyway. She’s at my apartment, let’s go,” You say, grabbing both of the boys by the sleeves of their hoodies. Toby was hesitant, dragging his heels into the floor. “What a-a-about Masky and Hoodie?” He questioned. You clenched your jaw, hauling him over to the elevator as Jack followed. “They’ll catch up. We need to find her and we need to find her now before it’s too late,” You answered.

The run between your apartments was anything but short, your lungs burning as you struggled to keep Jack and Toby in your line of sight. You ignored Toby’s offers to carry you, the adrenaline and desperation to find your friend providing you with enough energy to push through. Your legs cried for help as you finally made it to your apartment building, the three of you barging inside. You clenched your jaw at the elevator being out of the order, darting for the stairs instead. You had to find her. You needed to find her. Nova was your rock, your everything. She had been with you through it all. She had thrown her entire life away for you. You owed her everything you could offer and more. There was no doubt that you loved her, no doubt at all.

You pushed open your apartment door, despair washing over you at the sight before you. Your face fell as you fell to your knees at the sight of Nova hanging from a noose, her body hanging limp as her corpse hung from the ceiling fan.

—> next chapter

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