Lady Luck: Part 13 (HOODY X READER)

       Generic washed-out navy blue filled the corner of the screen, the white font on it asking for new text. Quickly changing the background to black, I randomly mashed the keyboard to make sure I could type in the text box before turning to Tim. “Okay, what should I type?”

       “Whatever you have to,” he replied simply. “Just make it clear I’m not involved.”

       “Right.” Nodding, I turned back to the laptop to start typing. His request was simple: create a short video stating he wouldn’t get involved with Marble Hornets anymore. Yet for all its simplicity, it was one of the hardest things I’d ever done. My fingers moved a lot slower than usual, each press of the keys heavy and difficult. What would I even say? How could I convince Hoody to stop looking for him?

       Mulling over it silently for a bit, soon I took a deep breath and started working. I was a bit rusty on Windows Movie Maker, but the controls soon came back to me and soon it was like I’d never stopped. Neither of us spoke as I worked, Tim just sitting across from me drinking from a mug of steaming coffee with a faraway look in his eyes while I focused on the screen.

       After typing and revising for a solid half hour, eventually I finished and gestured for Tim to get up. “Tell me what you think.” Without a word he walked over and I pressed play, a preview of my project running full-screen. Once the short video finished, he slowly nodded in approval.

       “...It’s good. But are you sure you want to do it that way?”

       “I am. It’s the best way to get his attention.”

       “...Alright then.” He nodded and then walked me through uploading it to YouTube on the official Marble Hornets channel. Honestly, it probably would have been easier and faster for him to do it himself, but I didn’t say that out loud. I knew he just wanted as little to do with it as possible. Soon enough everything was ready, and we just needed a title.

       “What should I call it?” I asked, and he shrugged.

       “I don’t know... Just, anything, I guess.” Thinking it over, I finally typed a simple title into the box:

       RE: WAITING

       Tim nodded in silent approval, and after a few moments I took a deep breath and clicked “submit”. A loading screen appeared briefly, and then it was done. Just like that, the video was uploaded, now freely available on the internet for anyone and everyone to see. As soon as I confirmed it was up, I quietly logged out and shut down the laptop. Tim unplugged the charger and put both the cable and the laptop itself into a bulky black case, zipping it up and offering it to me.

       “Thanks,” I said quietly as I took it, slinging the strap over my shoulder. Tim didn’t respond, just stared at me for a moment before turning away with a sigh. Heading to his bedroom, he soon returned with a small stack of bills.

       “Here, take this,” he said as he handed them to me. My eyes widened as I noticed the top one was a twenty dollar bill, and after quickly leafing through the stack I realized the rest were a mix of twenties and tens.

       “What!? No, Tim, I can’t—”

       “Just take it,” he interrupted, his voice surprisingly firm. Hesitating, I reluctantly stuffed the money into my pocket without counting them, their light weight feeling more like a hundred pounds. A sigh passed my lips as I bowed my head, clenching my fists at my side.

       “I don’t need it,” I mumbled stubbornly, but he shook his head.

       “You need it more than me. Use it to buy a bus ticket or something, as far away as possible.” I wanted to argue, to throw the bills to the ground, but instead I just nodded silently, biting my lip. He placed a hand on my shoulder, making me raise my head in surprise. “Be careful out there, okay?” I didn’t reply right away, but then I gave a small nod.

       “I will. Goodbye, Tim.” With that, I pulled away from him and headed to the front door, not once looking back even as I heard it close behind me. Soon I was seated in a bus, watching the now-familiar town pass by the window before giving way to open fields.

       A laptop, some money and orders to get as far away from this town as possible. That was the price for my involvement. Tim wanted nothing more to do with Marble Hornets, and now that I was part of it that included me, too. Even now it was hard to believe that I would likely never meet Tim again, but deep down I knew it was for the best—for both of us. As long as we didn’t meet, there would be a chance for redemption and escape from this horrible nightmare.

       Still, that didn’t change the sour taste it left in my mouth. For the first time since running away I’d finally made a friend, and now I was losing him because of some monster. Just my luck. Shaking at the thought, I turned away from the window and squeezed my eyes shut, willing myself not to cry.

       I never realized just how painful a goodbye could really be.

~*~

       Every day since uploading “WAITING” to ToTheArk, Hoody took his laptop to McDonald’s to check the MarbleHornets channel for a response. He wasn’t surprised at the lack of response, knowing the chances of Tim checking any of the channels were next to none. He was the one who ran away from it all; he probably avoided the channels like the plague. Still, Hoody knew that someday Tim would see it. Whether his curiosity finally got the better of him or a third party showed him, it was only a matter of time.

       No one could run from the Operator’s influence forever. Hoody knew that better from anyone.

       So when he finally saw a new video posted on MarbleHornets, he wasn’t too surprised. If anything, it was posted sooner than he’d expected. A smirk crossed his lips as he clicked the video to watch it. However, though he hadn’t known what to expect, he still wasn’t prepared for what he found. Instead of any footage or pictures, the entire video was just text, a simple message directed at him. And its contents made his blood run cold.

       ‘Hoody, Tim is no longer part of Marble Hornets. He has his own life now, and he has moved on. Do not get him involved again.
       Stop looking for him or I’ll tell everyone about what happened at the building.
       ~Lady Luck’

       Eyes widening, Hoody’s mind flashed back to the night at the abandoned building and the mysterious girl he’d met there. It had been a while since he’d last thought about the events of that night, the encounter seeming inconsequential to him and generally escaping his memory. Yet even so, he could clearly remember her words, her story about her messed up past and the moniker it earned her—Lady Luck.

       No way. It seemed like too outrageous a coincidence for her to run into Tim, the chances of those two particular people meeting were astronomical. Despite his doubts, though, something in the back of his mind told him that maybe it wasn’t. Scrolling to the comments, he was surprised to notice several referenced a Reddit post by someone with the username “xLadyLuckx”. Clicking the first link to it he saw, Hoody quickly read the story and found everything in it was accurate.

       The setting. The situation. And Hoody himself. Even without the mention of his hood, Hoody recognized “the man in the ski mask” as himself, as did several of the other commenters. Any doubts he had were dashed as he continued reading it, too many details matching up for him to deny its authenticity.

       What truly disturbed him, though, was the fact that she’d been chased by the Operator.

       A shudder ran down his spine as Hoody read the tale of her encounter with the faceless being, his blood running cold. Though fleeing and leaving her behind while still unconscious had left a bad taste in his mouth, it had been done in her bests interests. For years now he’d been constantly pursued by the Operator, never able to stay in one place for too long lest it appear. He knew that if he stayed with the girl it would soon appear, but if he left the faceless monster would invariably follow him.

       Or at least, he’d thought it would. Instead, now he was finding out that it had stayed behind to terrorize the unconscious girl once she woke up. That single encounter meant she was now an undeniable part of this whole mess, caught in this tangled web of tragedy and chaos. Her crystal clear memory of the event, something that seemed to be rare, only made her involvement that much more dangerous.

       Shuddering, Hoody suddenly thought about all the other people he’d encountered during his life of isolation. Had they met the Operator too? Were they able to escape? Or did they get caught too?  The thought was not a pleasant one. Part of him hoped she was just an anomaly, that the Operator was attracted to her because of her weird luck streak. Though it might be selfish and mean to think that way, it was easier on his conscience than everyone he met dying.

       Still, no matter what the case was, it didn’t change the fact that this was his fault. Had it not been for him, this girl wouldn’t have to deal with this monster. She’d just be a happy, normal homeless girl who just happened to run into a lot of unlucky situations, living an otherwise nice monster-free life. Gritting his teeth, Hoody shook his head and pushed it out of his mind. No point thinking about what-if’s, he had to focus on reality.

       Thankfully, in her story the girl had gone into the barest details of her encounter with Hoody himself, making no mention of the murder or drug dealer. However, the video made it clear that could change at any moment. Her threat was clear: stop going after Tim, or she would tell everyone about the murder. An undesirable situation, for more reasons than one.

       But he couldn’t just stop now. Tim didn’t want to be involved anymore, but at this point that was just a foolish fantasy. There was no escaping the Operator, no matter how much one wanted to. No matter how far they ran, how much they tried to forget, without fail, everyone involved would ultimately be pulled back into its world. It was just a matter of time until Tim realized that—and this girl, too.

       Sighing, he quietly closed his computer and got up, shaking his head.

        “Well, Lady Luck, looks like we’ll be meeting again after all...”