“Hi, i’m Jake.”

by orphan_account

Summary:

After his father’s misadventurous death, Jake goes missing. Police are on their high tails working on this case and so is Devon, trying to figure out what’s going on. He soon discovers that by watching a strange youtube channel by the username ‘hiimnotreallyanyone’

Chapter 1

Devon didn’t quite know what he found worse. The fact one of his friends had gone missing, or the fact they’ve been missing for two weeks. It was after his father’s death he went missing. Peyton thought he had run away because of the guilt, but Kim and Devon thought different.

Jake was a sweet guy, so why would such a sweet guy go missing? Was he killed? Is he kidnapped? Did he just run away? 

All of these questions ranged in his mind as the boy scrolled Youtube, getting his evidence and facts from a video. It had been a week since Jake’s disappearance. He didn’t really pay attention to the ‘Up next’ icon, so when the video was over, a new one played.

It was over the username ‘hiimnotreallyanyone’ an odd choice for a username and out of curiosity, Devon watched the video. It was only 2 minutes long, so he expected it to be short and sweet. There was a black screen, and the word ‘hello’ popped up. ‘my name is jake’ followed after. Devon was confused, Jake coming up in his mind but there was no way he had a youtube channel. Right? It would be confusing at best.

The screen flashed, Jake sitting and covering his face. Jake was camera shy, wasn’t he? Sure, he would smile for pictures when it counts but he would still cover his face time from time. 

Wait. Jake?

‘i don’t know if anyone can see this,’ the sentence said, the screen still being black. The sentence glitched before a new one saying ‘i’m trapped inside this house’ Devon’s eyes widened as he immediately took notes to show his mom afterwards. Jake had a youtube channel and he was trapped in a house. What else?

The scene changed to what seemed like a kitchen, Jake was laying behind a counter, his legs only visible. He didn’t have any scratches or indications he was being held against his will, and he was still in the outfit he went missing in. Yeah, black hoodie with black jogging pants and a red flannel.

‘i woke up here last week with barely any memory of who i was, how i got here or where this is.’ Another thing Devon noticed, all of the sentences were in lowercase, Jake did sometimes type in all lowercase. Not all the time, sometimes.

The sentence glitched yet again before the scene changed to Jake walking around, whatever he was recording with in his hand. ‘i know only a few things:’ The sentence began. ‘my name is jake wheeler, im 14 years old and i think this is my old house.’

“Old house? The house he had before his mom died?” Devon muttering, writing all of his facts down. He could hear his mom doing laundry downstairs, maybe he’d help her after this if she needed it. ‘or at least a copy’ another sentence flashed on the screen. “A copy?”

In the video, Jake opened the door and the sentence on the screen changed. ‘But, some things don’t check out.’ An uppercase? Hm.

The sentence glitched again before Jake was at a door, pulling on it or trying to get it to open but it wouldn’t budge. ‘I can’t get outside; the doors won’t open.’

Kidnapping? Abduction? But why would the kidnapper allow him to have a youtube page? ‘I’ve tried to break the windows. I break furniture instead, everything in here broken manages to fix itself.’ The sentence glitched again, especially even more when the word ‘sometimes’ popped up. Devon wrote it down, documenting everything he saw. He had to help his mom and Jake.

The screen went black again, before a sentence said ‘i don’t understand what’s going on.’ The screen flashed to a window, the trees flowing in the wind, looking like it was about to rain. It was about to rain here too, could it be possible he was still in Hackensack? ‘I haven’t met nor seen any other people.’ Devon nodded, abduction. But why the youtube channel? It’s not like the kidnapper can make money off of it. Not with Jake’s camera shyness, it would be damn near impossible.

The camera was then pointed to a mirror, where you could partially see Jake’s appearance, just not his face. He looked in good shape, but there was a bruise on his arm. Strange.

‘I found a camera and I’ve been recording things to keep myself occupied.’ The sentence said. Jake had an eye for art, photography is a form of art. Noted. His hair looked a bit messy, some leaves in it and sticks. He didn’t look shaken up though, the camera was shaky but that was because Jake had natural shaky hands.

The screen flashed again, showing Jake getting something from the cabinets, the camera recording him afar and it had been blurred. The sentence this time read ‘sorry i don’t show my whole face.’ then it quickly had changed. ‘i’m a bit camera shy.’

The scene flashed again, two sentences on the screen as it showed a computer with a blog. Twitter? Tumblr? Maybe even Tiktok?

‘The computers work. I can’t see if anyone else is posting anything, it’s almost like i’m completely alone.’ Devon’s eyes softened at that. Was this a clue? Why was this was? Why did Jake feel as if he were completely alone, even on places like the internet. Where nobody is ever truly alone. 

He wondered why that was.

He had posted a few questions, no response. Is that why he felt alone? But the question still rang, why couldn’t he see anyone else? The screen gone black. ‘I don’t know if anybody’s still out there. My friends, family. I think they kinda just forget about me.’ Devon eyes had grown even softer at that, he just wished he could reassure Jake. Then, a small faded sentence was under that one.

’I am pretty forgettable.’ No, he wasn’t. He couldn’t forget Jake, even if he tried. No one can, he’s sure of it. There was a small hello with a question mark that glitched before it changed to ‘I don’t know what to do.’ In all honesty, Devon didn’t either. He really didn’t know what to do for Jake in this situation.

The sentence changed, the new one saying ‘I need to get out of here.’ Jake did need to get out of there. And by everything, Devon was gonna try his best to make it happen. He cared for Jake, and he couldn’t just stand by and do nothing. What kinda of detective could he call himself if he did that? Everything glitched again before the seen changed. Jake reading a book by the window, his face hidden in it, of course.

The sentence this time said ‘During the day, nothing really happens.’ Then, the scene changed. Jake had the camera with a flashlight, the sentence in the corner saying ‘but at night, things are very different’ He was just simply walking around the house, turned to the front door and something wearing a black mask jumped out at him, making Devon jump and everything glitched until the screen went black. ‘i don’t think i’m alone in here’ was glitched with a small ‘help’ and the video was over.

The knock at his house startled the boy as Kin walked in, a laundry basket full of folded clothes. “Hey Dev, what are you doing?” She asked. “Mom, if i told you i think i know where Jake might be based off his youtube channel, would you believe me?” Devon asked, Kim’s expression turning serious. “He has a youtube channel? Since when?”

”Since today. He just posted.” Devon handed her the notebook and his computer. “Just watch the video.”

Chapter 2: dislikness

“Devon, you have no idea how important this is.” Kim said after she had watched the video. Devon shrugged. “I think i might have some idea.”

“Dev, listen to me. Okay? This is serious, you can’t tell anyone. We have the keep the abductor at bay so whoever doesn’t inevitably kill Jake.” Devon nodded, before he got a notification. Jake had posted again, he looked at his mom, almost asking permission and she nodded. He clicked on the notification, bring him to a video on youtube. He took a breath, clicked play as him and his mother watched.

The screen was black, yet again. And this video was titled ‘dislikeness’. The sentence on the video read ‘I’m starting to slowly learn how things work here’

The abductor had rules? Noted. The screen switched to Jake opening a cabinet and taking out a random jar, most likely filled with peanut butter. His back was turned towards the camera as he waited a few minutes and re-opened the cabinet, a brand new jar in there.

’1. I won’t starve.’ One of the sentences said in the corner, Jake slightly chuckled a bit before the scene changed again to a shower curtain and waiting being ran and Jake hummed a bit. ‘2. I won’t stink.’

Kim’s brows furrowed. How was that possible? With the food? There wasn’t a cut in the video and it looked brand new. Was Jake even in Hackensack anymore? None of this even made sense. 

The scene changed again, It was night and Jake hand the camera as he set down a flashlights around the house.  ‘3. At night, the lights only work sometimes.’ Then it changed to Jake sitting on the couch, most likely dissociating out of the window. His hair had gotten a bit longer, noted. The scene changed again, it was dark, but it wasn’t night. Almost in the middle of the day, and the curly haired boy almost looked like a shadow as he just wiped one of the windows. 

Probably to keep himself occupied. Devon thought.

Then it changed to him making a bed, drawing something and sitting in front of the door, knocking on it. Three fast knocks, then three slow knocks. Then three fast knocks again. 

It clicked. “It’s morse code.” Devon blurted out.

“It’s morse code for SOS.” Kim nodded as turned back to the video, Jake was in front of a small bookcase now, his face still hadn’t been visible or clearly visible as he took out brown book. ‘I’ve been trying to learn more about myself.’ The sentence read as Jake flipped through a book, before putting it back. Then, he found a picture. The scene changed, and the two got a closer look at it. It was a younger version of him, how old was he? He looked eleven , probably twelve. 

The screen flashed back a sentence glitched, saying ‘I don’t look good in it’ Kim got up, typing the username in her phone. “I’m going to the station, you message me anything weird, okay?” Devon paused the video, he was sadden but nodded before un-pausing and watching it again.

The scene changed to Jake washing his hands, before accidentally knocking over something. He panicked a bit before picking it up and jumping when he saw something in the mirror, Devon did too.

There was some…guy. He had nice hair, was wearing something nice, looking Jake up and down before he started laughing. The video glitched, and it felt like Devon was watching something on the dark web rather than youtube. He heard whispers and laughing before the man was practically throwing his head back in laughter. Devon felt extremely uncomfortable, and Jake probably did too as he covered his ears, yelling at him to stop. The scene changed quickly, Jake was ripping the picture from earlier and then back to where he was now. He had crouched down behind the sink and out of the view of the mirror, Devon could hear short sniffles. 

Jake was crying.

Then, the scene turned to where Jake was in a bed, back turned towards the camera. The laughter had still gone on, Jake used one of the pillows to cover his ears. He clearly couldn’t take it anymore. “SHUT UP!!” Jake had yelled, but the laughter did die down. “SHUT THE FUCK UP!!” Jake yelled again, and the laughter finally died down, but you could hear hushed whispers and chuckles.

The screen went black, a sentence had been added across the screen. ‘I want to break all of the mirrors in the house’ but there was a faded, smaller sentence under that. It had been clearly hidden in plain sight.

’He looks so much more better than me.’

Then, the video ended, and Devon sat there for a minute, in shock. “Oh. My. God.”

Chapter 3: goodnight (part one)

Jake's disappearance was tearing Lexy up.

 

I mean, driving her insane. She couldn't help but feel she was someone apart of this. That Jake going missing was over her head. And everyone at school seemed to think so too, as she heard whispers everywhere she went. And they wouldn't stop, how maybe she drove Jake to run away or possibly kill himself.

 

And because of that, her reputation slowly started to deteriorate. Less people invited her to parties, she slowly lost more followers and even Junior became more distant. She was loosing her popularity and herself, and she was losing it fast. So it was no wonder when she slammed her hands on the table Devon was eating his lunch.

 

"I need you help." She said, as Devon put down his chocolate milk. "Are you asking me or telling me? Because it sounds like you're telling me." He deadpanned, making the girl groan and sigh.

 

"Please Dev, I need your help." She said, more calmly. "That's better. What do you need?" He asked. 

 

"Okay. I need your help finding Jake. I know he's not dead because he's got completion anxiety. We both know he couldn't go through with killing himself." She explained. "And I don't want his death on my conscience. I just...can't help but feel this is somehow on me. That I have something to do with this."

 

"Gee, what a shocker. I wonder why." Devon said, sarcasm leaking in his words. "I would be too if I dressed up as someone's dead father for Halloween. RECENTLY dead father for Halloween."

 

"Devon, don't. I'm not too pretty that I don't understand sarcasm."

 

"And I am simply both too black and too tired to care." Devon smiled, finishing his milk. "Please Devon! You're the best of the best when it comes to disappearances and stuff! The more Jake is missing, the more Junior cracks. He's becoming depressed, and I don't want that for him. Please, you're my only shot at this."

 

Devon sighed. "Fine. I'll help, look I'm supposed to tell anyone this, but judging your desperation, I'm sure you'll keep your mouth shut." He began. "Jake has a youtube channel that he's been posting on, recently. Every police station in Hackensack is studying it."

 

"A Youtube channel?" Lexy asked, ignoring Devon's comment. "Recently? How the—that would be impossible. What kidnapper in their right mind would let their victim post on social media?"

 

"Keep your voice down, and sit down!" Devon scolded, the blonde rolling her eyes before sitting on the bench.  Devon pulled up his phone and pulled up Jake's channel, clicking on a video as he explained everything. "Basically, we don't know. And there's...things in the house with Jake when he turns the lights off. In daytime everything seems normal, but it's different at night." Devon whispered. "And, it's almost like psychological torture. They make fun of Jake, and they scare him and try to attack him. But, they haven't hurt him or anything."

 

Lexy's brows furrowed as she slightly jumped from the veiled thing jump-scaring her at the end as a new video began. "Who would do something like that?" She muttered. "I'm a bitch, yeah but that's quite literally messed up." Devon nodded, agreeing with her. "They make fun of his weight, his outfits. They basically poke fun at his insecurities." 

 

He locked eye contact with her. "Remind you of anyone, Lexy?"

 

Lexy sighed, a bit annoyed. Devon was just using it to mess with her at this point. It was just a joke, and besides, Jake was a fucking charity case who annoyed her. Someone had to put him in his place. She pretended to pause and think for a moment before putting on her best and condescending smile. "No Devon, doesn't ring any bells."

 

Devon groaned as Lexy watched the next video, obviously creeped out beyond belief. The breaking point being when she saw that thing in the mirror. It looked edited but somehow not, like uncanny. "What the fuck." She said loudly, Devon scolding her again before Oliver walked up to their table.

 

"What's going on?" He asked, a bit curious. "Nothing. Just showing Lexy one of my favorite analog horrors." He smiled, Lexy smiling with him as well before she nodded. "Yeah, Devon loves to show me creepy shit like this."

 

"Oh. Can I see it then?" Oliver asked and Devon turned his phone off and stuffed it in his pocket in one swift and quick move. No pauses, no stops. "It's...gory. And...prone to make someone throw up! And you need to stay away from things that make you vomit, correct?" Devon asked, Oliver shamefully nodding. He did want to see the analog horror and maybe spend some time with Lexy and Devon but unfortunately, therapist orders came first.

 

"You're right, thanks Devon." He said, before putting his tray in the trash can. Lexy looked back at him as Devon looked back at Lexy.

 

"From this point on, keep your reactions to a minimum." He muttered as the bell rang. "Cause trust and believe, it's only gonna get weirder."

 

*                                *                              *

 

Devon decided it would be best if they talked more at Lexy's house. He was aware how his mother most likely wouldn't let them be at her house considering two things. (A. It's pretty last minute and (B. She doesn't like Lexy one bit, nor does she like her mother.

 

Which was totally understandable, I mean, Who likes Michelle?

 

When Lexy and Devon walked in, Michelle was right there with Caroline as she drew yet another creepily realistic drawing of Chucky. Both mother and daughter were surprised when the two walked in. "Oh! What a surprise. Hi Devon." She smiled, as she spoke in a sweet tone.

 

Devon gave her a little wave, smiling a bit. "Hi Mrs. Cross." Michelle sighed. "Oh please, call me Michelle! It's a wonder to have you here Devon," She began, Lexy rolling her eyes. "But may I ask why?"

 

"Oh, It's a-"

 

"School project." Lexy interrupts the boy. "It's on slavery and the different ages of racism and slavery." Devon looked at her but nodded, Michelle smiling and sighing. "I asked Devon, Alexandra." Lexy crossed her arms, fake smiling back at her. "Of course you did."

 

Devon's brows furrowed at the tension so he decided to break it, to sooner he can help the agency and find Jake, the better. "So, uhm, can we get started, Michelle?" The blonde woman's eyes go over to Devon before she nods. "Of course. Knock yourselves out!" She exclaimed. "Just keep the door open."

 

Lexy groaned as she grabbed Devon's hand and led him upstairs, closing and locking her door and finding a lighter and blunt she hid in a jewelry box on her dresser. She puts the blunt in her mouth and immediately lights the other end, inhaling the tobacco and her exhale being one of relief. Devon stood there, awkwardly standing there a bit. This wasn't the first time he's seen Lexy smoke weed, but it was still awkward, nonetheless.

 

"What're you looking at?" She asked, holding the blunt between her fingers and taking another drag. 

 

"Nothing, sorry." He said, setting his book bag down. "Do you have a computer?" Lexy blew out smoke from another drag as she pointed to her closet. "There's three in there. One I use for social media and personal stuff, another is what I use for school and the last one is a burner. I downloaded software on it-"

 

"To keep from being tracked or hacked." Devon smiled, opening the closet. "Clever and smart. I respect that." He said, moving aside some folded clothes and discovering three computers. One pink, one blue and the other white. 

 

"The white one is the burner." She informed as Devon took the white computer from the clothing pile, closing the closet door as he opened it and sat on the beanbag in front of her bed. "The password's Junior's birthday." She said, taking another drag as the whole room began to smell like weed. Devon nodding as he typed the number's in and it opened before Lexy went over and sat with him.

 

"What're we looking for?" She asked. "We're looking for Jake's twitter." Devon said as he began to type into the Safari for twitter and clicking on the website. "Judging by his username on tiktok and youtube, I wouldn't be surprised if he had the same twitter username aswell."

 

Lexy blew out some more smoke as Devon typed Jake's youtube username, nothing popping up. Maybe it was shorten variation? So, he tried 'nottrallyanyone' and no shock, Jake's account popped up. It was a picture of a staircase and his bio read "hi, im new here" Nothing more, nothing less. He did find out that Jake gave the masked figure a name. 'Mason'.

 

He followed Jake's account and sent him a couple of messages, just as Lexy flicked the ashes onto her carpet. "What do we do now?" She asks.

 

"Now," Devon said, pulling out a USB drive. "We dive deeper."