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Alex was panting for some reason, he doesn't know why. Why does he feel winded when he was just lying in bed thinking? But then it comes back to him, in a rush he feels the relief in his body flood him, feels the body protesting to any movement for the time being. When he blinks he then suddenly feels colder as well, it seems to move and crack around his body, he thinks he's covered in something but doesn't know what. He hears a clicking sound, something heavy is in his palm. His neck cracks and pops as he simply cranes it to look down. But then he looks to the thing that sits in it and finds a knife. A gnarly looking one as well, but then when he looks to the object on the floor that he thinks is the thing that caused the click, he sees a gun simply laying there.
He drops the knife and it clatters instead of clicking. He starts to feel sick at the thought that he wasn't supposed to be like this. Armed with weapons he doesn't remember owning nor does he even have a gun permit for this. But then he begins to shakily rub the bare hands together to get a feel for what is sticking to his body. And a smooth bit sludgy liquid is what he feels. He's confused and slightly panicked and when he shifts he feels something brush up against his leg. The room is dark and he doesn't know what he sees in front of him. The only reason he knew about the knife and gun was for feeling and for the lackluster light that shone through the window in the corner of the room. When he puts a shaky hand to the thing in front of him, he feels a spurt of the same pasty liquid come onto his fingers. He stumbles upwards and limps to the window for light.
His legs hurt for some reason even though he should be in bed, maybe he is right now and he's just in a really realistic nightmare. But then when he finally brings his hand to the dim light the paste seems dark, maybe red?
When he does eventually look back over he then sees a flashlight there within an arm's reach. Grabbing for it, he then clicks it on and immediately steps back as he sees the crumpled body of his friend. Looking he sees slashes and marks all over Seth's body. Seth's face isn't recognizable whatsoever. It was teared to pieces.
When he scrambled over to where Seth's body laid out in front of him he begins to cry, why wouldn't he. Seth could be frustrating sometimes, he did sometimes ignore some things that Alex wanted to be done. But that didn't mean he had to die. Alex puts a hand over the gaping hole that was Seth's chest cavity. That was when the memories came to Alex, he was walking with Seth to a spot that he thought would be best, but then suddenly he was overwhelmed with strings that strangled him and his limbs. Tethering him to the thing that stood right there just out of sight. He watched as he shot Seth in the legs and then pinned him to the ground as he begins to slash wildly. Slashing away clothing and skin. Whatever was within his range he sliced. Seth by the time Alex had gotten to the innards, had stopped breathing. His heart on the inside gave feeble lurches begging for the attack to stop. But Alex ignored it and continued to slash and slice, while then ripping out the organs in fatty chunks.
Alex gasped as he fell back again, tears still silently falling over his face. He then began to sob so loudly, letting out ugly wails as he knelt his head onto his now dead friend's lap. He sobbed and sobbed until a headache began to form at the base of his skull. He came away from where his head had rested and wiped away stray tears. Sniffling and choking on silent sobs. He had been repeating apologies that would never be heard and that seemed to upset him even more. He began to scratch at the exposed skin of his wrists as he began to panic. Panicking about what he was supposed to do now. His friend's body was just laying there limp and he was responsible. In principle if not physical, mentally it destroys him to know that Seth had been lured in by the thing that had persisted to haunt him even when he locked all his doors and windows.
Then as if reading his mind he then sees the smug thing close in. Watching Alex with a mute face. It then began to poke and prod Seth's body. And that's when Alex began to start screaming and shouting at it, begging for it to let Seth come back; let him at least be buried. But it paid him no mind as it just stared blankly before lifting Seth's body. Stretching it the body then began to shake and recoil. Until finally, Seth was no more. Alex watched as the thing in place of Seth placed a small plush doll. Or the base of what a doll would be. Limbs, chest, head and two bead eyes is all that consisted of Seth's last breath. Last appearance unto the world and Alex was angry at the audacity that this thing had by replacing a whole person and instead of honoring him in some way he had been replaced by a small doll. Alex was angry that his very last true conversation was filled with stress and anger and nothing significant. Not even a goodbye.
Alex had taken the doll with him. He had named it Seth as it was him in a sense. And what a cruel sense it was. Alex though pressed forward and just hoped that Seth, while short lived wit the group; would be the only death.
Alex had been so wrong. He had blanked out so many times now, that he didn't even know what he did or what the thing did. But he knew that he had been wrong to hope that Seth would be the only one to pass. He had basically sacrificed Brian without even thinking, nearly did the same to Tim if he hadn't left him unchecked. Procrastinated for so long to kill Jay it hadn't been a surprise that he was the first to go after Amy had died. And now as Alex wanders around the old school halls he then sees Brian's sprawled form laying in the ground so similar to how Seth had. It had made him so sick to look at but his body mechanically moved forward. Peeling the blood incrusted mask off he sees Brian's face again, a peaceful one after so long that he had been surviving on Tim's medication, spite and pure will. Alex didn't think he had ever seen Brian so peaceful but then again he hadn't made it that easier to achieve.
Alex would've liked to think that this is all a distant nightmare and he's just stuck in bed waiting to be released but he knows he's not. Again he falls beside Brian and the thing cuts all the strings off. He collapses like a a little puppet undone as he continues to stare at Brian's face. Alex sighs and puts the mask back on to mourn another dead friend and while he is indirectly responsible he feels glad that he didn't get the chance to wildly tear him to shreds as he did to Seth and Amy. Jay had gotten lucky but he still had bled out before the thing took him away.
Alex wished so badly that he could apologize but he had only a minute to spare before he knew the thing would replace Brian with a simple cloth doll and then restringing Alex. So, Alex mutters his apologies knowing it's not enough and voicing it, but he also says that if he had known that this was going to happen he would've committed suicide before he was given the chance. But he sneered at the fact that he probably wouldn't've succeeded for long. So, he apologizes for the way that Brian had to remember him and had to live before he died. How he should've been unaffected and lived a full life. Busy with taking care of people who would've smiled at him as he got to work. But that chance of a life was taken from him and he'll never get it back; all because of Alex.
Alex got up strings pulling him even though he wanted to stay at his friend's side and he stomped away from the scene as he began to walk down the corridor and began to pray for Tim and Jessica to either survive or to have a quick death. Either way would be plenty better than the hand he was given and the hands that Seth, Amy and anyone else he had stumbled upon while under comatose.