a wager
Everyone had taken off for the night and the archives were silent. Jon took the time to himself to have a snack before he headed home to work on his plan. Maybe afterwards he should stop by the store and get one of those corkboards and some string? Probably would leave red out of the mix for the irony? Jon smirked at that thought as he reached for the one real Statement that was leftover from the day.
Jon took a breath and a tape recorder turned on.
Click
“Statement of Iris Sharp, regarding her encounter with the woman that wouldn’t blink. Original statement given May 4th, 2008. Audio recording by Jonathan Sims, The Archivist.
“Statement begins.
“I work as an assistant in a doctor’s office. What our doctors mostly specialize in isn’t really important. Heck, just me being here could probably get me fired for breaching personal privacy, but I just have to tell someone. I mention it to my coworkers and they think I’m crazy. They even made a little game out of it, to when she has an appointment to make sure I’m at check-in counter.
“The woman is such a lovely lady, so I can’t blame them for being doubtful. And honestly it’s not even like she seems malevolent in her staring, but just, what kind of human doesn’t Blink…
“I first noticed it when she came in for an appointment regarding something unrelated. She’d been a regular here for years before I got the job, but somehow I’d never met her till that day. She had lovely brown eyes, like a dark honey, so I let her know I was quite taken by them. She was pleasant about it, and we had a nice bit of small talk. She sat down to wait for her name to be called, and for the next 5 minutes or so, I felt this pressure on me, it was like-
As Jon turned the page of the statement, he choked for a moment before continuing.
“Hello Jon.
"Did you think you were the only one that was sent back? It’s a laughable oversight on your part. Then falling for the same method as last time, and on the second day no less. You really don’t learn. Though I suppose, it’s not the Archive’s job to do the learning. No. Just store. Just to record.
"I’m assuming you won’t stop just like last time, and since you are still reading, I was right in that assumption that you came back fully awakened as well. Do you even want to stop, Jon? I’ll keep it quick as I know we both are eager to see if this works. I’m sure you are probably missing the connection just as much as me. No need to try and deny it as you read. You have always been a terrible liar, and we both Know.
"To think you would actually remove your crown to pull off whatever this is. Undoing the world where we were thriving. Though I do suppose for one like yourself that maybe the fear was getting a bit stale. The other fears may have been getting a tad too repetitive. Maybe this is a gift from the Ceaseless Watcher to help create some freshness for you. It does favor its Archive after all.
"Seems like Undoing would be a good way to shuffle about to make for new ways for them to be afraid when you don the crown again. Unlink them from the fears that kept them in one place, unable to change or make new reactions after their first.
"Quite a curious thought there, isn’t it Jon? After all, you are more a fan of freshness aren’t you? After you felt everything, did you get bored? Hungry? I’m sure Martin was able to distract you from it for only so long after all. Not like you ever tried to tell the other Avatars to change up how they tortured their prey while you had those little friendship interactions.
"If I recall, didn’t that happen with the statements the first time around? Where once you’ve taken in the fear, it no longer fulfills you. Not one for repeats.
"I watched you on your way home last night. I could see looking at the people as you passed them. The ones with statements. Some of them even noticed you. Your eyes Seeing all that they were, but ultimately not worth the time to stop. Like picking up fruit at market and putting it back for it not being the one you were looking for. You probably hoped it was a sign you were more in tune with humanity, knowing how you used to crave that o-so long ago.
"No. From my view, it looked more like lack of interest than self control. You are still the Archive and that Hunger followed you. Maybe soon as there are new encounters in this fresh timeline, you’ll have a suitable meal while out for walks. As a record of fear, that must sound amazing to you. There is no changing your nature. Not anymore, nor ever again.
"Shall we try an experiment? Before wasting time repeating the steps before? Is a soul marked still powerful enough to enact the ritual? Does it need to be etched into your body like before? Shall we find out, Jon?
You who watch and know and understand none. You who listen and hear and will not comprehend. You who wait and wait and drink in all that is not yours by right.
Come to us in your wholeness.
Come to us in your perfection.
Bring all that is fear and all that is terror and all that is the awful dread that crawls and chokes and blinds and falls and twists and leaves and hides and weaves and burns and hunts and rips and leads and dies!
Come to us.
I – OPEN – THE DOOR!”
The door that opened was the door to Jon’s office.
Elias walked into the room to see Jon on the ground, breathing heavily. “Pity. looks like the marks on your body are needed after all. Good thing for us that the ritual can be attempted much more frequently than the others. After all, being watched is such a common fear nowadays with all the cameras everywhere. Now, we just need a complete collection on the archive to be able to try again. Since it appears that the cover is just as important as the content.”
“I’ll...fucking kill you Jonah…” Jon gasped out, eyes glowing as his extras began to close around him. A few remained on the back of his hand were worm scars once occupied.
“Now Jon. Why do you pretend to fight this so? You know very well, probably more this time around that we are allies. We both Know that we want the same ending.”
“Fuck off.” Jon was standing now, his voice full of static, staring at Elias right in the eyes.
“Is that necessary? Are you trying to, what did Martin call it- Oh yes, Are you tying to Smite me?” Elias said with a sigh and a while. “I’m sure it would be as effective as when you tried it in the past. You and I both live from feeling the fear. But if you must, remember that your precious -alive- assistants are still tied to me as they were before. ” Elias ran his hand over the recorder on the edge of the desk, before he pulled the tape out of it. He intends to dispose of this so that their ritual never is discovered past Jon and himself.
Jon’s stare into Elias doesn’t let up as static grew to fill the room, neither really fazed.
“So long as they remain tied to me, they will probably die with me.” Elias grinned his -I know something you don’t know- smile. ”Except you though. Your connection is to our God, not me. I can’t honestly even say for sure if my death would’ve affected you in the past. Isn’t that wonderful? You kill me, and you will be able to watch everyone that ever made you feel human again suffer at your hands. See what would even happen by severing those ties since neither of us ever found that one out. Aren’t you curious?” Elias started to laugh. “It would almost be worth dying to see the look on your face as you simply record the outcome with my blood on your hands. I say almost, as I don’t plan on letting you.”
Elias isn’t lying, both of them were never given the truth behind what cutting the ties would entail once -if- Elias was killed. It angered them both for slightly different reasons.
After Elias waited a moment as he picked up the false statement to destroy as well. “Both of us have goals. You want to kill me, I want you marked. You have no way to kill me without maybe killing everyone around, and you won't be able to be marked the same ways as before so I’ll have to change up all my plans. After all, if the experiences aren’t fresh, they won’t be able to mark you properly.”
“So how about we make a bet Jon. We work towards our goals. I won't get in your way from finding a way to sever the ties and kill me if you must, though honestly, are either of us capable of dying at this point? While you do that, I’ll work on our ritual again. Pretty good terms since either way, you win.”
Jon cursed Elias under his breath. Not agreeing to the wager, but also nodded slightly as it could give him an edge if he didn’t need to worry about Elias getting in his way. That arrogant confidence of Elias’ might give him a bit of an advantage? Least Jon hoped.
“Good. In the meantime, you will need to continue to stop rituals like the Archivist you are. After all, we don’t want the other entities to learn what we Know. I’m sure if they tried it the same way, we might not end up on top.“
Elias didn’t wait for Jon to respond before he walked out of Jon’s office, closing the door behind him.
Jon fell to the ground with a frustrated sob as the static in the room started to fade. He was going to find a way to end Jonah and resist the end of the world, as the Archive in him hummed a tune Jon knew would be happy with either outcome in the end.