Chapter 16
Jon knew he had screwed up majorly, He looked to the closest person for help but all they did was go back through there doors and leave him hanging. So much for the help Helen.
He tried to avoid eye contact but was denied that when Martin strode up to him and placed a hand on his cheek, turning him to face him.
"I told you to be careful" He spoke calmly but Jon could tell there was some anger behind it, not at Jon but at the actual perpetrators of the Injury.
"Technically this happened after i crossed Helen's Threshold so...I was careful?" Jon tried his best puppy dog eyes.
"Urgh!" Martin let his head fall into Jon's shoulder, "You still aren't getting out of a stern talking to".
"Darn it" Jon thought aloud before focusing on everyone else.
"I'll get the first aid kit" Sasha got up to get it when Tim stood up as well.
"I'll...help you? Wanna come along Michael?" Tim offered, looking to give the two a few minutes to catch up.
"Sure" He smiled, Tim helped him up and they all left the room. Gerry seemed to have got the message and remained on the other side of the room to give them some privacy.
Martin lifted his head, "How did the whole thing go?"
"Surprisingly well" Jon began, "You were right about Helen's corridors, it made it quicker and easier to get away. I didn't lie when i said i got it in the corridors, they shot just as i entered and i guess it just skimmed me. I got Gerry though and even got a good hit on Trevor, bastard" He whispered the last part under his breath.
"Never saw you as the revenge type" Martin teased.
"Really, Mr. Lets got Kills Bill?" He teased, the two laughed.
Martin looked over to Gerry in the corner, this was the first time he had actually met the man for himself and could see some resemblance to what statement givers had offered about the man. His hair was the same poorly dyed black he expected, his roots were coming through tier original dirty blonde colour with some strands of hair fully missed out of the dyeing process. Each joint on his hand up up his neck had a simplistic eye design, maybe it was his own form of rebellion when he worked at the institute. Despite his gothic fashion sense he seemed to fit the whole outfit, especially the sleeveless leather trench coat he sported with the tall chunky combat boots.
"Sorry, didn't want to interrupt whatever you both were doing" The Goth smirked.
"Eh, by this point we're used to it with Tim and Sasha making it their favourite pass time" Jon replied and Martin chuckled.
"Gerry" He introduced himself, to which Martin return his own name, "Ah so this was who was going to kill you" He teased towards Jon.
"Urgh now we have a second Tim, What have I done" Jon placed his head in his hands.
"I heard my name!" The in question called as he re-entered the room with this two companions.
"Jon, sit" Sasha called and directed him into a chair in front of him, he walked over tiredly.
"Fine but also, Gerry? do you want to introduce yourself?" Jon knew that it would've been nicer for him to get to introduce himself first even if the either knew about him already.
"Not really sure what i can introduce, really? Um...I used to work for Gertrude, I'm statement famous i guess? and im dead. The three best traits in a man" He joked shyly.
"Ey, that's all good. Jon's main defining trait is that he's a hot spot for trouble" Tim laughed and Martin lightly elbowed him with a smile.
"Do you think this might be a discussion for your office?" Michael suggested, knowing by this point that meant the tunnels.
"You go ahead" Jon stated, "We have a visitor intending on a visit"
"so should we head down?" Sasha asked, just finishing putting a plaster over the cheek.
"No, We all have work to do. You two go and wait there" Jon said signalling to Gerry and Michael.
Jon handed the book to Michael giving a nod of reassurance before the two disappeared into the office.
Tim clapped his hands, "Lets get to work i guess"
----------
All the memories from after the great twisting and Russia was a blur, they were still there but thinking back on what happened seemed to make him dizzy and slightly nauseous. Since regaining consciousness to his original form it was hard to adjust, he was still young and just because he taken over by an all powerful fear God it didn't justify his inexperienced nature within the archives. He knew how to file and organise, archiving wasn't to hard to learn though when you had colleagues like Eric and Emma though. There was a stretch of time while he was turning that made him feel lost, this was one of the first dreams he had back in his body.
After the doors slammed shut behind him He couldn't get the plain, uncaring face of Gertrude. The sadness he felt of the sacrifice, the way he followed her do fast just to be used for a ritual. He had known what had been up though, not exactly, but he had suspected that he may have not been able to return from the trip. She was there and she took the risk, he let her let him take that risk for them all. In all the time he spent trapped in those hallways he had a lot of time to think, about everything and nothing. Would they realise he was gone or would that even matter to them? The colours burned into the back of his brain, the high concentration putting a strain on his eyes but no matter how hard he tried to shield his eyes the tripled vision of his hands only send him into a frenzy. Why would it stop?
W̸̹̺̳͔̤̅̓̕ȟ̴̗̹̮̌͆̽̏e̵̛͉̩̪͕͊͗̿ŗ̶͓̳̭͛̑̇͝ẽ̴̢̫̘̯͂̑̚͝ ̸͔͉̼̗͑̇͑͛̓͘w̴͍̘̩̼̝͚̓͑̕a̷̛̮̥̤͈͈s̷̬̮̭̿͜ ̵͉̌̈̈́̕A̵̻̺̝̔̈́̽͂͝n̷̘̏̈ÿ̴͇͍̙̹̞͋͐͜o̵͍̦̰̙͈͐̀͛ǹ̴̨̛e̴̛̬̙̎̉͗̓̕ͅ
*****
The second dream he had was when he recalled the first time had managed to exit the Corridors he was all so familiar with, It had all been a complete accident as well. Time had always been a tricky subject to tackle in the hallways, the clocks always spun and there wasn't a single window that showed a contrast in the morning or night. Michael was raging, for lack of a better term, he was angry and for some reason his brain couldn't land on a reasonable reason for being so. Was it the situation he was in? maybe, was being trapped without a way to leave literally making him go mad? Defiantly. He'd noticed the small colours on his skin begin to form and as vague of an appearance they had in the beginning they just grew brighter as he spent more longer in this place, not exactly an ideal way to spend a persons life. It was one of these fits he landed on throwing open random doors to calm himself down. He just wanted to leave, escape. All the doors kept on getting closer and closer.
Ị̶̳̣̘͂̓̈̌͜͝ ̴͙̤̖̠̄̊͑̅͝ẅ̷̺̲̪͎̺̜́̈́a̴̩̪̋̅̋ͅn̵̢̲̒̿̈́ţ̵̦͍͐ ̶͖̹͓̞̃o̷̺͓̊̇̈́͗̄͠ų̸̬̤͕͍̝̋̌͛̓t̶͙͍̤̰̊͛͝
As he pushed the yellowing door open he didn't notice the dip in the floor as he ran through, the feeling of vertigo was one he wasn't to familiar with as his body fell forwards and into the reflective ground. The water feel back around his body as he made contact with it and the shock sent him stiff for a few seconds, realising he couldn't exactly breathe water he took to kicking into the direction he saw the bubbles of his lost breath travelling. He broke the surface of the water with a large gasp, not because of the lack of breath but in the relief of their being something else. He floated in place looking for land and noticed some and not to far from that a small metal rail about his waist height.
He swam back to the green and over that fence, making his way over to the bench sat directly looking towards the water. A pond. He sighed, placing his head in his hands. He was out, somehow he got out. Sure, now he was soaking wet but he'd prefer that than be bone dry and stuck back there. He noticed the patterns on his arms had basically disappeared unless you were searching for them. His clothes had changed back to their original plain colours, luckily it was winter so they belong but it would've been more effective if they were dry. Now being calmer he decided to try and figure out where he was.
It didn't take to long to figure it out though, the all to familiar paths and bandstand made him realise that Hyde Park was not to different from the last time he had visited. The path spanning from the corner station to marble arch wasn't busy so he assumed it was probably a week day and either early or late in the day. There were a few people who stared but that was probably because of his clothing. Walking across a few streets he recognised a familiar Starbucks he had visited a few times to do some of his own studies, he didn't have any money to buy something to eat but the staff didn't really care. He sat downstairs in the lounge area as he thought about everything and dried off, a few pf the students turned up their gaze but quickly turned it back to their work when they realised the wouldn't get the answers they were searching for. He sighed
*****
The first time he ended up at the institute after the change was an accident, his thoughts had taken him back to his past and he ended up accidentally opening a door right in the middle of the archives. He would've left straight away if it wasn't for his own curiosity, where was everyone and what had happened to this place since he left. He still hadn't bothered to find the time since it wouldn't matter when he returned back to his halls. There was that small voice that told him to find her though, to get answers, to find their r̵͙͔̖͈̓̚͝e̸̙̭̺̒v̴̯̯͚̌è̶̼͔̙̩̄̍ņ̵̋̈́̋̏g̴̨̭̰̽̾̓̚ͅe̸̠̱̋̾͌̋.
A cough behind him shocked him out of his corrupting thoughts and he turned, there was a goth man there.
"Are you here to make a statement? because out Head Archivist kinda isn't here at the moment" He spoke blandly with an eyebrow raised.
"Um..I don't? I..ah" He looked down to his hands that were now shaking a tiny bit, was it fear? He hadn't seen this man before, or had he and just forgot. He wasn't good with interaction especially after not having to have talked to anyone other than those who were in the archive all that time ago.
Maybe he knew what they were? No that was silly! Michael wasn't threatening, Michael was fine. He was fine. Ḣ̸̢̠̤e̷̤̟̒̃͗͜ ̵͎̒̅w̶̢̡̛̤͛͒ā̷͎͛s̸̹͙̅̈́ ̷͇̫̇͆f̵̭̕ĩ̴̬̳͂͝n̶͈͇͉͘ệ̷̻̚
"You want to calm down there? Are you okay" The man took a more defensive stance and Michael stepped back a little, he looked around the room for a door. A way to escape, the other must have noticed.
"No! I...I need to, where? we dô̸͕̝n̶̩̟'̷̙̖̣̾͊̈t̵̮̽͂ͅ" His voice had started to echo, that never was a good thing. He was getting to panicked, what could this man actually do to them? They could just push him through a door and leave him there, that would be fun. No, no it wouldn't, no one deserves that.
"Look i promise i wont hurt you but you need to calm down" The man had stepped down slightly, letting a slight gentleness slip through his voice.
"Please we don't know, why are we- I...why am i here?" Michael decided to take some deep breaths and to calm down, "I'm sorry, I should really go".
"I don't think that's exactly a wise idea right now, at least let me make you something to drink before you go i guess?" He was trying to be nice but it was obvious he was clueless.
"You really don't have to, I should be here" He rubbed his hands together trying to get warmer, had it always been this cold down here?
"Eh consider it a favour for me grilling you" He gestured him to follow and he followed. The two ended up in the break-room, Michael sat on the all to familiar couch while Gerry stood by the counter getting drinks for the two, "Any thing specific you drink?"
"Water is just fine thank you" He replied than returned to staring at his own hands, he noticed that this time the patterns that took to his skin stayed there now as scars. Sure their colours were desaturated but that didn't change the fact that they were still there and visible compared to the first time he got out of the corridors.
We aren't human anymore, not fully anyways. Our job isn't to expose our-self, even if it was an accident we know what happens to those in the statements.
"You okay?" The man asked placing the water on the coffee table in front of them.
"Sorry for how I've been acting, I'm not really one for 'normal' interactions you could say" Michael joked.
"The introverted type than?"
"In a sense yes" He reached for the glass and held it for a moment, liking the cool feeling of the condensation. "I never got your name mysterious stranger".
"Gerard Keay, I prefer Gerry though", He reached out for a handshake.
Michael smiled and reached for his hand, "Michael Shelley".
"Name sounds familiar, have we met before" Gerry thought aloud after the two released their embrace.
"Maybe one of the old assistance told you? I used to work down here after all" He rubbed his hands together after placing the water back down.
"Maybe? Nice fractals by the way, unique pattern?" The goth tried to stir up casual conversation not knowing where to start.
"We like the chaos of them, I could say the same about your eyes. There are a lot of them aren't there?" The man huffed a laugh.
"Figured it would be a huge fuck you to the people who stared at me" He admired the Tattoos.
"I see" The blonde smiled, "Well, We should really be off"
Michael stood and began to make his way over to the all to familiar yellow door.
"Are you-" Gerry was cut off.
"We'll return soon darling".
Than he was gone.
*****
He didn't spent to much time with Gerry before The Spiral fully took control but the time they were together reminded Michael of the humanity that he still managed to fight to keep from the monster. Sure, as the two would grow there was a fondness between the two that no-one else could get involved with, it was their thing. Things had been getting harder though, Michael was getting sick and this voice that spoke to him demanded more from him.
C̵o̴m̴e̶ ̸o̵n̸.̷ ̴w̶e̵ ̴c̵a̴n̴ ̸h̶a̴v̷e̴ ̶p̶l̶e̷n̵t̷y̶ ̸o̸f̴ ̶f̷u̵n̸ ̴w̷i̵t̸h̸ ̷a̵ ̶g̵u̵e̵s̶t̴,̷ ̶C̵a̴n̶t̷ ̷w̵e̴?̸
No, he refused to put anyone through what he had to experience.
Gerry had began to look a little more stressed in the job and Michael took the time to make sure he was okay whenever he could be sure he was alone.
"I just can't get over that man! He made so many people suffer and he just gets to walk around and act like he had no fault in it! Stupid fucking Jurgen Lietner" He grumbled the last part out.
"He's the one with all the weird books right?" Michael offered the question.
"Didn't you used to work here, there must've been some statement you read about those fucked up experiences people had right?" He was still angry but tried to keep his cool.
"Maybe? A lot of the statements..."He trailed off into his own thoughts, what had those statements said? He had read them and he knew that he'd written up about them. Why could we remember?
I̸t̷ ̸m̸u̴s̵t̵ ̵n̶o̵t̸ ̷h̸a̶v̴e̶ ̶b̷e̶e̷n̶ ̸t̸h̷a̸t̵ ̷i̸m̶p̴o̵r̴t̸a̸n̷t̸ ̸i̷f̶ ̴y̸o̴u̴ ̶f̴o̴r̴g̷o̵t̷.̷
"Yeah" He whispered to himself.
"Are you okay?" Gerry asked.
"Hugh?" Michael was confused, of course we're fine. We had nothing to no longer be un-fine about, They had their hallways, and their doors, and their Gerry. Our Gerry? No, he wasn't our, he is his own Gerry.
"You really don't look to good, do you want-" Michael stood.
"There is no need to threat over us, we're fine" They smiled.
Gerry looked to the floor for a second, "Why do you do that?"
Michael looked up to him, "What do you mean".
"The whole 'we' thing, look i understand if there is something else going on with you but you can tell me if something is happening. It's just confusing me when you say that than refer to yourself as 'I'".
"What are you talking about?" Michael was confused, He never said that. Why would he refer to himself plural, there was only one Michael.
Y̵e̷s̷,̵ ̶o̶n̶l̴y̸ ̶o̵n̴e̶ ̸M̴i̵c̵h̸a̵e̴l̸.̵
We are just one Michael.
"You literally just did it a second ago, I didn't want to ask but if you really don't want to talk about it than you don't have to lie".
"B̷u̵t̶ ̴t̸h̴a̶t̸'̷s̶ ̵w̸h̶a̴t̸ ̴w̴e̴ ̸d̸o̸.̷"
Gerry seemed to be taken back by the sentence he spoke, he had heard him speak before in the distorted echo but this was a full freaky.
"Michael-"
"Wait" Michael stepped back as Gerry reached forwards, "I don't know! We- I? Urgh!"
He reached his fingers into his hair to ground himself, all he felt was Velcro. When had it gotten brighter, was it curlier now too?
N̴o̷w̵ ̵t̴h̵a̷t̵ ̴w̷o̶u̸l̸d̴ ̷b̷e̷ ̶c̶r̸a̴z̴y̶ ̸w̷o̴u̶l̷d̷n̵'̴t̶ ̸i̶t̷,̶ ̸W̸e̶'̴v̵e̴ ̴a̸l̶w̴a̴y̴s̷ ̶l̶o̶o̵k̵e̵d̴ ̷l̵i̷k̶e̴ ̵t̵h̸i̸s̷ ̴h̷a̸v̴e̷n̶'̸t̸ ̶w̸e̸?̶
Yes, that must be true.
"What happened to you" He felt like he needed to tell him, to let him know about what that woman was really like.
"S̴̹͚͍͌h̸̨̳̒ͅe̸̥͇͋̐ ̵͕͊͝B̵̪̅͌͜ḙ̴̌̚͝t̴̬̓̀̓r̶͚̟̈́̀ą̷̊y̷̖͊e̷͍͊d̸̝͝ ̶̦̪̝́̊ṵ̶̂̒s̷̬̘͂̏͊.̶̭̖̓"
He remembered being forced to live through all that pain, the feeling like he was being pulled apart. The constant feeling of everything being okay while he was spiralling out of control, The fractals growing on his skin the the lightning growing across the sky on a stormy night. The colour he once saw as mute and boring, now overwhelming them in an array of different ways, They could taste the sweetness of the reds, the sour of the limes and the stickiness of purples.
"H̵̗̽ȅ̵̪̜̀͘ ̶͕͗t̶͇̼͊̇͝r̶͈̭͖͂̐̋u̶̬̓̌̔s̶̡͔͔̒̃̊t̸̬̜̭̄͒ë̸̜͜d̸̰̀̎ ̵̦̺̽h̵͍̀̓ę̵̬̒̋r̶̟̈́̚ͅ.̴̔ͅ"
When you're in your twenties all you should really be thinking about paying back your university fees or getting coffee for some annoying co-workers in your shitty office job. Michael had spent so much time trying to help others that he ended up losing himself to his own desires for a while. By the time he was in his early twenties all he had was a few college level degrees and some library work experience, He was surprised to have a friend mention The Magnus Institute to him but the more he looked into it the more he felt like maybe he didn't deserve the normality of a regular Jon. After what happened when he was a child maybe this could be his new start. So he started, He worked by Gertrude's side and it was no wonder that even through the slight cold nature he was able to look beyond that and see a woman who cared. It would be embarrassing to say out loud that he saw her as a mother figure but that's why he only thought it.
It was obvious how must trust they gave her, anyone could tell from a mile away. Maybe that was why she chose him. He followed her blindly through the statements, through the learning of the rituals. The entities came at their own pace and was slowly followed by their won trip. Michael wasn't usually asked for field missions especially ones with Gertrude, so he was excited to learn what the woman would be like and hoped he could learn more about him. He road the ship with her with that lonely man and followed her through the storms to that door. She lead him to it, let him open it. Than he was falling and she did nothing to help. She watched them suffer.
"W̶̨̧̢̜̞͉̠͎̑̿̒̒̅e̴̩͔͇̘͓̗͔͊͐͆͌ ̸̡̥̊ḁ̷̝̗́͊r̴͈̪̐̃͋̉̈̈́ḙ̵̢̭̻͔̳̠͒͑̑ͅͅ ̶̧̛̖̗͔̳h̷̢̡̦͉̝̠̬̭̠̅̾͑͐͊ṳ̷̝̇̐͗̾n̷͚̲͎͊̒̊̍̋̂̋g̴̢̥͖̲̐͒̈̀̈͌̐̕͜r̸̢͎̩̰̝̤̀̀͊ẏ̴̗̘̟̊͠.̷̝̯̹͔͙͈̼̹͋̃͑͌̿"
No matter the food they managed to take that didn't help them, the hunger was all still there. There was an urging though, a memory they had. They feed off of fear, that's all they needed. Michael couldn't do that to those people though, he suffering that he went through. The screaming in pain, the Fractals ingrained in his mind, the Velcro feeling. Stop. STOP. S̵̢̱̲̟͓̰͖͓͊̆̚̚͝Ṯ̴̮̠̥͍͇̜̞͔̐̈͛̚O̶͍̪̟͗̓̔̅͐̀̍͘̕P̸̡̜͎̝͋̓̇̒͆͌͒͝
W̵̡̛̛͉̫̠̻̄̔͐E̷̛̤̗̙̺̲̝͓̾̑̈̓̒̈̂̆͜'̷͈̗̮̘̆́̅̿̈́̑̕Ŗ̸̧̨̹̯̺̺̤̼̈͛͝E̶̤͈̱̥̲̓̓̾ ̶̯̣͒͒S̶͍̥͊̚Ơ̷̢̬̝̺͍͍̪̲͋́̐̑͑͝ͅ,̶̲̗̋̇̽͝ ̵̣̄͆̍͝Š̷̨̻̳̝̭͋͜Ö̴̩̙́̓̂̽͜ ̶̪̗͓̻̭̳̉̃͆͗̽̄̚͝H̴̡͙̠̣̺̦̘̥̟̐̈́̓̽̋́͘U̵̢̳̙̓͛̊̇̕N̵͚̾́G̴̡̳̪͈͖͙̈́͛̈̊͐̔͠R̴̢̛͒̓͑͘Y̸̝̱̲̠̦͚̖̙̔̎̌̂͝ͅ
They were growing by the second, the colour were coming back, the fractals travelled further and further and further up his arms, his torso, his neck. He couldn't breathe, he needed to get to be safe. The eye that watched can't see him now, they needed to leave. That's what they did. The door grew and was brighter than before but they didn't care. They were hungry, they needed to eat and they needed to leave.
*****
It was a relief to finally have control back, the two men sat in the calming silence of the tunnels. One floating cross legged in the air and the other relaxed against the wall starting at the scars on his arms.
"I'm sorry" Gerry spoke.
"What?"
"I know it probably doesn't mean anything, it was like six years ago? I shouldn't have pushed you that way, I-Yeah" He sighed.
Michael sighed a slight laugh, "I can assure you it wasn't you're fault...Fully"
"At least i get to take some blame" The two laughed".
"I wasn't really in the most sound mindscape, there was so much going on sharing a consciousness. I think me being mad at Gertrude's the only reason i managed to get out".
"I'm sorry she did that too you" The goth looked at him sympathetically
"I could say the same to you, Not exactly how i'd expect my boss to react to my death but we all grieve in different ways i guess".
"Ha! To out fucked up Boss i guess?" Gerard floated to sit next to him.
"To our fucked up Boss".