B e a r with me

Gabriel waited at the campus entrance, excitedly fidgeting with the clasps of his backpack. He'd checked his supplies three times already, but he figured going through it all a fourth time would be wise: while normally he faced these mystery adventures with nothing but a lot of optimism and the knowledge that push comes to shove he could just turn into a bear, this time he had something to prove. After all, he didn't want to look bad in front of Rio; the guy had sounded so knowledgeable online, and genuinely nice, definitely the sort of person Gabe would love to have as a friend, he needed this little trip to go well. Flashlight? Check. Spare batteries? Check. Beef jerky snacks? Double check. Matches, pocketknife, water? Che- Crap, he forgot the water. He thought about making a run for the closest vending machine, but as he turned he spotted a figure. Gabriel squinted, adjusting his glasses. “Rio!” he called out as soon as he recognized the guy from his profile picture. With an excited wave, he quickly approached him and held up the old Polaroid camera hanging from his neck. Click. The machine buzzed as it printed a picture of Rio, which Gabriel promptly grabbed and started to wave around, waiting for it to develop. “Ah, huh, sorry about that. It's just... You're the first one that actually agreed to come with me on one of these adventures and I want to record everything. Which I now realize is the perfect premise for a Blair Witch Project situation, so maybe not the best idea... Oh, well.” Gabriel dismissed the thought with a shrug and offered Rio the picture he'd just taken. “You can keep it, if you want. Also, huh, I'm Gabe. Nice to meet you in person!”

Admittedly, Orion was very intent on finding nothing tonight. There were enough horror stories in Rio’s life that he absolutely did not need to add some terrifying urban legend to the mix. Despite how much he didn’t want to go out into a cornfield with the sole intention of running into trouble, he also really enjoyed talking to Gabe. And he would have to compromise if it meant making friends. He just hoped that compromising didn’t involve getting mauled to death by something tonight. The urban legend was most likely just that. Unfortunately, Rio was all too familiar that there were way more things that went bump in the night that the two should be afraid of. As soon as Rio pulled into a parking spot and hopped out, the guy who Rio assumed was Gabe called out his name and ran over to him, lifting a camera in the process. Rio rushed to try to smile nervously, raising an awkward hand into a thumbs up. “No! You’re good. I love the enthusiasm” He laughed, happy to meet someone knew with such a positive experience. “Great. I find that talking about horror movies where everyone dies really helps build my confidence.” Sarcastic humor had never really been Rio’s forte. He had always been far too awkward for that. But how could he not have picked some of it up after being friends with Blanche and Nell this long? He was trying to get better at socializing anyways. “No you’re good. If I die you can use it to remember me by. It’s nice to meet you too!” Rio held a hand out as a formal introduction. “So a few minutes outside the campus is where a lot of the cornfields are. I figure we can drive there and start looking around? It should be getting dark before too long.”

Gabriel inhaled deeply, immediately feeling reinvigorated. He felt a little guilty about it, but he couldn't help it. Rio was exactly the sort of person that could keep him well fed for a week: he was wrapped in nervousness and apprehension, which made him feel like a delicious burrito to Gabriel. He shook his head, pushing the thought aside: no feeding on potential friends, that was the rule. “If it makes you feel better, there's some debate still going on about the movie's ending, so... Maybe they're not really dead?” Gabriel shook Rio's hand with enthusiasm and offered him his most reassuring smile. “Sounds like a plan as long as you drive.” The sunlight, along with the reflection of it on the snow, made it harder for Gabe to see, and he was not an irresponsible idiot: he may go monster hunting for fun, but he would not put himself at the wheel of a death machine in those conditions. “And hey, don't worry. If we get chased by something I'll probably trip and get caught before you, so you're most definitely gonna make it. Also I'm genre savvy, I know all the rules.” He kept chatting as they made their way to the car, and on the drive to the cornfields. “First of all, we can't, under any circumstances, split up. If this were a movie I'd be the comic relief, and you'd be the smart guy that could piece the whole mystery together if only he had one more scene, so our chances of survival would be slim at best. But as long as we stick together, we have decent odds.” As he spoke, Gabriel kept his eyes to the side of the road. Buildings and sidewalks slowly turned to bare fields and the occasional snow sculpture. More than once Gabe held his breath, thinking they'd just drove past a scarecrow only to realize the figure in question was only a snowman, or a particularly resilient sapling. “And, huh, rest of the rules really depends on what sort of creature we're facing. So go on, give me the deets!”

“I’m trying to figure out if I’d rather disappear or just end up dead in the Blair Witch universe.” Orion may not be a horror movie fanatic, but had always found the world building of horror movies fascinating. He usually only watched horror movies if his sister wanted to growing up. But he had gone down more than one rabbit hole reading about the fictional world of the Blair Witch mythology. He absolutely did not want to end up one of those victims. “I’m pretty sure I’d rather just die and get it over with.” Despite the anxiety that Rio felt as he climbed into the car and willingly drove to a cornfield in White Crest, he couldn’t deny that he wasn’t enjoying his time. Gabe’s attitude was light hearted and friendly, one that Rio wished he had a bit more of. That free spirit and willingness to indulge in a fantasy or fictional world was something Rio had always done internally but never really had much of an outlet to share the world with. At least until last year. He was still figuring out how to break out of that shell. But he wasn’t completely blind to the fact that this was a pretty guy being nice to him and he was still able to make conversation. That in itself was a huge step up from how Rio had previously stumbled and mumbled through conversations with Ricky or Adam before Rio started dating Winston.

“Right. The rules. Very important in any horror movie.” Or at least Orion had read about that trope. Admittedly, the rules of a fake horror movie didn’t seem to apply to White Crest. He listened intently to the rules, allowing himself to entertain the idea that they were tropes in a horror movie with seemingly slim chances to live. “Gay people totally die in horror movies don’t they? Oh my god, I’m totally going to die.” Rio’s sigh was dramatized but sincere. He kept reminding himself that they were completely safe and exploring an urban legend. “No splitting up. Got it.” He gave a thumbs up toward Gabe while driving and tried to think of any other useful information. “Not a lot is known, honestly. Usually when people talk about the thing they always say that they knew a friend who had a mom who’s cousin's boyfriend’s teacher disappeared after going out looking for it or something. Sometimes they call it Stingy Jack, depending on what version of the story it is.” Rio snapped his fingers as a random thought came to mind, “Oh! He apparently likes to stitch skin and other body parts onto himself. So that’s gross.”

“Ah, the age old dilemma. Am I better off dead?” Gabriel had pondered over that question many times, it was inevitable when most of your hobbies -not to mention your diet- revolved around the macabre and the terrifying. “Personally I think I'd rather disappear. If I did, I'd always have a chance of reappearing, right? And sometimes a chance is all you need.” He rubbed the back of his neck with a sheepish smile, and turned again to stare at the landscape changing. “Ah, sorry. Didn't mean to get all philosophical.” Gabriel perked up when Rio mentioned being gay: it meant he was comfortable enough around him to bring up what to most people was a private, sometimes difficult topic (One that Gabe himself had never really thought about too hard), and if nothing else Gabriel was appreciative of that. “Cheer up, buddy, that trope's slowly becoming less and less common in modern media, thank God.” He gave Rio a quick pat on the shoulder, doing his best to be supportive and encouraging.

Gabriel listened carefully, brows furrowed as his mind tried to piece together all the fact into a narrative that made sense. “Stingy Jack, you said he used to be a salesman... Stitches body parts onto himself, huh? Maybe his wares cost an arm and a leg,” Gabe looked far too pleased with himself for that pun, he even laughed at his own joke. “...and people weren't willing to pay.” He rummaged through the backpack he put between his knees, pulling out his wallet after a few moments. He checked inside, and sighed. “Only a few quarters. Great for the arcade, not so much for bribing a shark. You don't happen to be rich, do you? Because I'm thinking throwing money at this dude might be a solution.” Gabriel carefully put the wallet back and stood straighter on his seat now that they'd finally reached the snow covered cornfields. “Even if it's not money, maybe just making an offering, or at least sounding appreciative of his wares might put us on his good si-- Pull over!!” Those last words were practically shouted. Gabriel frantically pointed at a spot not too far from them, where a slim shadow towered over cobs and stalks, a dark silhouette that stood out in the field of white. “There, you see? No snow! Which means it's moved recently!” Gabe knew he shouldn't be this excited about facing a potentially deadly urban legend, but this was the first time one of his myth-hunting adventures had gotten him so close to something more than just a bored ghost or a regular house just in need of some repairs. To him that slim figure might as well be the round, jolly outline of Santa.

Orion thought deeper on Gabe's defense. Sure, he could reappear. The question was, did he actually have any desire to? “Sure, but what if I come back to something way worse?” Rio questioned, tapping fingers against his chin inquisitively. “I don’t really want a Captain America situation. I can barely keep it together now, the last thing I need is the culture shock of the future.” Rio found himself grinning when Gabe encouraged him and patted him on the shoulder. The simple gesture from someone had been enough to make Rio cringe away months ago. But things were different now. Or they were starting to be at least. “I’m totally going to hold you to that. If I die I’m haunting you.”

A mix between a laugh and a sigh escaped Orion’s mouth at Gabe’s pun. If nothing else, at least the guy had a sense of humor. Maybe he didn’t believe in the supernatural enough to actually be scared that there was a slim chance this could actually be real. Or maybe he was just really good at keeping his cool in spite of possible danger. Either way, Rio could appreciate it as something he wasn’t able to bring to the table himself. “Hah. No. Not rich.” Not anymore at least. Rio hadn’t quite figured out his parent’s finances post murder yet, and he hadn’t decided if he wanted their money at all. Pressing on the brakes and using the grass along the side of the road as his own personal parking spot, Rio stared at the spot that Gabe had pointed it. It definitely could be a coincidence, but it was a good observation. Rio slipped out of the car but stuck next to it, glancing back and forth between the scarecrow and Gabe. His childlike wonder was a fantastic juxtaposition from Rio’s own wide eyed apprehension. “Great. I hate this already and the sun hasn’t even gone down. Don’t get too close to that scarecrow.”

Gabriel had to admit, there was some truth to what Rio was saying: the chance to come back to something worse was very real. Not to mention, the trauma of going through whatever the Blair Witch characters went through, thinking about it was enough to give him nightmares, and he fed on fear. Yet Gabe also knew that death was... Final. Unless you turned into a ghost, of course. Or a zombie. Or a vampire, maybe... But honestly, how common could that be? As far as he knew, in the majority of cases death was The End. He'd seen a few corpses in embalming class, and no matter how peaceful they were made to look, to Gabe they always appeared... Empty. Not something he wished for himself, or any of his friends, so when Rio joked about his death Gabriel vehemently shook his head. “Dude! Never mention dying, that's another rule. It's like saying 'it could be worse',” That last part was said in a particularly annoying high-pitched voice. “It's just asking for trouble. So no talks of death. Besides, you strike me as a nice guy. You know, the kind that'd spend his eternal spectral existence folding people's clothes. I know because that's what I'd do. And that's not haunting, that's house-keeping.”

Honestly, Gabriel wasn't really expecting to find anything: urban legends were legends because it took a lot more than a 5 minute drive to find some proof, but Rio's anxiousness (Which he could still feel and made it oh so hard not to just feast on the guy) was making the whole experience so much better, it was easy to buy into the fantasy of it all. As he took a few steps toward the scarecrow, camera in hand, Gabe actually held his breath, feeling a cold shiver that was equal parts excitement and nerves. Once he got a few feet away from the figure, he let out a disappointed groan. “Nevermind, it's just a regular scarecrow.” he called out to Rio, snapping a quick picture. He didn't even wait for it to develop before returning to the car; if he had, maybe he might have noticed the slight twitch of those long, bony twig fingers. “C'mon, the sun is almost down, and even I am not dumb enough to go looking for demonic salesmen in the middle of the night. I'd say we have time for one more field, and then it's back to the dorms with popcorn and Nat Geo, mh?” Once he was back in the car, Gabriel finally studied the picture he'd just taken, chuckling to himself before showing it to Orion. “You gotta admit, though, that sack on his head looks creepy. Almost mummified. And the football jersey? That's a nice touch! Think he stole it from someone at campus?”

“I can’t talk about death even though we are searching for a guy that kills people? That seems ironic.” Orion laughed, hovering by the car as Gabe inspected the scarecrow. He found himself shying away from staring at the thing for too long. Maybe he was too afraid that it was going to jump at Gabe and attack him or something. Rio had always fallen way too easily for jump cares. “An eternity of folding clothes? I always assumed I was going to hell…” As if his parents didn’t discuss the idea enough. By the time he was in high school, Rio almost preferred the idea if he had a guarantee it would keep him as far away from his parent’s as humanly possible. Though he wasn’t really religious anymore, he had connected the dots that his deceased parents were not in any version of heaven that he was familiar with. He felt a small amount of relief when Gabe assured him that it was just a regular scarecrow, though his fears hadn’t completely diminished. The getup seemed wrong. Probably nothing more than a joke or quick jab at the college located not far away. But still, he couldn’t help but think about the number of college kids that went missing every semester. “Yeah. I couldn’t agree with you more. Let’s check out one more cornfield and then head back and do the safe college kid activity.” He was already opening the car door and sliding in while yelling to Gabe through the open window.

“Allegedly kills people.” Gabriel corrected with a smile. “We don't know if he kills them or just tortures them and then leaves them for dea-” He closed his eyes and shook his head, abruptly stopping himself. As delicious as a good scare always was, he had decided that he did not want to freak Rio out, because Rio had been one of the first people who'd actually accepted to follow him on one of his crazy explorations. He hadn't been enthusiastic about it, but he was there with Gabe, and to Gabriel that meant more than he could put into words. So he fought his very own nature and decided to spare Rio another long rant about the gruesome possibilities. “Nevermind. Hey, you know what? This whole Stingy Jack thing is losing its appeal, to be honest. He's no Spring Heeled Jack, or Jack the Ripper. He's more like Jack the Rip off, am I right?” Gabriel looked down at the picture with a sigh. Another time, Jack, he promised to himself as Rio started the car. “I think we can call it a day. Mostly because I'm fairly sure whatever snacks you have won't last another cornfield.” Gabriel fastened his seat belt before turning to face Rio, suddenly a serious expression. “Hey, Rio... Thanks for today. Meant a lot to me.” That last part was mumbled under his breath, not because Gabriel was ashamed of it, but because while he had no qualms with freaking people out by talking extensively about gore and creepypastas and corpses, he definitely didn't want to make Rio uncomfortable or saddle him with the weight of being one of the very first friends he'd made in town. He chuckled and clumsily punched Rio's shoulder again, the way he'd seen jocks do after a game. “It's people like you that make the college experience much more fun than high school.”

Orion rolled his eyes and laughed at Gabe’s ‘alleged’ comments. All of those things were basically the same to Rio, but he supposed there was something to be said for the idea of not immediately being murdered. Rio was starting up the car and ready to pull off and towards the cornfield down the road when Gabe started talking again, making another cheesy joke about the urban legend which pulled another exasperated laugh from Rio. “You sure?” Rio asked, unsure why Gabe was suddenly changing his mind after being so gungho about the idea a few days ago. But he didn’t think too long on it before Gabe was looking at Rio with a serious look that he wasn’t even sure Gabe had been capable of. Rio could tell that only half of the sentence was meant for him, Rio’s own hunter hearing lending to him hearing the rest. A grin broke out across Rio’s face, but he didn’t say anything. “Yeah sure. I’ll even compromise. We cut things off early, you get to choose any horror movie of your choosing for us to watch.” He would take that over being murdered by a scarecrow any day. “Oh god, I don’t think anyone has ever accused me of being part of the fun college experience. But I’ll take the L and accept the compliment. Let’s head back.”