The occasional crack of thunder would jolt Tim from sleep, it almost sounded like a gunshot. Tim tried to remove the thought from his exhausted brain, just thinking about guns made his heart race with an irrational fear. He looked slowly around his small room to ground himself , noting the vibrant patterned walls and stained brown shag carpet that looked like they had come out of the 80s, but clearly hadn’t been refurbished since then. It was past the expiration date, the once bright red and black walls had faded and chipped, the carpets had so many stains it didn’t look like it’s original tan color, yet it felt nostalgic, comforting almost. His eyes began to droop as he slowly put his head back onto the starchy motel pillow.
He tried to go asleep once again, but woke up minutes later in a cold sweat. Something felt off, Tim realized that he was lying on his stomach and not his back, which was odd. Tim usually slept on his back, which was an odd survival tactic he gained from always being paranoid that people were in his room.
A sudden shiver went down his spine as he tried to maneuver himself back into his normal sleeping position. It was freezing, like someone had turned the thermostat down in his room. Tim slumped back into his usual position, trying his best to get comfortable again. He opened his eyes slowly, realizing that the room was pitch black, which was odd. Usually the moonlight would come through the window at this time of night. He slowly sat up, trying to scan the room while waiting for his eyes to adjust to the darkness.
Tim’s eyes widened as he was finally able to see, his brown eyes meeting equally surprised blue ones. The thin figure was bent forwards towards Tim’s bedside desk, reaching out for his pills. He stared in their eyes, stuck in uncomfortable eye contact which felt like it lasted for hours, they were waiting for one of them to make a move.
He couldn’t see very well, even if his eyes had adjusted to the dark. The stranger appeared to be male(?), and they had a thin frame. A mask was on their face, it was reminiscent of his alter’s mask, but instead of the black lips it was an unsettling set of...teeth? Perhaps it was supposed to be a skull? They wore a tattered gray zip up hoodie that seemed too big for his small frame, baggy dirt stained jeans, and appeared to be wearing a bandana and fingerless gloves? It was an odd outfit for what Tim thought was a thief.
“Who the fuck are you?!” He commanded, trying his best to sound as intimidating as possible without being too loud. The masked person didn’t respond, they still sat frozen, staring at him in disbelief.
Adrenaline rushed throughout his body as he prepared himself to spring at the man, his fight or flight instinct clearly choosing fight. His brain was still foggy with sleep, his movements were uncoordinated as he attempted to try and get the would be robber on their back to disarm them. He miscordinated his attempt at grabbing them, and due to the way he imbalanced his weight, he ended up pulling person onto the bed onto their back. They seemed to be in shock, but began to push themselves backwards in an attempt to escape.
Tim felt a burning rage flood throughout his body, he climbed on top of the still struggling person, pinning their arms so they could stop pulling themselves forward. Tim felt so enraged and he couldn’t really pinpoint why, he had the overwhelming urge to murder this coward right at this moment.
“Answer me.” He murmured in a monotone voice, everything felt like static and the feeling in the back of his neck wouldn’t go away, everything was pissing him off. It wouldn’t fucking stop and tears were beginning to form in his eyes.
He straddled the man’s chest, preventing them from escaping and making it harder for them to breathe. The person appeared to be frantically saying something behind their mask, but Tim was too far gone to hear it. The only things Tim could hear was static white noise and the occasional crack of his jaw, as he was clenching them so tensely to the point of a headache manifesting it’s way into the back of his head.
He saw his hands wrap around the man’s throat, but not remembering if it was actually him that was doing it. He squeezed his hands tighter, slowly starting to strangle them, their shiny blue eyes were so wide out of what appeared to be genuine fear. Their eyes appeared to be familiar, almost.
“ANSWER THE FUCKING QUESTION.” Tim screamed, unaware of the volume of his voice. The person appeared to be crying and was clawing at Tim’s arms, trying to pry them off their throat, but it was futile. Tim was shorter than the person, but was heavier in built and was a lot stronger than them. Pleas in the sound of choking and gurgling noises fell on deaf ears.
Tim stared in the person’s eyes as their face went blue, their limbs went limp, and their eyes rolled back into their head, he released his grip in utter horror. Why did he do that? What the hell? He stared at his scratch covered arms in dismay, some of the scratches had drawn blood.
He already knew who the person was the moment he saw those eyes, he lifted the mask, proving himself to be correct. The feeling in the back of his neck started to fade and the static stopped. The only thing Tim could hear was his own ragged breathing, and the man’s throaty breathing as well.
They were still breathing, thank god. Bruises were beginning to form on their throat, Tim instantly regretting his violent outburst that overcame him. Those feelings were immediately overpowered with the realization and horror that Jay fucking Merrick was lying underneath him and Tim nearly just fucking strangled him to death.
“Nice going, you fucking idiot. This is the first time Jay’s seen you in years and the first thing you do is choke him to the point of unconsciousness? Amazing job bud.”
