Chapter Text
Kevin had sat beside him in the car, talking about his favorite video games and his newest albums- a much happier host than Evan ever would be. That was because The Observer found it easier to live within someone who had no idea their life no longer belonged to them, apparently. Which meant HABIT didn't have to make Evan suffer. HABIT just wanted Evan to suffer. Vincent couldn't even bring himself to say a word to Kevin, but Kevin, poor, sweet Kevin, who, even though he was exhausted all the time, and sometimes tormented by notes or dreams or memories he thought were nightmares, didn't mind. He didn't know where they were going, or why, but The Observer soothed him into complacency. Vinny wanted so badly to tell him about the horrible things he'd watched THE OBSERVER do with HABIT. Wished he could tell Kevin that there was blood under his fingernails right now as they spoke, that Vin had watched HABIT hold a man down while the thing pretending to be Kevin knelt over him and pried his ribs apart one by one while he screamed.
The camera thing in the backseat beside Vin didn't seem to bother Kevin, either, despite its grotesque disfigured hands and the wide, drooling mouth with its tongue hanging out. It didn't seem to have eyes, but the rest of its face was in fact, a functional camera that one could plug cords and USB drives into. HABIT seemed fond of it. It was good at following directions, it was like a pet to him. He hadn't named it, but it's very clear he didn't want anything to happen to it. He'd even buckled it into the car himself, to make sure it was nice and safe.
Vincent just wanted to go home. More than anything. He wanted to see Evan again, to see his best friend one more time... He couldn't even remember where he'd been- what he'd done... He remembers finding something in Ohio and coming back, but after that, his memory is hazy. Now they were headed to Alabama? Why? Why the fuck were they headed to Alabama? Hadn't THE OBSERVER come from Florida? So why make a whole trip of it?
Why had they even taken a car in the first fucking place? HABIT and THE OBSERVER both could step through doorways into other spaces, and other timelines, even. Just for the folly of it, huh? Just because they could. He tried not to gag when THE OBSERVER and HABIT held hands while HABIT drove. Their skin was stuck together by wet blood. Kevin didn't speak again after that. Kevin wasn't awake after that. All Vinny could do was lean his head on the glass and sleep while HABIT and THE OBSERVER clicked at each other quietly, communicating in some language they both shared or whatever. The camera turned its head to look at Vin for a moment, before turning to stare out the window. He was finally able to drift off, but his dreams were haunted by teeth like knives, blood pooling around his feet, rising until he was drowning in it, choking on it. In his memory, he could even see the way HABIT would look if it were injured, leaned up against a tree, holding his abdomen, hissing and yelling, and throwing a knife right at him. He jolts awake, and when his eyes open, wide, bright purple irises are all up in his face. He leans away and turns his head. "HABIT, what the fuck-" But HABIT moves away and out of the car before Vincent can even ask it anything. The camera stays in the car, as it was instructed, and the other three get out.
They're in the middle of the fucking woods. They're just standing outside a cabin in the woods, in the dead of night. Habit skips around the car to the trunk. "Vinny! Press the little button thingy that opens this uh. Compartment. Thing." Kevin's face- his skin- looks all wrong. The effects of possession. Evan looked sick, like he was dying, and Kevin looked like he was decaying, without the rot. His skin still seemed to be the same texture, but the color was not at all the same as when he first met Kevin. It was like coal, deeper than any human being had the ability to be naturally. Only his eyes were lit up. Vin had always thought it was just extreme editing of his videos, but... Maybe, THE OBSERVER really just does look like that? He can't even make out any other features of Kevin's face. His smile lines, his eyebrows. No. His eyes, which were small and green, glowed in the darkness. His glasses were extremely fogged- Vincent had never seen anything like it. They were probably useless this way. Kevin catches him staring and with an unsettling cracking noise, his head turns, and he's smiling at Vincent. "Press the button, Vincent. Obey your god." HABIT snorts, and Vinny presses the button inside the car that opens the trunk. HABIT isn't his god... but he's not about to argue with these two creatures. Especially knowing what they would do to him. For fun. "Oooooh, I want this knife. I probably won't get to use it, but how funny would it be to bring it in with me just to see their faces?" He giggles, in his usual way, before snatching up... a knife. A knife with a strange symbol on it. A symbol Vinny knows he has seen before- a symbol he... feels a connection to. He stares at it for a long moment, then looks up at HABIT, who is squinting at him.
"Do you know what this is, Vin?" He's taken aback by the question. Why does HABIT sound so- suspicious of him all of a sudden? He blinks and shakes his head. "Uh- other than a knife, no. What's that symbol on it?" HABIT regards the symbol, as if he hadn't thought about it, then shrugs. "Oh. That's just the brand." Vincent feels dumb. Of course, it's just the brand. The knife wasn't just slapped together by some demonic creature in the woods. He rolls his eyes and looks up at the house. "Why are we here, HABIT? And why did we have to drive here? I don't see what this has to do with- with anything. What answers are we supposed to get from this? What good is this going to do us?" HABIT doesn't answer him, not outright. "Well, Vin. Let's go inside!" Great.
THE OBSERVER opens a suitcase tenderly, pulling out a book, and a journal, with shaking hands. Vincent knows what that is. Noah told them it's what THE OBSERVER wanted all along. "HABIT. Please tell me you- you didn't give him that. Noah told us why he couldn't let this thing have it-"
"Don't call it a thing, Vincent. That's rude. Kevin here is our friend now. Think of it like... Hm. A new stepdad. Except you're not our son because you're just a disgusting little human thing. You're too squishy to be one of us. I'll keep you from dying, as usual, but if it tells you to do somethin', well. You're not so dumb to disobey it, are ya?" Vincent sighs, sick of both their shit already as they head up the steps. There's a car here.
Vinny doesn't like that there's a car here. That HABIT is talking about there being people here.
He still follows directions.
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Vinny stood there, at the top of the stairs, his chest filled with dread as he realized there were people in this house. He remembers what happened last time HABIT broke into a house that had people in it. He noticed there were dishes in the sink, broken zip ties on the floor, and blood on the wooden steps.
He knew who the two men in front of him were. They were a little older, more banged up, but he knew. One of them was supposed to be dead. Vincent supposes it made sense. Their initial idea was to imitate Marble Hornets, to gain a massive following like they did... to blow up, and become popular. But... But what ended up happening was they started realizing that not only was Marble Hornets real, there were others who suffered the same fates as all of them had.
Seeing Brian and Tim alive, together- made him feel... good. He didn't feel alone. He steps forward after HABIT asks them if they'd like to learn how to kill a god.
"You shouldn't have called him. You shouldn't have watched the videos. Why would you do this? This- HABIT isn't going to help you just because it wants to out of the goodness of its own heart. He doesn't even have his own heart. He borrowed this one. Why- it was over, it was done with you, Alex Kralie is dead, and you survived. How- how did you survive? You welcomed it back into your lives..."
Brian makes a face at Vinny as he starts talking. "I should be asking you that question. How are either of you still alive?" HABIT laughs a little bit, listening to the back-and-forth between them. Vincent looks at him curiously, suspiciously. "You did something. I know you did." HABIT gnashes its teeth at Vinny and he jerks away. "You did something, I know you did- Of COURSE I did, Vincent! Wake up and smell the corpses, okay? I don't call you silly little things rabbits for nothing. I'm the wolf, and you're the rabbit. And sometimes hunting you down and just chewing on your bones and the bones of your children BORES ME. It gets old! So I gotta spice it up, try new flavors! Hate tastes reeeeally good, by the way. Much better than just pure fear. And anyway... Brian here... has offered up a sacrifice. For the trials."
Tim and Vinny both speak at the same time. "You did WHAT?" Brian rests his hand on Tim's arm while HABIT picks a bit of meat out from between its teeth with its knife.
"Not Toby. I offered him Alex." HABIT rolls his eyes and drops the hand with the knife, shifting its weight to point the blade at Brian. "Yeah, well, I already got an Alex. So I sure hope this one is more fun. Less broken, y'know? It's more fun when they fight their fate. Except when you do it, Vin. Then it's just annoying, and it makes me wanna kill ya."
Tim thinks about Skully, now. About their only request. That Alex and Seth be returned to the... Ark. He looks between HABIT and Brian. "... How can you be sure this- ... How can you be sure we can trust them?" Brian clenches and unclenches his fist, remembering Noah's conversation with HABIT. "When HABIT wants something, and it wants Alex real bad, alright, it won't just send you to die. It'll give you instructions. And if you follow 'em, and give it what it wants, it will help you. Like the way it helped Noah to become Firebrand." HABIT grimaces. "Quiet down, would ya? Kevvy doesn't like being reminded of that. You'll have me sleepin' on the couch like some- peasant human father in a sitcom." Tim stares between them incredulously. Is this really fucking happening? Is this real?
"I'm- sorry? Wha- so now we're just... we're working with the thing... that wants you to. The thing that wants you to kill people for it?" Brian rubs a hand over his face. "Yeah. I know. But that isn't what it wants me to do anymore. That isn't part of our bargain. And also. Showing up in the middle of the night was not what we agreed on. I also said NOT to bring Vincent."
Vinny raises his eyebrows at the way Brian snaps at HABIT like he's not even afraid of it. HABIT chuckles, amused, and steps forward. "Oh, you are going to be delectable, aren't you? You're not afraid of a little blood like Mr. Everyman here, are you?" Brian doesn't step back, but Tim does. "Now. Show me where Tobias is and, we'll get him aaaaaaall fixed up. I hear he has a broken arm. I wonder what kind of monster breaks a poor young man's wrist the first time meeting him..." Tim tugs Brian away from HABIT. "... Brian, do NOT let him anywhere near Toby."
But Tim's glance at the door to the room he's in gives it away. HABIT flips his knife around, then carves a strange symbol, SEVERANCE, into the door. The lock clicks, and in fact, the door falls off its hinges. "Oops. I'm not fixin' that." When the door slams into the floor, Toby jerks awake, and upon seeing HABIT, proceeds to try to jump out the window. "Vinny. Grab the kid."
Vincent blinks at HABIT, standing there ominously with the knife, before rushing into the room to grab the young man, dragging him, kicking and screaming, away from the window and over toward HABIT. "Looks like I'll get to use this after all. How would you like to not belong to that boring old thing anymore? Wouldn't it just be better to belong to me? I treat Vinny well. And he would love a new brother. Hold his arm out."
Toby tries kicking and screaming at Tim to help him, but Brian is holding Tim back- which is difficult because Tim is extremely powerful. He has to brace his feet on the ground to keep Tim from fucking snapping HABIT's neck.
HABIT carves a few symbols into Toby's arm, while the younger man stares down in horror at the symbols like they've come back to haunt him. THE OBSERVER walks calmly into the hallway and places a hand on Tim's chest. "He can't feel pain. You know that. So why the fanfare, hm? Why all this effort to keep him from bleeding? The symbols of our language actually mean things, you know. And these just happen to be the ones that will help poor little Tobias be free of the monster you so badly want to protect him from and heal his broken bone. You can struggle all you like, but if you become an annoyance... We have no problem removing you. Is that clear, Timothy?" Tim freezes, staring down into those horrid beady green eyes, before hesitantly nodding. Brian lets go of him, and Tim turns around and punches him in the face, sending him stumbling back. Brian doesn't fight back.
"I hate being lied to, Brian. How long." Brian looks down at his hand, then works his jaw a little bit, his eyes wide, those soft blues locking onto Tim's woody brown ones. Tim's shoulders slump, but his expression remains the same. Brian shakes his head. "I didn't lie to you. I thought we had more time to wait for them to arrive... I was going to tell you as soon as I did it, but I fell asleep... You. Have every right to be angry at me. To not trust me. But I told you I would keep you safe, Tim. And you're safe. As long as you follow directions. HABIT knows the rules. He likes to play games. So as long as we don't break his rules, we will be fine. Please, Tim. I need you on my side here."
Vinny lets go of Toby once the wounds start healing into scars. Toby relaxes a little bit as his wrist snaps into place and then slumps to the ground, floored, literally by... by magic or... something. He looks up at HABIT and then at Vinny, who kneels to make sure he's okay.
"Hey- I'm sorry we had to do that... the way we did it. But you're uh. Free from Slenderman, I guess. And your wrist isn't broken anymore. Okay? ... I'm Vinny. Nice to meet you." Toby shoves Vinny back and stands up. "Fuck off. Don't you ever fucking touch me without permission again, or I will GUT YOU, Vinny. And you. Thanks, I guess. But don't touch me, either. I know you're still weak from-" HABIT steps forward to wrap a hand around Toby's throat. "Weak for my kind is still a whole hell of a lot stronger than yours, kiddo. I'd watch that mouth of yours a little more closely if you don't want me to cut it out so I can serve it on top of fucking rice with some sorta fucking sauce, capiche?" Toby nods, begrudgingly, while Vinny stares at HABIT. "Weak? What does he mean- weak? HABIT. Tell me." HABIT drops Toby and dusts himself off with a huff. "Noneya. This is booooriiiing. I'm gonna order us a pizza. Extra pineapple. Oooooo- Vinny, go find me some Reese's cups. NOW, dog. Go. Go on- GET." Vinny stands up and hurries downstairs to look through the cabinets. Brian huffs. "There goes my candy, I guess. What... did he mean you're weakened? Toby. How do you know that?" Toby raises his hands. "No fuckin' thanks, Brian, nope. I'm not saying jack shit after that. I don't wanna bleed out and die from my mouth. I ain't dumb." He gets up and looks around his room, sighing. "Can I go back to fucking sleep now?" THE OBSERVER looks down at the door, and then at HABIT. "Sure, kiddo. Fine with me. I'm gonna talk to your mommy and daddy now. Goodnight, buster." He cackles and turns to regard Tim. "Maybe you're not as much of a pussy as I thought you were when I met you in that abandoned school basement. Yeah, that's right, buddy. I took that memory away from ya. That really happened. Y'know what else I took away? It's been years since you last posted a video to your little YouTube channel. YEARS. Not oooone year. Not twooooo years. Not threeee years. Not foour. Nope! It's been... hm. Well. When did your little videos end, hm?" THE OBSERVER tilts its head, reaching into its pocket to pull a pack of cigarettes out. "The last video of theirs, if I remember correctly (and I always fucking do)... Was in 2014. On June 20th... How fun!" He lights a cigarette right where he stands, and HABIT watches for a moment, before turning a happy face toward Tim and Brian. "Woah, that's kinda anti-gay, isn't it? That's supposed to be your whole celebration month! Crazy. So that means it's been... nine years! Wow. Don't look so surprised, there, Tim. You know exactly what you were doing for those nine years. How else do you think Toby knew ya so well? You- you've actually been workin' for that thing. Well. Not you, I GUESS. Masky, right? That little guy! Granted, Toby only came along about three years ago. But ever since he did, he's been your only friend. How fucking pathetic. How old does that make you now, huh?" Tim doesn't even know anymore. He doesn't want to know. He backs up and looks at Brian. "Did you know how long it's been?" Brian looks just as startled as Tim does. "N. No. I didn- I didn't... I. I'm gonna be sick. That wasn't Alex's blood, was it? That- you killed someone, Tim..."
HABIT rolls his eyes and moves to step out of Toby's room. "Yeah. He sure did. Killed a lotta fuckers that the ol' stick-in-the-mud wanted dead. I mean he didn't choose it any more than Evan chose to be my vessel. But what can ya do, huh? Bosses, am I right? I mean. He does pay you. Not much, but... Slendy Boy finds that money and possessions and worldly comforts drive you people more than anything else does. Can't argue with that, can ya? No. You can't. Anyway, I'm tired of watching you two gays hash it out. I'm gonna go see what's taking the puppy so long downstairs." Kevin doesn't follow HABIT as he turns to go back down the stairs, licking Toby's blood off the knife.
"I, however, will be watching you. OBSERVING you. The descent into madness is my favorite part. The chaos is absolutely soul-shatteringly fun. You silly people and your silly little feelings. You think Brian lied to you, and you, Brian, you're just going to let Tim believe that because you feel like the truth is WORSE."
Brian grimaces at the creature's words, and Toby grumbles before laying back in bed. Tim keeps his eyes locked onto Brian's. "What's the truth, Brian? Tell me. Tell me right fucking now, or- or everything is... Or I-" Brian groans and tangles his fingers in his hair, frustrated beyond BELIEF with how things went to shit as soon as those three turned up. "Tim... The. The tape Skully delivered to us... It's- it didn't... happen when we think it did. The Operator has been keeping me- uh. In. In its own... dimension. Locking me in stasis for- god, I guess 9 years. It was letting you visit me. It didn't heal me, whatsoever. It just. Kept me still until it decided it wanted to play with you again. You misbehaved, I think, and. And so it's punishing you." Toby curls in on himself a little more, uncomfortable with the knowledge that he could have told them this much, much earlier. Brian only found out from HABIT via e-mail moments before he fell asleep. "I would never lie to you, Tim. I love you. I meant that when I said it. That isn't something... I can just say to anyone. I was going to tell you all of this. You started collaborating with... HABIT. In secret. The Operator found out you were trying to get out, and. Well. It left me... as a. As a gift for you. To re-open your old wounds. To torment you with what could have been, and... Ultimately, to take me away from you. Toby and Alex were supposed to lure you into the woods, too. To make you watch me die. So you'd kill yourself. The only one actually trying to help us get out of this is Skully. They have Jay's soul. Jay wants to help us. He actually wants us to get out of this mess for good. HABIT wants us to suffer more. It wants more pets. So does this one here. All it wants is for us to entertain them both. Why do you think HABIT keeps Vin around? Vincent is supposed to be DEAD, remember? He's right here. Like nothing happened. Like he and HABIT didn't fucking die."
Tim leans against the wall and slides down it, rubbing his palms into his eyes. "Oh my fucking god. This just keeps getting more and more convoluted. So it's- It's not 2014 anymore? How did I even get roped into all of this... Slenderman bullshit in the first place?" Toby sighs and responds. "It's simple. He took away everyone you had until you had nobody. He took away your home. Burned it down, and made sure everything you owned was in there. And then, after he made you commit your first murder... You thought you were swearing off the mask, but it-. It gave you a new family. A family of monsters. It gave you someone to look after, someone to teach, once it thought you were starting to do really well. Me. You always wanted a little brother... And it knows that." Tim shakes his head and Brian sits down next to him. "Hey, Tim... We'll figure this out, okay? Take- take a deep breath. Look at me. I'm here. You don't ever have to put it on again. You don't ever have to be a pawn again. You're not alone. Give me your hand, okay? Tim." Tim shakes his head again, turning away from Brian. "Stop, stop talking. Stop it. I don't believe you- stop!"
Brian lifts his head to stare at the smiling face of Kevin. "Go away. Go away NOW. There was nothing in our agreement about me not gutting your stupid fucking host, and I'm not afraid to do it."
THE OBSERVER giggles and shakes its head, before exhaling smoke through its nose and turning around to walk slowly down the stairs. "I'd love to see you try, but not tonight. I'll leave you to pick up the pieces." Its footsteps continue down the stairs until Brian can only vaguely hear the three of them milling around downstairs, and he turns his attention back to Tim.
"I promise. I can show you the e-mails, Tim. I was going to anyway. I was always going to share my findings with you, okay?"
Tim pulls his knees up to his chest, burying his face into them and shielding his ears from Brian's words. "Why- why did I do it for nine years? Why did it- why did it work? I would never- I hated... I hated every... every moment of Alex's- I... I don't wanna hurt anyone, Brian. I don't want to hurt anyone... Why did you- why did you jump?" Brian flinches at the words, kneeling now, sinking all his weight down into the floor, staring helplessly at Tim. "I thought I would die if I jumped... I thought it would be my punishment. A righteous end to... to me. To me hurting you. I'm so sorry- If I knew, at all, that this is what would become of you, Tim, I never would have jumped. I would have just let you- I would have let you at least kill me instead. You deserved that much, for what I did to Jay."
Tim wheezes and tightens his grip on his own hair. "I wasn't going to kill you, I-" Brian rests a hand on his head, untangling his tense fingers from soft black locks. "I know you were going to. It's alright. I'm not angry. You wanted me dead. That's okay, Tim. That isn't what defines you. Look at me. Please." Tim lifts his head, his incredibly pretty eyes shiny with tears, his dark lashes wet, his cheeks damp from crying. Brian wipes every tear away with his thumb. "You killed so that I would not be killed. Before you knew it was me, you wanted me dead. And after... All you could think about was preserving your only surviving friend. You did it because you thought you could save me. Now, let me save you, okay? Even if I die now, let me save you." Tim lets out a shuddering breath before Brian tugs him in for a nice, tight hug. "Shhhhh, sweetheart. I gotcha. You're safe. You're safe." Tim grips his hoodie tightly, and Brian rubs his back.'
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Once Tim is calmed down, they go back to bed, Brian holding Tim's head to his chest while he finishes crying. Eventually, Tim does fall asleep like that, feeling so much like a little kid who cried himself to sleep after a rough day of school. Brian eventually dozes off while holding him, too, and all is quiet in the house.
Except for Vinny, who stands by Toby's bedroom, staring in at him as he sleeps. Vinny had slept that peacefully once, too. Unafraid of consequences. Unaware while he slept that there were watcher lurking in the darkness.
He steps into the room and steps right up to the bed, kneeling in front of it. Toby stirs from the noise, rising groggily from his sleep, and rubbing his eyes. "Ayo, what the fuck?" Vinny shushes him, glancing at the doorway. "Quiet. I have questions for you, Toby." Toby's eyes narrow and he leans in to get in Vinny's face. "Go back downstairs and lay down in your dog bed. I'm not risking my ass to answer your stupid questions. They've got Wi-Fi here, I'm sure. Fucking use it. Don't even bother asking Queer Eye over there, either. They won't fuck with HABIT. And you shouldn't either. He'll- UGH. Get out of my fucking room." He shoves Vinny away and points toward the door.
Vincent, extremely frustrated, backs up and heads back downstairs.
HABIT watches from the darkness of Toby's room. "Smart guy, aren't you? No wonder he found you so useful... Well. Anyway, there's pizza downstairs! Help yourself." And then he's stepping out of the shadows to skip down the stairs, machete in hand. "Oh Viiiiinnnyyyyyy~!"
Toby grimaces. This isn't going to be good...