Log:Night Terrors

The Tall Man 2014/08/21

Matt Hunter Jessica

2

Matt has gone to his mother's old room...his now he guesses, and tries to sleep, but every time he does, the nightmares come, he fights in his dreams but to no avail...now he lies eyes open.

Tired but unable to sleep.

A text message from Hunter shows up on Matt's phone. [Martin had to bail. How're you holding up?]

A couple of minutes later... [what do you care?]

Hunter blinks in surprise at his phone as he sits at his computer desk at home. This thumbs dance across the screen. [What're you talking about? I care. You went and got marked, so I wanted to make sure you were holding up.]

[Totes awesome. thanks for checking] from Matt.

Hunter yawns and sips some more of that bitter, awful tasting tea from Matt that he brewed up. His eyes widen a bit from the taste alone. He sets the cup down on his desk and leans back in his chair. [What's the matter? Why would you even ask something like that, bud?] He glances out the large windows lining the outer wall of the loft and frowns slightly. Then with a kick, he sends him and his wheeled computer chair across the concrete floor towards his front door, spinning around in mid-slide. Stopping at the door, he hops out of his chair and slips on his sneakers.

Minutes pass before am answer comes. [Too difficult to explain to someone like you. going to try and sleep]

[I would, but your tea is keeping me up. What do you mean someone like me?] Hunter sighs and kicks his chair towards his desk. Undoing the locks and latches, he slides the metal door leading out of his loft open and steps out before closing and locking it again. Time for a walk.

Once again it is minutes, before a reply it is sent, [Self absorbed, don't worry about it. it's not much in your MO to worry any way]

Hunter really frowns at that response. He's already out of his building and walking towards Bridgend by the time he receives the text. [Wow. Self absorbed? You think I don't worry? Sounds like maybe we should talk about this?]

Matt lies staring at the ceiling, but seeing woods, he feels coldness, something hasn't felt in a while. his hand still grips his holocom, but his arm lies limply at his side...

Time seems to lose a little bit of meaning as he stares at tree branches blocking out the night sky and the cold, moist air of night. There's something scraping along a tree trunk to Matt's left, just out of his peripheral vision. And then...

BANGBANGBANG!

There's a knock on the door. Seems like more time has passed than Matt realized. The woods disappear once Matt tears his gaze away.

Matt sits up suddenly, his hand encased in stone, he looks around disoriented for a moment, then says in a rough gravelly voice, "Who the 'ell is it?"

"It's Hunter. You know, Mr. Self-Absorbed. You didn't respond and I worried. It's been a half hour," a voice calls through the door.

Matt says, "Come in..." is his terse answer, "It's not locked. ."

The door swings open suddenly and the whole room falls into darkness, lit only by moonlight that filters in from the door. A tall thin shape of a faceless man-like thing as tall as the door frame stands there with the woods behind him. Shadow tendrils wave behind him and stretch across the walls, waving towards Matt. Matt's ears are filled with the deafening sound of crickets and the creaking of trees. The Tall Man's long, spindly, claw like fingers, almost like street branches, reach along the doorframe and close around it, making more sounds of creaking wood while still seaming partially organic. It lowers itself as if getting ready to step through.

And Matt can only feel terror and helplessness. A paralyzing fear.

Matt's Eyes grow large, but he has, been waiting for this for a few days, for the tall man to show himself, in the open and in front of him. he feels the terror, the hollow emptiness that comes with the abject fear, but he's been trained to fight this very fear, the fog of war some call this.

Matt hates this, hates the fear, hates himself for the fear, but he simply cannot fight it...he is failing, he is failing his friends, his training, his mother, his legacy, everything, but no matter all the years of training, no matter what his in says to do, he can only run, he doesn't hear himself, but he is screaming, swearing, angry fearful meaningless words fly from his lips as he falls to the floor scrabbling to get away. Flight kicks in involuntarily, and he flies into the ceiling hard, the real lights go out as he crashes into them. glass breaks upon his skin, and goes flying everywhere as the room plunges into darkness, "Frag You!" screams over and over again

A voice sounds very, very fair away. Muffed by the sounds of creaking limbs and crickets. It's too hard to hear over his own screaming as the Tall Man ducks down and enters the room. Shadowy tentacles close in towards him.

"...Matt! MATT!!!"

A stinging slap strikes Matt across the face, causing his face to snap away from the horror. The sounds of the wilderness. The room is now lit by the gym's hallway lights outside, since the overhead light is broken. It casts a fluorescent hue to everything.

Someone's got him. But shaking him gentle. When Matt looks back, he sees Hunter holding him and trying to pull him up to a sitting position. He's kneeling on the broken glass from the bulb and fixture covering, not paying attention to the cuts it gives him as he tries to help. "Matt, whatever you're seeing, it's not real. I've got you..." says a very concerned and worried looking Hunter.

Matt's body becomes a blazing light, electricity crackles around him, his eyes still wide and terror filled, in a quickness that few have seen from Matthew, he blocks off Hunter's hand as a blade of pure light forms in Matthews hand in a practiced fluid movement his arm draws back and plunges towards Hunter's left eye socket, and microseconds before disaster, recognition comes into Matt eyes, the blade stops just as an eyelash of Hunter burns. "...Hunter...?..." the blade fizzles as the aura of power fades away. dropping t o one knee, tears come to his eyes and drop to the glass littered floor....

Hunter thinks. o O (He's fast! I'm dead!). But he's not. Thankfully. He was too busy being concerned to really be prepared to react. A weakness he seems to have developed lately. After the blade fizzles, he blinks a few times.

"Yeah...yeah, it's me," he breathes out shakily in relief at having not just been skewered. He tries to catch Matt as he drops to one knee, or at least hold onto him so he doesn't feel alone. "Just take it easy...you're going to be okay," he says in a calm, soothing voice. Surprisingly calm considering Matt was just about to kill him. But adrenaline and concern can do a lot to keep one focused.

Matt says, "The Tallman. ..he was just here, I..frag man, I don't know what he is...I don't know if I can do this, ..I don't know if I can fight him...I..I frag it man, I'm scared! Frag it all to hell! Frag it!" his voice is hoarse from screaming at the top of his lungs, "Frag it man...." he says sounding defeated..."Frag it all. .."

"Come on, man, it's okay...you...you don't have to, alright?" Hunter says softly. Understandingly. "It's okay to be scared. Here, let's get you off the floor at least," he suggests as he tries to help Matt to his feet, intent on trying to guide him to sit on his bed.

Matt goes where guided, "You don't get it Hunter, I was trained to turn fear into a weapon. when faced with fight or flight to always choose fight, "I failed you tonight, I failed everyone...

Hunter sits Matt on the edge of his bed and sits down next to him, keeping a friendly arm around his shoulder as he listens. "I don't think any of you were trained to fight something specifically like this, man. This thing gets in your head and messes with you. You didn't fail anyone tonight."

Matt still sobs between uncontrolled breaths, "No...I almost killed you, you don't understand how this thing is."

Hunter squeezes his arm around Matt's shoulders. "Well...yeah, that scared me crapless. But you didn't. And you're right...I really don't understand how this thing is..."

The door to Matt's room is open and the lights are out. Only the outside gym lights illuminate the room. The ceiling light fixture is shattered on the center of the floor and there's some light blood spotting on the ground. Matt is sitting on the edge of his bed. Hunter sits next to him with a consoling arm around his shoulders. Hunter's jeans have some matching red spotting around the knees and light cuts from the glass on the floor.

Jessica calls ahead as she's coming up the stairs to the upper floor and Matt's room but still out of sight, "Hi, Matt. Are you in?"

Matt sits sobbing uncontrollably, it is obvious he is fighting an internal battle to control his feelings, but that us a battle that doesn't seem to be going well

Matt says, "...oh shick..." between sobs, "It's my mom....""

Hunter blinks and glances towards the door, then looks back to Matt and whispers, "Well, shick...what do we do?" Having parents must be awkward, Hunter thinks.

Jessica abandons her leisurely approach when she hears sobbing and races up the rest of the stairs and along the hallway to Matt's room. She's carrying a bundle of freshly washed clothing that gets dumped hastily onto the unused bed before she sits at Matt's side and rests an arm on his cheek. "Matt, what's wrong?" she asks in a worried voice.

Matt whispers, "Frag it..I don't know.." his sobbing growing less as the sobering reality of his coming becomes a reality.

Hunter blinks a few times. Super awkward. And he has his mom do his laundry for him? Doesn't Matt know how to do that? Hunter withdraws his arm from around Matt's shoulders and it to his side on the edge of the bed, tapping his fingers nervously. He looks to the door and considers a hasty retreat.

Matt involuntarily brushes Jessica 's hand from him...."I... I'm ok...."

Jessica looks at the tears on her hand were it was brushing over Matt's cheek. "This is a definition of all right that is new to me, Matt." she says. Her eyes move appraisingly over Hunter. "One of the two of you ought to explain what has happened."

Hunter merely looks to Matt to see how much he wants to say on the matter, keeping his mouth shut.

Matt says clearly, "I have failed, everyone. everything."

Jessica turns her gaze full onto Hunter, "Maybe you can explain?" she says. She's sitting neaxt to Matt, her hand hovering between them, respecting Matt's wish not to be touched but wanting to pull her son into a cuddle and hug him better.

Hunter just shrugs. "Don't really know," he responds quietly, looking to Matt again.

Matt stands on weak knees, they almost seem to buckle, "Battle synopsis...There is some kind of demon spirit called the Tallman, he marks victims then takes them eventually, terrorizing them until he bid them to a woods, and they disappear. "Hunter and I are marked."

Jessica says to Hunter, "You're Hunter?"

Hunter looks to Jessica and nods once silently.

Jessica looks back to Matt, "What are you doing about it?" she asks in a sympathetic and gentle tone.

Matt shakes his head, "a witch friend of ours is, heading up the charge, I have been pretty useless. Mother, I am not battle ready. "

Hunter shifts a little, inching a little further away from Matt so he's not quite so close. "I should probably leave you and your mom alone to talk," Hunter suggests as he starts to get up.

Matt nods, "get with Martin...and I'm sorry I failed you. "

Jessica nods, "I was only able to teach you so much, Matthew. Against a normal threat you are more than capable. You know that. But until you gained your father's legacy there was no way to prepare you to use it. Magic and the supernatural is not something I every was able to come to terms with. You may well do better given time." She glances at Hunter. "Stay, please." is said to Hunter. Then she looks back at Matt. "Do you want to deal with this on your own, Matt? I assume so since you neglected to mention this to me until now."

"Hey, you didn't, Matt. But I'll go meet up with Martin," Hunter says wearily, seeming rather tired and worn out now that the adrenaline rush is gone. "We still should talk later, okay? When you're feeling better." He glances to the door, then glances back at Jessica's behest. He scratches the back of his head awkwardly in indecision. "Well...'s late..." he responds.

Hunter finally adds, "I'll stay if Matt wants me to."

Jessica looks to Matt and Hunter. "Matt, I love you too much to risk losing you. I respect your desire to deal with this on your own with the aid of your friends. I would expect no different from you. You have thirty-six hours. After than you, and your friend, are going to the Undermoon Embassy and we'll see what Princess Stephanie and some fae mages can do about this Tall Man."

Matt nods,..."I am desperate enough to take that..." there is a deep almost crazed look in Matt eyes still...like a person who has, seen more than their mind can handle.

Hunter nods along with Matt. "That sounds like a good option. They probably have all sorts of resources to deal with that."