Blood dripped right off of his upper lip, splattering on the cold concrete floor. The fluorescent lights above his head had began flickering, and the room felt full of static electricity; like the atmosphere just before a thunder storm. But it wasn't like Jesse was paying any attention. Sometimes it would get like that, where the whole of his world caves in for moments at a time, and he just freezes up. It was scary, but it made him want to get this all finished and behind him.
He almost had stopped caring about what happened to Adam, but if he did, he would be sitting alone in his garage for nothing. He looked up and over at a window. The ringing was back, and he knew it was lingering outside. He didn't know how to keep it from coming in anymore. He glanced down at the bandaged stab wound on his left shoulder. The pain was almost an echo in his memory- the sharp cold blade of the knife twisting it's way through the barrier of his flesh. His stomach twisted too, pushing everything else out of his head. Something moved inside of the garage, just out of his field of vision.
His head snapped to the side, getting a better look at the tall figure standing over behind the recliner. It emerged from the shadows.
"Jesse, we finally meet."
The figure was a taller man in a black jacket with his hood up. But the one thing that told Jesse that he knew this man was the Barn Owl mask on his face. Jess pulled himself up, wiping the blood into a smear across his face. Knowingness stepped out from behind the recliner, moving further into the room. As he passed through Jesse's base of operations, he looked around. "Nice place- But is it really all that safe?"
"Uh- You can't just... come in here like this.."
Jesse backed up along the wall, trying to get to his camera bag. Knowingness sighed, letting his head fall back.
"Jesse, I can do anything I want. All of your little internet friends downplay the things I can do."
Jesse felt his lungs constrict, his boney hands starting to grasp at his chest and throat. The lights began flickering again as Knowingness cocked his head. Jesse's legs gave out as he dropped to the floor, images of distorted faces flashing through his head as his ears were filled with disembodied screams. They all came to a hault as a hand was extended before him. "Or I can be your friend- Someone who can help you in moments of severe distress."
He stared through the brown curtains he had for bangs, eyeing up the hand. He hesitated, taking it before being pulled back to his feet. Though Jesse couldn't see this man's face, it was like he was smiling. "Good choice, kid. Now, there isn't much I can do to help as of now, but there is something I can teach you. Something I would have told Max to show you, but you know how he's busy-"
"Yeah, busy running around a yellow nightmare death maze- one that YOU put him in. I'm not-"
"Don't worry, a young man such as yourself has no place in a dingy place like that." Knowingness straightened his posture, gesturing for Jesse to take a seat in the recliner. Jesse mindlessly obeyed, flopping down and rocking for a few seconds. He looked up at Knowingness, breathing out of his mouth. "Now, Jesse- You know the symbol Max had set as his Youtube profile picture?"
"Vaguely." He said, his eyes heavy with a restrained contempt.
"Well, I helped an old friend of mine develope that symbol. It's not all that different from coding. Just, instead of variables and arguements, it's intention and will.". Jesse rolled his eyes, almost laughing.
"Okay mister sigil maker, what does that one do?" Jesse mocked, knowing what the owl man wanted him to ask. Knowingness paced around the small seating area, arms folded behind his back.
"It's been my secret for decades, are you sure?"
"Just spit it the fuck out already..." He clenched his jaw, grimacing at Knowingness
"It's a protection rune with the ability to keep The Guardian from accessing... practically whatever it's drawn on.". Knowingness said, pointing to a patch on his jacket. The rune was a patch, stitched into the left breast.
"How can I trust you? How can I make sure that you're not just feeding me bullshit?" Jesse asked, sitting forward abruptly.
"Try it out- You like science, right? Do an experiment or something. Just don't tell anybody that I told you, nobody can know I told you this". Jesse dropped his head into his hands, letting out a deep sigh.
"Why?" The electricity in the air was gone suddenly. He rubbed his eyes, looking back up. Knowingness was gone. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to try.