𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 26, 𝐩𝐫𝐭 𝟐
3𝐫𝐝 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐨𝐯

— WHEN JASPER WOKE it was to the quiet mumbling around him, Sam and Colby, he figured after a moment, were speaking in hushed but worried tones. He shifted in his position, as he tried to figure out where he was, and how he got here, but his mind was a jumble — like a once-completed puzzle knocked down.

Eventually, he figured he must still be at the Briar House, though without opening his eyes he couldn't sort out if he was in a bedroom or somewhere else. Despite the warm blanket spread across him, conforming to his body, his bones felt frozen. His whole body did, as though he'd been in the snow for hours. At the thought, he shivered and pulled the blanket closer. The movement went unnoticed by the hushed voices however his eyes flickering open did not.

Colby moved forward in one swift motion while Sam watched with concerned eyes, "Jasper," Colby called, his voice a mixture of panic, desperation, and relief that Jasper couldn't quite understand.

Jasper blinked up at the man, shuffling to sit upright, wrapping the blanket around him more. He realized he was on the couch in the living room of the Briar House, and despite all the lights he could see and feel the shadows lurking in every corner. He forced his gaze back to Colby who stared back with concern-filled eyes, "Wha' happened?" He asked groggily.

Sam moved forward gently, "That's what we were gonna ask you."

"We woke up and you were just gone." Colby started, his voice breaking on the last word making Jasper wince. "We found you in the cemetery behind the house, you looked like you were—" he stopped, swallowing down the word dead, "you scared me- us." He said instead, "You really scared us."

"We couldn't find any injuries so we brought you back and tried to warm you up, but we have no clue how you got out there," Sam explained.

Jasper frowned trying to remember something, anything. He remembered the cemetery, the grave with his name flashing through like some sort of warning sign, but how he got there, or even why he collapsed — or fainted? He wasn't sure — everything was jumbled and he fought back a noise of displeasure, his brows furrowed as he tried to organize his thoughts.

"I don't know." He finally settled on when he realized they were staring, waiting for some sort of answer.

Sam swallowed thickly, "I think — I think it's time to just go. No video," video because that was all this trip was meant to be, a simple video. The idea seemed strange now, as this had become so much more without him even realizing, "is worth all of this, whatever is happening here it isn't safe." Colby nodded in agreement however Jasper found himself hesitating.

Could he walk away after all this? Knowing how deeply his family was intertwined with the history of this place, how could he walk away and leave this place, this journey, incomplete?

He couldn't, he realized, but he didn't have to look at Sam and Colby to know they wouldn't agree.

Colby's pure panic and concern catered with affection crossed his mind.

But he couldn't do it without them either. Which left him with only one option: convincing them to stay despite everything telling them to run for the hills. To do that, he would need time, time he didn't have if they wanted to leave right away. "I don't — can we just wait and- and think about it maybe?" He suggested weakly, hoping by some sort of luck they'd agree.

Sam and Colby glanced at each other, clearly not liking the idea of staying here any longer.

After a moment, Colby took the lead, "Okay," he began, taking a step forward as his hand reached out wanting to be closer to Jasper, wanting to hold him in his arms and keep him safe, "why don't we get out of here, get fresh air, some coffee, maybe lunch?" He suggested, his hands brushing against Jasper as he stood by his side, Jasper still sat on the couch, "When we get back, we can decide, yeah?"

Jasper nodded in agreement, forcing himself to stand on shaky legs, he ignored Colby's arm outstretched ready to catch him as he balanced himself, blinking to clear his vision. After a moment, he shook his head and moved toward the stairs, politely ignoring the way Colby followed him worriedly, and how it made him feel.

Colby was silent, from the stairs to the bedroom, but his piercing gaze never left Jasper, who did his best to ignore his gaze despite the slight blush shading his cheeks red. He moved to his suitcase which had remained completely packed for the duration of their trip, everything neatly tucked away, ready to be picked up and moved on.

He supposed some part of him was always ready to leave this place at a moment's notice, and yet now with the opportunity to leave, he couldn't.

Shaking his head as though physically shaking away these thoughts, he unzipped his suitcase and pulled out a casual forest green button-up shirt, along with a pair of black jeans with a black belt to pair with it.
He glanced at Colby who sat comfortably in the corner of his room, and silently moved to the bathroom.

"You know, you could change in here." Colby called out, "Nothing I haven't seen before," he added cheekily when Jasper turned to him and gave a heavily unimpressed look, "...Or I can go out to the hall." He offered.

"Yeah, you do that." The blonde snarked comfortably. Without barely moving his gaze from Jasper, Colby left the room, closing the door behind him however he didn't walk away, leaning against the wall beside the door instead.

In the room, Jasper rolled his eyes but made quick work of changing his clothes, grabbing a pair of socks before slipping on his trusty combat boots. Finally, he grabbed his phone from the nightstand, realizing whatever had him rushing to the woods must have had him so out of his mind that he'd forgotten his phone.

Moving to the door, he got caught by his reflection, his blue eyes piercing back at him through the mirror, seemingly entrancing him as he got wrapped in his thoughts that grew darker as he remembered the cold, dark cemetery. He didn't want to think what would've happened if he'd gotten lost out there, with no way of contacting anyone, nobody looking for him, and no one to hear his cries for help.

He shivered, pulling himself away from the elegant but small mirror on the wall as he moved to the door and pulled it open. Sure enough, Colby hadn't moved an inch and, Jasper realized suddenly, was still dressed in his pajamas from the night before, his plaid pants dirtied from the unexpected treck in the woods.

Colby's eyes roamed him up and down, not even trying to hide the way his eyes wandered and got caught on the bare skin revealed by the undone top buttons of his shirt. "Looks like you could use a wardrobe change too." Jasper commented, causing Colby's eyes to snap up to his.

Finally taking in his words, Colby glanced down at his outfit and grimaced, "Yeah probably." He agreed, moving to his room, he pointed at Jasper sternly, "Don't move."

Jasper raised his hands in a show of surrender before sliding one hand into his pocket to grab his phone. He leaned against the wall not unlike Colby had moments ago, glancing up he met Colby's gaze as the brunette stood in the doorway of his room, hesitating on the threshold.

Jasper couldn't tell if it was his imagination when he noticed a slight blush on the man's cheeks upon being caught staring as Colby awkwardly shuffled into his room, leaving the door open a crack as if making it easier to run to Jasper's rescue if need be, the idea almost funny to Jasper who didn't think he needed saving at all... though... he supposed, he wouldn't totally mind Colby running to his rescue.
(Especially if he was shirtless)

When Colby reemerged only a few short minutes later, Jasper wished he had set some sort of timer just to see how fast it was. Despite how swiftly he'd gotten dressed, Colby's outfit was well put together with a custom black jean jacket over one of his black XPLR t-shirts, paired with nice fitting black jeans and sneakers. A simple cross necklace lay just below his shirt collar, almost hidden while his hands were now decorated with various rings that despite being completely different from each other somehow fit together perfectly, and showed off the veins of his hands.

Hands were never a thing Jasper was into.

Then Colby came around.

Though Jasper supposed it had never been about being into anything specific with Colby, because he was just into everything Colby.

Did that make sense? He thought it wouldn't to anyone else, but it made perfect sense to him in a strange way, a feeling that he could never describe or even visualize till he saw Colby and went "Ah yeah that's it."

Enough being sappy, Jasper told himself as he clumsily shoved his phone into his back pocket, vaguely aware of the fact Colby had asked him something and was now staring at him worriedly. "Sorry, lost in thought." He chuckled and then winced at the bad excuse.

"I get it," Colby responded easily, "A lot has happened."

Jasper nodded in agreement all whilst a tornado twisted inside him, feeling relief and guilt all at the same time because of course Colby thought he was stressed about everything that had gone on in this house, rather than thinking he was simply daydreaming about a stupid crush and stupid ocean eyes and very stupid hands that looked far too good adorned with rings.

"I need coffee." Jasper blurted out, pushing off the wall and moving to the stairs in one quick motion to ignore the sudden red tint to his cheeks, Colby frowned but followed him to the stairs.

They were halfway down the long hallway when Sam called out from the bottom of the steps, "Colby!" The man in question gave an affirmative 'yeah' in response, so he continued, "Can you grab the camera from my room? I wanna shoot a few shots of the outside before we leave." Colby agreed easily, having already discussed that if everything went to plan, they'd take a few final shots and leave as soon as possible.

He made his way to Sam's room, which wasn't far from the stairs unlike Colby and Jasper's rooms which were further down the seemingly endless hall.

After a moment, Jasper moved forward onto the stairs when he heard footsteps behind him, no doubt Colby's. His bones felt heavy, and so did his eyelids, he shook his head, he really did need a coffee. Just as his hand stretched out to grab the railing, he felt a strong pressure on his back, like a hand pushing him forward and forward and he fell, his eyes wide as he tried to grab onto something to no avail.

There was nothing he could do. He was sure he would fall, he just didn't know how many steps it would take to stop his body.

He closed his eyes to prepare for impact, the burning feeling on his back only the beginning of his pain. His mind seemed foggy now, whether it was caused by the adrenaline or something else, he couldn't be sure as the world seemed to spin, he distantly recognized voices calling out his name but all he truly knew was this;

He fell.

Or did he fly?

✧˖*°࿐

         COLBY grabbed the camera off of Sam's bed swiftly, pausing only as his eyes caught on a shadow in the corner of the room in the shape of a man, however when he blinked the shadow was shapeless. Great, he was seeing things now. Maybe he needed a coffee too.

He made his way out of the room, closing the door behind him when his eyes caught sight of something he knew was not a figment of his imagination.

Jasper was falling.

The camera fell out of his hand without a thought and he rushed forward hesitation, his eyes wide and his hands already outstretched to grab the blonde.

"Jasper!" He called out but it was strange, the word layered as though someone else was calling out for the man along with him. He didn't have the time or care to think too deeply about it as he lunged forward and grabbed Jasper, pulling him safely into his arms as they tumbled backward with the force, landing safely on the top of the stairs.

His arms tightened around Jasper as he breathed heavily, "Don't ever do that to me again."

Jasper scrunched up his nose, his eyes blinking rapidly as if adjusting to the light though it hadn't changed, "Not my fault." He managed to get out, "Didn't want to fall down the stairs."

Colby swallowed thickly, his hold on Jasper tightening on instinct. "What happened?" He asked quietly, unsure if even Jasper could hear the words.

"Are you guys okay?" Sam asked worriedly as he reached the top of the stairs.

"Yeah." Jasper responded before Colby could, "Fine. Just tripped I guess." He continued, ignoring the pain in his back as he forced a chuckle, oblivious to the look Colby was sending his best friend as if to say, this is not fine.

Now too shaken up to be embarrassed about being caught up in Colby's arms, he carefully unraveled himself and stood up, brushing off his pants before helping Colby up, who was already halfway into asking if Jasper wanted to sit and rest.

"Maybe we should just get out of here." Jasper suggested wincing when his voice seemed shaky to his own ears. Sam and Colby easily agreed, Colby's hand going to Jasper while Sam quickly grabbed the camera from where it had been forgotten on the hallway floor.

Colby took the lead as they three headed down the stairs, though his hand never left Jasper's, he was not letting him fall down the stairs again, the image forever burned into his memory alongside what so easily could've happened if he hadn't caught him.

Soon enough, they were all in the car driving away from Briar Manor, and they all couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, a weight seemingly lifted off their shoulders the further they got, and despite Jasper's gaze going back to the house as they left, even he felt safer with this distance.

✧˖*°࿐

       COLBY'S eyes intently focused on the area around them from the table they had found outside of the coffee shop, he watched the cars passing and the trees blowing in the wind, though his mind was elsewhere. Briar Manor.

Distantly he was aware of Sam and Jasper's conversation, Sam was giving the other blonde his coffee order as Jasper had volunteered to go stand in line. It was only when his name was called that his gaze flickered back to them, both Jasper and Sam's eyes were on him, and he had the feeling he hadn't heard something, "What do you want?" Jasper asked easily, seemingly knowing Colby had been too zoned out to hear his previous words.

"I-" Colby began and then blinked, he got the same coffee order all the time and yet now he couldn't remember? He cursed himself, but before he could dwell on this sudden brain fog, Jasper smiled.

"You still get the same thing right?" He asked casually and then listed off his coffee order just like that. He remembered after all these years. Colby's eyes softened fondly as he gave a nod, and watched as Jasper walked off, heading inside to order.

"So," Sam started, getting Colby's attention as his eyes flickered to his friend, "you two have gotten pretty close." He smirked, "Anything I should know?"

Colby groaned, "Man I don't know," he admitted, "Things were good, really good I mean I was gonna—" he glanced around cautiously, they were in public, not the best place to reveal his plans of asking Jasper out, he winced, "...Then we went to the manor and it's just all been a mess."

"It doesn't have to be," Sam responded as if it was the simplest thing in the world, though Colby could only stare back in confusion.

"What?"

"I mean, the whole manor thing is a mess but you and him, whatever's going on there, it doesn't have to be a mess too." He explained, "You guys could be happy together, no matter what's going on with the whole... ghost doppelgänger stuff."

Colby winced, "I wish it was that easy." He replied, "I feel like ever since we came here he's just been distant, and different too. He doesn't come to me much anymore." he continued, "It's like he's fighting a fight on his own when he doesn't have to."

"So show him." Sam said, eyes twinkling wisely, "Show him he's not fighting this on his own. Be there for him."

Colby took a deep breath and nodded, before he let out a chuckle, "When did you get so wise, dude?"

Sam breathed confidently and leaned back with a smug grin, "I'm just a genius I guess."

The friends shared a chuckle before a serious tone came once more, "I think we need to get him to leave the Manor, but I don't think he wants to." Colby admitted, remembering the determined gaze from earlier when Jasper refused to decide to leave the manor.

The blonde hummed in agreement, "Maybe he'll change his mind now, after the whole stair thing." He met his friend's gaze, Sam paused a moment and continued, asking hesitantly, "Any clue what happened there?"

Colby shook his head, "I didn't see what happened. I just saw him falling." He told his friend, "But something in that house..." His blue eyes glanced up to meet Sam's.

"It's coming for him."

✧˖*°࿐
𝟑,𝟎𝟒𝟎 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬

Hello! I'm not dead lol as an apology for not updating in so long, I hope you enjoyed this extra long chapter!
Let me know your thoughts and what you think might happen next

SURPRISE it's a graphic dump —