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After Tobias insisted on everyone returning to our rooms, I went for my bag and reached in to pull out my medicine bottles, but noticed right away that they felt lighter than they should have. I popped off the lid of the first bottle to confirm my worst suspicion. It was empty. So was the next bottle. And the next… All of my medicine was gone.
I tried to leave the room, only to find the lock firmly in place. What the fuck do I do now? Jerry came out of the bathroom and froze when he saw the panicked look on my face. “Hey, what’s wrong?”
Through the uncontrollable shaking and anxiety, I managed to speak. “Someone stole my medicine, and the door is locked and won’t open.” Before I could blink, Jerry had taken a running start and bodyslammed the door in hopes of breaking it open. “Jerry, what the fuck?!” He made a small pained noise. “Don’t worry, dude, I’m gonna find us a way out.” He continued to attack the doors and windows like a giant bulldog until I physically dragged him towards me. “That’s not going to work. Please, just stop.” I sat down on the bed and tried to contain myself but I couldn’t help the tears that came. Jerry sat down next to me and pulled me into a tight hug, rubbing my back and trying to calm me down as I finally broke down.
“I’m so sorry, Jack, I should have listened when you tried to make us leave. I should never have even tried to take this road trip and I’m really sorry that I can’t do anything about this.” I felt him shake against me and I could tell he was trying not to cry, too. I laughed bitterly and buried my face in his shoulder. “It’s not really your fault. I know you were just trying to do a nice thing and for whatever reason, everything in my life just gets fucked up all the time and it’s not your fault.” I couldn’t manage any further speech before my tears turned into full on sobbing. Jerry desperately and courageously attempted to make me feel better but all was hopeless.
“I’m so sorry, you’re all messed up now and it’s my fault and I can’t even fix this for you, but I promise I’m going to do whatever it takes to keep you safe, alright?” He slowly moved us so that we were laying down and pulled a blanket around me, doing what he could to comfort me. I’m embarrassed to say that I clung to him like a baby koala.
Eventually, I was too dehydrated to cry and settled for laying face down on the bed and suffering silently. He pushed my hair away from my forehead and continued to apologize and promise to execute revenge of biblical proportions on whoever did this to everyone. I cuddled up against him and tried to ignore the throbbing pain in my head from all of this.
At least I was now too exhausted to think about all the ways my life is a train wreck. Jerry looked at me in concern as I stared blankly at the wall and let emptiness consume me but he didn’t say anything. He just continued to hold me. When he fell asleep from the warmth and lack of movement, I was left completely alone with my thoughts, none of which were pleasant or optimistic. The last coherent thought I had before my memory blacked out was about the gas station and what would be left of it if we survived this nightmare mansion.