Friendship

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from the film series Paranormal Activity and I'm not making any money from this fic

Summary: AU from the events of Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones. Jesse fights back the possession in the same way a person's body might fight against an infection. In control of himself, he manages to save Hector and flee with his friend

Warning(s): Spanking; spoilers for the whole of the Paranormal Activity film series; mentions of violence/horror

Author's Note: For those of you who don't know the film series, there's probably a summary of the films on Wikipedia. I think including a summary of all of them here would make it a bit too long to read, but it'll be easy enough to find on Wikipedia

"Hector! Let me in."

Hector gripped the video camera tightly, but it still threatened to slip from his fingers. His breath came in short, sharp pants as he looked frantically around the room, searching for a way out.

He should be used to the dark by now, but this darkness seemed to penetrate right through him, ever since they'd entered the house.

And Marisol was now dead...

Hector was aware there were tears in his eyes, but he couldn't bring himself to reach up and wipe them away. He didn't want to risk obscuring his vision - or release his hold on the video camera, which had become the only normal thing in a world that was frighteningly abnormal.

"Please open the door, Hector!" There was a moment of silence and when Jamie's voice came again, it sounded lost... childlike. "I'm scared."

Hector had been best friends with Jamie for years - and he'd never heard this tone of voice from his friend before. It was a trick. It had to be. "No," he whispered. Then, louder, "No!"

"It's not... I'm in control of myself. But those weird women are all around. You have to let me in!"

Hector hesitated. The desperation in Jamie's voice sounded real. And what choice did he have? Wait to be tracked down and killed by the cult? Or the other demons they had working for them?

Making his decision fast and hoping it was the right one, Hector stretched out as far as he could without actually taking a step forward. He grabbed the door handle, pulling it open before he could stop himself.

Jamie stood framed in the doorway for a few moments. Hector started to back away, but then Jamie lurched forward, grabbing him in a tight embrace. "I'm sorry."

"Can we just get out of this house of horrors?"

"We can't go back that way. Those women are coming."

Hector awkwardly patted Jamie's arm. "I saw a door over there, but I don't know how safe it is to go through. They could be in on the other side."

Jamie slowly released Hector. "Certain death... or certain death?"

"For me, maybe. They want you possessed."

"We might as well try that door, but those women seem to be everywhere." Jamie hesitated. "Maybe I could use my powers against them."

"Marisol died because of you. I don't think you should be using them at all."

Even in the darkness, Heather could see the way Jamie flinched. He didn't apologise again, though, and just walked over to the other door, reaching out to open it.

Hector relaxed a fraction as Jamie went ahead of him. He didn't trust the other boy at his back. At least with Jamie ahead of him, there'd hopefully be less chance of him being taken by surprise.

When Jamie opened the door, Hector could only see darkness. He wasn't sure he wanted to go inside, but there were footsteps coming from behind the door he and Jamie had used to enter the room - and they were getting louder and louder.

Jamie took a step through the door and Hector followed, quickly closing the door behind them.

They were standing in the living room of what looked like a completely different house. There was a spiral staircase in front of them and a kitchen on their left with a wall blocking most of it from view.

"Did we just come through a door to one of those unholy places?" Hector muttered.

Before Jamie could say anything, Hector spotted movement. A woman was walking down the stairs, but there was something strange about her. She looked like a zombie. And even when she reached the foot of the stairs, she seemed completely unaware of the two young men standing in the house.

Hector started to move forward, but flinched when Jamie placed a hand on his arm. Jamie withdrew his hand quickly, muttering, "Sorry," before saying, "She's possessed."

Hector felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise as he watched the woman walk into the kitchen, disappearing from view. Shaking off Jamie when he tried to stop him, Hector walked round to the other side of the wall in time to see the woman take a massive knife from one of the drawers.

"MICAH!"

The scream after the dead silence of her earlier movements made Hector jump nearly out of his skin. He heard the sound of running footsteps and turned to see a man charging down the stairs.

The woman came out of the kitchen, still holding the knife. Before she could do anything, Jamie shoved her violently into the kitchen and then grabbed Hector's hand. "We have to get out of here!"

"Who are you?!" the man, Micah, demanded.

"Come with us. She'll kill you if you stay." Jamie didn't bother waiting for a reply, just dragged Hector towards the front door and pulled it open, tugging Hector out and onto the street.

Micah joined them a moment later. "We'll take my car." He jogged over to the vehicle.

Hector followed along behind Jamie as his friend pulled him towards the car. The sound of loud screams from the house made Hector jump and drop the video camera. But when he would have stopped to grab the camera, Jamie yanked him away. "Leave it!"

Hector didn't protest. As Micah reached his car and unlocked it, Jamie opened the back door and clambered in, pulling Hector in next to him.

Micah got in the driver's side and closed the door, buckling up before he pulled out onto the street. "What were you two doing in my house?"

"It's going to sound completely nuts..." Hector muttered.

"Worse than people being possessed by demons?" Jamie pointed out.

"After what I've seen, I'll believe anything," Micah stated. "She's gone, isn't she? Katie, I mean."

"I thought the same thing about Jamie."

"I don't know what it's like for anyone else," Jamie said. "For me, it was like my body was fighting off an infection." He paused. "I should have listened when you tried to convince me to research this."

"We should still do that," Micah said.

Hector hesitated. "How do I know this isn't some kind of trick?"

Jamie smiled with no humour in it. "If I wanted to kill you, I would have before now. What choice do any of us really have? Just hide our heads in the sand and pretend this isn't happening?"

"You're acting differently."

"Try living with something ancient and evil inside your head." Jamie leaned forward to lightly tap the back of Micah's seat. "Where are we going?"

"To my sister-in-law's."

"As in your wife's sister?" Hector asked. "What if she's possessed as well?"

"She has a family," Micah said. "And Katie was a good person before this happened. I owe them this much."

Hector wanted to protest further, but before he could open his mouth, Jamie spoke up. "Why don't we go and find a motel? You could call your sister-in-law from there and then we wouldn't give away where we were and make ourselves vulnerable."

Micah was silent for several long moments, but finally, his shoulders slumped and he sighed. "Fine."

Hector sat down slowly on one of the beds, looking around the small motel room. "Do you think we went back in time?"

Jamie sat down on the bed opposite. "I guess so."

"So how does it work? Are you going to get possessed again? And what about the ritual?"

"I'm not possessed anymore," Jamie replied quietly. "But it's not like I can forget that it was still my body that did all of those things."

"Yeah, but it wasn't you."

"I was still in there, Hector. If I'd been just a bit stronger, maybe no one would have had to die."

"Or maybe they would have died anyway. You can't know for sure."

Jamie shook his head. "I'm going for a walk." He stood up.

Hector stood as well. "Where are you going to walk?"

"Just... somewhere I can think. I'm not going to go looking for that weird cult. Don't worry."

"I'm not worried," Hector lied.

Jamie snorted softly. "Yeah, right." He headed to the door.

Hector moved to intercept him. "I don't think any of us should be going out alone."

"I just need to be by myself for a while."

"Are you planning to pick a fight with someone?"

"You don't need to worry."

"Of course I'm going to worry about you. You're my friend."

"I don't think you want me as your friend anymore."

Hector had been best friends with Jamie since they'd been little children. He probably knew Jamie's moods better than anyone - and he knew that Jamie was feeling guilty and probably beating himself up over this. And even if Hector didn't think any of this was Jamie's fault, he suspected that nothing he could say would make his friend feel better.

Without even realising he was doing it, Hector grasped his friend's wrist. Jamie looked at him, but didn't say anything. He didn't protest even when Hector used that grip to guide him over to the bed, following along silently.

Stepping behind Jamie, Hector pushed on his friend's back until Jamie lost his balance and fell on the bed, his free arm shooting out to balance himself.

Hector twisted the arm he was holding up and behind Jamie's back. His friend hadn't protested so far, but Hector didn't know what his reaction would be when he started swatting.

Although Jamie clearly knew what was coming, it took a few moments for Hector to talk himself into doing this. He thought that it was necessary, but that didn't mean he was looking forward to hurting his best friend.

When Hector landed the first sharp swat to the centre of Jamie's bottom, his palm stung. Jamie jerked, but didn't make a sound. Hector landed a few more swats, wincing as each subsequent smack stung his hand more.

"Are you done?" Jamie asked when Hector paused.

"Not by a long shot." Hector slid his free hand under Jamie's stomach to unfasten his jeans and then eased them down, tugging his briefs with them.

"This isn't exactly a proper punishment."

"It isn't meant to be a punishment." Hector swatted Jamie's bare bottom, surprised at how much louder the slap sounded on bare skin. Jamie grunted, but didn't move.

"You can't blame yourself for what the demon did. It might have been your body, but it wasn't your soul." Hector landed a swat to emphasise each word, alternating between each side. By the time he paused again, Jamie's backside had pinkened in colour and he was shifting slightly.

"It wasn't your fault," Hector said.

"I should have been stronger..."

Hector sighed and brought his hand down in a harder swat than the previous had been. He could hear the faint gasp that elicited from his friend. "You managed to fight off the possession."

"But I killed..."

"The demon killed them - not you." As Hector continued the hard swats, he was startled to realise that was true. Somehow, he'd managed to separate Jamie his friend from Jamie who'd been possessed by a demon.

"You must hate me," Jamie whispered, sounding like tears weren't far off.

"You're my best friend. I could never hate you. You're all I have now - and we'll figure out the next step together." Hector landed sharp swats in random places over Jamie's bottom and thighs, one for each word.

Jamie started crying, sounding as if something had broken inside him. Hector stopped and sat on the bed next to his friend, wrapping his arms around Jamie's shoulders and pulling him into an embrace.

Sniffling quietly, Jamie leaned his head on Hector's shoulder. Not that long ago, neither of them would have even considered hugging each other like this.

But everything had changed.

The End