Expanded summary:
For as long as Edwards Island has trapped her, Alex has learned a few things. How the night will go, what happens during it, what she thinks she has to do in order to escape. But each and every time, as the calendar rounds out to August 8th, she's sent back through the rabbit hole with her friends - and an enemy - at her side. Sticking to the script has gotten her nowhere. But that was when she was holding the radio.
Jonas thinks he might have done this before. And maybe it has happened more than once. Five times, maybe? It's a script that's getting clearer and clearer as the night goes on. All he knows for sure is this: he needs to be the one holding the radio.
Note: HammieSlice (AO3) wrote Alex, OneWhoTurns wrote Jonas, we collabed on everything else, with a couple exceptions that will be mentioned when applicable.
Rated M for language and themes.
PROLOGUE
He's not sure when it popped into his head, but he's halfway clear on what he has to do before they even jump the fence — the second fence, that is, not the one at the top of the cliffs. At the top of the cliffs he was still jarred by Ren's complete lack of awareness. Weird, considering what happened on the ferry felt like something right up his alley. (Or, well, Jonas considers; what seems like his alley. He's pretty sure drugs will feature at some point tonight, and that they will be intrinsically tied to the blonde twerp who seems intent on doing things that would really not look good on Jonas's already spotty record.)
The ferry was… weird. Beyond weird. And somehow Ren was the only one unaware of what was happening.
"But, anyways. I promised him that I'd play a song from his band so-"
A fraction of a second of static, and then it was his own voice. "You need to—"
"Don't come to the Island!" The sheer panic in Alex's voice, slightly garbled on the radio waves, is apparent, but there's no time to analyze it.
"What's—? Alex! Alex…" Whatever's happening, he sounds like he's facing down something big and spiky with very sharp teeth. "C'mon, you— you know me!"
There's something feral that's only barely not a full-on shriek before- "Just- stay away! If anyone—" It's painful to hear, it's the sound of someone struggling, someone beyond desperation. "If anyone's out there, please— stay away!"
" Stop hurting her! What— Alex?! Alex!"
"...Here are the Redheaded Bedwetters with "Baby Carrots!""
"...You've gotta be fucking kidding me."
ONE
This is something out of Alice and Wonderland. Throughout the loops, that has been her whole idea. She is Alice - Alice, Alex, it was meant to be - and everyone else is along for the ride. But there are some people that can be more influential when she doesn't notice. People like Jonas. The ferry was just an anomaly, which is what she wants to believe, but it probably wasn't. Jonas hasn't been on those tapes before. Sure, she's heard herself on the station, right before the name of the band, but Jonas? He's just normal. He's just Jonas.
Hopping the fence wasn't new. Arguing with Ren wasn't new, and Alex almost didn't bother continuing the conversation past 'Brownie Town' before diving into the cave after her partner in crime. Her garbage snowman. Who she hasn't even called that nickname yet. Oh, god, this is weird. This time she doesn't call for Jonas, just walks in silence, noting her observations on the walls and trash before finding him right up on his pedestal of rock with the phone flashlight on, looking over everything.
"Jonas! Why didn't you wait for me?"
.
"Je—" He stops himself from jumping, but wow she's right there isn't she? When did that— Wait, no, he— He's been here. Jonas has definitely been here before. He gives her that same look he shot her earlier, the one she basically ignored on the ferry, and definitely didn't see during that awkward as hell Truth or Slap game. Narrowed eyes, furrowed brow, almost thinking she might be fucking with him, playing some kind of practical joke, but also acutely aware of the sheer panic in that radio message. Which, to be honest, feels like a fever dream already. "I'm… sorry. For going ahead."
His tongue feels slow, like he's just spitting out words he's been fed over and over. "I thought… You know what, forget what I thought. It was wrong. Obviously." He turns his flashlight around, really trying not to let his curiosity get the better of him cause— well, the whole 'curiosity killed the cat' thing feels super applicable at the moment. "Let's just— leave. Let's just get out of here."
He can feel it pulling at him. Something just that little bit further in. And it feels… well, important. Like maybe life-or-death important? But also kinda horribly terrifying, so… Can't hurt to at least attempt to avoid it, right?
.
No. No, she's supposed to say that, she almost always says that. For Jonas to just get out of here. And he never listens to her. The one time he did… Well, Alex can't remember the one time he did anymore. Everything is blurring together. It makes her head hurt. When she tucks teal strands of hair in front of her face, she can't quite tell if it's from his withering look, or the onset of pain. Alex shoves her way through it. Looks like she's just going to have to play his role for a little while. Just until it all matches up again.
"I mean, yeah, we could, but uh- Just check the place out, you know? March around a little bit, see if there's any…" She waves a hand in front of his face as she passes, her sneakers nearly slipping on the gap she'd forgotten was there. "Buried treasure, huh?"
Alex tries to sell the performance with a feature she's picked up from Jonas himself. Wide, bright eyes and a big smile. Even if no matter how hard she tries, hers is crooked. Just get through the night. Ignore the anomalies. Work through the teenage angst bullshit, and come out clean.
"Besides, Ren is getting high outside, and as much as I love the guy, he gets annoying when he's on a bender."
.
"Yeah, he's…" Trailing off mid-thought, Jonas shakes his head. "Yeah! Yeah, no, we can… yeah." It's a few more feet in. He knows it's there. Whatever it is.
A few scrapes on his palms are nothing, scrambling around on rocky ledges, realizing, "This place is… incredible. Holy crap." He jogs a bit to get closer to the massive outcropping of crystalline something or other, and catches it out of the corner of his eye. A glance. Half a glance, actually. He won't give it more than that. He clears his throat for a moment, trying to look like he hasn't noticed it. Maybe she won't… or—
He knew what he had to do before they jumped the fence. He needs the radio. He's gonna put an end to this once and for all.
.
Anomaly averted. It's something she's tried to do, now that everything has started blurring together. Say the same things, get the same reaction, at least attempt to recreate the same loop over and over again. It becomes exhausting after a while, but Alex has gotten used to it. She hopes she's gotten used to it. This time, instead of a cabinet right next to the edge of the cave, there's a little radio station that she knows won't work. Alex tries it anyways.
Jonas is always the one to point out the little triangle in the air. It's never her. It can't be her- Shouldn't be, really. So she goes about her usual routine. Kicks pebbles into the water, riddles around with station dials, and tries to make light of the creepy graffiti on the walls.
"Saw the man, not the dog. What kind of hippie stuff do you think that is, huh, Jonas?" Alex tries to seem like she isn't paying attention to what's above them, as she runs her fingertips along the faded paint.
The radio is still tucked into her back pocket.
.
"Alex…" He's looking at the random equipment, unease stirring in his gut. He doesn't trust it. No way, no how. Her comments on the graffiti jar him for a second, but not much. "Did you see the first half?" That's another weird thing, like he's talking for someone else. "'See a man about a dog?' Yeah, I don't get it either."
This is just… bizarre. Jonas's hand is on his forehead in an instant, cause he's pretty sure he just answered himself. "Wait— what— Okay, something is definitely weird. Super, incredibly weird right now." And now his unease is matched by frustration, and he says screw it and goes right for the radio equipment. It's like second nature, clicking the switch, leveling the dial, holding down the little button on the intercom. "Ren, Nona: we're in the cave. I think— Wait, no— no, I think it's caved in?"
Hello. Soldier. Welcome back.
"...Alex. Give me the radio."
.
"What? Why?"
Alex turns on her heel and about faces the moment Jonas starts talking into the empty space of receiver to recorder. Little ticks of static level themselves once the machine had turned on, and as he clicked at buttons or tried his hand at the receiver. They're only supposed to do that in the bunker. Only she can do that, very specifically, in the bunker. At the end of the night. Not at the start. Her eyebrows furrow a bit.
Her sneakers pad along at a steady pace when she goes to stand next to Jonas, and takes the radio out of her back pocket, extending the antenna and holding it out to him. This… No, this is wrong. This is all wrong. She is supposed to have the radio the entire night. She is supposed to save them. That's how this works.
The hand holding the device is shaking. "I— Jonas, I dunno about this, man… Maybe you should leave the freaky-deaky shit to a freak? Like me?" She starts to pull back. No. Alex won't let this happen.
.
He's maybe a little short tempered as he plucks the little handheld monster from her grasp. Or maybe not short tempered: decisive. Stubborn. "I've got this."
It's like remembering some dance he learned as a kid at summer camp. It's not exactly second nature, but it feels familiar, like he could get used to it. Click of the on switch, a turn of the dial-
It kind of hurts, a little. Not like a pain-pain, but like… like that headache you get at the end of a rollercoaster. Like something has been shaking his bones. He sucks in a breath through clenched teeth, but keeps going, tuning the opposite direction. The headache is in waves at first, going heavy then light, then heavy again, the buzzing sinking straight into his soul. The third point is what does it. And it's— well, the thing in the air was a triangle, makes sense it has three points.
There's a brief moment — a pang of the thing ripping straight through the fabric of reality — and then it doesn't hurt anymore. Just a steady humming. Like this is how it was destined to go all along.
Oh. It's you. Again.
You'll give up. The struggle. To live. To. To escape.
Eventually.
"Not gonna happen." He's only about 10% sure of what's happening right now, but he sure as hell knows whoever- whatever- this thing isn't winning this… whatever it is.
These- These machines.
Won't help.
Other you. Can't help.
They can't be helped.
He doesn't even bother responding, though a hearty fuck you is echoing in his head.
.
This is so, so wrong. Jonas should be making quips by now. She should be the one turning the radio. The- The thing, whatever it is - the crew, the sunken - it should be responding to her. Not to…
Her head feels hot. It hurts like a brand, and Alex's lungs are iron when she stares up at the triangle. That fucking son of a bitch triangle. She takes off her jacket despite the chill, and ties it around her waist, but her head still hurts. It's still too hot. Hair falls against her neck when she removes the ponytail in an attempt to alleviate pressure, because that was a thing that could happen— Right? Right?
"Jonas, Jonas stop."
.
She tells him to stop and he's still glaring at that damned triangle. "I've got this!" He repeats, shaking his head, trying to shrug her off. Jonas is about ready to shout at these— these whatever, but Alex isn't letting go, or maybe she did, and she's back, and she's holding onto him for dear life.
.
We. Are the Sunken.
You. Are the Soldier.
Sleepy. Time. Gal.
Can't help.
No help.
She's getting weaker by the second, and she knows she is. When she grapples onto Jonas' shoulders, and tries to tear her eyes away from the roof of the cave, they're the color of car brake lights.
"Stop it! Stop, it- God- Jonas, they're-" Her knees give out on her. When she goes down, Alex goes down hard, with the sickening crack of her head on a stray rock.
.
"Wh-" He looks to her and his eyes go wide as soon as he sees the light pouring from hers. "Alex!" He tries to steady her, holding her up by the elbows, but she's falling fast and he's trying to keep an eye on the thing in the air. "What are you doing to-"
No. One.
He tried, he did, but Jonas is ripped out of this reality and straight to the bottom of the ocean. It's whale song and sonar pings all the way down, and it's so empty. "...Alex?" He's not expecting her to hear him. She's gone. Wherever she is, she's gone and he's here now. He takes a breath, still dry, still breathing on the ocean floor, and thinks that maybe this was inevitable.