Noah had not even realised he had pressed his back against the opposite door until he felt the handle dig into the small of his back. He wasn't certain what it was that had scared him so much about this man standing in the doorway. Was it just because his nerves were so frayed from what he had seen? Or was it just an innate fear of this man cast in shadow? Either way, Noah felt an intense desire to flee.

"You look scared," the man spoke again with that deep melodic voice. "I was always rusty when it came to conversation. It was never a strong point. My name is John."

Noah did not respond. He was trying to control this fear, trying to curb it down deep within himself. There was no reason why this man named John should have scared him so much.

A deep sigh emerged from John's lips. "It is no surprise, I suppose. I know what I look like. They don't supply razors in our rooms and I have not had any reason to leave my room in the time I have been here. They have left me well enough alone. I appreciate my solitude even though I am never truly alone." There was a strange tinge to John's voice as he said that, almost annoyance. "Look, I am not asking you to come inside. I am not about to do anything strange or weird so you can stop looking at me as if I am the bogeyman. I'm trying to be polite."

John stepped forward out of the doorway and Noah flinched but instead the ridiculously slender man lowered himself until he was sitting cross-legged in the hallway. The dimmed lights cast a little more detail of the man's black hair and beard and Noah realised that it wasn't matted or knotted like he had thought, but rather combed in various directions to create some sort of chaotic-but-planned hairstyle. In fact the quality of the hair was surprisingly smooth, as if somehow this John was secretly a model for a magazine. The hair still covered the man's features though, so Noah only ever caught a glimpse of pale skin if John moved his head. He was wearing the slacks of Hearthome, but it looked as if he had torn the top at the neck to make a make-shift v-neck and although John had hair all around his face, his chest was doll-like and smooth.

Seeing him in this light made Noah a fraction more comfortable but it did not stop his desire to flee as fast as he could.

"Is it fear staying your tongue or do you just not talk much? I suspect the latter from the amount I heard Doctor Evans say and the amount I heard you say. Well, that is okay. It is good to stretch my vocal chords on something I can visibly see. Yes, I'm talking about you." The last words were almost snapped in the air as the man swung his head to the right before refocusing on Noah. "Sorry if I get distracted every now and again." He tapped his head. "I try and ignore the voices but sometimes they get just a little too loud. After all, we're all in Hearthome for a reason."

"I suppose I ought to explain myself. I can't tell what you're thinking, you know? Either you're thinking, 'What did this guy mean by help'? or you're thinking 'Jesus Christ this guy is a grade-a freakshow'. Maybe a little bit of column A, maybe a little bit of column B. Let me get this straight, then. I am guessing that the kind of list Doctor Evans was talking about wasn't a shopping list, or a to-do list, or a list of chores, was it?"

Noah's fear was slowly getting replaced by something else. Intrigue and curiosity. Feelings he generally had left on the doorstep when he entered Hearthome. This John spoke so strangely, with a rhythm and low bounce to his words. And was he hinting at the List, as in the List that came from a vision? The chances of somebody else at Hearthome knowing about a List could only be miniscule.

"No, it is a list of people, correct? A list of people in a certain order who have evaded Death's icy cold grasp. Yes, I can see from your expression that I am right. Well let me answer the question I can hear in the air. I know of the list and I know what that means. I know what happens when someone injects themselves on the list and I know what happens when somebody survives the list. I know the rules, you know the rules, let's not mess about with that, okay? Doctor Evans mentioned… what was it, the Crosshatch Club? You've had a vision before and for whatever reason you ended up in Hearthome. A deliberate attempt to flee the grasp of the reaper, or a repercussion of what having a vision does to you? Who knows. The only visionary I ever knew was a selfish little bitch who refused to save anyone. So are you that kind of visionary, a visionary who does things for themselves, or a visionary who tries to save the people who need saving?"

Noah realised somewhere in himself as John spoke that he was enraptured by him. The way he spoke, the way he moved, like a graceful reptile. It almost felt like he was listening to Robyn's stories, only John was speaking of stories that Noah knew about.

"So I suppose I'm interested in just what happened? Did the dorms fall down because of a faulty construction job? Is a hurricane due to blow in and tear everything to pieces? A meteor falling from the sky?" The man let out a long, musical laugh. "Well, however it happened isn't particularly important. Whatever it is will happen soon and it will be up to you to stop it. No, the first thing I'm interested in is was I involved? Am I on your List? Do I need to be worried about breaking my neck on my bedframe or slipping in the shower? Do I need to worry about myself?"

"No." Noah was surprised that he had spoke and he was surprised at how easily it came. His fear was completely quenched now. John was a siren in the guise of a man and Noah had cut the ropes of the mast to approach him.

"Well that is a relief. I've no desire to be watching my back day in and day out. That doesn't change my interest though. Interest is the word, you see, because there has been nothing of interest in Hearthome. The rec-room is boring, the doctor's meetings are boring, it's all just so boring. I'm here because I'm here and I never got out and trust me I tried. So I accepted the fact that this is where I go to grow old and grey. Well, I was never one for idle hands so this List, your vision and no doubt the trials that are ahead of you, I want to help you. Now I'm a selfish man, I don't want to save people personally, I don't want to put myself on the List, but I need a bit of fun. A bit of spice that doesn't come in the form of voices in my head. My brain has grown lazy and I despise laziness. So I want to offer my help and whatever expertise I might be able to offer. Again, I'd like to make this clear, I have no desire to put myself in harm's way. But helping you might create an opening to escape this place. And trust me, I've had enough of Hearthome and Hearthome has had enough of me."

Noah looked at the man and the man looked back, eyes shadowed under many strands of carefully placed hair. He formulated the words in his mind and managed to speak them with little trouble. "I want to find Conner Shepherd. In the vision, he was the cause. If I can stop him then that will stop the vision."

"…Conner Shepherd… I hear he's a hotshot with an itchy trigger finger. Likes to spit rhetoric in as many insults as he can manage in one breath. A real trouble-maker." From underneath John's wildly-cared for beard, Noah saw glimpses of a skeletal grin. "But he is a man of conviction. To train a wild wolf you just have to give him something he wants. I can't answer what a man like Conner wants, but that is where the art of conversation comes in."

"I am not exactly an artist of that type," Noah frowned.

"Well then, you better find somebody who is. I'm the kind of guy who will really get on Conner's nerves, so you need to find someone who loves to talk and doesn't get thrown off their game. Going by that look of yours, I suspect you already do. Well then, if you want to accept the help I offer, come back to me after you have prevented whatever your vision has shown you. If you can bring as many people as you can who are on the list, all the more for it. It's always better to break the news in a group, you know? Although with the people in Hearthome… Well, I just hope we're all mentally ready for it…" The man chuckled again, low and hearty, before standing up like a spider uncurling its legs and slipped back into his room, closing the door against the shadows and leaving Noah deep in thought.

"It's rare for you to come and find me, not that I don't appreciate it, it's just something you don't usually do. I mean, sure, it's three in the morning, but that's okay. When you gotta talk, you gotta talk. I often find things coming to mind at weird hours of the time. I keep a notepad full of ideas so that I can keep track of what I'm thinking, only I can't read my own handwriting so in the end I end up forgetting what it was anyway, which is fine, because something else always takes my interest anyway. Here," Robyn, somehow completely wide awake when the majority of Hearthome was asleep, offered a steaming cup towards Noah, who took it gratefully.

They were in the Rec-Room, which was accessible even at night. There were a couple of stray night-owls around the large building, but otherwise Robyn and Noah were alone at a table in the corner. They were in a kind of café area, where there was publicly available kettles and some other dry goods, and in the day its where the food got served.

Noah held the coffee in his hands and tried to figure out how to articulate his thoughts. Explaining to somebody about a vision and what the List meant could end up in tears, anger, fighting, and all sorts of reactions. Noah had done it before with help, but this was the first time on his own, and this was the first time since the bus accident.

"My advice is stop thinking about it too much," Robyn dove in, tucking herself under the table with a mug of hot chocolate. "When I stopped thinking about what I was saying, it made it all the more easier. I know you're a quiet guy so getting advice from someone like me I guess is a little difficult but, well, you've clearly got something on your mind, so I better stop talking, eh?"

"I don't know how you find it so easy…" Noah murmured.

"With a lot of practice and irritated gazes," Robyn grinned. "But hey, we're at Hearthome. You can't exactly say anything too crazy here, right?"

"Well…" Noah licked his lips. "I suppose I'll start at a place called the Crosshatch Club…"

So Noah spoke about the Crosshatch Club, about the year he spent after those events, of Amelia convincing him to leave home and then the bus accident. At first he stopped and started, finding it hard to speak for any length of time. Yet he spoke about it and it was the first time he had willingly spoken to someone by choice. To Robyn's credit she stayed quiet and allowed him to speak, even when the pauses were long. Her patience allowed Noah to dictate his story and he was able to speak about the vision. When he mentioned what it meant, and mentioned what happened with the survivors of the Crosshatch Club, Robyn's eyes widened but otherwise that was the only response she showed. Noah described what happened to the survivors, how the List worked and how one-by-one fate caught up with the people involved. When he spoke of the bus accident, he found regret in his voice, like never before even when he talked with Doctor Evans.

When Noah was finished, their table grew quiet. Robyn seemed deep in thought, gently fiddling with a strand of hair. Noah felt physically exhausted as if he had run a marathon rather than spoken some simple words. It was almost freeing though, in a different way than it was with Doctor Evans. Doctor Evans would ask questions, would poke and prod, whereas being able to speak without interruption, in the way that he wanted, was honestly really nice. It helped that Robyn hadn't freaked out, or at least she hadn't freaked out yet.

"…So what's the plan?" Robyn asked, finishing the cold dregs of her hot chocolate and placing the cup down with authority.

"I… What?" This had taken Noah off guard.

"The plan. What do we have to do? I mean, from what it sounds like is that there is steps to preventing this thing, and the first step is to stop what Conner does tomorrow."

"You believe me?"

"Of course I believe you, man, I always thought things were weird with accidents sometimes. I would see it on the news and I would see that a bunch of people would survive accidents, and then you would see those people slowly dying off. I don't believe in coincidence so what you've said only reaffirms suspicions I've had before. I'll have to talk about it to the camera later, but yeah, we need to have a plan, right?"

Noah let out a long breath and decided to accept it for what it was. There was no point arguing with Robyn by asking her if she was sure she believed in it. Either way, she said she believed him, and said she wanted to help. So Noah knew that he ought to take advantage of that. "Well, I met my next door neighbour when I woke earlier."

"I didn't think you had a neighbour?"

"Nor did I. He knows about visions and the List, and he offered me his help. He said that I should talk to Conner Shepherd first. Only I needed someone who could talk to someone without… well, being me. Talking to you today like this has been amazing but… I can't do this with strangers, I just can't…"

"Ah, so you came to me because I'm the opposite and I love talking. I got it. I don't like Conner but I reckon I can find something about him to like. Which reminds me, have I ever told you my theory that he's a werewolf? Well, that's a story of another time. Let's go talk to him now, right, the sooner the better. And what then, after talking to him?"

"Then we figure out how to save people on the List. John said he would help and that I should get as many people on board as possible when we go meet him again. So I think we talk to Conner and then Penelope and Ollie. Talking to Banks and Sullivan I don't think will happen straight away but I can talk to Doctor Evans later today, although that is not a conversation I am looking forward to."

"Awesome!" Robyn slapped her palms down and jumped up to her feet. "Let's go find Conner Shepherd then!"