Stranger in a Strange Pan | Episode 2: New Normal

[puckandpie]

[Bitty sits on a wooden chair, the back of an overstuffed leather sofa behind him, half hiding a stone fireplace in the distance and a full and rather messy bookshelf. It's clearly not the same setting as his previous vlog entry and, as cozy a place as it seems, Bitty himself looks a little more withdrawn, his shoulders slightly slumped, hands clasped and fidgety.]



Hey, ya'll. I know it's been a while since my last entry here. I really meant to post something about every other week or so, but uh... Some stuff recently happened.

That sounds vague and sorta cryptic, I'm sorry. I'm not tryin' to keep anything from ya'll, I swear. It's just sorta hard to describe exactly what happened, I guess. Lookin' back it still really feels like some long and horribly vivid nightmare.

[Falling silent for a moment, Bitty chews at his bottom lip, face pulled into a grimace before he takes a breath.]

So I sorta heard murmurs about this place being scary sometimes. Not in the normal, big-city-full-of-werewolves-and-vampires way, but in the sense that strange things happen every now and then. I guess I really didn't take it too seriously or I just... I just didn't think about it at all. Darrow isn't home and I'd still give just about anything to go back to Samwell, but I was at least starting to get a little more comfortable here.

Now I'm pretty sure that isn't possible.

See, I went to meet with Derek at the park -- I mentioned him last time, click on the link below if you need a refresher -- because he said he had something he needed to talk with me about. I had all these thoughts about it beforehand, most of them completely ridiculous, of course, but I was also worried he maybe wanted to fire me. I was a little nervous, I can't lie.

But right when I got there, he disappeared. Like, right in front of my eyes. And then Neil did, too. Neil's a good friend of Derek's by the way, they were both there at the park together. He's now a good friend of mine too, after everything, but I'm getting to that.

Anyway, a second later, I wasn't in the park anymore, but instead this... alternate dimension, I guess. It was just like Darrow only everything was rusted and covered in ash. And there were...

[Grimacing, Bitty trails off again, shaking his head as he pulls his arms in close.]

Most of things we saw down there weren't human, I'll put it that way. Sure, they looked human sometimes, but then they'd shift and twist into these huge, black, slithery creatures.

Thank goodness I was down there with Derek and Neil or I sure wouldn't be sittin' here right now talkin' to you folks.

And we weren't the only ones that were stuck there, but I don't know if that's a good thing or not.

Thomas was there. I found him running away from zombies. He called them something else -- Cranks -- but they were definitely zombies. He'd been running forever and I dragged him up to Derek's apartment and convinced him stay with us for awhile, though not for long enough if you ask me.

He's-- He's okay though, at least. He made it out.

Maybe okay isn't the right descriptor there. But he's alive. I checked his apartment just this morning and he's...

I'm just so, so glad he's alive.

[Bitty has to pause again when his voice catches and he takes a second, breathing in slow before he blinks a few times and rubs a hand over his face.]

There were others, too. Probably a lot more than we saw. The three of us -- Derek, Neil and me -- we spent a lot of time hiding when we could. It felt like every time we ventured outside, we got attacked by something. They were almost always targeted at Derek and they were all... I mean, sometimes they weren't even really deadly. They were just... just horrible, terrible farces of Derek's friends and family hurling lies and abuse at him.

And he-- He found out that I'd been lying to him. In just about the worst way possible.

I think we're okay now. We talked about it a little. I mean, as much as we could given the situation. He's letting me stay with him at the moment until I can get over seeing terrible things every time I close my eyes, so uh... welcome to Derek Hale's cabin.

[His smile is a little watery and hesitant as he lifts his hands as though in presentation of the scene behind him before dropping them back to his lap again.]

Anyway, as you can see, we survived. It was really really bad at the end, too. Just... I can't even describe half of what we saw. I hope none of you watching this had to go through anything similar, but if you did, I'm so so sorry and I hope you're okay now.

I think Derek's still struggling with a lot even if he's putting up a brave front. That's sort of his thing.

I keep hoping things will get back to normal here soon, but I'm not sure how realistic that is. I'm not actually sure what normal even means anymore. Not in this place.

[Bitty goes quiet again, silence stretching for a long moment before his lips pull into a grimace and he shrugs, almost apologetic.]

I'm sorry, this really isn't the best for a second installment. Though I still think there are only about five of you watching, if that. At first, I thought I'd wait for awhile for things to settle, but I guess I can't just forget what happened.

So here it is. Hopefully I can move on now.

The next one will be happier, I promise. Thanksgiving's coming up, maybe I'll toss in a pie recipe.

Yeah. Apple or pumpkin. I've been baking up a storm since I got back, which I think is helping. Keeps my mind off things. So I think y'all well definitely get a recipe next time.

So, uhm. Until then.

[His smile small and still rather shaky, Bitty waves at the camera, and the video ends.]