(Book 1? Barely anything compared to this. The REAL nightmare begins now! Cya on the other side :)

January 17th, 2022

There is something uncanny about those small beats between everything being fine and the realization that you've been placed in a situation where you are entirely fucked. It's the cold, deep, silence where you don't quite know if what you see before you is true. It's only just a few split seconds where dread and anxiety come creeping from all the darkest shadows to watch you, if for just a moment, as your face turns into one of horror before latching onto your shoulders and eating away at your lifeline...

Well that was exactly what was happening to Jimmy Donaldson right then.

The note dropped right out of his hand as he processed what happened. As the paper fluttered down back atop his desk, his office chair hit the back wall. Keeping distance from the sticky note as if it was poisoned, his knees curled to his chest. He was more than prepared to try to put the past year behind him, but now it appeared to only just be the beginning of a ride he sure as hell wasn't ready to stomach. 

"Jimmy...? I heard a bang is everything ok?" Lost in his head of worries, he barely noticed Chris enter the room, rushing to comfort him. "Hey, breathe for me, it's gonna be fine." The gentle hand on his shoulder helped ground him and he motioned forward, letting his friend look at the yellow paper on the wood tabletop. His eyes widened. 

"No... I can't do this again ...I can't keep being scared like this. Please-" The fear encompassing his body was something Chris hasn't seen in a long time since they were kids.

"I promise we will get this dealt with before it becomes a problem... Uh, how about we look through security footage! See who might've been in your office and if it was just some cruel prank we can fire whoever did it ok?" He nodded lightly before shoving his face into his knees hoping the darkness could clear his mind. Chris left the room to go to security, anger seething off him quite visibly. Anyone unfortunate enough to be in the hall felt his rage like a flame to the skin.

"Chris-"

"Chandler Hallow you're coming with me." 

"Um did something happen?" He didn't answer, opting for continuing his walk down the Beast Complex, waiting till they approached a more secluded area.

"They fucking threatened him again. Or no that's unrealistic, someone left a note pretending to be Bhushan." 

"Shit really?  What if it's actually Bhushan?"

"It better not be... I'm not sure if we have the tools to deal with a threat like that." Rumors of danger spread across the Beast Complex leaving employees of all types on edge. What even made a few of them leave that very same day was when it was confirmed that the man who delivered the note was in fact one of the Indian mafia heads; Tiger Memon. That afternoon, they were herded out for an announcement. Jimmy was nowhere to be seen.

"Everyone! For the time being, we're going to be working from home. Yes, I know it kind of sucks after doing stuff similar during Covid but right now it's just for the safety of our employees. Please keep this situation quiet. Drawing even more public attention could put others in danger. If you're getting any sort of weird emails, death threats, anything of the sort directed at you contact myself or Devon. We are both directly dealing with this. Right now burdening Jimmy with any more of... this... is the last thing any of us want so don't try contacting him." Unbeknownst to them, Jimmy was already in the car driving home, a close friend's voice comforting him.

"I'm gonna be home in 3 days, I'll try to be faster ok-"

"Y-you can take your t-time Alex... It's not that important..."

"Jimmy no, no sweetheart your life could be on the line that is- ...Chandler..." The taller brown-haired man in the driver's seat couldn't help but break out into laughter.

"I'm sorry did you just call him sweetheart? I c a n 't-" The Dream like wheezes made Alex deadpan.

"Hey! I'm trying to be affectionate I'm not good at this ok? HEY, WHY ARE YOU LAUGHING TO?" Jimmy did his best to hold back chuckles.

"Sorry I'll try to stop but it's kinda funny... Wait, Alex, do you think it would take too long to get a couple of million dollars?"

"What are you going on about...?"

"I just had an idea, don't worry about it."

"Um... I mean that's not really my area of expertise. Maybe ask Devon?"

"I will, thanks, Al! I'll talk to you later ya?"

"Alright... stay safe for me." Hanging up, the gears in his head began to turn. Reminiscing over the island challenge he did before, a question arose.

"Chandler? Do people still like Minecraft?"

"Of course they do! TommyInnit is on his way to being one of the world's biggest YouTuber's, MCC is going to become an E-Sport, and apparently, there has been talk about an official DreamSMP musical. You know that SMP Karl joined."

"Mhm..."

"Why do you ask?"

"Nothin'... just thought of something." As the idea simmered in his mind, the pair returned to the house. "God I wanna be back in the office so bad..."

"I know but Chris insists this is a bigger issue than it is. Can't we just call the damn cops?"

"Not really... if the mafia is really on his side then this isn't a call the cops type deal." Chandler was about to speak up again but Jimmy had already opened the door, greeting Devon excitedly about his new idea. Chandler sighed. After the whole thing, before he ran away when he threatened him, he had found himself being slightly more uneasy around Jimmy. Jimmy seemed like such an angel and yet... he still stays up at night wondering what would happen if he pushed him a little more answers... would he have to try to ignore a scar against his throat?

"What do you think Chan?"

"Uh, I'm sorry I wasn't paying attention..."

"No worries! Basically, I had this idea for a huge competition. What if we rented out an island and tried to recreate Minecraft game modes in real life? Then we have some teams of the most popular modern and old YouTubers who helped spark the game's popularity duke it out for a million-dollar cash prize!" His eyes lit up with that signature Jimmy determination guiding him in whatever he does. 

"That sounds pretty cool. Go for it I suppose."

"Ok, Devon we need to figure out who would want to compete, get someone looking for potential locations, a team figuring out the logistics of different events, ways to publicize. Ooh, we need to talk to some sponsors right now we really don't have the money-"

"Jimmy, slow down we'll-"

"Don't tell me to slow down." He glared back at Devon, sternness now in his gaze. "Living on the streets for six months puts a lot into perspective. You need to live life to the fullest because you don't know when it will all be taken from you. We're gonna do this event, entertain the masses, and live on the edge. It'll be great I promise. Now, what if we could get Twitch to sponsor and maybe get Mark and his friends on board to figure out how to live stream everyone's perspectives...?" As he continued to plan, Devon and Chandler exchanged concerned looks. Jimmy was incredibly one-track-minded right now.

Jimmy knew if he let his thoughts wander he'd end up back in the place he was broken.

~~~