Covens and Proxies

49

Toby's POV

Blood soaks the walls, the rugs, the furniture as we watch the family struggle to breathe around their own blood. As I watch them writhe, a strange sense of unease settles over me. It's different then my typical paranoia, it seems distant and unhinged. As if I'm not the one feeling it. A violent shiver runs through me, my bones cracking my neck is whipped around.

Before I can say anything, my phone starts ringing. I pick it up before it buzzes twice. "They've got her." Is all my boss says.

For a moment, I don't know what he's talking about before something akin, but far worse then, fear grips me. "What?" My vision goes so red, I can hardly see anything. My body goes completely numb, my blood roaring in my ears as I shake in my boots. I have to work to not go into a rage.

"Jeff ran her past my borders. When she came back in, she was being followed by a group of four. They'd set a trap and caught her." He explains.

All of my fury narrows to a thin point. Towards Slenderman. "Yo-u. Let. Them-them. Catch. H-er?!" I shriek into the phone, throwing all fucks about penalty out the window.

He's silent, only reaffirming my worst fears. "I did not realize she was unable to defend herself so easily."

In an instant, a thousand fantasies involving his death flash through my mind for the insult alone. "Where. Ar-are. They?" I growl around my tics, just barely maintaining enough control to not break down completely.

My colleagues are watching in tense, uneasy silence. "I don't know. Smile Dog is tracking them as we speak."

I want to break every bone in his body, skin him and dangle his entrails up with the kids he makes art from. I want to take his brothers and slit their throats one by one so he can feel my loss. I want to bash his brains in with my bare fists.

"We're coming back." I state, hanging up and grabbing my hatchet from the skull of something I killed. As I head for the door, I start to black out into a rage before Rouge's hand grabs my shoulder. She snaps me out of it.

"What's going on?"

The other proxies look at me, waiting for me to fill them in. "God-God killers took her. On-on Slenderman's turf." I spit, slapping her hand away and stalking out of the building.

I'm on the dark street when a swirling pit of black opens in front of me. Out steps Callisto, looking as pissed off as I am. "No questions. Come on. I know where their main unit is." She steps aside.

I don't hesitate, but I hear the reluctance in my colleagues. "This witch wa-was (Y/n)'s mentor. Thi-is is a Warp Gate-gate. Are you coming?"

Masky sighs, walking up next to me. "This better be the last time." He grumbles, jumping through. Hoodie follows, Rouge and Kate after. Callisto and I go last, appearing in a small, run-down room around noon somewhere across the world.

She points out a broken window, towards a massive, ancient plot of ruins. "Most of their base is under ground and surprisingly small. But they patrol this entire area thoroughly." She tells us, handing a pair of binoculars to me.

I look out at the expanse of land, noticing a few large hatches that must lead down. "Good." I mutter.

A wave of dizziness forces me to my knees, a faint heartbeat humming in the distance. I'm back in that strange space she'd helped me to not even twelve hours ago. But as soon as I'm there, I'm back in the house with the others staring at me as if I'd grown wings.

"She's alive." I mutter, sparks of hope and violent energy exploding in my chest.

Callisto doesn't look convinced. "How do you know?"

I look at her, knowing she can read between the lines. "I jus-just know." I hand the binoculars off to Hoodie. "Where are-are we?"

"Africa." Callisto informs. "South Africa."

I groan, almost slamming my head into the wall out of frustration. "Can your friend tel-eport some of our mem-mbers here if she has-has coordinates?" She nods, pulling out her phone and handing it to me with the contact open. "Delet-ete this as so-on as I send it." I tell her, tapping the numbers to the mansion and a few others I know of in and hit send.

Within the next five minutes, a black hole opens and in tumbles Clockwork, Eyeless Jack and Jeff the Killer. Jack is the first to his feet, Clockwork scrambles back while Jeff stays on his hands and knees. It takes us all too long to realise he's crying, not laughing, or rather a mix of both.

I'm the first to realize why. I slam my foot so hard into his side, he's flung to the opposite wall. He crumbles to the floor, hiccuping and clutching his waist.

"It's your-our fault, Woods." I growl, grabbing him by the hair and slamming his head into the wall so he's looking up. His face is red and eyes puffy.

"I didn't set the fucking trap, Rogers! I didn't even know I chased her past the god damn border until Liu got in my fucking way!"

I stop, thinking over the various scenarios that could've lead to something like that. "You-you tried to kill her, did-didn't you?" I snarl, getting close enough that our noses almost brush. He nods. "What did-did Liu do with her-er?" I demand.

"I don't fucking know!" He shrieks. "He wouldn't hurt her! I know he wouldn't!" He spits, kicking me off of him. Masky and Kate scramble to keep me from pounding the shit out of the bastard while Rouge and Clockwork help him up and keep him away. "He watches me as often as he can." Jess sniffles, wiping his face clean. "He knew I was with her before you. He liked her too. He was protecting her." He explains, resting against the wall. "He wouldn't have hurt her, shit head."

I rip myself free from Mask and Kate's grip, glaring at Jeff. "Who els-else saw her?"

He hesitates this time, glaring at the ground. "Chris did."

I almost chop off his head right then, but Masky grabs my wrist before I can even try. "What hap-happened?"

"I don't fucking know! Sully called me in a rant about the whole shit-fest and told me to go find her. They saw the guys moving after her and weren't fast enough to stop them before the border."

"I know Chris hates us, but why didn't Liu keep going?" Hoodie asks, not taking his eyes off of the land below us.

"Because of me, jackass! He usually doesn't fuck around with me."

He looks like he wants to continue, but the black hole spews out a few more of us and disappears. Jason, Ben Drowned, Candypop, Laughing Jack and Jill, Bloody Painter, Judge Angel, Puppeteer and his two proxies and Smile Dog all fall through into a pile. It takes me a moment to realise while I was arguing with Jeff EJ had sent a mass text to everyone about the situation. They don't ask any questions.

After that, everyone settles down for a while. The night passes, Masky, Rogue and Hoodie keep watching the base while the rest of us rotate sleep and watch. I don't bother, though. I pace back and fourth, kicking anyone that tells me to sit my ass down. The sun starts peeking over the canopy when Hoodie grabs me and yanks me down next to him. Without a word, he hands me the binoculars and points.

There, I can see a hatch opening. Someone pokes their head up, looks around and crawls out. They shut the hatch silently, carefully, before sprinting head-long for the far side. They barely get a few yards before they're shot to shit.