Covens and Proxies

53

With her clothes ripped and her hair dirty, her feet bare and her skin scraped, she stands in front of her cell door as if we were at the mansion. As if I'd just come back from a menial patrol or recon.

She's smiling at me like the cloud of blackness wasn't a threateningly obvious symbol of pure death, like it hadn't just run Jeff out and it didn't just flow through me. With her perfect (h/l), (h/c) cut and (e/c) orbs and (b/s) size.

And her perfect smile.

I drop my hatches, holding her in two strides and laughing. She's giggling into my chest, fitting so perfectly in my arms. I can hardly remember why she felt so awkward and why it was so painful for me two years ago.

After a moment of squeezing her probably a little too hard, foot steps and shouting voices ring in our ears. In another second, their voices turn to coughing fits; their footsteps become heavier and more staggered. She takes my hand, guiding me to the main tunnel while I pick up my blades. We look at five guards as they collapse to their hands and knees, hacking and coughing up blood, clutching their throats and chests.

She squeezes my hand, pulling me across the hall. "We need to do something before we go." She pulls open a lab door and starts digging around their equipment. She finds a metal pole, probably for repairs, and walks up to a massive tube emitting the revolting stench. Before I can stop her, she starts bashing the glass. Two hits in and it explodes, the sickly mass exploding. Before it can reach her, it dissolves into the air.

It takes her blowing the other one out before I understand what she's doing. She's getting the magic out so it can return to it's source.

I go to the next lab, shattering the thick glass with the backs of my hatches--there's no way I'm duling my blades like this. We keep at this until we're certain every lab in the construct is destroyed, the plague having already killed every God Killer inside so we didn't have any confrontations.

I watch her beat into the last casing, out of breath and tired, but still putting everything she's got into her swing. I realise something happened while she was here. When she was last abducted, she resolved to killing only when her life was in direct danger. Now... She's a bone-afide murderer. The idea makes my heart stutter, a strange smile pushing it's way across my face.

As it explodes, the glass shards scatter around her, the magic dissolves behind her to make something of a perfect affect. Light casting from behind, the glass refracting it so it dances over her. I get a little lost, staring at her, until my phone almost makes me jump out of my skin.

"What?" I snap, Masky on the other end.

"What the hell have you been doing? We need to go!"

I pause, watching her walk towards me. Something in his voice sounds off. "What's the stat-atus on Jeff?"

He doesn't say anything. "Get your asses up here so we can get him to Dr. Smile." He finally breathes before hanging up.

I can feel a rock forming in my stomach, a little scared to look at her. "Come on." I murmur, taking her hand and running for the nearest exit.

We run over almost fifty corpses of doctors and guards, seeing twice that much collapsed in halls--they were all probably trying to escape. It doesn't matter. On the surface, the sun is already towards evening. Everyone is on the far side of the field, the witches off to the side, most on their hands and knees. A few look like they passed out or died.

I don't really think when I let go of her hand to sprint head-long towards them. They glance at me before moving to reveal Jeff--covered in his own blood and looking very dead.

"What-what the fuck is going on?!" I demand, Callypso kneeling next to him with faintly glowing hands.

"He took in her plague." She doesn't look up, pulling her hands back. I crouch next to him, pressing a finger to his jugular. His heart rate is unsteady and slow, barely fluttering when it manages to beat. "We need to go."

She gets up, taking her phone out to call. Meanwhile, (Y/n)'s pushed through the crowd to see her barely living ex. When I look at her, she doesn't look scared or even regretful. She stares blankly at his face, almost as if she's encouraging her disease to kill him faster. I realize that it's only affecting him because she hates him.

It only affects those she thinks of as enemies.

I scramble up, pulling her away from the crowd. She doesn't look at me until Jeff is out of view. When she does, she gives a small smile. "What's wrong?"

"You need-eed to stop." I tell her for the first time ever. I've never actually tried to stop a killing, especially towards Jeff. But as much as I hate him, he's one of us. And he needs to live, or Slenderman will torture and slaughter her.

She looks dazed and confused. "What?"

"You need to forgive Je-Jeff or do whatever you need to-to to stop him from dying. If you don-don't, Slenderman will destroy you."

She blinks, looking back at the crowd and to me. "I... Don't understand."

My grip on her shoulders tightens as I fight the urge to shake her. "You're killing Jeffery-Jeffery Woods!" I shout, drawing most everyone's gaze--probably because my voice broke. "If you don't, Slenderman i-is going to punish you directly! And you-ou won't survive the process!"

This time, she seems to get it. For a moment, the same blank expression washes over her face before it's gone and she moves back through the crowd. I watch her, my fists clenched and shaking while she kneels next to him.

She puts her hands lightly over his nose and mouth, moving in a small circle around it while muttering in the same language when she attacked Slenderman. His head is thrust back, his spine arching as she pulls her hand back. The black miasma is drawn from his mouth and nose. A flick of her wrist scatters it to the wind. Everyone else has backed up, but I come forward to take his pulse. It's stronger, but still not normal.

Thankfully, Callisto calls everyone to a warp gate. "This is to your mansion. Once you're all there, I'm taking the other witches to our coven leader." She tells us.

Everyone runs through, obviously very ready to get home. I pick up Jeff, Masky next to me and (Y/n) just ahead of me. Before I follow them through, I pause next to Callisto.

"I really-elly can't thank you enough." I hate owing anyone anything. "Let me kno-know if you need any favors any tim-ime soon." I tell her bluntly, not waiting for a response, and jump through.

On the other side, everyone stands in front of the mansion. Slenderman is waiting for us, Dr. Smile next to him. (Y/n) doesn't hesitate walking towards him, though I feel like my gut is burning--being only able to watch. They disappear inside, everyone following. I help Dr. Smile with Jeff before stepping into the hall with his phone, calling a number I never thought I would.