Behind closed doors

Chapter 3

Alice slumped onto her bed and closed her eyes tight. That kill hadn't been as smooth as she'd wanted it to be. It was just one guy, so the diamond card was a perfect match to leave behind. It was her thing, her stamp, a signature that she'd become taken with. It set her aside from the rest. With her, it didn't end up looking like some random killing or a mess to clean up. When she left a scene, it was with a style all her own. In a way she saw it as a way to keep in touch with the outside world. The personalised cards left people talking about her, thinking about her... That way, she was never truly forgotten. So with that mindset in place, she'd followed her target into his local drinking cess-pool, gotten invited back to his place. And offered him one last game of cards...

Something damp nudged her arm. Opening one eye lazily, she glanced down and saw a husky dog prodding her elbow with its nose. At least, at one point in the past she presumed that it had been a husky. Now, it was practically bald; clumps of matted black hair around it's head and ears, patched along its back down to the ttail. The animals skin was raw, looking burnt and matched the red in its eyes perfectly. But what was the most noticeable trait about this creature, was its mouth. Snout long burnt away, all that remained was a stump of a nose, and a strangely human-like grin. Wide and large, permanently presented in a malicious sneer. Alice however, instead of fearing it as so many have done in the past, casually patted the creature's head and sighed.

"Hey, Smile." The dog nudged her arm again and carefully bit her sleeve, tugging at it, "What? I'm tired." But no matter how much she protested, he continued to persist, "Okay, you win, mongrel."

It rolled its eyes and allowed her to get up. It was common knowledge that Smile was by far more intelligent and vigilant that people would give him credit for. He may look like some mutated mutt but under the matted fur and burnt skin was a consciousness surpassing any canine.

Alice was led towards the room that was most commonly known as The Informer, purely because that's the place where they were all informed of their jobs. The targets, the reasoning and locations etc. Inside, it confused her to see that everyone had already gathered there. Shad and Ben hovered in the corner, Jack slumped near them with his eye-sockets aimed at the floor morosely. A thin, humanoid creature with talons tapping unnervingly against the tiled floor was crouched on all fours by the door, empty and blank eyes swivelling to look at her. Rake, Alice clarified, he didn't show up often, this must be serious. The creature hissed at her in acknowledgment, to which she nodded a return greeting. But what made things seem all the more serious, was the way Slender stood, looming over Jeff and Toby in such a way that she'd only been the victim of once. And it instantly brought a smirk to her lips.

"Oh it's about time you messed up, Jeffy-boy."

"Yeah you're so smug now the shoe's on the other foot, huh?" he returned, "Wasn't so funny when it was you standing here!"

"That was never my fault. And now I'm stuck living with the consequences every time I see... well that." She snapped, indicating to Jeff in general.

"And this wasn't my fault! It was his!"

Toby narrowed his eyes, "I was just doing what you told me to; don't be so damned literal next time!"

She shrugged in false coyness, "So what did I miss?"

Slender's voice echoed inside their minds, explaining the situation. As he spoke, Jeff became more and more agitated while Toby started to rub his elbow uneasily. Every single detail was given. The misunderstanding of the address, the merciless massacre of two adults and a young teenage boy, forgetting to finish a started job (correct or not) and then alerting the attention of the public and authorities. Needless to say it was not looking good.