The Proxies (ENG)

CHAPTER 2: A Proposal

Toby woke up when the first rays of sunlight hit the window of his new house, as always, he got up and walked to the kitchen to make breakfast.

"Make me a coffee." A raspy voice said from the sofa, a shabby looking man sat there, an unshaven beard highlighting the growing baldness on his forehead. Above the television, a large lumberjack ax rested on two nails in the wall.

The boy frowned, sneering at his father from behind. "Yes sir."

After serving his father his coffee, Toby's phone began to vibrate, it was a message from Jeff.

Jeffrey: Hey man, after school the boys and I plan to meet at my house, to play video games. You in?

Tobias: Wait a second, I'll ask my father.

Toby put down his phone and walked over to his father.

"Dad, can I meet some friends this afternoon, please?" The boy said in a harmless voice.

"Hm... okay. But come back early, you still have to unpack things."

"Yes father."

That same afternoon, the three boys left school together and headed towards Jeff's house.

"So... I've heard that this town has weird things or something, right?" Toby asked.

"Don't you know about the history of Mors Hill?" Ben said, puzzled.

"No, I really wasn't interested in investigating."

"Dude, you really surprise me. Let me give you a history lesson..." Ben said trying to make a scary voice, failing in the attempt.

"200 years ago, Charles Raughter founded this town, cutting down a large forest that used to be here. Many workers began to disappear from undiscovered causes from day one. Hunters spoke of a man the size of a tree, children had nightmares with what could only be described as a tentacled beast attacking them, Charles Raughter himself was allegedly tortured by this creature, leading to suicide a few months later. The news spread across the continent, and people began to call this town "Cursed" But as time passed, these stories only became tales to scare children, the locals began to call the monster "The Slender Man", and began to promote themselves based on the creature, this town is full of Slender Man, there are plushies, books, comics, movies that I don't recommend seeing because they are an insult to your eyes, etc. Basically we live based on an urban legend, Believe it or not."

"Wow... you know how to tell a story." Jack said surprised.

"Yeah... I've heard of The Slender Man before, but I didn't know that this was the origin of the story." Toby said.

The group of friends finally arrived at Jeff's house, as soon as he opened the door, a large Siberian husky welcomed them.

"Hey, Milo! How are you, big guy?" Jeff said as he bent down to pet his dog.

The boys all took turns petting the dog before finally entering the house.

"I always wanted a dog." Toby said, petting Milo.

"Yes... this grandpa has been with me for 14 years. He's... terminally ill, so I'm trying to get him through his last moments in the best possible way."

"I see... well, at least you can feel good about giving him a good life, right?"

"Yeah... you're right."