Please, Kill Me (Jeff the Killer x Reader)

Chapter 16 ✓

I can feel the ground beneath us wasn't just shaking; it was screaming. I am too late to aid Jeff after focusing myself to find some other diaries, until I found out the ghost name---Slendrina. It causes her to be enraged once I found all her diaries. Slendrina’s rage vibrated through the soles of my boots, a physical manifestation of her secrets being unburied. I didn't have time to process the tragedy of her diary—I only had time to move. Jeff lay unconscious, his pale hair fanning out over the dirt.

I hauled him up, his weight nearly collapsing my knees. He was solid, heavy, and dead to the world. As I adjusted my grip, a metallic glint caught my eye beneath a pile of rotted leaves. I snatched it up without thinking—my phone. The screen was cracked, but it was mine.

I didn't stop to wonder how it got there. I just ran while carying him despite with my weak muscles.

The forest was a blur of skeletal branches and shifting earth. Every muscle in my back burned as I luged Jeff toward a blinding white light that suddenly tore through the fog. I didn't care if it was a trap; I ran until a pair of strong arms caught us both, pulling us through the threshold.

You managed to escape, child.

Slender’s voice was a calm anchor in the chaos. I did not bother asking Slenderman about his connection to Slendrina---his supposed daughter. Its their family's problem and I do not want to snoop around even more. I lowered Jeff to the floor, my breath coming in ragged gasps. I looked back at the forest one last time before the heavy doors groaned shut.

"Slendrina..." I whispered, the words meant only for the shadows. "You weren't born evil. You were just broken.. just like me."

Before she could meet my eyes, the doors slammed. The silence of the mansion was deafening. I sank to my knees, the adrenaline draining out of me like water.

LJ, escort Y/N to her room so she can rest.

"I’m on it," Candy interrupted, his voice bright and jarring. He lifted me with effortless strength. "Let’s get you settled, Princess."

"But Jeff—" I started, looking back at his limp form. He looked so vulnerable like that—unguarded, stripped of the manic energy that usually defined him.

"We will take care of the Killer later," Candy said, guiding me down the hall.

I do not let my eyes wander around the halls because I am too tired already. We reached a room that felt too large for one person. "Where is his room?" I asked as Candy opened the door.

"The Killer's? Probably near mine," he chirped.

"Do you all have your own rooms?" I asked, slightly amazed. I had expected something more like a hive or a barracks, not this aristocratic solitude.

"Of course!" Candy sat on the edge of my bed as I collapsed into a chair. He watched me with an intensity that made me feel like a specimen under a microscope.

"May I ask something?" I blurted out. "You're... not a girl, right?"

The silence lasted a beat too long before he burst into a melodic laugh. "Of course not! Why?"

"You're just... very colorful," I mumbled. His skin was flawless, his features more delicate than mine.

"I'm bisexual, Princess," he said, leaning in close, his eyes twinkling. "I can have feelings for the same gender... and the opposite." He leaned further, his face inches from mine. I recoiled, my heart hammering. "Calm down," he giggled. "I'm not going to bite."

"Candy. Slender wants you."

The voice came from the doorway. A man in a white  expressionless mask—Masky, as they called him—stood there, his posture stiff. He didn't move his head, but I could feel his gaze burning into me.

"I’m afraid I can’t stay, Princess," Candy pouted. Masky didn't wait; he grabbed Candy by the collar and dragged him out like a misbehaving pet. "See ya later!" Candy called out, waving as he disappeared down the hall.

I watch them leave and just sighed then lay back on the bed, staring at the ornate ceiling. Then I remember my phone and pulled it from my pocket. A message from Dr. Caitlyn. The words felt like they belonged to a different person’s life.  How it ended up in the forest earlier? Did Jeff really gone back to the precinct just for my phone?

"Why don't you take a peek at the message?"

I nearly jumped out of my skin. Jeff was sitting in the window frame like a gargoyle, his silhouette framed by the moonlight. He hopped down, hands in his pockets. I am actually worried about him earlier because it's the first time I saw him unconscious but I am sure it's not normal for me to ask his state right now, not to mention just slap him earlier.

"Where did you get it?" I asked, though I already knew.

"Think about it," he muttered.

"The police department... but why?"

He shrugged, his gaze fixed on a point somewhere over my shoulder.

"Thank you," I said softly.

"What?"

"For this. Thank you, Jeff." I let a small, genuine smile touch my lips.

Jeff didn't move. 'Even though I slap you earlier.. but I think you kinda deserve it.." then he snort while looking away as if he is debating wether to kill me already or just let it pass. But I notice, his shoulders dropped an inch, a tiny crack in his armor, before he looked away with a scoff. "Anyway, woman... why did you do it?"

"Do what?"

"Back in the woods. You could have left me for the ghost. Why didn't you?" He sounded genuinely haunted by the question, as if the concept of someone staying for him was a riddle he couldn't solve.

"Why would I leave you?" I get up from my bed and walked toward him. "You followed me into that nightmare so I wouldn't be alone. Why would I leave someone who cared?"

In a flash, his hand was on the back of my neck, pulling me forward until our faces were inches apart. His eyes were wide, the scar-tissue smile looking jagged in the dim light. At first, I thought he will plunge his knife to my neck, but surprisingly he did not.

"I do not care about you," he hissed.

"I don't care what you say," I whispered back. "That's just what I felt."

He gritted his teeth, a muscle jumping in his jaw. For a second, I thought he might strike me this time because of my bluntness, but he just shoved me away and headed for the door.

"Make sure that phone was worth the effort," he growled, slamming the door behind him.