Masked Roses

Chapter Seven

Holding the controller tightly in my hands, I tried to simply mash the buttons however I could while moving the joysticks. My attempts to strike Jeff's character proved useless when he suddenly knocked me off the screen. I stared with my one eye as it widened and I snarled at Jeff, punching him in the shoulder to prevent him from celebrating his victory. Glancing at my watch, I realized almost two hours had passed and I looked out the window just past the curtains to see the outside covered in a blanket of darkness.

I could just barely make out specks of white as they fluttered to the ground, coating the ground as they began to make a layer of snow build up on the grassy terrain. I heard a knock on the door close by and turned to see Sadie smiling as she held the door open that led to the kitchen. "Dinner's ready, guys." She flashed a cheery grin before walking back into the kitchen, leaving the door open as heavenly smells of home cooked food brushed my sense of smell, making my mouth water at the thought of food.

Getting up from the couch, I set the controller down as BEN turned the TV and console off before following me and Jeff into the kitchen and towards the table. I saw a single empty seat between Sally and Jack and two other empty seats between Masky and Toby. I figured I'd be getting the single seat next to Jack and Sally, walking over quietly as I went to grab the chair and pull it out.

Though Jack had beat me to it. He grabbed the seat of the chair and gently pushed it back against the wooden floor and I mumbled a thanks before sitting down quietly. A bowl of steaming potato soup was set down in front of me and Sally by Sadie as she smiled and served everyone else, except for Jack and a few other exceptions. I wondered why they didn't get bowls of the piping soup, but I didn't press the question and instead picked up a spoonful of the creamy meal and blew on it to cool the surface. Swirls of steam rose from its surface as they then disappeared, its temperature slowly but surely cooling down.

Putting the spoon in my mouth, I choked as a hand grabbed my shoulders, making me swallow the soup a bit forcefully as I then coughed. A dark chuckle sounded behind me and I turned slowly, my head rotating a hundred and eighty degrees to stare up at the person standing behind me. A monochrome clown stood there with a wide, shark-tooth grin, leaning down to look at me. A pointy nose just barely touched mine as he stared at me.

"You know, you smell just like a human, Scarlet Rose." He cooed and I gritted my teeth together, snapping at his nose and making him pull back with a laugh. It sounded crazy, just like that person from my dream. I put my hands over my ears in an instant as I turned back to my bowl of soup. I could hear faint whispers and more cooing and teasing from the one known as Laughing Jack as he tried to provoke and prod at me. My time here was already starting to feel like a twisted house of crazies or an insane asylum.

Suddenly silence descended in the room and I hesitantly removed my hands from my ears only to hear a voice that made my blood run cold, even if it wasn't directed right at me.

"Already taunting our new proxy, Laughing Jack?" It was Slenderman himself.

I turned slightly to see him standing there as I could see gray pits in his face, as if representing eyes as protrusions in his face represented furrowed brows, one raised in question. The clown slowly turned to the man and held up his hands in surrender, a nervous, but still crazed laugh erupting from his chest. "I-I was just reminding her that she might just die if some of us don't get a hold of ourselves! Just a warning! Isn't that right, guys?" He glanced at the others in the room and I bit the inside of my cheek, knowing he was screwed the instant those words left his mouth.

"Is that so? Well, then let me explain something to you." He paused for a moment, making sure the clown was paying full attention to him. "She is not food, nor a plaything to torture until she dies. Her smell as a human will go away within the next few days as long as she stays within the confines of this house." He sounded as if he were scolding a child and the clown slowly nodded his head, retreating to his chair with a defeated sigh.

Walking up behind me, a gentle hand was placed on my shoulder as Slenderman bent over close to my ear. "Grab your bowl and follow me." He ordered. He didn't ask or request such actions. He specifically ordered them. I nodded and stood up as he straightened and walked over to the door, waiting for me to grab my bowl and push my chair back into the table before quickly following after him.

We walked through a quiet hall and turned a few corners until he stopped in front of a door at the end of the hall, opening it to reveal an office just beyond the entrance. He ducked down and walked inside with me trailing behind him and closing the door with a soft click. I watched as he sat down in a chair behind the desk, gesturing to one of the leather chairs that were positioned in front of the desk. I nodded and walked over to sit down, the bowl resting in my lap as I ate while he began to talk.

"Regarding the 'proxy' term, in this household, you are an employee, servant, or whatever you want to call it, but let's get one thing straight. I am your boss." He folded his hands together as he leaned back in his chair. I nodded as I tapped the spoon against my lips in thought before resuming to eat, to which he continued talking at the same time. "You will go on 'missions' when I see fit. Sometimes alone, other times accompanied by someone. As of right now, you get the week free before I send you on errands and missions, but you'll always be with someone so you can get used to strengthening your stomach at the sight of...gore and blood. Can't have you throwing up all the time."

I nodded in agreement and I thought for a moment before swallowing the spoonful of soup in my mouth and speaking up. "Am I going with a set partner or companions or is it just random every time?" I pondered aloud.

"You will for now be assigned to go on missions with Jeff and Jack. They are the most gruesome when it comes to killing, but it will hopefully quicken the process of you strengthening your stomach and prevent yourself from puking each time. Just know that eventually you will also be the one to hold a weapon and kill when necessary." He commented and I swallowed the lump in my throat. I somewhat figured it was inevitable, but I just didn't think it would be so soon. Looking at the half eaten bowl of soup, I bit my thumbnail in the quiet as I then laughed at myself for thinking of a silly question. Slenderman looked at me with a tilt of his head. "Is something funny?"

"I just was wondering if I was getting some specific outfit to be doing these 'missions' in. It was just a thought, but then again, it's my choice I guess..." I shrugged and Slenderman shook his head with a laugh.

"Not unless Sally has anything to say about it. Also, I'll have Sadie and Sally run you into town two days from now to retrieve any necessary documents or items from your home and allow you to end the rental agreement and such on your residence. I'm unsure if you have a home, so if you do, we'll just let the bank run it into the ground due to lack of paying the bills." He mentioned it and I nodded. There were a few things I needed for proof that I was alright and needed refills regularly, and to also appoint an approved errand runner for those pills since my appearance wasn't very 'society worthy' anymore.

"I'll wait till then I suppose..." With that, I was dismissed with a wave of the Slenderman's hand.