Masked Roses

Chapter Sixteen

"I need you to go on another mission, Scarlet." Slenderman said to my groggy state of mind as I blinked slowly at him. I felt the blood from the white rose drip down my pale face as I stared at him in a daze. "It's just an errand, but the person in question that I'm having you meet and take this errand to might have you kill someone or something. Depends on what they ask of you. If you do well, you'll be one of my top proxies, and it's only been a month and a half by now. Everyone in this house will think my decision preposterous if you succeed and do well."

Blinking slowly, I nibbled on the piece of bread I had snagged from the cabinet. I didn't respond. My drowsy eyelid tried to close, but was forced open by a tap of a finger on the desk, making me look up at Slenderman in confusion. His head was tilted down at me as I was hunched over in the chair I sat in.

"Hmm...You're still undergoing changes. Your teeth are much like Jack's now, and your eye..." He let out a hum in thought as he leaned forward. Biting down into the piece of bread, I chewed slowly to keep my mind awake. Despite having slept the whole day, I wanted to continue sleeping, due to the effects of some melatonin that still hadn't worn off quite yet. I stared at Slenderman with my one wide eye, desperately trying to stay awake. Sighing, he then held out a piece of paper.

"Take this with you. Follow the instructions on it, and don't screw up. You have until daylight to get introductions done." He ordered and then dismissed me with the wave of his hand. I stood up as I stared at the note, leaving the room quietly as my shoes quietly tapped on the wood floor. Making my way through the house, I finished up the rest of my snack and walked to the front door, glancing over to see Sadie and Sally asleep on the couch with a blanket around them both. Smiling slightly, I sighed and left the house quietly, unfolding the piece of paper and following its instructions.

Walk to the left side of the house, continue in a straight line away from it until you find a path.

Sounded simple enough. I walked to the left side of the house, finding a few curtained off windows that I spared a second to look at before walking away from the home. Despite it being referred to as a cabin, it looked more like a two story cottage from the outside, or even a mini mansion, but I never argued about the subject. The blizzard had calmed down the day before, luckily, but the snow remained. I just hoped that the path wasn't too hard to find or was walked along often enough to make it clear that I was going in the right direction.

Staring at the note, I walked slowly through the snow, my shoes crunching through the snow as a cold breeze blew through the trees. I wasn't bothered by the cold at all, making my walk much easier as the time struck midnight.

It only took about ten minutes to find two trails outlining soil underneath. I sighed in relief as I began to walk along the path, glancing around to find that the trees around the path were scratched or clawed by something around here. I didn't pay much attention to it when their hand touched my shoulder, their footsteps joining mine, but of course leaving no trace to a sane person's eyes. They glanced around in wonder at the trees with a devilish grin on their face.

"Seems like something's been having fun here, aye?" They taunted, yet I didn't pay attention. I just stared at the note as I read further instructions.

Walk a few more yards and begin calling out one word. "Rake".

I glanced over my shoulder to find that the end of the path was fading from sight, making me turn my gaze forward as I noticed something rush in front of me. I paused and let out a shaky breath before calling out in a hesitant voice. "Rake."

Rustling began in a nearby bush and I turned my gaze towards it, calling out again in a questioning tone with a tilt of my head. "Rake?"

The noise continued until a pale head with hollow black eyes came out, a jagged cut line forming a mouth as clawed hands, stained in red, pulled the figure out of the bushes. Their ribs were exposed, skin tight around their skeletal system and encased in pale, dusty white skin. It stared at me curiously and I crouched down to its level, staring with my one wide eye into its hollow black sockets.