You felt lighter in this new area, like something that had been bearing down your neck had finally been vanquished. Your lungs still crackle with each breath, but it seems easier to take in the air.
This was unfamiliar territory, but you felt right at home. It felt safe, as odd as it felt to admit it to yourself. You still follow the three further into the woods, letting the lack of noise calm your nerves. Your guard is lowered for the first time you can ever remember while with more than one person. You're not sure how to feel about it. You're unsure if it's yourself becoming delirious, or if you actually feel at peace with the three leading you further into the mist.
You cough several times, and while blood does appear in the spittle, it's not a full-on fountain, like some of your earlier fits. The men don't stop for you, merely glancing back to make sure you were still standing.
In the corners of your vision, you spot things wavering, taunting you to come and look. You don't, you stay focused on the invisible path set by the ones before you. But something other than dancing shadows catches your attention. You stop, this time abruptly enough to make a noise and alert the other three that something was happening.
"(Y/N)?" the man with the white mask asks, tone indicating he's not going to put up with potential stupidity. You don't answer, instead, you stare at the bush that seemed to appear from nowhere.
Briars. Briars? Why did that seem familiar? What was so wrong about them, what was making your skin crawl and itch the longer you stared? Your brows furrow as you watch the bush, the brambles twisting in on themselves and looping over each other, like a labyrinth.
Your heart starts pounding, but you can't hear your own blood rushing through your ears this time. You just feel your heart pumping harder and harder in your chest, like a caged dove trying to free itself from its imprisonment. Sand seems to fill your mouth, sucking out any moisture there once was, making each breath rasp against your throat.
Red flashes fill your vision, and static fills your ears through a shroud of cotton. Briars are wrapped in your chest, trailing up your throat, choking you. Spiraling, shredding, suffocating. There's screaming, so much screaming. There's fire, and a sulfurous smell, dark smoke rising in thick, billowing could around you. Someone's pleading but it sounds more like taunts, condescending, teasing, aimed at you-
Run. Run!! R U N-
The vision clears and you're on your ass in the leaf litter, head spinning and veins buzzing with energy. Your sight is blurry like you've been staring at a single spot for far too long. Things don't feel right. You wouldn't say unreal, because what's happened in the past week is more of a fresh reality than you've experienced in a long while.
"(Y/N). What was that?" yellow sweatshirt man asks, crouching in front of you. Your gaze flicks to him but does not quite focus on him. The ends of his sleeves are stained with what you assume is your blood. You glance toward where the briars were, only to see a withered husk of a plant.
"Briars.." you whisper, and he startles.
"What?" White Mask asks, tone harsh enough to make you tense as you resist flinching. You motion toward it with your head.
"Those were fresh, perfectly healthy...however long ago it was when I first freaked out. Now they're dead," you say flatly. The three men look at each other before the man with the white mask leans down and hoists you onto his back, much to your surprise.
"Hey!"
"We need to get back faster. Boss will want to see you. Keep whatever you saw or heard close and ready to explain," he says as the pace quickens. The other two are following closely, though both seem more on edge.
═════════•°• 🔪 •°•═════════
You look up in awe at the mansion in front of you. Something tickles the back of your memory, a vague feeling of familiarity. The paint was peeling, the white giving way to the brown wood underneath. You'd been let off of White Mask's back and had been following the pace easily. It had not slowed. In fact it seemed to have increased further.
The three put you in the middle of the group as you enter the mansion. The obvious leader in front, you behind him, Toby behind you, and Frowny behind Toby. You walk up several flights of a grand staircase, and you push through the fact that your sight goes blurry. You don't exactly feel like passing out right this moment, it's not gonna work.
You're lead into a room without any preamble or knocking, and the buzzing feeling that's encompased your vessel seems to grow before suddenly dropping to a near flatline. You look around the room, taking in the bookshelves and ancient looking books, before you land your eyes on the one sitting behind the desk.
All at once, several things click into place. The sickness, the blood, the excessive paranoia....your mother's mental break, your medium abilities...All of it could be traced back to the one behind the desk.
For there, sitting in front of you, was none other than the Slenderman.
YOU ARE READING
Lost | Creepypasta Gender-Neutral Reader Insert
Fanfiction(Y/N) doesn't have the best home life. Abusive mother, a father they only see every two weeks. Bullies at school, a hoarder home, and two younger siblings they need to take care of. What happens when they stumble into something they shouldn't hav...
