Seconds (An Eyeless Jack X Oc Story)

Chapter 31

    I knew that things were going to be different around here. What I didn’t expect was to be either apologized to over and over again, or just the glares that felt like daggers to the heart. EJ ignored me the next day and many others did too which I found strange. I mean, it was just weird for EJ to be ignoring me after I thought we had a ‘breakthrough’ with each other. I didn’t get any sleep last night since the growing fear of sleeping after that comma was itching closer to me.

    I looked out the window of my room and saw that the sweet sight of the bleak clouds had appeared. The sky was gray and it seemed like the clouds were forming greatly overhead. The rain poured down and lightning struck nearby. No one was on a mission today since it was the middle of the day and it seemed to me like everyone was trying to come up with a plan to get Masky and Hoodie back. I missed how the two of them would always be together and shared the same mind it seemed. They were sweet in a way and Toby really missed them after everything. It broke my heart to see Toby gazing out the window and doing nothing instead of being his happy and hyper self.

    I grabbed my phone and put in some headphones as I started playing some music. I took out one headphone and went to see Toby to lighten his mood. I was downstairs and saw that some people were on their devices or watching the news. Toby was just staring off into space on the couch while the TV spat out random news. I went to the kitchen and grabbed some tuna and started to make some tuna fish sandwiches for lunch. After a few minutes, I put the tuna on the sandwich and put them into a container to eat later and took a bag of Funyuns from the pantry.

    I went back upstairs and went to my room because I didn’t know what to do to make him feel better. I started to play As It Was by Harry Styles and put my headphones on full volume. I knew it was wrong to go outside since everything but I just needed to know that I was going to be okay outside. It was stressful to think about what happened before and I needed to just feel better about this. Plus, I just wanted to go out and feel the freshness of the outside world. I got dressed in black pants, my black rain boots, a black short sleeved shirt, my hot pink rain coat, and a small black bag to put the snacks in. 

    I put the hood over my head and opened the window to exit the mansion. The jump down wasn't too bad and I wouldn’t get hurt trying by my estimation. I jumped down and luckily, the living room window wasn’t where I jumped. The ground was wet and the mud seemed to swallow up my boots. The rain drizzled along my sweater and I felt the cold droplets land on my warm face. I ran out and felt myself lighten up from the way everything felt so freeing. The trees looked dead since the leaves on the branches were off, revealing the long gray branches that stretched above me. 

    I took a deep breath and started to walk along the trail until my mind went, you shouldn’t walk on the path since someone will see you easily. My brain was finally thinking correctly since if I stayed on the trail, I could be seen. I looked around and found a sturdy tree that was a few feet away that I could sit on and eat my lunch on it. I was hungry and whenever I am hungry, my stomach gets loud which annoys me. I went to the tree and climbed onto its thick and strong branches, sitting myself down onto it. I took out my snack and started to eat as the rain poured on me.

    “EJ!” A voice sang and shouted. I took out my headphones and listened to the voice that was speaking.

    “Be quiet! Someone else could be out here you nitwit!” Another voice scolded. These were the voices of people I haven’t heard before so I stayed quiet and listened to their conversation.

        "Come one, lighten up there Stripes!" Said the one that shouted my name. They were a girl and their voice seemed to have some sort of muffle to it from a mask. They seemed to have an energetic attitude and were very reckless from the sound of it.

    "I said be quiet! We don't know who is listening!"

    "You worry to much, besides, if some was listening, they would have tried to do something stupid and try and kill us."

    "That's what you do, not Slenderman's proxies." It sounded like they were close to the tree I was so I started to move to the other side to avoid being spotted.

    "Say whatever you want daddy's girl, but soon, Zalgo will see that I am more powerful than you and I will get to take your place on top."

    "Is this what this is all about? Being on top? I hate to tell you this but you won't be taking my place anytime soon. Especially with who you are."

    “I can still hope, you little ninny!” 

    “WILL YOU JUST SHUT UP ALREADY!”

    “Dingus.” I heard a sudden crack from below and it seemed the two girls were breaking out in a fight. I could clearly see them now. Stripes had a button shirt that had hot pink and white stripes, hot pink tinted goggles, a brown muzzle or mouth guard, light blue shorts, two black horns, and her legs fading into a black color. She had long black claws and a mouth on her left leg.

    The other one was wearing black ankle boots, blue jeans, a deep navy blue hoodie and a black mask with an animal jaw skull over her mouth. The hoodie was on their head but I could tell they had darker dirty blonde hair and it was messy. I couldn't tell who this person was, there were a few I have seen but never heard of the name. This could be one of them, or a person who Zalgo recruited. The fight was leading into one that I knew I had to get out of. I tried climbing onto another tree but broke off one of the branches.

    I didn’t have time to look back, I just kept on running. The other two continued to fight from what I heard as I tried hopping from branch to branch. I have to tell them! This is an emergency! I continued to run until I reached the middle of the forest. It finally hit me, I was lost. I couldn’t see the trail and I was hyperventilating. My breathing became hitched and sharp as I shook in fear. I spun in circles, trying to think of where to go.
 
    I swore I could hear whispers and murmurs among the forest which made things worse. Tell me this is just a dream. Wait, no. Not again! If this is a dream I would have no way out! I heard the sound of the voices becoming louder.

    “Tori! Are you here! I don’t want to be kidnapped!” Jane said. Jane? She was here to help me? I came running to the direction.

    “I’M OVER HERE!” I shouted. I didn’t care if I was heard, I wanted to get out of here. Jane was in sight and she had a sweater on her to stop the rain from getting on her. I came over to her and was panting.

    “What are you doing out here?” She asked.

    “No time to explain! We need to get out of here, now!” I said. She understood and took my hand, turning around and sprinting. I desperately wanted to get out of here and just go home. I don’t think I needed to be in this situation, in Wisconsin anymore, but I wanted to stay.

    We made it back inside and I was panting. I can’t run too much for a while without having trouble breathing or feeling the sides of my body have cramps or feeling sore. We were in the living room and Jane let go of my hand.

    “Slender, we have another lead!” Jane said. Slenderman teleported here quickly, hoping to get news of his proxies I assumed.

    “There were two of them! One was Stripes and the other was one I haven’t seen before! She had a problem with being arrogant and loud so if she was quiet they would have found me!” I told Slender.

    You need to stay inside! I thought I told you to stay away from outside after everything!

    “If Tori wasn’t outside, we wouldn’t have found them looking around,” Jane said.

    “The one I didn’t know was shouting Jack’s name for some reason too,” I told him.

    Strange, I will have to make sure to make a report about this new henchman of Zalgo. Slenderman then walked away, drowning himself in thoughts.

    “Thanks for helping me,” I told Jane. she shifted uncomfortably towards me.

    “I should be the one apologizing here…” She walked upstairs and I didn’t know what she meant. Maybe she just meant that she was sorry for being a little hard on me when we first met. I took off my rain coat and put it on a coat hanger that was close to the door. The others were looking at me but when I saw them they turned back to what they were doing. I put the empty container of the food I ate on the counter and went upstairs. I was tired of all of this.