The obvious it always too easy. Dig deeper or die...
.
It was afternoon by the time Ben had finished hacking the little school computer. Turns out it pays off to have a small, blond elf in a green Link outfit by your side.
"Check google maps!" Pinkie said in her usual high pitched voice.
She wore a frilly, short pink dress that puffed out at the bottom. Her boots reached her knees, wrinkling up slightly every time she jumped.
Everything she wore, even her skin, was pink and she had her typical ponie mark on her left shoulder.
"Fuck that! I'm going for a nap!" Ben said and jumped out of the desk chair. He yawned and stretched as he left the room.
"Hmm...really, it would have been easier if Sam had just been drugged long enough for me to put the chip in her!"
Eyeless shook his head, his thick, brown strands falling over eachother messily. "That wouldn't have worked anyway, she's like some damn robot that can detect all shit around her!"
Pinkie squealed. "I knoooow! It's what makes her so cool!"
"She's...g-got tallent. B-but she is a little t-too normal i-in l-looks." Toby joined in.
"Ha!" Pinkie let out a snort. "I bet she's out there right now and making an army while thinking we're all dead, and going to kill Zalgo. What if Toby was wrong and she had some secret, super, duper cool power and an interesting background!" Pinkie stopped to take a breath.
Although everyone was used to Pinkie's unusual hyper character, they couldn't help but wonder what made her say that.
"Why do you say that?" Eyeless sounded more than uncomfortable.
"Hmm, just a hunch!" She shrugged.
A bit after some digging around on the internet, the three found a site telling all about old news and happenings, like Japan's tsunami, for example.
There were a few article's about serial killings happening randomly all around the city, Eyeless guessed it was Jeff who had done those considering it said most of the victim's corpses had carved-in smiles, and a few articles on other subjects.
"Ooh! What's this?" Pinkie clicked on a random link on the 'what's new' menu titled 'Anonymous bindge killings'.
To begin with, the title itself sounded crappy. But if it wasn't the sloppy article that bugged Eyeless, it was the picture on the right side of the page.
According to the article, a unknown killer had been going around killing at random, just outside of town. Things were left behind carelessly, but it was stupid to think it an accident.
Notes, bloody letters, even straw vodoo dolls and stuffed teddies had been left behind literally without a trace.
The big question; who did it?
It was definately none of Slender's group that had done it, which made it harder to figure out, since killing techniques were like a signature to killers.
"Zalgo." Came a cold voice.
All three killers turned around at the static on the computer screen. It was no wonder Slender hated technology, they always seemed to give away his whereabouts.
"What do you reckon the bastard's up to?" Another figure walked into the room.
He wore a vedora that shadowed his face, it matched the dark purple trench coat-like coat he wore over his black waist coat and suit and tie. His black hair peeked out under the vedora in curls, like spindly spider's legs.
His cane clicked along the floor with his shoes as he neared the small group of killers. His big, toothy grin was wicked.
"Anyone could see this as obvious as a spider's web, so long as you know where to look and how you view it," Slender's tone was undesgribable, making it hard to tell what he was thinking.
"S-so...? W-what is it t-then?" Toby broke the akward silence and began to scratch the back of his head nervously.
"A message."
"Ooh! I love messages!" Anonymous said with a bit if excitement edging into his voice.
"Then you may know what this message is," Slender clicked on one of the many pictures at the 'crime scene'.
The first was a room, fairly plain, yet modern.
Pictures of cartoon-ish trees with patterns in them hung crookedly on light brown walls. A lamp had been flung against the big bedroom window, leaving cracks behind. The floorboards had dark patches on them, the obvious didn't need to be pointed out.
A note had been nailed to the wall with Zalgo's signature sign on it; two stretched eyes going both horizontaly and vertically.
"What does it say?" Slender said unemotionally.
Obviously he was testing the group. But why?
Man this it tense, Eyeless thought to no one in particular. This is getting to him. Not good.
"No...I can't make head nor tail of this odd letter..." Anonymous scratched his chin.
"Because it's been put in an odd language!" Pinkie stated and jumped up and down. "I know that hand wrighting anywhere! It was made by Rainbow Dash!"
Eyeless and Toby looked at her with a mixture of surprise and worry. The other two stayed neutral, as if they already knew this.
"Hmm...let's see...it says, 'We give you seven days before your next obstacle.'" She simply read aloud as if this was all a fun game.
"What the Zalgo?"
"He's challenging us, I see. Do you think...?"
Slender nodded. "Yes, it's war. And he's indeed serious."
Eyeless opened his mouth to say more but thought better of it. Obviously Slender knew more than what he was letting up, but for now there was no need to push his luck.
"For now we need to keep a low profile. Please arrange groups to shift during night time so you can use the computer to track down some people."
Everyone knew exactly what Slender meant by that.
"You can't be serious!?"
"I'm going to find my brothers, Masky and Hoodie will be accompanying me."
Toby felt a stab of hurt wash over him at Slender's last words. Of course the two would go with him, they are his best proxies.
He looked down at his left wrist where his proxy mark had been burned into the skin. The stupid circle with the 'X', The Operator's mark.
Pinkie began to giggle uncontrolably.
"Looks like I'll be rocking on this baby aaaallll night!"
Eyeless let out a disgusted grunt. "You make it sound so weird!"
"That's what I do for a living!" She winked.
"I-I'm going t-to look around a-a little." More like he was going to burn stress by keeping himself buisy.
"The office is at the end of the corridor, if you get the chance, look for any familiar names in the file cabinet." Anonymous said.
Toby nodded and left the room.
