Pure of Mind and Sharp of Knife (Male Reader x Female Creepypasta)

Long Shadows

There's been no greater weight I've carried than Gray's corpse. His arm sways loosely in front of me, and his head hangs over my arm. Gray's face has paled considerably, and I've closed his eyes. I couldn't move until I did so. His forlorn gaze rooted me to his side as if to say, "Look at what you've done to me."

My wounds ache and sting, but I continue through the woodland labyrinth anyway. This is no place to be laid down to rest... not for Gray, not for me. There's only one place suitable for his eternal sleep.

Through the trees ahead, the magnolia tree that stood over us since before our birth awaits us yet again. I look down at Gray to tell him we're almost there, until I recognize the departed expression that stares back at me. I avert my eyes and focus on my hand.

In my wounded hand, I clutch a strip of his bandages where I hold him at the knees. It curls and waves in the windless air like the flesh of a phantom. Iris embers burn at the edges, but they don't singe me; nor do my gloves catch fire from it. My ears prickle at a sudden mental connection.

"(Y/N)? Where are you? Are you alright?" Slenda's voice reaches me from the mansion.

"Slenda..." I mutter aloud, wishing I'd heard her sooner.

"Helen woke me up, saying you were in trouble. What is transpiring?" Slenda asks, and I can only imagine her as my mother on the other end of the phone.

"Later," I dismiss her worry, breaking through the trees on my own, "I'll be back soon, I think."

"You 'think?'" she questions again, but my mind clears itself at the sight of danger.

A police vehicle is parked in front of an abandoned house, yellow tape barricading the residence and yard. A detective and a couple of other officers discuss the scene beside their squad car. It's the house I encountered the fake Proxies in with Jill. Disturbing their clean-up must've made the police set up camp here. Slenda questions my whereabouts again, but I can't bring myself to give an answer.

Nevertheless, I cross the treeline, knowing fully well I'll be in their view. Even when they call me over, I keep walking. Soon enough, they fall silent, grabbing their radios and brandishing their firearms. One grabs a rifle from the trunk while the others draw their pistols. Police sirens echo from the rest of the neighborhood, the entire place having become a crime scene over the years.

A car screeches to a halt on the road, and an officer steps out with his gun aimed at me, "Put your hands behind your head!"

"On your knees, now!" another demands.

"Slenda," I contact her, setting Gray down on the ground, "can you move?"

"No. Why?" she asks as I fold my hands behind my head.

I kneel down, "Send Ally to the magnolia tree in the suburbs."

"Lay down on your stomach!" The officers shout, approaching me together.

I do so, my eyes staring at the tiny world of bugs that scuttle around in their great forest. The grass scratches against my mask, but I keep my head down and close my eyes when the police's orders run out. Gunfire pops and cracks the air, only matched in volume by cries of fear until there's nothing but silence. Someone pats my shoulder.

"(Y/N)?" Ally's quiet voice whispers.

Opening my eyes again, I push myself onto my feet, staring at the officers' corpses strewn about the ground. They're all missing their heads, left to water the grass like human sprinklers as the last of their blood spurts through their necks. I turn to Ally and notice the blood splattered on her face when she looks down at Gray. Looking back at me, Ally's face falls.