Tale of a Slenderman Proxy_Shadowed Night

Ⓧ Chapter 6 Ⓧ

The darkness faded and now Night could see the area around her clearly. She narrowed her eyes in confusion and looked around. She recognized the room as Masky's. She was lying in the bed and sat up, turning to see why the light came on so suddenly. She didn't say a word as her eyes fell upon Masky, whose arms were crossed. Night chewed softly on her bottom lip and glanced from Masky to the bottom of the bed. Silence was present throughout the room, giving Night the time she needed for her thoughts. How did I get here? What happened? Two questions pranced through her mind, in a painful way. That's when it hit her full force; the pain in her head. She groaned in agony and brought her hands to hold the sides of her head. This had to be the absolutely worse migraine she has ever had. As she cradled her head with her hands, she heard shifting to her right, where Masky was.

"Masky..." Night managed to spat the name out. She looked over to see him flinch at her unpleased tone. She was glaring daggers at him and he took notice of this, mentally fretting. "What happened?" She hissed. The whole room was filled with sheer muteness. She waited for Masky's reply, receiving nothing. She shook her head and rolled to her left, flinging her legs over the side of the bed to brush the wooden floor. When she was standing, it seemed the annoying aching in her head worsened. She huffed out a couple of breaths that were almost a cry for help. Masky frowned behind his mask and remained still. Night stumbled to the doorway and leaned on the wall for support. Stopping at the doorway, she threw her glare back over towards Masky. "An answer would be most advised." She drawled.

All that came from Masky's lips was a sigh. He sat on the bed and patted the spot next to him. Night raised an eyebrow and looked from Masky to the spot next to him. She stood there for a couple of seconds, and then dragged herself over to sit where Masky had requested her to sit. Almost immediately after she sat down, the back of Masky's left hand placed itself on her scorching forehead. Night cringed a little at this action. "Night, your forehead is burning up." Masky breathed. Night let out an annoyed sigh and blinked her eyes. "Well, if you would please tell me what happened...?" She urged. Masky sighed in defeat and took his hand away from Night's forehead. "Well, after E.J. told you the message..." He began. Night widened her eyes. That's right! The message... She gulped. She immediately felt nauseous as she remembered the message. "You started to hyperventilate and you went really pale, almost a sickly green. Then you just... just fainted." He finished in a murmur.

Night fixated her gaze at her feet and sniffed. "That explains why I have this stupid damn headache." She growled. Masky got up and pointed at Night. "Just stay here, I think we might have some Ibuprofen." He commanded. Night watched as his figure left through the doorway and she sighed. She leaned back onto the bed and closed her eyes, rubbing her temples furiously. She has always, always hated headaches. Headaches are good for absolutely nothing. All they do is give the body annoying, unneeded pain, which probably hurts worse than getting shot in the head. But alas, headaches are just one of those things you can't do much about... well, except taking pills. Night had her eyes shut close and her breathing was shallow as she tried to put her mind on something else except the headache. She then had this weird sensation... like she was being watched. She opened her eyes and just as she did, her cheeks flushed crimson.

There Masky was, just standing there watching her. Masky looked away and he felt his face get extremely hot. He turned back to look at Night and gulped. "I-I wasn't sure if you were asleep or not... I was contemplating whether I should wake you up or let you sleep... I swear-" He stuttered his words. Night looked to his hands which were clasping a bottle of Ibuprofen and a glass of water. Masky offered the objects to her and she took both, placing the glass of water on the nightstand and opening the Ibuprofen bottle. She took out two circular red pills and closed the bottle, placing it next to the water. She then grabbed the glass of water and shoved both pills into her mouth, washing them down with the cold liquid. A small sigh emitted from Night, and Masky left the room again with the glass and bottle of Ibuprofen. Night took this time alone to scrunch up her face and blush again. She felt a little creeped out by the fact that Masky was just... watching her. She shook her facial expression back to normal as she heard footsteps and looked up to the doorway, expecting to see Masky, but it wasn't him.

It was Jeff. Night blinked in confusion and cocked her head to the side. "Uh... what are you doing here?" She asked. Jeff looked back into the hallway and then walked fully into the room, sitting right next to Night. "I heard the whole thing... about the message." He said. Night frowned slightly, narrowing her eyes. "Okay, and?" She hissed. Jeff rolled his eyes at the way she said that. "Look, don't be a bitch about it." He groaned. Night growled and punched Jeff in the shoulder lightly. His only reaction was the rolling of his eyes. "I'm guessing by how you took it, you're really shocked about it... right?" Jeff asked. Night hesitated, but nodded her head. "Alright, so I want to offer... I guess, my help." He said in an awkward way. Night raised an eyebrow and blinked her eyes in puzzlement.

His help? Why would Night need his help? She was perfectly fine in dealing with matters on her own. She was used to being independent and always doing stuff on her own. But wait, it should be different now. The fact was, she wasn't alone anymore. She had other people who would be there for her and help out. Night's tensed muscles and stiff posture began to subside. She loosened the grim expression on her face and looked at Jeff. She took in a deep breath and bit the bottom of her lip.

"Sure." She spoke. Jeff's expression seemed to lighten up more and his cheeks pushed up a little, indicating an actual smile. "Can we start investigating it tonight...?" Night questioned in a soft voice, just in case Masky or one of the others were nearby; she knows that they would probably make her rest all day, just because she fainted. Jeff stood up from the bed and stretched his arms out in front of him. "So let's go." His husky voice confused Night. Wait... what time was it exactly? She stood up and sniffed through her currently runny nose. "Jeff," Night began to speak and Jeff turned his attention to her after dropping his arms to his sides again. "what time is it?" She queried. Jeff shoved his hands into his pocket and pulled out a phone. He stared at it for a little then returned it to his pocket.

"It's only twelve o' eight. We've still got plenty of time to investigate before daylight." He said. Night opened her mouth to speak but stopped when she saw a figure at the door. "What is Jeff doing in here?" Masky's voice asked, obviously accusing something of happening. Night closed her mouth then rolled her eyes, her head still throbbing in pain but less. Jeff turned around to face Masky and nonchalantly replied, "Just making plans with Night." Masky's body flinched slightly and he glanced over at Night. "Plans? What type of plans?" His voice betrayed his hope of not sounding so covetous. Jeff snorted and shoved his way past Masky and out through the door, causing Masky to stumble to the side. Night took a breath as she walked to Masky.

"He's going to help me find out more about the message." She explained. Masky's eyes narrowed behind his ivory colored mask and the ends of his lips tugged down. "You have a headache." He muttered. "It's going away." Night sighed. She wasn't exactly lying. The headache was in fact going away, but it's also true enough that it was still present and hurt quite a bit still. But a sheer headache was not going to stop her from doing what she wanted. Masky didn't like the idea of Night going to a potentially dangerous area; especially alone with Jeff. Masky cleared his throat and straightened his back. "I'm going wi-" He didn't even get to finish his words as Night spoke over them. "No you're not. No arguing, either." She hissed through her teeth and left through the door, leaving Masky standing alone with an aching heart. What exactly did he do wrong...?

Night made her way to the large area with the statue. She saw Jeff leaning against the wall next to the doors to the outside world, running his fingers over the sharp edged side of a butcher knife. Night took notice of the knife's clean, gleaming blade. Well, there's something for a conversation starter. As Jeff's eyes traveled from the blade of his knife and to Night, he slipped the knife into his hoodie's conjoined pockets and turned to the door. His pale, ghostly hand enveloped the door's knob and he twisted it, pushing it outward, revealing the darkness of night. He left the door open for Night and disappeared from the eerie glow of the room into the blackness of the world. As Night neared the open door, she could feel a burning feeling on the back of her head. Perhaps that was the effect of a pair of eyes boring into the back of her head. She chose to ignore it, since there are more important matters at hand. She shut the door after she made it outside and sped down the few steps.

Night glanced around her surroundings, trying to spot the figure of Jeff. A scowl made its way on her face as she couldn't find him. She carefully took a step forward, narrowing her eyes in hope to see past the darkness. Then out of nowhere, a pair of pale hands squeezed Night's sides, causing her to squeal a high pitched noise while jumping in surprise. She spun around, hissing in annoyance and her face burning with disrupted anger. "Hey, asshole! You want to lose those hands of yours?" She growls. Of course she knew who those nearly white hands belonged to, and right now his forever smiling face was enough to irk her. Jeff's face lit up in amusement as he sniggered like a child. He bent over, his arms wrapping around his stomach, guffawing loudly. His white hood flopped over on his head and he peered up at Night through his jet black bangs. His laughing died down and the carved grin on his face perked up a little higher than how it already was.

"Oh my, is little miss Night ticklish?" Jeff spoke in a low, almost threatening, tone. Night furrowed her brow and whipped back around for her back to be facing him. "Of course not!" She snapped furiously. "You just surprised me, that's all." She huffed, crossing her arms. Jeff chuckled softly and walked past Night, heading towards the woods. "I do believe Toby will be elated to find out you're ticklish; another way for him to overpower you." He said, grinning mentally to the new information he had just obtained. She's obviously ticklish, and Jeff found it kind of cute that she was in denial; something he himself would have done. She's kinda like me... a female me. He thought, another mental grin overcoming his thoughts.

As Jeff proceeded into the woods, Night followed, mumbling to herself and huffing in outrage. Jeff's feet followed the trail he took last time getting to Night's old home. On the way, the two would see a wolf or two and sometimes an owl in a tree. The wolves would only stare in curiosity at the strange looking people, ears perked up and eyes wide. After a long stretch of awkward silence, Jeff saw the familiar sight of Night's house. He walked a little slower, being well aware that there could possibly be danger. Night also slowed her pace, glancing from side to side at the thinning clusters of shady trees. They made their way to the door and Night grimaced at it; the door was hanging off its hinges and had large gashes carved viciously into the wood.

Night let out and irate huff of air and followed after Jeff past the broken door, into an area with more disaster. Night scanned the room, taking in the many large cuts all over the walls, ceiling, even her beloved couch. Her nose crinkled in disgust at the view and she growled softly. "Looks like someone threw a temper tantrum. Like a damn child... a demon child." She said aloud, in a near whisper. Then as Night was looking at the ceiling, her eyes fell upon the blood written message. It was darkened, sloppily written as if rushed. Night wondered who could have done this. The guy with the shades and machete, maybe? No, it couldn't have been him... The claw marks look well past any damage a blade could have done. The order of them, being side by side, seemed like a large animal's work with really deadly claws. But the clusters of the slash marks were usually five, one on the end always being slightly smaller than the rest.

To Night, it definitely seemed like a hand that owned sharp claws did this. The smaller marks must have been the thumb claw. Night lifted her hand, keeping it at her chest- palm up- and gazed down at it. She looked from her hand to the gashes; definitely done by a hand. Jeff was watching as Night kept looking back from the wall to her hand, raising an eyebrow at her actions. "What in the world are you doing?" He asked in great puzzlement. Night dropped her hand back to her side and turned to face Jeff. "Investigator stuff. You can tell the slash marks were done by a hand, so it couldn't have been any sort of wild animal." Night concluded, still eyeing the marks. Jeff had his eyes on Night as she continued to gaze around at the individual slash marks around the room. "Wow," Jeff startled the silence, "you're really good at this. Did you study CSI in high school or something?" He questioned, his interest piqued.

Night smiled at the comment and looked over at Jeff, her eyes glowing. "Actually, no. But when I was younger I would watch the shows my parents watched. They watched a lot of crime and investigation shows, so I guess I kind of picked up some tips. I'm also just really good with my observation skills so that helps." She explained. Jeff inwardly smiled at Night's words. Before she became... a monster, she had such a normal sounding life, and she even smiled when she mentioned her parents. So why was she where she was now? What exactly happened? Maybe Jeff would ask one day, just not today. Jeff walked around the destroyed room and glanced at the couch. It had deep gashes in it and fluff had spread out onto the floor. "I know... that makes me sad..." Night's voice commented from behind Jeff. "My poor couch..." She whimpered. Jeff snickered softly and turned around to look at Night.

"Aw, does the death of your couch make you that sad?" He said in a voice that people use with dogs when babying them. Night scowled at Jeff and crossed her arms. "Of course I am. That thing was my beloved." She huffed. Jeff made a snorting sound of mocking laughter and rolled his eyes. "Your beloved, ha..." He mumbled to himself, staring down at his feet. Night walked closer to the couch that was now in ruins and placed a hand on the tattered arm. Sheer silence rung about the room and the sense of a feeling of being watched rose. Night was surprised by a shiver that crawled up her spine, giving her goose bumps under her clothing.

Abruptly, a hand placed itself on Night's mouth, muffling her sudden gasp as she fell sideways onto the ground by another force. "Sh-." A voice hissed into Night's ear. Night realized by the skin texture of the hand, it was Jeff. She was a little more than annoyed at his sudden act, but even more annoyed by the fact that she didn't know why he was doing it. For whatever reason it was, though, it'd be best if she trusted his actions. Nearly after a minute of silence, the sound of something scratching against the solid wall sounded through the room. The sound was coming from behind the couch that Night and Jeff were using as a cover.

Suddenly, the sound stopped; but Night would have preferred that sound over the high pitched, horrendous guffawing that erupted above her and Jeff. She heard Jeff hiss a profane term behind her and his hand left its spot on her mouth. Instantly, both Night and Jeff jumped up and got as far away from the couch as they could and ended up on the other side of the room, panting with their backs against the wall. Catching her breath, Night glanced up at where the nerve chilling laughter continued. As her eyes fell upon the figure, her eyes widened; the pupil of her red colored iris that belonged to her left eye shrinking, as well as the circle with an 'X' that belonged in the center of her red-orange colored sclera in her right eye shrunk. Her mouth gaped open and her throat felt dry and her tongue saliva deprived. "O-oh my..." Her voice quivered as she spoke.