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

Coward

A bloody red carpet welcomes us when we step into Slenderman's mansion. The black blood which clings to my boots outlines brutal prints in the blood of Proxies. I see the blood trail which leads to the infirmary, and then a fork that leads to the morgue. Proxies gather in the living room with Slenderman staring into the ash-bathed fireplace like a grim clergy of the dead, their heads hanging.

Weeper leans against the wall as we walk through the passageway, a bloody knife in his hand, "You the real one?"

I glance at him, looking down at his knife before huffing, "Still alive?"

He scoffs, leaning his head back against the wall, and Slenda and I walk in. (N/Y) is the only Proxy standing, aside from Weeper, and he leans against the window frame as he stares outside. His dirty face is lined with two clean streaks of skin from his eyes to his jaw. He doesn't even glance at me.

From a quick scan of the room, I can see why; Angels is dead – absent from the living room. So is Jill and Jeff. Slenderman doesn't face Slenda, and she growls.

"Explain," her voice is shaking, "Explain why six of our Proxies are dead, why I almost lost three of mine forever."

Slenderman answers the wall in front of him, "This is my fault," he nods, "Losing Helen left its mark upon me, indeed. When Jeff fell, I felt that I had to pull my Proxies back to spare the rest. Forgive me."

"I cannot revive them," Slenda appears behind him, "Reviving (Y/N) and Branding Zero took the last of my leftover sorcery, and we cannot run kill missions with the momentum in Zalga's hands. We cannot spare even a single pair of hands, especially with both of our Judge Angels dead," Slenda squeezes his shoulder, "Your cowardice cost more lives than our potential victory."

He sighs, his shoulders lax, "I am not foolish enough to ignore that I cost us our element of terror."

Slenda lets go of him, stepping away and addressing his own Proxies, "Behemoths are now in play. What were once oddities are now commonplace. We must reevaluate our strategy... and our alliance," Slenderman lifts his head, and Slenda looks over her shoulder at him, "I cannot trust you with the lives of my Proxies. You will either act in coordination with us or not at all, but never beside us. Not again."

Not wanting to smash our shattered morale into even finer dust, I refocus everyone's minds, "We can't afford direct fights like before. We'll have to leverage our ambush and stalking skills to beat them out. Everyone will learn, no matter how they fight normally," I glance at (N/Y), "We need everyone we can get. There's no relief until the fight is over and Zalga is dead."

(N/Y) wipes his eyes and walks over to stand in front of Slenda, "I'm fighting for Slenda. I don't know about all of you, but I'm not letting them get away with what they did to my angel..." his voice cracks, "Slender," he faces his superior, "Slenda's right. You know that. We all know that. I can't fight for you if you can't put your faith in us."

I'm sure everyone would be able to hear a pin drop on the carpet. Although the stunned silence is deafening, I can see hesitant agreement in the other Proxies' eyes. Some of them already look up to Slenda.

Not wanting the alliance to shatter completely, I break the silence with a soft suggestion, "Volunteers are welcome. You don't have a problem with that, do you?"

Slenderman doesn't look at me, but he takes a deep breath, "Volunteer if you wish, but you will die."

(N/Y) walks over to stand by me, "You heard (Y/N). We're not doing anything direct. If there's anyone here I trust with my life in guerilla warfare, it's him."

Jack stands up, "Jackie praises him. I trust him."

He joins us, as do a couple of other Proxies. The rest stay seated, their loyalties hardline with Slenderman. A wedge has been planted between us, and it's up to Slenderman whether or not he drives it further. He knows a fight with Zalga is inevitable, and we must meet her bloodlust either as cowards or as mortals raging against a devil.