Forever Alone (Book 1 of the Misguided Killer Series)

Chapter Ten: Split Down the Middle

Slenderman was seated in the living room with a book when the Ben appeared. It shocked him, making a few of his tentacles appear defensively. Hoodie, who'd been seated in the living room as well playing video games, nearly fell out of his chair when Ben began pulling himself from the tv. Hoodie gripped the blonde's hand, pulling him the rest of the way through. Slender set the book down, concern pulsing through him as the lone Creepypasta slid to the floor.

"Ben," he said slowly, "Where are Jack and Jeff?"

"Jeff got himself into trouble again," Ben said. Yet there was no malice in his voice, nor did he look up. "And Jack...I couldn't get him out. He's still with Jeff."

"What the hell happened?" Hoodie asked. Slender understood his shock. For Ben to leave Jack behind in danger...there really must have been no other choice.

"People know Jeff isn't human," Ben said, "some guy...he wanted to figure out what what Jeff is."

"And Jack?" Hoodie asked.

"Jack...he got caught up in it," Ben said. Finally, the blonde looked up. "They knocked him and Jeff out. I don't know where they took him." Black fluid spilled down his cheeks, shocking the other two occupants in the room. They'd never seen Ben cry. They weren't even aware that he could cry.

"Hoodie, go find Masky," Slenderman ordered, "he needs to hear this." Hoodie nodded and ran off, headed into the forest to find Masky. Slender crouched before Ben, making the blonde look at him. "When those two get back we're going to figure out a plan."

"R-right," Ben said, looking away. Slender sighed, thinking.

'We might need more help,' he thought, sitting next to the distraught Ben, 'If a few humans can take down Jack and Jeff...then we can't go in half cocked. That's only going to lead to more of us getting hurt.' He sat back, thinking. 'Maybe...maybe we can call some other Creepypasta.' He stood as Hoodie reappeared, Masky in tow.

"So?" Hoodie said, "What now?"

"You two try and calm Ben down," he said softly.

"What about you?" Masky asked, voice low.

"I'm going to round up a few Creepypasta. The more backup we have, the better."

<><><><>

Jeff woke to the feeling of hands on his shoulder. His dark eyes slid open, scanning the room carefully. He recognized this room. Or at least, he thought he did. He sat up, turning to look at the person who's hand was still on his arm. Eyeless Jack. The other teen Creepypasta looked nervous, shifting on his knees. It was clear that he wanted to say something, yet had no way to do so.

Jeff stood, feeling slightly sluggish. 'What did they hit us with?' He stretched his heavy limbs, his bones popping. He flexed his fingers, staring down at them. 'They left us unbound. Either they've got something they know will keep up trapped...or they're stupid.' He took in his surroundings, ignoring Jack as the teen watched him. The room was sterile, white walls smooth and barren. A heavy steel door sat locked in one part of the room, unyielding. The entire space smelled of antiseptic, something that made him nauseous. Eventually he sat down again, huffing as he slid down beside Jack.

"Damn it," he hissed, "and I thought I slaughtered everyone in the last building." He thought, trying to recall if anyone had slipped away, when the door beeped loudly. Jack jumped, turning his head to stare at it. It slid open soundlessly, a man entering with two armed guards. He looked harmless, grazing hair and glasses covered blue eyes. 'Seems like he's just stupid. No gun can keep us down for long.' The guards settled on either side of the door, guns trained on him and Jack. Without a second thought, he lunged for the unarmed man.

He didn't even make it halfway before he was hit. His entire body went numb, muscles shutting down immediately. He collapsed, hitting the stone floor with a thump.

"I apologize for that," the unarmed man said, "I dislike tactics like this, but your kind seems unpredictable."

'My kind?' Jeff thought, 'how much does he know?' The man walked over to him, kneeling to pull something out of his arm. A dart.

"It's something that medical companies have been working on lately," the man said, rolling the dart between his fingers, "a special fluid meant to paralyze the muscles. I'm glad to see it worked." Jeff glared at him, unable to do much else. The man gripped his chin, forcing his head up. An unspoken growl echoed in his throat. "Dr. Neal, the man you mercilessly slaughtered, was a friend of mine. He sent me every bit of information on you that he could. After all, you're a very interesting specimen." He released Jeff, wandering over to where Jack sat. He knelt down, staring at Jack. "And you...you must be another one."

"Get...away...from him," Jeff forced out, his chest hurting to speak. The man seemed surprised he could talk at all.

"Possessive of one another," the man said. He looked back at Jack, studying his masked face. Without warning, the man reached out and yanked it off. Jack scrambled away, yanking his hood up to shield himself. He sat there, huddled protectively while the man looked over his mask. "Hmm...now I'm curious as to what it is you're hiding. However, I won't pry for now." He dropped the mask with a larger clack. Jack lunged for it, slumping with relief when it was back on his face.

"Who...are you?" Jeff ground out. The man looked at him.

"I see you'll need stronger doses of that fluid," the man muttered. He stood, walking over to where Jeff lay. "My name is Dr. Jacob Hauser and I, like Dr. Neal, am a psychiatrist. However, I think you'll find that I'm a bit...different compared to our dear, dead doctor. I don't care about fixing you. I simply want to get in that little deranged skull of yours and find out what makes you tic." He looked to where Jack was seated. "Both of you." Dr. Hauser stood, turning away and leaving without another word. The guards followed one by one, and the door slid shut.

Jack hurried over the second the door shut, helping Jeff sit up. He growled lowly as his body refused to respond. In the end he allowed Jack to pull him over to the wall where he sat silently, waiting for his body to respond once more.

<><><><>

Slender sat in the living room, waiting for any sign from the Creepypasta he'd contacted. So far...nothing. He growled lowly, annoyed at the complete lack of response. 'They need help...now!' He was about to growl again when there was a loud knock at the door. He stood swiftly, passing by the silent Ben, and pulled the door open. Standing behind it was a face that he was relieved to see. One of his proxies. Ticci Toby.

"It's been awhile," Toby said calmly. His eyes were calm and focused. The teen had changed since Slenderman had last seem him.

"That is has Toby," he replied. Toby entered without hesitation, striding over to Masky and Hoodie. The teen had a serious expression on his face before he slung an arm around the pair.

"Hey you two," he said, likely grinning. Not that anyone would know. "Is that anyway to look now that our trio's back together?"

"You left us Toby," Masky said. Yet there was no malice in his voice.

"Yeah, yeah," Toby said, "but I needed a bit of space for a while." There was a loud bang suddenly, and the four Creepypasta looked back at Ben. The boy was standing, shaking slightly with his head down.

"Enough with the fucking reunion!" Ben shouted, "if you don't recall, two of our own are being held against their will by fucking humans. Those two...Jack..." He slipped to the floor again, body shaking with silent sobs. Masky hurried over to him, kneeling down and letting the boy cry against him.

"So...you weren't kidding when you said humans took Jack and Jeff," Toby said slowly, "most people didn't believe you. That's why they didn't respond."

"No, I wasn't kidding." Toby shook his head.

"To think that humans have gotten stronger," Toby said, "we'll have to move quickly."

"Yes, they know too much about us as it is," Slender said, looking down at Ben. 'I can understand his anguish all too well. To live without him...it's too strange. When I found you all those years ago I wanted nothing to do with you. Yet now that you're gone I realize that I need you.' He sighed, thinking back to the day he'd first found Jeff...