The Art of Stealing a Heart

Chapter Three

They all stepped inside and Slender shut the door. It was actually smaller inside than it appeared to be from the outside. The first thing that Genesis noticed, was a young girl sitting on a flight of stairs. She was rather pretty, but in a rather frightening way. Her skin was a soft ivory, but her cheeks held a rosy glow to them. When she looked up, her lips curved into a smile and her brown ringlets bounced against her shoulders. She wore a white dress and held an old, beaten up teddy bear.

"Slendy!" The girl ran over and flung herself into the tall creature's legs.

"Hello." He said, almost painfully monotone.

"Sally!" A stern voice spoke from the top of the stairs. "Stay away from those mortals!"

Genesis looked up to see the woman she saw in the window. In the lighting, it was easy to see that she was unimpressed with their presence. Out of the corner of her eye, Genesis caught Jeff grinding his teeth together. The tension between them was affecting everyone. Well, besides Sable. She looked oddly amused with the situation. In fact, she was the first to speak.

"You act as if we are a virus, Jane." Sable's face was contorted into a smooth, rare smile. "Yes, I know who you are. You fought with Jeff, only to valiantly loose. Every time you two are alone together, there is bloodshed. You even went so far as to look alike."

"Excuse me?" Jane snarled.

"Are you saying," Jeff glared at her. "That I look like that rubber-band bitch?!"

"Precisely." Sable's voice were sharp and quick, as if she were waiting for something.

"Enough!" Genesis cringed at the volume of Slender Man's voice. "I did not bring them here for you to ridicule, Jane! War is upon us!"

"As if I wasn't aware of that." She snapped, then turned on her heels and left the room.

"I don't like her." Alana's lip curled in disgust.

"Finally!" Jeff exclaimed. "Someone else who doesn't!"

"Can you shut up?" Claire's voice caught the attention of many, mainly because it was rare for her to be rude in any way. "I'd like to find out where we're sleeping and stuff. If you don't mind."

"I knew you had to end that with something polite." Isabella laughed.

"May I continue?" Slender let out a rough sigh.

"Of course." Sable sat down on an old leathery love-seat.

"Noah Maxwell," Slender Man turned to face them. "A young mortal who lives in Florida. His grandfather has a  journal that is sought by the Observer. The journal contains forbidden knowledge that only myself and the Collective are aloud to view."

"Let me guess," Alana narrowed her eyes. "If Noah gets the journal, The Observer will be able to become stronger. Meaning, we'd have a more powerful ally."

"Yes." Slender Man dipped his head. "However, Noah has gained quite a following of his own. He wants to track us down and slaughter us like swine. If we can't get more allies, it may be the end of all creepypasta monsters and myself."

"How are we supposed to fight for you," Isabella crossed her arms. "When we don't even know how to fight?" 

"We can fight." Genesis looked at her group. "We've done it before. Although, it would be helpful to learn some hand-to-hand techniques before we go up against people." 

"I will call you each into the dining hall at seperate times."  Slender Man looked at them. "We will discuss who can train you in certain fighting styles, going by your current abilities and body structure. For now, talk with some of the creepypasta's and learn your way around."

All of the sudden, he dissapeared quicker than a human could blink. They looked around for a moment, and then very slowly, dispersed amongst the house. Genesis glanced around and finally walked down the left hallway. It was dark and musty, but she followed the sound of music. It looked like somebody's bedroom. She didn't want to intrude, but the door was almost all the way open. She peered inside.

It was male who seemed to be missing his eyes. His face was a dark blue, one of her favorite kinds of the color. He was talking to a fur ball on his lap. When it lifted its head, she realized that it was a male cat. His fur was black and red, and his eyes were like rubies in the moonlight. When she tried to back away, she ended up kicking the wall. 

"Who's there?" The eyeless teen jumped up. "If it's you Jeff, I will kick your scrawny ass faster than you can blink."

"Sorry." Genesis rubbed the back of her head and the cat pushed open the door. "I was just looking around."

"It's fine." The stranger used two fingers to motion her forward. "I can't see you well. Come on in."

Genesis stepped inside the room and glanced around. It was fairly clean, ignoring a few books and stray articles of clothing that were lying around. The walls were black, but almost invisible because of all the posters he had up. Some were of bands, others were of random things. When she noticed a Click Five poster, she smiled.

"They were so much better the second time around." He said, startling her slightly.

"I agree." She replied. "Have you heard of a band called, 'A Rocket to the Moon'?"

"No." He looked up at her. "Are they any good?"

"Jack, when you and your new girlfriend are done talking,  I'd like to continue playing my game."

She looked over her shoulder to see a guy standing in the doorway. He wore Link's outfit from Legend of Zelda, and his eyes were rather frightening. Black with a red pupil.

"You don't treat a new proxy that way." Jack stood up. "I should let Slender man know of your behavior, Ben."

"So," The shorter boy sat beside Genesis. "You are?"

"Genesis." She replied and watched the cat climb back onto the bed. 

"It's a pleasure to meet you, madam." 

She looked around for the source of the voice, and was slightly freaked out when she realized that the French accent came from the cat. He gave her a sly smile and pawed her leg.

"Shut up, Grinny." Ben snorted. "Go rape some poor, defenseless cat." 

"I do not molest, Ben," Grinny slid off the bed and headed out the door. "I simply provide ample estacy."

"Freakiest cat ever." Genesis sighed and stood up. "Well, I'll leave you both to yourselves."

"You'll see us at dinner later." Jack nodded. 

Genesis left the room in more of a hurry than she had tried to. Jack was pretty kind, and so was Ben. Grinny kind of made her nervous. As she headed down the corridor, she saw something in the shadows. She fought back a shriek at the sight of The Rake. She rushed into the main hall and just about slammed into someone. 

"You okay?" 

She looked down and saw that it was Claire. She had a happy smile on her face and was clutching an unfamiliar blade. It had a beautiful, carved wood handle. 

"I'm fine." She looked down at Claire. "Where'd you get that?"

"Go and find Slendy!" She giggled. "He's giving us our own weapons!"