What Lies Behind the Mask

Chapter 6

Siren awoke to the warm touch of sunlight on her cheek. Through the blurry thoughts that come with first waking up, she was able to tell that she was in a bed, under the covers. She stretched and yawned, bringing her arms up and above her head. Oh thank god, she thought to herself. It was just another nightmare. She sat up in her bed and looked around the room. Immediately, she realized that something was wrong. Siren noticed light contrasting the dark fabric on the bed, turned and stood on her knees, and looked out the window. She was horrified to see thick, metal bars barricading it just outside of the glass. Frantically, she looked around for something strong enough to break the glass. She dug through the drawers in the nightstand by the bed, and located a flashlight. Gripping it tightly, she prepared to strike the window has hard as she could. Wait a minute, she thought. What if it's armed?

She set the flashlight down on the bed beside her, and lifted her hands to open window. It went up easily with little effort. She reached out and touched one of the rods in the windowpane. They were cold to the touch, and their unyielding solidity crushed any hope she had of escaping from the window. "Damn," she cursed. She then explored the rest of the room, searching everywhere for a hidden passageway (moving the bed to do so as well), but found nothing besides the useless information that the only door inside of the room was, in fact, a closet. With a sigh, she looked back out of the window. How long have I been here? Where did they take me? She remembered her sister screaming in the woods before she passed out and developed a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. Oh God, was Gillie ok?

Sighing inwardly, she looked towards the door. Once opened, she could be exposed, vulnerable, to whatever horrors were waiting. As soon as she tried to make her move, she could be killed. But she couldn't stay cooped up here any longer. So quietly, she tiptoed across the polished wooden floor, and made her way toward the door. Despite her efforts to open the door quietly, the wood still managed to make a low creak in protest. Cursing quietly to herself, she looked down the hallway on both sides. So far, no one was coming. Siren made her way into the halls, senses heightened and alert for danger. She plastered herself to a wall and creeped down them as quickly and quietly as she could. At the far right end, she was met with a staircase. Fuck, she thought angrily. This is going to give me away for sure.

With a sharp inhale, she began her decent down the stairs, careful to step as lightly as she could. Upon placing her foot on one of the stairs on the lower half, a short but sharp squeak sounded throughout the house. Siren winced, bracing herself for the sounds of alarms or the hurried footsteps of some sort of security force. Several seconds laters, nothing had happened. She continued down speedily, and leapt over the last four remaining stairs. She landed gracefully on the hard, polished floors, and stood carefully. Looking around, she noticed that she seemed to be in some kind of intersection. Four hallways spread out before her in different directions, and a very large entryway was directly in front of her.

Ok, this seems to be a pretty big place, way too much for one man, or more accurately, two men, to occupy by themselves. There must be more residents, who I'm guessing are probably locked away in their own bedrooms. She thought about going to each room, one by one until she found her kidnappers, and then killing them on the spot. No, she thought, this is probably bigger than those two. Siren sighed for what seems like the billionth time that day. I guess I'll just have to risk it then.

She took off running down the largest corridor. At least there, she had convinced herself that she could fight off an oncoming attacker. Expensive-looking vases high on their pedestals and fine artwork framed upon the wall moved through the edges of her vision in a blur of color. The silence that enveloped the house was so oppressive and intense that even from as far away as she was, she could still hear the hesitant footsteps, and the low groaning protests of that door that she left behind on its hinges. The loud gasp that followed made her slow herself, only to smirk at her captors' surprise. Idiots, she thought cockily. Siren had now slowed her pace to a quick jog and she took a moment to admire the artwork that surrounded her. Well, they've got a nak for interior design, she thought to herself bitterly.

A loud, dull thud resonated throughout the house and startled her out of her thoughts. What the actual fuck, she thought. A voice followed immediately afterward.

"Dude, what the hell?"

"She gone," a different voice responded. He sounded annoyed.

"Well, how about instead of punching innocent walls, you, oh I don't know, go look for her?"

Shortly, the other voice replied, "Do you think that I have not thought of that already?"

"Then what's stopping the masked crusader?"

"This girl isn't like the rest of the humans we've captured before. She's smarter. She's a fighter."

"Oh, Masky's afraid of a teenage human! I never thought that I'd see the day when Slender's favorite would become so flustered by a girl, let alone a HUMAN girl!" The upstairs rooms behind Siren erupted in crazed, maniacal laughter. Without warning, a very loud thud came from the room and then laughter ceased.

A low, harsh whisper reached Siren's ears from behind her. "Jack, if you EVER say that to me again, so help me, I'll rip every one of those retractable claws out of your hands and shove them through your eyes.

"Really, Masky, learn to take a jo-"

"Repeatedly."

"Fine, fine, but since you so obviously don't like her, that means she's free game for the rest of us," the one called Jack purred. "I'm gonna go tell the others!"

"Jack!" Masky called as footsteps retreated down the hallway. A sigh followed and the door was slammed shut. Footsteps descending down the grand staircase made Siren snap out of the trance-like state that eavesdropping had put her in. She began to run again, almost reaching the end of the hallway. Then she heard a low growling voice behind her. "Found you."

Siren whipped around, poised to fight. But she was met with the hallway from whence she came. Nothing was different, nothing had changed. Maybe I'm just a bit paranoid, she thought. She resumed running, getting closer to the end of the hallway. "Oh, but where do you think you're going, Miss. You haven't even had tea yet." Once again, she turned, and there was nobody there.

"Stop playing games, coward. If you want me, then come fight me like a man!"

"Oh, but Miss, I would never hit a woman. I am a gentleman, after all." Siren sneered at the word. "But even as I would never do anything to harm you, it is perfectly acceptable for me to restrain you if necessary." Behind the calm and polite tone, there was mockery and silent laughter in his words. She seethed with anger.

"You think you're funny, don't you? That the fact that I'm at a disadvantage here against you is some kind of joke, huh?" She smiled maliciously. "Why don't you just go find Jack and fight over me some more......Masky, was it?" With that, she laughed to herself.

When the voice answered, it was clearly no longer amused. "While watching you put on a facade that you're NOT completely helpless is rather amusing, it's unimportant at the moment. Are you going to comply with my offer and come with me willingly, or are you going to attempt another futile escape?"

"Fuck you," she stated and turned, running again, and looking back over her shoulder. Abruptly, she ran into something in her path. Nothing was there a minute ago, her mind told her. She looked up and stared, shocked, into the pale, white mask of her kidnapper.

His masked mouth smiled, and she tried to withdrawal, horrified. His hands grasped her wrists tightly. "Sorry Miss, but you're not my type." And with that, the hallway became empty once more.