Cruel & Blue (Eyeless Jack story)

Chapter 75

*Music in the multimedia is Toe - All I Understand Is That I Don't Understand*

Stay Creepy, My Friends!~

Chapter 75

Ben's POV

"How long has she been in there now?," I asked Jack.

The eyeless man only sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "Since this morning, so like...six hours already. I think she's only come out once for a bathroom break."

I glanced behind me up the stairs, thinking about Ao locked up in Slender's old study. Gulping, I said, "Should I check on her?"

"Yeah, though I don't guarantee that she'll respond to you if you talk to her," he murmured, "I've already tried but...nothing."

Despite his words, I went upstairs to see Ao anyway. When I got to her door, I knocked softly and waited for a response. Even when I had no approval, I turned the doorknob and entered the room. Ao sat at the mahogany desk near the back of the study, staring blankly ahead at scattered papers and paintbrushes. The room was silent and I could hear the floorboards creak the further I walked in.

"Ao?," I called out to her in a cautious tone of voice. She's never had an outburst over the past week that she's been hiding herself away like this, but it's still better to be careful. She didn't say anything so I kept walking until I was at the desk.

"Hey, um," I started, "have you eaten yet?"

No answer.

I pursed my lips nervously and asked, "Do you want some food? I can make it for you. I'll...I'll even make you some green tea...!"

Nothing.

I sighed but set out to make her food anyway. I doubt she's eaten anything at all today. Just as I turned around to leave the study, I heard her small voice, "I keep expecting him to talk to me again..."

Stopping in my tracks, I bit my lip and looked back at her. Her blank stare had disappeared and there was a little more shine in her emerald eyes now. Still, her face was pale, and there were dark circles under her eyes where she got little sleep, either because she stays up late in here, or has night terrors. I don't say anything out of worry that I'll make her stop talking, and let her go on.

"I keep thinking he'll speak up when I do something...," she continues, "I keep expecting him to catch something that falls off the desk but...it ends up clattering on the floor. I...I keep calling out his name and asking him casual questions. 'Hey, do you think it's fresh outside?' 'That brushstroke was terrible, wasn't it, Sam?' Just things like that...but no one ever replies."

I stare down at her and feel my heart ache when I see the tears roll down her cheeks. Yet her expression is blank. She's completely lost right now.

"I can't take all of the silence anymore...," she murmured, "It's too lonely, too cold... I..."

Slowly, I make my way around the table and come to stand next to her. Glancing down, I saw her right leg, marked with intricate, white tribal tattoos up to the thigh. For some reason, they seemed brighter now and I could swear a new one had formed on her thigh.

Gently, she grabbed onto my hand and squeezed it tight. The most I could do was squeeze back. She kept her gaze on the mahogany desk and whimpered, "Everything is...this isn't how it should be... I don't know what to do anymore...and I'm scared..."

Her head hung lower, causing her brunette hair to fall in front of her face. It's been a while since she's put it in her usual, pretty braids...

"I miss him so much, Ben...," she said, sniffling, "I miss him..."