Save Them

Four

The mansion looked like the most dangerous place on the planet. It was huge, and had smashed windows, with some type of vines crawling up the side like the walls of The Maze.

Ethan went to walk in, and put up a hand to open the door. Maya grabbed his wrist, suddenly, making him jump. Maya was a very quiet person, and handy spoken at all. He had forgotten she was there with him.

"Wait." Maya said, sounding worried.

"Maya," Ethan turned to face her, "I know what I'm doing."

"Have you been here before?"

"Well... No. But I'm sure it's fine. Just go right in."

It was not fine. The first thing they noticed was the girl fighting with someone, and that someone was standing inside the TV. They could see into a kitchen, which involved someone leaning on a counter eating cheesecake and someone else filming everything. A tall man with no face was trying to cook, but was mostly looking over his shoulder and shouting at the filming one, who wore a white mask. There was a flight of stairs which led up to a dark abyss, and a red demon-dog was sprinting around like a psychopath.

"You know what? Nevermind, I'll be leaving now-" Ethan started to leave but the door slammed shut. "MAYA!" He yelled. Maya smiled.

"It's rude to just walk into someone's house without closing the door." She answered.

By now, everyone in the room was staring at them. The tall guy walked in from the kitchen, wearing an apron. It was pink, with white hearts on it.

"Who are you?" The one eating cheesecake popped his head round the door.

Maya cleared her throat, "hi." She said, "We're on the case of miss Taylor Candy, and he took us here to look for her." She nudged Ethan, who nodded.

The guy in the TV, who was blonde and wearing green blinked once. He looked like Link from The Legend Of Zelda. The girl fighting him had a clock in her left eye, and straight brown hair. She wore a white vest-shirt, denim skinny jeans, and had stitching round her mouth in a smile.

Someone spoke from the stairs, "Taylor Candy?"

Maya looked over. The boy was short. He had black hair down to his shoulders, and wore a white hoodie, with black dress pants.

But that wasn't the worst of it.

His face was ghastly white. There were dark circles around his pale, almost white, blue eyes where his eyelids were supposed to be, but weren't. His face was carved into a horrifying smile. He was leaning on the wall.

"And who are you?" Maya asked, trying not to stare.

"Hey, don't be rude." The boy said, chuckling slightly, "you're the people who just barged in like you own the place."

Maya sighed, "I'm Maya Harpaker, that's Ethan." She said, rolling her eyes, "you... Know miss Candy?"

"Technically." The boy contemplated explaining, but decided against it, "I know where she'll be. I could take you."

"You can?" Ethan immediately butted into the conversation.

"Sure," the boy sounded sarcastic, "I could get Smile Dog here to search her out. Isn't that right, boy?"

The dog smiled suddenly. It was a terrifying human grin. Maya glanced away and back at the boy as the dog barked once.

"You're actually gonna help 'em?" A girl showed up out of nowhere. She had black eyes, black hair and was as pale white as the boys face. She wore a short black dress, with matching heels.

"Shut up, Jane." The boy answered, "okay, Smile Dog. We need to find someone. You remember Taylor, right?"

Smile Dog barked excitedly.

"Okay, sniff her out."

He charged past Ethan, who freaked out and jumped over him, and through a flap in the door.

"So... Who're you?" Ethan said to the boy. He laughed as he stepped further out of the shadows and to the door.

He flung it open.

"Welcome to Slender Mansion. Enjoy your stay, I'll go with him, and we'll bring Taylor right to you" he said, "and my names Jeff, by the way."