Jeff the Killer X blind reader

Chapter 18

      Instantly, I remembered why I almost always avoided going into the kitchen at normal hours. Every time I entered, all the conversation would hush and the others would look at me, judging harshly. Over the last weeks, I always felt negative energy in here from all the doubt, suspicion, and aggression. I always got the feeling I was perceived as weak and out of place when surrounded by the others.
      I was just about to slip out of Jeff's hold and mumble something about eating later, but I paused. Opening my perception to the room, I noticed the mood was completely different.
      "_______! Hey kid!" BEN yelled happily, his chair scraping against the floor as he stood up and bounded over. "Everyone's been talking and talking!" He exclaimed eagerly, his mind jittery.
      "Yeah?" I asked after a few beats, unsure what I was supposed to say.
      "Jeez BEN, leave the kid alone." Hoodie called from the table, tone light.
      "______. There's food on the counter if you want it." He said, addressing me directly for once. That was new.
      "Yeah. I made the bacon." Jack called from the side, voice calm.
      "That means don't eat it~~" Jeff leaned over and loudly whispered in my ear. "Well, come on!" Jeff exclaimed eagerly before dragging me over to the origin of the good smells and convincing me to take a plate. What's gotten in to everyone? Why are they so happy and... welcoming? Was this a trick or something? Didn't their forest just burn down? Weren't they upset about me keeping such a dangerous secret?
      After I grabbed a plate and warily sat down at the table, the others began various conversations about the previous day's events. The topics consisted of the strange fire, the absence of Slenderman (who apparently was still out), and the progress with salvaging the less damaged trees and replanting others.
      "So, _______." BEN started, breaking a discussion on the physics of the surrounding fire. "You can do some pretty cool stuff." He continued, voice upbeat. "Where'd you learn that?" He asked, an undertone entering his voice. The conversation had instantly hushed and everyone was focused on me, glad someone was finally asking.
      "Um, I've always been able to do... something like it." I explained uncertainly.
      "So... why didn't you use it sooner?" Jack's voice came next, curious.
      "Well, it isn't the most reliable of..." I started and faded out, thinking. "I guess you must had realized, it can become uncontrollable... quickly." I added, feeling tense. It was hard admitting out loud I didn't have a good lid on the ability. "It backlashes a lot." I mumbled, picking at my food.
      "So, you're not really a knife fighter?" Masky threw in, sounding more like a statement than question.
      "Yeah... Sorry I hid that... I never wanted to use the darkness." I said, emotion edging into my voice even though I tried to stop it. My fork clattered my plate as my hand shook. I shoved my hands into my lap and turned my head to the side, suddenly very nervous. I cursed myself for acting this way, but I hadn't talked about this aspect of myself in a long time. I had deluded myself that I'd never have to tell these people, but that ship has sailed.
      "Hey-" Jeff mumbled as his hand found my back, rubbing over the tense muscles. "I think we understand," he addressed the others, "I mean, you all saw what happens." Jeff told them. "I would've tried to avoid using those shadows too." I was so confused by everyone's mood I didn't register Jeff's strange increase in contact. I didn't think much on it at the time, so instead of rejecting I leaned into it appreciatively.
      Suddenly a presence flickered in, immediately emitting a distressed and aggressive mood. I recognized it was Slenderman.
      What happened. His voice echoed harshly through all of our minds, direct and deeply unhappy. Instantly, a few of the people around the table jumped up, scraping their chairs in the process.
      "Where were you?" BEN called out, throwing caution to the wind like usual.
      I said: What. Happened. Slenderman's voice was unmatched in authority and grated against my mind like knives. BEN's attitude immediately cooled and his mouth snapped shut.
      "A fire broke out near the north but also started to the south... and west... and east. The flames burned everything within a few miles radius besides the center – our home." Tim's voice said blandly from the sides, very informational.
      You two come with me. We need to talk. Slenderman requested before teleporting away. Instantly, the two long-time proxies stood up and walked out the front door into the burnt forest. It was eerie the loyalty the two exhibited.
      The rest of the table quickly dissolved, the others finding stuff to clean or do. They dispersed with few words and inward minds.
      After cleaning my plate, I followed Jeff to our room where he was straightening the beds and opening the window for air. I sat down heavily and opened my perception, curious where the tall being and his two proxies went.
      I quickly found them and I was surprised that I could also faintly pick up on their words. Jeff had stopped cleaning and was sitting down, facing me and beginning to speak.
      "Hey, I was wonder—"
      "Shhh." I told him, putting up a hand and cocking my head to hear better. He quickly hushed and tried to listen too.
      "I don't hear any-" He started but stopped when I raised me hand again.
      "I'll tell you in a sec." I mumbled, still focused on the conversation.

      Yes. I was gone because of the threat. You know of what I speak.
      "Yes. We know."
      "How close are they?"
      Unknown. But I believe the fire was their work.
      There was a pause in the distant conversation.
      "What is the plan?"
      They don't have the power to attack us directly, though they tried with the fire. I'm not sure how they found our house. Suspicion had started leaking out of his mind, tainting the air.
      "You think it was a snitch? Or they got lucky?"
      Unknown. But we must be... watchful.
      There was some more talking but it was getting more distant and a wind had picked up, making it more difficult to understand their words. I turned back to Jeff, feeling a little apologetic.
      "Hey, sorry about that." I muttered, "I was... uh... eavesdropping."
      "Yeah, I figured something like that." Jeff replied, leaning back against his wall. "So what'd you hear?"
      "It seems they think the fire was caused by someone purposely. But they didn't sound sure of what to do or how to deal with it." I left out the snitch part, it didn't feel as important – just speculation.
      "Hmm. Interesting. We probably shouldn't tell many of this. They'll tell us when we need to know." Jeff explained, surprisingly calm and loyal.
      "Mm'kay." I replied, thinking.
      "You wanna try practicing again?" Jeff asked, voice strong and confident but his mind was... wary?
      "Sure thing."

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Lil-magpie
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