Closer - TICCIMASK

Chapter Five

"Who the fuck are you?" Colton asked, shoving his chest out once again.

"Y-You're gonna make your r-r-ribs p-pop out if you do that," Toby commented and Ryan snorted.

"Shut the hell up, Ryan," Jess growled, looking over her shoulder at the boy who quickly curled into a ball at the girl's feet. "And Colton, you need to do some fuckin' research, you asshole."

"..What'chu mean?"

"I mean, this is Ticci-Toby. You know, one of Slender's proxies."

"Ex-proxie, f-for your information. I-I was fired. Sorta," Toby cut in, lightly tapping the blade of one of his hatchets against his leg.

"Whatever."

"Okay, so, I-I'm gonna have to ask you to leave now," Toby said, getting straight to the point. "Children aren't allowed here on weeknights."

"Children?" Jess shrieked, making Toby cringe. "Who the hell are you calling a child? You're the same fuckin' age as us!"

"R-Really now? How old are y-you guys?"

"Seventeen. We're all a month apart."

"Nineteen. N-N-Now get out of the forest."

"Or what?" Colton asked, still puffing his chest out. "You're gonna run off to your boss and whine?"

Toby's grip tightened around the hatchet's handle and the muscles in his arm tensed. Quick as a flash, he swiped his leg and took Colton's legs right out from under him. The teen fell to the ground with a loud shout and Toby put his foot on top of Colton's ankle, keeping him down.

"N-No," he said as the other two backed away. "I'll deal with you m-myself." His eyes flickered up to Jess and Ryan.

Jess gulped. "Hey man, we get it. We'll just take him an-"

"No. He stays."

"W-What!? You can't do that!"

"Oh, b-but I can. This technically c-counts as private property. Y-You have no business here and at the moment, I can d-d-do whatever I please."

Colton's breathing had become erratic. "Oh god, Jess, please don't leave me here."

The girl went to open her mouth, but she kept it closed. And she turned away. Toby saw Colton's eyes change and he recognized the look. Betrayal.

"Jess," Colton whimpered, "...please."

"Let's go, Ryan," Jess muttered and began walking towards the opening of the forest.

Toby watched the two go and when they were finally completely out of sight, he looked down at Colton and a grin quickly made it's way onto his face; this is exactly what he needed after the day he had. He put his hatchets in the holster he wore around his waist and then reaching down with his right hand, he threaded his fingers through Colton's hair and then pulled. His grin grew wider at the yelp that echoed through the forest.

"If you're smart, you won't run," he said, his stutter silenced.

He lifted his foot off of Colton's ankle and kept a tight hold of his blue-dyed curls as he dragged him over to where he had left his bag and quickly slung it over his shoulder before dragging Colton further into the forest. Leafs were kicked up as Colton tried digging the short heels of his boots into the soft ground.

"I got a friend with boots like that," Toby said out of no where. "But he can pull 'em off better."

"You're fucking insane!" Colton screamed.