Broken (Ticcimask, Masky's Side)

Chapter 11 - Curiosity and questions

"Be nice, Masky. A few questions never killed anyone," Hoodie says.

"Never killed anyone? Did you forget about what your psychopath of a friend did to the others?" I ask with a sarcastic huff. Toby looks at me like a confused puppy -- which I ignore entirely.

"Fair point, but not answering his questions will only make him more curious. Plus, he already works for Slender, so protecting him from that is pointless," Hoodie says. I sigh in annoyance and defeat.

"Fine . . . He was a friend of mine," I say. I pause to choose my words before continuing. "The camera is his," I say while gesturing to the camera still on my desk. Hoodie gives me a brief 'continue' gesture. I really want to drop this topic, but I know Hoodie wont let me. I swallowed down the lump in my throat, and forced myself to continue. "I found it after . . . he died . . . I took it with me to finish what he started," I said, looking at the ground.

Anguish coils around my chest tightly like a snake, and it has its fangs poised over my heart, ready to strike with it's grief laced venom. It hurts knowing that one of the only two real friends I ever had is gone, killed by someone he had called a friend. It's a fact I didn't want to accept or think about.

"S-so . . . The p-person who f-filmed the v-video in the c-camera is . . . Jay? I k-know you s-said the girl i-is Jessica, but y-you never s-said who the person t-talking to her i-is," Toby asks, shattering my train of thought. I shake my head no. Silence takes control of my room, and I don't want to dethrone it yet.

"You talked to Jessica? I didn't think you ever crossed paths with her more than the one time at the hotel," Hoodie says while giving me a bewildered look.

"Only a few times," I say.

"Hmm . . . Is she still alive?" he asks.

"As far as I know, she is. Didn't you see the last entry?" I ask.

"No, by the time I was revived, everything had sorted itself out and I saw no need to watch what I missed," he says with a shrug. I glanced over at Toby to find him following the conversation with a confused, yet intrigued, look on his face as he listened. I ignored Toby, not wanting to answer more questions.

"So what happened to your hoodie?" I ask Hoodie, trying to change the subject. He laughs a bit before responding.

"You happened to it," he says. I look down at the floor. Remorse pricks at my skin from knowing I attacked the only true friend I have left. He chuckles. "It's alright, you only cut my hoodie. Plus, I did kinda deserved it for provoking you like that," he says.

Before anything else could be said, there was a knock on my door.

"Dinners ready," Ben says from behind the door.

"I'll be down in a second," I say. I look over at the other two proxies. Hoodie stands up and walks to my door.

"Come on, I'm hungry" he says while gesturing for Toby and I to follow. Toby and I both get up and follow Hoodie to the dining room.

I sit down at my normal seat, and hoodie sits down beside me on my left as usual. Toby sits beside me on my right, and I try my best to ignore him. Everyone else sits down too and starts talking among themselves.

I didn't have anything to talk about, so I put some of the food that was being passed around the table on my plate. There was mashed potatoes, corn, peas, and chicken. I lifted my mask just above my mouth, and started to eat my food silently.

Suddenly, I became the center of the table conversation.

"Hey, Masky, what was that earlier?" Jeff asks me.

"Yeah, I've never seen you act like that," Ben adds. Everyone unanimously murmurs in agreement, and waits for my reply.

"Hoodie brought up things he shouldn't have," I say, not looking up from my food.

"So you attacked him?" Jeff asks.

"Apparently. Why do you suddenly care about my personal life?" I ask.

"I just find it a bit odd. I mean, come on, you'd be a bit curious if I started yelling with Ben about people and events no one here has ever heard of, and then I chased him around the mansion with a knife after falling on the floor," Jeff says. The last part catches my attention, but I don't dwell on it long.

"Curiosity killed the cat," I say.

"Curiosity killed the blue Jay," Hoodie says. I stab my fork down in a flurry of anger, and everyone jumps at the sudden action.

"If you bring him up one more time, I'm throwing you out another window," I say, glaring at Hoodie. He puts his hands up in mock surrender.

"Alright, fine, I won't," he says and goes back to eating.

"Okay, who is Jay? You guys keep talking about him like he's really important, but no one else here has ever heard of him," Jeff says. I ignore the question entirely, and I continue eating my food. I finish my dinner, and move my mask back into place. I keep my eyes fixed on the empty plate.

"Since Masky won't answer, Jay . . . What was his last name again? Wagner? Melvin? McClain? Mervin?" Hoodie asks.

"Merrick," I say, forcing my voice to sound calm.

"Oh yeah, Merrick. Jay Merrick was a good friend of Masky's -- and mine to some extent. He was shot and killed a long time ago," hoodie says.

"Because of your psycopath of a friend," I say.

"We both know Alex wasn't always like that. He went crazy because of the operator, and you're the one who brought him to Alex," he says. I stand up abruptly, nearly sending my chair crashing into the wall behind me.

"I'm going to bed," I say while leaving the room. I flee to my room.

I sit on the edge of my bed, and I stare at the floor thinking. My guilt is weighing me down like a thick blanket of cement, and It's almost suffocating me. I know that I'm responsible for everything that happened back then, and I don't need Hoodie reminding me. If I had just stayed away from everyone, many people would still be alive and living normal lives.

I hear the door creak open, and I glance over to see Toby enter the room. He sits down on his air mattress, and he sets his goggles and mouthguard on the floor beside him. We say nothing to each other, but somehow just knowing he's here with me, that i'm not alone, is calming to me.