Stay ~TicciWork~

Chapter 10 : Quest.

After the events of the night before, it wasn't hard to tell that Clockwork was utterly exhausted the next morning. She would have killed for an extra few minutes in the comfort of her bed but after her speech there was no way that could happen. Clockwork never considered herself a 'hero', if you could even say that. She was just beyond angry. The woman who had been so motherly towards her in the beginning, who had quite literally nursed her back to health when she first arrived, was gone. Of course, Masky still had hope for her. Still had hope that she would take time to recover and then pick herself up. That was most likely why her body remained downstairs.

Waking up early never sat well with Clockwork. She opened her eye and scanned the room, Sally clearly hadn't stayed the whole night. Clockwork assumed she had left to go stay in Slenderman's room. The girl had been so shaken with fear that night and Slenderman was actually rather fatherly to her. Clockwork couldn't recall the last time her own father had been fatherly.

The brunette got out of bed, stretching up a tad before going to her closet and picking out the first thing that came to hand, a simple black t-shirt and tight jeans like the type she normally wore. She pulled on a sweater and for once tied back her hair into a ponytail. She meant business and she couldn't have any distractions.

Leaving her room it became apparent that she wasn't the first one awake. Downstairs there was a loud commotion and a young girl seemingly chatting away, most likely Sally. The front door swung open and outside sat Jeff with Smile spread out behind him, laying quietly. Clockwork was beginning to understand that most of these people probably couldn't sleep after the nights events. She didn't think it was appropriate to ask though, some people were most likely still shaken up by the whole thing.

Once the young woman entered the living room everything seemed normal. The body had been moved most likely so Sally wasn't exposed to it, and half a dozen people were sitting around in the room.
Sally sat on the floor, a woman behind her assisting her in tying back her hair into a neat braid to keep it out of her face. The blood had successfully matted it down anyway and it was apparent that Sally needed a good hair wash soon. The young girl chatted away to the woman as she did so. Masky and Hoodie sat to themselves, talking and most likely confiding in each other for the moment.
The woman by Sally's side took a look at Clockwork, a hand raised in greeting. The brunette gave a small smile in response before feeling someone behind her, turning to notice that Toby was right by her side. He was taller than her, perhaps five foot six, maybe seven. He also had a tic that caused him to involuntarily jerk his head everyone so often and Clockwork couldn't help but feel bad for him, even if he said it was fine.

The woman by Sally tied the hair tie into the end of the lengthy braid before getting up and slowly leaving the room, pushing past Toby and Clockwork. The eight year old gradually stood up and raced over to Clockwork, her arms outstretched and a bright smile on her face, Clockwork picked up the younger girl patting her hair gently.

"Your hair looks so pretty, did you ask for a braid?" Clockwork spoke, drawing the attention of some of the others, their gazes drifting to her and then drifting away. Sally's nod was cheerful and energetic, her arms wrapped around Clockworks neck to keep herself stable in the girls arms.
"I like it lots!" Sally announced, her voice content and cheerful, one or two locks of hair framing her face. She only stayed in Clockworks arms for a moment before reaching over to Toby who took her with ease.

Clockwork watched the two for a moment, a small smile etching to her face before she quietly left the room, stepping outside to join Jeff for a few moments to get his views on the entire thing. She took a seat next to him, Smiles tail dusting the porch for a moment before the dog stilled once again.

"I think it's a suicide mission." Jeff stated, Clockwork hadn't even opened her mouth yet, it was almost as if he could read her mind.
"I think it's really dumb that they all want to go after these people who are obviously more prepared than we are." It was easy to understand where Jeff was coming from. He cared about these people, he knew them longer than Clockwork did. They were a family and she was just a passing visitor. She would leave when times got tough, he assumed at least.

"But they aren't going to sit back and accept Ann dying, they aren't just going to hope it doesn't happen again." Jeff spoke, looking over at Clockwork. His gaze was creepy to say the least, Clockwork wasn't fond of making eye contact with him. She averted her gaze, looking out at the dense trees. She agreed, she knew they would lose more people doing this, but there was no point in being pessimistic about it.

Clockwork was snapped out of thoughts once Masky, Hoodie and Toby filed out of the house, Toby carrying Sally on his back. Guilt followed out cheerfully, followed by EJ with Seedeater shuffling from around the side of the house, and finally Slenderman and BEN followed out quietly. That was the mission squad Clockwork supposed, including herself and Jeff into that since the pale boy stood up and collected up SmileDogs lead.

"Let's go, no backing out now." Jeff teased, and yet Clockwork couldn't figure out if he was actually smiling or if it was the mutilation. She gave a nod regardless and tied up her laces before racing to catch up with the others. That was the beginning to their quest.

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Soooo, I haven't updated in two years but damn I was convinced to come back so Hi! I hope you enjoy !