Back Home (CreepyPasta Fanfic)

Chapter Three: Reunion (EJ POV)

I should have set an alarm. I guess I expected Toby to wake up early like he always did, but it was nine o'clock now and he was still sleeping silently next to me. I wondered what time he had fallen asleep last night. I rubbed my eyes and squinted as morning light poured through the half open curtains, making my head hurt. I decided I should get up and find something to eat for breakfast, at least for Toby anyway. I hadn't eaten 'human' food for a long ass time.
I got out of bed slowly and scanned my room for my pants and shirt that I had thrown across the floor somewhere last night. Finding them, I slid out from under the covers and grabbed my jeans off the floor. Slinging my jeans over my shoulder, I wandered over to the small bathroom to shower. I still had some remnants of blood in my hair and arms.
I managed to find deodorant and toothpaste in the vanity after my shower and came out of the bathroom in only my jeans. That feels so much better. I thought to myself. I looked over at Toby to see if he was awake yet, but he was still bundled under the covers, his shoulders moving up and down rhythmically with his breath. I walked over to the edge of the bed and sat down, reaching for my socks and sliding them on.
I looked over to Toby again, who was still sleeping peacefully. His brown hair was thrown everywhere, splaying out over the pillow and his face. It looked like he had shifted around a lot in his sleep. His long eyelashes were plastered to his cheeks with sleep and his lips were slightly parted as he let out long breaths from his mouth. I suddenly felt overwhelmed with the same sensation I had felt before many times. Like last night in the laundromat when Toby caught me staring at him. I wanted to embrace his small delicate frame in mine.
Instead I brushed his hair from his face as lightly as I could with my strong clumsy hand. "Hey... Toby. Wake up." I said, only half meaning it. I could have watched him sleep like that for hours. Yea, I know it's weird, but he rarely looked this calm.
I was about to walk away to get dressed when Toby stirred. "Jack...?" He said, without opening his eyes, turning over in bed. It took me a second to find my voice again. "Yea. Time to get up." I said. Toby rubbed his eyes as I grabbed my shirt from off of the floor and slipped it over my head. "W-what time is it?" Toby muttered, opening his eyes. "Like nine thirty." I responded. "You slept forever, what's up?" Toby shrugged. "G-guess I was t-tired." He said, a little louder this time.
"What's the p-plan Jackie?" Toby asked, sitting up in bed now. I laughed at the stupid nickname and shrugged. "Slendy said that it wouldn't be hard to find the other proxy members around here. I guess we go lookin'." I answered. "Where do you think they would be?" My friend stretched and yawned before answering. "I-if we d-don't know where th-their territory is, we can l-look around for p-people they might hunt, or r-recruit for their p-proxy."
"People our age probably?" I said. Toby shook his head. "W-we were both seventeen when we w-were recruited. But we are nineteen n-now... t-too old. I r-recommend highschool k-kids probably." I nodded. Toby was right. "Okay sounds good." I said. "Let's get some food first though... and a shower." I said elbowing Toby who then slumped out of bed to take a shower.

*Time Skip*

"T-this looks good. I'm st-starved." Toby said as we rounded the corner to a small cafe. "Are y-you getting anything?" He asked me, brushing his hair out of his face. I shook my head. I don't know if I could bring myself to eat the food here. It had been so long since I had eaten like... a human I guess.

Toby ran up to the glass doors of the cafe and held onto the handle, impatiently waiting for me to catch up. "St-still starving!" He yelled towards me. I rolled my eyes. "I'm coming. What are you? Five?" Toby smiled "Maybe."

I entered the cafe slowly as Toby looked over the menu. "This better be quick. We need to get to the mission." I said gruffly to Toby. He rolled his eyes at me. "I know y-you love it in the mansion in t-the middle of nowhere, but d-don't you miss even a l-little bit w-what it was like not h-having to hide?" I don't know what Toby's life was like before I met him, but I will tell you ne thing. I did not miss my old life, not at all. If Toby's childhood had been anything like mine, he wouldn't be saying what he was now.

"Not really." I responded to Toby, but he was too preoccupied with the food to respond. Toby ordered his breakfast and I handed him a wad of stolen cash to pay. But when Toby and I went to the end of the restaurant to wait for our food, there was a loud CRASH, and the sound of something shattering.

I whipped my head around to see a woman standing frozen in place, coffee and shattered pieces of a mug littered around her feet. She had chocolate brown hair that was cut into a short pixie cut, and green eyes that were now wide with surprise and terror. I felt Toby nearly ram himself into my chest, but when he found that running away would cause a scene, he clamped onto me. He shielded his face from the woman and bunched up my shirt in his fists. I heard him mutter "shit." under his breath. No way we could have been recognized already. We should have been more careful...

The woman who had dropped her cup was still standing there frozen, facing us in shock. Another woman who had been sitting with her rushed up and grabbed the other woman's arm. "Connie! Connie, are you okay?" she yelled. The woman named Connie pointed towards us, and said something I thought was going to make Toby cry. "My baby... that's my baby!" I pulled Toby from my chest, he was shaking and ticking like crazy. "Who the fuck is that?" I said to him under my breath, angry. I gripped Toby's arms tightly. Toby looked over to Connie, who was walking slowly towards us, her friend trying hard to stop her.
"Connie! Connie, what are you talking about?" Her friend was almost shouting at her, still trying desperately to calm her down. But then Connie said something that made my blood run cold. "No! I know him! That's my son! Toby, please, please come back home!"
I looked back down at Toby in shock. "What the fuck are we gonna do?" I said quietly but harshly to him. He was still shaking. "She will call the police if you run away again..." I whispered. "Y-yea... n-n-now t-that s-she knows I-I'm alive." Toby stuttered. Connie, - Toby's mother- was walking faster towards us now, her friend unable to stop her anymore. "I guess we have no choice but to go with her." I said through gritted teeth. This whole scenario was exactly what we didn't want to happen.
Toby looked at me worriedly before finally letting go of my hoodie and walking towards Connie. "M-mom..." He said, choking on tears of what I can only guess was a mixture of fear and relief. Everyone in the cafe was staring at us now, I wanted to run and hide. This is attention we definitely didn't need. Connie broke free of her friend, who was now staring in surprise at Toby also. Connie ran as fast as she could run, embracing Toby in her arms. She was crying loudly, and I could tell Toby was trying not to with all of his willpower.
My face dropped. I had pretended for so long that I didn't need anyone, or that I didn't miss anyone, that I didn't care. But watching Toby and his mother embrace, I couldn't help but think of her. I felt a pressure in my throat and my eyes stung. Quickly I blinked the forming tears from my eyes. I wasn't going to think of her ever again, that's what I promised myself when I killed for the first time.
I needed to distract myself, so I walked up to Toby and Connie. "You fucks are causing a scene." I said angrily, earning a sharp glare from Toby's distraught mother, but a nod from him. "We need to go somewhere else. Now." I finished, my voice low. I seemed to scare both of them, so Toby grabbed my hand and his mother's before rushing us all out of the cafe.

*Time Skip*

"What do we tell her?" I growled at Toby. We had convinced Connie to go inside her friends house and away from us for a moment, but that wouldn't last long. Standing in the driveway of the small house Toby shivered in the fall wind. "T-tell her t-that... A-after my d-dad was killed, I r-ran away. She doesn't want to b-believe I'm a murderer, and w-we don't want h-her to." Toby said. "I f-found y-you and have lived w-with you since then."
"So I, a seventeen year old, who is somehow living by myself, let you in with no questions asked?"
"Yes."
"This is such a bullshit idea."
"Got a b-better one?"
"...no."
Toby and I walked slowly into the small house and sat down at the round table in the kitchen by Connie and her roommate. Connie looked at her son with a wild expression. Like she couldn't believe he was here in front of her again, but she was still filled with an overwhelming happiness to see him regardless. I couldn't blame her. Toby sat and looked at his mother tentatively, waiting for her to start the conversation. She looked at him, tears falling down her face again before she could finally speak. "Where were you?" She choked out. Toby delivered our bullshit story perfectly, like he believed it himself. He was choking on his words near the end of the story and ticking uncontrollably. He was still holding back tears.
After a hard conversation with Toby and lots of tears, Connie looked over at me. "Thank you..." She said, refusing to look at my face. "For keeping my son safe." I nodded. After seeing what pain Toby's mother had been through, I hated lying to her like this. But I knew the truth would hurt her more than our lie. "But... why didn't either of you try to find me?" Connie said. She looked tired and hurt. But she wasn't angry, she just wanted to have some closure of the last few years, some proof her son still loved her, that he really didn't mean to leave her like he had said.
I just dropped my head. Toby didn't answer either. Connie grew more impatient with us, and I could finally see the anger boil up inside her like I thought it would since we entered her house. "You boys don't understand what I went through. I know we are all hurt and scared. I get it. But you can't just show up after two goddamn years, Toby." She said, her eyes irritated and wet with tears. "You wouldn't know what it is like to have a child and loose them like I did! I lost my daughter and my son in a matter of a few months! Was I not good enough Toby? Was I too kind to your father?" She was screaming now, pounding her fists on the table. "You don't know what it's like to lose your child! There is no way you could ever understand could you!"
I couldn't breathe. I couldn't focus. Connie's emotions were so overwhelming, I couldn't conceal the expression that I was sure was on my face. I my breath was coming out short and choppy, and my eyes were wide. Memories kept resurfacing in my mind, I couldn't stop them. All I saw was her. Panic.The way she screamed for me before she died. How I couldn't catch her. Panic. I felt like I was going to throw up. My empty stomach turned. My eyes were stinging again. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't see anything but that awful memory. Panic. I didn't want to see it anymore. Panic. I reached my hands to my face. Panic. I didn't want to see. I dug my fingers into my eye sockets. Again.
Then pressure, knocking the wind out of me. I struggled for breath. My hands were held down hard on the tile floor. Something was heavy on my chest. "J-Jack! Jack!" It was Toby. Who's Toby? "Jack stop! Jack." Thank god, it was Toby. I stopped struggling. I still couldn't breathe.
I gripped onto Toby's arm, still unsure of what was reality and what wasn't. I saw as Toby winced when my desperate grip became too hard, but I couldn't comprehend how to stop. But slowly, my hand loosened on my friend's arm and my vision became brighter. I still couldn't control my breath, even as the feeling of panic subsided. I stared at Toby, not knowing what I should say to him. I saw Connie in the background, looming over her son looking scared and angry.
I sat up quickly, realizing what I had just done, and shame washed over me. I couldn't believe that I had let myself slip back into my past, something I promised Slendy I wouldn't do, promised myself I wouldn't do. But the fucking memory was fresh in my mind now, and her screams in my head were still overwhelming. I needed to leave, Toby wasn't supposed to see this.
"J-Jakie... w-w-what the h-hell was t-that?" He stuttered. "A-Are y-y-you okay?" I stood up with surprising speed, making my head spin again. Toby stood up with his arms outstretched, like he thought his puny body could catch mine if I fell. How did I even end up on the floor anyway? Connie and Toby were both looking at me with such a pitying look, it made my chest tense even more, and I felt like I would puke. I hated it when people looked at me that way.
I glared daggers at my friend and his mother, anger now rising into my stomach. And I did the only thing I knew how, the thing I always do when I hurt. I said shit I regretted. "Stop fucking lookin' at me alright. God damn Toby go cry into your mother's arms while you have her. Stop pretending like you care so goddamn much." I spat those words as I said them, Toby's face sinking deeper after every word. But I turned my back and stumbled out of the house, my mind too flooded with emotion to really understand what had just happened.