Tale of a Slenderman Proxy_Shadowed Night

Ⓧ Chapter 16 Ⓧ

Echoes of laughter bounced around the dark. The jubilant (more or less) sounds were a mix of a soft female's voice and a young male's voice. The form that owned the male voice, BEN, spun around in the air and gripped his stomach. Jax was leading the group through the lightless woods. Large, thin coniferous trees rose high above their heads. Chirps of some sort of animal could be heard, probably alarmed at the strange figures moving through the animal's home in the middle of the night. "You know, we've been walking forever it feels." BEN groaned, continuing to twirl around and around just slightly above the right of Keith. Night, who was still being carried by Keith, followed BEN's spinning with her eyes. She raised a brow and smirked. "Walking? The only two walking are Jax and Keith." She laughed. Keith let out of gruff chuckle. "Yeah, man. I'm sure flying isn't as exhausting as using your legs."

With a shake of his head, BEN returned to his upright position; he remained floating, but his legs were beneath him and hovering above the ground, slightly bended at the knees. "I'll have you know that my so-called flying is still very exhausting." He stuck out his tongue at Keith, earning a giggle from Night. Keith rolls his eyes and looks ahead, fixing his gaze on the back of Jax's hood. Due to its dark turquoise color, it was still blending well in the dark. "I know you're just aiding us in our search for Masky, but you could talk too y'know?" Keith urged. Silence was the response given to Keith's words. A puzzled expression dressed Keith's face and he decided to just let it go. "Well you're better company than Jeff. I'd rather have someone who doesn't talk at all than someone who screeches stupid, obnoxious things again and again for no reason." Night furrowed her brow and glanced up at Keith's face. "He isn't that bad." She spoke, though not really sure why she felt she needed to defend the killer. He was definitely obnoxious, no doubt there, but he was still like family to Night.

Avoiding what she had said, Keith just kept his eyes forward. Night puffed out some air, her bangs flipping upward. Yeah, just ignore me then. She thought, averting her glare to the side.

Jax suddenly stopped and he pulled his hands from his pocket. Keith also ceased movement, which brought Night's attention to the front. "What's up...?" BEN asked, his voice low and his eyes darting around. "Something smells foul. Like death. Keep your senses sharp." Jax whispers. He lifts his jacket a bit, revealing a holster on his hip. He pulls a five-inch blade from the holster, its blade and hilt both darkly colored. Jax steps forward quietly and slowly, lowering himself to a crouch. A wave of irritation sweeps over Night as she perceives Jax's actions. "Really? Trouble? I was hoping this was going to be a nice, quick trip with no hiccups." She mumbles, eyeing the area ahead of them suspiciously. Everyone else remained silent and attentive in hopes of hearing anything. Some time passed as everyone remained still and there was a moment of confidence that it was just nothing and they could carry on, but a sudden crunch behind the group had Keith whipping around quicker than anyone could blink.

The movement startled Night, both the abrupt crunch and Keith's twirling. All of a sudden, Keith shouts, "Jax, catch her!" and lifts Night up and tosses her backwards. With supernatural like speed, Jax had sheathed his knife and stepped forward to catch a bewildered Night. Keith reaches his hands swiftly down to his sides and unclips what appear to be mechanical rectangular shaped objects hooked to his belt. With a quick press of the buttons on the sides of the items and a flick of his hands, the objects disclose to be hatchets.

Grasping onto the cloth over Jax's chest, Night leers up at him and frowns. "One, thank Slender you caught me. And second..." She switched her look towards Keith. "What if you just totally missed and I hit the ground? Like what the fuck?" Keith kept his expression focused ahead of him and serious while still responding with, "You're good, shorty. Trust in me some." Night's appearance relaxed a bit, as did her hold onto Jax. Okay, okay. A low chuckle began to sound in the pitch-dark area ahead of Keith. Keith tightens his hold on his hatchets and changes his stance with half of his body angled slightly to the side. The quiet laughter subsided, and Keith narrowed his eyes in hopes to make out a shape. BEN had moved forward, floating just beside Keith. Jax lowers his head close to Night, his breath beginning to tickle her ear. "Hold on." He whispers. With little to no time to process what he said, Night opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by the downward force of wind on her face.