Can't Say

Chapter 4

           “No,” his creamy, deep voice boomed in your head, rather than around you like last time. Slenderman had refused your request to go grocery shopping for the mansion. His reasons were that you were not yet a Proxy, and thus he couldn't trust you on your own.
            Not wanting to be strangled again, you didn't bother arguing with your possible new master. Instead, you decided to explore the mansion. There were most likely other Creepypastas lazing around. You wondered how many others you would meet during your time here. With this thought in mind, you began trying to recall all the Creepypastas you had read about back in the day. It hadn't been more than a year since you left the fandom, but you had already forgotten so much. The fact that you were here, now with the real deals, made you wish you hadn't given up on the Creepypasta era.
            By the time you exited your pondering, you discovered that your autopilot-self had brought you back down the hallway and into the lobby. There was a door across the room, exactly where your master had stood earlier. There was a light on; a little dim, but still clear. Brighter than that, though, was the flickering of a television screen from behind the doorway. Your curiosity grew, wondering who you would meet this time. Hoodie had ignored you in the kitchen, so he wasn't any use, for the time being.
           Shoving your hands into your pants pocket, you half-strolled and half-tip-toed across the lobby. It was a bit of a silly walk, but you couldn't help yourself. Even after what had happened with Slenderman and Jeff, your excitement for being in the Creepypasta mansion had you feeling at least a little giddy by this point. Something deep down inside you poked a reminder that your joy would eventually wear out. You were still human, after all. You were a possible target for everyone in the mansion. Most likely, the only reason you hadn't been killed yet, is because Slenderman wanted you as a Proxy.
            You reached the doorway, taking in the atmosphere of a fanciful living room. There were a couple of bookshelves on the wall to your left, along with a reading area – lamp and all. Across from you was a circle of recliners and love seats, all surrounding a round, wooden, coffee table. To your right, was a large, antique couch facing a moderately sized flat-screen television that hung on the wall. On the utterly bright screen was the familiar green-clad character from the Nintendo 64 days – Link. He was running around a dark and gloomy town, not really accomplishing anything. You glanced to the couch to see who was playing the game, only to see a similar green cap poking from beyond the furniture's back.
            This guy seemed like he would be at least tolerant of you. Maybe you two could get along after a little chat. So, you stepped over to one side of the couch and cleared your throat in an effort to break the silence between the two of you. The television screen flashed to a save menu. All of the files available were titled “BEN”. Then you remembered who this guy was.
            “You're the new recruit?” Ben Drowned eyed you. His red irises encircled in endless black had a depth you could only describe as the sensation of drowning in. The stains of blood trickled down his cheeks as tears. Ben only stared at you coldly, waiting for an answer.
            The sight of the real-life Ben had shaken you up a little. You stammered over your words, “I was just, uh,” you realized what he had asked you. “Oh, yeah. I guess I am.”
            With a snort, Ben turned his head back to the game and continued on with his business.
            “Okay,” you contorted your mouth in frustration. It seemed that Ben wasn't going to be as great of a person as you thought. Still, you decided to try a little harder, and sat down on the end of the couch, giving Ben his space. He only glanced at you for a second. “What game are you playing?” You asked, mostly just trying to get Ben to talk. You knew it was a Legend of Zelda game, but you actually weren't sure which one.
            “Majora's Mask,” Ben grumbled to you. His eyes didn't leave the screen this time. He seemed almost absorbed in the game; a trance of sorts.
            “Oh, yeah?” You watched the Link look-alike. Creepier than himself was the haunting gaze that he cast upon the game. It was as though a part of him was the game, itself. “You play it a lot?”
            “This is the only game I play.”
            “Darn,” you made yourself sound disappointed. In truth, you partially were. “This isn't a multiplayer game, either. I was hoping to play a game with you.” You stared at Ben, waiting for him to answer with a proposal of trying out a game.
            The save menu opened up again. Ben went through all the motions to save his current file, then shoved the controller in your direction. Something wasn't right about him, though. There was a devious curl in his lips now. He said coyly, “You wanna play?”
            Afraid to infuriate him, you complied and grabbed the controller. Carefully, your fingers tapped the buttons in an effort to remind yourself what they all did. You managed to exit from the save menu, finding Link standing in the middle of the game's town.
            A flash of light from your left caught you off guard. Electrical surges whizzed past your ears. When you glanced to see if Ben was okay, you discovered that he was no longer sitting on the couch with you. He was, in fact, gone. Before you could call out to him, Ben's voice came through the television speakers, “Let's play.”
            You didn't feel like playing anymore. Something about the way he said it sounded much too crooked. Still, you didn't want to anger him. You pushed the analog stick to begin directing Link to explore the town. Link did as you pleased, though you soon found that there was little to do. There weren't even any NPCs to talk to. The incredibly strange background music was dizzying; it sounded like a sweet song being played backwards.
            After some time, you found the Happy Mask Salesmen. His repeated chuckling quickly irked your nerves. You tried to talk to him, but he wouldn't say a word. This game seemed rather off; not like the video games you were used to. Still, you returned to wandering the town, searching every inch.
            Soon, you noticed a humanoid figure standing on top of the Clock Tower. With closer inspection, you found that it was some masked character. Skull Kid, you think. You searched through your various items and decided to fire arrows, since there was no other way to reach the character. Each arrow made contact with Skull Kid, and he went reeling back to assure you of it. Then, he slowly straightened himself back into his neutral stance, staring at you.
            “That won't do you any good here,” a new voice taunted you from the game. Surely it came from Skull Kid.
            You didn't have time to figure it out, though. Something else was happening. Link was being lifted up by an unknown force, tilting to lay on his back. Link's arms and legs went swinging as he struggled to get out of the mysterious grip. You watched in horror as Link's body burst into flames, his screams blaring through the television speakers. The crackling and burning of Link's coded flesh seemed so real. You could hear them as though they were right on you. No, they were on you! You were on fire, too!
            Tossing the controller aside, you began screaming as the sensation of your skin melting off your very bones filled your nervous system. You could see the flames flickering right in front of your eyes. You looked down at your hands, only to confirm your fears. In a desperate attempt to put out the fire, you dropped to the floor and began rolling around, squirming and writhing. Your screams matched the volumes of Link's. Footsteps could be heard from the room's entrance.
            “Put her out, Ben,” Slenderman's voice boomed his command.
            Someone else ran over to you. “Calm down, ____!” He gripped your shoulders and tried to hold you down. “It's not real!” You caught a glimpse of orange circles as your vision began to blur, the sensation of fire had gone away as quickly as it came. Your vision darkened until you fell unconscious.
            It wasn't long before you awoke with an unfamiliar face staring down at you. Someone had moved you to lay on the couch. Your skin wasn't on fire anymore, and there seemed to be no resulting pain from the situation beforehand. “What happened?” You had to ask. You knew you were on fire just a while ago.
            The young man staring at you frowned a bit. He glanced up to someone who was behind your view, “Ben likes to set people on f-fire.” This new person stuttered a little. He also seemed to have a regular twitch with his body. “It wasn't real fire, though,” the orange-goggled man patted your shoulder, “he just m-makes you think it is.”
            “Come on, Toby,” Ben's voice sighed behind you, “you always ruin my fun.”
            “That's because y-you did it to me!” The man named Toby stood up in his defense. “I didn't know it w-was fake for months!”
            “Both of you, silence yourselves!” Slenderman boomed from behind the couch. You sat up to take a look. Your master somehow eyed you, and you knew it. He said, “Consider that your first test, ____. I suggest you become familiar and tolerant of such pain if you want to survive as my Proxy.”
            You took a huge gulp of anxiety as you nodded to Slenderman. You weren't sure why you agreed to what he said. That pain was the worst you had ever experienced, and it would be a regular thing? How did you get yourself into this mess?
            With a regretful groan, you sank into the antique couch and hugged your knees. “How can anyone be okay with all that pain?”
            Toby adjusted himself to sit right next to you. Ben did the same. All three of you stared at the “Game Over” screen on the television. Toby answered your rhetorical question, “I actually can't feel physical pain.” Your eyebrow quirked at Toby, seeing the plot-hole in what he had said to Ben earlier. He noticed this and waved you off, saying, “Ben showed me what pain was like, though. His fire messes with your mind.”
            A proud chuckling sounded from Ben. “It's one of my specialties. I love to get inside people's heads; not literally, of course.”
            “I see...” You grasped this possibility, finding that Ben was much scarier than you had anticipated.
            A black-gloved hand fell in front of you, extended and open. Following the connecting arm, you realized that it was Toby smirking down at you. “So, you're the new candidate, huh?”
            “Yeah,” you hesitantly took Toby's hand and shook it.
            After releasing each other’s grip, Toby continued, “Not at lot of them m-make it through the tests, but it's for a good reason.”
            “What reason is that?” You eyed Toby curiously.
            Toby remained silent. He looked past you to make eye contact with Ben. Neither exchanged words, but Toby decided to answer you, “You'll find out if you become an official Proxy.”
            It only occurred to you now, but there was always a good chance that you wouldn't pass these unknown tests. If that were to happen, what would become of you? Would Slenderman just release you back into the human world as though nothing had happened? Then what? You expressed these questions to Toby, only to receive an answer you didn't want to hear.
            “You get to be prey for one of the Creepypastas in the mansion.”