Can't Say

Chapter 14

       The wailing of your banshee-like alarm jolted you awake; hell, you nearly tumbled out of your bed as you scrambled within the confines of your covers to smash the OFF button. Only after you reached your goal did you regain normal hearing. The faint thumps of footsteps outside of your room told you that your teammates were already awake and getting ready for the mission today.
       You tossed your covers back on to the bed, not bothering with making them neat or anything, and groggily stumbled to your armoire. There you found your Proxy costume and mask, waiting to be adorned once more. Problem is: you didn't remember hanging your gear before bed – rather, you had simply tossed it all to the floor and collapsed on your bed that night. Someone had been in your room while you were sleeping. You had a sneaking suspicion that it was your master, since he had a quirk for being tidy.
       Shrugging it off, you quickly slipped on your pants, shirt, coat, and mask. You fixed your hair as best you could to keep it from hindering you during missions, then shoved on your boots. Patting yourself down, you found that your knife and gun were tucked away in your coat pockets.
       Perfect.
       You gave yourself a single, firm nod, then exited your room and met everyone downstairs in the lobby. There, you found Slenderman standing just in front of the main doors to the mansion. Toby and Hoodie had their backs to you, facing your master. You joined the team, stepping in between Toby and Hoodie, and looked up to Slenderman as you waited for your briefing.
       No time was wasted, as Slenderman began, “There is a human who goes by the name Gerald Macky. His is proficient in computer technology and has a fascination with antique film recording. Gerald has been on my trail for quite some time now, and has managed to gather dangerous amounts evidence concerning our existence. We must dispose of him and his records.
       “Fortunately, Gerald lacks intimidating physical strength, so once you reach him, you should be capable of taking him down with ease. I would do this myself; however Gerald has constructed some form of technology that disturbs my frequencies at a radial distance – find it and destroy it.”
       “Gerald Macky, frequency device, evidence,” Hoodie listed for the team to make note of.
       Ticci Toby clasped his hands together, rubbing them in anticipation, “Sounds like b-burning the place down will d-do the trick.”
       “Not this time,” Slenderman replied firmly. “Since ____ is attending her first mission, I recommend a clean sweep. The evidence and device will be gathered, brought back here, and then disposed of.”
       Hoodie nodded, “The device will have to be completely disabled.” He then turned to Toby, “If you can take care of Gerald, and I'll do that.” Toby nodded, turning to you just as Hoodie then did so he could instruct you, “Your job is to find the collection of film evidence and get it to the rendezvous point.”
       Nodding, mostly because you didn't want to argue on your first mission, you accepted your instructions. “Where exactly is that point?”
       “Here.” Slenderman's tendrils lashed out and made contact with Toby, Hoodie, and yourself. They didn't wrap around your throats or produce any harm, but rather tapped the three of you long enough for their intention to follow through. The scenery and atmosphere around you changed almost instantly. You had to blink hard a few times to help your mind register what had just happened. This was just like last time before that fight.
       Glancing around, you found that all four of you had been Slender-walked to an empty alley in the suburbs of some city. It was night there (Or still ridiculously early?), so the small amount of moonlight that bounced off the walls, accompanied by street lights in the distance, were all that aided your vision. You took note of your surroundings so that you could find your way back later.
       Slenderman's voice began to instruct again, “Gerald Macky's residence is one block from here. He lives in apartment 224. I'm afraid I have no further information.” He pointed in the general direction of the apartment complex.
       You were ready to turn and chase after Toby and Hoodie, but they still didn't move. As you looked between the three of them with uncertainty, you felt a strange discomfort within your head. The sensation was difficult for you to understand. Invasive, perhaps? It didn't take long for you to understand why you felt that way, because your master's voice whispered in your mind as ghostly as your very thoughts. Without quite registering these whispers as words or sentences, you abruptly understood that Slenderman would only hold this mental connection up until they reached the frequency device's range limit. After that, he would reconnect with the three of you as soon as it was disabled.
       Hoodie turned on his heel and took off first, quickly followed by Ticci-Toby. You whipped around, staring after your teammates as you fearfully accepted that the mission had truly begun, then chased after them.
       The streets were virtually empty, save for the pair of drunks much further down. You were sure that it was early morning here, which meant that Slenderman's dimension and this time zone in the human world have similar, if not exact, synchronizations. People would be waking up within the next hour or so; mostly those who have to go into work at ridiculous hours in the morning, the poor things. It was crucial that your team finish the mission within that time limit.
       Toby and Hoodie reached the apartment complex, to which Toby continued through the halls and up the stairs to reach the door. Hoodie waited for you, looking over his shoulder. The moment that you reached the complex you noticed the disappearance of your master’s invasive mental prying. "Follow me," Hoodie stated before dashing around the building. You complied without a word.
       Unbeknownst to you, Hoodie had sufficient knowledge of how apartments were laid out. He had a pretty good idea where the target's window would be, so he made is way there. You were informed that the two of you would be climbing, to which you cringed at the thought.
       Hoodie's abrupt halt around a corner had you nearly bumping into him, but you caught yourself. He was craning his neck back, staring up toward a third-floor window expectantly. All of the windows in the complex were dark - some covered in tinfoil to block out prying eyes or the sun. You were about to ask Hoodie what he was waiting for, but he seemed to predict this and quickly held up a gloved finger to shush you. He mumbled something under his breath; perhaps an urge to Toby to hurry up with whatever he was doing inside the apartment.
       A quick flash of light from the window directly above the two of you emitted for a split second. It was then that you realized just how well Hoodie knew apartment design - he'd done this one too many times. There was no hesitation between the moments that the interior light flashed and Hoodie began to scale up the wall of the apartments. Luckily for the both of you, there were plenty of electrical conduit and decorative ledges to make a possible, though challenging, climb to the target window.
       The window was quietly slid open with only the hushed hiss of its railing breaking the silence. Hoodie slipped into the apartment, leaving you to climb up on your own, though he and Toby waited to make sure that you made it in without screwing up. You were huffing and puffing, not used to climbing steep walls; part of you was embarrassed of your unsteadiness after seeing that your teammates weren't even out of breath, despite yourself. Your entrance through the window was impressive to you, though, as you were able to get through without catching on anything or making a racket.
       With the three of you standing together in a close circle, you were about to utter a question of what to do next, as you had no clue where to begin searching for the film, but Toby held up a hand to stop you. He pointed to a door behind himself, which was cracked open just a bit. A dim, white light of some sort radiated from beyond that door. You could hear the hum of a computer running from that direction, too. Toby then brought his hands to the side of his head, tilting it a bit, to imitate the position of sleeping. Hoodie nodded at this, and you quickly understood what Toby had meant, so you nodded as well. Again, Toby pointed in another direction, which was to each corner of the room the three of you were currently in. Within these corners, you could see tiny red lights, to which you registered as cameras watching all of you. Your heart sank a bit, but then you remembered that your mask would hide your identity rather well. Again, you and Hoodie nodded at Toby to confirm that you understood what he was informing you of.
       Hoodie then pointed at himself in a questioning manner. He was hoping for any clues of where the frequency device may be, but Toby only shrugged and shook his head; however, Toby pointed at you, then averted his aim to a door on the opposite end of the room. This door was also ajar, though left wide open. Toby must have done a quick search through the apartment before letting you and Hoodie inside. You nodded, to which all three of you split up to attend to your assigned tasks - Toby to the bedroom, you to the storage room, and Hoodie to anywhere he suspected the device might be hidden.
       It was nerve-racking how ghostly your team moved around the apartment. Your heart was racing, excited and terrified that anything could go wrong at any moment – not because you doubted Toby or Hoodie, but because you doubted yourself. You’d been sneaky with the students during your mini-massacre at your old high school, but you had much less cover from nearby people. Through mentioning of old friends you used to have, you had learned that apartment walls tended to be thin, thus the neighbors could easily hear moderate to loud noises. If you weren’t worried that Gerald Macky would hear one of you scuttling around his home, then you were certain that one notable mistake would alert his neighbors – if they woke up from it.
       Upon entering the storage room, your hand automatically felt around near the door frame for the light switch, but you paused in realization of how much of a bad idea that would be. There were no windows in this room, and the air was utterly black. You decided to flick on the light just long enough for you take in the room contents, then switched off the light within the span of a second.
       With that brief illumination, you registered the fact that the light was a deep red. Within the room, you had noticed a sink along the far wall. Above that sink were numerous square objects that you assumed were photographs pinned along a line. Near you, against the wall to your left, you had the fleeting glance of filing cabinets that lined the space. They looked to be heavily used. Some old film canisters were even stacked on top of the cabinets.
       Since the dimness of the red light wouldn’t be too noticeable, you decided to turn it back on. You would need it to find all of the evidence you had to gather. A tug in your gut feared that you would need to gather all there was in the room. At that thought, you realized that you would require far more than just your arms and coat pockets to carry everything, so you began looking for backpacks or spare pillow cases, even spare blankets, that might be stored away in the room somewhere. There were none, however, so you had to search the apartment.
       The very second your foot crossed the doorway into the living room, you heard a struggle coming from Ticci Toby's assignment – the bed room. Hoodie was nowhere to be found. You froze, staring straight to the bedroom doorway, your heart racing. During the long moments of thumps and grunts, questions ran through your mind: Would Toby emerge victorious? Would Gerald come rushing through that door and attack you, too? Should you be helping Toby?
       No, wait. 
       You shook your head, clearing your thoughts. After convincing yourself that Toby was a veteran Proxy and he could take care of himself, you looked around the living room and found a throw-blanket lazily draped over the sofa. You lunged for it, snatching the fabric from its resting place and dashed back into the storage room just as you heard a solid chop behind you.