Toby crashed through the trees, swiping at the underbrush with his now clean hatchet. He was late for roll-call, and he knew that Slender would be angry; Slender had called to him multiple times during the night, and he had failed to respond.

     He had been extremely busy. After going back to see if the girl was still there, he found her blanket. A strange feeling had come over him, and he had gone straight to the nearest dry cleaner's to wash it. Then, he had had to look for her house and drop it off.

     Panting, Toby was snapped from his thoughts as he reached the clearing that held the old manor in which he took residence. He scowled as he slipped his hatchets into his belt and approached the door.

     Toby had raised his hand to knock when the door was flung open, and he was met with a pure white face and dark, blackened eyes. Masky stood there, glaring at him from behind his mask, and Toby could sense the anger in the air.

     "Where the HELL have you been, Twitch Boy!?" Masky snarled, using the nickname that Toby hated ever so much. "Slender's been looking all over existence for you!"

     Toby pushed past Masky and removed his mouth guard and goggles. "Where is he, now, Masky!?" Toby snapped back.

     "Upstairs, brooding," Masky responded icily. "Probably thinking about how he's going to punish you," he added with a smirk. Toby whipped around and pulled out his hatchet, sensing the triumph in Masky's voice.

     "Wanna say that again, Amnesia!?" Toby screeched, hinting at Masky's constant blackouts of forgotten events.

     "Says the guy who's afraid of pencils!" Masky spat, reaching for his crowbar.

     "AT LEAST I REMEMBER THE TRAUMATIC EVENTS!!!" Toby screamed, charging at Masky. Masky prepared to swing the crowbar around and hit Toby's head with it as Toby raised his hatchets, aiming for Masky's throat.

     Before either of them could land a hit, something long and black was between them, holding them apart.

     "B o y s ."

     Both of them froze in place and slowly lowered their weapons. Slender towered over them and removed the tentacle. "Good," his voice echoed, "I don't want to see you two attack each other ever again. Toby." He turned to the brunette, who continued to glare at Masky. "You will sleep in the basement, tonight."

     Toby nodded quietly as Masky smirked. Slender stepped over them and towards the door. "Masky, come with me. We have a mission."

     Masky followed his boss out the door, pompous and triumphant, as Toby stood there in silence. For several minutes, there was no movement. Then, footsteps could be heard from down the hall, approaching quickly.

      "Well, that went well!" a familiar voice said happily.

      "No it didn't, Jeff..." Toby muttered as the teen leaned in the doorway. Jeff approached the couch and plopped down as a blood-red dog bounded in after him. "Yup, I've been in that dungeon more times than I can count," he continued, petting his dog affectionately. "That's mental torture, down there. You see things, you get me? Hear things, too. They tell you you're worthless, and you're gonna die--"

     "I KNOW WHAT HAPPENS DOWN THERE!" Toby snapped. "That's where they train the proxies, stupid."

     "Whoa," Jeff responded sarcastically, "Calm down, there, Mr. Angst."

     "Screw off, Jeff..." Toby muttered, shuffling towards the door.

     "Hey, where you going?" Smile Dog cocked his head as his owner inquired Toby.

     "Out," Toby responded simply, opening the door with a creak and slamming it behind him. Jeff shrugged and picked up the remote to the Television.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Toby traipsed through the woods, gloomy as can be. What was this odd feeling? Why was he so... emotional all of a sudden? Toby didn't know, but throwing his hatchets at the trees didn't seem to help. As he wasted the day away in his sorrow, he grew more and more upset.

     By the time the sun began to set, Toby had made a decision: He was leaving.

     For most of his immortal life, Toby had been Slender's proxy and servant, and never complained once. But now, Toby was tired of the constant fights with Masky, and this new feeling strengthened his hatred for his current situation.

     When he had attacked that boy at the school, the way he had looked at Toby made him stop. Just for a moment, but it was still a stop. Pure terror; that was the expression, and the boy's concern for his friend... For the first time in forever, Toby felt remorse for what he had done.

     And it was terrible.

     Toby stood up from the log he had been sitting on and looked to the sky... Night had fallen; he didn't have much time. Toby had no idea how he was going to evade Slender's wrath, but he knew he had to try. He was willing to risk being caught and killed, rather than going back to the manor and suffer.

     Toby looked at his reflection in a puddle. His goggles, mouth guard, jacket... Everything about himself. He hated what he saw.

     He tore off his goggles and mouth guard, throwing them into the puddle and stomping on them, shattering the lenses of the goggles and bending his mouth guard. He stared down at the muddy garments and an idea struck him.

     After a bit of preparation, Toby had completed his murder scene. His jacket lay in shreds on the ground, bloody and torn. A trail of blood led from the puddle to a large patch of freshly-dug earth. The hog that the blood had come from (and the hatchets used to retrieve it) had been thrown into a nearby river, and the deed was done.

     Toby dusted off his hands and headed toward the edge of the forest, feeling scared but satisfied.

      He looked out across the road and took a breath, stepping outside of Slender's realm. Suddenly, something was lifted from his spirit. The voices in his mind quieted, the connection between his soul and Slender's was stretched to the point of weakening, and his twitching began to slacken.

     He felt...

.  .  .  F  R  E  E  .

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Hey guys! I'm SO SO SOOO sorry I haven't updated in so long! I'll try my best to keep this story going. I have it all planned out, ending and all.

Keep in mind that comments, feedback, ideas, and constructive criticism are VERY appreciated!

Seriously. I want your feedback.

...I am lonely ._.