It's been a few weeks since I've accepted Slender's job offer and became a proxy. I've only been training so far with each of the other proxies. I knew what I was signing up for when I signed the contract, and I did know that one day I would have to kill someone.

     I was given a choice of a weapon, and picked out a small hand gun with a silencer. I figured it might be a lot easier for me to use on a person than something like a knife.

     "Hey," Brian called out. "Ready?"

     When I picked out the gun they told me that Brian could train me to use it. He's a good shot, and I've seen it for myself.

     "Yeah, sorry! Just thinking about something."

     I walk over to him and look around at the firing range we're standing in. There's the faint sound of gunshots through the sound proof glass. The adjustable targets sit on wires hanging from the ceiling with paper targets. The design on the target is of a robber with a target where his heart should be, and another between his eyes.

     I put in my earplugs and the sound-proof headset before spending the next two hours being taught how to stand, shoot, and hold a good aim. Afterwards he tells me to meet him there for practice at 2pm everyday.

     Toby met me outside the range, which I thought was a bit strange, but hey, I'm not complaining.

     "H-Hey, (Y/N)!," he says before pulling me into an embrace. My face heats up at the gesture, and I hug back. The ghost of his warm embrace lingers even after he pulls away.

     I look to his face, which is dusted in a shade of pink. "Wa-ant to go-go get I-ice cream?"

     His eyes pull his left as he struggles to make eye contact, which is unbelievably adorable. I smile at his dorkiness and nod as my face grows hot.

     ~~~

     I choose the table next to the window while Toby waits for our ice cream. I look out at the snow and my mind wanders to the time I've spent here. It's been around two months since I've seen any of my friends or my family, and I can't help but wonder how they feel as of now.

     My parents wander to my thoughts, as well as my younger brother. My life with them wasn't bad, though my parents were too busy to spend that much time with us. I spent a lot of the time with my brother, but we weren't all that close. He liked to spend time with his friends, and I liked to stay with mine. My parents tried to make what time we had count.

     When I got here, I saw their corpses frozen in the lake. Were they actually there? What if they're alive in our world..?

     The clink of glass on the table alerts me to Toby's presence and I meet his eyes as he sits down with his sundae. I take my own and admire the aesthetic of the treat.

     "Yo-ou alriight? You we-re spaced out t-there," he asks with a tinge of worry in his voice.

     "Oh! Sorry, no I was just thinking," I laugh, shaking away the memories of my family and past. This is my home now.

     "I-if you say so," and he gives me that goddamn dorky smile of his before eating a bite of his sundae. I can't help but smile as warmth fills my chest and as my face heats up. How dare he be that adorable.

     Adorable? Well fuck.

     I attempt to shake away the warm feeling with a quick shake of my head before eating my own sundae and talking with Toby. I try my best to ignore the thoughts burning in my skull while we talk about anything and everything.

     We finish up and leave the shop before finding a spot to sit in the park where the snow wasn't too bad. He seems super open about most of the things I want to talk about and I can't help but return that openness.

     "So yeah! Then me and Andreas were running from the school security, thousands of barbeque packets filling our backpacks and pockets before we ran outside to meet Mr. Anderson, who had a taser and I just-!" I can't finish the story because I'm laughing too hard. Toby's laughing so heard that he falls off the bench into the snow, drawing attention from a few people passing by for no more than a few seconds. When we mostly recover and he gets off the floor and sits down, he goes silent for a moment before hugging me tightly. Before I can hug him back, he retracts his arms and apologizes profusely.

     I simply hug him to stop his apologizing, and he quickly returns it. We pull apart after a few seconds, and I smile softly at him. He's tomato red and I can feel my own face heat up.

     "(Y/N), c-cou-uld I a-ask something?" He struggles to meet my eyes.

     "Yeah, go ahead," I say. 

     "D-do you wan-nt to go on a-" Toby's phone rings, ruining the moment. He curses under his breath, knowing he can't ignore it. He looks at the screen and sees that Slender is calling him, which is never a good thing. He picks up.

     "H-hello?"

     "Wh-at? Now?"

     "Y-you want them to come wi-ith us? Sir, they haven't tra-ined long enough I-it's too dangerous-!"

     "...what?"

     "...yes si-ir. We'll b-be there ri-ight away."

     He hangs up his phone, and looks at me, worry lacing his entire face. "We h-have to go," he says before grabbing my hand and running towards the path leads to the lake. I try to ask what's going on but he says that it'll all be explained soon.

     We reach the frozen lake where Brian, Tim, and Kate are waiting, as well as a wall of tension. Toby rushes to ask what is going on, and I try to listen, but my focus is drawn towards the large pieces of floating ice as visions of bodies floating in the ice flood my mind, giving me deja vu from nightmares I can't remember.

     I want to walk into the water, and swim over there, but I don't know why. It's an urge I fight, before looking down at my reflection in the water. My face, the face that I haven't actually seen in two months, brings a realization that hits me like a truck. I stare into my own glossed-over eyes and paled skin in the water, before turning around to meet Tim's eyes. They've stopped talking, staring at me with unreadable expressions.

     "(Y/N-)"

     "Am I dead?"