The sound of something falling made me jerk awake and I pushed my computer to the side as I got up and looked around the room. The window was still closed and the door was locked. My gaze fell to where I'd left Masky to see the floor was empty and the belt had been slipped off.

"Great... I should've made it tighter- and not fallen asleep." I scolded myself and cautiously looked around; there weren't many places he could've hidden.

I stopped outside the closet and glared suspiciously at the closed door. It was an obvious place to hide and I wasn't about to open it and get jumped. A noise came from behind me as I backed away from the closet door and I gave a sharp breath as I spun around. Masky lunged at me from where he'd been crouched down under the desk. I ducked to the side and tripped him up as he stumbled past. Hands grabbed my shirt as he twisted around and pulled me down with him.

He was momentarily distracted by the pain from hitting his head again and I took the opportunity to straddle him. I put one hand over his throat while using the other to attempt at restraining his wrists, which wasn't working as well as I'd thought. Despite his disoriented condition he was still stronger than I was.

"Tim, calm down." I pressed harder on his throat. "I don't want to hurt you- don't make me."

I wasn't even sure I could choke him out. Given the fight he was still putting up, I'd probably be pried off. "Shit, does he still have his folding knife?"

As expected, he managed to pull me off and flipped our positions. I stared up at him, trying to twist my arm free as I tried to figure out how I was going to knock him out again. If it was a matter of wearing him out then all I could really do was hope this was working. I struggled in his grip a few more seconds before managing to break one hand free. A swift blow to the side of his head unbalanced him.

"Tim... I'm sorry for this." I kneed him just below the gut and grabbed a fist full of his hair, wrenching him to the side as he gave a winded shout of pain.

He slowly shifted onto his stomach but I jumped him before he could push himself back up. I once again grabbed his hair, this time being more careful not to agitate the injury on the back of his head, and searched his pockets for the folding knife. Masky began thrashing once more as I found it and I tightened my grip. It stopped abruptly as I sharply pushed his head back to the floor. I felt fresh blood rub onto my arm as it brushed against the back of his head.

"Great... he's bleeding again." I chucked the knife across the room and forced his head to the side so I could see his masked face. "I'm trying to help you."

For a moment I thought he actually listened to me, as he went still beneath me. So when he shoved upward I lost my balance and fell backward, giving a hiss of pain as I hit my head on the bed frame while my eyes teared up as his skull came into contact with my nose.

"Gross!" I shoved him forward immediately as I tasted blood in my mouth from his hair.

Masky turned, ready to attack again. I stared up at him, wishing I'd kept the knife on me instead of tossing it out of our reach. "Come on then, Masky... Give me your best shot."

His chest heaved as he swayed tiredly. I watched as he tried to stand only to fall back to his hands and knees as his wound got to him. Not wanting to waste my chance, I rolled back to my feet and swiftly lunged at him. There was a dull thunk as I slammed his head down against the metal bed frame. He jerked away from me before collapsing and going limp. A wave of relief washed through me as he finally went down and I sank to the ground next to him, exhausted from the fight. I could already feel a headache forming.

"That could've ended badly..." I got up and grabbed the belt, this time making sure the restraint on his wrists was tighter, before pocketing his knife. "I can't fall asleep again. Just in case he manages to get free a second time."

I turned on the light and checked his wound once more- concern going through me as I found more blood matted in his dark hair. Luckily the wound itself didn't look worse. It took me a few minutes to dig around my bag for bandages before returning to his side and working to clean off the blood so I could patch him up. The drying blood was a pain to get out as I worked to untangle the clumps of hair. The lack of reaction to the occasionally rough combing and pulling worried me, though it was easier to tend to without him awake and trying to kill me.

"He needs a real doctor..." I gently dabbed at the wound with a damp towel once his hair was cleaned enough to see it again. "I don't know what I'm doing- can't just take him like this though, he could wake up and kill someone."

I shifted him closer and reached for his mask, a gasp escaping me as he reached up and awkwardly grabbed my wrist to stop me. He tilted his head to the side to stare at the bloodied towels before releasing me. For a moment I hesitated to continue taking off the mask but after slowly grabbing the edge of it without meeting further resistance I pulled it off, tossing it to the side. Moments later he was already dozing off again.

"Should I let him sleep? What if he has a concussion? It can't be good for him to keep going unconscious."

Picking up the pace, I bandaged his head the best I could and left him lying on his side while I cleaned up the mess. No doubt the staff would wonder what happened given all the blood on the towels but I did my best to get some of it out by leaving them to soak in the sink. For the second time that night I washed his blood off of me and walked back out to check on him. Tim was still lying where I left him, completely oblivious to the world.

A yawn escaped me as I knelt down next to him, wrapping my arms under his shoulders as I dragged him up and over to the bed. I tried to ease him back down onto his side to avoid jostling his head too much before backing away and leaving him to rest. Glancing to the window, I could see faint light starting to appear above the curtains. It was dawn already. Another yawn escaped me as I slumped down in front of the door, ready to fight or escape if I had to.

"Wonder if he couldn't take his medication. Tim's usually in control of this..." I stared down at the mask. "The only person who stole his pills in the past... was Hoodie. What was he planning by taking me to the fight? I can't trust him."

I fought to stay awake, to process what to do next and what exactly Hoodie could've gained from potentially getting me killed. With each passing second I felt my sight growing blurrier as sleep slowly pulled me under.

***

The sound of something being knocked into snapped me out of my light doze, and I glanced up to see Tim standing up and looking around in confusion as he worked his wrists out of the belt. I slowly pulled out the knife from my pocket, ready to use it if needed. The belt fell to the ground with a dull thunk as he got free and unsteadily moved closer, finally noticing me.

"Ash...?" His gaze switched from the knife I held to his masky lying on the floor beside me. "Did he- I hurt you?"

"Nothing permanent." I got to my feet, hearing my joints pop as I moved from the uncomfortable position. "Do you remember anything that happened yesterday?"

There was a pause as he took a breath. "Just went to the doctor and went to pick up my pills... Nothing after that."

"Zac found you or maybe you found him. I don't know. Brian showed up and took me to you-"

"Brian?" Distrust crossed his face. "Why would you follow him? He probably set us up."

"I know that." I put the knife back in my pocket. "I thought about leaving instead, I really did, but I wasn't going to leave you to die."

"It doesn't make sense for Hoodie to help us. Brian is gone- at least the one I knew. Whoever that was... it wasn't someone trying to help you."

I shrugged off the concern and walked around him to look at the bandage around his head. "You should get that looked at. Masky put up a fight but considering I managed to beat him, you're probably really hurt."

I grabbed the key card to his room and handed it to him. "Get ready, I'll drive you... I don't think we should come back here either."

"Didn't plan on it." I noticed him wince as he felt the back of his head.

After Tim left I quickly got changed and packed my things before waiting in the hall for him to join me. Despite his injury, he didn't take long to get ready. We checked out and made it to the hospital without incident; Tim seemed tired already but at least he wasn't passing out anymore.

"I'll be waiting out here." I glanced over at him. "After this I suggest we go back to my place and rethink our next move... We can't let them follow us again."

"We can't exactly stop them- they'll find us eventually." I shot him a look as he got out and walked inside; he wasn't wrong.

"So what do we do?" I leaned forward on the steering wheel. "We can't keep this up or we'll both be killed."

I got out of the car, unable to sit still, and began walking around the edges of the parking lot. "Tim could've died back there because I got Zac involved... I want to believe I can save him but after that- after everything- he's too far gone. He needs to die- it could be a mercy at this point."

The thought hurt. Zac didn't deserve to die for becoming a proxy; he wouldn't be trying to kill anyone if I had stayed out of his life. Everything happening was my fault. I stopped to watch the entrance as someone walked out before going back to my walk. I'd nearly made a complete circle of the parking lot when I felt someone watching me. My muscles immediately tensed up as I slowly turned in a circle in search of whoever was spying on me.

A familiar figure in a black suit was standing near the side of the building. "What's it doing out in broad daylight?"

I continued to stare at it, slowly drawing closer. Naturally, it did nothing more than stand and watch. "Is it... shorter? Why don't I hear anything- feel anything? ...Something isn't right."

"Pawn." I jumped at the voice behind me and looked over my shoulder; Zac.

I scowled at him. "What the hell do you want."

"To talk, of course..." He smiled calmly and continued advancing, his steps oddly graceful to the point he seemed to glide over the sidewalk. "I'm not here to hurt you. Pat me down if you don't believe me."

"Liar." I growled and scanned the area. No Slenderman or Toby in sight. "Something is off."

"How is he? I see you managed to save him... for now."

"What's it matter to you?"

He was much too close for my liking, mere inches away now that I was getting backed into the side of the building. "It doesn't. I was merely asking a question- you do seem quite fond of him."

"This doesn't sound like Zac or that monstrous proxy Slenderman turned him into." I continued glaring up at him, flinching as he brushed a hand against my face before swatting it away. "Fuck off."

"Feisty..." He pressed closer before wincing and stepping back with a hand on his head, muttering under his breath. "Enough... I'm not going to hurt your dear Ash. I just want to tease her a little- no harm."

I edged away before quickening my pace, only stopping when he grabbed me. "It's rude to walk away when someone is talking to you."

"Who are you?" I yanked myself free and turned to look back at him. "You are not Zac."

A charming laugh escaped him as he stared at me. "Oh, Pawn... we've met before. You just don't know it. All will be explained in time... But perhaps going back to the beginning would prove useful in your search?"

I didn't like the smile he was giving me. "Like I'd trust you."

"Good choice." He turned away and began walking off. "Just think about what I told you. I don't care about Slenderman's little game or you and your friends- I'm just passing on a message from someone you might want to speak with."

"Don't tell me we have another person- group- to deal with." I glared daggers into his back as I watched him leave. "If we've met before... when? Clearly that isn't Zac. Who else has he pretended to be?"

Worry ate away at me at the reveal of more potential enemies watching our movements. Considering the growing amount, it was probably easy for them to follow each other whenever one picked up our trail. I shook my head and returned to the car, deciding against telling Tim about the information just yet. He had to recover, there was no sense in stressing him out over this when I barely had any information to tell him. Once again I leaned forward on the steering wheel and waited.