The past few days spent back at the apartment were tense. Tim wasn't convinced staying was the best option, even with his concussion. I continued insisting we waited until he was better- or at least until he could pick up a new prescription of his medication, as he only had a few left after losing the new bottle he'd gotten from the doctor's visit. We both knew who was behind it, and the potential threat it brought. On top of that I couldn't get that unknown man's voice out of my head, always telling me cryptic things I couldn't remember upon waking up.

"This needs to stop. I have to start doing something about this before more people get hurt. The longer this goes on the worse it gets. I have to find Zac an-"

"Ash, you've been staring at the wall for over an hour now." Tim's voice broke through my conflicting thoughts as he paused the movie. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine." I got up, ignoring the whitenoise quietly playing in the back of my head; it had been there all day. "I'm going for a walk."

"Now?"

"Yeah, there isn't exactly a whole lot going on right now." I pulled on my jacket.

I heard him stand up behind me. "What's going on? You've been acting weird all day."

"Nothing is going on. I just don't like sitting around waiting for something to happen to us."

"Where are you going?" This time he blocked my path as I tried to get to the door. "Ash, talk to me."

I stared at him, observing his condition, before turning away. "I wasn't going to look for trouble if that's what you were thinking. I just need to get outside- we haven't gone anywhere since we got back. It's not like staying inside is going to stop them from finding us- they probably know we're here."

"At least let me come with you. We shouldn't split up."

"...If you feel like you can, then fine." The urge to argue against him coming along shot through me as the ringing in my head grew worse, though I pushed it aside. There wasn't a reason to fight over something like this. "I'll be right back, I need to get my keys- and you might want your coat, there might be rain later."

I winced as the pain in my skull grew worse the second I stepped into my room. The tall figure of Slenderman standing in the corner almost didn't register through the static. My steps faltered and I staggered to the side, trying to retreat and warn Tim. A tentacle wrapped tightly around my wrist and a burning sensation went through my arm around the strange mark located there. Surprisingly, I was released, the burning fading momentarily, before white-hot pain burst through my head. I slumped down in front of him, feeling my control disappearing as I fell into darkness.

Not long after, I found myself standing in front of three figures; Toby, Zac, and a feral looking woman in a filthy white jacket. Behind them, Slenderman watched silently.

"You should've joined us." Zac stepped forward. "If you really want this to be over, that's what you would do."

"S-stop." Toby shoved him back before staring down at me. "Y-you're here be-because of t-hat demon. W-hat d-did he t-tell you?"

"Demon?" I stayed silent as I tried to make sense of what was happening. "That... person from the hospital?"

"Master knows he hasn't done anything to hurt our plans." Zac glared murderously at Toby. "He knows not to mess with our master."

"Th-at demon shouldn't f-fucking b-be here. H-he played h-is part."

I backed away, shuddering when the woman gave an aggressive snarl.

Toby and Zac quickly returned their gazes to me and I barely moved away in time as Zac tried to grab me. "Get back here or we'll hunt you down like a mutt, you traitor. It's your fault we haven't killed that source yet."

"S-sentimental b-bitch." Toby shook his head. "L-let her g-go."

"What!?"

Toby lunged at me and dragged me closer. "B-bring u-us to th-he demon a-and finish o-of the s-source."

"They're lying." I shoved him back before giving a cry of pain as Slenderman forced his way into my mind, fighting me for control. "I won't... help... you."

"S-such a use-less p-poxy." I faintly registered Toby walking off after saying something to Zac.

My old friend turned and stared down at me before motioning to the woman next to him to follow. I staggered back to my feet as they left. "I'll kill him."

***

I stood over Tim as he coughed and began getting to his feet. It was hard to know how he'd managed to find me, given the last thing I could remember was being taken to proxies and threatened. The fight against Slenderman's influence was getting harder to push off the longer I had to.

"Run... please... I can't stop him." I stumbled forward despite trying to back away from him.

Pain flared through my side as Tim tackled me to the ground, a root digging into my side from a nearby tree. I fought him as if the attack hadn't fazed me and sent a hard punch to the side of his head before kicking him off. Tim stayed down longer this time, his concussion hindering him.

"He's weakened. I could kill hi- no. I will not." I fell back with a growl of pain, the pressure in my skull worsening the more I held back. "Tim please... stop me."

My old shoulder wound protested the conflicting actions as I tried to hold myself back from being forced to get back up. Beams of light went through the trees from the entrance to the small walking path. I froze, hearing the voices of drunken teens yelling and laughing as they came into the woods; they had no idea what they were walking into.

"They just had to come celebrate Halloween here, didn't they." I got back to my feet and walked mechanically in the direction of their voices. "If I don't kill Tim... maybe their deaths will convince me to... Wait, no! Please... don't make-"

My vision flickered as the pain running through my mind increased again. I barely got the chance to recover before arms wrapped around my throat and pulled me back off the path and deeper into the small cluster of trees. The chokehold quickly took effect despite Slenderman's influence fighting to keep me awake and under his control.

The momentary darkness didn't last long, though it was hard to comprehend my surroundings. Everything was hazy and just different shades of shadow. As things grew clearer I could see Tim looking down at me with a guarded expression. My movement was slower to return and the gradual ability to shift enough to sit up made my muscles protest. The memories of what happened just before I'd ended up like this came back as I laid there coughing.

"Tim..." I groaned as I pushed myself upright and leaned back against a fallen tree. "I'm sorry..."

"I knew this was going to happen. You weren't acting like yourself all day." He glanced back towards the path. "I thought we agreed to keep each other in check."

"How did you find me?"

"It wasn't hard. Once I found out you were gone I could guess what had happened, and started looking around the area." Tim gestured to my shirt. "Who's blood is that?"

"Blood?" I looked down. Sure enough there was a dark stain on my shirt. "I... I don't know..."

"What happened before I found you?"

"I barely know when you found me. The last thing I remember was being threatened by Slenderman and his proxies- as usual." I couldn't help but start shaking as I tried to think of where the blood could've come from.

"I'm sure you didn't kill anyone."

"How do you know?" I couldn't help how defensive I sounded as I leaned threateningly closer. "Even if I didn't, who's to say I didn't try?"

"Calm down." He demanded.

I glared at him for a moment before turning away, guilt hitting me. "Sorry... I just... I don't want to become a murderer... Not like them."

"Why do you think I didn't just kill you when I had the chance?" He stood up, grabbing my arm and pulling me up with him. "You aren't like the other proxies- or like Alex. If you killed anyone it would be against your will. As far as I can tell, you're still fighting against its influence."

"Such faith in me." I scoffed. "Maybe too much... I might not want to, but I still need to get rid of Zac... for good."

"Let's get back, looks like we're about to get that rain you mentioned earlier."

"Alright." I pulled off my mask, unnerved and confused about how I'd gotten it between the time I could remember and being controlled. "Hey, um... how's your head?"

"A little dizzy but you didn't make it worse."

I shivered as I felt cold raindrops start falling through the remaining leaves above us. "I should've been able to fight him off better."

"The fact you can at all is more than others can say."

"And I don't even know why that is." I stared at the path as I followed after him.

The rain began pouring down harder and we picked up the pace, not that it helped much. We were both soaked by the time we got back and I tugged at the clothes as they clung to me in distaste. I quickly went to my room and changed before returning and settling down on the couch with Tim joining me after changing into something drier as well.

"Do you want to know why I think you can fight it off?"

"Huh?" I looked over at him confused.

"What you said about not knowing why you could fight off its control." Tim looked over at me.

"Your guess is as good as mine." I shrugged, already feeling half asleep after the events of the day.

"You have a reason to- people you care about keeping safe. That's the reason you fight it but I think you've built an immunity to it over the years from fighting it off."

I gave a dry laugh. "So, you're saying it's sheer will power? ...Then why couldn't Zac fight it off? For the longest time we were all either of us had."

"I'm not sure."

I could feel my eyes watering as old memories came up, challenging the resolve I had for needing to end the monster Zac had turned into. "I should've seen the signs... I don't even know when he succumbed to it- how long he's been acting like my friend."

"Ashley... there was nothing you could've done."

"If he had told me I could've helped." I shook my head, knowing that was a lie. "Tim, don't become like him. I can't lose anyone else I care about to those monsters."