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PLEASE READ EVERYONE!
Usually I put the authors note at the bottom, but right here is perfect for this one.
First of all- over 600 reads? I nearly died when I saw that!! You guys are awesome!
Second of all- this is MY fan-fiction. The back stories to the already existing CP's are loosely based around some of their origins (for example-Jack has more than one origin :P). I changed a few things because I want it to fit into my story better. If you don't like it, I do apologize ahead of time. But again, this is my fan-fiction.
Third of all- Yes, I knoooooow Jack has no eyes. That's why Slender "helped him out" with his problem. I want him to see everything, not sense it. Again, if you don't like it I do apologize.
Forth of all- Yes. There will be another book. So stay tuned. This one is actually FAR from over ;)
Fifth of all and finally- I SERIOUSLY LOVE YOU ALL! It's been a ROUGH passed few days and my three books (especially this one) is what has been keeping me sane. Thank you all soo much! The second the reads hit 1K and my votes hit 200- I don't even know what I'll do!
Enjoy, dolls <3
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*Lucy's POV*

"Wake up, Lucy." A soothing voice called out, waking me from my slumber.

I opened my eyes and found Jack leaning staring at me, his mask on. He was already dressed in his usual black hoodie and black pants and his arms were crossed over his chest.

"Good morning, but you are not going to believe this."

He refused to say a single word to me and kept telling me to 'hurry up and get dressed'. I tripped around the room as I was slipping into a pair of skinny jeans and a t-shirt. Jack was laughing at me every time I fell over.

We made it downstairs and to the dining room where everybody has gathered around and chatting. Jack and I made our way over to Jane, Clock, Toby, and Hobo.

"Jack won't fill me in," I complained, "What's going on?"

"Jack knows more than anybody out here." Clock shot him a glare, "What is going on?"

"Oh, you'll see. You guys are just here to watch. Slender is already at the arena. We're just waiting on-"

"Alright, everyone. The newbie is in position in the arena and ready to go. I need you all to get to the arena in the next five minutes. Last one there runs the obstacle course five times, except the newbie's trainers." Devin announced, looking straight at me.

I turned to Jack as everyone bolted out the doors, "Seriously? This is what you got me all excited about?"

Jack just chuckled at me and started walking away. He's lucky he's cute, otherwise I would've decked him in the face right then and there. I huffed as I followed him.

"Mind if we walk with you?" Ben's voice echoed from behind.

"You'll be the last ones there," I stated, looking to my left and right.

Jeff and Ben were walking on either side of me. I suppose Slender forced Jeff out of his room for this. Maybe it'll add some type of entertainment for him.

"Has Jack told you anything?" Ben whispered as he looked around to make sure nobody could hear.

"Like what? He tells me a lot of things." I retorted, looking over at Ben.

"Just wondering."

We were at the bottom of the mansion's stairs outside. In the distance I could see everyone rushing to the arena, trying not to be the last one there. Jack was walking in front of us, his hands tucked into his hoodie pockets. His natural auburn-ish brown hair was tucked away under his hood. Ben and Jeff were talking to each other on either side of me.

"I will beat you there, Jeff," Ben said sternly.

"Without teleporting, Ben," Jeff added.

"Fine. Ready, set, go!" Ben shot straight forward, leaving Jeff trailing behind him.

I laughed at their child-like actions as they ran passed Jack. Slowly, they disappeared into the woods. I kept my eyes locked on the back of Jack when I suddenly got an idea.

I giggled to myself as I ran straight for him, "Incoming!" I yelled as I hopped onto his back.

Jack faltered in place before he quickly wrapped his arms around my legs, "A little warning next time would be great, Luce."

"I said incoming." I pouted, gripping on tightly around his shoulders.

We were almost there. I kept sliding down every now and then, but he'd give me a boost up. My forehead was rested against the back of his head, slightly bouncing off.

"Why did you jump on my back, anyway?" Jack chuckled.

"A free ride." I rocked back and pushed forward, "Now onward!"

"You are one strange girl, Lucy." Jack snickered, squeezing my legs, "You may want to hop down now. I'm sure Slender wants us to look professional for Sla- I mean the hopeful proxy."

"Quick question." I said, hopping off his back, "If I haven't even done my duties as a proxy, how is he supposed to add another?"

"With you being, uh," Jack looked at me, "cursed... You are seen as kind of the lead proxy-"

Behind us, there was a thud. We both jumped and spun around.

"Technically there is no lead proxy." Rouge walked forward, "Though to Jack there is a lead one." She looked over and me and chuckled, "You are just like me and the rest of the proxies, except you still have a lot to learn about yourself."

"Rouge, we can continue this later, Slender is probably already wondering where we are." Jack grabbed my hand and forcefully dragged me towards the door.

I looked back at Rouge as she stood behind us, her hands on her hips and her head cocked to the side. Redirecting my attention back to Jack, we made our way down the stairs. His grip on my hand was tight and nearly uncomfortable.

As we made it to the bottom, Jack turned and looked at me, "Are you ready for this?"

I nodded as he turned and opened the doors. In the stands, everyone sat. I had to contain my chuckles of how everyone looked sitting together, staring out at the field. In the middle of the field, Slender was standing with his back away from us. He peeked his head up and turned around, revealing a teenage boy.

His hair was a dirt brown, just barely lighter than his tan skin. The boy wore a white t-shirt with tight fitting black pants.

"Hey, Jack!" He called out, waving his hand in the air.

I turned to Jack, "Jack, hey? I take it you know each other?"

"We just met this morning. Relax." Jack said as he stared at Slender.

"Relax? If this boy doesn't get marked, I have to kill him! Don't go making friends with a victim." I snapped.

"Those are words of a killer, Angel." Jack chuckled as he started walking towards them.

I paused and thought about what he just said... what I had just said. I closed my eyes and sighed, relaxing my whole body. Putting one foot in front of the other, I faked a smile and started following Jack.

As I got to the middle of the arena, Slender placed his hand on mine and the boy's shoulders, "Luciana, this is Slade. Slade, Luciana."

"Hi! It's about time I meet you. Jack has said so much-

"I didn't really." Jack cut him off.

"Okay, so maybe he didn't. But he said something about you. You're the proxy." Slade grinned as he took my hand and started shaking it.

My eyes were locked on him in complete confusion. I looked up at Slender.

"He's completely numb to all of this. Slade doesn't remember a thing before this." Slender said in my head.

I stared at the boy in complete guilt and confusion. It was because of me that he was here.

"Alright. Slade is all caught up on what is going to happen today." Slender looked at both Jack and I, "Are you two ready?"

I nodded.

"Do you speak at all?" Slade asked, tipping his head to the side.

"Don't get her going, man," Jack chuckled, "Once you get her going, she doesn't stop."

"Hey!" I exclaimed, slapping Jack's arm.

"Enough. Who's demonstrating the course today?" Slender asked.

"I say Lucy does," Jack replied hurriedly.

I looked at him, "Lucky for me, the course is double sided right now. So we both can."

"No need, I can do it myself." Slade grinned as he started walking for the starting line.

The three of us stared at Slade as he readied himself.

"Just let me know when to go, Lucy." Slade hollered.

"Uh... go?"

Slade took off running. He easily jumped the wall in his way and made his way up the sloped plank. Without stopping to take a breath, he jolted his way across the monkey bars. I kept looking back and forth between Jack and Slade.

Slade rounded the corner and hopped onto a rope, swinging back and forth from one to the next. He hopped off onto the platform.

I looked up at the stands. Everyone was standing close to the balcony staring at the mysterious boy.

When I turned my attention back to Slade he was already at the tire. If he finishes this, we'll know if he gets marked or not.

"Slender. Stop him." I whispered softly.

The tall man looked down at me, "Why would I do that? He's almost done."

"That's exactly why. Stop him. Just stop. Send him home. Don't make me do this. If he gets marked, then you made a one in an eight billion good guess. But if he doesn't, I can't kill him. Don't make me do this." I pleaded, grabbing onto his tux.

"I'm sorry, Lucy. But he's done. Look." Slender nodded towards the finish line.

Slade was already strolling towards us, a cheesy grin on his face, showing no signs of the feeling from the proxy mark.

Jack chuckled, "Slade made you look like a-"

"Say it." I swiftly turned towards him, shooting him a glare.

"I'll just shut up now."

"That's what I thought. Besides, you weren't even here to see me finish it."   I shot a glare at Jack. He ducked his head down and kept quiet.

"How was that?" Slade said as he put his arm on Jack's shoulder.

"Don't touch him," I growled.

"What was that for, Lucy?" Slade asked as he removed his arm.

"We don't need anybody else linked with us. Do you feel any burning? Or stinging? Anything?" I stepped towards him anticipating his answer.

"Nothing at all. Am I supposed to?" Slade looked at the three of us.

"There are other ways to acquire the mark, Lucy," Slender reassured me.

I wanted this boy gone. I want him home where he belongs. He doesn't need to go through what I've been through.

"Jack, Lucy. Take him to the armory." Slender said sternly as he began walking away.

Quickly, I spun around and stormed over to the armory. I was pretty pissed off that he wasn't listening to me, then again he never really does.

Flinging the doors open, I marched over to the table that held knives and leaned up against it.

"What's gotten into her?" Slade asked Jack quietly as they walked through the doors behind me.

"Don't question me." I glared at Slade, "Pick a weapon."

Slade's eyes wandered around the room. As he began to walk towards the battle axes, Jack walked over to me.

"Why are you acting like this?" Jack asked me quietly.

"I hate the situation they put me in. He seems like a good kid. I don't want to hurt him." I frowned and looked at Jack, "How did he know your name anyway?"

"I woke up early this morning and he was at the dining room table eating. Nobody else was awake, except Smiley, so I decided to talk to him." Jack shrugged.

"This is cool," Slade said, grabbing mine and Jack's attention.

Slade was trying to pick up a large battling ax. The ax was a little too top heavy for him and it came crashing down to the ground. The boy jumped back and looked at us.

"Oops."

I let out a long sigh and slapped my hand to my forehead. Jack and I definitely have our work cut out for us.

******

Slade has held every measly weapon in this damn room, and still, no signs of him being marked have occurred. I was at my wit's end and losing all of the patients I had. My stomach was growling with hunger and my head was near pounding from my headache. Jack and I were sitting up against the wall watching Slade try out each weapon.

"What does this do?" Slade asked.

I looked up and saw him pressing his finger down on a button that was on a weapon.

"Don't-"

Before I could finish warning him, a sharp chunk of metal flew out of its holder, landing inches away from my head.

"I'm done for the day." I stood up and walked to the door, "In fact, I'm just done. We've been sitting here for how long and he hasn't been imprinted yet?"

"Lucy, if you give up you know what Slender's going to have you do." Jack stood up and ran over to me. He grabbed my arm and pulled me back.

"That literally came from someone who would love to chew on his insides. Why do you even care so much about what happens? There is no way Slender walked out into the world and went 'This guy looks like a proxy, I'll take him home with me.' That's not how this works and you know it. There are billions of people out there. I'm telling you, he is not the one. Hell, there is no more. The sooner we all realize that, the better off we are." I ripped my arm out of Jack's grasp and walked out of the doors, letting them close forcefully behind me.

I had one thing on my mind the whole way back to the mansion- food. I was starving, crabby, tired and just completely wore out. Knowing Slender, he's probably going to pull me into his study and ask about what happened. Figures, he makes us do all his dirty work. If I am the only way for him to get more proxies, things will change around here- starting with him.

I was in the kitchen now, waiting for the potatoes to boil. I know potatoes take a while and I'm hungry, but they sounded so good. Waiting a few more minutes shouldn't kill me. My mind wandered to Jack and how he hasn't eaten either. So I took all of my guts, not literally, and grabbed a bag from his section of the fridge. I remembered how he said he liked his food more when they were raw, but did he like them cold? I suppose, eating them from a freshly dead body was warm, so that probably how he liked it.

The bag was swishing around in my grasp, and I kept gagging at every slosh sound it made. Grabbing a bowl, I opened the bag and unwillingly poured its contents into it. When the body part hit the inside of the bowl, it made blood splash out of it making some droplets landed on my hand.

"Ew. Ewewewewew." I ran over to the sink, repeating the words over and over as I rinsed the blood off of me.

Never once have I ever thought I'd be making food for a cannibal in my lifetime. But look at me go. I bet mom and dad are proud. Yes, that was full blown sarcasm- especially seems how they don't even know who I am anymore. Wow, that took a dark turn.

"Need some help, Luce?" A voice chuckled from the kitchen entryway.

"Hobo, I am going to vomit. Put that damn bowl in the microwave, please." I laughed nervously and looked at him.

"Anything for you." Hobo smiled and walked over to the bowl.

I ignored his comment and continued on with my potatoes. The water was now starting to boil, which was good. About another forty-five minutes and I'll be stuffing my face with fluffy, buttery, white goodness.

"Where's Jack?" Hobo asked as he set the timer on the microwave.

I shrugged and stirred around the chunks of potato, "Probably out in the arena with Slade. I gave up with him."

Hobo spun around and looked at me, "You gave up with Jack?"

"What? No, Slade silly." I giggled and set the spoon down, "He's been stressing me out all day and nearly took my eye out... again."

"Oh. How are things with you and Jack anyways?" Hobo asked.

"Perfectly fine. If they weren't, I definitely wouldn't be touching human body parts." I joked and walked over to the cupboard to grab the salt.

"Well, that's good." Hobo replied bluntly.

"How are you liking it here so far?" I asked him as I opened the salt and poured some into the boiling water.

Hobo turned around and pulled Jack's food out of the microwave, "I can't complain. It's a lot better than my old home, but sometimes I miss it..." He trailed off.

"You actually had a home?" I asked turning around to return the salt.

"I did."

I gave him a meaningful glance as I set the salt up in the cupboard. Before I could close the door, a whole shelf of spices fell out, to my luck.

"Shit," I muttered, kneeling down to pick them up.

Hobo got his knees and started helping me, too. Unfortunately, most of the spices in the cupboard that were in glass containers had broken open. Hobo began to chuckle.

"What's so funny?" I looked up at him.

He was inches away from my face and staring at me, "Nothing at all."

Before I could put my head back down, Hobo grabbed a handful of my hair and pushed my head forwards, forcefully pressing his lips to mine.

I picked my hands up and put them on his shoulders, shoving him away from me as he ripped on my hair.

"What the h-"

"That was cute." A growl echoed through the kitchen. I looked over as I grabbed my aching head and saw Jack standing there.

"Oh come on! Seriously?" I glared at Hobo, "If he doesn't kill you, I will."

Hobo stood up, "Sorry, Jack," he stood up with his head down. When he lifted it up, he had a smirk on his face, "Couldn't help myself."

Jack sat there glaring at him, his breaths deep and shallow.

"Jack, that is most definitely not what happ-"

"We will talk later. Why don't you go upstairs." Jack suggested, not once taking his glare off of Hobo.

"But my potatoes..." I whined as I began to stand up.

"You don't have to leave, Lucy. You can stay here. He doesn't have to boss you around." Hobo added.

"Talking is probably the last thing you should be doing, buddy," Jack growled again.

"Why? She didn't complain." Hobo chuckled.

Slade walked up behind Jack, "What did I miss?"

"Hobo and Lucy sucking face," Jack said, still not moving his glare.

I cleared my throat, "Hobo kissed me, Jack. I was just trying to clean up my mess."

"Took you long enough to pull away." Hobo commented.

"Oh? It did?" I walked over to the stove, the gears turning in my head. I knew what I was going to do, but if I didn't do it right, I might just hurt myself in the process too.

I held my hand on the handle of the pot, stirring my potatoes with the spoon. The water was boiling, steam rolling out of it.

"Lucy, just go upstairs. I really don't want you down here for this." Jack growled taking a step into the kitchen.

I picked up the pot by the handle and turned to Jack, "Why? I can handle this myself." Quickly, I turned around and splashed the water at Hobo.

"What the hell!?" He screamed out, rubbing his face quickly.

"Don't you ever," I smashed his head with the pot, "Ever," I repeated the same action, "Kiss me again!" I did one final blow, sending him downwards.

I threw my pot on top of him and turned around, "I told you I could handle it." I grinned at Jack.

Slade was staring at the scene with wide eyes as Jack just stood there. Hopefully, he was grinning under that mask of his, but I couldn't tell.

The boiling water was now pooling around my feet. It was still pretty warm, so I started to step away.

"Not so fast." Hobo groaned.

The next thing I knew, I had a thick chunk of a spice jar sticking into my leg. I yelled in pain and fell forward. Jack's leg twitched and he growled.

"Slade, get her out of here and to the third floor. I'll deal with him." Jack said quickly.

"Jack, no. I don't want to be around hi-"

"Now." Jack snapped.

Slade rushed over to me and helped me up. I pulled the glass out and grabbed the towel hanging from the oven door. I tied it around my wound quickly and reluctantly took Slade's hand.

I limped my way out of the kitchen, ignoring the sounds of Jack and Hobo behind me. Not only was I pissed right off about Hobo's actions, I wasted my potatoes on him. This will not be easily forgiven.

******

"You shouldn't have pulled it out, dork." Devin joked as he inspected the inside of the wound, "It's not deep, but you're lucky no shards stuck around in there. Glass splinters on the inside of skin hurt."

"How do you know that?" I asked, wincing with every move inside of my cut he made. A pain emitted on my side, that was when I knew Jack and Hobo started fighting. I completely ignored it, knowing there would be more coming my way.

"I don't. I just figured glass splinters would hurt." Devin chucked, "Two stitches today. How lucky are you?"

I rolled my eyes and scoffed, "Not very. It's always one thing after another here. I can never get a break." I laid back on the hospital bed and threw my arm over my eyes. My stomach felt like it got punched. I winced and curled up in a ball.

"You don't get a break? You're telling me." Devin looked at me as he stood up to get the supplies he needed.

"Speaking of, Jack's beating the pulp out of Hobo right now." I giggled, feeling a sharp pain in my arm.

"Of course he is." Devin sighed as he came back over.

Immediately, he began stitching. Every now and then I let out a wince, but it was over before I knew it. Thankfully, no serious blow was landing on Jack while I was getting stitches. If I would've moved, Devin may have had to restart.

"By the way, when Hobo gets up here, those are boiling water burns on him," I added, hopping off of the table. My back had a blunt force of pain to it suddenly, making me jolt.

"And what genius did that one?" Devin glared at me. I just grinned in response. "Between you and Jack, I don't know who's going to drive me bat-shit crazy first."

"I'm just getting warmed up." I giggled, covering up my pain.

"Kind of like Hobo did?" Slade chuckled from the corner of the room.

"Something like that," I said as I looked over at Slade.

I honestly felt bad for being mean to him. He really is a good person and has good intentions, but he's not a proxy. Slender is testing me. He's seeing how far I would go to save my own ass and it was really starting to get to me.

Jeff opened the door, "Lucy, Slender needs you in the study immediately." He went to go close the door, but then reopened it, "The kitchen is trashed by the way. What happened?"

"Well, I do know what happened. But first, who's all in there?" I asked, masking the pain applied to my back again.

"Nobody. Sally walked in a screamed to get everyone's attention. Everything has been ripped from all shelves, the fridge and the pantry. All the liquor bottles were destroyed too. Literally, everything in there is broken." Jeff spoke frantically.

"Hobo kissed me and Jack saw it." I growled, "Have you seen them?"

Jeff shook his head, "No, but if I do I'll let you know."

"No need, Jeff. Slade, let's go find them." I noticeably winced, grabbing my ribs. Everyone looked at me and I quickly went back to standing normally like nothing happened.

Slade stood up and walked over to me. Jeff opened the door all the way and we walked out into the hallway. I signaled everyone to be quiet to see if I could hear a noise for either of the boys, but nothing.

"Did they take it outside?" Slade asked as we began to inch our way forward.

Before I could respond, the mansion door flew open, "You guys have got to see this." Clock yelled up to us.

I looked over at Jeff who was near his room. When we made eye contact, the three of us started running down the stairs.

"What about Slender?" Jeff said as we rounded the next corner, taking the stairs down again.

"Fuck Slender. Jack is out there and I need to know what is going on." I hissed feeling another pain in the back of my leg.

Clock was holding the door open for us as we stepped out into the brisk winter night. The moon was reflecting off the white snow, nearly illuminating the field that held everybody in the mansion. Shouts of egging on the fight were heard as more pain erupted through my body.

Quickly, I ran down the stairs and through the snow. My hands were already cold, but the adrenaline raging through my body told me to keep going. I started to push through the crowd, trying to make my way to Jack.

"Lucy, don't. He's not himself. He can handle it." Masky grabbed me around my waist before I could go any farther.

"Let me go!" I shrieked, sending my elbows back into Masky's stomach.

"I am trying to help you, Lucy! Quit being stubborn." Masky growled.

"I appreciate it, really I do. But let me go before I rip your arm off." I kept wiggling around in his grip.

"Don't say I didn't try and help you." Masky threw me to the ground.

I looked straight ahead of me, staring at the transformed Jack against Hobo. My shin still ached from earlier, but that was the least of my worries. I wasn't out here to stop Jack, I was here to help him. One thing I've learned lately, keep a small weapon on you at all times.

I glared at Hobo as I removed my dagger from the inside sweatshirt pocket.

"Lucy! What are you doing?" Jeff yelled as he made his way to the front of the crowd.

"Doesn't matter right now."

"That's two on one! No fair!" LJ ran over and shoved me to the ground hovering over me, "Let the boys fight it out."

"Hey! What did I say about laying a hand on her, LJ!?" Jack growled loudly as he charged the clown.

Hobo climbed up to his feet behind him and started running towards us. I stood up and readied my dagger in my right hand, the blade nearly pressing against my forearm. As Hobo drew closer, I charged him and began slicing towards him.

Jack was behind me growling as he faced off against LJ. I kept stabbing my dagger forwards, sideways, down, trying to make a mark.

Hobo dodged every move, "I don't want to hurt you anymore, Lucy!"

"You're no fun. Jack, switch." I yelled out.

Hurriedly, Jack and I changed places am I came face to face with the clown.

"If you even think about pulling a disappearing act, LJ, I will find you." I snarled and lunged at him.

"Short Stack, you have quite the temper." LJ cackled, "How hasn't that mouth of yours pissed Jack off yet?"

I let out a loud yell as I swung my arm faster and faster, my feet dancing around in the snow underneath me. From behind me, I could tell Jack was getting the advantage from the pained yells Hobo kept emitting. Hearing those cries made me feel sickly good.

"You know, LJ, I seriously thought you were my friend." I snarled, stabbing down with my knife. To my surprise, it lodged itself in LJ's arm. I let it go and took a few steps back in shock.

He lifted up his arm and looked at the wound I just created. Using his other hand, he grasped the knife and pulled it out.

"Here, catch." LJ swiftly flung the knife at me.

I fell backward, accidentally taking Jack down with me. The dagger made a noise as if it sank into someone. I braced for the pain to hit me, expecting it to have hit either Jack or me.

I rolled off of Jack and looked at Hobo. He was staring down at the dagger that was implanted in his shoulder. Hobo's breathing became quick and frantic.

"You stabbed me, LJ." Hobo gasped as he began breathing quickly.

LJ just stared at Hobo, "It seems I have. Oops." And with that, he disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"We should probably get him upstairs before he hyperventilates." Dollmaker said quickly as he walked over to Hobo.

Jack was on his hands and knees in the snow, fighting off his angered side. I stood up and walked over to him and knelt down.

"It's done, Jack," I whispered, resting my head on his back.

"Why did you let him do that to you?" Jack yelled, pulling out from underneath me.

I fell back in the snow, "You actually think I enjoyed that? Stop and think before you speak, Jack. You're not even yourself right now."

He hung his head down as his claws retracted. A few sounds of bones popping back into place came from behind his mask.

"That really upset me, you know," Jack whispered.

"I know. I was pretty pissed myself." I admitted.

Jack looked up at me, "You're not wearing a jacket."

"I've got a hoodie on though."

"I don't care. That's not enough. We need to get you inside and warmed up." Jack said as he grabbed my hand and pulled me up.

By now, everyone was back in the mansion. Jack walked with his arm around me, rubbing the upper part of my arm to try and keep it warm. I had to admit, it wasn't doing any sort of warming, but it was kind of cute.

As we entered the mansion doors, I remembered I had to talk to Slender.

"I'll meet you upstairs, Jack. Slender needs me." I sighed, making my way over to the study.

"Do you want me to come with?" Jack asked as he put one foot on the stairs.

"No, it's fine. Just go upstairs." I flashed Jack a smile and entered the hallway.

I opened the study door and closed it behind me.

"It's about time, Luciana. We need to discuss matters about Slade." Slender said as he pointed to the chair in front of his desk.

I groaned as I sat in the designated chair, leaning back for comfort.

"I'm telling you, Slendy. He's not a proxy." I sighed, closing my eyes.

"I know. He's actually one of Zalgo's proxies resurrected." Slender stated.

"Wait, so he's... he's dead?" my eyes shot open and I sat straight up.

Papagrande nodded, "Slade cannot leave Slender's land. He'll just die immediately. Do you really think Slender could find a proxy that fast? We've read every book in this library. Once a curse like this laid upon a proxy, there is no way around it. Believe us, we tried. Every book has been sifted through. We read all of the scrolls. The magic book has nothing. We can't undo what has been done."

I sat back, feeling defeated. It was up to me now. If I wanted to help save the world, I had to continue the proxy bloodline.

"How much longer until Zalgo is ready again?" I asked in a complete daze.

"Our guess is anywhere from six months to a year. Before then, you all will be very busy with the corrupted because there will be so many. That's when we'll get a better estimate on how much time we have left." Slender said as-a-matter-of-a-factly.

"W-what if I die before I continue on the proxy line?"

Papagrande and Slender looked at me, at each other, then back at me.

"We haven't even thought about that," Papagrande admitted.

"I'm going to bed..." I stood up and started walking towards the door.

They didn't stop me, and even if they tried I wouldn't have let them. I just needed to think. It's not that I was upset, it was because reality was honestly hitting me too hard today.

That damn book condemned me here. I let out an angered roar as I climbed the staircase. Could all of this have been avoided? Did I do something that made me a chosen proxy? I knew I had to accept the fact that I was the last, but it's easier said than done.

LJ was standing at the second story balcony, watching as I trampled my way up the stairs.

"What the hell are you looking at?" I snapped.

"An angry version of Lucy," he lightly joked, "I actually came to talk to you."

"Well, I'm here. And since you talked to me, I'm leaving. Bye." I tried to walk by him but he stopped me.

"I was aiming for Hobo." He sighed.

"What?" I stopped and looked at him, "You said it wasn't fair that two were against one. You also said I had a big mouth and you don't know how Jack tolerates me. Why did you say that and then aim at Hobo?"

"I only said that because I was trying to get you pissed off enough to stab me. I don't do well with people trying to take others away from other people." LJ stared down at the ground, "I know what that's like."

"Then why the hell did you throw it at me!?" I yelled at the clown.

"I gave you enough time to dodge it, did I not? Why even think about what could've happened, think about what did. A simple 'Thanks LJ!' would be great." LJ looked up at me and gave me a soft smile, "I really didn't want to hurt you. That whole bet wasn't really supposed to even go that far."

"Yeah right." I scoffed and leaned over the railing.

"No, really. It wasn't. I actually like having you around. Even if you are sassy." LJ chuckled, "I lost my temper quite a bit within these past few days and I am...." he cleared his throat and mumbled, "sorry."

"Huh? What was that? I didn't hear you? Say it louder." I grinned.

LJ rolled his eyes, "I'm sorry, Short Stack."

"Don't ever pull shit like that again," I warned him, but flashed an accepting grin.

LJ turned his head to the side then back at me, "Looks like someone's waiting for you."

I looked passed LJ. Standing in the doorway of my room was Jack. His torso was fully exposed, showing numerous scars and bruises. He wore his mask and a pair of sweats.

"I already talked to him about this. Get some rest, Shortstack. I'll deal with Hobo tomorrow. Just ignore him." LJ ruffled my hair and disappeared into a cloud of black smoke.

When the smoke cleared I was left standing on the balcony, staring down the hall at Jack.

I felt guilty for letting Hobo that close to me. I knew it wasn't my fault, but I felt like there was something I could've done to avoid that whole situation. I even lost my damn potatoes, meaning I haven't even eaten at all yet today.

"Come to the kitchen with me?" I asked shyly.

"It's still trashed. I'd rather you not step on broken glass." Jack crossed his arms and leaned against the door frame.

"I've got my boots on, Jack. I'll be fine. I'm really hungry and I bet that you didn't even eat the food I made you." I let a small smile spread across my face.

"You actually made me food?" Jack asked with a surprised tone.

"That's what I was doing in the kitchen. I was trying to make us both food." I bit down on my bottom lip.

Jack started walking towards me, "Then let's go, Angel."

He grabbed my hand and lead me down the stairs. We entered the kitchen, revealing the disaster he had created over an hour ago.

I stepped over broken plates and the broken spices to grab the bowl that Jack's food was in. Somehow, it was still there. I chuckled to myself as I stuck it in the microwave for a minute. I then walked over to the pantry and grabbed a can of chicken noodle soup.

As I left the pantry, I smiled over to Jack. The microwave started beeping, signifying his food was done. Opening the microwave, I held my breath to avoid the aroma that poured out of it. I stepped over the broken things on the ground and set the bowl down in front of him.

"Thank you, Lucy," Jack said shyly.

I nodded and smiled as I walked over to the cupboards to grab a bowl to put my soup in. When it was all heated up, I walked over and sat on a stool next to Jack.

We both ate very quickly in complete silence. My eyes kept wandering over the shards of porcelain plates on the ground.  When we finished I brought the plates over to the sink and rinsed them out.

Turning around, Jack was already standing in the entryway, "Are you ready?"

"Yeah." I pranced over to him and grabbed his hand.

We made our way back up the stairs and into the bedroom quietly, careful not to disturb anybody.

I had just slipped off my boots and pulled out a nightgown from my dresser drawer. Jack was sitting in the middle of the bed, his hands folded behind his head. His mask was off, exposing his soft gray face. I slipped out of my clothes, and swiftly slid the gown over my head.

Crawling on the bed, I made my way onto Jack's lap and rested my head on his shoulder, letting out a long sight. His hands were running over my back gently.

"Are you mad at me?" I asked, turning my head to look at him.

He shook his head, "I have no reason to be mad at you, Angel. What do you think of Slade?"

I raised an eyebrow at Jack, "How much do you know about him?"

"He's too hyper for my liking at times, but he seems okay."

"He's dead. Slender resurrected one of Zalgo's proxies. Which would explain how he got through the course so easily." I sighed.

"Oh? So he's kind of dead?" Jack asked, furrowing his brows.

I nodded in response. 

"So there is no way around the curse, is there?" Jack asked me.

"Nope. Slender and Papagrande just told me. I was hoping they were hiding something that maybe you knew. Guess not. I honestly don't want to talk about it right now. Let's talk about something else." I sighed, nuzzling myself closer to him.

"Like what, Angel?"

It was that moment that I realized I didn't know Jack as much as I probably should.

"How old are you?" I groaned, realizing how ridiculous I sounded.

"You don't know how old I am?" Jack chuckled and shook his head, "I guess you could say I'm nineteen."

I furrowed my brow. "You guess?"

Jack looked away from me. He seemed like he was reminiscing about something. But I'm not sure how far I should push it.

"You don't have to te-"

"I was sacrificed. Someone who I thought was my friend sacrificed me to their messed up cult. Before then, I don't remember much of my life, except that I did have a family. They..." Jack stopped talking. The ooze that was already present on his face began glistening, showing signs of tears that were beginning to fall. "They took my eyes. They tarred them up and the next thing I knew, I was tearing them apart. Slender saved me. I was in no state to be here at the mansion, so that's why that little shack is passed the woods."

I sat up and looked at him. Placing my hand on the side of his face, I started wiping away the tears that made it to his chin. "Jack you really didn't have to tell me if you didn't want to."

He clenched his jaw and looked at me, "I wanted you to know. I love having you around and I don't want you to leave. For once, I actually feel sane."

"Can you answer my original question then?" I asked, biting down on my bottom lip.

"How old I am?"

I nodded my head.

"Promise not to freak?" He chuckled, locking his fingers behind my back.

"Why would I freak?"

"I was born in nineteen fifty-nine. So if the year right now is two-thousand sixteen, you do the math." Jack grinned.

I sat there and looked up, trying to do the math in my head. After a few minutes, I got my answer.

"Fifty-seven. You're old." My eyes widened as I giggled.

"But I'm not dead. Just stuck at this age." He reassured me.

"So everything still works?" I asked.

"Uhh?" Jack raised an eyebrow at me.

"That is not what I meant. I meant your bodily functions. Uh, I'm shutting up now." I slapped my forehead.

Jack chuckled loudly, "Yes, Lucy. Everything works."

"That was awkward. You can ask me a question now. Change the subject, please." I beckoned, feeling my face flush.

"How old were you when you had your first kiss?" He asked.

"That's such a weird question. Uhm... It was actually Hunter." I blushed, "We were like eight. What about you?"

"That's weird." He chuckled. "And I was nineteen. Or as you know, fifty-seven."

My eyes widened, "You were dating someone before I came around?"

"It was you, Lucy, at your parent's club." Jack tapped the top of my head.

I aww'd, "That's cute! Wait, seriously?"

Jack nodded, "I usually never get involved with people. It was a waste of time. Ask me something."

"Well lucky me." I grinned. "Why are you with me if you know about the proxy crap?"

"Come on, Lucy. You didn't want to talk about it." Jack sighed and pulled me towards him. "Because it doesn't bother me. It's not that I don't like kids, it's that I'm scared of hurting them."

"You're too kind. I know it happened before, but I feel like since then you've become way more in control of yourself."

"You mean my 'bodily functions'?" He joked.

"Shaddap!" I slapped his chest as he was laughing at me.

"Now, I have a question for you." Jack looked at me, his smile slowly fading.

"Yes?"

"How long do you plan on sticking around here?" He asked.

I let out a sigh, "Well, how long do you plan on living?"

"I kind of can't just die of natural causes. I have to be killed."

"Then don't get killed. I'll stay here as long as you are alive." I smiled up at him. "But I'll be old and wrinkly."

"You'll still be my Angel, though. I won't mind." Jack smiled down at me.

My stomach churned hearing those words slide through his lips. As a child, I thought immortality was cool. Immortals never die, what wouldn't be great about that? What I never thought was I'd be dating an immortal.

"I love you, Jack."

"I love you, too. Now ask me a question." He said.

I rolled onto the bed and pulled the covers over me. Jack scooted himself down and laid next to me, making us face-to-face.

"Hmm..." I pondered. Any question I wanted to ask, and he'd more than likely answer it. "What's it like to have your vision?"

"I don't know. Like I said, I don't remember much before this. So, to me, this is normal." He smiled softly, "Now it's my turn. If you could, would you go back in time to try and avoid being a proxy?"

I know that wasn't even possible, but believe me, the thought has slipped through quite a few times. The thought of being home and relaxing on my bed listening to my music. Or maybe even waitressing at the club. I'd still have my parents and brother. The only problem with the whole thing was Lilly-or Nina I suppose. She probably would've flipped her lid at some point, murdering us all.

"I've thought about it," I admitted sheepishly. "But I don't think I'd ever do it. It would be nice if the drama around here would die down, but other than that, it's alright here."

Jack grinned, "I was hoping that's what you were going to say. You should probably get some sleep, Lucy."

I let out a long deep breath and squirmed my way over to Jack. He held me close with one arm around me, making a feeling of safety engulf my whole body.

I laid there for a while, listening to mine and Jack's breathing. Of course, I had come to terms with the fact my curse would not be broken, but the last thing I wanted to do was drag Jack into it. He's lived his carefree cannibal life for years now, I shouldn't be the one to change that.

By now, I was fighting my sleep. My eyes were opening and closing quickly. Jack was tracing my spine, every now and then giving me goosebumps.

Eventually, I stopped fighting the inevitable and shut my eyes, falling into a deep sleep. Tomorrow was going to be a good day. I've got quite a few plans, hopefully, everyone will actually follow what I told them...

******
*Jack's POV*

It's been four hours since Luciana had fallen asleep. I was tired, but sleep wasn't what I wanted right now. I've had the feeling to get up and walk around, go hunting, do something, ever since she had fallen asleep. By now, we were in our normal sleeping position with her laying in front of me and my arm wrapped around her, holding her close.

Fortunately, she took the news of Slade being an ex-proxy of Zalgo's a lot better than we had expected. I knew Slade was resurrected, I just went along with what she said. In fact, I was the one who killed the poor guy. Right, about that...

~Roughly 4 Years Ago~

"Rise and shine, sleepy head!" He high pitched giggle awoke me from my sleep.

I bolted up and in my face was a pale girl. Her hair was up in a high ponytail with black and pink hair. Her purple hoodie hung loosely around her shoulders.

"Criminy, Nina! You scared me." I growled. "Get off of me."

"Aww, Jack! Come on! You promised we'd go hunting again today!" Nina pouted as she crawled off of my lap.

"We've been out hunting for over a week straight, don't you think we should calm down before Zalgo catches our trail?" I laid back down and threw my pillow over my head.

"Jack! How in the hell is he going to do that? None of us have heard anything about him for a few months now. Maybe he's officially gone!" She clapped her hands. "Imagine if he was gone! We could all hunt and not worry about corrupted, or his minions getting in our way."

"You're too energetic for me right now. Let me sleep for another hour." I grumbled.

"Jack. You listen to me right now. This whole slumpy attitude you've got going on can stop." Nina hissed as she ripped the pillow off of my head.

"No can do, Pinky." I grabbed my blanket and pulled it over my head.

"Hey! Call me Pinky again and I'll chew yours off. Get..." she ripped the blanket off of me, "up!"

I growled as I sat up in bed. Last night, I fell asleep in my hoodie and jeans, so what was the point in even changing? I'm not trying to impress anyone.

"Let's go." I stretched my arms above my head and stood up.

She grinned at me. Nina's been here for nearly two years now and we've shared the same bedroom. A sheet was hung up separating the two halves of the room. My side was bare and empty, her side was messy and girly. It didn't bother me any though, she was barely in the room long enough to clean unless she was sleeping.

I made my way down the hall and down the stairs.

"Jack's awake," Harvey growled.

Ahh, Harvey. The low life piece of shit the proxy book picked to be Slender's next proxy. He was brutal, that's for sure. Didn't give a single flying fuck about anyone except himself--and of course Nina.

"Hey, babe. Why don't you skip the day with Mr. Garbage-Eater over here and we can hang out?" Harvey grinned at Nina.

"How many times have I told you? For one, not interested. For two, back the hell off of Jack or I'll give you something to cry about." Nina hissed.

Harvey was a twenty-two-year-old pervert who enjoyed trying to get with all the girls here, mainly Nina. Slender doesn't even like the prick, and that seriously says something right there.

"Leave them alone, mate." Hunter was seated at the dining room table. He set down a magazine and took his feet off the table. "Have you guys seen Smiley around? I have this nasty rash on my arm." He held up his arm and showed Nina and me the red bumpiness.

"He's probably off screwing Jane. Isn't that what they're always doing?" Nina giggled.

"I wish I was him." Harvey pouted.

Harvey had shaggy brown hair and fair skin. He almost had a permanent grin to him, which made him seem even creepier.

"Actually, he's not off screwing Jane, thank you very much," Jane stated as she walked down the stairs. "He and Ben are working on some technology shit. I decided not to get involved."

"Wait, so he's in Ben's room?" Hunter asked excitedly.

"Yes, he is, kangaroo." Jane snapped.

"If my arm wasn't so itchy right now, I would sit here and tell you how incredibly racist you are against Australian folk." Hunter retorted as he ran up the stairs.

A loud growl came from the kitchen as Lulu stepped out, "I need someone's help! Jeff is being a dick and won't tell me what this says!" She held up a recipe in front of her for chocolate chip cookies.

"That is not true!" Jeff defended himself, "I was only trying to help her read."

"I have no eyes you asshole! I was trying to be nice and make cookies and you won't help me!" Lulu growled.

I looked over at Nina, "Can we go?"

Nina grinned at me, "Why? This is entertaining."

"Stick around any longer and I'll give you something to be entertained about." Harvey made a kissing noise.

"On second thought, I'm ready." Nina bolted out the door.

"Lay off of her, Harvey," I warned him.

I stepped through the door and closed it behind me. As I walked down the stairs, Sally came skipping over to me.

"Play with me, Jack? I'm bored." She pouted, holding her bear in her arms.

"I'm headed out right now, Sally. Dollmaker might not be busy though, go see what he's up to."

"You all hate me! Nobody wants to play!" Sally yelled as tears formed in her eyes.

I leaned down and put my hand on her shoulder, "It's not because I don't want to, Sally, it's because I'm busy. How about when I get back we have a playdate?" I asked her.

"Really, Jack!? You mean it?" Her tears immediately disappeared and a huge grin spread across her face.

I stood up and made an 'x' over my heart, "Cross my heart. I have to get going. Let me know if Harvey bothers you at all. He's on his last limb if you ask me."

"If he bothers me, I can protect myself." She said proudly. "Just you watch, Jack." She skipped up the mansion steps.

I watched as she opened the door and waved to me. I waved back and watched her shut it.

"Jack, you're too kind to kids," Nina commented as she walked up behind me. "They're like your weak spot, I swear."

"They're innocent. They don't know the dangers of the world yet. Sadly enough, Sally never will."

"Sally is a danger of the world." Nina joked as she wrapped her hand around my arm. "Come on, EJ. Let's go have some fun."

******

Nina and I have been plotting the perfect death scene. We knew how many people we wanted, what I was going to take, what it would look like, everything. We just couldn't find any people. For sure we wanted to stay near the woods for an easier getaway. Sure, we had just got our pendants less than a month ago, but what's the fun in using it? We enjoyed the adrenaline that rushed through our body while running from the cops. But with Nina's luck, she lost her pendant almost immediately the day we got them.

"Jack, can I ask you something?" Nina bumped into me, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"What's up?"

"Have you ever thought about... well, dating?" She asked, looking over at me.

"It's a waste of time. I don't think anyone at the mansion would be worth it. Hell, I bet there's not even a single soul out there worth my time. I'd probably eat them before I got to know them." I chuckled and looked at her. "What makes you ask?"

She lowered her eyes and stuffed her hands in her pockets. "No reason. Just curious..." She trailed off.

The next thing I knew, she had one hand around my arm and was slapping me excitedly with the other. "Jack! Jack! Jack! Jack! Looklooklooklook!"

I looked up to see a group of five teenage boys, no older than eighteen, messing around. Some of them had bottle rockets and the rest were sitting back drinking beer and smoking.

"They're perfect." Nina grinned as she pulled out her purple dagger.

I slid my scalpel out of a pocket I made in my sleeve. It was a convenient place for it, so why not.

"They're not even paying attention," Nina said as we crept closer.

"They're drunk and completely stoned." Someone walked out from behind a set of trees.

It was a boy. From his looks, he had to have been around sixteen. He wore a white t-shirt, black skinny jeans, and his hair brown and shaggy.

"Who are you?" Nina held her dagger up, ready to attack.

"Me? Oh, I'm Slade." He held out his hand.

Nina and I just stared at him, nobody taking his hand. He pulled his hand back and ran it through his hair.

"Zalgo did say you two were going to be a tough crowd," Slade stated as he began to walk around us.

"Nina..." I whispered.

"I know. Proxy." She hissed quietly.

"Come on guys. Just, turn around. I don't want to see your faces when I kill you." Slade fussed.

"Kill us? What if we kill you first?" Nina hissed.

"If you killed me first?" Slade stopped and put his hand on his chin, "I never even though about that."

"Amateur." Nina scoffed.

"Not quite," Slade smirked as he reached to the back of his belt buckle and pulled out a double headed hatchet.

"Nina, get the group of boys. I'll deal with proxy over here." I commented quickly, readying myself for a fight.

Nina nodded as she took off towards the group of boys. Slade kept his eyes locked on me, waiting for me to make a move.

"Why are you here, Proxy?" I snarled.

"Zalgo said you two should be an easy target," Slade stated.

Behind his words was fear, I could sense it from a mile away. He was scared, which he had every right to be. Still, it doesn't make sense that Zalgo would send a proxy after us and not Scarecrow or someone more useful.

"How do we start this?" Slade asked awkwardly.

"Quit playing stupid. You're here to fight, so let's go." I growled as I let forward.

I swung my scalpel towards his neck, but he dodged it just in time, only gaining a small cut on his ear. Slade swung his hatchet around awkwardly, showing his little to no training with the weapon. I almost felt bad for the little punk, but he was here to kill me and Nina. I had to put an end to this.

Behind us, the group of boys was yelling and one was even talking frantically into his phone.

"Nina! He's calling the cops! Do something!" I turned around and hollered at her.

Slade let out a war cry as he ran towards me and buried his hatchet into my shoulder. I yelped as I spun around, slicing his neck open. His eyes widened as his hands gripped his throat, clawing at his open wound.

"You were terrible," I growled, ripping the hatchet out of my shoulder and throwing it into his head.

Slade crumpled to the ground, twitching around every now and then.

"Jack, a little help?" Nina hollered.

I turned and started running towards the boys. Two were already on the ground in a pool of blood. The one was still on his cell phone.

"Give me that." I hissed as I grabbed the boys phone and snapped it in half.

"Who the hell are you people?" He cried.

"We're like your worst nightmare, but worse." I stabbed the scalpel deep into his eye.

His mouth shot open but no words came out. Not before long, his body fell to the woods ground.

Behind me, red and blue lights illuminated the area.

"Let me go pigs!" Nina growled.

When I looked over at Nina, she was in the hands of four police officers. A few other officers were running at me. I turned and started to run.

"Jack! I don't have my pendant! Don't leave me! Stop, please!" Nina cried behind me.

But I didn't care. Luckily, the portal wasn't too far away. I managed to make it there without getting caught. I wasn't getting caught for her mistakes. She got herself into that mess, she can get herself out. After all, she is Nina the Killer anyway.

~Present Time~

Just a few months later, Harvey was found dead outside of the portal, leaving his mission incomplete. Nina had got to him. The only way we knew it was her was because she carved her name into his chest, that and she removed his down below parts. She had also written us a letter stating how disappointed she was with us and that she had a new plan to get back at us at the mansion. She filled us in on how Zalgo saved her from the police and even scolded us for going back and taking Slade's dead body. Slender went back for Slade to keep him for observation or to see if he'll have any use in the future, which he did. It wasn't often we came across one of Zalgo's proxies dead. We figured since I killed Zalgo's proxy, he sent someone to kill ours.

Next to me, Lucy was mumbling words in her sleep. I could barely make out the sound of half of the words she was saying, but it was for sure her sleep talking... again.

Finally, she said something clear as day that made a smile creep across my face, "I like that name too, Jack."

I couldn't help but chuckle. I, by no means, was ready for a kid; nor did I even want one. But if she's dreaming about it, chances are it's something she thinks about often.

"There is no more butter for the potatoes," Lucy whined as she turned around and faced me, her eyes still shut tight.

Poor girl must be dreaming about her potatoes she dumped on Hobo a few hours ago. The lamp was still on behind me, making the scar on her eye look shiny. Not a day goes by that I don't think of what I had done to her. If I would've just listened to Slender and stayed out of their business that day, she wouldn't have such a nasty scar running down her eye socket. She was still beautiful, though. I don't think a thousand scars could ruin her face.

As I laid staring at her, her eyes flew open. "He lives with us. He's not with us. He is against us." She moaned before closing her eyes again.

I raised an eyebrow and stared at Lucy. What the hell was that all about?

I nudged her to wake her up, "Lucy? Luce."

Slowly, her eyes opened, "Hmm?"

"What were you just talking about?" I whispered, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"I don't know." She mumbled, closing her eyes and falling asleep again.

Some great help that was. Maybe Slender will know something about it. I'll have to ask him tomorrow.

******

I had fallen asleep for a few hours and when I woke up, Lucy was nowhere in sight. I rushed to get dress and ran out into the hallway.

"Dollmaker!" I yelled into the game room, "Have you seen Lucy?"

Dollmaker walked out of the game room and grinned, "Her, Clock and Jane went out."

"Went out!? What do you mean went out!? She's hunti-"

"Relax. She's not hunting. They're having girl time." Dollmaker chuckled.

I let out a sigh of relief. "Is Slender in his study?"

Dollmaker nodded. "I was actually headed down there myself. Mind if I tag along?"

"Go for it."

We both walked down to the study. I knocked on the door and it opened wide.

"Well, there's a sight." Papagrande chuckled.

"Shut up. Slender we need to talk." I marched over and sat down on the chair. "Lucy has been talking in her sleep."

"She's craaaazy..." Dollmaker whispered.

I looked over at Dollmaker, "You're crazy. Shut up." I looked back at Slender, "She was laying there with her eyes shut and then they flung open and she started talking about something like 'he is a traitor' and 'he's not one of us'. Any clue what the hell that means?"

Dollmaker whistled, "Crazy."

I turned my head to Dollmaker, "I will deck you."

"Sounds to me like we need to keep our eyes open for a traitor. Even if it is just a hunch." Papagrande stated.

"Was the whole 'eyes open' part supposed to be a joke? If so, that's funny." Dollmaker looked back and forth between Slender and me.

"Is he always like this?" I asked, pointing at Dollmaker.

"Not usually. Just let him be." Slender said. "This traitor discussion doesn't leave the four of us. If I find out it does, you will regret it."

I nodded and stood up.

As I left the study, I saw Jeff standing at the end of the hallway. His arms were crossed and he was looking directly at me.

"What?"

"You know how the girls are gone?" Jeff asked, not moving his stern face.

"Yeah?" I asked confusedly as I made my way over to him.

"Do you know what today is?" Jeff asked.

I made it to the end of the hall, "Not a clue, Jeff. Tell me. What is today?" I said sarcastically.

He poked me and pointed up. As I looked up, I saw a few leaves hanging by a tattered red ribbon.

"What the hell is that?" I asked.

"It's a mistletoe!" Jeff screeched. "You're standing under the mistletoe with me."

"And...?"

"We have to kiss," Jeff said seriously.

I shoved Jeff, "Get the hell out of here with that shit."

Jeff was cackling behind me, "It's Christmas, dude. Your girlfriends out buying you shit while you sit here and stand under the mistletoe with me."

"I don't even know what the hell you're talking about." I barked.

"Christmas. You don't know what Christmas is?" Jeff raised an eyebrow.

"No." I deadpanned.

"It's a holiday."

"Well, we've never celebrated it before. What's so special about it now?" I asked as I walked into the kitchen.

"Lucy set this all up," Jeff said quietly.

Great. Now I feel like an asshole. Lucy briefly mentioned this 'Christmas' before but didn't exactly tell me when it was. Am I supposed to buy her something, too?

I paused what I was doing and looked around the kitchen, "Who cleaned this?"

Jeff shuffled from side to side, "That's not important. What's important is that it's done."

"Jeff. Who cleaned the kitchen?"

Jeff sighed, "Lucy and I. She woke me up early and asked to help clean the mess up and get your surprised laid out."

"You have got to be kidding me." I leaned against the counter. "Why is she like this, Jeff?"

"Uhh? I'm not following. Like what?" Jeff furrowed his brows.

"She's too nice to be here. Don't get me wrong, I adore that girl. But she just doesn't fit in." I hung my head down.

"I think she's doing perfectly fine, Jack. We can't all be the same. Could you imagine Lucy if she was nuts and crazy like the rest of us?" Jeff scoffed, "That would be too much to handle. We're lucky Jane's panties aren't in a tightwad anymore."

"Jane's panties is the last thing I need to hear when I wake up." Hunter groaned as he sat down at the bar.

His hair was dripping wet and he had a towel draped over him like a cape.

"Did Lucy get you involved with today, too?" Jeff asked Hunter.

Hunter nodded, "That girl has too much planned for one day. While she's gone I am to be Jack's personal advisor."

"My personal what?"

"Advisor. Like, I advise you to go take a shower or Lucy might flip her lid." Hunter chuckled.

"Seriously? She put you in charge of me?" I crossed my arms and glared at him.

Hunter nodded, "Get going. I'll tell Lucy you didn't listen at all. That would probably ruin her whole day."

I growled, "You wouldn't."

"Then go get your ass halfway decent!" Hunter yelled jokingly.

Jeff was laughing at the two of us. I stomped away. As I turned the corner to the staircase, LJ was sitting on a stair at the top. His face was rested on his hands.

"LJ?" I said as I started to climb the stairs.

"Hmm?" LJ hummed, slowly lifting his head from his hands.

"What's gotten into you?"

"My box is missing," LJ whispered, looking around to make sure nobody was listening.

"What? You never let that thing out of your sight. Any idea who did this?" I growled.

"Keep it down! Nobody needs to know yet. Do me a favor, if I go missing, don't let them destroy the box and don't stop until you find me." LJ trailed off. Visibly shaken, he whispered, "I can't go back in there..."

I let out a sigh and clenched my jaw, "I won't stop until I find you."

The clown looked up at me. His eyes glistened and a grin spread across his face, "You mean it?"

I nodded my head.

"Thanks, Jacky-boy!" He smiled widely and stood up. "I was really nervous for a second there."

"You still should be. Be careful what you say around people you don't trust, LJ. Something's not right." I whispered. "Now get going and act like nothing is wrong."

LJ nodded and placed a crooked grin on his face before he started walking down the stairs.

"Ahhh! Jack! I forgot. Lucy has a change of clothes laid out for you on your bed." Hunter hollered up to me.

"Yes, sir." I sneered, continuing to walk down to the hallway.

I made it into my room and flipped the light on. I couldn't help but groan at the clothes she picked out for me. Of course, no hoodie was laid out. There was a box of shoes that read 'Converse' and next to it was a blue and black flannel, a black muscle shirt and a pair of black jeans next to it. Of course, she got me converse, she wears her religiously. Once before she mentioned me getting a pair and I just groaned at the idea. But if it's what she wants, then I guess I'll deal with it for the day.

I opened the box to reveal a pair of deep blue converse. I was wondering when she had gotten these as I picked them up. The flannel had a black hood attached to it.

"Are they going to fit?"

I jumped and turned to Jeff who was standing in the doorway.

"I don't know. Why does she care about what I wear?"

Jeff shrugged, "She sent me and Jane out together a few days ago. I, for one, didn't want to go with that broad, but Lucy wouldn't give in. She said I know you better than anyone here and Jane could help. Are the clothes okay? If not, I say we burn them and-"

"They're tolerable, Jeff. It's only for one day." I cut him off before his mind could wander any further.

"Good. Get in the shower. I have no idea when they're going to be back." Jeff turned on his heel and walked away.

I piled the clothes in my hand and followed after him.

******

It's been almost an hour since I had got out of the shower. My hair was nearly dry by now and I was sitting up in the bedroom. Hunter's been pounding on the locked door trying to boss me around some more.

"They're going to be back any time now. You still have to eat!" He shouted as he continued jiggling the handle.

"Will you stop telling me what to do?" I snapped and laid back on my bed.

"I'll break the door down and drag you to the kitchen. Don't make me do this on Christmas!" Hunter yelled again, slamming his body into the door.

"I don't even know what Christmas is, Hunter! Why do I have to celebrate it?" I pouted, throwing my arm over my face.

"Because Lucy wants you to, Jack. The least you could do is help her feel at home. You know she hates it here. Now open the door." Hunter demanded.

"What is Christmas?"

"Dammit, Jack! Open the door and I will tell you whatever you want to know!" Hunter growled, pounding on the door again.

"Lucy said you were her first kiss." I teased him, trying to change the subject.

"Jack. I'm backing up right now and breaking it down." Hunters footsteps left the door.

I quickly sprang out of bed and put my hand on the handle. I unlocked it quietly and waited for his footsteps to approach the door. Soon enough, Hunter's footsteps hurriedly reached the door and I opened it, letting him fly in.

He crash landed by the window and spun around, "You are getting on my nerves."

"Nice of you to finally come in. I've been lonely." I chuckled and sat back down on my bed.

"Now, what about Lucy?" Hunter straightened his shirt and stood in front of me.

"Nothing, I was just trying to get you to break the door down like you've been threatening to do for a while now." I grinned below my mask.

It was fun to get on his nerves. He noticeably hides his frustration because he fears Shadow Lurker as much as we fear it.

"Okay? Anyways, Christmas is.. well... from what I remember of Christmas with my family before they were killed was lots of presents and family coming over and lots of food." Hunter grinned.

I desperately wanted to say 'You mean before you killed your parents?' But that's just asking for his dark side to come out.

"Sounds cringe-worthy."

"It's what Lucy wants. We won't object. Most of us are trying to make her feel welcome. Especially after our issues with the last proxy, Harvey." Hunter hissed at the mention of Harvey.

"That was more than three years ago. I'm pretty sure Lucy's a lot more accepted than that perv ever was." I huffed. "Where's Slade?"

Hunter shrugged. "Last I saw him he was walking out of the mansion. It's not like he can wander far."

"He has no recollection of he past life, does he?" I stood up from the bed.

"Nope. Slender made sure of that. I'm pretty sure if he remembered he would've tried to kill you by now," Hunter laughed. "It's time to get going. You need to eat."

I groaned, "Why?"

"Hey, keep it up and Krampus might pay you a visit," Hunter warned before opening the door.

"Who?"

Hunter rolled his eyes, "Never mind, Jack. Let's go."

******

Hunter was damn near force feeding me as I sat and talked to Jeff. We were sitting in the kitchen at the bar.

"Jack shut the hell up and eat. I don't know when they're going to be back." Hunter forcefully said.

"When who's going to be back?" Jane walked into the kitchen and set down a paper bag.

"I wasn't talking to you, stay out of it," Hunter growled.

I looked back and forth between the once couple, feeling an awkward tension between the two of them.

"Hunter, Lucy must be back," I said, trying to avoid them causing an argument.

"No shit." Hunter looked at me and rolled his eyes.

"Come on, Jack, let's leave these two alone." Jeff stood up and grabbed onto my hood, nearly dragging me out of my seat.

I stumbled but managed to catch my balance as Jeff continued to drag me out of the room.

"Jeff get him the hell out of here!" Lucy screeched as she ran for the stairs holding a bag in her hand.

Jeff spun back towards the kitchen, still dragging me, "Back and forth, back and forth." He mumbled.

"Will you let me go?" I snapped, trying to pull free from his grip.

"I guess." He sighed and let my hood go.

"It's your fault!" Jane screamed, hurling a can at Hunter's head.

"My fault!? You're the one with the issues!"

Jane scoffed, "I have issues?" She let out a maniacal laugh, "You're the one who kill-"

"Enough, Jane!" I yelled.

"No, I want to hear this." Hunter glared at me then turned his glare back to Jane, "Tell me, Jane. What did I do?"

"You killed your parents." Jane sneered.

"I did too. I don't have issues." Jeff turned his head up, showing a proud moment.

"No, I didn't." Hunter took a step back.

"Jane, not today. Take it back." I growled.

"No. He needs to get used to it." She snapped at me then turned to Hunter, "He needs to know what he has done."

Hunter looked down at his hands, "I-I wouldn't do that."

"Oh, but you did! Tore them to shreds and left them there bleeding out." Jane crossed her arms.

"Jane, stop!" I yelled as I tried to run at her.

Jeff grabbed my hood, "Not today."

"Jane, tell him you're lying, now!" I yelled, "You're going to ruin today for Lucy."

"What's going on?" Lucy walked into the kitchen.

Jeff leaned over and whispered in her ear as I glared at Jane.

"Seriously?" Lucy stepped back, "Hunter, do you really think you could do that?" Lucy walked over and grabbed his hands as he stared down at them.

She used her free hand and rested it on the side of his face, "Hey, look at me." She pushed his face up and looked at him, "You didn't do anything wrong, Hunter. Don't listen to Jane. Trust me, okay?"

"It wasn't me? Are you lying?" Hunter stared at Lucy.

"It wasn't you, Hunter. I wouldn't lie about that." Lucy hugged Hunter.

A pang of jealousy coursed through my body, but I just remained quiet.

"This is bullshit." Jane stormed out of the kitchen.

Lucy pulled away and looked over and me, "What got into her?"

"We just left the room and they started arguing," I said. "Where did you go anyways?"

Lucy grinned and walked over to me, "Nice clothes." She wrapped her arms around my neck, "I'm not telling you anything until later." She leaned up on her tiptoes and kissed the side of my mask.

Lucy then pushed away from me and looked over at Jeff, "Is everything ready?"

"Yes, Miss Boss." Jeff chuckled.

Lucy looked back at me, "Merry Christmas, babe. Follow me." She grabbed my hand and pulled me away.

Lucy dragged me out of the kitchen and up the stairs. I have no clue what she has up her sleeve, but she sure seems excited about it.

We were on the second floor now and she was tugging me into the game room. As we stepped into the room, Lucy flipped the light switch off and hundreds of tiny red lights illuminated the room. She grinned and pulled me in, slamming the door behind me.

"What's this all about? Why are there lights?" I looked around the room.

"It's Christmas, Jack! No Christmas is complete without lights!" Lucy squealed with excitement.

"Right," I commented back.

"I want to watch a movie with you." She smiled at me and grabbed my hands.

Lucy pulled me forward, over to the projector screen. I sat down on a bean bag and she pushed one over next to me.

"What are we watching?" I looked up at the projector screen.

"It took me forever to find it today, but I finally did." From behind me, I could hear plastic unwrapping and the popping sound of a DVD case opening.

As the movie trailers began, there was a knock on the door. Lucy walked over and opened it.

"Uh. I have your snacks." Jeff groaned, "I feel like your maid."

"Perfect timing," Lucy commented him. "Thank you, Jeff." She then whispered, but I could hear her, "Is Ben almost done?"

"Yeah. How many movies are you guys watching?"

"One. Maybe two if I feel like it. Bye bye now." Lucy closed the door on Jeff's face.

I couldn't help but chuckle at her. She must've had today planned for a while. I'm just surprised she has everybody under her thumb and doing what she asks. Slender can't even get us to do that half the time.

She walked over to me and handed me a bowl as she sat down on her bean bag.

"I know you eating means removing the mask. But I don't think the movie would be that bad in black and white." She smiled warmly at me.

I nodded as she clicked play on the remote and dug into her snack. She put a few pieces of popcorn in her mouth and then began spitting everywhere.

"Jeff! That jerk!" She whined, still spitting into her bowl of popcorn.

"What? Are you okay?" I placed my hand on her back.

"He burnt my popcorn. I was expecting Gordon Ramsey perfection and I got Martha Stewart."

"Who?"

"No one. Just watch the movie."

A few moments passed by, and all I could collect from the movie was a fuzzy green angry guy with a small brown dog.

"What are we watching?" I leaned over and whispered in Lucy's ear.

"The Grinch silly. Now shh."

The movie seemed to drag on. A few parts were actually decent, but I couldn't keep my mind on it. What I really wanted to know was what Ben was up to. Eventually, Lucy squirmed around and got comfy, resting her head on my lap. I moved my hand onto her head and twirled around her hair.

"Jack, you're making my hair tickle my face." She giggled, shooing my hand away.

"Like this?" I grabbed a thick strand of hair and ran it over her cheek.

"Yes! Stop!" She giggled again, grabbing my hand and holding it, not letting me move it.

Within no time, Lucy was zoned back into the crabby old green man on top of the mountain. I noticed that actor from other movies, maybe a Batman one? Or the one movie with the guy and the green mask? Either way, he was funny, I guess...

******

Finally, the movie was over. Lucy turned over in my lap, facing up at me.

"Did you like it? Want to watch another?" She smiled up at me, reaching her hand up and tipping my mask off of my face.

"I'm good. I want to go do something else." I stretched out.

"Well, we can't go into the bedroom until later on. So the rest of the day is up to us."

I thought for a few moments before picking Lucy up bridal style, "I have an idea."

She giggled as we made our way out of the room. Ben was walking out of our hallway and he ran over to us.

"Jack, we need to talk." He glared at me. "Oh yeah, it's done, by the way, Luce."

"Thanks, Ben." She jumped down from my arms.

"No problemo, Lucy." Ben looked back at me, "We need to talk, now."

"I'll be right back, Lucy." I started walking for the game room, hoping Ben was following.

Luckily, he was because as soon as we got into the room, he slammed the door behind us.

"Something isn't right." Ben crossed his arms.

"You know too? How do you know?" I looked around the room to make sure we were alone, thinking he was talking about LJ's box.

"I don't know what you're talking about, but I do know something isn't right. I'll keep my eye out. You keep your eyes-err-just let me know if you see anything." Ben said as he opened the door.

We both left together. He went towards the third floor and Lucy and I started walking to the first.

"What was that about?" She asked as we started to descend the stairs.

I groaned, "I'll tell you soon. But not yet. Just enjoy today. Get your winter gear on. We're going for a ride."

I looked over at her in time to see her face light up as she nearly ran down the stairs, taking two of them at a time.

I chuckled. It felt great seeing her like this. If we can make it through the whole day of her being this enthusiastic, then maybe she'll finally accept this place as 'home'.

******

Lucy was running ahead of me in the snow, tripping every now and then. I forced her to wear a pair of sweats over her jeans this time.  She was reluctant at first, but I threatened to swallow the snowmobile keys if she didn't. She thought I was kidding until the keys were actually in my mouth.

"Jack, move faster," Lucy yelled.

She was already at the small shed that I stored my snowmachine in. I picked up my pace and walked through the side door of the shed. Sliding the garage door up, Lucy stood on the other side, waiting for me.

"You're antsy today," I commented, grabbing the helmets from the shelf.

"I know. I'm always like this on Christmas though. There's just something about this holiday that makes me feel happy." She put a cheesy grin on her face as she grabbed the helmet from my hand.

I tipped my mask up and gave her a quick kiss. "You ready?"

She nodded and kept her eyes on me as I started the snowmobile. I took my mask off and placed it on the front of the machine. I let it run for a few moments, the smell of its gas filling the shed. The last time I put it away, I filled it completely with gas, so I know we won't run out today. Slowly, I pulled forward and let her climb on behind me.

"Hang on," I yelled.

I twisted my hand back and took off quickly. The both of us lunged backward, making her squeeze onto me tighter. I took my free hand off quickly and put it onto her hands, squeezing them tightly before returning it back its rightful place.

We entered the trail in the woods and I revved the snowmobile to go faster. By now we were pushing eighty, and I wouldn't go any faster with her on the back. Usually, going over one hundred was normal for me, especially when I was angered by someone from the mansion.

Racing through the trees, slowing down at turns and sliding back in place when she'd accidentally pull back on me, we were there in no time.

Lucy climbed off and I did the same. She took her helmet off and handed it to me, running for the cabin. I let out a chuckle and set the helmets down on the seat, following her.

She was already sitting down on the bed, sliding off her extra set of pants. 

"Why'd you want to come here?" She looked up at me after she folded her pants up.

I shrugged, "I don't know. They said you had plans for me for the day, but this is what I wanted to do."

"I actually didn't have that many plans." She laughed. "I just asked them to do a few things. I just wanted to watch a movie and give you your present."

"You actually got me something?" I walked over and sat down on the love seat.

"Yup. But you're not getting it until later." She grinned and stood up.

Lucy came and sat down next to me, throwing her legs on my lap. "What now?"

I shrugged, "Whatever you want."

"There's a deck of cards and a few board games under the bed," I said as I grabbed her legs and lifted them up, sliding out from underneath her.

"What games?" She knelt down on the ground next to me.

"Uhh." I stuck my head under the bed and grabbed the three long boxes. "Battleship, Sorry, and Monopoly."

"Battleship." She grinned and grabbed the box.

I watched as she took the cover off and positioned herself a few feet in front of me. She gave me my pieces and took hers. I set all of my ships up next to each other in one corner. Either she'll be really good at guessing this or it'll be a total miss. After we set up our ships, she started.

"B-4." She said.

"Miss." I grinned, placing a white peg down on the board. "G-6."

"Hit. You're cheating." She groaned, grabbing a red peg and placing it on her board.

The game went on for a while, so far she hasn't caught on to my 'strategy', but she did have a few hits. I had four of her ships sank.

Before I could make my next move, Ben appeared in the middle of our game, stepping on our pieces.

"Get your ass out of my face, Ben!" Lucy hollered

"I'll trade views with you." I groaned, quickly throwing myself backward.

"Jack, you guys need to get back now. Grab my hands guys." Ben frantically said, sticking out his hands.

"I'm not leaving my snowmobile here. How in the hell did you know about this place!?" I yelled standing up.

"The woods don't bother me. I can just teleport back home. I actually come here often. Doesn't matter, we need to go." Ben smirked.

"Get the snowmobile back, Jack. I'll go see what's up." Lucy grabbed Ben's hand.

"Are you sure?" I asked, slipping my jacket on.

"She'll be safe, Jack. I promise." Ben said before he pixelated away with Lucy.

I looked down at the now broken Battleship boards and groaned. Shutting off the light, I ran to the snowmobile and started it. I didn't even give it time to warm up before I sped away.

Snow was falling quickly and the night was upon me faster than I thought it should be. The air was crisp, stinging my already cold hands. The speed of the snowmobile was nearing one hundred twenty, and I didn't dare push it farther.

The twists in the path were barely visible from the snow that was rapidly falling. It seemed as if there was a blizzard happening. I was happy Lucy decided to go with Ben but nervous about what was going on at the mansion.

Finally, the shed was in view, right along with the mansion. I quickly pulled up alongside the shed and shut the machine off, tucking the keys into my jacket pocket. I slid the helmet off and put my mask on. Shouts could be heard in the distance, coming from the outside. I snuck my way over to the side of the mansion to get a better view of what was going on.

I thought maybe Jane pissed off Hunter, but when I saw Hunter and Jane next to each other with their weapons drawn, I knew that wasn't the case. In front of them stood a very tall figure, at least twenty feet. From here, it was too hard to see his features. I made my way to the front of the mansion to get a better view.

Hunter, Jane, Lucy, Ben, and Jeff were all in the field. Behind them, the rest of the Pastas and proxies stood, waiting for their signal.

"Jack, you need to get out there." Slender's voice said behind me, catching me off guard.

"Who the hell is that?" I asked.

"Krampus. Somebody had to have summoned him here. I'll be right here in case things get too rough. Papagrande and Devin already have Slade upstairs. He was badly wounded."

"So you let Lucy go out there!?" I hollered.

"She chose to."

"Bullshit!" I yelled at him as I took off running towards the danger.

As I drew closer, I could barely tell some features. Horns were poking out of his head, giving it a half-goat look. Next to him, three beings stood. One was clearly a deranged, over-sized teddy bear. Another looked like a clown, with a hat that had two points with bells on it. The last one was hovering over the ground. It looked like a demented angel, with no eyes and ripped wings and dress.

Krampus spoke up, "The next one to get in my way will be the next to go."

I ran up and stood next to Lucy, allowing my anger to take over. Lucy held her katana, ready for the fight. Everyone around us was now ready.

"Alright, Helpers. Kill them all." Krampus ordered, pointing in our direction.

The three Helpers ran at us, laughing and cheering. My claws were ready, and I was too.

"This is so fucked up," Jeff commented, swinging his knife around as they drew closer.

"Jeff, Lucy and I have the bear. Everyone else split up." I growled.

Everyone raced to their destination. The bear, which was the same size as me, came running at us, bearing razor sharp teeth. Snow and dried blood caked to his tan matted fur.

I raced forward, listening to Lucy's and Jeff's footprints follow close behind. Raising my right hand, I slashed forwards. The bear dodged to the side as I barely tore into one of his ears.

He chartered his teeth quickly before racing towards Jeff.

"This thing is freaky, dude!" Jeff yelled, trying to run around the bear.

Lucy and I ran next to each other towards Jeff. She raised her katana and stabbed it forward planting her sword in the bear's arm. It loud out a demonic screech before whipping around, sending Lucy flying backward. I growled loudly and lunged forward, clawing at it with both of my hands quickly. The bear jumped on top of me, pinning me to the ground.

Jeff was behind the bear, tearing into it with his knife. The stuffing was falling over the snow.

"It has a heart!" Jeff yelled.

"What?" I asked, trying to dodge its teeth.

"It has a heart!" Jeff yelled louder.

"Then do something dumbass!" I shouted.

The bear opened its mouth wide and went for my face. I put my forearm up to shield my face. It latched onto my arm and bit down hard.

I started screaming as I heard its teeth rip through the leather jacket. Finally, the bears grasp loosened and it fell limp on top of me.

I shoved it off and glared at Jeff. "Next time you see the heart of something that's trying to eat me, destroy it!"

Jeff nodded and I turned to see where Lucy was. At first, I couldn't see her until I heard a shrill scream. I looked at Krampus. Lucy was behind held tightly in one of Krampus' hands.

Another group had just finished off the demonic angel. It laid in broken porcelain pieces scattered around the snow. They were already rushing over to Krampus.

"Put Lucy down you goat demon thing!" Ben hollered, lunging at Krampus.

"This is Lucy?" Krampus muttered, turning Lucy to face him in his hands. "I've been told a lot about you."

"Fuck you!" She screamed, squirming around, trying to get an arm free.

"You're the reason why Christmas was brought here." Krampus cackled loudly. "You brought something good to a place where everything is bad."

Lucy stopped squirming and stared at him.

"No," I whispered. "No Lucy, you didn't do anything wrong!" I hollered, running forward.

Everyone looked from me to Lucy.

"Don't just stand there! She's not just our proxy, it's Lucy guys! Quit standing around!" I growled as I ran past them.

The last group was done down the clown by now. Bits and pieces of confetti were laying around on the ground, slowly evaporating into nothing. They were already charging Krampus at full speed.

Krampus was laughing as he wrapped his other hand around Lucy and started to squeeze.

"Get her out of there Ben!" I screamed, scratching at Krampus' legs.

"His magic won't let me, Jack. I've tried." Ben said as he jumped up and sank his sword deep into Krampus' wrist.

Krampus moved one hand and swatted Ben away. I watched at the elf boy went flying quickly through the air, landing harshly in the snow.

Beside me, Hunter was slowly changing, Shadow Lurker taking his place.

"You better direct that anger on the right person or I'll kill you right now," I yelled at him as I stabbed into Krampus' leg.

Using my other hand, I hoisted myself up and dug in. Slowly, I scaled my way up the demon, making my way to his arm.

"Get off me, boy!" Krampus growled.

"Let my girlfriend go and I will." I snarled back, sinking my claws deeper into his black flesh.

By now, everyone was crawling on the demon, stabbing, jabbing and tearing away at him. He was letting out pained growls and groans.

"I will be back next year!" He hollered. "Mark my words!"

And with that, he disappeared into nothing, the blizzard disappearing with him. All of us who were on top of him fell to the ground.

"Fuck!" Clock groaned.

"That sucked," Jeff commented as he stood up.

I landed on my back, knocking the wind out of me. When I could breathe again, I rolled onto my stomach and looked around.

Clock was sitting up on the ground, her knife deeply sunk into her leg. Masky, Hoodie, and Toby were all picking her up as she groaned.

Lucy was laying on the ground face down. I scrambled quickly over to her, allowing my nails to vanish before touching her.

"Lucy?" I choked out.

I turned her over and she opened her eyes. "He had bad breath."

"Seriously? You almost fucking died and you were more worried about his breath!?" I laughed as I choked up, pulling her closer to me.

"I'm more in shock if anything. My parents always warned me that Krampus will come for the bad kids. I just never thought I'd be on that list." She let out a wry laugh. "Is everyone okay?"

I looked around. Everyone was standing and helping others up.

"It seems Slade was the only one who got hurt and Clock hurt herself from the fall we all took." I stood up and helped Lucy up.

"Where's Ben?"

"Over here," Ben called out.

Lucy and I walked over to him, watching as everyone high fived each other and talked about what had just happened.

Ben was sitting in the snow, holding his head. Lucy bent down next him. "Thank you." She smiled at him.

"Well, I wasn't going to let you die. Jack would've killed me. I told him you were safe." He flashed a grin at her. "But my head hurts."

"I think it's time we all call it a night." Lucy laughed as she stood up and held her hand out for Ben to take.

I looked at the scene once more before heading in. Hopefully, Krampus won't return again like he said he was.

Before I turned to head back in, I looked at the stuffing that once filled the crazed bear. Scanning the area, something in the pile of porcelain glistened off of the moonlight. I walked over to it and bent down. I picked up a silver locket that must've been around the demonic angel's neck at one point.

I stuffed it into my pocket and turned around. I'll have Papagrande look it over to make sure it's safe before I give it to Lucy. It might be a good keep-safe.

******

We were upstairs in our bedroom now. Lucy was in her nightgown, holding my present behind her back.

"Are you ready?" She grinned at me.

I was sitting down in her bed, wearing a pair of sweats and a muscle shirt.

"Sure, why not." I chuckled.

"Okay. Now, in my defense, I had no clue what to get you. I also got something else, but that can wait a while. But anyway, here you go." She took out a small box wrapped in red paper with pictures of snowmen all over it.

I gingerly took the small package from her and tore into the paper, leaving me with a black box. As I opened it, a shimmer of silver reflected off of the lamp. Inside was a dog tag on a long chain. Engraved on the dog tag it said:

Jack
&
Angel

I took it out and examined it. Lucy was shifting back in forth in place, biting down on her bottom lip.

"So?" She said frantically.

"I love it, Lucy." I grinned up at her.

She fell backward onto the bed and started talking, "Good! Because I wasn't sure what get you and Jane said that would be a good idea but Clock insisted on a watch-of course she did-and I was unsure what you would even wear it-"

I leaned forward and pressed my lips to hers, mainly just to shut her up. She was talking to fast for me to understand her anyway.

I pulled away and she stared up at me, "This was one interesting Christmas."

"I hope so." I chuckled, "Bedtime." I announced, setting the dog-tag down on the nightstand.

"Aww..." Lucy whined as she crawled into bed next to me.

"I'll be right here when you wake up. You can talk my ear off then." I chuckled.

"Shut up. I was nervous." She stuck her tongue out at me.

"There was no need to be," I said as I turned the light off and scooted next to her.

Lucy sighed and pressed herself against me, "Good night, Jack."

"Good night, Angel."

Before I drifted off to sleep, I recollected what had just happened with Krampus. As a team, we all actually worked well together, thankfully.

Thoughts of everyone fighting came to me and it put a smile on my face. That was until I didn't remember LJ being out there. In fact, LJ wasn't around afterward either...

Updated on: September 25, 2017 & May 23, 2018