___________________________
*Lucy's POV*

I was watching Slender flip through books as Papagrande stood behind him reading over his shoulder. Papagrande shook his head and glanced up at me, then back down.

"Well?" I snappily said.

Slender glanced up. "I can't find much. Like I said, we haven't dealt with them much and then they disappeared."

"Then how did you know Rake is with them?" I asked, sitting forwards in the chair.

"I had a run in with him a while back after I let him go. He had to brag about it," Slender replied. "I can't find much, Luciana. What I'm going to tell you is from memory." Slender closed the book. "The SCP Foundation, or the Special Containment Procedures Foundation, is a mass collection of experiments, objects, entities, and so on and so forth. Their numbers grow more and more every year, as in nearly a thousand per new year. There were different sites until a threat was announced, then they all gathered and vanished."

"How in the hell am I supposed to find them-"

"You don't. I forbid it. We're obviously outnumbered by them." Slender cut me off, his voice sounding aggressive. He stood up and began pacing. "The one that the Rake assigned to you is The Sculpture. I only know what I told you before, that and it's based in the Euclid category."

"Euclid?" I raised an eyebrow.

Slender nodded and Papagrande took over. "It's unpredictable, but it still poses a threat."

"Wait." I paused for a moment, collecting the information. "If they have a category saying the creature or thing is unpredictable, but may pose a threat, do they have a category that is completely predictable with no threat?"

Slender nodded. "They're the Safe ones. But that doesn't mean they won't attack if they do feel the need to."

I nodded. "Anything else?"

"Yes. We're continuing the bonfire from the other night. Get everyone together and have Ben start taking people over."

I stood up and turned around, leaving the study to round up the crew.

******
*Helen's Pov*

Just an hour ago Ben and Slender teleported everyone to their old mansion. Everyone was near the fire, but I, on the other hand, was sitting next to Hunter's grave.

A few days ago I started making a cross for his grave. It wasn't even for religious reasons, I just find crosses beautiful. I ended up painting it a bright green with red writing. On the horizontal line of the cross, Hunter's full name was spelled out. On the top part of the vertical line was his birthday and on the bottom was the day he died.

I couldn't stop dwelling. Luciana seems to be getting along just fine, but I can't. Maybe it was dumb of me, but one week with him felt like a lifetime.

I hated him for pushing me out of the way and taking his own life. After that I completely blacked out, killing the corrupted around us and falling down at his side. Rouge and Dollmaker must've heard my screams because they were the first and only ones to respond.

I've got to stop thinking about it.

"I'll visit again soon, Hunter," I whispered as I stood up, walking towards the bonfire.

Slender promised us all that we wouldn't be talking about anybody's past again. It was obviously too much for some people, so he just cut that out of tonight.

Finally getting close enough to the fire to feel the warmth, I sat down and stared into it. All around me I could hear everyone talking, it was almost too overwhelming.

Jeff and Zero were sitting by the fire, talking and laughing with each other. Behind them two, Rouge and Masky were conversing together.

The large pile of furniture was off to the right. In the glow of the fire, I could just barely make out Hoodie and Candy standing at the top of it, with Ben, Toby, Clock and Jane sitting in the middle of it. I chuckled to myself when I saw Clock with the alcohol in hand- typical of her. In front of the furniture pile, Papagrande and Devin sat on chairs with Sally sitting between the two on the ground. Is she always this antisocial?

Laughing Jack, Puppeteer, Silver and Dollmaker were messing around in the field behind me. I could barely tell Silver was there. If it wasn't for LJ constantly yelling 'quit disappearing' I wouldn't have known Silver was back there.

I leaned over to view the other side of the fire. Just barely, I could see Jinx through the flames. That dude gave me the creeps. He was too quiet for his own good. Slender passed behind him, both dogs following.

Next to me, somebody jumped and sat down. "What ya thinking about, Helen?"

"Peace and quiet, Luciana," I replied, leaning back on my elbows.

She glared at me. "I was just checking on you. No need to be rude."

"I wasn't being rude, I was being brutally honest," I replied, sucking my teeth behind my mask.

"Why is your attitude so up and down!? I thought things were okay with us." Lucy spat at me.

"I said I wanted peace and quiet. You're chatterbox is ruining it."

"You're a real asshole, you know that?" Lucy hissed, standing up.

"I just want peace and quiet. I didn't say you had to leave, just for you to shut up." I commented back.

"Whatever." Luciana huffed as she walked away. She began climbing up to Clock and her group.

I didn't exactly want her to leave. I just wanted her to keep quiet. Too much is running through my head right now to concentrate on a conversation with jabber jaw.

"Helen?"

Then there's jabber jaws boyfriend. I wonder if he'll be quiet.

"Yes, Jack?"

"She's worried about you," Jack replied, sitting next to me.

I glanced up at Luciana. She kept laughing, holding her stomach.

"Why? And when did she start worrying, before or after she found out Hunter and I kissed?" I snapped at Jack.

"Both. She's worried about everyone. She's been dragging me from group to group ever since we got here talking to everyone."

"Have you ever thought that she worries about everyone too much for her own good?" I shot back at Jack.

"Someone's got to." He replied, lifting up his mask and taking a drink of-

"You're drinking?" I chuckled.

"Clock and I are in on a prank with Luciana. Yes, I am though." Jack chuckled, lifting his beer up.

"Prank? Is it another 'are your buns hot' shit?" I groaned.

"Not this time." Jack chuckled as a barely visible accent was audible.

"You have an accent?" I asked, raising my eyebrow below my mask.

"I do?"

"Sounds Irish. That would explain the fire crotch hair." I chuckled to Jack.

"It's not that orange you arsehole!" Jack shouted with slight annoyance in his voice.

"Point proven. You don't know your own ancestry?"

Jack took another drink. "I don't remember much before I turned into this." He raised his hands, presenting himself.

"Lucky you," I mumbled under my breath.

Jack finished his beer and nodded up at Clock. "That's my cue."

Jack stood up and I peered over at Clock. Clockwork had her hands in the air, pretending to stretch.

"Some cue," I mumbled, rolling my eyes.

"Watch this. She's going to freak out." Jack chuckled as he stumbled away.

It's only been one hour and both him and Clock have not only managed to get drunk but now they're going to freak Lucy out. I must say, that's commitment to a prank right there.

"Lucy!" Jack yelled as he began climbing the pile of furniture. His arms were held out to his side, keeping balance.

"Jack, you're going to fall." Lucy laughed as she stood up.

"No, I w-" Jack began yelling as he fell straight down from the pile of furniture, landing in a weird position.

His head was bent off to the side and both arms were twisted on awkward positions while his legs were both bent to the side.

"Jack!" Lucy screamed as she began climbing down from the pile.

I looked up at Clock who had her hand over her mouth, holding back her laughter. Luciana was now at Jack's side, slipping his mask off.

"Jack, talk to me you dumbass!" Lucy cried out. "Why would you do that!? You're drunk! You can't climb up there! I don't know what to do!"

She pressed her head to his chest, probably checking for a heartbeat. Quickly, she pulled back and leaned towards his face.

"Jack?" Lucy whispered.

"Ja-"

Jack popped his head up and pressed their faces together. A part of me wanted to laugh at his stupidity, but the other part died a little bit on the inside when I remembered the last time I kissed someone.

I'm thinking about it again... I have got to stop thinking about him.

"You're an ass!" Lucy shrieked as Jack started laughing.

She punched his arm and he flinched away, still laughing manically.

"I hate you!" She shouted, letting out a soft whine.

"You do not." Jack laughed, sitting up and pulling her close.

And that's enough for me. I stood up and began walking towards the woods. I needed to be alone. I want to go home.

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

I held Lucy in my arms as I kept laughing.

"You're not funny." She growled.

"Payback is a bitch. I told you this."

"What I did was completely harmless! You almost gave me a heart attack!" Lucy yelled as she pulled away and punched my arm again.

"You do love me." I chuckled.

"I hate you right now," Lucy grumbled.

"Okay lovebirds, get up here." Clock yelled down to us.

I nodded up at Clock. "It was her idea."

Lucy's eyes widened as she slowly turned and looked at Clock, who had a cheesy grin glued to her face. Then, Lucy started laughing.

"Oh, you find it funny now that you know Clock was in on it." I sighed and stood up, grabbing Luciana's hand.

"In my defense," Lucy spoke up, grinning as she stood, "...I got nothing."

"You're something else." I chuckled, pulling her closer to me. "I have something for you."

Lucy raised an eyebrow, "Is it another prank?"

I laughed, shaking my head, "We're even now."

"Good." She sighed, resting her head on my shoulder. "What is it?"

While Lucy was tucked away in Slender's study, Ben had handed me a small box. At first, I was slightly-no-extremely confused on what I was holding until I read 'iPod' on the case. I didn't really think they'd pull through with it, but they did. Actually, if I'm being honest, I completely forgot about it.

I reached into my hoodie pocket and pulled out the clear plastic case, sliding it between mine and Luciana's body. She pulled back and grabbed it. Her head immediately shot up and looked at me.

"You're kidding, right!?" She laughed, turning the case around in her hand.

"I guess not," I responded. "Thank Ben, though. I had barely anything to do with it."

"How am I going to get music on it?" Lucy chuckled.

"Uhh..." I looked around, trying to spy the green elf. When I spotted him I yelled, "Ben!"

His head shot up and looked at me.

"I need assistance," I admitted.

Ben began climbing down off of the pile, jumping off of a couch at the bottom.

"What's up?" He asked, walking towards us.

"How is she getting music on this?" I asked, taking a step away from Luciana.

"There's already a lot of music on it. But, I'm not giving away my secrets." Ben laughed as he grinned up at Lucy.

Lucy quickly began peeling off the plastic tape that was holding the case together. She grabbed for the iPod and pushed a button. Her smile grew even bigger as she kept pressing on the screen. I had no clue what she was doing, but whatever it was, it's making her happy.

"Get away from me!"

I spun around to see Jeff's hand gripping his knife and placing a harsh glare on Puppeteer. Zero was cowering behind Jeff, squeezing her eyes shut.

"What's going on?" Ben whispered over to me. All I did was shrug, but kept staring over at them.

Puppeteer was standing nonchalantly with his arms crossed, staring at Jeff. I wasn't sure if I should ignore them or say something as of this point.

"Will you leave already?" Jeff snarled.

Puppeteer shook his head and began chuckling. "Will I leave? Why don't you? None of us want you at the Hideaway."

"Do you think any of us enjoy being around any of you!?" Jeff shouted at Puppeteer.

"Nobody else seems to have a problem except you and Luciana." Puppeteer chuckled, rolling up his sleeves.

Jeff scoffed. "Of course you'd bring Luciana into this! Just because she doesn't like you!"

I looked over at Lucy in time to see her look up at Jeff. She started putting the iPod back into the case and handed it to Ben. As she began to walk towards Puppeteer, I saw her fist clench. Oh boy, here we go.

"Listen here you piece of shit." Luciana hissed, picking up her speed. "I am done with your cocky, no good attitude! I didn't choose to be here- the book did. I have to tolerate every single one of them, including you. But don't think for a split second that I don't dream about tearing you to shreds."

Puppeteer started chuckling, then his soft chuckles grew into a roaring laughter.

"Maybe you have forgotten, but none of us chose to be here." Puppeteer corrected her.

"That's not true." Slenderman butted in. "You don't have to be here, she does. I didn't stop Lulu from leaving, what's stopping you?"

I glanced over at the tall man, confused on what he was getting at. No way in hell would he let any of us leave... would he?

Puppeteer was glaring at Slenderman, his soft yellow eyes slowly turning a bright orange. Before Puppeteer could speak, Lucy threw her arm back and swung it forwards, knocking Puppeteer to the side.

By now, everyone who wasn't around had gathered; Jane and LJ at my side.

"What the hell!?" Puppeteer spat on the ground.

Lucy was rubbing her fist. "I needed to get that-"

"Lucy!" I yelled, running at her.

Puppeteer had stood up and grabbed onto her, putting his arm around her throat. My air was beginning to close up as he pressed tighter and tighter against hers. Jeff sprang at them, knocking the two of them over and grabbing Lucy.

As soon as I got close enough, I jumped on Puppeteer. I could feel my nails elongating as Puppeteer squirmed beneath me. Before I could take a swipe at him, somebody had plowed into me, sending my topping forwards and off of Puppeteer.

I stood up and turned around, staring into Candy's eyes.

"I don't agree with half of the things Teer does, but I'll be damned if I'm just going to sit back and watch all of you gang up on him." Candy sneered.

"Maybe he should learn to keep his mouth shut." I snapped back.

Candy held his hand out to the side and I watched as a large mallet appeared. He brought it to the front of him, preparing to fight.

To the left of me, Jeff was standing, Puppeteer in front of him. Next to Jeff stood Luciana.

"We can put our weapons down and avoid conflict." Candy spoke up, yet his grip seemed to tighten over the handle of his mallet.

From behind him, I saw Zero slowly sneaking up with her sledgehammer. As she went to swing it, Puppeteer spun around and attached his strings to her arms. She yelped with surprise as Candy turned and swung at her.

Jeff took off after Candy and kicked him to the side. Puppeteer's other hand raised, but before his strings could attach to Jeff, Luciana was trying to stab his arm with the dagger. Puppeteer swung his arm, knocking Lucy to the ground and sending a quick tingle to the side of my face.

Slade jumped in, holding onto a hatchet of his as he ran at Luciana. I quickly lunged forward and grabbed his arm, spinning him around. Slade swung his arm around, sending the hatchet whizzing over my head as I ducked below it.

"Who's side are you on!?" I growled, swiping at his torso.

Slade jumped back. "Not yours! I never was!"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" I snapped, swing my leg around and landing a kick at his ribs.

"I remember, Jack! I remember it all!" Slade snarled.

I felt completely baffled. How could he remember anything? Slender didn't give him that part of his memory back- hell, he didn't give him any of it at all. Unless... he just did. There was no time to figure this out. Right now, we're dealing with our very own civil war.

I heard Clock's war cry to the left of me. I was distracted long enough for Slade to slam into me. Numerous spots on my body tingled an ached. I was laying on the ground with Slade on top of me. Trying to look around for Luciana and dodging this freak's hatchet was becoming quite the task. Slade gasped and looked straight ahead suddenly. His mouth opened but instead of words falling out, blood began to trickle down his chin. I flung him to the side and Luciana held her hand out.

"Slender is going to freak if he's dead." I nodded down at Slade and kicked him in the stomach.

"Slender isn't here anymore. He left with Sally once everyone jumped into the fight." Lucy said quickly, spinning around and shoving Puppeteer back towards Hoodie.

Candy ran at the two of us and I shoved Lucy to the side in time for his large mallet to slam onto the ground between us. I grabbed onto the handle of the mallet and pulled, bringing Candy Pop closer to me.

Candy stuck out his leg and kicked me backward. As I stumbled, Luciana was running at him, dagger ready. She ducked under his punch and swung at his ribs, missing by just a few inches.

The whole time this was happening, all I could think was, 'Why didn't Slender stop us?'

******
*Lucy's POV*

Candy was fast and tough. Everything I did, he blocked. It was actually getting on my nerves.

It seemed more and more of us were fighting for the wrong side. Either that, or it was because of their own beef with each other, such as Jane. Just a few moments ago, she was helping me with Puppeteer. Now, she was helping Puppeteer with Jeff, which is where Jack was now, fighting against the two of them.

Then you've got Hoodie and Masky both attacking Devin and Dollmaker. Near then, Rouge and Clockwork we're fighting What problems they had with each other, I had no clue. But I'll bet if I went over there, not a single one of them would attack me.

This whole thing is a mess...

Candy grabbed me by my throat and began lifting me up. I dropped the dagger and my hands shot up to his hand that was around my neck, desperately trying to make an escape. I tried calling for Jack, but truth was, he was probably choking as much as I was now. I began kicking my legs at him. One swift kick hit him right in the stomach and he forcefully threw me to the side.

I gasped for air as two long arms grabbed me and lifted me up.

"Are you alright, Short Stack?" LJ asked, looking over at Candy who was now on his way back over.

I nodded and searched the ground for my dagger as LJ ran after Candy.

"Looking for something?"

I spun around to see Slade standing behind me, the dagger in his hand. He tried to stab down at my head, but I quickly brought my arm up, blocking his attack and punching him in the stomach with my other hand. He keeled over and I grabbed his arm, twisting it around and spinning him so his arm was tucked behind his back. Forcefully, I pulled up on his arm and he let out a pained scream and fell to the ground, his arm hanging limply at his side.

"Slender only brought you back so I could mentally prepare myself to be a proxy," I announced, picking my dagger up off the ground. "I am more than willing to send you back to the state Jack had you in."

Slade was whimpering on the ground as I bent over and lodge my dagger in the side of his neck. His eyes opened widely as he gasped and I pulled the dagger forwards, shredding all muscles and veins in his neck. Slade fell lifelessly to the ground and I wiped the dagger off on his clothes.

I turned around and started screaming at the top of my lungs. "Everybody! Quit your shit right now!"

Of course, that didn't work. I clenched my jaw, making the dumbest decision yet.

I raced over and got between Rouge and Clockwork. Clock was about ready to make another move, but I shoved her backward.

"This stops, now!" I snarled, looking at the two of them.

"Either you help me stop everyone else, or go back to the Hideaway." I looked back and forth.

Clock rolled her eye as she stood up and made her way over to LJ, Zero, and Candy. Rouge glared at me before running to Ben and Silver.

I kept feeling pains all throughout my body as I quickly moved my way to Jack. Jeff was just shoved back by Puppeteer and I grabbed onto his hood before he could run back.

"Let me go!" He snapped, swinging his blade around in front of him.

"No! This is stupid! We're all done fighting right now!" I peered to the side of Jeff to see Jane sneaking up. "That includes you, too, Jane!"

She threw her hands on her hips and groaned. I felt my rib tingle uncontrollably.

"Look at Lucy being a peacemaker." Puppeteer chuckled as he walked towards us. "Why didn't you decide that before killing Slade?"

"Slade had to go," I defended myself. "He remembered his times with Zalgo. It was a matter of time before he fully snapped."

I peered behind Puppeteer to see Jack sitting on the ground, leaning forward with his hands on his ribs. Throwing Jeff to the side, I pushed passed Puppeteer and to Jack. His hands were covered with blood.

"What did he do to you?" I asked, trying to take his hands off of his wound.

Jack held his hands firmly on his wound. "It's just a scratch."

"Bullshit!" I turned around and scanned the area for the little green elf. "Hey! Ben!"

Ben flashed away and appeared next to me.

"Take him and Devin back to the Hideaway. Tell Devin it's not just a scratch and don't let Jack tell him otherwise." I stated.

"Believe me, we all know how he is," Ben rolled his eyes and chuckled as he grabbed onto Jack.

I turned around and glanced at everyone. By now, they were all either kneeling or sitting on the ground. Some were wiping the blood off of their face with their clothes or wiping the blood off of their arms and hands.

I started this. I should've just let Jeff and Puppeteer handle their differences themselves. If I would've done that, Jack wouldn't have got involved and Candy wouldn't have defended Puppeteer.

"Let's all call it a night," I announced weakly as I turned and began walking through the forest.

******

I woke up the next morning, slowly opening my eyes. Somehow, I was on Jack's side of the bed, nearly leaning off the edge. The first thing I saw was blue. I jumped back, knocking my head off of the wooden bedpost.

Jack started laughing. "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you."

I started rubbing my head, glaring at him. "That was a nice way to wake me up... not."

Jack walked over to my dresser and opened the bottom drawer, pulling out my jogging shorts.

"Noooo..." I whined, throwing the blanket back over my head. "What time is it anyway?"

I head my dresser drawer close as he opened another. "Just a little after eight."

I grumbled, "Can I sleep for two more hours?"

"We're going for a run," Jack said as he closed my drawer.

The blankets suddenly flew off of me and I grabbed a pillow, throwing it over my face.

"Lucy, come on." Jack sighed, trying to get the pillow out of my grasp

"No."

"Fine. I'll just go with someone else." Jack announced.

Before he could walk away from the bed, I grabbed the back of his muscle shirt and pulled myself up. I pulled back on him and he fell on top of me as I wrapped my legs and arms around him.

"Stay with me!" I whined.

Jack was trying to pull himself up.

"You're needy," He chuckled. "I'm going with or without you."

I let him go and watched him as he stood up. He had his black muscle shirt on with a pair of baggy black jeans on, and, of course, his mask.

"I'll come with, on one condition. We race to the mansion. If I win, we come straight back here and sleep. And if you win-"

"If I win, I have something in mind." Jack cut me off, tossing my clothes at me.

I stared at him for a few moments before stripping out of my nighttime clothes. I pulled my black sports bra on and my gray tank top. Standing up, I slid into my black shorts. I already hate today, I just want to sleep.

Jack left the room as I was putting my converse on. It didn't make sense to bring a weapon with me, so I left my dagger and pocketknife behind.

Closing the door behind me, I turned around and looked to my left. It was the end of the hallway, but Ben was sitting there, staring at the wall.

"Ben?" I spoke softly.

"Hmm?" He turned his head and glanced at me.

"What are you doing?" I asked, looking over at the wall.

"Nothing."

I nodded. "Alright. Have a nice morning." I said to him as I turned and started walking to the stairs.

******

Jack and I were staring at the Woods in front of us, stretching out before we started running. It was cool this morning, but I knew the running was going to warm me up. That, and the sun wasn't showing through the fog.

"What do you get if you win?" I asked, looking over at him as I stretched out my arm.

"I think you mean when I do win." Jack laughed. "You'll see."

I huffed as I got into a running position; one hand in front of me, the other behind and my legs the same. I glanced over at Jack and he was in the same position too.

"Ready?" He asked.

I started running, "Go!"

"Cheater!" I could hear Jack yell from behind me.

The mansion was quite a ways away, so this should be interesting. I knew I was going to be quite worn out after this one, hell I may even sleep all day after we get back.

My footsteps were thudding on the Wood's floor. Jack was very close behind me, I could tell by how close his breathing was. The air around me cleared, proving that I had just left the fogged area.

Jack was now at my side and I glanced over quickly, grinning slyly as I picked up my pace a little bit more. I could hear his laugh from behind me, then I heard his pace quicken.

"Remember the first time we did this?" He shouted, running alongside me now.

"When Goatman was at Carmen's," I replied, my breath shortening.

Nearly ten minutes passed by and my lungs felt as if they were going to explode. Couldn't we have just gone for a jog? This running is going to be the death of me. Jogging would've been fine with me.

A familiar clearing was up ahead that held a burnt down structure. It still pained me to see the mansion in ruins like that, but there was nothing I could do.

I looked over at Jack and he looked at me.

"I'm gonna win!" I said excitedly, giving it my all.

Jack laughed, "I will."

With that, he ran straight past me and into the field, coming to a stop just a few feet away from where the bonfire was a few nights ago.

"You jerk! You were holding back!" I whined, falling out of breath to the ground in front of him. "I wanted to go back to bed!"

"Sorry, my love." Jack chuckled, holding his hand out.

I grabbed his hand and he helped me up, pulling me into his arms.

"Gross! You're sweaty!" I giggled, slightly pulling away.

Jack chuckled and grabbed my hand, leading me to the left of where the bonfire was. My lungs finally felt like they weren't going to explode, what really stung now was my thighs. Tomorrow, I know it's going to hurt so much more.

"Where are we going?" I asked Jack, turning and looking at the mansion as we passed it.

"Checking up on my snowmobile," Jack stated.

I turned and stared at the back of him, with his arm extended behind his back holding onto my hand. His arm was glistening under the sunlight, probably from the sweat. For being just a few days before February, it was already getting warm outside.

Jack lead me through the side door of the shed and closed it behind is. The only light that was available came in through a window on the back wall. His snowmobile was sitting right where he left it, which was what I was expecting anyway. Glancing around, I spotted both of the helmets hanging on the wall. I was shifting from foot to foot in spot before I finally gave in and sat on the snowmobile, leaning back against the handlebars.

"Wore out, Luce?" Jack laughed softly as he sat on the snowmobile facing me.

"Just a little bit." I sighed, struggling to lift my legs up to place them on his thighs.

Jack placed his hands on my legs and looked at me.

"Does it hurt anymore?" He asked, running his left hand over the lower half of my right leg.

I shook my head, my eyes closed. "I don't have much feeling in it anymore. But it does hurt when Devin or myself try to remove what's left of the dead skin." I sighed. "Are you keeping the snowmobile in this shed?"

"I wasn't planning on it. I can move it next winter." Jack pointed out, scooting forward on the seat of the snowmobile.

"Yeah," I sighed, "if there even is one."

Jack stopped rubbing my legs and looked at me. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Between this," I held up my arm that Rake marked, "and Zalgo, I doubt I'll make it."

Jack leaned forwards and quickly grabbed my face in one of his hands, his thumb on one of my cheeks and his pointer finger on the other.

"Don't talk like that. I told you I'm here to help and so is everyone else. I don't need to hear doubt coming from your mouth ever again." Jack growled.

"It's true."

"Shut up." Jack snapped back quickly.

I sighed and looked up at the ceiling of the shed, which was just a dark bare void due to barely any sunlight in the shed. Jack put his hands around my waist and pulled me up.

"What now?" I sighed, sitting up all the way.

"I won the race and I want my prize." Jack chuckled.

"What is your prize?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

Jack lifted his mask up and smiled at me as he leaned forward, I met him halfway. Our lips met, but softly at first.

He pulled away and grinned at me, exposing his sharp teeth. I don't know what it was, but something just kept making me fall more and more in love with him every day. I also didn't think that was possible.

"That's all you wanted?" I giggled. "You don't have to win a race for that, you know."

"I know, I didn't want anything else, though." He leaned forward, kissing my nose softly.

Before he could pull too far away, I wrapped my arms around the back of his neck and pulled myself forwards, sitting on his lap.

Of course, one thing lead to another...

~~~~~~
******

One week later, after that god-awful civil war between everyone, most of us were sitting in the game room. Slender had put a lock on the study and refused to come out or let anybody in. It sucked because both Jack and I want answers as to why Slade remembered everything or why he didn't stop us all from fighting.

After the little brawl, we were all getting along as if it had never happened. The only thing left that proved the fight had happened were the scars and cuts on everyone's bodies and yet another damn body buried in the ground. This time, I felt no remorse.

Sure, Slade was a good kid and all, but, that all changed once he remembered everything and the corruption refreshed in his brain. Why would Slender allow that to happen?

The day after the battle, we all walked back over to the mansion's side of the Woods and dug a hole for Slade. He didn't even get a casket or a proper funeral. Nobody was even offended by it. We also buried him in the middle of the woods. No way in hell would I have allowed him to be buried anywhere near Hunter.

"What are you thinking about, Angel?" Jack whispered.

We were both seated on a couch on the second floor of the game room. One of the few pieces of furniture Ben actually decided to keep. My head was rested on him right along with one of my hands. I'd be lying if I said I didn't try and fall asleep a few times already.

"Nothing," I replied softly, snuggling closer to him.

Jack's arm that was around me gripped me tighter. I usually sit on the other side of him, but he had twelve stitches, thanks to Puppeteer.

"Are you even watching the movie?" Jack chuckled softly.

"Bits and pieces. I've seen it before when I lived with my parents." I responded, letting out a soft yawn.

I've been so tired and sick lately. My stomach felt as if it was constantly churning. It was probably just another cold. I actually found it funny because before I moved to the Slender Woods, I rarely got sick. Now, this is my second time. I didn't mind though; it meant no training for me.

"If you've seen this movie before, then how does it end?" Jack asked.

"Jack. It's Paranormal Activity. Literally, everyone has seen the movie at least once." I rolled my eyes and glanced up at him.

Jack lifted up his mask and looked down at me. I leaned up quickly and kissed his cheek.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to snap," I sighed, pecking his soft, gray cheek again.

A rumble formed in the pit of my stomach and I felt it slowly work its way up. Quickly getting up, I weaved my way through everyone and raced down the game room stairs to the first floor. Dashing past the pool table and out of the room, I ran down the hall and took a right.

As I made it to the edge of the cave, I let my stomach release what it needed to. I absolutely hated vomiting, but it not like my body gave me a choice in the matter. My hair was being pulled back and a hand began rubbing my back.

"Maybe you need to talk to Smiley. You've been doing this for three days now, Lucy."

"It's called being sick, Jack. It happens." I said, my throat feeling raw.

"Go and rest, then. At least do that. Maybe you've been pushing yourself too much." Jack suggested.

I stood up and spun around, resting my head on his shoulder.

"Okay," I whispered.

Jack placed his hand on the small of my back and walked me towards the entrance of the Hideaway.

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

Jeff and I were just a little under a month from our big outing. In just an hour, we had a mission, and Lucy knows. But the big outing, I haven't told her about that yet. She had other things to worry about, such as her being sick. I was pretty worried about that too, but she just keeps smiling at me and hiding her sickness and telling me she's fine. I'm actually surprised she's upstairs taking a nap right now.

Jeff and I were both eating in the kitchen. Ben came skipping into the kitchen from the living room.

"Guess what tomorrow is!" He sang out, a cheesy grin on his face.

I looked up at Jeff and he just shrugged as he continued eating his chicken.

"What is it, Ben?" I asked, taking another bite of the baked liver.

"Tomorrow marks," Ben looked up at the ceiling and started counting on his fingers, "three, four, five! Five years that I've been here!" He said excitedly.

I swallowed a bite of the liver and glanced at Jeff. He was continuously stabbing his chicken.

Clearing my throat, I spoke up, "That's nice, Ben."

Ben frowned. "Can you at least act excited? How long have you been with Slender, anyways?

"Too long."

I turned around in my chair to see the tall tuxedo man standing in the doorway. Rage built up in me. I was still pissed off that he left us all to fix our own problems.

"How did the burial go?" Slender asked, strolling over to stand next to Ben.

"It was beautiful. We dug a hole and threw his body, which was in a garbage bag into the hole and covered it up. Why did you do that? Why did he remember?" I snarled.

"It was a matter of time before he started remembering again. My spells don't last that long on those who were corrupted by Zalgo at one point." Slender stated. "Jeff quit stabbing your chicken and eat it."

"Why? My mom didn't care if I played with my food." Jeff looked up at Slender.

"May I remind you that you're the one who killed her and you're under my roof now." Slender shot back.

Jeff looked up. "Is there even a roof on this place or is it a-"

"Jeff, just eat your damn food," Slender growled.

Jeff dropped his knife and fork, picked up the whole chicken breast and took a big bite.

Slender shook his head and sighed. "Where's Luciana?"

"You would know if you actually paid attention to us this past week," I muttered. "She is sick."

"I had things to do, Jack."

"Right. I'm sure you did." I mumbled under my breath, knowing he could read my thoughts if he really wanted to.

"You're all alive and well, are you not?" Slender retorted.

Ben piped in. "Some of us weren't alive before the fighting started. I think you worded that wrong."

Slender turned his head and looked at Ben. "I was mostly directing that question towards Jack. When are you leaving?"

I took the last bite of the liver and slid the chair back. Walking over to the sink, I rinsed the juices off of the plate and set it down in the sink.

"Soon." I finally replied. "Jeff, I'm going to check on Lucy. When I come back down we can get going." I announced to Jeff as I walked passed him and began climbing the stairs.

"Jack," Slender called out for me.

"What?" I spun around.

"Make sure she sees Smiley. She needs to start training again soon." Slender said before dissipating.

"Whatever," I mumbled and climbed the stairs again.

When I got up to the fourth floor, I made my way to the bedroom door and opened it. Lucy was sitting at the edge of the bed, her head in her hands. She only glanced up at me quickly then put her head back down. I closed the door behind me and made my way over to her. Kneeling down in front of her, I gently grabbed we wrists and moved them away from her face.

"Why aren't you sleeping?" I asked her.

"Too sick to stay asleep. I keep waking up thinking I'm going to puke my guts out, but nothing comes out." She sighed, leaning forwards and resting her head on mine.

I gently pushed her away and stood up. Sitting on the bed, I grabbed onto her and slid her onto my lap. She rested her head against my shoulder and wrapped her arm around on my other shoulder.

"Are you going to be okay when I leave? I probably won't be back until tomorrow." I stated, resting my chin on her.

"I'll live. Don't worry," She sighed.

"I hate seeing you like this," I admitted.

"It's just a stomach bug. I'm sure of it," Lucy giggled and pulled her head back.

I stood up, picking her up with me. She let out a soft laugh as I spun around and set her on the bed. I grabbed the blanket and allowed her to climb underneath it before I pulled it up to her chin.

"If you need me, just have someone punch your face again." I chuckled, as I lifted up my mask.

"Hey. It worked, kind of, didn't it?" She laughed back and closed her eyes as I kissed her forehead.

"Barely," I responded, ruffling her hair. "I'm leaving now. Stay in bed. If you need me, have someone pinch you or something, not punch."

"Aye aye, Captain Jack," She saluted me and stuffed her arm back under the blanket.

I reached into the side table drawer and pulled out an old familiar, shiny metal, friend- my scalpel.

"You're a dork." I chuckled as I turned around and walked to the door.

"A cute dork." I corrected myself before shutting the light off and closing the door.

I was back on the first floor now. Jeff made me grab my scalpel. It's been quite a while since I've used it, but Jeff nearly begged on his knees for me to grab it- so I did.

"Where are we headed to?" Jeff asked excitedly.

I've kept him in the dark on the location for many reasons. One, it wasn't in the United States. Two, I wasn't even sure if slender got my note to open the portal there.

Just this morning I had slid a piece of paper under the door saying where I needed to go and asked if he'd open the portal to there. Seems how he knows about us leaving, he must've got the note.

"Moscow, Jeff. We're headed to Russia."

******

Of course Slender would give me a list of the most wanted people in the world, not just the United States. Jeff and I were now in a dark alley in Moscow. It wasn't the first time Slender connected an alleyway to the portal. The information I have on this guy is his name, age, family relations, home address, arrest records and possible locations.

The paper says his name is Alexi Sokolovik. He is thirty-six years old with two kids; one aged four and another aged two. He is married to Svetlana Sokolovik, who is twenty-four. I would've made a comment about their age difference, but look at Luciana and I. She's nearly forty years younger than I, well than I should be.

Going to Alexi's home would be too much. Not only would it put his wife in danger, but his children, too. Just because their dad is a part of the Russian Mafia, doesn't mean they should suffer for it... unfortunately. The other location to find him was at an abandoned warehouse.

"Let me look at the guys face," Jeff whispered, pulling the paper towards him.

Both of us studied his tan complexion with a thick dark brown beard and long brown hair pulled back into a ponytail. Must've been a mugshot from when he was arrested.

"Damn. And people say I look freaky." Jeff chuckled as he pushed the paper away and looked around.

"It says right here he's the weakest link in this mafia. So not only are we doing myself a favor, we're doing the mafia a favor." I stated. "Not quite sure how I feel about that one."

"Your stomach gets full and the mafia gets stronger. Meaning one day they'll become too big for their own pants and slip up, leading to the arrest of the others." Jeff said, still looked around.

I pulled the paper away from my face and glanced at Jeff. Sometimes I wonder why he acts like a complete doofus when he actually has a halfway intelligent thought process.

I raised my eyebrows and shook my head, smirking beneath my mask. "Let's go."

I folded my paper up and stuffed it into my pocket. As I went to take a step forwards, Jeff stuck his hand out and stopped me.

"What?" I asked, looking around.

"Isn't this the side of the building that was in the picture?" Jeff asked.

I spun around and looked at the tall, run down looking green building. Quickly taking the paper out of my pocket, I looked at the picture and back up at the building. Slender, that sly son-of-a-bitch.

"Jeff," I chuckled, putting the paper back into my pocket, "I'm so glad you came with."

I looked around on the side of the building, trying to find the nearest window. Fortunately, there was a small one. Unfortunately, it was up high. Bonus, there was a dumpster underneath it. I wouldn't be surprised if I was the only one who's peeked in on the mafia before.

I climbed up onto the dumpster, careful not to make too much noise. To see into the window, I had to stand on my tiptoes. Peering through the tinted window, I could just barely make out figures of three people; two with guns and the other holding money.

"Typical," I scoffed.

"Uh... Jack." Jeff spoke clearly.

I turned my head. "Can't you see I'm..." Jeff had a gun pointed straight to the back of his head.

"Busy," I muttered.

"American?" A big Russian guy asked, his accent almost too thick to understand.

"Y-yes." I stuttered.

He pointed the gun up at me, then to the ground. "Get off my fucking dumpster."

I gulped and held my hands up, jumping down. It's unlike me to be scared in situations of life and death, but there was something about guns I wasn't too fond of. That and a mafia member is pointing it at my best friends head.

"What are you doing here?" He asked.

I paused for a moment, trying to understand what he said.

He spoke up again, louder this time, making me jump. "What are you doing here!?"

"Uh... looking for a friend." I lied, glancing at Jeff. My hands were up in the air still.

The Russian laughed and grabbed onto Jeff's hoodie, now pointing the gun at me.

"Follow." He sternly said, keeping his gun pointed at me.

I walked passed him, keeping my body facing them. The Russian began shoving Jeff forcefully towards me and I spun around so we were facing away from the Russian.

"What do we do?" Jeff whispered.

"Nothing. Just go with it. There were only three others inside." I whispered back, slightly turning my head backward.

"Face forward," The Russian growled, signaling me with his gun.

I turned back and let out a sigh as Jeff spoke up. "We're going to die if we go in there. Can't we just take this guy instead?"

"No," I murmured, "I don't know his past. He may not be wanted."

Jeff snorted. "Yeah, a guy with a gun in the Russian Mafia's hideout. Nope, not wanted at all."

"Shut up, both of you." He snarled from behind us.

We walked in silence around the building. He opened a door and shoved both Jeff and me in. I ended up tripping and falling, landing on my hands and knees. Growling as I stood up, I looked around. At least twenty more people were stationed throughout the warehouse.

"Three my ass," Jeff mumbled.

The Russian that lead us in here walked away from us and towards a man sitting in a chair with his feet propped up on a table. They spoke to each other in Russian, so I couldn't understand what they were saying. What I did catch was their hand motions and the constant glares from the man in the chair. There was no way Jeff and I could take on over twenty men with guns and no remorse.

The man in the chair stood up and walked over to us. He sized us up and snapped his fingers, motioning for two other guys. A familiar face walked up to me; Alexi Sokolovik. As they grabbed Jeff and me, I tried to fight them off, but Alexi punched me in the gut, keeling me over. Alexi picked me up by the back of my hoodie and began dragging me away.

A sinking feeling formed in the pit of my stomach. I stayed focused on Luciana the whole time, trying to fight the urge to attack them all. Between their muscle mass, automatic guns, and way over outnumbering us, we'd be goners in moments.

"Don't fight back, Jeff." I quickly said.

Jeff snarled and the man that was shoving him knocked him on the back of his head with the end of his gun, knocking Jeff to the ground. Thy bound his hands and taped his mouth shut. At the same time, Alexi was doing the same thing to me. As he lifted up my mask, I squeezed my eyes shut. He spoke a few unknown words as I felt the tape get placed over my mouth. I peeked through a lid to see Alexi set my mask down on a cargo box.

Jeff and I were shoved into a small room and they slammed the door behind us. I glanced over at Jeff in the darkroom and felt relieved to see his chest still moving up at down.

The man from the chair walked up to the door and pounded on it as he held up a piece of paper to the small window. "What are you doing with this?"

The man from the chair drew a quick breath from his cigar and blew it into the room. "You're going to be here a long time. We will figure out who sent you."

I wanted to laugh, but couldn't through the tape. No way in hell would he find Slender. But, will Slender find us? There wasn't a way to summon him through the pendant, out mouths were taped. One way or another, we had to make it out of here. I'm not dying by the hands of these rats.

******
*Lucy's POV*

The sickly feeling in my stomach passed shortly after Jack left. I took a quick shower and got a new change of clothes on.

As I left my room, I glanced to my left to see Ben sitting and staring at the wall. Without hesitation, I walked over to him and sat down.

"This is the fourth time I've seen you sitting here. Are you seeing something I'm not?" I laughed, looking over at the elfin boy.

"Huh?" Ben turned his head to me and then quickly back to the wall. "I'd rather keep it a secret."

I raised my eyebrows and rocked backward, giving myself a boost to stand up. "Suit yourself."

Ben grabbed onto my wrist and pulled me down. "I'll tell you on one condition."

My face was inches away from Ben's. he seemed to have a faint glow to his skin, but nothing that was noticeable unless you were up close.

"What's your condition?" I breathed out softly.

Ben pulled away and stood up. He walked over to the wall and pressed on it. The wall backed up and slid away, revealing a dark tunnel.

"You come with me."

Staring at the hole in the wall I stood up and began backing away. "That is not a good idea. We don't know what's back there."

"That's why we have to go in there." Ben took a few large steps towards me and grabbed my hand, pulling me with him.

As we entered the tunnel, I glanced back at our only source of light coming from the hallway. Turning back towards Ben, who was still pulling me by my hand, I felt a blunt pain in my stomach. Either I'm getting sick again, or Jack found who he needed to find; meaning he'll be back sooner than tomorrow!

As we walked deeper into the tunnel, Ben held his other hand out in front of him. A bright green light formed in the palm of his hand and I stared in awe at the glowing bulb.

Ben glanced back at me and chuckled, "You've been here for how long and you haven't seen this yet?"

"What? Yeah, I have." I lied, rolling my eyes.

"The look in your face says otherwise, Luciana." Ben chuckled.

"Eesh, I'm pretty sure you were the one I told to call me Lucy." I cringed.

"You don't care what everyone else calls you," Ben pointed out, "Crispy and Short Stack sound nothing like Luciana."

"Puppeteer and LJ have a few screws loose in their brain. They say what they want when they want, and how they work." I laughed.

Ben stopped walking, "That's funny. I thought we were all here because we all have a few screws loose."

"Shut up, Ben." I giggled. "You know what I mean."

Ben laughed as he continued walking. The walls around us were clearly a dark gray rock; cold and solid. The deeper we walking into the tunnel, the colder it got. In front of us, a set of stairs emerged from the darkness.

"Watch your step," Ben muttered as he began climbing up, pulling me behind him.

We walked for several minutes up a spiral staircase with only the sound of our breath and footsteps to be heard. I'm sure if we focused hard enough, my heartbeat could be heard, too.

A large door was at the top of the stairs. Ben jiggled the handle around, trying to open the door. From the sound of Ben slamming his hand off of the door, I knew it was locked.

"Okay, we can go back now," I said quickly, spinning around.

Ben pulled me back next to him and grinned as he wrapped his arms around me. We pixelated away and I let out a long sigh, knowing where our destination was.

As we formed on the other side of the door, Ben turned and began picking the lock.

"Just look around," Ben said.

"You couldn't pick it on the other side of the door?" I responded, looking around the room.

"It would've wasted time." Ben chuckled.

I sighed as I walked forwards. The room was dimly lit by a single bulb in the ceiling. From what I could see, there were white sheets draped on a few different objects. I began sliding the sheets off, coughing through the dust that floated into my face. I uncovered a large object and nearly screamed when I saw someone staring back at me; but it was myself, I had uncovered a large mirror.

Letting out a long sigh of relief, I walked to the next covered object and took the white, dust-covered sheet off. A doll dressed as a sailor sat on a rocking chair, staring blankly ahead with two, small beady eyes. Shuddering I turned around and walked to the next object.

The next object was on the floor, but I could tell whatever was under it was chained to the wall. Hesitantly, I grabbed the corner of the sheet and slid it off. At first, I thought it was human under the sheet, but it wasn't moving; its face completely expressionless.

Shrugging it off as just a mannequin, I walked over to the last object. It looked like a box under the sheet. As I picked up the corner of the sheet, Ben spoke up, making me jump and shriek. I spun around and looked at Ben. He was holding a piece of paper in his hands that were dangling from the mirror.

"Recite these three lines. Huh." Ben turned the paper over in his hand. "Bloody Mary. Bloody Mary. Bloody Mary." Ben laughed. "What the hell is this?"

My eyes widened. Tales of Bloody Mary freaked me out a child, thanks to Nina being my 'sister'.

I dropped the sheet in my hand and began to walk towards Ben, not realizing I was dragging the sheet with my foot. As the sheet slid off, and Ben gasped.

"Lucy," he began backing away from the mirror, "What did you do?"

"Nothing? Wh-"

I was cut off by the sound of the chains rattling off to my left and the chair rocking to my right. Whatever was chained up was now moving, and that doll was rocking the chair back and forth. The lid to the best burst open and I spun around, coming face-to-face with a skeleton.

Quickly backing away, I stumbled over the sheet and fell backward. Ben ran over to me and grabbed my arm, pulling me up. The last thing I saw before leaving the room was a woman crawling out of the mirror.

What have we done?

******

Ben pixelated us to the first floor. He kept pacing back and forth from the stairs back to me; by the table.

I had a lock of my hair in my hand, twirling it around.

"We need to tell Slender," I stated, watching Ben pace around.

"Imagine what he'd do to us!" Ben shouted, his pacing growing faster and faster.

"Obviously they were locked up and hidden for a reason! We can't take them on by ourselves!" I yelled back. "If Slender hasn't killed any of you yet, I doubt he's going to start now."

Ben shook his head. "I shouldn't have dragged you with. I shouldn't have gone in the first place! I'm too nosy for my own good!"

Ben kept ranting and I walked over to him, grabbing onto his shoulders and facing him towards me. He seemed scared, his face says it all.

"I will take the blame. Slender won't hurt me," I stated clearly.

Ben shook his head quickly. "No, no, no. It was my idea. I have-"

"And I followed. I'll take the blame. I was the one who began uncovering them in the first place." I grabbed my pendant before he could protest and whispered, summoning Slender.

A few moments passed by before Slender appeared. He looked around with his blank white face, and then at me.

"You summoned me to the Hideaway? What's go-"

"I was up in the attic and everything is awake and moving," I stated quickly, waiting to get yelled at.

Slender quickly looked from me to the stairwell. "Where is everybody?"

"The game room. Why?" I responded nervously.

"Lock yourselves in there. Stay there until instructed further." Slender growled.

I glanced over at Ben. He shook his head and began walking to the entrance door. 

I followed Ben, but as he got to the door I shoved him out into the cave. "Tell everyone to get to lock the door and you come back. We did this, we will fix it." I quickly said, slamming the door and locking it before he could fight back.

Spinning around, I looked around the kitchen and living room, trying to find the best weapon to hold me off until I can get to my bedroom. I raced over to the kitchen and grabbed a knife from the knife block. I didn't know what I was going up against, but I bet a lousy knife wasn't going to do a single thing. Mainly, I grabbed it for a comfort item. I need my katana...

Creeping over to the stairwell, I could faintly hear Slender shouting. Slowly, I climbed the first set of stairs as my heart climbed into my throat. I kept swallowing shallow, deep breaths, trying to calm down my nerves.

The second story was now in front of me. Climbing up the stairs, the shouting and banging grew closer. Peeking around the corner, I was relieved to find the second story completely empty. Or so I thought.

The hospital room doors flew open. I jumped backward and placed my hand on my chest when a familiar face was the culprit.

"You scared me." I laughed dryly at Devin.

"Did you seriously release them!?" Devin snarled, climbing the stairs to the third floor.

"It was an accident!" I defended myself. "I didn't know that place was holding bad things! I never would've gone up there if I knew it!"

"Hmm, let's see. A hidden tunnel, locked door," Devin spoke sarcastically, "Yeah, I guess it has the words 'explore me' all over it! Why are you still here!?"

"My katana is in my room. I'm hel-"

Devin jumped backward before we reached the third floor, wrapping his arms around me and pressing his hand against my mouth.

"If you want to stay alive, you will be quiet right now," He hissed closely next to my ear.

Devin leaned over the corner and quickly pulled back.

"I saw you, Smiley." A grinding voice cackled.

"Shit," Devin muttered. "Stay here and wait for the signal to go upstairs."

I nodded as he let me go and I crouched down on the stairs, listening to Devin speak to whoever it was.

"Skin Taker." Devin chuckled nervously. "It's been a while."

"It's only been a few weeks, remember? I diagnosed a patient of yours because you're a weak doctor." Skin Taker cackled again.

"That wasn't very nice," Devin replied.

"Speaking of, where is that patient?" Skin Taker hissed.

"She's still recovering. Would you like to take a look?" Devin asked.

I saw the two of them walk to the hospital room. The skeleton was Skin Taker, the one I was face-to-face in the attic. Devin turned quickly and nodded to me as Skin Taker walked into the room.

As I started running up the stairs, I could hear Skin Taker raise his voice.

"She's not here!"

"No, she's not." Devin chuckled. "I can't get a thing past you, can I?"

Running up to the third floor now, I wasn't stopping until I was in my room. There were shouts coming from somewhere on the fourth floor from what I could tell.

Footsteps quickly began approaching behind me and I heard Devin shout, then the sound of fumbling was heard behind me. I didn't turn around and look in fear of slowing myself down.

The fourth floor was quickly approaching and my fear was beginning to consume me, but I couldn't stop. The sounds of Slender shouting were echoing, telling me that he was in the tunnel.

Peeking my head around the corner to make sure my guess was right, I bolted for my bedroom. As I slammed the door open, I ran over to the rack that was on the wall, wielding my lovely blade. I unsheathed it and threw the casing to the side as I marched out of the room.

The shouts were getting deeper and deeper into the tunnel as I got closer. Hopefully Slender has the other three back up in the attic by the time I get to them. I began running down the tunnel with my hand on the rock wall to guide my way. I listen to the shrieks and cackles and shouts from down the tunnel, echoing as the sound made its way through. The staircase was now in front of me and I quickly climbed it, keeping my katana ready to strike in front of me.

The shouts grew quieter the closer I got to the attic, and eventually, I was standing at the top of the stairs peering into the room. Slender had the doll wrapped in a tentacle as he was shackling the mannequin looking girl back up to the wall.

I stepped in, relieved to have missed the fight. Slender glanced over at me, shaking his head.

"I told you both to leave." He growled.

"Huh?" I responded, turning my head to see Ben standing behind me, a guilty look on his face.

"Everyone is locked up," Ben spoke quietly.

"Why aren't you two?" Slender asked, doing the last shackle on the limp mannequin-looking girl's wrist.

"Because I let them out. I felt it was my fault." I sighed, glancing at the mirror.

Slender covered the girl up then set the doll back down on the rocking chair, covering him up with a sheet, too.

"We got lucky. Skin Taker was the only one to get far enough." Slender stated, glancing at the Skin Taker's empty wooden chest. "Do you know his whereabouts?"

"Devin was dealing with him," I stated, walking over to the mirror. "Is she in here?"

"Who?" Slender asked turning around.

"Bloo-"

"Get away from there!" Slender shouted.

Two bloody hands reached out of the mirror. They grabbed onto the back of my head, pulling me in. For a split second, I felt as if I was pulled into water, the smooth warmness enveloping my skin. It was then I realized that it wasn't water, but blood. From head to toe, the crimson liquid covered me.

The woman, known as Bloody Mary, stood quite a few feet away, smiling and staring at me with her vacant, blood dripping sockets. Her hair was long black, and her skin was as white as a fresh pair of linens straight from the dryer. She wore an old, Victorian style nightgown with splotches of blood here and there.

"Have you come to stay with me?" She asked, her voice sounding eerie.

"N-no. I need to get back now." I responded, my voice noticeably shaking.

Immediately, purple veins traced through her face as more red, thick liquid seeped from her eyes. Her smile twisted into a frown as her brows furrowed.

"I don't want you to leave." Mary pleated angrily.

I felt the velvet, yet damp touch of Slender's tendril as two of them slithered around my arms. Mary noticed what was going on and her mouth dropped open, staring at the tendrils.

"You can't leave me!" She howled, swiping her hands at me.

Her nails glided past my face and ripped down my chest as Slender pulled me back through the cascading blood-waterfall.

"Now!" Slender shouted.

I was breathing heavily, staring at the mirror as Ben quickly covered it with a sheet.

"What the fuck is a sheet going to do!?" I shouted.

"They're not just regular sheets, Lucy. They have their purpose." Slender stood me up. "Now get back downstairs to help Devin and forget this place ever exists or I'll wipe both of your memories."

I scowled at Slender and picked my katana up as Ben grabbed onto me, pixelating the both of us away.

******

It took roughly twenty minutes to finally get Skin Taker back into the chest. Slender sealed the passageway permanently and told us to never enter there again.

Aside from hearing about Bloody Mary as a child, I didn't know who the other three were. Devin mentioned to Skin Taker that he helped me at one point, but I couldn't remember when.

The other two Slender told me to shrug them off and don't mention them. He said the dolls name is Robert, and the mannequin-girl with the expressionless face was just a crazed woman that Slender didn't want to deal with or send back out into society. Even if Slender told me to never go back up there, I think I would've made that decision by myself.

A few of us were actually rather livid that Slender kept the attic a secret. Only Slender, Papagrande, and Devin knew about it. Candy, Puppeteer, and Silver had no idea that there was more than just Skin Taker in the attic.

I had taken a quick shower to get all of the blood off of me. It's a good thing I live with killers, though. They're used to removing blood from clothing.

By now, I was sitting in bed, playing my music out loud and playing their dumbass game Ben must've downloaded on here before he gave it to me. It was rather boring. Matching three or more candies in a row for points, how thrilling. Though, I was happy that Ben took time out of his day to get the iPod for me.

Checking the time, it read 3:42 am. I was tired, that I do know. But every time that I did try to nod off, the same feeling would wake me up. It's almost as if someone is pinching my forearm, and it's awfully annoying.

******

"LJ, don't do it." I giggled, watching the clown stuck the helium out of a balloon.

Ben's been here for five years today and we were all sitting outside of the mansion near Hunter's grave. Ben left this morning and came back with things for the celebration. I almost felt bad for the little guy. If I would've known, I would've helped him.

Instead, he came back with both arms full; one arm holding the vanilla cake while the other held posters for his room, a bag full of balloons, and a small, party helium tank.

LJ sucked in on the ballon and pushed it away from his lips.

"You worry too much, Short Stack." LJ voice squeaked.

I busted up laughing. My stomach had been feeling gross all morning, but it feels like it's getting better. In fact, it didn't make me sick to laugh today.

It was Jane, Clock, Ben, LJ, Toby, Masky, Hoodie, Zero, Helen and I all sitting on the lawn. The sun was nice and warm, warm enough to be wearing a pair of maroon shorts I had stolen right along with a black Nirvana tank top.

"You're going to get a headache if you keep doing that." I giggled, slapping LJ's arm.

Next to me, LJ grinned and took another deep breath full of helium.

"Can imaginary beings get headaches? The world will never know our secrets." LJ spoke, his voice squeaking.

Zero started laughing next to him. "Yes, we can, idiot."

LJ breathed out, releasing the helium. "Hey, I said the world will never know our secrets. Now everyone here does." He chuckled.

"Oops." She giggled, sticking her tongue out.

I had my legs crossed in front of me, leaning back in the grass on my elbows and staring up at the clear blue sky.

"Is Jack still on his food run with Jeff?" Clock asked from across the circle.

I nodded. "Yeah. I kind of hate the fact he won't let me go with him."

"Now, don't get offended by this," Masky spoke up, "But I don't think you've been around enough blood and guts to tolerate what he's doing."

I turned my head to Masky. "Thank you for that visual."

"See?" Masky laughed, "You couldn't handle it."

"I don't know, Masky," Jane butted in, "She did ruthlessly tear Slade's throat open."

I groaned. "I get it. I'm weak when it comes to that shit. Stop reminding me."

"It'll get better. Eventually, you won't even feel a thing when you do kill someone." Hoodie piped in.

Won't feel a thing when you kill someone? I'm pretty sure I felt ecstatic when I killed Slade, and I still do.

"Okay, today is about Ben. Not how I feel or what I can tolerate." I remarked, leaning up and grabbing at my forearm.

That same pinching feeling from last night kept making my arm itch to the point of me nearly tearing my skin open from scratching at it so hard. Maybe I don't just have the stomach flu. Maybe it's something else.

I glanced over at Ben. "What now, Benny-boo?"

Ben shrugged. "I just want the cake."

"I just want the helium," LJ spoke loudly, his voice high pitched.

"Anybody have any ideas?" I asked, looking at my circle of friends.

Nobody spoke up, they only shook their heads. I began scratching my arm intensely as the pinching feeling increased.

"Are you having a problem? You've been digging at your arms all morning." LJ grabbed my arm and held it up.

"Lucy, what are you doing to yourself?" Masky snarled, shaking his head.

"It's not what it looks like," I responded with a hiss, ripping my arm out of his grasp. "I keep getting a funny feeling in my arm and it's making me itchy."

"Maybe you have a skin disease." Jane giggled, throwing a hand full of grass in the air and watching it fall.

"Maybe your skin's drying up from the weather changing so quickly." Clock suggested.

"Maybe you have bugs living inside of you." LJ laughed. I rolled my eyes and glared at him.

"Maybe Jack is in trouble and trying to get your attention." Hoodie suggested.

Everyone slowly turned their heads and looked at Hoodie. He was scratching his knife into the ground, ripping up dirt and grass. Masky nudged his arm and Hoodie glanced over at him. Masky nodded towards us and Hoodie turned his head, looking back at everyone who was looking at him.

He dropped his knife and spoke up. "Why is everyone looking at me?"

"What did you just say before?" I asked, looking down at my arm.

"Jack might be in trouble and trying to get your attention? That?" He asked, clearing his throat and looking down at the ground.

One of Jack's last words to me last night echoed through my head: "If you need me, have someone pinch you or something, not punch." Was he signaling me? Or was something else going on? If he was in trouble, he would've summoned Slender.

"Yes, that," I replied, staring intently at my arm.

I stood up and grabbed onto LJ's arm. "Take me to Slender, now."

"You're so demanding," LJ noted, standing up as he towered over me.

"LJ, if Jack is in trouble, I need to know now."

"If he is, come back here and we'll all go on a little adventure," Masky said, sounding enthusiastic.

I nodded as LJ grabbed my hand. The two of us disappeared into a cloud of black smoke. This felt different from pixelating and the portal. In a way, it made me feel queasy, but nothing compared to what I felt like the first time Slender teleported with me.

When we reappeared again, we were standing in Slender's study. Slender was sitting at his desk with Devin and Papagrande behind him, staring at the two of us.

"Ever heard of knocking?" Slender bluntly asked.

I stormed over to him and held my arm out. Slender looked at my arm, then up at me.

"What's that from?"

"Myself. I've been feeling pinching and tingling since before I went to bed last night. It's irritating and itchy. Do you think Jack is okay?" I asked, pulling my arm away and glaring at the slender man.

"He hasn't summoned me, and Jeff hasn't either. I doubt anything is wrong, Luciana." Slender sat back in his chair, folding his white hands on his lap.

"It is possible that you're stressing yourself out too much and it's making you itchy." Devin pointed out.

I paused for a moment, studying Devin's stern face. He seemed pretty serious about it.

"Have they checked in since they left?" I asked Slender.

"No they hav-"

"Don't they always?" I cut Slenderman off. My face now tingling.

"Luciana. This is Eyeless Jack and Jeff the Killer we're talking about. They know what they're doing." Papagrande responded to me, his voice sounding annoyed.

"At least go check on them," I pleaded, grabbing at my throbbing eye, "That'll make me feel better."

"I'm busy." Slender looked down at the papers in front of him.

It took all I had not to grab those papers and rip them up and tell him he wasn't busy anymore, but I didn't. My stomach felt sick and queasy, but the feeling passed quickly.

With a huff, I turned around, pushing passed LJ and left the study, grasping my now pained arm. As soon as I got to the cave, I felt dizzy. Something wasn't right. I turned and faced LJ. I took a few steps forward, and that's all I remember.

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

The Russians have been quiet since this morning. I know a few are still here because of their laughter, but it was off in the distance.

Last night, Jeff woke up and began trying to kick down the door; but it wouldn't budge. When he finally calmed down, he sat down on the floor and just stared blankly at the door. I scooted my way over to him, pressing my back against his and tried to undo our ties, but it was no use. I ended up accidentally pinching his skin and he growled, pinching me back.

As soon as he did that, I pinched him even harder until we were in a full-blown pinching war with our backs still pressed together, our hands tied behind us. It wasn't until I realized he was actually inflicting pain on me that I got an idea. If he continued doing that, it was bound to signal Lucy! She could tell Slender!

Today, I pinched Jeff again, and he snarled behind the duct tape. I quickly spun around and brought my hands to my side, hoping he got the signal of what I was trying to tell him. He nodded to me and I spun back around and he, ever so harshly, kept pinching my arm.

By now, I could tell my forearms were completely bruised and it began hurting to have them pinched, but he couldn't stop.

Jeff made an odd noise and there was scuffling behind me. Before I could turn around to figure out what the hell he was doing, I could feel his face against my fingertips. Pinching onto the tape, he turned his head to the side as I heard the tape slowly peel away from his mouth.

As he sat back up, I heard him start to whisper, but the door flew open. Since it was so dark in here, it almost hurt to see the light. I quickly shut my eyes before they could suspect anything and felt two hands on my biceps, picking me up.

"Alexi wants you." A Russian muttered, pulling me away.

The door slammed and I could hear Jeff shouting. They only took me out of the room.

Forcefully, I was placed into a chair, scraping my wrists against the back of it.

"What's wrong with your skin?" Someone asked... a girl asked.

A girl in the Russian Mafia? Is that even a thing? I felt something wrap around my upper torso. The tape was ripped off of my mouth.

"Birth disorder." I lied through my teeth.

"Ahh." She muttered. "He's strapped."

"Good."

A hot, stinging feeling quickly brushed against my cheek. I knew someone had just hit me. Please, Luciana, feel this...

"Who sent you?" A Russian asked.

"I came on my own terms," I growled back.

I grunted as a fist connected with one of my eye sockets.

"How did you get all of the information on me?"

"So, you're Alexi." I chuckled. "I thought the girl was hitting me for a second there."

I felt someone punch me in the stomach, knocking the wind out of me as I tried to lean forwards. I coughed and sputtered before catching my breath.

"Now, that was the girl hitting you." Alexi laughed. "How did you get the information on me?"

"I have my ways." I snapped back.

I heard a scraping sound and something sharp touching my cheek shortly after.

"I will carve you if you don't give me answers," Alexi growled.

"I told you all I know."

"Liar."

I felt the knife stab into my bicep and I let out a yelp. He didn't pull the knife out, instead, he left it there weighing itself down.

"Open your eyes!" Alexi shouted. "I want you to see me torturing you!"

I opened my eyelids and laughed, watching Alexi take a few steps back.

"I came here for your insides, and I'm not leaving without them." I chuckled, grinning from ear to ear.

"Knock him out." Alexis signaled two guys as he ripped the knife out of my arm. "Do what you wish, just don't kill him quite yet."

I felt the straps being undone and I was shoved to the floor. Steel toed boots were kicking me all over and I huddled up in a ball, trying to keep myself from being injured any further. The last thing I felt was a kick straight to my head, and I fell unconscious.

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I, uh, doubt I'll be writing more smut scenes for Luciana and Jack o.O BUT hey, at least there's two, right? o.o Anyways, I just figured I would point out, Shade of Blue has hit the 1K mark on reads! I love you all so much!! Gah!! Also, this chapter was going to be up sooner, BUT my poor hometown had a VERY bad storm; knocking down power lines, A TON of trees, billboards are broken and everywhere, windows were broken, etc. and most people are still without power. Fortunately, I have power now!! :D No deaths and very little injuries! So there's a bonus!
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Updated on: November 7th, 2017 & June 2, 2018