Jeff was given a few days off from patrols in order to let everything sink in for him. He stayed in his and S.O.S.'s room most of the time, only coming out to grab something to eat or go to the bathroom. He only allowed a few select people to visit him. Obviously, Hector visited, and Jeff tried to let his little son know he was okay. Ben had visited more than once, and they had cried together. Rouge visited. Even Clockwork visited. Toby tried to visit as well, but Jeff shooed him away before Toby could gaslight him.

On the third day of his depressive episode, Jeff heard a knock on the door. It couldn't have been S.O.S., as she didn't need to knock: it was her room, too.

"Who is it?" Jeff called.

"It's Alma."

Jeff sighed: he should have known she would come sooner or later.

"C'mon in," he said.

The door opened, and a young woman with golden skin stepped inside. Her hair was long and chocolate brown, which matched her eyes. It was Alma Richardson, one of Jeff's closest friends.

Jeff and Alma had known each other for a long time. When they were children, Jeff was constantly being bullied by Alma's adoptive older sister, Jane, who targeted Alma as well. Jeff and Alma didn't know each other very well at that time, and they weren't friends. But after Alma joined the Slenderman Alliance a year after Jeff did, they started to become close. Even though Jeff had murdered Alma's adoptive parents and set Jane on fire, Alma had forgiven him - after all, they were both Jane's victims, as well as victims of Slenderman. Jeff viewed Alma as a little sister, and he was quite protective over her, partially out of remorse for traumatizing her.

Alma sat on the side of Jeff's bed. Jeff put down his phone.

"You okay?" Alma asked.

Jeff shrugged.

"I mean, I've been better," he answered. "Honestly, I dunno what to feel."

"Me, neither." Alma admitted. "Besides, I was always scared of your brother."

Jeff chuckled gloomily. He remembered it well: the Richardson sisters had been terrified of Liu, especially Jane, who had tormented Jeff on a regular basis. The name-calling and teasing would only cease when Liu arrived to pick Jeff up from school. Come to think of it, all of Jeff's classmates had been rather frightened of the older Woods boy, except for Ben and Nina Hopkins, Jeff's ex girlfriend.

"I think part of me always knew Liu would end up on a dark path," Jeff confessed, "even though I didn't wanna believe it."

A short silence fell between the two before Alma gave Jeff a tight hug, which he hesitantly returned. He took a big deep breath.

"Well, I'm glad you're doing better," Alma said as she pulled away. "I just came here 'cause Tim needs the two of us to go on a patrol."

Jeff groaned and rolled his eyes, but he knew that complaining was pointless. So he got up from his bed and told Alma to wait outside while he got ready. He got out of what he called his "lazy outfit," and put on a T-shirt, jeans, and his jacket. He put on his shoes. Then he tugged one of his knives from the dart board pinned to the wall, which was where he and S.O.S. kept their weapons, out of reach from their young son. After saying goodbye to Hector and S.O.S., who were playing together in the living room, Jeff headed out of the cabin and met Alma on the porch. Alma lifted her coat slightly to reveal her pistol, indicating that she was prepared.

"Alright, let's go," Jeff sighed.

The two began to head off into the distance, leaving behind footprints in the snow. Jeff didn't enjoy missions, as he didn't enjoy killing people - neither did Alma. But they knew they had to do them. Of course, Jeff had disobeyed Slenderman before, but that had always ended badly for him.

After about half an hour, no suspicious activity had been noticed by the duo.

"Can't we go back early?" Jeff whined.

"You know we can't, dude. . . ." Alma's voice trailed off.

"What is it?" Jeff demanded. He always had trouble understanding social cues.

Alma pressed her forefinger to her lips, gesturing for him to be quiet. As Jeff listened more carefully, he heard what Alma heard: a pair of boots crunching through the snow. And they sounded heavy.

Jeff and Alma slowly turned around. Standing just over ten meters away from them was a tall, buff man, no doubt over six feet in height, shielded by a black jacket. Like Jeff, he had long, straight hair as black as coal. A face mask covered his nose and mouth. His eyes were two different colors: one blue, one green. In one hand, he carried a large crowbar. He seemed to be heaving, and Jeff quickly recognized the look on his face.

"He's high as balls," Jeff whispered to his friend.

As silence permeated the area, Jeff looked the man over. In a fist fight, the man would definitely win. Alma seemed to share the same sentiment as, out of the corner of his eye, Jeff saw her slowly withdraw her gun. But as soon as the man noticed the weapon, he let out a loud roar and charged.

"Take the shot!" Jeff yelled.

Alma lifted her gun and fired, the sound nearly shattering Jeff's eardrums. But she missed. The man seemed unaffected, as he kept running towards them.

"Run!" Alma shrieked.

Jeff turned on his heel and scurried off, making sure Alma was following close behind. They raced through the snow, the cold air slashing at their lungs, dodging low branches and jumping over logs. But the man, seemingly fueled by the narcotics he had taken, was catching up fast.

"We gotta split up!" Alma shouted.

"Alma - "

"Go right!" Alma ordered.

Jeff gritted his teeth in frustration, but he did as he was told. As he and Alma approached a large boulder, Jeff ran in one direction, Alma the other. Just as Jeff had hoped, the man started following him and not Alma, which he was a little relieved about: Alma was good in a fight, but she was smaller than him and wasn't as strong.

But as Jeff ran on and on, he realized he was starting to run out of energy, and the man pursuing him wasn't slowing down at all. As Jeff's breathing became unsteady, the trees around him seemed to disappear, shifting into a darkened hallway. Suddenly, Jeff was eleven years old again and back in his childhood home, and his father was chasing him down.