Pure of Mind and Sharp of Knife (Male Reader x Female Creepypasta)

Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

"Gray... is that you, Gray? Not Erebus?" I whisper, afraid to look over my shoulder and see someone else.

He nods into my back, "It's me."

Losing my fear, I pat Gray's forearm and he lets me go. We stand up and I turn around to face him. Scarecrow admires us like zoo animals. Looking Gray up and down, I study the black bandages covering his arms and legs and face. His entire body is shrouded in a black cowl. Out of nowhere, Gray punches me in the chest, hitting harder than any of the other times he ever did it.

Gray laughs as he unwraps the bandages around his face, "Man, you're a whole different person in that getup. You look like a beast Zalga couldn't even hope to conjure!"

"You say that after literally disappearing into the shadows," I smile in response to his own, "How do you have the balls to say that to me?"

Glancing back at Scarecrow, he chuckles, "It's a long story. A side effect of Zalga's contract. Can't say I regret having them, though! It took a while to get used to using it. It's real fun though."

After removing my mask, I cross my arms, "What are the odds of us being on different sides of the same war?"

Gray loses his smile, "Shitty odds. Did Slenderwoman do anything to you? That scar across your neck... how did you get it? What about that one on your cheekbone? Your chin? Above your eyebrow too! Where did all of that come from? Did she torture you?"

"No, no, she didn't!" I glance at Scarecrow, who watches us awkwardly, "I just got this from fighting. Why are you asking?"

Gray hugs me again, the comfort of a brother pulling me into his embrace as he trembles, "She... She killed Felix and Matt before taking you away," his arms tighten around me, "I won't let her take away the last old friend I have. I can't."

My heart stops and I almost faint: Gray believes I resent Slenda as well. Little does he know, I willingly joined her, in the end. I had sex with the killer of my own friends, for god's sake! What would Gray think of me? I keep my mouth shut and pat Gray on the back, feeling his body tremble as he combats both rage and sorrow.

"Slend... Slenderwoman's been gentle with me ever since I became a Proxy. She hasn't hurt me," I promise him, hoping to subdue his inflamed emotions.

Gray pulls away, cursing, "Fucking demon... Zalga forced me to join her. She snatched me up from the woods when I was running. She was mistaken, apparently, because she was trying to catch you."

"Me? She was trying to capture me that night?" I question, feeling as if I dodged a bullet, "I never knew Zalga was there in the first place. Why?"

He shrugs and crosses his arms, "She never told me. Just that she was disappointed she caught the wrong person. Zalga was worried her prophecy wouldn't come true."

"Prophecy," I echo, thinking of Zalga's vision.

Would that have come true if she'd caught me that night?

Gray lifts his hand and watches as it melts into shadows licking the air like the edges of black fire, "She didn't want her effort to go to waste, so she gave me this power. With it, I can at least use it to save you from that fucking murderer!"

The hair on the back of my neck rises, "Gray-"

He claps his hand on my shoulder, "We don't belong here, (Y/N). We're sheep among wolves. We're still good! Let's just... run away or something! We'll be unbeatable with my powers, and you're probably a devil in that clothing, anyway. We have the ultimate freedom. We just have to seize it!"

I panic when Gray covers himself in darkness and grabs onto me. So does Scarecrow.

"I'll die if I leave!" I blurt out a lie to save myself, "I'm Branded and Slenderwoman won't allow me to escape!"