Masks

Chapter 4

My eyes snapped open to find I was lying face down on a hard cement floor- much different than the warm bed I had fallen asleep in. Terror flashed through me as I tried to figure out how I'd gotten here or what I'd done and couldn't remember... The slow realization that I couldn't move or control myself currently finally sank in. Whatever the plan was that required me being here hadn't happened yet. I hadn't had my mind wiped and returned to consciousness, I had been brought here and woken up to fulfill whatever task Slenderman had for me.

"I can't let him... I don't want to do this- whatever 'this' is!" I struggled to stand up, my joints finally responding with heavy resistance. "Where... where am I? How do I get out? ...Am I... I'm wearing a mask... my mask... where'd it come from... ?"

I tried to take a step only to nearly fall on my face as the little control I had slipped. I fell against the wall before being forced to stand upright once more. The static clouding my thoughts thickened and I stared blankly through an old mask I thought had been locked up in my closet long ago- forgotten about. Slenderman's presence behind me didn't faze me and I didn't even flinch as the static distorted into a high pitched ringing; his way of communicating his bidding to us proxies.

"Alright... wait- no!" I gritted my teeth and hunched forward grabbing my head only to drop my arms back to my side as I calmly straightened again and began walking towards the doors in front of me. "No... I don't want to! ...What's behind them? I can't- I don't want to kill anyone...!"

I stepped through them quiet as a ghost before pausing to stare at the scene in front of me. A man ran off through the opposite direction- failing to see me- while another guy in a yellow hoodie was lying on the floor.

"The target." I resumed walking again, curiosity filling me despite the lack of control over whatever I was about to do to the dying man. "Huh... don't I... Did I see him before?"

I pushed against the fog in my head, trying to recall the memory... "There! That night... yes... not many people wear yellow... He's the man from the theater building... I didn't imagine it."

My body knelt down over him and I stared at the black cloth mask with a read frowny face on it. The man didn't move, yet I knew he was still- barely- alive. Slenderman had sent me here for him... why? If this was a proxy he'd take care of it right? "No... a source... What source? This is an enemy to him? ...I don't understand... What do you mean?"

My questions were silenced by a sharp sound shooting into my head. Slenderman was getting impatient. "Grab him and go... We can try turning him... destroy the other's influence... Build an army... Take his sources... destroy him..."

I couldn't comprehend if the thoughts were my own or what I was being told. Numbly, I wrapped my arms under his shoulders and stood up, dragging him towards Slenderman. Despite the fall and obvious head injury, there wasn't blood on the floor where he'd landed; the unconscious man would obviously recover- why else would Slenderman attempt... whatever he was doing?

"Would he die if left here? Am I carrying him to a worse fate- probably... That other man though... No- don't worry about him. We'll find him again... Is that good...?" I felt my thoughts- worries for what might happen to the guy that escaped- be pushed from my mind.

From the corner of my eye I saw a tall figure standing across the room. For a moment confusion swept through me- that wasn't Slenderman. It couldn't be. He was behind me. The pain in my skull spiked and I nearly dropped the hooded man as I stumbled to the side. My mind felt like it was melting as the two different waves of whitenoise clashed in my head. The control Slenderman had held over me shattered but I couldn't do anything with the chaos rising within my thoughts.

I couldn't even recall collapsing. One moment I had been standing in a dazed state and the next I found myself on the floor coughing while the two tall, faceless figures had a stare down. For a moment darkness swamped my vision... then I felt Slenderman's presence next to me and the man I'd been sent to retrieve.

"Was... was this... why? ... Who's that... other one... Enemy? ...Operator...?" Dots speckled my vision and I could smell blood as my nose began to bleed... I could taste it running down my throat as I laid on my back.

I fell unconscious before I could even comprehend trying to escape while I still had free will.

***

When I regained consciousness, I found myself lying on the couch, the mask dropped on the floor so the blank face and black eyes stared up at me. The headache pulsing through my skull was already enough to annoy and disorient me but was still a relief compared to the pain of those monsters. The confusion over what happened only annoyed me more along with the exhaustion, as if I'd been mentally and physically drained of energy.

"...Where's Angel...? How'd I get back here?" I glanced around slowly before spotting her watching me from the arm of the couch, though she quickly stretched and came over to greet me upon seeing I'd woken up. "You're okay... I'm okay..."

I held her against me, stroking her soft fur as I tried to calm down and recall everything that happened. "Pieces... that hooded man... two operators... a second guy escaped? ...So did it just bring me back here? ...Why?"

The sound of my television finally processed and I looked over at the screen as an ad played. Had I turned that on? "Is someone else here? ...No... right? ...I should check..."

My limbs felt stiff as I got up and patrolled the house, still cradling Angel against me protectively. I searched every hiding place the apartment had to offer only to turn up nothing... At least that meant the crazy stuff was over with for now. My eyes fell to the ungodly time on the clock and I put Angel down so I could get ready for bed- hoping I wouldn't sleep through my alarm for work in a few hours.

I was startled by the reflection in the bathroom mirror as I flipped on the light. "...Right... I had a nosebleed... Did The Operator cause this? ...Wait... was that what they are or what it's called? Doesn't matter..."

I sighed and began cleaning myself up.