Masks

Chapter 8

The next night I found myself in a dark room I didn't recognize. Obviously it was a hotel room given the two beds, closet near the door, generic furniture, and a short hall that led to the bathroom. Garbled whispering grated in my mind as I reached up and tugged the hood further over my masked face with my free hand. Glancing down I stared at the white mask in my other hand; it was similar to my own with dark circles around the eyes however, this one had a nose as opposed to the smooth surface mine had, thick arched eyebrows, and black lips that almost gave it a feminine appearance.

"Where did I get- ah...!" Pain sliced through my head at the questioning and I stumbled forward feeling sick.

I caught myself before I could fall and began silently walking forward again further into the room. The sound of blankets rustling made me pause momentarily before moving closer again once determining the person was still asleep. It was too dark to make out who it was when I was close enough to stand over them. For a moment I feared I'd be forced to kill them, however I seemed to only be a messenger at this moment and merely sat the mask down on the bedside table before backing away.

"Why though? Is this a new proxy? ...Is this even real? Doesn't feel like it- feels similar to the time with the bod-" This time the pain was much worse and I fell to my hands and knees before collapsing onto my side with the blinding stabbing agony warping my mind.

Any attempt to focus was lost as I suffered for my curiosity. My muscles jerked and twitched, while my breathing became labored from continuing to try fighting off the complete control Slenderman was trying to get over my mind. My clenched teeth muffled to pain as the attack faded and I stayed limp on the floor with half closed eyes. I could hear the person once again shifting around in their sleep, probably disturbed from the noise I'd made, but by some miracle they didn't wake up.

Numbly, robotically, I got back to my feet and adjusted my mask. Mechanically, I walked over to the large mirror on the wall across from the beds. My reflection seemed blurred in the glass but I didn't focus on that in fear of more punishment. The static in my mind distorted as I pulled out a marker and listened to the distortion, hypnotically writing down a message in what was clearly English but still looked like a different language- each word looked like scribbled nonsense in my current state. However, I did get the gist from the words whispering in my head: welcome back.

I didn't question what it meant. I just dropped the marker and limply stared at the message for a moment before feeling Slenderman's presence behind me. Moments later I found myself standing in a foggy forest filled with tall black trees with obsidian black leaves hanging on their branches.

Slenderman was gone but I wasn't alone. I swayed, still disoriented from the teleportation, and stared at the proxy as he lowered his mouth guard to reveal a smug sneer that was made worse by the hole in his cheek that revealed the teeth and gums normally hidden underneath.

"You're s-till not... not ready to join us yet. I don't- don't see why our Master even b-bothers with you." He stopped in front of me with a slight twitch and glared down at me through orange tinted goggles.

I forced my legs to move backwards but ended up feeling them give out from under me at the attempt to regain control and run. A gasp came out of me as I fell flat on my back and had the breath knocked out of me.

A dry laugh escaped him and he knelt down, getting uncomfortably close. "Pathetic... You w-ant to end th-is? ...Embrace it."

"No... no, I won't!" I pressed further against the ground and tried to bury the panic rising in me. "I won't... I'm not Slenderman's puppet..."

***

I woke up to my alarm blaring and groggily reached over and turned it off. As per usual after being woken up, my cat began crawling on me and making sure I stayed awake so I could get up and serve 'her majesty' breakfast. After finally dragging myself out of bed and pouring her food into her bowl along with putting fresh water into her bowl I trudged in a zombified fashion to the bathroom to shower and continue getting ready for work. Staring into my reflection in the mirror while drying my hair was like looking at a horror movie character; my naturally pale skin looked even paler -ghostly, which in turn made the darkened circles under my eyes appear worse. I was trembling slightly from how tired I was after being taken- where was I taken again?

"...I remember a mask... and that proxy... I can't keep letting that thing take control of me." I shuffled back into the kitchen to search for any coffee or energy drinks in hopes the caffeine would keep me going through my shift. "Maybe I should call in... at this rate they'll think I'm sick, I feel like I could be too."

I finally found an energy drink and managed to down half the can by the time I was completely ready for work. "...Mom would've said that I'd have a heart attack for drinking that..."

The random thought crossed my mind and brought along several other darker memories with it. Subconsciously I rubbed my wrist and pushed the thoughts away before walking out to my car. I felt like I was on autopilot the whole drive there. Even clocking in and greeting my coworkers and serving customers was all automated. The exhaustion and stress was clouding my thoughts, keeping me too preoccupied to really invest in what was happening around me.

"Hey!" I flinched and snapped out of it as one of my coworkers finally shook me. I gave her an apologetic look as I realized she'd been trying to get my attention for several minutes.

"Sorry I was-"

"Daydreaming again? All you do is stare off into space lately." She rolled her eyes, though didn't actually appear annoyed by it.

"I'm just not getting sleep lately- new neighbors, they like to have music on all night." I gave a small laugh that sounded more nervous than amused as I gave the first excuse that came to mind.

"Well standing around won't solve it." She huffed and fixed her blonde hair back into a ponytail. "Come on, I don't want you to get in trouble."

"I know." The words came out harsher than I meant but Alice didn't seem to notice, as she was already walking off to help two customers who'd just walked in.

I walked out to join her moments later to help, keeping a neutral friendly expression on my face as I talked with the customers. "I shouldn't have sounded so rude. She's only helping me... Probably would've gotten fired ages ago if Alice didn't cover for me."

By the time my break rolled around I was feeling the start of a caffeine crash. I grabbed a large drink and found a place to sit in the back booth of the eating area where I wouldn't be disturbed. As usual, I took out a small notebook and pencil and just doodled to pass the time, though today it looked more like I was just drawing random scribble marks. Two people walked over and I didn't pay much attention until I saw them stop in front of me; I dropped my pencil and looked up at them.

"Hey, what are you guys doing here? It's summer; thought college classes were over with." I commented as they sat down across from me.

Landon gave me a look of disbelief. "We planned to meet today a few weeks ago, did you forget?"

I stared at him blankly for a moment before finally recalling the messages. "I... Yeah... I guess I forgot... Things were busy and I forgot to ask for today off, sorry."

"It's okay, we can hang out after you get off." Mallory smiled.

"Alright... sounds good." I check the time on my phone. "I'll see you in a few hours?"

"Haha, have fun at work! We'll see you then. Try not to die of boredom first!" She playfully teased before getting up and waving as she walked towards the door.

Landon stood up but hovered a few minutes longer. "Are you sure you're alright? You can talk to us if you aren't."

"I'm fine." I waved off his concern before changing the subject. "So where's Dillan at?"

"He couldn't get the day off but he'll join us later." He still hesitated to leave. "You haven't been answering our calls as much lately. Are you su-"

"I'm fine." I repeated, this time more firmly. "Just been busy lately."

"Lanndonnn!" Mallory called back to him from where she was leaning against the door impatiently. "Come onnn, let's goooo!"

"Okay. Well, I guess we'll catch up with you in a few hours." He smiled and gave me a brief hug. "If anything comes up or you don't feel up for it just let us know."

"You got it." I stared after him and watched them leave before yawning and getting back to my feet.

"I shouldn't go... but I can't just hurt their feelings. I can't just always be busy whenever they ask to hang out... and they came all the way back here so we could..."