Masks

Chapter 42

The beast backed off at his master's silent bidding and I heard it run back into the fog with near-silent footsteps. The ringing slowly faded, and as Slenderman left, the feeling of numbness dissipated. I could feel every gash and every bruise along my body from the 'session' as they called these little beatings. One still remained however. I could see his shoes as he stood in front of me.

"Having fun yet? Six months and I'm still just getting warmed up." HABIT began circling me, his dark laugh making me press closer to the damp ground in expectation of another attack. "...You've learned your place. Good... good... You know, given time maybe that Stick in the Mud will even let you leave."

I heard his circling come to a stop and tensed, waiting to feel some form of torment being inflicted upon me once more. A hand grabbed my hair and roughly twisted my head to the side so he was staring at my masked face. The sadistic smile only widened when I continued trembling, holding back a whimper of pain... There would only be more punishment if I showed weakness.

"You know, if that little mark wasn't there he would've killed you long ago." He flung my head back at the ground as he let go. "Without that you're nothing special. Just a victim of poor family choices... but you... you have no idea what sort of power you hold in your blood."

I flinched and instinctively jerked my arm away as he traced the pattern of the diamond surrounding the typical operator symbol. "A barrier from him... A shield against a god. Very interesting. No wonder you're stuck in an iteration cycle... Tell me, how would you like to join a little experiment I'm doing with some Rabbits?"

My silence stretched on, though I managed to pull my arm away from him. HABIT gave me an amused look before standing. "You're no fun... maybe tomorrow you'll change your mind."

"Please no... No... I don't... every fucking day... I can't keep this up." I waited until his footsteps had disappeared to sit up and drag myself closer to a tree. The pain wasn't as bad as it had been when the sessions had first started, but that didn't mean I wanted to experience it again, and again, and again...

"He said it's only been six months...?" I leaned back and stared at the dark crimson stains splattered across the forest floor. The wounds would be healed by the next session... and then be reopened once more. "Again and again... I've been forgotten- presumed dead most likely. I- what was that!?"

My eyes snapped to the mist between the trees across from me as I heard a twig snap. I clenched my teeth and tensed, waiting for someone to return and resume the session or worse. A figure in a mask and brown coat cautiously made their way closer. I remained still as I watched them, not recognizing the figure as one of the proxies or other beings that served under Slenderman.

"Tim..? No, ...no of course not." I stared at the skull-like mouth drawn onto the mask the man wore; it was the one major difference between this stranger's mask and Tim's. "Masky's has feminine lips... So who is he? An enemy? Another source? ...I should kill him either way. No one here was safe to trust."

The figure drew closer yet I continued to stay still and bide my time. In this condition I wouldn't be able to chase him down. He reached out a hand as if to shake me or remove my mask before jerking back, as if expecting an attack. A smirk faintly appeared on my face at the action, least he wasn't completely stupid. I waited a few more seconds before lunging up at him, using the tree to push me up.

Empty air greeted my attack and I stumbled a few paces before looking around, spotting him backing away to my left. I panted under my mask before charging at him despite the protest of my wounds. He turned and ran, which only forced me to pick up my own limping sprint. Somehow, I was managing to at least maintain the distance between us despite my disadvantage. A small part of me began fearing this was a trap, that I was meant to follow him, until I began to recognize the subtle differences in the trees- something I'd managed to pick up on in my months of wandering between the intervals of torture.

I slid to a stop, nearly crashing to the ground as he crossed the invisible border into The Operator's territory. The man slowed and looked back over his shoulder before turning around to fully face me, tilting his head to the side as if confused. I continued wheezing and shakily stayed hunched over on my feet; the wounds from earlier bled heavier now after that run... For a second the figure's form blurred to become two, three duplicates. I stumbled to the side and felt a tree catch my fall as I ran into it.

"What... what was a source... doing... over here...?" We continued to stare at each other until I collapsed to the ground, breaking our eye contact.

A shadow fell over me a few minutes later and I shifted my head to look up at the masked man, confused over why he hadn't left. I let my head fall again and listened as he sat down just out of reach.

"He's going to get himself killed- surprised he hasn't already... Toby must be losing his edge." I shivered, curling up closer to the base of the tree, and began drifting off; times when I could get some rest weren't common here and given the stranger hadn't attacked me yet, I was going to try getting some sleep.

***

The loud, echoing roar snapped me awake. The hunt was starting again and by the sound of the Rake's cry they weren't far off. I scrambled to my feet, my body feeling stiff and sore but otherwise completely recovered from the last session.

"What was that?" The startled voice next to me made me jump.

I recoiled from the man in the skull mask, not realizing he was still around and disliking he'd gotten close enough to reach out and touch me. "I should've been more careful... climbed a tree or something."

He was still looking at me, as if expecting an answer, though I merely turned my back and began running. If he wanted to survive he'd have to learn quickly to run from that sound or go back to The Operator's domain where he'd be protected. Another snarl came from behind me and I picked up the pace, deep down knowing I was doomed unless they stopped to kill the source first.

"...I should help him..." I glanced back over my shoulder, feeling my pace slow in response. "No... he can get himself out, the border is right over there. Besides... he's the enemy and it's everyone for themselves."

The humanoid form of the Rake was starting to become visible in the mist behind me. The man was still running to catch up but there was no way he'd reach me in time- why hadn't he gone back to his operator's portion of the ARK? I began turning away and running again. Eventually that beast would catch up or Toby would find me and HABIT would saunter in to taunt me as he began the session under Slenderman's supervision, but I still wouldn't make it easy for them. I just had to find a way out they didn't expect me to find.

A gurgled shriek of victory rang out behind me along with a desperate call for me to come back to help. I once again slowed to a stop and looked back, watching as the man dragged themselves away from the Rake as it prepared to make its first clawed attack. The source scrambled to his feet only to stumble and fall a few steps later, his freshly broken ankle preventing him from running.

"Now's my chance..." I still didn't leave and instead found myself hurrying back towards certain agony with an annoyed sigh. "I'm not a monster like them. I can't let myself become one now. Sources are Slenderman's enemy not mine...!"

My appearance barely served as a distraction but it gave me enough time to land a solid kick to the creature's side to knock it back. The Rake's gurgled noise turned to one of anger as it regained its footing. I backed away, helping the man back to his feet while backing up against the nearest tree. The grey skinned monster in front of us stalked closer, its body low to the ground in preparation to pounce.

"Climb." I ordered, shoving the injured man closer to the tree while trying to keep the Rake's focus on me.

A sound of pain came from the masked man as he put weight on his ankle, though I could hear him pull himself up without further incident. Once he was safe, I turned and fled, feeling the breeze as sharp claws barely missed tearing into me. A small flash of orange came from my right as Toby made his appearance. This time I couldn't avoid the attack in time and I was kicked onto my back, swiftly being ganged up on as the Rake tore its claws along my torso. Teeth sank into my shoulder and ripped at the flesh before letting go as Slenderman came into sight.

Another set of footsteps came from behind me and I heard a laugh before HABIT's machet came into view in the corner of my vision. "Someone's been helping people they shouldn't... Let's try to break that habit..."