Lie To Me~Ticci Toby X Reader

Chapter 16 Don't Chase The Dead

  Old and forgotten, the other side of the battery warehouse lies still and eerily quiet inside the depths of darkness, old machines and tanks filled with battery fluids rotting away from the merciless time that holds a painful grip on them. Making your way inside, completely losing Clockwork and Dr. Pain in the process, you make sure to pull your shoes off, effectively muffling any possible sound your footsteps would have made, ducking to the side where the shadows seem thicker and hiding yourself the best you can.

Adrenaline has now made a permanent residence within your worn out body, electrifying your nerves and making them stand on edge as you take in your surroundings, allowing your (e/c) eyes to adapt to the dark and see as much as you could around you; the lights from the city are a blessing and a curse, as the world falls into place all around you and you realise you can see rather easily -but so can everyone else. Every now and then, something creaks from within the warehouse, making the breath catch in your throat and your body to instinctively move closer against the wall, as all your senses wait for the inevitable attack.

Only that it never arrives.

'Where the fuck are they?' you murmur to yourself, eyeing the small set of stairs on your right, leading to the upper floor.

Checking to see if anyone is around, you duck and tiptoe towards the metallic steps, taking them two at a time and careful enough not to have them creak in any way. Above, is a small control station, connecting to an enormous scaffolding construction that spreads through the entirety of the warehouse, panelled with aluminium boards to make walking easier for the workers; they spread all around and above you, creating a dark labyrinthine construction that hangs above the tanks, thankfully still in relatively good condition. Ducking down, you swallow hard and assess the situation.

The control room rests right beside the outer wall of the warehouse, which only means since they are not here, Clockwork and Pain are further inside, hopefully on the bottom floor where you can clearly see from the scaffolding if you were to walk on it. Under the control room, there must be an escape door leading straight outside -as they often are in these kinds of buildings-; you'll use it as an escape route, both in an emergency and if you have all the info you came here to collect. Silently, straining your ears to pick even the smallest of sounds and carefully looking around you at every possible corner, you rise to your own feet; swallowing hard, you eye the scaffolding path right before you, sweat dripping off your forehead and teeth biting down on your lips. With careful moves, you thank the Proxies for dressing you in black clothes that merge with the darkness, before you place a careful foot on the path; when it holds strong under the weight of your body, you release a breath you didn't know you were holding. Resting your hands on the safety bars beside you, you start walking down the narrow path.

Mentally, it is the very first time in your entire life that you are praying; praying that someone from the others -literally anyone- was here with you. The possibility of you walking into a trap is very high –a voice in the back of your head is cursing you for it- and the deranged reassurance of the others' presences would have been enough to ease your already weary nerves if they had been here; you weren't a spy, a fighter or a murderer like the rest of them. If push came to shove, neither Toby nor Tim would be here to save you. Which, the other side of your brain screamed, only meant you mustn't take any risks and compromise your position; you're to get in, get the info and get the FUCK out of Dodgeville before everything turned to The Descend all around you. Goddamn it though, being a reporter just minimized your chances of survival; pretty much half of the horror movies have a reporter that is too curious for his own good, only to stir up shit and die in the process.

Closing you eyes for a split second you inhale and exhale in a desperate attempt to calm your nerves.

Slender Man's symbol on your wrist seems to buzz faintly as you walk further inside, serving as your only way to stay grounded. You will take it; anything that can keep your mind afloat from the mental breakdown is extremely useful right now.