- Turtle-chan
~ ~
~
You wake up with a start and you
instantly have the feeling that someone is watching you. You pull the blankets up to your chest and
notice that you aren’t wearing any clothes and you shiver.
“Who- Who’s there?” you stammer
out, a sick feeling in the pit of your stomach.
No answer. You expected as much, but the silence is
almost more frightening than if someone had responded. You look around, squinting into the darkness,
half hoping and half fearing that you’ll see someone there.
You gingerly swing one leg over the
edge of the bed, your toes just barely brushing against the cold floor. Your other leg is curled on the bed and you
continue to clutch the blanket to you, covering your chest. Something passes briefly over the moon,
casting a shadow in your room, and you look up and out the tiny window.
You start to get up again, but a
soft voice in the darkness says,” Stop.
That pose is perfect. Don’t
move.”
Your head whips around to find the
speaker and you notice a darker spot in the room and you start trembling
again. “Who are you?” you ask
tremulously.
“Hush and let me paint,” the voice
responds. It’s definitely male.
You do as he says, but you keep
looking for him. Your eyes begin to
adjust to the darkness and you think you can make out a blue jacket and a
smiley face pin. Pairing that with the
fact that the person is painting, you assume that it’s Helen.
“Look out the window again,” he
tells you.
Again, you do as he says, feeling
the muscles in your neck stretching. For
some reason, your whole body feels stiff and sore, something you’ve noticed
before. You can’t fathom why you would
be sore.
The moonlight washes over you and
its cool silver light just accentuates the chill that you feel. You want to cover yourself up more, but you
don’t want to be reprimanded for moving.
You guess you don’t mind being painted, but you’d rather be comfortable
while it happens.
In the silence, you can hear soft
scratching sounds and gentle breathing.
You wonder how long Helen has been there, painting. You wonder why he’s painting you. Is it because you had taken his sketchpad and
drawn in it?
You sit still for almost as long as
you can bear. Your muscles are shaking
and aching and you’re considering asking if you can move, but you’re saved the
trouble. “Done,” Helen says with a note
of satisfaction.
You sigh and smile at the aching in
your muscles as you relax. You stretch
one arm at a time and roll your neck a little bit, working out the kinks. Wrapping the blanket all the way around your
body, you sigh and stand up.
The hard floor is cold against your
bare feet and the room is still strangely chilly. The blanket seems not to help much, but it
does provide a little more decency.
Helen steps out of the shadows and into a ray of moonlight. His eyes are obscured behind his dark hair
and his skin looks almost translucent.
He clutches a small canvas in his hands and there is a bag of paints and
supplies over his shoulder.
“Thank you,” he tells you
awkwardly.
“Oh, no, it’s fine,” you tell him
with equal awkwardness. You feel a blush
rise to your cheeks and you avert your eyes.
You’ve just realized that you’re standing alone in a closed room that is
separate from all the others with a boy while wearing nothing but a thin, white
blanket.
The silence between the two of you
is so thick that you could cut it with a scalpel. You actually almost consider trying it,
except you don’t know where E.J. keeps his scalpels. “Um,” you say, not really sure how to start a
conversation.
“So,” Helen says at the same time.
You both look up at each other and
you can’t help but laugh. “You go,” you
tell him with a smile.
He nods. “It was you that drew in my sketchpad, wasn’t
it,” he says. It’s not a question.
“Y-yeah, it was me. Um, sorry.
I didn’t really think about it,” you respond, not sure if you should be
afraid of retaliation or if you should just feel embarrassed.
“It was good,” he says with forced
indifference. “I liked it.”
“R-really?” you exclaim, looking at
him with wide eyes.
He nods again. “Yeah, it looks really nice. It’s not my style, but it’s really…pretty,”
he says. His tone is difficult to
decipher, but you think that it might be one of thoughtful wonder.
You blush with pleasure and thank
him. “I’m so glad you like it. I was afraid you’d be angry.”
“I was at first,” he tells
you. “But I couldn’t stay angry.”
“Oh. Well, the Puppeteer wanted to play a prank on
you, but I think he was worried about you, so I thought I’d try to do something
that might make you smile,” you confide.
Helen looks a little embarrassed
and says,” Thanks.”
You can’t help but giggle. He looks just like a little boy embarrassed
by his mother giving him a kiss before school.
“Um, anyway, I thought I’d return
the favor,” he says. “I wanted to do a
picture of you sleeping, but this one turned out better.” He holds the canvass out toward you, not
looking at you.
You take it from him gently and
turn it to face you. You’re struck by
the softness of his style which is so different from what you’ve seen in his
sketchpad. In the painting, you’re
sitting on the bed, looking out the window at the moon with a wistful
expression your face, clutching the blanket to your chest. The whole of the painting is dark except for
where you sit. In the bottom right
corner there is a small, red smiley face.
You look up at Helen in
amazement. “This is beautiful,” you
breathe.
“Th-thanks…” he responds. His hands are shoved into his pockets and his
hair completely covers his bright blue eyes.
You shiver a little and look around
the room. It’s kind of awkward standing
around like this and you don’t know what to say. You want to know where your clothes went, but
you realize it would be uncomfortable to ask.
You’re struggling to come up with something to say when Helen speaks up.
“Your clothes are on the
chair. Goodnight,” he says as he walks
off. He melts into the darkness of the
hallway outside your room and you wait a few seconds before going over to your
clothes.
In the darkness, you slip your
undergarments back on. You can’t quite
decide what to do about the rest of the clothes, though, because they’d be
uncomfortable to sleep in. Luckily, you
see a t-shirt at the bottom of the pile and you slip it on. It’s too big and it doesn’t smell like you,
but you wear it anyway. Then, you get in
bed, back under the blankets, and go to sleep.
~~~
When
you wake up, you’re not in your room.
It’s bright and cool and you’re disoriented. You push the hair out of your face and sit
up.
“Oh
good. You’re awake,” you hear a girl’s
voice say. You look up and see Jane
doing her makeup.
“What’s
going on?” you ask her.
She
turns and grins down at you. “We have a
visitor,” she replies.
You
stand up and stretch, disregarding the fact that you’re not wearing any
pants. It’s just you and Jane. “Who is it?” you ask her while yawning.
She
shakes her head and ignores your question.
“I thought so,” she mutters with amusement.
“What
do you mean?” you ask her even though it kind of scares you to hear what she’ll
say. You think you can hear the sounds
of ships sailing.
“Well,
that’s E.J.’s shirt that you’re wearing,” she says casually, swiping on some
black mascara. “I knew there was
something going on between you two. I
just don’t know why you wouldn’t admit it.”
You
blush and look down at the simple black t-shirt. No wonder the smell seemed familiar. “T-there’s nothing going on between us!” you
blurt out in embarrassment.
Jane
whips around and points the mascara brush at you. “But you want
there to be!” she declares.
“W-well
maybe… Just a little bit…” you say
nervously, looking at the floor and wringing your hands together.
“Knew
it!” Jane says, grinning triumphantly and turning back to her makeup. “Don’t worry, I support it. E.J. needs to loosen up some and I think you
guys would be adorable together!”
You
sigh a little. “Don’t say anything to
him, Jane. It’s embarrassing,” you tell
her.
“Oh, I
don’t have to say a word. I think you
have him wrapped around your little finger all on your own,” she tells you.
“You’re
biased,” you point out as you start to change clothes.
“Maybe,
but this is one ship that I will go down with if I have to,” she jokes.
You
both laugh. You never would have thought
someone as relatable as Jane would live in a place like this. Or someone as sweet as E.J. or as confusing
as Jeff or as unconventional as Helen or as hilarious as the Puppeteer. You find yourself wondering where they’ve been
all your life.
You and
Jane both get yourselves dressed and ready and Jane shows you how to do your
makeup. You think you look pretty decent
when you get done and Jane leads you downstairs.
“Before
we get down there, I need to warn you about some things,” Jane says, looking
over at you. You nod and she
continues. “Okay, first of all, he might
seem… a little strange. The dude’s been
through some tough stuff; worse than most of us. Also, he is not someone you want to piss off. I mean it.
And then there’s his appearance.
He’s covered in stitches and scars, kind of like you but worse, so don’t
act surprised when you see him. Other
than that you should basically be fine.”
You’ve
reached the doors to the common room and you’re about to go in when Jane says,”
Oh, and one last thing. He’s Jeff’s…”
“BROOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!”
you hear from the other side of the door.
Jane
facepalms. “Yeah. That,” she says as she opens the door and you
see Jeff hugging a really tall boy. He’s
facing away from you, so all you can see is his back. He has shoulder-length brown hair and he’s
wearing ripped jeans and a jacket. He
seems to be hugging Jeff back, but he looks stiff and uncomfortable.
Jane
strolls past you into the room and calls out,” Hey, Liu. How’s it been?”
The boy
turns and looks at her. He smiles softly
and says,” Hey, Jane. I’ve been
okay. How about you?” His face is covered in scars and his cheeks
are stitched up like yours. His eyes are
a deep green and they look gentle.
And
then he doesn’t look like that at all.
All of a sudden, his eyes grow dark and they narrow and a shadow seems
to be cast over his face. His smile
turns into a smirk and he says,” You’d better get this mother fucker off of me
right this fucking instant or I’m going to fucking kill him.” You jump a little at the sudden personality
change. Even his voice sounds different,
deeper and more menacing.
Jane
glances over at you quickly and she looks a little nervous, but she’s perfectly
composed when she speaks to the newcomer again.
“Sure thing, Sully,” she responds easily, pulling her knife out of
goodness only knows where and turning it on Jeff. “Hey, idiot.
Get your white ass over here or it’ll be mine.”
Jeff
glances over at her, glares, and then relents.
“Whatever,” he mutters, making a show of stepping back with his hands
up. He comes to stand next to you and he
rests an arm on your shoulder. He’s
really heavy.
“So,
how do you like my little brother, (y/n)?” Jeff asks you, smirking down at
you. “Isn’t he just the cutest? You see those stitches? I did that.
Just like with you. I don’t know
who did the needlework, but the cuts were all me.”
“U-um,
I’m starting to notice that cutting people’s faces is a problem with you,
Jeff,” you respond a little nervously.
The guy who is apparently Jeff’s brother is glaring over at you. He seems to be silently judging you and it
makes you uncomfortable.
“Jeff
does have an odd sense of beauty,” the boy says and you jump.
You
look up at him and see his eyes are mostly green again. He gives you a small smile and you feel a
little more assured. “I-I don’t know him
very well, but I have noticed that,” you say, laughing a little.
The boy
looks worried and he turns to Jane. “Oh
no. Sully came out, didn’t he?” he says
with concern. No one answers him, but
their silence is answer enough and he turns back to you. “I am so sorry! Sully didn’t do anything to you, did he?”
You
shake your head. “No, don’t worry. I’m just new here and I’m still getting used
to things,” you smile.
He
looks relieved and smiles back. “I’m
glad. Oh, I haven’t introduced myself
yet. I’m Liu, Jeff’s brother. The other guy is Sully. I don’t think you really want to be around
him, though. Sometimes he slips out and
I can’t control it.” He offers you a
hand to shake.
“I’m
(y/n),” you say as you reach for his hand.
“Nice to meet you.” His hand is
large and strangely cold—almost clammy, actually—and it sort of feels like
touching a corpse. His personality seems
to be warm, though, and you can’t help but take a liking to him.
“So how
long are you planning to stay this time, Liu?” Jane asks him casually while
glaring across the room at Jeff.
He
looks up at her quickly. “Oh, I don’t
know… Maybe a week… Maybe more…
It all depends,” he says casually, but you catch him glancing at you out
of the corner of his eye. Strange.
“Liu,
Liu, Liu!” Jeff exclaims suddenly.
“Let’s go play some videogames with Ben!
Come on!”
Liu
looks a little reluctant, but he agrees.
You have to cover your mouth to hide your smile at how childish Jeff
acts around his brother compared to how he usually tries to play it cool. It’s kind of adorable to watch their
interactions. Liu glances back at you as
they leave the room and he gives you a smile and a wave. “See you later, (y/ n),” he says. It’s not a question; he is planning on seeing
you again and the thought thrills you a little.
Jane
sidles up beside you. “So, what do you
think of Liu?” she asks you in a casual tone, but you know she’s trying to make
you give something away.
“I
thought he was really nice and his interactions with Jeff were really
amusing. Sully kind of freaked me out,
though,” you tell her honestly. “I never
realized Jeff had an older brother. It’s
funny watching him act like a little kid!”
“No, Liu
is the younger brother, not Jeff. Jeff
just has the brain of a child. Probably
all those gas fumes from burning people alive…
The sick little bastard…” Jane answers, going off into one of her
reveries about revenge.
“Um, so
is there anything else we’re doing today, or did we get all dressed up just to
meet Jeff’s little brother?” you ask Jane, trying to tease her a little bit and
get her back to normal.
“Oh,
well, no. There was something else… But it’s a
surprise! I’ll just let you know when
and where we’re supposed to go. Don’t
worry about a thing!” she says and the usual mischievous glint is back in her
black eyes.
You
sigh and shake your head, trying to stifle a smile. “Alright, Jane. I can’t argue with you,” you respond.
She
laughs and wraps an arm around your shoulders.
“You know you love me, (y/n),” she giggles.
You
laugh with her. “Yeah, I guess I do,”
you tease.
The two
of you hang out in the common room together for the next several hours,
gossiping and having the girl talk that both of you never get the chance to
have. Some of the guys drift in and out,
but they all get scared off eventually either by your loud laughter or your
topics of conversation. The sun finally
sets and Jane jumps to her feet.
“Alright,
it’s time!” she declares, grinning broadly.
You
stand up as well and brush your clothes off.
“Can I know what I’m going into?” you ask her, anticipating her answer.
“Nope!”
she responds. “Just remember that I’m
doing this for you.”
Now
you’re kind of nervous, but you walk with her anyway because you’re also kind
of curious. She leads you outside into
the night and you realize that it’s the first time you’ve been outside since
coming to this place. It’s cool and you
shiver a little bit, but it feels nice to be outside again. The moon is high in the sky, casting its pale
light over the forest.
Jane
leads you deeper and deeper into the woods until you come to a small lake. The water looks like a black mirror and the
moon reflects off of it. There is a
clearing in the trees so that you can see straight through to the sky and the
moon casts enough light that you can see fairly clearly without any artificial
light. You and Jane stop about two yards
away from the water’s edge and she stands facing you.
You
glance away from her for a moment as you catch a movement out of the corner of
your eye. There’s some sort of shadowy
figure leaning up against one of the trees.
It looks like a guy with his hands in his pockets. He slowly pushes himself into a standing
position and starts walking toward you.
For a second, your heart skips a beat.
It looks like he’s wearing a hoodie and the hood is pulled up over his
head. E.J.?
And then your heart skips another
beat for a different reason. The boy
pulls a knife and pushes back his hood, revealing a huge grin and unblinking
eyes under a head of long black hair.
Your eyes widen in fear as Jeff gets closer and closer to you.
“Never take your eyes off your
opponent. Lesson number one,” Jane
growls in your ear. You feel something cold
and sharp bite into the soft flesh of your neck and you realize that it’s her
knife.
The adrenaline kicks in and you do
the only thing you can: fight for your life.
You have never had any sort of martial training, nor had you really been
interested in it. You don’t even know
how to throw a proper punch. Well, all
of that is over now. Without thinking,
you stomp down hard on Jane’s foot, right in the instep.
She hisses a breath through her
teeth and loosens her grip. You fling
her arm away and run away from her, slamming right into Jeff. Before he grabs you, you bounce back off of
him and face him, keeping Jane in the corner of your vision. Jeff grins at you and fingers his knife,
slowly approaching you. You take a step
back for every step that he takes forward.
His eyes flash in the moonlight and then he’s running.
“GO TO SLEEP!” he roars, raising
his knife high over his head.
He’s horrifyingly fast and you
don’t have much time to react. You whip
around and run into the trees. You hear
Jeff laughing behind you and you pump your arms and legs as fast as you
can. You can see a shadowy figure
streaking through the forest parallel to you and you just know it’s Jane. You don’t know what to do and you’re scared
out of your mind. You don’t even know
how to get back to the house. Instead of
trying to come up with a plan that will likely fail, you decide to just
run. Run until your body gives out or
until one of your pursuers catches you.
It doesn’t take long for the latter
to happen. You can hear the crunching of
dead leaves as Jeff comes up behind you and you can see Jane closing in on you
from the side. You squeeze your eyes
shut and tuck your head down, trying to force out the last of your energy for a
final burst of speed. You can still hear
Jane and Jeff keeping pace with you easily as you run and you panic. Your lungs are on fire and you feel like
you’re suffocating.
“GO TO SLEEP!” you hear Jeff yell
from right behind you.
“DON’T GO TO SLEEP! YOU WON’T WAKE UP!” Jane shouts right after
him.
You flinch instinctively, waiting
for the pain of the impact of their knives ripping through your flesh. Instead, you just feel an impact right in
your face. You run into something solid,
but it gives just enough to not break your nose or anything. You hear Jeff and Jane come to a stop and
they both start laughing. Confused, you
struggle to catch your breath and in doing so, you notice something. Oh
no. That smells like…
“What are you doing?” E.J. asks
calmly.
“Just having some fun,” Jeff says
casually and you can almost see him playing with his knife. You feel E.J. tense up.
“Fun?” E.J. asks in a tight voice.
Jane giggles from behind you. “Oh, loosen up, E.J. You’re the one who always worries that she’ll
get killed by one of us, so we figured we’d start to train her so you wouldn’t
have to worry,” she tells him flippantly.
E.J.’s hand twitches at his side
and you’re shivering, struggling to keep yourself from crying. “I don’t think that ganging up on her trying
to kill her is the best way to teach her to fight,” he responds with an
underlying tone of anger hiding just behind his calm exterior.
Jeff and Jane exchange a look
behind you and they both laugh.
“Whatever you say. Give us a
call when you want her to actually learn to fight,” Jane tells him.
“We all know that you’re too
chicken to fight anyone. You have to go
in when they’re dead asleep and do it quietly,” Jeff adds.
“Leave. Now,” E.J. responds, letting just a little of
his frustration show through. All it
does is make Jane and Jeff laugh more and they head off into the woods
together, bickering about who will kill whom first.
Once they’re gone, you feel a
single hot, salty tear run down your cheek and you stop trying to fight
it. Your breath catches in your throat
and you squeeze your eyes shut and cover your face with your hands. The tears are flowing freely now and your
hands are soaked in them. After a few
minutes, you feel a hand tentatively stroke your hair. You look up through your tear-drenched lashes
and see E.J. looking down at you.
“Are you alright?” he asks you
softly.
You try to smile up at him. “I’m fine,” you say, but you can’t keep
smiling and you cover your face again.
E.J. pulls you closer to him and
you bury your face in his chest. You
feel something hard against the top of your head and E.J. whispers,” I’m sorry,”
into your hair.
You shake your head and tighten
your grip on his hoodie. “It’s not your
fault,” you tell him in a shaky voice.
“I shouldn’t have let you out of my
sight. I though Jane was smarter than
that,” he mutters.
“She said she was trying to help,”
you tell him quietly, not sure how to feel about anything anymore. You had thought you could trust Jane, but you
aren’t so sure now. Was she really
trying to kill you or was she trying to help you?
“We all say things we don’t mean,”
he retorts. He still seems angry and you
look up at him.
He notices you looking at him and
he turns his head away, as though you’d be able to read his face through the
mask. “I’m sorry for making you worry,
E.J.,” you tell him, blushing at your audacity in assuming he was worried about
you.
“Not your fault,” he says gruffly
and you wonder if he’s embarrassed.
“Let’s go back. Slender Man might
worry and send Masky and Hoodie out after us.
Or worse: Toby.”
“Who’s Toby?” you ask him. You don’t remember having met anyone by that
name yet.
“One of the Slender Man’s proxies,
like Masky and Hoodie. He is
irresponsible and obnoxious, though, and a hothead. Stay away from him,” E.J. answers.
“Alright,” you respond, deciding not
to push it any further.
You assume you’re going to
immediately head back, but you keep standing there and E.J. keeps his hands on
you. You don’t want to say anything
because you actually are enjoying being able to be close to him and you like
how safe you feel in his arms, but you’re also confused. You don’t know if he’s just holding you
because he feels obligated to or if he’s doing it because he wants to.
After a few more moments, E.J. dips
his face back down to where his mask is touching your head for just a second
and then he sighs. “Alright, time to go
back,” he tells you, slowly letting you go.
You let go of his hoodie and step
away from him. “I hope you know the way,
because I’m totally lost,” you laugh.
“I’ve got it,” he tells you and you
wish you could see if he is smiling or not.
He sets off and you follow him,
trying not to trip over branches and holes in the darkness. Eventually, there are enough trees crowded
around that you can’t even see E.J. in front of you and you have to stop and
call out to him. He comes back and
offers you his hand, which you take, and he continues to lead you out of the
wilderness.
Eventually, you two make it back to
the house and you step into the front door.
You’re about to go into the common room, but then you remember that you
had been crying and you check your makeup in the mirror in the entry hall. Your mascara has traced black trails down
your face and you look like you have raccoon eyes. Actually, you think you look like you were
trying to copy Eyeless Jack with your makeup.
“Oh no! It’s all messed up and it looks really bad
now,” you moan, trying to see if you can rub any of the makeup off.
“I think you look good,” E.J. tells
you nonchalantly, looking away from you with his hands in his pockets.
You blush and stop rubbing at the
makeup. “O-okay,” you say a little
nervously.
You move to go through the doors
into the common room, but E.J. redirects you into the kitchen. “You need to eat,” he tells you as he propels
you forward.
You allow yourself to be lead over
to a little wooden table and you sit down.
Hoodie is in the room as well and he looks over at you and E.J.
“W-what’s u-up?” he mumbles.
“Jane and Jeff were trying to play
with her and they made her skip dinner,” E.J. tells him.
“I-I have s-some ch-cheesecake…” he
offers.
You smile and cover your mouth to
hide it. “I don’t think cheesecake is
quite what she needs, Hoodie, but thanks for offering. I’ll find her something,” E.J. chuckles.
“Eyeless Jack, perhaps I may be of
some assistance,” a whispery voice says in the back of your head. You turn to see the Slender Man standing next
to you. When did he get there?
E.J. nods and steps out of the
way. The Slender Man rummages around in
the refrigerator for a moment before procuring a few Tupperware containers. He pulls out a couple of pans and puts the
contents of the bowls into them. Within
a few minutes, you hear sizzling sounds and the smell of… something delicious
fills the air.
“Have a seat, Eyeless Jack,” the
Slender Man commands, gesturing with a wooden spoon without turning around.
E.J. obeys immediately and sits in
the chair across from you, looking down at the table. You feel a little embarrassed by the fact
that the Slender Man is going out of his way to cook for you, and you’ve been
embarrassed over E.J. for a while now. No
one speaks and the air feels kind of thick, so you start nervously picking at
the skin around your fingernails.
After a few minutes, the Slender
Man pulls down two plates and puts whatever he was cooking on them. He picks them up and stretches his long arms
out to put them on the table in front of you and E.J. On your plate is some sort of pasta in a
white sauce and on E.J.’s is a kidney.
“You skipped dinner as well, Jack,
when you went to find (y/n). You need
sustenance as well or you know as well as I what will happen,” the Slender Man
tells him.
E.J. nods and picks up a fork and a
knife. “Thanks,” he says gruffly before
cutting into the kidney.
“Thank you, sir,” you tell the
Slender Man with a smile. “The food you
make is always so delicious.”
“Not at all, my dear,” he
replies. “Cooking is a hobby of mine,
but I am pleased that you enjoy it. I
shall be in my study if anyone requires anything else.”
With that, he disappears seemingly
into thin air, but you’ve gotten used to it and you start to eat your
food. The sauce is rich and creamy and
you notice that there are strips of chicken mixed in with the pasta. You can taste hints of garlic and basil in
the sauce and you decide that you like whatever it is. You eat happily in silence for a while until
you realize that you feel someone watching you.
You look up and see E.J. with a
half-eaten kidney on his plate, his mask pushed up just enough for his lips to
show, staring at you. You stop eating
and set your fork down. “What is
it? Is there something on my face?” you
ask him laughingly.
He opens his mouth and then closes
it again, thinking. “No,” he says
finally. “You just surprise me.”
“Hm? How?” you ask him, tilting your head to the
side a little bit.
“You were attacked by two of the
most terrifying people I know not even an hour ago and yet you’re acting like
nothing happened now. It’s kind of
impressive,” he says, his mouth twisting into a smile.
You blush a little and smile back
at him. “I guess I’ve just gotten used
to all the craziness,” you tell him. “I
mean, yeah, it was really scary and I thought I was going to die at the time,
but it’s over now so it doesn’t seem that important. Thanks for saving me, though. I think I forgot to say that earlier.”
He shakes his head. “No, don’t thank me. You aren’t safe even now. Anything could happen at any time,” he says,
picking up his silverware again and cutting into the kidney. You notice that his movements are very
delicate and precise. Very much like what
you would expect from a surgeon.
“Well that’s true anywhere. You don’t need to beat yourself up over it,”
you tell him, trying to be casual, before popping a bite of pasta into your
mouth.
“I’m not beating myself up; I’m
being honest. You should be scared every
second you’re in this house, but you’re not.
You’re befriending monsters and willingly spending time alone with
them. I don’t know if we’re crazier or
if you are,” he says, starting to sound angry.
He gives up on the silverware and picks the kidney up with his hands,
ripping into it with his teeth. Blood
runs down his chin and he stares straight at you. “Aren’t you afraid? I’m more animal than man. I’ve already taken one of your kidneys and I
could still take the other. I could kill
you right here and now. Aren’t you
afraid of me?” His voice is raised and
his hands are shaking. He’s clutching
the kidney so hard that blood is now dripping over his fingers and down his
arms.
You look over at him, trembling and
strung tightly like a bowstring. You
pick your napkin up off of your lap and lean across the table and wipe the
blood from his chin and mouth before looking into the eye-holes of his
mask. “Nope. I’m not afraid of you. You may think you’re an animal, but I’ve seen
the man too many times to believe you. I
think you’re just trying to convince yourself that you’re not human as
atonement or something,” you tell him, giving him a soft smile. His lips twitch, but he holds completely
still, so you gently pry the kidney out of his hands, put it back on the plate,
and start wiping the blood off of his fingers.
You manage to clean one of his
hands off, but he grabs your hand with the other one. His grip is too tight and it hurts, but you
hold still and fix your eyes on his...
Or where his should have been…
You stare at each other for a few seconds and you feel him trembling, so
you slowly place your other hand on top of his and pull his hand toward your
face, all without taking your eyes off of him.
You pull his hand up to your mouth and press it to your lips softly,
closing your eyes. You taste blood, but
you don’t care. “Do as you will,” you
whisper, looking at him again.
He seems to go rigid for a few
moments, but then he relaxes again and you see his mouth twist into a smirk.
“Well now you’ve gotten all dirty,” he tells you, letting go of your hand.
You laugh and reach for your
napkin. “I guess so,” you smile.
“I’ve got it,” E.J. tells you and
you look up just in time to see a large hand clap over your eyes as you feel
something warm and rough touch your lips.
E.J… You can’t help but react, pressing your lips
to his before pulling back.
He keeps your eyes covered for a
moment and when he lets go, you blink and see him adjusting his mask. He smirks and licks his lips, which have
blood on them again. “Mmm. Maybe kidneys aren’t the only things that
taste good after all,” he tells you and you blush deeply.
You unconsciously bring a hand to
your lips and you look away from E.J. in embarrassment. “U-um, I guess I’ll just finish eating and
then go to bed,” you stammer quietly, playing with your pasta. Your stomach is doing somersaults and you’ve
lost your appetite.
E.J. chuckles. “I’m satisfied. Don’t tell me you’re afraid of me now,
though. You brought it on yourself,” he
tells you teasingly.
You look back up at him
quickly. “No, I’m not afraid,” you say. You open your mouth to say more, but then you
blush and look away again, realizing that it would be too embarrassing to say
out loud.
E.J. chuckles and stands up. “Are you done?” he asks, sliding his mask
down over his face again.
You nod and stand up too, picking
up your plate and silverware. E.J.
takes it from you and you jump a little when his hand brushes against yours. E.J. seems not to notice and he goes about
cleaning the dishes quickly. You wonder
why it is that you’re acting so weird now.
It was just a little kiss. He
probably didn’t mean anything by it anyway.
Besides, you’re the one who had been hanging all over him earlier. If he felt like he had to kiss you after
that, then it was your fault. And you
did start it, to be fair. You may be
making him feel bad by acting so weird.
You should just act normal. Yeah,
that’s it. Just act normal.
“Ready?” E.J. asks you, drying his
hands on a towel.
“Yep,” you respond cheerfully. “Of course!”
He nods and starts walking out the
door and you follow him though the halls.
You wonder why it is that you still can’t find your way around on your
own by now, but you’re more distracted by E.J.
You notice for the first time that he walks with his head down and his
hands in his pockets, like he’s trying to hide from the world, which you think
is strange because he strikes you as the type to be opinionated and not put up
with crap. Then again, you also wonder
if that cool and collected attitude of his is just an act. He seemed close to breaking down earlier…
You
bump into E.J.’s back, so caught up in your thoughts that you don’t notice he’s
stopped. “Ah, I’m so sorry,” you say,
jumping backward.
“Don’t
worry about it,” he responds. “Go get
some sleep. You’ve had a long day. I’ll keep watch tonight.”
You
walk into the room, but you stop in the doorway and lean against the
doorframe. “Hey, E.J.?” you ask
tentatively.
“Yeah?”
“Um, is
there something bothering you?” you ask, looking up at him.
“Why
would there be?” he asks, not answering your question.
“I
don’t know. You just seem… upset, I
guess,” you tell him, starting to wonder if you misjudged.
He
looks at you for a few long moments and then sighs and hangs his head. “You’re scary, (y/n). It’s like you can see through my mask,” he
chuckles. “Yeah, I guess I’m just
stressed.”
“Do… Do you want to talk about it?” you ask
him. “I don’t mind listening, especially
if it’ll make you feel better.”
“No,”
he says, shaking his head. “You need to
sleep. You said you were tired earlier.”
“I’m
fine,” you respond a little too quickly.
“Sleeping makes me feel even more tired.”
After a
little awkward silence, E.J. relents.
“Alright, I’ll talk,” he says, rubbing the back of his neck. “Um, do you want to come to my room to do
it? I’m right down the hall.”
“It
doesn’t matter to me,” you respond.
He nods
and starts walking further down the hall and you follow him, closing the door
behind you. He turns into a room several
doors down and he holds the door open for you.
You go in and the first thing you notice is that the room is covered in
notebooks, binders, textbooks, and medical journals. The walls are painted a dark shade of blue
and there are drawings of anatomically accurate humans pinned to the walls.
“Oh,
um, hold on a minute. I’ll move some
things…” E.J. says nervously, moving to clear all of the books and papers from
a chair. “Um, here. It’s not much, but you can at least sit
down.”
You
giggle and sit down in the chair.
“Thanks, E.J.,” you tell him, smiling up at him.
“Okay… Um, where to start… I’m sorry, I’ve never
done this before,” he tells you apologetically, rubbing his neck again.
“It’s
fine. You don’t have to talk at all if
you don’t want to,” you tell him. “I
just wanted you to know that I’d listen if you did need to talk.”
“No,
I’ll talk. I just don’t know how to go
about it,” he says quickly.
“Just
say whatever’s on your mind and don’t worry about it. Don’t worry about what I think, either. I won’t judge you based on what you tell me,”
you respond.
E.J.
nods, thinks for a few moments, and then starts talking. “I’ve been living here for several years,” he
begins. You nod, waiting patiently for
him. “I don’t quite remember how it
started out, but I got started stealing kidneys from people while they
sleep. This was before I lost my eyes, I
think. Again, everything’s kind of fuzzy
for a while there. Some guy managed to
get a picture of me one night and soon after that, I was on the run. Somehow, I ended up here and I’ve been the
house doctor ever since. You… You sort of forget that life is important
after taking so many… Nothing seems
sacred anymore. That’s when the
depression sets in. I think all of us
have thought about taking our own lives if we’re able to. But we can’t.
We’re the monsters hiding under your bed. The ones that parents tell their kids stories
about to scare them into being good. I
used to worry about going to Hell, but I’ve realized something over the years:
Hell is what’s inside your head. I can’t
think of anything that I’m more afraid of than being stuck alone with my
thoughts for too long.
“Anyway,
it’s maddening. I don’t want to kill
people, but I can’t help it. I want to
be able to act like a person, but my animal side takes over too easily and I
can’t control myself. It didn’t bother
me at first, but now I wonder how long it’ll be before the animal takes over
completely. The thought is
horrifying. What’s worse is that I think
most of the people in this house would think it’s better that way. They’re vicious, vicious people.
“And
then now you’re here. You! A living, breathing person! A prime example of any one of our
targets! And yet here you are,
completely unafraid of us!” Here, he
starts pacing around the room in agitation.
“Every single one of us has at least a part of us urging us to murder
you, and yet you treat us like friends.
I can’t understand it! You
willingly went into the woods with Jane earlier and even though she tried to
kill you, you’ve forgiven her. It defies
all logic! It’s hard to be around you
sometimes because I just can’t figure you out.
I want to hurt you sometimes, just to see how you’ll react, but I can’t
because I don’t want to see you hurt.
“And
then you make me worry so much that I think I’m going to die. Every time you go to sleep, I’m afraid that
you won’t wake up. It’s not like me to
worry about anything or anyone. And I
get angry for no reason sometimes. I
hate it when Jeff is around you, and Laughing Jack, and I don’t know why. My heart rate and blood pressure increase
whenever you’re around and I feel too warm.
I don’t understand what’s going on and it scares me. You scare
me, (y/n). It’s like the lamb hunting
the lion.
“E.J….”
you whisper.
In his
agitation, he pulls the hood off of his head, revealing messy,
not-quite-shoulder-length brown hair.
“This mask is so irritating! I
wish I didn’t have to wear it at all! I
wish I were braver! I’m so pathetic!” he
shouts, throwing his hands up in the air.
“E.J.!”
you exclaim, worried he might hurt himself.
He
looks down at you and lowers his arms.
“I’m sorry, (y/n),” he says softly.
I guess I just got caught up in the moment.”
“I’m
sorry,” you tell him. You feel your eyes
burning and you feel sad for him for some reason. Before you know it, tears are dripping down
your cheeks and you cover your face with your hands.
“Oh
man. I didn’t mean to upset you,” E.J.
says, kneeling down to your level.
“Please don’t cry. I don’t know
what to do when you cry.”
“I-I’m
sorry, E.J. I don’t know what’s gotten
into me,” you tell him, trying to keep your voice steady as you roughly brush
away your tears. “I guess I just didn’t
think about how hard it is to live like you guys do. You’re all so cut off from everyone else that
you’ve even forgotten how to care about other people.”
“I-I
guess we have, haven’t we… What does it
feel like to care about someone? I don’t
think I remember…” E.J. muses quietly before looking up at you. “(y/n)?
What does it feel like? To love
someone, I mean.”
You
blush a little before answering, “Well, it depends on what you mean by
‘love.’ There are different kinds of
love, you know. There’s the love that’s
between a family, love between friends, and a special kind of love for just one
other person. Which one were you
referring to?”
“I
don’t know. I guess the last two. I don’t have a family anymore, so I guess
that one isn’t applicable,” he responds.
“A
family doesn’t have to be related to you by blood, E.J. The people in this house could be your
family. Families always love each other
and stick together, even if they might hurt each other sometimes. Even if they fight, they always love each other. With friends, it’s pretty much the same way,
but maybe more intimate than a family in some ways. You would tell your friends things that you
wouldn’t tell your family, but you’d tell your family things you wouldn’t tell
your friends. That last kind of love is
different though,” you tell him, hoping to get off of the subject before it
gets too uncomfortable.
“How? I want to know,” he asks you, his eye sockets
seeming to stare straight into you.
“W-well,
that kind of love is special. With that
kind of love, you feel happy when the other person is around and you always
want to see them happy. No matter how
much time you spend together, you never get bored of each other. You may fight sometimes, but you always make
up afterward. Sometimes you might feel
nervous around them and you might blush for no reason at all other than because
they’re there. They might make you feel
self-conscious for a little while, but they’re always the person you feel most comfortable
around. You know each other better than
anyone else does and you’re best friends.
That’s the best way I can think to describe it,” you say, looking down
at your hands in your lap and hoping your face isn’t as red as it feels.
“I see,”
E.J. says thoughtfully. You both sit in
silence for several long moments, with you staring at your hands and E.J.
staring at the floor, before he speaks up again. “(y/n).
From what you have told me, I have put together a quick checklist in my mind
and, after having gone through it several times, I have reached a conclusion: I
believe that I love you.”
You
blush deeply and look up at him. He’s
staring at you again and you look away, embarrassed. “I… I
like you too,” you mumble at the floor.
You feel
a large, warm hand slip under your chin and tilt your face upward. E.J. has pushed his mask back again and he’s
smirking. “Only ‘like?’ Hm, I guess I’ll have to work on that then,
won’t I?” he says mischievously.
“U-um,
there’s really no need…” you stammer, but you forget what you were trying to
say as your eyes fix themselves on his lips again. You want him to kiss you again, but you’re a
little afraid of it as well. E.J. seems
to have the same idea and you’re both starting to lean in toward each other
when there is a quick rapping on the door before it opens.
You
jump apart as quickly as you can and E.J. slams the mask back down over his
face. In the doorway is Liu, looking a
little embarrassed.
“Oh,
did I interrupt something? If it’s a bad
time I’ll just come back later,” he says, acting flustered
“No, it’s
perfectly fine. I was just checking her
stitches. She mentioned earlier that she
had felt like they were loose,” E.J. tells him smoothly. “Do you need something from me?”
“Oh,
okay. Um, well if you’re done with her,
I actually split some of my stitches by accident and I was wondering if you
could fix them up for me,” Liu responds, seeming much more at ease.
“Of
course. Just go to my office and I’ll
meet you there. I need to walk her back
to her room because she still doesn’t know her way around, but I should be
there in a few minutes,” E.J. tells him, standing up. You follow suit and Liu backs out of the
doorway.
“Alright. I’ll meet you there, then. Thanks for the help,” Liu tells E.J. before
turning to you. “Goodnight, (y/n).”
“Goodnight,”
you respond, smiling at him as you pass by.
You and
E.J. walk down the hall together in silence until you reach the room and he
follows you in, shutting the door behind him.
You worry a little about why he followed you in since he usually doesn’t
do that, but your worries are unfounded.
“Thank
you for listening to me, (y/n),” he tells you quietly. “I feel significantly better now.”
“Oh, no
worries. I’m glad I could be of some
use,” you respond with a smile.
He
chuckles a little, but then grows serious.
“I meant what I said, you know.
About how I feel. It’s alright if
you don’t return my feelings, but I’m going to try my best to change your mind,”
he tells you.
“I look
forward to it,” you giggle. “And I wish
you luck. Or rather, I don’t because I
don’t want you to change my mind. I don’t
think you want to change my mind either.
It’s embarrassing to say it, but I do return your feelings. I just don’t know how to act.”
“Wait,
you do? I thought you were rejecting me
earlier by saying you like me,” he responds in a breathless voice.
“Ah,
that makes more sense. I forgot that you
probably aren’t familiar with the current lingo. Usually people don’t say ‘I love you’ right
away. It usually starts out as ‘I like
you’ and moves up as the relationship progresses, but it means the same thing,”
you tell him, smiling at his innocence.
“Oh. I need to remember that,” he says seriously
and you laugh.
“Don’t
worry about it. It’s fine if you don’t
know,” you tell him as you start walking over to your bed.
E.J.
catches your wrist, stopping you, and you turn around to face him with a
questioning glance. “Um… Is it…
That is… May I kiss you again?”
he asks you shyly.
You
smile and nod, blushing as you step closer to him. He pushes his mask up gingerly and cups your
chin in one hand. You lean up toward him
as he bends down to you and you meet in the middle. His lips are soft and warm against yours and
you steady yourself by placing your hand lightly on his bicep. You kiss with your mouths open but without
tongue, softly and sweetly, before breaking away.
You end
up looking at each other, breathless and smiling. “You should go to bed,” E.J. tells you
quietly.
“And
you should get to work and then go to bed,” you reply.
“Yeah,
I know,” he says, running a hand through his hair.
“Oh
yeah, before I forget, I need to give your shirt back. It was in here last night and I slept in it,
but I didn’t realize it was yours. I
just assumed it was something Jane left.
Here it is,” you tell him, picking up the shirt and holding it out to
him.
He
pushes it back toward you and says,” No, I left it in here for a reason. You keep it.
You needed something to sleep in anyway and I’m sure it’s more
comfortable than sleeping in your clothes.”
“Oh,
well thanks, E.J.,” you say shyly.
He
chuckles and says,” Go to bed, (y/n). I’ll
talk to you in the morning.”
“Alright. Goodnight,” you say, smiling at him as he
leaves.
He
steps out into the hall and says,” Goodnight,” giving you one last smile before
he pushes his mask down and closes the door.
Immediately,
you pull off your clothes and slip into E.J.’s t-shirt, enjoying that it still
smells like him. It doesn’t take long
for you to fall asleep. You dream of
E.J.
~~~
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