Author's Note: So my computer is having one of those rare moments where it will agree to be connected to the internet for a while. Once my paycheck comes in I'm going to go get it checked out and see if the wireless card is being a little bitch. Got a full time job now! I love my coworkers to death. Some of them write things too! Ah, I'd love to read them sometime.

I finally figured out why I had been liking Famous Last Words a lot less than its predecessor. It was moving too fast. It was like all the characters had put their lives on hold for the sake of advancing the plot. There weren't as many sweet, playful moments as there were in Sell Your Soul. There just also wasn't as much emotion and depth. I feel like I rushed through it. I ended up writing the next few chapters over many a time. Hope they turned out alright! Thanks so much for reading. 525 views... I never could have done it without all of you! I haven't had a new review since May T.T I miss hearing from you guys even if it's really short!

** Okay I'm regretting the way I wrote the next few chapters. I'll post the original and new versions. Usually when I rewrite something that many times it's a sign to scrap it. So rest assured, EJ will make it through another day!

Chapter 6: Playing God

"I understand you wanted to talk in person," EJ said quietly. He pulled out the wooden cafe chair and sat down with a latte in a ceramic mug. Not knowing what else to do, she had immediately called EJ and asked if he could come out. Despite her love for Toby, she felt safest with EJ or The Puppeteer. She couldn't exactly be seen speaking with Laughing Jack in public. Besides that, she needed information. If something were to happen to her, EJ needed to know about Moira.

Melanie nodded uneasily. A cafe was hardly private, but she was starting to distrust the security of her apartment. The area around it was clearly being watched. She'd turned straight back around and told EJ to meet her at The Toasty Mug and just tossed her things in the trunk of her car. The rest of the patrons in the cafe had bleak looks on their faces as they stared with open mouths at the news story covering the downtown murders earlier that day. She couldn't imagine how much would have to be edited out by the police. It wasn't as though knowing the truth would protect anyone anyway. Eyeless had immediately warned her to be watchful in case she'd been caught on a security tape inside the liquor store.

"I've only seen what they've been showing on TV. I know that's not even half the story. I told everyone else to stay on high alert while we figure this out," Eyeless continued. "I'm more worried about you, though. Why is this Moira so interested in you?"

"Don't focus on me. You need to worry about them," she said, lowering her voice. "I told you, she won't kill me. She's going to use all of you as bait to get me to come to her unarmed. She made it sound like she's not the only Operator who's got their eye on me. I thought you might know why she thinks I'm so special. Why she would attack Ben and make such a scene just to get to me."

Eyeless pulled his hood down and shielded his face with his collar as someone walked dangerously close to them. His voice and demeanor alone managed to turn heads despite his inhuman skin being covered nearly from head to toe. "Unfortunately, it could be any number of reasons. I can only give you my best hypothesis." He paused as a family walked by. Their young child was at just the right angle to catch a glimpse of EJ's mask. He gasped and tugged at his father's sleeve, staring at Melanie. Melanie raised a quick finger to her lips before the father could look over. EJ's back was turned to the man. Melanie stared at her coffee and remained still as a statue. The kid babbled incoherently and the father simply tugged him along and snapped that they were going to be late. Melanie breathed a sigh of relief.

Eyeless stirred his coffee, searching for words. "You said she told you only that you'd... gained something on the way back from death, right?" Melanie nodded. EJ paused and glanced at the television again. There was no mention of Melanie or people maimed by spiders. "I've only seen this happen with two other people. I didn't think it could happen again and... well- I didn't think it could happen without some severe consequences. Unfortunately I was right. Just not in the way I thought. Instead of your body and soul reacting, someone else seems to have realized how useful people like you could be to them..."

"What are you talking about?" Melanie whispered fearfully. An elderly couple stared at her. They were obviously uncomfortable about the secretive exchange taking place behind them. Melanie shot back a silencing look before turning back to Eyeless.

"My best guess is that you're special because you have an Operator's abilities without being tied to an Operator as a Proxy, or being a real Operator yourself. Don't worry. You're not one of them," he said simply.

Melanie shook her head and put her spoon down a little louder than she'd planned to. She waited for people to return to their own business. "And what the hell is that supposed to mean?" she asked through gritted teeth. "How the heck did I get Operator abilities just from dying?"

Eyeless looked uncomfortable. "Tim and Brian have enhanced strength and speed when they're, you know, not themselves. But that's about it. And even then it's only because that power is coming from Slender. But Slender, Slender gets all of that power directly from the Void. He's a middle man for a Proxy. Power gets diluted through the chain of command, you see," he explained at an ever increasing speed as an unfamiliar gleam lit up his eyes. Melanie urged him to lower his voice. "But, provided a human could survive it, they could forge their own link with the Void. You can do it by choice or someone on the other side can just bestow it upon you whether you knew about it or not. If that's the case then you would have no idea about your powers until the situation came up. The Operators aren't negatively affected by using their abilities because they were never alive to begin with. But... if you could survive forging that link without an Operator in the middle to balance out the stream... there's no limit to the power you could gain if you went about it the right way."

He hesitated, waiting for her reaction. There was a hunger in his lifeless face she had not seen the likes of before. Was he jealous of her?

"But you would think I would know if I could do the things Slender, or God forbid... Moira could do! And EJ, what did you mean you've only seen two people live through this happening to them?" she asked uneasily.

Eyeless split a grin that made her feel more than slightly ill. In the span of a few seconds something had changed in him as though he were no longer himself. "The other was a creepypasta that died long before the world got to hear of her. She thought she could take me out if she became something more than human. So she killed herself and stole her abilities without looking back. She had no clue how to control it and no motivation to take it easy. It drove her insane and killed her in a week. I didn't have to lift a finger!"

Melanie placed a hand on the arm of her chair instinctively. "Eyeless, you're scaring me," she whispered. "What are you saying? This isn't like you!"

"Isn't it?" he exclaimed in a gleeful whisper. "How can you say that without even knowing that I'm the only one to survive this long with a hold on the Void? Did you think all those beasts and murderers just- just found the house by chance?" he gasped through clipped laughs. "Attracted to a gathering of multiple creepypastas... ah what bullshit. That's rich that you all believed that."

The blood in Melanie's veins just about stopped flowing as the color drained from her face. "You can't mean that. No, no, no. They came for all of us. They'd known all along where we were, right? It would have happened no matter what we tried to do."

"Oh, wouldn't you like to think that! Don't you ever wonder why I look like I used to be human? Why everyone says I'm the strongest one at the house but you never see me use my powers? It's because I had to save the surprise until the timing was perfect! You should see the betrayed look on your face. If I could turn that look into a drink and sell it to all the sick fucks in the world, I'd be a rich man. You better watch your back Mel- Moira isn't the only one you need to worry about! Can you really trust anyone, Mel? Jeff can't control himself; he nearly tried to kill you. I wonder who else is keeping secrets? Laughing Jack? Toby? Who knows... I could even be working for Moira! Too bad no one else will believe a word of this, Melanie!" he shouted. The barista looked up with deep concern as Melanie flew backwards out of her chair, spilling hot coffee all over the floor.

The possessed look suddenly drained from EJ's face. "Mel? What- what's going on?" he whispered, looking genuinely confused.

Melanie shook her head, tears streaming down her face as she slowly picked up her backpack. What was happening to everyone? First she can't stop arguing with Ben. Laughing Jack was slipping; Jeff had tried to kill her. And now it comes up that Eyeless had been selling them out all along? This wasn't happening, it couldn't be. She didn't know what to believe anymore. As much as her heart was trying to tell her that this couldn't be true, all she knew what that she had to get out of there. Go home and think it over. Whatever was going on was all connected.

"Wait! I didn't- it wasn't me!" He exclaimed as several people rushed over. Eyeless panicked and darted out the door, throwing back a horrified glance as Melanie sprinted through the side door.