Chapter 33 The Ones Left Behind

'Come on now, doll, just open the d mn f*cking door.' Jeff growled, his clenched fist landing hard on your bedroom door.

Was it the hundredth time he knocked on that door this morning? It could be. You were just playing the silent game again with him and this time, the killer was strangely calm and not already cursing towards the wooden plank that divided you from him, but be d mn sure he was close to doing it. You had once again locked yourself up in your room, being your calm and serious self and being mad at him through your closed door. He hated when you did that, but he just couldn't contain a small chuckle when he was reminded of your cute little pouting face. Last night he was just messing with you a little bit, saying that he would be checking on you in case you sneaked outside, but that was just him messing with your head a little bit, you couldn't really have bought that, did you?

Seeing that his demands fell on deaf ears and noticing that you were quiet enough not to make a sound that would give you away to him, he just sighs and leaning on the side of the wall, he folds his hands on his sturdy chest, leaning his head in the front, trying to make his brain discover the proper words to ease your wrath.

'Look _.' He pinched his nose with his fingers 'I know you're f*cking mad at me for the 'forbidden hunting' thing, but you gotta 'nderstand that I had no f*cking choice. My brother isn't someone you can easily f*ck with and it's damn sure I regret letting him breathe in the first place.' He sighs.

'Don't ya hate me okay? I know it was a total d!ck move, but I don't want you to get hurt or anything. Who will b!tchslap me to my senses and hunt with me if you're not around? Just f*cking come out and I'll help you track those motherf*ckers as soon as all this bullsh!t's over, deal? Oh, come on now babe.' He pounds on your door once more.

Approaching the hallway that leads to the stairs, as he was walking away from his bedroom, having changed into new clothes -since LJ had the bright idea to start a food-fight at breakfast-, EJ's empty eye sockets locate Jeff pounding hard on _'s door. If he had eyes, he would totally be rolling them at the sight of his best buddy. _ was probably still mad at him, so why didn't he just take the hint that she wanted some time on her own?

Still, sighing once again under his navy-blue mask, he walks towards his buddy, trying to help him out a bit and maybe get him off from _'s nerves.

'Jeff, she just wants some time for herself.' He tries to pacify his smiling friend.

Jeff growls once again and turns towards his friend 'I'm not f*cking leaving if she doesn't let me explain EJ.'

'Look, you are probably making things worse by knocking the hell out of her door, so why don't you just leave her be for now?'

Jeff sighs and leans against the wall once again, folding his hands over his chest and glaring at the masked male 'Since when did you become a f*cking expert at girls?'

If EJ was still human, a very noticeable red would have spread across his face 'Since I saw your miserable attends to catch their attention.'

'What did you f*cking say?'

'You heard me.'

'I'll f*cking cut you E-' a crashing sound reached both their ears.

Looking down, Jeff had knocked over a glass of orange juice that was placed in a tray full of food from the breakfast, making the glass break and fill the place with orange juice and pieces of glass. Jeff curses heavily and bends down, trying to fix the mess he created; he had seen the tray the moment he came out of _'s door, but he was extra careful not to mess anything up, but EJ making him mad didn't help at all. From his point of view, EJ couldn't help but stare at the tray with his mind filling with curiosity; he had left that tray on the floor for _ three hours ago, since he didn't see her coming down for breakfast, neither answering her door to pick it up herself. _ was known to have quite the appetite in the mornings, so why hadn't she taken it in yet?

'Jeff.'

'What?'

'I left that food out here three hours ago.'

Jeff straightens himself up and throws a menacing look to the breakfast and then at _'s door 'Did she speak or made any other sound EJ?'

'Not that I recall.' Both males look at each other, reality dawning inside their minds pretty quickly.

Jeff grabs the tray, throwing it away, its contents smashing against the floor and filling the place, while EJ knocks hard on _'s door, without having a response.

'_ step away from the door.' He says and turns to Jeff 'Now.'

Jeff lets out a loud growl and his foot lands hard in the side of the lock, breaking it and throwing the door wide open. Both killers rush inside the room, scanning the place up immediately, failing to locate _ anywhere and to their utter horror, seeing that the window was wide open, allowing the cold weather turn the room into a fridge. But this is the least of their concerns right now, as realization hits them hard in the face.

_ was gone.

'F*cking hell!'

'We've got to find her now!' EJ storms out of the room and rushing down the stairs, his hand flying inside his pocket and drawing out his sharp scalpel.

Right behind him, Jeff curses once again and draws out his favorite knife, his eyes flashing with an insane red that illuminates his madness and enables it to be seen. The moment both of them make their way -without a word- towards the front door, Slenderman walks out of the living room, where all the other Pasta are gathered.

'And where do you think you are going my children?' his voice booms inside the now totally silent house. All eyes have fallen to the two friends, that honestly, don't pay attention at all to the intimidating man 'I specifically told you that no one is to-'

'Halloween has gone out Slender.' Jeff growls as he swings the door open.

'What?'

'She wasn't answering us and we broke into her room, only to find it empty and the window wide open.' EJ explains as he makes sure his mask is in place properly.

'W-what?' Toby says.

'She went out despite the rules? Oh boy.' Ben leaves his controller on the side.

'If she went out last night, shouldn't be back by now?'

'What are you saying Clockwork?' Masky turns his gaze to the girl that is now on her feet and on battle mode.

'That something is f*cking wrong if she isn't already home.' Jane stands at her feet.

'Hahahahaha I think the girls are right people.' LJ comments.

Everybody falls silent, as everyone looks at the master of the house, that even if he didn't have any facial features, his intimidating aura grows and grows with the passing seconds, as his tentacles begin to move threatenly on their own. The faint static starts to enter everybody's mind, making the three Proxies stand up and rush to his side, as the master finally looks up to all of them.

'Find her immediately. I do not care who sees you or who do you kill along in the process; make sure you come back with the girl or at least with clues about her whereabouts. Ben, you will stay here with Sally and notify us if Halloween comes home. As for the rest of you my children, off you go immediately.'

All creeps nod to the master's orders.

LJ and Slenderman teleport away immediately, while Ben grabs Sally and leads her up to his room to be safer there, with Smile following close behind them. Clockwork and Jane draw out their weapons, while Masky walks out of the front door along with Hoody, as Toby draws out one of his hatchets and rests it on his shoulder.

'A-ALRIGHT EVERY-BODEH! Le-t's g-go save k-kitty!'

Walking outside, there is true hell unleashed on earth.

The blizzard that is hitting the forest right at that moment is so severe and strong, that even by using their supernatural skills, all the killers find it difficult to navigate, since the snow is so thick, that their visions are diminished to five meters in front of them top, as well as, the only thing they can really hear, is the wind that courses through the forest, screaming loudly among the trees and drifts even more snow along with it. It is as if Nature herself knows that something bad has happened and can only express herself by that means. This though, only stalls the killers more.

'I've picked her scent, only that it's really faint!' Clockwork nearly screams to be heard among the deafening noise.

'I've tracked it as well.' EJ says.

'Alright, we will f*cking split up! Me and EJ will hit town, while you check the forest.' Jeff yells loudly.

'We'll take Clockwork along and you Jeff stick with EJ, so we all have a tracker in our teams.' Masky tries to be heard.

'Are you done talking?!' Jane screams.

'LET'S GO!' EJ gives the nod to go.

The two teams run with all their might out of the gardens, entering the forest at full speed. Racing against time, the only thing that is on their minds is to find the missing girl before is too late. No matter what comes up against them, no matter what or who they will kill, their only task right now is to find their comrade before anyone else does. Even the master of the house himself, has gone out to search for you. They can't afford loosing another one of their family. Soon, they all split up, one team turning and heading deeper inside the forest, while Jeff and EJ take the turn towards the town. Only the two of them would be able to be stealthy enough to hit town and not be seen, since their natures required stealth more than anything else. The two boys race inside the forest, pulling their bodies to their limits in order to find the girl that has stolen both their hearts before anyone else.

From his point of view, Jeff knows that it would be one hell of a f*cking thing to be able to locate you. Many hours have passed since you f*cking escaped and dared to oppose Slenderman by going out and many things might have happened along the way. You had the b lls and you escaped undetected and he already was cursing himself heavily for not checking up on you. What an ssh*le he was! If his brother has already find you, this means that you are already dead, something that makes the deranged killer curse heavily and send more and more insanity inside his veins, nurturing his bloodlust and madness. He will f*cking tear him to pieces if he dared lay a finger on your delicate body. He would make him wish he had killed him that very first night when Jeff turned to the monster he is now. Jeff could faintly sense your scent as he raced on the narrow path, but he knew; he knew his brother all too well. This path lead to the premises of the town, but his brother would most probably lure you out in the cemetery and kill you in front of your parents' grave. Because he was that kind of a bastard. He only wished that you would be still breathing when he found you. Because if he loses you, he has absolutely no f*cking clue what he is going to do.

On the other hand, EJ tries to contain his calm and collected composure and think things through clearly. Your scent was too faint for even him to follow, and the wind only made it more difficult, but he somehow managed to pull it through. He was thinking and blaming himself for not noticing that you were gone earlier. Why wasn't he alerted when you didn't open your door today? Why wasn't he alerted when he came last night to check on you and only found your door locked up tightly? Your smiling face flashed in front of his eyes and the place where your hands locked on his back as you hugged him in the past warmed up. He couldn't afford to lose you. You were far too important for the eyeless killer, more that he had acknowledged himself and only now did he feel the hole that you would leave behind if you were suddenly gone. Because what would he do without you? Who would smile and hug him if you were gone? He had grown depended on you and in the slight chance that you might be already dead, his few fractures of sanity slipped away and his whole being was consumed by the sheer madness. He just hoped that you weren't discovered. That the others hadn't found you. He wanted you to hope that he was coming for you.

As they reached town, Jeff threw at EJ that he was checking the cemetery first, since your parents graves where there and both of them split up, going into different directions.

Jeff didn't even look back or around him to make sure no human was walking around, making his presence threatened to be discovered. He just didn't give a sh!t about that. And even if he truly did, the streets were completely empty, as the blizzard kept the residents of the town locked up nicely inside their safe homes, not even daring to look outside their windows and concealing the presence of the insane killer within it. What a pathetic little lives humans had. Jeff felt kind of jealous of them deep inside his cold and dead heart, not because he missed his life as a human, but because in contrast to him, they knew where their loved ones were. As he made his way at full speed towards the cemetery, your face kept blocking his vision and pop out of nowhere, throwing the killer's fixed mind off balance. He couldn't bear the thought of losing you. Of never touching you again, of never making you angry, of never stealing another kiss from you. Yes, he was mad at you for the way you reacted, but right now, all he could think of was his desire to wrap his hands around you once more and keep you there; safe forever.

Soon, he reached the cemetery premises and entered it from the side, completely avoiding spending unnecessary time jumping over the iron gate, and ran at full speed towards your parents grave, running among the rest of the graves and the little paths they formed among themselves.

He knew where your parents grave was; it was surprisingly near the spot where Liu's tomb was, as he knew that if you were dead, that was the spot where his brother would have left you to be discovered. Because Liu knew that this would be the first place Jeff was going to look.

Throwing a hurried gaze upon the rest of the cemetery, he didn't fail to notice the mess your battle with Liu had left behind, with various tombs being completely destroyed and pieces of their rocks having landed everywhere. He could see that you put up quite the fight, which only made his dead heart sink even more inside his chest, realizing that your chances of survival were not so high.

Finally reaching the said tomb, his feet come to an abrupt stop right in front of it and his gaze is nailed on the cold stone.

He didn't know how to react at all…

There, on the tomb, were resting two heads, both belonging to males, who he assumed were the rest of your family's killers and any traces of your body where nowhere to be seen. So there might be a chance for you to be alive. For the first time in decades, Jeff found himself holding his breath in total anxiety, as he bended down to inspect the heads further, only to discover one of your knives stuck in the ground, holding a single piece of paper.

He slowly grabbed your knife, holding the paper with his other, and withdrew the sharp blade, taking the paper and noticing it had his name written on it.

But when he opened it, his stare grew cold.

The next thing that was heard was his loud scream that was filled with a maniacal frenzy, being heard even above the noise of the blizzard, as the killer went totally berserk.

He stood up, all the swears, all demons combined had heard, leaving his mouth, as he proceeded to destroy anything in his path. Whether it was a tomb, a flowerbed, a huge stone tomb, a statue, anything went down to pieces as the frenzied killer took his poisonous anger out on them. He crushed and broke anything that would be in his way, his eyes flashing with the deepest shade of red anyone had ever seen, portraying the fires of the deepest pit of hell that burned inside the killer right at that moment. His voice had grown completely alien, sounding dual, being heavier and louder, as if a demon was speaking up along with the killer as well.

'I'LL F*CKING KILL YOU B STARD! I'LL MAKE YOU PAY FOR LAYING A HAND ON HER! YOU HEAR ME YOU F*CKTARD LIU?! I'M GONNA CHASE YOU TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH AND F*CK YOU UP BIG TIME, MAKE YOU WISH YOU WERE NEVER F*CKING BORN YOU MOTHERF*CKER!'

But, what was the thing that made the already insane killer lose the last fractions of his mind, being completely devoured by his lust for revenge while your fleeting image passed through his mind, making his pain even worse?

Only two words.

Two single words to throw him off and make him drown in his sorrow for you.

Two words written by Liu himself.

I won.

##############

EJ was looking upon his best friend being completely devoured by the sheer madness and proceeding to take it all out on his surroundings, cursing and being far more violent than the eyeless man had ever seen him be in all the decades he has known him. If it was any other moment, he would have gone up to him and tried to calm him down and help him bring his sane-er side of himself to the surface, but now it wasn't that time. This time, he found himself unable to even move a single muscle to move ahead and console his friend, so he stayed away from him, just a few feet away from the iron gates of the cemetery, standing there like a ghost.

He had followed _'s scent and he was surprised to discover that it lead straight to the cemetery. What he wasn't happy about was that her scent was mixed up with three more scents that he fairly recognized them to belong to Dr. Smiley, Liu Woods and The Puppeteer. They had been following her right from before she even set foot on the towns premises. He had long ago realized that they had managed to find her, maybe abduct her, but he hoped they hadn't killed her.

Walking through the cemetery gates though, all hopes inside of him crushed, when he saw a certain thing.

EJ wasn't just standing at a random spot away from Jeff. He was standing right in front of a huge pool of dried blood. And it wasn't just anyone's blood.

He kneeled in front of the large stain on the ground, stretching his hand and gently touching the solid ground that reeked from the smell of your blood. It was a pretty large stain; the blood was far too much. It send EJ's mind into a complete numbness and left him cold and broken inside…

Your smiling face flashed in front of his eyes.

Your voice ringed into the killer's ears.

He touched the stain as if he wished it too deeply, he would reach out for you, bringing you back, safe inside his arms.

Before EJ realized it, the black substance that dripped down from his empty eyes endlessly, dripped down on the ground.

He looked at it surprised, but the black tears only continued.