AN: 5. I've got a surprise for you guys this time. It's written from Jack's perspective! :D Enjoy~
Chapter 45: Jack
He's sitting with his back against a tree, whole body trembling from adrenaline and exhaustion. But underneath the skin he can feel strength returning for the first time in weeks.
The Proxy-girl really came through, getting him a meal and all. He needed it badly. He spilled some unnecessary blood, true, but the man wouldn't be missed.
He could taste the aloneness, the isolation. It was bitter-sweet. He could taste something else too.
Jack frowns now, trying to remember exactly what it was. Something strange, spicy and sweet and bitter all at the same time. It had been so strong he couldn't finish eating the heart.
It didn't really matter. He had gotten a meal for the first time in a long time. He'll have to pay the Proxy-girl back somehow.
She had gotten attacked though. Salt, that idiot, had done something and slowed her down. He probably tried to approach her.
Jack can remember her saying something about molestation before. Salt would have creeped her out to no end.
And the others. He had only looked back for a moment, but there was the Seedeater, The Butcher, BOB. What were they doing with them all?
Then, of course, her Slenderman had shown up. Jack can't help thinking of him as her Slenderman, despite knowing the exact opposite was the case.
A tussle between a Slenderman and someone like Salt. Well, Jack could imagine how that started, but it's odd for a Slenderman to get involved.
Jack had stopped to watch. The strangest thing was that Lea, yes, he could remember her name, had been and the Slenderman had responded almost fearfully. That was unforeseen, to put it lightly. Normally Slendermen don't give a damn about their Proxies. He had seen them stand by while the humans were butchered alive. This one had even gotten wounded; his neck was ripped to shreds by Salt.
He must care about her a lot.
Jack opens his right hand, staring at the two items there. One is a standard silver flash-drive and the other is an old Nintendo64 game cartridge; an old copy of Majora's Mask, with "BEN" written on it in black marker.
These two had been missing for so long. Lacy had been gone too, and Salt, and a few others, but they were largely indestructible. Even Jeffery wouldn't have been concerned if they were caught, but these two had been a headache for months.
Not made easier to handle by the fact Jack hadn't been able to eat, and Jeff's compulsion wasn't being fulfilled. So nothing had worked.
Jeffery had disappeared completely.
And then this fiasco.
He hoped the Proxy-girl was alright.
Jack removes his mask, absently licking the semi-dried blood from his fingers. He rubs carefully along the scars, skipping over empty scars.
He would feel bad if she was dead.
"Jack! Jack, damnit, are you here?!"
What? That was Jeffery. That was Jeffery's voice.
He quickly pulls his mask on, standing up. His legs are still shaky, barely supporting him.
"Jeffery?!" Jack yells, "Jeffery, is that you?"
He sounds rational, Jack realizes. Good, good; he's fulfilled the compulsion.
"Jack? –Damnit BOB, get lost."
"Jeffery, over here," He tries to walk a little, stumbles and falls against a tree.
He sees the approaching figure; dressed in white, stained with red. Fresh blood, fragrant, almost beautiful.
"Jack? What on earth happened here?"
Jack shakes his head slowly, "Something insane. Did you see them?"
Jeffery nods, black hair in his face, hiding one scarred black-rimmed eye. "What were they doing here?"
"Never-mind that, look," Jack shows the other man what's in his hand.
"You found them," Jeffery says, taking the objects in shaking fingers, "Oh thank-whatever-god-is-listening."
Jack is still preoccupied with the girl, "Jeffery, did you see a girl with black hair on your way in here?"
"No," He seems to frown, "why?"
"She was the one who got us out. She got swarmed."
"She's got to be dead. No coming out of that alive."
Jack shakes his head, "You never know with her. She's more formidable than any human I've seen."
"Hey, human here!"
"You keep telling yourself that."
Jeffery harrumphs, mouth pulled into a pout. Then he grins a wide, insane grin.
"I hope she's not dead," Jack says absently, "It wouldn't be received well."
"Hey? Are you attached to a human? You'd better no be," Jeffery is fiddling with a knife, spinning it between his fingers.
"I'm not," Jack protests.
"Ya, sure,"
There's silence for a moment, and Jack resumes wiping the blood from his hands. Then there's a voice from through the trees, "It was here,"
Jeffery tilts his head, "Did you hear that?"
"Ya. I think it was-"
The voice comes again faintly, "I don't know, it was all too fast."
There's an odd flexing sensation in Jack's mind, like a whisper, just out of reach.
"Well, you can try, but I don't know if it really works."
"What the," Jeffery mutters.
Jack doesn't say a word, only swallows nervously. His heart-rate has suddenly sped up, elevating to almost bird-like speed.
"You can't see him?" She voice again.
Jack bolts towards the voice, stumbling on unsteady legs. He slows as he approaches, "Proxy-girl? Is that you?"
"Jack?" She answers uncertainly, "Are you still alive?"
"I should be asking you; how the hell did you live through that?" He's still following her voice. Jeffery is trailing behind, slightly confused by the situation.
In their heads, crackling with interference, "That would be my doing,"
"Yes, but you still got all ripped up doing it." The tone is light-hearted, but a little sad.
Jack brushed through a tall bush and almost walks into Lea as she comes around a tree. There's a thin line of semi-dried blood tracing its way down her face. She blinks blue eyes in surprise, then grins.
"Found him," She calls over her shoulder.
"Obviously," She slightly sarcastic reply is crackly in Jack's head.
They banter like old friends, he realizes. But, who's "they?" Unless it was…
"Was that a-?" Jeffery cuts himself off.
"I think so," Jack replies slowly.
Lea blinks, leaning around Jack, "Hello,"
Jeffery swallows, "H-hey," replies in his rough voice.
"I'm Lea," She offers her hand for a handshake.
"Jeffery," He shakes it, slightly embarrassed.
She's frowning slightly, giving him a once-over, then seems to shrug and turn back to Jack.
Jeffery's surprised, a little concerned over the reaction.
"Why'd you come back?" Jack asks.
"There's nowhere else to go. I can't go home unless I want my parents dead, and I am NOT going back to The Organization. Plus," She gestures to her side, to the wound there, "I'm pretty sure I need stitches."
The cotton wrap is already stained red, blood slowly soaking into the fabric.
"What did that?"
She shrugs, "I couldn't see. There were too many all at once, everything was a blur."
"I can't stitch it up here, the lighting is too dim," Jack excuses himself.
"I don't care as long as it gets done."
Jeffery suddenly shoves Jack's back, making him stumble forward, almost hitting Lea. It sends him out into the small clearing beyond the trees and allows Jeffery to follow.
He steps out into the space, into the better light, and grins at Lea. The smile goes from ear to ear, stretching beyond his mouth in a ropey red scars
Jack almost stops breathing, not sure what to expect.
Lea blinks in surprise again, face slightly baffled "What?"
"You're not going to scream and run?" Now Jeffery is the one who's confused.
"Why would I? You're not any worse than the others. I didn't run from them," She thinks for a moment, "In fact, that bird-man was worse, and the thing with all the attached body parts was worse than that."
Jeffery turns to Jack, "They had THEM?"
"And a Slenderman," Lea adds.
They both stare at her. Jack can hear his own heartbeat and breathing.
"He was only five feet high, and pretty young age wise. I'd put him about 9 or 10 in human terms," She continues.
"They had junior too?!" Jeffery pulls out his knife again and begins rubbing at the sharpened edge, "No wonder there were so few of us left. We were practically the only ones."
Jack nods slowly, wordlessly, rendered speechless for a moment. He's horribly aware of everything around him spinning in a kaleidoscope of sensation and images. There's a strange feeling in his mind, like someone else is in there.
He forces himself to stand straight, fight back the dizzy feeling. They need a building, preferably sterile, with at least a table-top lamp. It's a long walk to the nearest town. "Alright, we need to leave, go somewhere safe."
Jeffery giggles, "There isn't a safe inch on this planet."
Which Jack knows better than practically anyone.
"What about the Proxies?" Lea asks.
They both stare at her, half nervous, half fearful.
Jack supposes it's only natural. She should be curious. After all, she's a proxy herself. Well, kind of. Either way, she needs answers, and fast, before she does something stupid and gets herself recruited.
But's it's okay, she couldn't have done that. Not possible.
Oh no.
Jack jumps forward, grabbing Lea by the shoulders. She winces, but doesn't squirm.
"Lea did you talk to junior?"
"The little Slenderman? Yes, I did. Why?"
He shakes her slightly, "What did you say?"
"Well-"
"Did you tell him you were a Proxy?!"
"Yes. Now, would you please let go of me before-"
Jack steps back, cussing.
Jeffery has an odd shine in his eye. He laughs deep in his throat, "Oh, you've done it now."
Jack takes a breath, steadying himself, "We need to leave, now, before they show up."
Lea blinks, "Ya, sure, let's go."
Jack's just starting to turn away, reaching for Lea's hand, when something hits him with approximately the force of a Sledgehammer. He's thrown a good five feet, and lands in a heap.
"Back off, organ-eater," Growls a new voice.
He hates that name, it always seems to drive home the reality of his existence.
Jack tries to get up, but his knees buckle beneath him. He wants to scream, there's so much pent-up frustration and hatred and anger. How many are the Proxies going to take? They've got more than enough already, but they just keep taking and taking, and it's making it hard to even survive out here.
"Is this her?" The new voice asks.
"Yes," The crackly reply, as if through a radio, sounds young. It's a child speaking.
"She looks like a fighter."
Jack looks up in time to see Lea throw herself at his assailant.
The woman has red hair tied back in a braid. Her mask is carved with a myriad of small intricate designs, looping around each other, disguising the red X drawn through the entire design.
She casually knocks Lea back, stopping her left-handed strike with her forearm. But she fails to see the low blow coming from the right. The knife enters her side, but scores only a shallow cut in the flesh because Lea's wrist is suddenly caught by a black tendril.
Jack groans. She's done, there's no hope.
There's a flicker, and then a Slenderman is there. The next second he's pounding with balled fists against an invisible barrier.
The woman is holding up a paper like a warding charm. It's inscribed with a symbol Jack knows well, the Operator's Symbol.
"These are useful for dealing with surprises," But she's frowning slightly as she says the words.
She grabs Lea by the arm. The girls has gone pale, is looking sick, but it doesn't matter because the next second they're both gone.
Jack swears, looking around. Jeffery is behind a tree, the Slenderman is still pressing against the unseen surface, now looking a little more depressed than frustrated. He has a bandage on his neck, Jack notices.
Jeffery comes out of his hiding place, "You are so attached to a human," He says to Jack.
"I sure hope not," Jack replies evenly.
"Jack, you are so attached."
"Help me up so we can kill they Proxies already."
"Agreed."
AN: I love this one, don't you guys? Anyway, expect another update around Wednesday or Thursday. Please review, and/or go to my profile and answer the poll there so I can start writing the next one.
