Hi hi, Crimson here!
God, it might be the seclusion, but the drive to write has returned and that means I'm going to pump out as many of these as I can.
ONWARDS!
"Come in."
Lilith stared at the floor as she walked in, closing the door behind her. She fell into her usual position, moving to lean against the far wall. She only looked up when Shad cleared his throat, eyes catching his stare as he attempted to get up from his chair, "You wanna sit?"
"No, it's fine." Lilith muttered, voice slightly muffled by the bandages wrapped around her head. It took a lot of self control to not pull and scratch at the cloth, her eyes darting around the room as if it would help to alleviate the tension.
While the itching was irritating, at least it took attention from the dull yet persistent throbbing.
She turned away from Shad's expression, eyes leaking some form of pity that she really didn't want to think about, "You asked to see me, sir?"
Under no circumstance has Slender's eyeless gaze made Lilith feel comfortable. But, for some reason, a different kind of discomfort ran down her spine, one that nearly tempted her to drop through the floor and lock herself in her room, "Yes, the good Doctor was unable to give me much information on your condition. How are you feeling, Lilith?"
"I'm okay." Lilith knew she couldn't control it, but she was really beginning to hate their attention to her. She tugged at the bottom of her sleeves, resisting the urge to reach up and scratch at her face, "Is there something that needs to be done?"
"Yes, we'll move on now." She knew that, deep down, she was reading too far into it. But even then, the tone of his voice tipped her off. She couldn't help but feel just a little insulted, like the two of them were looking down on her from their parental pedestals.
"Slender's gonna take a while, so I'll just get right on down to the point." Shad said, a slight grin in his tone, "After what's felt like hours-"
"It hasn't been hours."
"We've finally concocted a plan." Lilith couldn't help but note how Shad seemed to either stare at Slender, the table, or the wall behind her, "A Lizzie plan."
"Oh?" She hadn't meant to sound so surprised, but she couldn't help it.
"Yeah, believe it or not, we are able to talk to each other without being at each other's throats." Shad shot Slender a cheeky look, "Isn't that right?"
"And here I thought you didn't want to waste time." Slender muttered, moving to stand from his chair, "The plan is a rather simple one: we lure her into an area right before it is Breached. If done correctly, we should be able to contain her for an indefinite amount of time."
"But that's assuming that we can bait her." He tried to hide it at the last moment, but Lilith saw it. She saw the slight grimace melt into a small smile as he turned to look at her, eyes feeling like they'd locked onto the bandages rather than her own eyes, "Wanna guess where you come in, little princess?"
That threw Lilith through the loop. She tossed Slender a glance, waiting for him to refute it, only to be met with silence, "Is this true, sir?"
"...Make no mistake, I do not fully condone this." Slender said it slowly, as if consoling a small animal rather than his proxy. "But, I will acknowledge Lizzie's tracking talent, especially when it comes to you. I have no doubt that she would have massacred us had I not taken measures to hide the mansion away."
"Which makes you perfect for the role of bait." Lilith didn't realize that she'd been twirling the end of the bandage between her fingers until Shad looked back over to her, eyes locked on the white cloth, "What do you say, Lilith? You up for the job?"
She knew that it was a question, but she also knew that there was only one answer here. She took a moment to glance over to Slender, "What do you need me to do, sir?"
Shad's laugh, while meant to be lighthearted, came out a little forced, "I told you she'd agree, Slendy."
"Your part in the plan will be to lure her out and lead her to the right place." With the authority in his voice, Lilith half expected him to whip out a map and plastic pieces to move around, "It will take time to gather the necessary supplies, and we still need to decide on a place. Until then, Shadow Lurker has agreed to continue teaching you, with me as a supervisor when possible."
"He just doesn't want to feel left out." Shad said, making a whole show of fake whispering.
"When do you believe you'll be able to start?"
"As soon as possible." Lilith did her best to ignore how itchy the bandages were, making a note to check in with the Doc before having them removed. Sure, she could cut them and pull them from her face in her own room, but she didn't want to be stuck with Doc's scolding words and chiding tone, "If I may, sir, I have a question."
"Go ahead."
"Do we have a plan for what we do when Lizzie's been trapped?" Her eyes skimmed the bookshelves ever so slightly, looking for the familiar leather spine of the book, "Or is that to be determined?"
"We all know that there's only one definite way to take out a Shade." Shad murmured, seemingly producing the diary from nowhere, "Unless you two are willing to experiment, this is our best shot."
"Do we have what we need?"
"Currently, no." Lilith couldn't look away from the desk, watching Slender's finger tap against the wooden desk. She knew he didn't mean it to be, but it was slowly becoming more and more unnerving, "But that will be an issue for later, one that Shadow Lurker and I will figure out when the time comes."
That translation was an easy one: Stop asking questions.
"Of course, sir."
The silence that followed was finally broken by Shad's awkward cough cutting right through it, "So, is there anything else that we gotta go over, or are we done here? Cause, I don't wanna be that person or anything, but now I gotta figure out a whole curriculum for Lilith over here."
"You're excused."
Lilith almost cursed how quickly Shad had disappeared, watching as his shadow swallowed itself. Lilith snapped back into attention at the sound of her name, "Is there anything you'd like to bring up?"
"No, sir."
An awkward wave of silence passed between the two, before Slender stepped around the table. Every single instinct in Lilith's head told her to back up, to move out of the way. And yet, for some reason, her feet remained planted in the ground, even when he came to a stop right in front of her.
As if the silence earlier wasn't horrible enough, having him stand a few feet in front of her just made it worse. She nearly jerked back the moment his hand came into view, fighting down the need to flinch when a cold hand grazed the cotton, "When will this be removed?"
"As soon as I go to see the Doc."
"I see." More bouts of silence. More awkward side looks. God, Lilith was sure that she was going to drown in this tension.
She couldn't help but wonder if this was affecting her boss in any way. Did this feel weird to him, too? Or was she just looking too into this?
"Does it hurt?"
"Huh?" Lilith shook herself from her head, just barely comprehending what he'd said, "Umm, oh, no, it's okay. Just a dull throb every now and then, but it isn't anything I can't handle."
That same cold hand moved from the bandages to the bottom of her face, grabbing hold of her chin. Lilith bit down the yelp that fought to escape her mouth as her head tilted up. Both hands curled up into fists at her sides, just barely keeping in the urge to grab and break his wrist.
Ha, like she could have pulled it off.
"You're lying."
"S-sorry?" She felt as if her mind had given up, head going blank. A cold numbness shot through her, almost rivaling her boss' frozen fingers. She hoped and prayed to whoever was out there that her shadow wasn't seconds away from lashing out.
"You're hiding something." Slender muttered, tilting her head to the side. It felt like she was being appraised, as if he were struggling to put a price tag on her, "An anxiety of sorts. No, discomfort."
"Well, it is a bit itchy." God, was that her voice? Did it always sound that… meek? Squeaky? It sounded like a mouse being crushed slowly, an almost panicked squeal, "That might be it? I a-assure you, sir, it's nothing too detrimental. It won't affect my performance and ability, I promise. I'll get it checked as soon as possible."
For a second, just a moment, the silence wasn't unbearable. Lilith didn't jump when Slender got down on one knee, as if to get a better view of her face. It almost felt natural, like she didn't have to crane her neck up to look him in the face, like they were level, despite him still being much taller than her.
"...I see…"
Finally, he let go of her chin, rising back to his full height before straightening out his tie. She nearly breathed out a sigh of relief when he took a step towards the door, moving to open it before turning back to face her, "Come, I will escort you to the Doctor."
"Yes, sir." She was still recovering from the mental whiplash, shuffling into place behind the tall being. She nearly tripped her way down the stairs, finally snapping out of her head at the sound of the basement door being pried open.
Each step down felt daunting, final. She wasn't able to snap out of it until a pair of gloved hands clapped, "I thought I told you to rest, Lilith."
"I tried." Lilith shrugged, letting the Doc guide her towards what she assumed to be her appointed steel table at this point, "Besides, I got called in."
"Is that so?" She nearly missed the look the Doctor shot Slender, somehow making the ancient being look smaller, "Well, no matter, best they're taken off now regardless."
That was the only warning Lilith got before a sliver of metal slid under the bandages and up the back of her neck, "H-hey!"
"Don't move, I might accidently cut something by mistake." The Doc murmured, snipping away at the bandages without another care in the word.
"Watch it back there!"
"It would be easier to do that if you'd stop moving."
"Hard to do when I can hear my hairs being cut."
"No one will notice a couple of bald spots back here."
His tone was light and jovial, as if he wasn't holding a pair of scissors behind her head. She didn't give the Doc time to put the shears down, already clawing the bandages off of her face.
She breathed in the cold stale air of the basement, for once relishing the recycled oxygen in the air. She reached up to try and scratch at the lingering itch on her face, only to have a cold boney hand catch her hand before it could.
She'd almost forgotten that Slender was there, only releasing her wrist when the Doc cleared his throat. She noted how the Doc's eyes didn't seem to linger, but then again, it was probably him who saw the direct aftermath of her confrontation with Lizzie.
"How are you feeling?" He seemed to produce a clipboard out of nowhere, moving to take notes despite Lilith's silence.
"Besides this stupid itch, nothing's out of place." Her voice was almost as soft as the tapping coming from her finger, "How does it look?"
"You're sure that you're not feeling nauseous or anything?" Not once did the Doctor look up from his clipboard.
"Doc, the only thing I'm feeling right now is dread." Lilith deadpanned.
"Is that so? Do you think that it could be connected to your injury?"
"Doctor."
"Alright, fine." He said, placing his clipboard down before running his gloved hand through his hair. Now that Lilith was looking at it, she didn't think that it normally looked that messy, "Wait here."
He disappeared behind the shelves for barely a second, reemerging with what looked to be a toy mirror.
"Don't ask." Dr. Smiley muttered, holding the little plastic thing out to her, the reflective surface down, "Just know that I have it."
"In that case, I'm going to assume you stole this from Jeff when he wasn't looking." Lilith said, accepting the mirror. There were a few seconds of panic when, for some reason, her hand refused to turn the thing over.
Even when she'd managed to turn the thing over, it took so much effort to force her chin down, and even more to get her eyes to lock with the reflection.
She almost missed her own expression as her eyes traced down the new jagged marks that stretched across her face. Her hand traced one of them, a finger running over the slight impression Lizzie's claws had left behind. Despite the absence of blood, the scars were tinted red. Her stomach churned ever so slightly at the throbbing from beneath her finger tips.
"I salvaged what I could," the Doc started slowly, watching Lilith's reaction closely, wincing as her hand continued to trace the ridges, "It hasn't healed completely, but it does look better than I thought it would."
"...I see."
"The stitching was a nightmare, it was almost like your skin didn't want to mend, but I think I did pretty good for someone who's never had to put together someone else's face before."
"...Oh."
The Doctor looked like he was going to go on, fingers picking at the bottom of his gloves, only to have Slender clear his throat from where he stood, "Is that all, Doctor?"
Dr. Smiley gave him a stern look, "And what if it isn't?"
"I'd prefer you tell me instead." Slender said, his offer sounding more like a command, especially with how he held himself up just a little taller, "I do believe that it would be best for Lilith to retire for the time being. Wouldn't you agree, Doctor?"
Lilith was too busy staring at her horrified reflected expression to notice Dr. Smiley's irked frown morph into a concerned one, "Yes, yes I would."
"Excellent. Lilith?"
"Hmm?" Lilith almost missed her name, finally ripping her eyes away from her reflection, "Yes, sir?"
"You're dismissed, ensure that you're properly prepared for tomorrow."
"Yes, sir." She didn't give herself time to think about whatever they'd spoken of, unsure if she'd be able to focus on it even if she did. She nearly tripped over the stairs on her way out, mind abuzz with the mental image as she finally pushed her way back out of the basement.
She didn't run into anyone on her way to the kitchen, hell, she didn't even really know why she was there. She almost felt like an outsider looking in, confused as to why she'd stumbled towards the sink before she braced both hands against the cool metal, head thrown forward as she hurled straight down the drain.
How pitiful, she could hear them whispering in her ears, she, who has forced the gruesome end of others, vomits at the sight of her face.
Wait, were they the other voices? Were these some of the unholy chorus that ran through her ears whenever they'd please? Or, no, maybe it was the inner monologue of her own head, chiding herself for such a childish reaction as her throat burned.
"Hey, what the everlasting hell is that noise-Oh dear God!"
She didn't bother to shout at Jeff to shut up, instead throwing her hand back. She'd meant it to be a sign to wave him away, not throw his body out through the doorway.
Regardless, Lilith finally managed to rise from the sink, reaching blindly for something to wipe her mouth with before finally settling on a dirty dish rag.
"Hey, I saw Jeff fly through." Ben muttered, wandering his way into the kitchen as Lilith's chest heaved, arms shaking ever so slightly from the strain, "I really did think it was Jane for a while. Honestly thought you hadn't woken up yet, Lily."
She didn't notice Ben's silence, head too heavy with a dull ache and whispers. She nearly jumped when a hand came down on her back, "You alright there?"
"Oh yeah, I'm doing perfect." Lilith wheezed, throat screaming in protest as she coughed into the sink. She didn't even notice Ben turning to faucet on, water rushing past the hair matted to her forehead, "Just emptying my stomach down the drain. Nothing new here."
She could faintly hear Ben tutting, holding her shoulder as he helped her stand back upright, "Jeez, you sound like you've been making out with the garbage disposal."
"I look like it too." That was Lilith's last quip before Ben got a good look at her face. His disgust just barely covered with surprise nearly made her stomach churn once more, "And here I thought you've seen worse. Really know how to make a girl feel pretty, you know that?"
"What?" Ben shook his head, scoffing, "No, I didn't mean it like that, idiot. I just, well… I didn't think it was that bad."
"For some reason, your attempts to make me feel better aren't really working."
"Didn't say I was trying to do that." Ben hefted Lilith's arm over his shoulder, all but replacing her right leg, "Come on, I'd hate for Sally to find a Lilith rug stained with puke."
Lilith wanted to make a quip about how he was probably the least reliable person around at the moment, what with how often he'd phase right through the couch to change channels and whatnot, only to have a series of coughs replace her words.
"Jesus, I thought that monster only got your face. Or do I have to worry about you going mute all of a sudden?"
"Shut up." Was all Lilith could really muster, finally pushing Ben away once they'd reached the bottom of the stairs, "I got it from here."
Ben gave her a look, glancing back over to the stairs, and then back to her, "Are you serious?"
"What, you think I can't walk up the stairs on my own?"
"Well, I don't know if you've noticed yet, but you're kinda wobbling over there."
"Yeah, right."
"I'm serious. How the hell are you supposed to make it up there and not fall on your ass?"
"You think that railings were invented for fun?" Lilith had meant to lean on the railing next to her. She didn't, however, plan to nearly trip over her own two feet and grasp at the metal for dear life.
Her only response was Ben's huff and eye roll, "Well, if you end up tumbling down the stairs, be ready for laughter to sound and pictures to be taken."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence." Lilith muttered, gritting her teeth. Thankfully, she didn't have to drag herself up the stairs, the throbbing headache more so irritating than unbearable. She made it to her room in what she felt was record time, slamming the door shut with just a little more force than necessary.
She pulled her hoodie over her head, throwing it over the mirror before ripping the drawers open. Surely she had to have a spare mask somewhere around, right?
"Come on," She muttered, throwing the contents out in her mad search, only to do the same with every other drawer in her desk. Spare knives, scraps of cloth, a few pens, and other things now littered the floor behind her, Lilith's hands finding themselves in her hair as she stared down in disbelief, "You've got to be fucking kidding me. I have NOTHING!?"
It didn't matter if the mask had its moments of being uncomfortable, or that the eyepatch was really more of a personal choice rather than a smart one; each passing second made her feel naked and the scars on her face really weren't helping.
Now that she thought about it…
"Fuck." Lilith couldn't help but rake her fingers down her face, kicking through the mess on the carpet, "How has this not been a problem up until now?"
She swore when a knock came to her door, rushing to grab her hoodie from its spot on her mirror. She cringed at her reflection just seconds before pulling the thing over her head, tugging the hood down as she staggered over to the door, "What?"
She may have ripped the door open a bit too forcefully, eliciting a yelp from the person on the other side. If Lilith hadn't been so irritated, she might have felt a little bad for scaring the kid like that, "Can I help you, Eyeless?"
"I, ah, I heard about… Yeah." Eyeless muttered, unable to look at anything besides the floor. Each passing second only added to his outward awkwardness, shuffling back and forth as if he'd bolt at any second. His head tilted up to look at her, only to turn back to the floor, "It, umm, does it hurt?"
"No, it's fine." Lilith muttered, fighting the need to pull her hood down lower, "Look, do you wanna come in or something, I can-"
"NO!" Eyeless squeaked, taking a moment to clear his throat, "No, I mean, thank you for the offer, but this was supposed to be quick and I just wanted to giveyousomethingandthiswasn'tsupposedto-"
"Eyeless." Lilith placed a hand on his shoulder, hoping it would come off as friendly rather than threatening, "Are you okay?"
He muttered something under his breath, almost talking to himself before pushing something into her hands, "Here."
Lilith stared down at the hard plastic in her hands. She ran her hand over the cool dark blue surface, fingers tracing the two bottom points of the mask. It almost looked like tiger fangs at the bottom, leaving the mouth and nose portion exposed.
"It isn't the best for covering your whole face, I know, but it's all that I had lying around." Eyeless muttered, fingers twisting and pulling at each other as he spoke, still unable to look up at her, "I use to make them for fun a long time ago, that was one of the early ones that I made. Of course, it isn't the best and all, but-"
"It looks a bit like a wrestler mask."
While it was the first thing on her mind, it apparently wasn't the best thing to say.
Lilith didn't need to see his face to know that he was mortified, "G-god, well, you're right. Wow, huh, it… It really does. Oh, well, I mean, I can go and see if Ihaveanotheronesomewhere-"
"Eyeless." She hadn't meant to sound so authoritative, but at the moment, it seemed to help bring him back down. She tugged the hood down, quickly fixing it to her face, "It's a lot easier to breathe in this."
"Is it?" She wasn't sure how to describe the sound, but if she had to guess, the noise that left his mouth was something between a whimper and a snort, "Yeah, well, ventilation is very important."
"Very."
The two stood in the doorway, the faint sound of fingernails against cloth resonating from Eyeless' arm. "Hey, so…" Unable to put it into words, she pulled Eyeless into a one armed hug, "Thanks. Means a lot, and all that."
He gave a sheepish nod when Lilith let him go, taking a moment to straighten out the bottom of his jacket before scratching the back of his head. He looked like he wanted to say something more, only to shake his head, "So, umm, I hope you like it. Ah, if you need it adjusted later, you know where my room is."
Lilith nodded, watching Eyeless stumble down the corridor before closing the door behind her. As she turned, she caught sight of her reflection, hands running down the side of the plastic over her face. Granted, it didn't cover up everything, but it was better than nothing.
"Beats tearing apart my sheets to make a mask." Lilith muttered, tracing the points of her mask before pulling it off.
She winced at the scars, nearly gagging at how they pulsed beneath her skin. If she looked closely enough, she could see flashes of something black and sluggish darting about in her face, among the red and the blue on her pale skin.
She nearly threw up again, watching her face move like that.
She looked for something to cover her mirror with, only to trip over the mess on her floor. "Oh. Right. Crap."
There we go, we're back on our usual edge schedule. Er, if anything, we might actually be ahead.
Yay.