He's the Tear In My Heart, I'm Alive
He's the Tear In My Heart, I'm On Fire
He's the Tear In My Heart, Take Me Higher
Than I've Ever Been!
It was one overcast day that Hoody seemed to decide he would no longer follow Tim around like a pup, but instead tug and grab at the other who's hands swatted him away with force as they trudged through the woods towards their next goal. Yet Tim still followed, curiosity bubbling up in him. Hoody had never been like this, except on the few occasions where he knew the best way to track and kill their latest target; and he had never failed him then, so Masky still reluctantly followed.
Until, of course, they came upon an old settlement that must have dated back to the Colonial Era; houses rotting away and slowly becoming one with the first that was slowly overtaking it. One thing that stood out among the decrepit buildings, was a well that was slowly falling into shambles; stones falling out of all but one side, which held fast and persisted against the test of time. Hoody had so easily walked up to the well, hands in his pocket as he peered down into as if expecting something to be in it - or possibly worse. Masky stood some odd feet behind, watching the other curiously and trying to figure out what exactly he was seeing.
After a few tense moments, Hoody turned towards him and gestured him over. Masky made a face, and went to ask what he thought he was doing - however Hoody gave him little time to question as he moved onto the more solid wall of the well, standing atop it with ease and staring down into the abyss. Masky's heart stopped for a moment, legs carrying him forward without his consent as the hooded figure plunged into the darkness of the well; Masky's hand missing by what seemed mere inches as the other fell into the well. Masky flung his head over to the side, trying to judge the distance from where he was to the bottom to see if there was even a chance of retrieving the other -
Only to find that, not even five feet down, wooden planks covered the entrance almost perfectly. Compared to the rest of the buildings and even well itself, the boards almost seemed brand spanking new, untouched by weathering and the weight of an adult male plunging through them. His head spun then, confusion overtaking his frame the more he stared. Yet the more he stared - the more something buzzing and static in the back of his head told him to follow. It was completely impossible, he knew; the vanishing act that Hoody had just performed before his very eyes. But, looking to the forest around him and then back into the well as the static and buzzing growing within his skull, he knew there was really only one way to figure out the secret of what the other had just done.
Knowing he had little left to lose at this point, Masky balanced on the edge he had seen Hoody so carefully stand on and, with one deep intake, he took the leap.
Masky found himself being hurled quite literally from the black abyss he had so gracefully launched himself into. He hit solid ground hard; grass tickling at any bare skin it came into contact with as he slowly got his barings. Sure enough, as his vision began to clear through his mask, he found he was looking up to a brighter sky with taller trees - and Hoody bent above him, head cocked to one side as he looked at the other. Concerned, perhaps?
Masky groaned, sitting up slowly as Hoody moved out of his view, hand rubbing at his head as he tried to look around. Yes, they were in a forest. But it was a completely different forest then where he had originally come from. Shooing away Hoody's offered hand, Masky stumbled to his feet, still rubbing at his head.
'The fuck….?" he groaned, finally looking to Hoody who seemed to be watching him expectantly. "Did we - was that a portal through that well or something?"
Hoody nodded. Masky looked back to the well, then back to Hoody.
"Where the hell did it take us, then?" he asked, finally relieving his hand from his now dully throbbing head.
Hoody looked around, as if looking for clues to easily explain away what had just happened but to no avail. Finally, Hoody held up a finger in an 'ah-ha' moment before gesturing Masky to follow. Masky watched the other trot a few feet down a nearby path before slowly following suit; the sounds of trees rustling and birds chirping not easing the feeling of being watched, nor the fact that he was sure he heard things that didn't sound like any animal he'd ever heard before.
The walk itself felt like hours, yet must have only been thirty minutes tops as they managed their way down the path until it opened into a small field. A small, rickety looking house sat near the back, its rear against the trees that surrounded it. Masky paused, confused; wasn't this the shack they'd found Hoody in before? No, it was most definitely different than before, if not a different place entirely. Hoody seemed to care not about its dilapidated state, merrily trotting up to its entrance and waiting for Tim expectantly as he followed behind at a slower rate.
The inside appeared to be just as welcoming as the outside. While not as completely ruined and weather torn as the outside, the inside appeared to not have been lived in for ages despite its more modern appearance. The living room adjacent to the front door was blocked off by a half wall; revealing an old looking couch, chair, table and shelving for a television or what have you. The floors were wooden with some dark spots here and there. The kitchen was attached to the living room, separated by a half wall and illuminated by one dim light; same as the living room. To the left of the kitchen door, a set of stairs led upwards into a black abyss.
What unnerved Tim the most about the stairs was that, despite him being able to tell that they obviously were usable and went to a second floor - the exterior of the building hadn't had a second floor. It had most definitely been a small, single story home. On the opposite end of the wall blocking the kitchen from the living room, there went a small hallway with another doorway; its door closed.
Hoody stayed quiet, as per usual, as Masky took in the view. He hadn't even realized he had wandered into the middle of the living room until he turned to face Hoody. The figure stood between the kitchen doorway and the hallway leading to the front door, hands in his pocket as he watched the other adamantly.
"What….. What is this place?" Tim asked, more curious than frightened. Hell, if he was gonna die here - well, he was honestly ready to die, so it wasn't like it mattered all too much to him anymore.
"Home."
Tim jumped and spun around, body tensed as he moved for the knife in his jacket pocket. Hoody, for his part, didn't seem to react fast enough - though Tim now could see why as he slowly put his knife back where he had found it.
In the entrance to the small hallway with the one door stood the Operator, half slumped over due to his height in such a small building. If it had been anyone else, Tim might have found himself laughing at the sight. He knew better, though.
"Home?" Tim parroted, looking around himself again before looking back to his boss. "As in, your home?"
"No and yes, child," the Operator told him with a shake of its head. It took a slow, step forward, long arms swinging as if having a mind of their own at its sides as its face kept turned at Tim. "I have found it fitting for a more suitable - hmm - 'home base,' as you might call it. This place - my realm - will be harder for humans to track down if we are in need of hiding."
Suitable probably wasn't the best word for this place, considering all the dust and cobwebs that seemed to have built up over the years. But he supposed it otherwise was doable, considering it somehow managed to have light. And hey, it was better than staying at a hotel and having to dish out money to stay there.
"Heh, so much for a secret place," snorted Tim as he looked around once more, "considerin' we came through a wishing well. Don't you think it'll take just one drunken idiot to stumble in and find this place?"
"On the contrary," was the Tall Man's reply, "for it seems your companion has found more ways than one to get through to here - including that from where you came. And it will be unlikely that a human simply stumbles upon a way to us, much less knows of how to use such things nor any idea they exist."
Tim's nose scrunched up under his mask as he turned to look at Hoodie, who stood practically motionless where Tim had left him. Now would've been a good time as any, considering Hoody only ever spoke in hand gestures and grunts and was never able to respond vocally (or, at least, never really tried).
"Speakin' of him," Tim practically spat, gesturing to the figure that still stood otherwise unmoved. "You wanna tell me what that's about? The fuck is he here for - or at all?! I thought I - I killed him!"
Both Tim and Masky had slowly become accustomed to being unafraid of the Tall Man over the time they had worked for it. They should have been more afraid, they knew. But what was the creature going to do to them that was even worse than what they had already gone through? Turn them into a mindless zombie? Kill the friends that were already dead? The family Tim no longer cared about and wished death upon them ages ago? There wasn't much it could do besides torture - and that might have even be a better fate than what was brought to them. So such fuming and angry language he used towards it was with disregard of their own lives. It really couldn't be any worse.
The featureless face that stared down at him was tilted to one side as if in thought. It only momentarily looked to Hoody - still unmoving, still ever so silent - before looking back down to him. Sadly, such a being seemed to have unlimited patience with mortals such as Tim.
"Assistance, my child," Slenderman informed, slinking past him and towards the door. "My ability can stretch beyond your comprehension, and I've found it easy to reanimate the dead so long as it is within a small window since their death."
"And why?!" Masky hissed, body turning to follow the figure more easily. Hoody took a step away from the entrance to let their master past. "Why him? Why is he alive?"
"I told you, child," the Operator said, pausing his stride momentarily to look back at the other, "assistance, primarily for yourself. You can be reckless, my dear child, to the point where I see you dead faster than intended. And this one -," he gestured with his head to Hoody, who was now turning his head between the two as each one spoke, "- Hoody, as you've apt to call him, was merely in need of a vessel to better move and assist. Unless you would rather I return him to his fate and find another?"
Hoody's face quite literally snapped back to Masky, who watched the two hesitantly; thrown off by the reasoning. Masky had to remember he was expected to respond quickly, and shook his head in response.
"No, I- it's fine," he shrugged, then let out an annoyed sigh. "Could use the help, I guess."
Slender nodded instead of speaking, finally withdrawing himself from the odd little house and leaving the two in moderate silence. The kitchen light flickers slightly, and Tim sighed as he removed his mask and a cigarette from his pocket. He supposed that if he was going to live here, he mused to himself as he lit the cancer stick, he might as well start with some improvements.