Mallory stood in the forest, eyes casted down with a dead look. He had taken him. He had taken Neil. She did NOTHING to stop him. Then again he had threatened Neil's life. Mallory glanced at the crumpled note in her hand and read it again.
1763 small cabin in the west side of the woods.
1:00 sharp or the boy dies. See you soon, Wanderer.
Was she really that famous? What did they even want with her? Mallory knew she had to find out; but she also knew she had to wait. Neil's life was on the line and she had to protect him no matter what, even if it meant her destruction. Mallory lifted the whistle around her neck to her lips and took a deep breath. She blew into the whistle, no sound seemed to come out. She waited for a few seconds before turning around to see Mayhem and Maniac standing right behind her. Mallory sat down crossing her legs, hunched over with her eyes casted down. "Take it out." Mayhem's ears folded back in surprise. "What?! Do you know the destruction that could come from doing so?!" Maniac stepped forward. "I'm with Mayhem on this one. I'm loyal to you as I am your dog, but I can't do this knowing the consequences." Mallory raised her head and looked at them with dead eyes, her expression cold and blank. "I know what I'm doing. Take it out, that's an order." Mayhem and Maniac stood there for a moment before slowly padding forward. They both raised their tail, long needle like cords swinging out and resting over her shoulders. Mallory closing her eyes. Slowly they inserted the needles and a whirring sound was heard as they began to suck out her blood. The red liquid shined in the sunlight, little green, white and blue specks sparkling in her blood. They continued to suck out her blood for the next few hours but nothing about her changed. Mallory looked and felt perfectly fine. However something strange started happening with her blood. The once red liquid was now a strange black ooze with glowing crimson specks. Once her blood looked this way, Mayhem and Maniac were quick to take out the needles which were sizzling. Mallory just continued to sit there, waiting. "You two. Go back to the lab. I'll meet you there later tonight. Make sure there's more for me to inject by sunrise. If you can't find it, retrieve the duffel bag from my room and take it back to the lab."
Mayhem held a paw over his chest. "Are you sure? What about-"
"Everything will be fine. I just have to wait."
…
Jeff paced back and forth in the cabin looking pissed. "I want to kill her. Why the Hell do we have to keep her or the kid alive?" he growled angrily. Slender sat in a chair with his legs crossed. "I want to know how strong she is. If she is even worthy having a title in our worlds. Both mortal and monster." Jack leaned against the wall with his arms crossed. "Why do I have to be here?" Ben raised a hand with an annoyed look. "I was just thinking the same thing." Slender held up a finger turning his head in their direction. "I want her to fight you all. You each have different strengths and weakness that pair rather well in battle. Think of this as a test. If she loses, she dies."
"And if we lose?"
"Then she'll either kill you, or you live and I gain more knowledge on who this is." He then looked over to Neil who was tied to a chair with a gag around his mouth. He had his eyes squeezed shut with tears streaming down his face. "Hmmm." Jeff looked to the old grandfather clock and watched as it struck one, a loud ding resonating through the cabin. They waited in silence for a few seconds before Jeff pulled out his knife. "Guess she's not coming. Time to kill this ru-"
BANG
They all looked to the door.
BANG
It shook.
BANG
The hinges rattled.
BANG
The door flew off and slid to a stop at Jeff's feet. Standing in the doorway was Mallory. She slowly walked in and stood just a few feet away. Slender stood up and held his hands behind his back. "You made it. Good. Since you're here we shall begin. First things first-"
Mallory's eyes snapped open to reveal crimson glowing orbs and she stared at them with no expression on her face. A suffocating aura engulfed them. It was nothing they had ever felt before. "Let. Neil. Go." she muttered. Though her voice was barely a whisper, they could hear her loud and clear. Jeff growled clutching his knife. He tried to move forward but found himself glued to the spot. Slender stepped forward holding up a hand, the aura seemed to disappear and the others felt like they could breath once again. "Listen, we mean no harm to you. Well...sort of. When I learned you were in town, I became curious as your name is well known. So now that you're here." he waved a finger and Jeff placed his knife next to Neil neck. "Choose your opponent. You may choose between these thr-"
"You."
Slender didn't say a word as he stood there. He looked to be contemplating something. "No." he answered. "You have the choices to fight-"
"You. Either you fight me, or I kill you all now. I am engulfed in rage. I could destroy this forest in a matter of MINUTES. You have crossed a dangerous line and if you even have a slither of care for this place, you will fight me. Or suffer the consequences. In all honesty thought..." Mallory disappeared and reappeared in front of Slender, her face inches away from his as her eyes flashed. "YOU DON'T HAVE A CHOICE." she spun and kicked him in the side of the head. Slender slid back a bit, the side of his head bleeding. He stood up straight to look at her only to see she was gone. He was suddenly shot forward by a powerful force and he slammed into the front of the cabin. Slender slowly stood up and turned to her. His once faceless head now had deep sunken eyes and a large black hole of a mouth with his lips jutting out as white fangs. Black tendrils flew out of his back and waved around. He turned his head to look towards Jeff. "You keep that boy out of the way. I'll fight her myself." A dark chuckle came from Mallory as a crazed look crossed crossed her face. "That's more like it. Better to cooperate then just let me toss you around like a rag-doll. It's more fun this way." Slender roared and shot out three tendrils two hitting Mallory head on while one struck the floor. The two that had hit Mallory went through her right side and left shoulder. She just stood there without a sound as everyone watched waiting for a reaction. Mallory slowly lifted a hand and grabbed the tendril going through her shoulder and ripping it from his body. Slender let out a grunt of pain and pulled back the other two, noticing the one that had gone through her side was steaming with a strange black and red ooze. He held it between his hands, not touching it as he watched it slowly disintegrate. "That won't work. A direct attack that harms my body won't do much, nor will it end well for you. My blood is made up of several different chemicals that combine as a healing agent, and a deadly acid that erodes away anything that it comes in contact with." She tossed the tendril she ripped off to the side and bent down before charging forward and tackling Slender through the house. She grabbed the front of his suit and swung him upwards before slamming him down on his head. She then jumped back landing perfectly. Mallory stood up straight and watched as Slender rose up from the ground, his height changing into that of a giant. He was at first only 7ft tall. Now he reached at least 15ft. Mallory was not phased by this. In fact she was not phased by much anymore at this point.
She reached up to her upper right arm and touched a strange metallic black ring. It flashed blue and small black particles began to pour out and encase her arm. Mallory raised her arm and the particles began to harden into a straight, sharp black blade. She swung the blade and held it up, the blade even bending when her arm did. "Change your form and I'll change mine. You may be some fantastical monster with abilities unknown to me, but I fall into the modern day list. True you possibly know more about the modern day world as killers do need pray. But…" she smiled up at him, her eyes flashing. "The pray you seek, will not simply bow to you. You see me as pray, I know you do. I know many things. And I…" she charged forward holding back her arm-blade. "Can't wait to kill you!"
Slender shot out his hands which stretched out into tendrils. The ones on his back pulling up trees to smash her with.
"HEY!" the two of them froze and looked towards the cabin, the front walls and door missing. Jeff stood there with Jack and Ben, Neil still tied to the chair his eyes wide and filled with fear as Jeff pressed his knife against his neck. "That's enough. Either you stand down and listen to Slenders demands, or you-" Mallory disappeared startling them all. They looked around keeping their senses sharp and never lowing their guard. Suddenly Jeff felt the cold touch of a blade touch his neck. He glanced back to see Mallory staring at him with a cold dark expression. "Remove your weapon at once. That or lose your life." he felt a trickle of blood stream down his cold skin warming it up. He slowly moved his knife away. "Now, all three of you step away from him. Do the opposite or attack and I will cut your heads off. This blade is sharper than anything in existence so killing you all with it will be no trouble at all." Ben and Jack and Ben moved away while Jeff walked forward and stood in front of the entrance. Mallory looked at Neil and cut the rope tying him and his gag in one clean swing. She picked him up and held him close. "I have what I want now. We're done here." she walked past Jeff heading out of the building where she was met with Slender, still in his monstrous state. He stared down at her and she stared back. "I'll say this once and only once. Stay away from Neil and his grandfather. Stay away from me. If you come anywhere near us in a 50 foot radius, I will know...and I will kill you." Mallory disappear in a flash, nothing of her or Neil was left near the little cabin in the woods. Nothing except for a small drop of Mallory's blood that ate away at the Earth. Slender slowly shrunk down and turned back to his more normal form. Jeff eyed the place Mallory last stood. It was nothing but a barren spot of dark Earth dead with no life even seeping from it. Ben moved in front front Jeff looking angry. "What the Hell man?! You never said she was this strong. You said that the two of you fought more along the lines of even ground. That wasn't even in the slightest!"
"She was different." Ben's eyes widened. "What?" Jeff clutched his knife, his body shaking in anger. "This was different. Her eyes were never red, she was both strong and fast especially from how LJ described his experience. But something changed. It's as if her abilities were heightened in some way. That wasn't the same Wanderer we thought she would be."
Mallory walked through the forest holding Neil in her left arm. "Mallory…" she stopped to look at him, her eyes now back to their beautiful, sparkling light blue. "Yeah? What is it?" she asked. He looked at her right shoulder, the wound gone, but her shirt still showed the fact that she had been impaled. "How...what…" he fell silent, unable to put what he wanted to ask into words. "I know what you want to ask. I'm sorry but I can't tell you. What you have seen today, is something that you must forget. I never wanted you to see me like that." they soon exited the forest and the motel was in sight. Mallory set Neil down and ruffled his hair giving him a smile. "I want you to go home. I'll be back in a few hours there's something I need to do. Okay? Once I get back it should be dinner time. I'll make your favorite tonight." Neil just looked up at her with big sad eyes but he simply just nodded in agreement. Neil turned away and started walking back to the house. Mallory watched him closely and it wasn't until he entered the house that she double over breathing heavily. "Oh God...The hunger. I must eat! I didn't kill anything!" she turned back and ran into the forest weaving through the trees with such speed and grace that it was unnatural. It was only a matter of minutes before she reached her lab. She slammed open the door and ran up the steps stopping on the third floor. Running into one of the rooms she began to set up as an office, she made her way to a box and began shuffling through an assortment of files. "Who...who shall end up on my plate? I need it, I crave it!" she snatched out a file and ripped it open greedily staring down at the photo in her hands. "Yes...she's perfect. Theft, fraud and abusive to her children. This woman is perfect…" Mallory wiped at the drool that trailed down the side of her mouth, her eyes now back to their deep crimson red. "She looks so...succulent!" She turned and walked out the door. "Time to eat. There is no choice."