Chapter 1: And So, It Begins.
Hi, I'm back!
This is the edited version of the first chapter which I used to replace the other version. Also, kudos to my amazing yet undisclosed editor, who somehow found the time to read through my writing. Finally, I would like to thank anyone who had decided to read this. Reviews and constructive criticism are both welcome!
Your rookie author,
Mallory
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the creepypastas, they all belong to their respective creators. I only own my OCs and this plot.
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The day Sally fell into the wormhole was the same day EJ decided to just have a little taste of Toby's waffle, to put it simply, normal food did not cooperate with EJ's stomach. Sometimes, too much cannibalism can do that to you. Oh, and Toby was not happy about EJ's reaction, by the time breakfast was finished, he was convinced that the blue-masked boy was an alien, sent to destroy all waffles.
Slender was not happy with the way his proxies were behaving, after all, they were teens, not toddlers. If he wanted them to behave like literal children, he would've just gotten them invitations to one of Sally's tea parties. But being the father figure to an entire family of killers can include having to deal with some supposedly mature boys fighting over whether an alien was amongst them, it just went with the package.
"Listen, no one, and by that, I mean no one, can ever eat a waffle and say it tasted terrible," Toby squinted at EJ from across the table, "Unless they aren't human."
The cannibal sighed and put down the kidney he was just about to devour, "I have been eating this," he picked up the kidney and held it out in front of the other killer, "for the last few years, don't you think it's possible for me to just not like a waffle."
"...yes."
Jack let out another of his ever so famous, I-am-so-disappointed sighs and placed began munching on his kidney, despite the suspicious looks that Toby was shooting him.
Slender stared back down at the newspaper he had been pretending to read. Yes, an eldritch abomination likes to read the news, to be honest, no one is surprised anymore. This may have been a rough start to the day, but they could still at least save the rest of it. Or until Jeff comes down along with his pension for murder and chaos and just pure noise. Or until LJ decides to share a little bit of the more 'fun' candy. Or until...
Yep, every day has been a complete mess, nothing the all-powerful Slenderman can do about it.
It was then the group heard the usual shout from the stairs that accompanied their favourite deranged serial killer in the mornings, the trademark:
"Good morning, motherfuckers!"
Ben came tumbling out of the TV, as he always did when he heard the ever so sudden voice of Jeff. Who, at the moment, was skateboarding down the stairs with his deranged, carved-out smile on full display. Sally, being the cutie she usually was when she was around her adoptive family, gave a little wave and an adorable:
"Good morning, Jeff!"
Startled by the sudden greeting, Jeff lost his balance and came crashing down the last few steps, with his skateboard (which was most likely stolen) landing on the floor beside him, somehow still intact. He stood up not a minute later, dusting off his white hoodie and picking up his skateboard. Making sure to give Toby's head a smack on his way to the table, to which the pyromaniac responded by throwing one of his bacon strips at the serial killer.
The knife that embedded itself in the wood was definitely not thrown by Jeff. Nope, couldn't have been him, he does not know what you're talking about. Knife? What knife? He doesn't know any knives.
Masky and Hoodie came down the stairs a few minutes later, at which point the rest had already finished their food without further interruption (Laughing Jack had attempted to slip a couple of his 'sweets' into Sally's cereal, Toby tried to light the house on fire for the fourth time this week, it was Tuesday and Ben tried to smuggle his Nintendo into his lap several times and somehow failed each attempt), yes definitely without interruption.
"Where have you been?"
The pair jumped a bit at the voice of their boss, he was known for not speaking for long periods of time only to spook them with the sudden tone of his voice, but the proxies would probably never get used to the low tones coming out of nowhere.
Hoodie stated the obvious, "Sleeping, in our beds, in our rooms, in this house, in..."
"Did you oversleep, again?"
Masky cut off Hoodie's response with a "Yes."
The tall, pale figure pinched the part of his face where the bridge of his nose should've been.
"Did you stay up again?"
"Blame Ben," the two of them said at the same time.
Despite his blank surface of a face, the look he sent the living virus could only be classified as questioning. Ben, on the other hand, had just taken notice of the newcomers, and was now attempting to school his features into an innocent expression... and failing miserably. Slender let out what was probably the dozenth sigh this morning, it was way too early for this.
He pointed a single shadow tendril at Ben, "I will deal with you later."
When Slender turned away, the Link lookalike sent a very timesaving, very insulting gesture at the tall entity, much to the behest of EJ, who gave the boy a disapproving look, which Ben ignored.
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After Masky and Hoodie finished breakfast, Slender began the overview of that day's assignments: a couple in California who have begun a cult, some teens who have decided that it was a great idea to begin looking for creepypastas, you know, the usual. Naturally, Jeff was the first to be chosen, along with supervision from Masky, of course. Slender was many things, dumb wasn't one of them. Toby was sent to take care of the footage; he has been begging to be let out of the Mansion for the past three days and he also had been stocking up on gasoline for the eventual job. EJ was sent to go with him, and Ben was told to wipe some footage LJ left after killing some poor kid.
If I had to give you an exact time when things went wrong, it would be during this briefing, with Jeff slumped over the couch, looking bored; Toby bouncing around, most likely due to the sugar intake; and the rest of them sitting and/or lying on various cushions and parts of the floor. Maybe it was the chill in the air that even Slender felt, or the fact that one of their group was missing.
"And so that is it for today," Slender finished, casting a look around the room, "Jeff, Masky, I expect the two of you to be ready and gone by the afternoon. EJ, take a look around upstairs for Sally, she has a job somewhere in Arizona, and the rest of you go about your day."
With that, the meeting dispersed, Ben went straight to mopping up his peer's mess; Toby went for a rummage around the house for those hatchets he kept losing; and EJ made his way up the stairs.
When he got to the landing, he instantly knew something was wrong, or at least something wasn't right, which won't exactly qualify as wrong, but it wasn't a good thing. Usually, Sally, being able to hear the footsteps of EJ, would've already been waiting there with an invitation to her newest tea party. In fact, she would've already been downstairs during the meeting, simply to be there with her surrogate brothers. And if she wasn't... EJ hated to think of the connotations of that.
He quickly shook his head, he must be overthinking it all, maybe she was just tired... or something. But not missing, never missing. Just to be sure, he walked through the almost maze-like corridors of the Ark, on his way to the young ghost's room.
It was when he got there, did he fully realise the gravity of his situation. Sally was nowhere to be seen, but there was a gigantic gaping hole right there where the floor should be. EJ gulped. Ok, so this was not normal, nope definitely not normal, like the opposite of normal. He was certain, and by that, I mean certain, that there was a floor right there, he had been inside her room several times for those damned tea parties, and he knew that there had not been a hole there before. And not a hole so odd, the edges were glowing with a strange red energy and through it Jack could see a mysterious light, too bright to see what was through the portal.
Despite the obvious red flags, EJ still felt a sort of... pull to the portal, as if it was drawing him in. A moment later, he noticed the quiet voice in his ear whispering:
"C'mon, get in there. It'll be fun, I promise."
He raced out of the room, and practically turned the house upside-down looking for the girl, but to no avail, Sally was nowhere to be found. Thoughts and worries snuck up on him, and suddenly, his mind was being bombarded with the worst scenarios. For a full few minutes, he was just standing there, staring at the wall. But eventually, he got ahold of himself. Shaking himself out of his trance, he took another look at the hole, just to make sure it was real, then rushed back into the corridors and down the stairs, intent on informing someone of his recent discovery.
And that's how Jeff found him, on his way from his bedroom to the front door, already set for the trip to California. Jack was panting hard and could barely speak.
"Whoa," said Jeff, "Where are you going?"
"Room..." managed Jack, "room...portal...Sally..."
For the first time in possibly forever, Jeff got the sense of urgency and, half-dragging Jack, ran straight to Slender's study. However, he was still Jeff, and completely disregarded the 'knock before entering' sign on the door and slammed the door open.
"Jeff," said Slender, a clear hint of annoyance in his voice, "how many times have I told you: knock before entering."
"Well...uh...you see...uh,"
"What."
"Jack will explain it better."
EJ, having already calmed down, told Slender about everything, Sally being missing, the floor also being missing and the portal that he found. At the first mention of Sally being missing, the tall entity immediately stood up and teleported into the girl's room. And the sight was, indeed, shocking. If anything, the bright light that shone in the portal, had become even brighter, even lighting up the dim corridor.
Slender let out a small cough. For the first time, and today had been full of firsts, he didn't know what to do or say, because A: despite literally having been around since the creation of Earth, nothing like this had ever happened before and B: there was a very good chance that Sally was right through that portal and he doubted anyone would be brave, or dumb, enough to venture into that blinding light. However, Sally wasn't going to get back by herself, if she was down there, and there was really no other option but to go through that damned hole.
"So... well... um... boss?"
"Yes, Jeff?"
"What the heck do we do now?"
EJ, frustrated, made a vague gesture towards the glowing portal, which was still emitting that unfamiliar red aura. Jeff turned towards the eyeless boy, his expression one of real shock.
"You aren't saying we're gonna go down this..."
Cue the vague gestures.
"Whatever this is!"
"Jeffrey, I'm afraid that Jack has a point."
He turned towards the faceless being with an, if possible, even more disbelieving look on his face.
"Not immediately, of course, but I will take it up with the others, let them voice their opinions."
Jeff took one more look at his companions, and settled with shoving his face into his hands, there really was no other option but to go into that portal, but that didn't mean he'd have to like it.
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Skip to a few hours in the future, and we see the residents of the Ark standing next to the portal, each of them staring into the whiteness. They had just come up from the living room in a haste and agreed that if their youngest member was lost somewhere in there, they were going to find her, portal or no portal. Slender had made each one of them stock up on clothes, food and supplies, for the ones that need them, of course. LJ had simply brought up his music box, thinking it enough for him to have an entire pocket dimension within arm's reach. Slenderman just didn't need to eat or drink, and his suit can't be damaged anyway.
"...is everyone ready?"
They didn't say anything, they didn't need to. Ready or not, they'll have to go through that portal, Sally was on the other side and there was no way they were leaving her there without them.
Toby took a deep breath, as though about to take a dive and in unison, they all jumped into the portal. For a moment, all the pyromaniac could see was whiteness, but a few years after that fateful day, he could've sworn he had heard something, a faint voice, seemingly coming from everywhere at once.
This is what the voice had said.
"And now, the search has begun."
