A/N:

Hello again readers! Loving the support and comments so far, thank you all so much, you have no idea how much you mean to me XD Thank you! Anywho, without further ado, here is chapter 3, and some plot finally kicks in! Whoo!

"Daddy?"

The demon ignored her, Sickness feeding through the molten veins under his skin as he feasted on another wretched soul from the outside world. It tasted of sin and pollution and blood, a delicate mix that was euphoric in its way. It absorbed into him, his mouth watering with black ooze.

"Father!"

"What is it, child?" Zalgo snapped, teeth bared down at the young woman.

She flinched back, "I'm sorry, Daddy, but... I want to feed too."

"Patience, my dear. You can feast as soon as you are ready for the outside."

"But you let them eat, even if it's just one soul." She pointed a pale finger at the two figures, one with his face hidden by a mask, the other by a hood. They lay motionless in the mist, black trickling down their chins, "I am ready. And so hungry."

"And in time you'll get the chance to prove yourself, child. I want you starving by the time you get to meet-"

"Meet your friends, I know. Let me prove it, Daddy. Let me meet just one of them. I promise I'll kill them slowly! I already am starving and I want to feed n-"

His claw lashed out to lock around her throat, ignoring the snarl escaping from it, "You dare to defy me? You dare?" He didn't let her speak, she could only twitch. Zalgo actually considered pressing harder, letting his ebony talons pierce her skin; and in truth it wouldn't make much difference to him should she expire in his grasp. However, he bared his teeth a little more in a grotesque smile, "You did dare... Perhaps, you are ready..."

Despite being unable to breathe, her onyx eyes glistened in glee, too innocent for her appearance or intent, "Yes, D-Daddy..."

A cruel laugh emitted from deep within Zalgo, "Maybe it wouldn't hurt for you to prove it... Is there anyone in particular you want to devour first? One of no real use to my dear Slender, we don't want him getting distressed just yet."

He let her slump to the ground. She recovered in a crouch, looking up at Zalgo with a hungry, eager grin, "Pick for me? You know them better than me, but they all sound so delicious..."

Zalgo had taught her well. He pressed his hands together as he contemplated what to do. And then it hit him. Why not let the old fool chose one of his own labs for the slaughter? Poor, Slender, he almost pitied him if it weren't all so laughable. Zalgo stuck out a hand, letting the misted Sickness in the air weave through his fingers. There were a few little lambs he could take advantage of, but which to choose? Who would Slender get a better picture from? Wait... Picture. Or a drawing... Perfect.

"Wait just a day or two more, my child, you'll be getting a new playmate very soon. I just need to give a lost soul a crystal clear image to pass onto my dear friend, Slender first."

Alice stood with her hands on her hips, an eyebrow arched over cold blue eyes. Long story short, she did not look impressed. She was waiting for an answer to her question. Just what the hell were they doing here? Watching her on stage. Sure, this wasn't her usual haunt when she was out and about, but this was her private thing. They had no right to trespass like this. On the other hand, the others were reacting somewhat differently. Ben wryly hanging behind to enjoy the outplay, Toby still lost somewhere in the atmosphere of the crowd, Trixie trying to keep out of the way and Jeff simply matching Alice's scowl. In his opinion having bumped into her was his night ruined after all.

"What are we doing here? What are you doing here?" Toby asked, "You sing?"

"Not that it's any of your business, but I sometimes come to places like this after a job to earn some cash from tips. Turns out my job was actually backstage here so it worked out quite well."

"Now the extra shopping bags in the trash make sense..." Ben muttered.

She narrowed her eyes suspiciously, "Where did you think I was getting my money from?"

"Hooker." Jeff answered instantly.

"Drugs." Ben offered. Toby raised a finger to give a suggestion, but then nodded in agreement to seemingly no one in particular.

"Theft..." Trixie mumbled to herself, unheard over the speakers.

Alice rolled her eyes, "Give me some credit at least. Now for god's sake get back here. And pick your jaw off the floor, Jeff, it's a dress not a birthday suit."

Jeff snapped his eyes back up to hers, raising his middle finger and opening his mouth to most likely give a curse. Although this time she didn't wait for an answer, turning on her pointed heels and vanishing behind the black curtain that led to a heavy backstage door. Trixie exchanged a look with Toby who gave a passive shrug and made the first step to follow. Part of her was kind of excited, she'd never been backstage at a club before. Although in an ideal world she wouldn't be going with three killers and a ghost... But still, beggars can't be choosers.

She followed along behind the others through the door, the security guard seemingly okay with them being there since they were with a performer. It wasn't as glamorous as she thought, in fact it was pretty damp and chilly with stone walls and stacks of supply boxes stacked in the corridor. Alice led them to a brittle looking door on the left hand side, opening it and sauntering in like she owned the place. It was likely that she did, since it was a dressing room with some of her items on the table. That was literally the only item in that room, along with a closet door on the other side. That was it.

"Wow, you hit the big leagues here." Ben said sarcastically.

"I'm here for the one song, I didn't get more than I'd need." Alice returned sourly, pushing her hair from her face and looking in the mirror, "And I had another job to do if you remember."

"Could have at least done that first." Jeff snapped, "Don't want Slendy hearing you're spreading Sickness because you wanted to play pop star before murderer."

"You know me better than that by now, Jeffy-boy," She smirked, slipping off her jacket to reveal her bare arms and shoulders. Only, the usual clear complexion was stained with dried, crusted red patches. Blood. And by the lack of wounds, it wasn't hers. She took enjoyment in their surprised faces, opening the closet to hang up her jacket and having to step over a large, bloody pulp of a human shape while doing so, "Business before pleasure."

Trixie wretched at the horrific metallic smell coming from the body, hunched and twisted unnaturally where it had been shoved into the closet. She guessed that it had once been a man in his forties, but she didn't remember drawing him, so it must have been someone else's find. She couldn't help but wonder what his crime was to deserve this punishment. To be brutally murdered in the back of a rundown night club.. But she tried to push it away, it was sometimes best not to know. If she looked closer, Trixie could see faint mismatched patches on Alice's red dress. More blood. Great...

Alice finished hanging up the jacket and dropped a playing card onto the body, a signature of hers. She took the rest of the deck, all embroidered with different colours per symbol and her name expertly printed on the back, and quickly shuffled them before putting them on the dressing table where a change of clothes were waiting for her. She picked pulled out a damp towel and started rubbing her arms, "I hate it when they get grabby. I liked this dress..."

"Just buy another one with your hard earned cash." Jeff said bitterly.

"Jealous, Jeffy-boy?"

"Piss off."

Toby closed the closet door to once again hide the body, "You alright, Trix? You look all pre-throw up-ish."

She took a moment to take a breath, "I'm fine. Just not used to being around... that."

"Yeah it's such a burden being around dead people." Ben quipped, giving her a look.

"Being around blood, then, if you're getting technical..."

He winked, rubbing his finger and thumb together so sparks crackled from the friction, "I'm nothing but technical."

She looked away, choosing to admire the few clean spots in the carpet and pretend she hadn't heard the slightly perverse tone. Alice turned her back and vanished behind an old fashioned changing wall, stripping out of her dress and heels out of sight, changing into a long sleeve shirt and skinny jeans. Toby tilted his head in thought, pushing his goggles up onto his forehead.

"So... Can we go back to the dance floor yet?" he grinned.

Jeff gave him a look, "Yeah, because staying around where there's a freaking body is a great idea."

"It's not like we killed him." Toby offered, then after a moment he seemed to hit a realisation, "Oh right..."

Alice exchanged a look with Ben, muttering, "Genius..."

"Well that's just great." Jeff snapped harshly at Ben, "Good night fucked up just because you wanted a cheap laugh."

"And a show, don't forget the show." The ghost replied smugly, "And besides, night's still young."

"We're going somewhere else?" Trixie asked somewhat reluctantly. Great, first it was two killers who put up with each other and a ghost, now it was a ghost and three killers two of which hated each other. Wait, was it reluctance? Something didn't feel right, like a cold chill in the pit of her stomach. Her head pounded harshly, eyes getting heavy, "I think... Well maybe we should-"

"Spit it out newbie." Alice scolded.

She shivered, fingers twitching. This was bad. She hadn't felt like this since she was forced to... No it couldn't be! Not again! Please! Toby poked her shoulder, "What's up, Trix?"

Ben arched an eyebrow, "Another job on offer?"

She felt like she was going to throw up, her fists clenched. She was scared. She didn't want to draw. This wasn't like how it normally felt. This was wrong. She shook her head. Please not him again! Get out of my head!

He exchanged a look with the others, they didn't look comfortable either, "You're not controlling this one, are you?"

Again, she shook her head. Jeff pushed his hair out of his eyes, looking ready to stab someone in irritation, "For fucks sake..."

The clear night time darkness had leaked its way into the semi-spacious bedroom. Only a small corner of it illuminated by a lamp at a young lady's bedside table. She sat against her pillows, dark brunette hair tied up into a high-ponytail which made her blue eyes seem a little bigger. She smiled absentmindedly as she wrote in her diary. Some may say she was too old for a diary, but she didn't really care. She thought she was perfectly entitled to document her opinions and thoughts if she wished. What she didn't realize was that she was being observed.

Shad stayed to the shadows, choosing to respect her privacy and not read over her shoulder despite wanting to know what was going through her head. In truth, he felt awful having to pry like this. It was unjustified and it was an abuse on her privacy as well as his powers. But he had to make sure she was alright. That night when he had seen the Sickness in her eyes, threatening to take her away, it had stuck with him. He needed to protect her. His Emily.

Emily stopped and turned around suddenly, eyes curious. Shad only remained perfectly still in his hiding place, and her eyes travelled right past him. She was forbidden to see him. If he was on a job, then he was carrying excess Sickness, and he couldn't risk letting her see him and infecting her. Although he knew that if she was infected, then perhaps he could speak to her, let her get to know him and even apologize for these well intended security checks. But he just couldn't do that to her. He couldn't drag her into this dangerous and isolated world just because he wanted her to know who he was. This was her world, this is where she belonged.

Finally, she gave up her search and turned back to her diary with a tired sigh. Leaving open the page and leaving her pen in place as if pointing to a certain section. Of course she didn't know just what she could feel watching her, or what its intentions were. But, something in the back of her mind told her not to be afraid. It was strange, and she often wondered if she was just going insane or had red too many supernatural novels. But she often liked to pretend she was part of a story book. Why not indulge her own fantasy when she knew that it was all in her head. There was nothing really watching her. It was just a fatigue induced daydream. She turned off her lamp, and slipped into bed, closing her eyes and steadily allowing herself to sleep.

Shad watched, content that once again, she was free from risk and outside danger. And he was about to leave, not wanting to keep watch for longer than necessary. Watching her sleep was a little too much, he thought. Although... the way she so blatantly left her diary open, she had never done that before. No, she couldn't have known he was there, it wasn't as if he had given himself away. Yes, occasionally he would write her a letter, a small story or a poem or something along those lines, sometimes a drawing, a gift to her. In fact, he had one on him now that he was already slipping into her college bag. There was no sense in leaving it on her desk or else she'd know someone was there and he wouldn't want her fearing him. It was best to leave it in her bag, so that she would suspect someone from her everyday life. And that was for the best. It hurt him, but she belonged in her world, not the shadows like him.

He did end up wondering silently to her diary though, only focussing the section that had been pointed out to him. It read: I feel like I'm being watched again. It's not a bad thing, not that many would agree but there we go. Just me maybe, I don't know, it feels real. Kinda feels like when you're out with a friend in a dangerous area, that they've got your back. I like it. My Watcher does a pretty good job. Christ, I sound crazy. Maybe I am. Hell, you know what, if being crazy means I feel safe, then I'll be happy being crazy! My Watcher could at least let me thank them in person, or just say Hi, I'm not picky. I doubt a figment of my imagination keeps leaving me those letters though. I hope it's not that creep, Jones, I swear he sweats more than a pig in summer.

The rest quickly followed into a tangent stream of consciousness that led into personal information about her classes, so he stopped reading out of politeness. He couldn't help but give a rare, small smile. My Watcher, she called him... He shouldn't feel happy about this. It was a bad thing that she was becoming aware of him. It was too risky. But... she felt safe, which is what she wanted. What he wanted too! It was all so confusing. And confusion was not something he was used to dealing with.

So why was he moving back to her bag to collect his letter to her? Why was he writing on the outside? A side note. He was acting on impulse and that was not like him! This was going against everything that he had been taught and what he stood by. But, he couldn't help it. He only wrote one sentence: Sometimes the most observant of eyes cannot be gazed upon, and I apologize. And then, it was replaced in her bag. He knew he was most likely fuelling the fire to her curiosity, but at least it provided a minor explanation. He owed her that much.

A/N:

Aww Shad, the tragic romance where he cannot be with his dearest because it'll hurt her, meanwhile she had no real idea of who or what he is. Sigh... Anyway, who is this 'daughter' of Zalgo? Who is Trixie going to be forced to draw on behalf of Zalgo? How is Slendy going to take it? Answers will be given soon! XD