I would like to note that most of these characters mentioned are not mine (i.e. Slenderman, Ticci Toby, and the likes), even though later on I may add a few of my own.

Uploads of the chapters will be sporadic due to my schedule.

The category isn't exactly right - I couldn't figure out what category to put it in.

Constructive criticism is welcome.

Slenderman

Impassive and I waited, hidden in the shadows of the alley, while Solitude wandered around aimlessly. The person – or rather, creature – we were here to see was a difficult being to find, so we set Solitude to the task of being bait. He had protested at first, but I explained that of the three, he was the one most likely to attract our friend's attention.

My tentacles roiled in anticipation. After returning home, I had shared what the voices said with my two companions. We deliberated over their meaning, before Impassive suggested that the voices might have been talking about a girl named Clockwork, who had killed her family before replacing her eye with a pocket watch. I myself had never heard of this girl, but my two proxies were familiar with her work. Nonetheless, we did not know where she was, nor where her hideout was located, so we settled for visiting someone who might know where to look: Ickbarr Bigelsteine.

Impassive straightened up, staring ahead. "Movement ahead, boss." I turned and watched as a harassed-looking man rounded the corner of the deserted street. He locked sights onto Solitude, who had no doubt noticed the man, though if he did he hid it well. In any case, I hissed softly to him. "Be careful. He is coming."

The man hurried over to Solitude. "Excuse me, sir, do you have the time?" Solitude looked up and gave a phony smile, being sure to show off most of his teeth as planned.

"Of course. It's time for you to take us to your friend."

The man paused, looking at him curiously. "I…what? Um, what friend?"

Solitude took a step closer. "The one you collect teeth for." The man's eyes were flicking everywhere now. He was visibly shaking, clearly nervous. Before he could escape, though, I reared up behind him silently. So scared was the man, though, that he didn't notice.

"Who—who are you?"

I wrapped several tentacles around the man, including one over his mouth. He struggled fiercely, which only elicited a tightening of my grip. "Friends…" I rasped. I nodded at Solitude, who elaborated.

"See, my boss and I want you to take us to Ickbarr Bigelsteine. Don't worry, we don't want to hurt him; we just think he might have some information that we could use." I sighed internally at Solitude's explanation. Even to me, it sounded threatening.

Despite this, though, the gentleman in my grip ceased his struggling. Giving us a wary look, he said, "I'll lead you to Ickbarr, but if you want anything from him you're going to have to, ah, give him something in return."

I set him down gently, pleased with his response. I gestured at Impassive with my head, and he withdrew two small plastic bags of teeth. "Fresh from The Harvester."

He tossed one of them to the man, who clutched it to himself as if it was his newborn. "The Harvester?" he asked. "I'm not familiar with them. I… don't really have many opportunities to pursue a social life."

This time, Solitude took over again. "He's an entity that hunts down humans and harvests them for various purposes. A real businessman. He's got everything from bones to meat (raw, of course – if you want to cook it you gotta do it on your own time) to, er, secretions." He nodded at the bag. "These are a mix of teeth from a variety of ages, male and female."

Ickbarr's proxy looked up suddenly from where he was examining the specimens. "Are there…. Are there children's teeth, too?"

Solitude wrinkled his nose in disgust, and even Impassive looked taken aback a bit. I, however, retained my composure; unfortunately, I had come across many creatures with a taste for children (including myself at one point, if you recall) that it no longer affected me. Even so, it's considered bad manners to consume children – for most of us, our quarrel is with adults. "God, no, they're all adults. Why, does Ickbarr have a preference for children's teeth?"

The man looked relieved. "No, no, he doesn't. Uh, come on. He's expecting me."

Together, we traversed through the city night, ducking as many humans as possible. Thankfully, it did not take very long to arrive at our destination. We walked into his room, where a pair of glowing white eyes and a smile awaited us in the dark. "Henry," a voice whispered, "How much do you love me?"

Henry held out the bag of teeth before throwing it onto the bed. "More than anything, Ickbarr. More than anything." He then proceeded to flip on the light. It was evident to me that these two had gone through this process many, many times. "I have some people who want to meet with you, Ickbarr. They say they're friends."

The creature, a peculiar-looking doll, scurried to the bed. "I noticed. But everything comes with a price…"

Henry nodded. "I know. I informed them. They're responsible for those teeth there; they also have their own bag to contribute." In front of Ickbarr, the man looked even more cowed than before. I felt pity for the pathetic human, and wondered if my own proxies felt that way. No, I would have noticed before.

Impassive tossed our bag to Ickbarr. "We're looking for some information." He and Solitude looked at me to continue.

I had been thinking hard on what to ask, and now I leaned slightly forward. "Ickbarr is very familiar with the whispers and the beings of this realm. Have the shadow creatures of his heard anything about one of our own making plans to breach the veil?"

Solitude translated for me. Ickbarr swallowed some of the teeth, chewing thoughtfully. "What delightful teeth. You surely need to tell me your supplier."

"Trade secret, sorry," my proxy said wryly. "Now, what about our question?"

"Ah, yes." The creature shook his head. "Nothing out of the ordinary."

"What about anything on Dr. Smiley? Or Clockwork? Any news on them?"

Ickbarr's eyes gleamed wickedly. "Now, funny that you should mention them. I have been hearing whispers of those two hanging out quite a bit. Could be nothing more than…ah…a romantic pursuit, but knowing those two, it certainly makes one's ears perk up." He leaned forward, almost hungrily. "That's all the questions for today. But since these are such exquisite teeth, I'll throw in some advice for ya, Slendy, free of charge: If there's ever been a time to gather your allies about you, now would be the time. Something's definitely brewing, even if now it's not that clear." The creature waved a dismissive hand at Henry, who jumped to attention. "Show our friends the door."

"Right this way, please," Henry mumbled. We followed in silence, all three of us clearly puzzling over the foreshadowing advice from Ickbarr.