Stalker

I know I said I wouldn’t do another rant post, especially so soon after that last one, but I have to. I promise I’ll make this up to everyone. Maybe with a week’s worth of posting nothing but silly memes.

It looks like I’ve got a stalker now. He’s a really creepy guy; he’s dressed like a homeless person, and he’s got all these scars on his face. And whenever I see him, he’s always smirking at me. At first I thought it was just a weird coincidence that I kept seeing him, but when I got home from work, he was waiting across the street. Before anyone panics, I already called the police. He was gone before they arrived, but I hope they’ll take care of it all soon.

To end this on a brighter note, Raychel and her husband are coming over for later this week. Maybe that will help take my mind off of this.

Kitties!

I said I'd have a regular post today, so here it is. A few pictures of adorable kittens I've found on the internet.

Rant

Hey there, followers. I hope you all had a better day than me.

Nothing funny or interesting for this blog today; I’m using it to vent. I hope this will just be a one-time thing, and I can get back to posting fun content soon.

It feels like all our customers got together and agreed that today would be the day to call in and complain. I was called a bitch by four different people on the phone today, and got shouted at by three more. And then my boss came in to give us a speech about how he’s been receiving complaints about our customer service. He didn’t mention me by name, but he made it clear that he was talking about me. I swear, it feels like I have the worst job I could imagine.

I did get some cheering up when I came home, and Jack had already set up dinner for me. I’m really lucky to have him.

But enough complaining. Tomorrow, I’ll have a real post for everyone.

Taking that break might have been a bad idea. While we were resting, Slender Man suddenly appeared in the room. It was only there for a moment, too quick for any of us to react. Then it vanished into darkness. An impenetrable blackness spread through the room, swallowing everything. Sky got up and ran when she saw it, but as she did the darkness appeared on the other side of the room, enveloping her. I heard Arkady swear, and he jumped in after her, vanishing as well.

They were both gone so quick, I almost missed it. Suddenly, I was alone. And the only reason the darkness that’s surrounding me hasn’t consumed me as well is because of the light from my laptop screen. And that’s getting dimmer by the second.

I don’t know what happened to the other two. From Sky’s reaction, it couldn’t’ be good. I wish I could go after her, but I don’t know what will happen if that darkness takes me. I’m just trying to hold it off for as long as I can now….

No matter where we walked, Sky and I always seemed to be getting closer to the top of the skyscraper. Even walking down the stairs somehow made us get higher up. The more floors we climbed, the weirder stuff got. I’ve started hearing what sounds like people whispering all around me, and the fog sometimes seems to be reaching for us with smoky hands. And there are points where the office floors are so covered in branches and water that it almost feels like we’re walking through a forest.

When we went through one door that should have led back to the stairwell, we instead found ourselves in a long hallway. Apart from the door at the end, the hallway was completely empty. It didn’t have a single one of the swamp like features that fill the rest of the place. We went through the door, and came out in Truth’s office.

It was remarkably unchanged from since the last time I’d been in there. Like the hallway we’d come from, it hadn’t undergone the transformation like the rest of the building had. Not that I could make a comparison at the time, because when I turned around to check, the door we’d come through had vanished. There was no sign of Truth in the room, but the big painting of Yggdrasil that had been behind his desk was off the wall, revealing a large metal door that had been covered by it. The door looked really heavy and secure, but it had been left open a crack. With nothing else to do, I pulled the door open the rest of the way, and looked inside.

That resulted in me getting two guns pointed at my face. Holding them were two of Truth’s guards, and sitting behind them was Truth.

T: “Well this is an unexpected turn of events. Bring them inside.”

The guards grabbed Sky and me, and pulled us through the door. Unlike the richly decorated office, this room resembled a bunker, with gray concrete walls and extremely utilitarian looking bunks. There was a small kitchen to one side, and a very Spartan looking bathroom in the corner. It was clearly a place designed purely for survival.

T: “Hello, Sky and… Diana, was it? I can’t say I was expecting anyone to arrive here.”

*Sky glowered at him*

T: “Oh come now Sky, is that any way to greet your grandfather?”

*I’ll just say that I didn’t see that coming. I probably stood there with my jaw open for several seconds as I processed what I’d heard. Sky continued to glower.*

T: “I suppose I can’t expect much. Still, the two of you coming here has thrown what plans I had off. A little courtesy would be nice.”

D: “W… what is this place?”

T: “A safe room I built into my office so that I could wait out emergencies in safety. Although I never expected it would be used in this kind of emergency.”’

D: “So you’ve been here the whole time?”

T: “Yes. I had expected this situation to resolve itself quickly. But I made that prediction without realizing that Sky would discover a surprisingly competent guardian.” *He gestured at me.* “It looks like now we have to kill you and then throw her back out to the Slender Man before any of this will be fixed.”

*I froze when I heard him say that. Why am I suddenly meeting all these people who are so casual about killing me? I almost miss those psycho proxies who at least were clearly crazy.*

D: “Wait wait wait why? Can’t you just talk to the Boss or something?”

*Truth seemed surprised when I said that. He started laughing a little crazily, which seemed to make his guards a little uncomfortable. Eventually he stopped.*

T: “I apologize about that. Being cramped up in here for days puts one on edge. I’m just a little surprised that after everything that’s happened, you still haven’t given up on any of those proxy beliefs of yours. You even called it ‘the Boss.’ Fascinating.”

D: “What are you talking about?”

*Truth sat down on one of the beds and folded his fingers together.*

T: “It’s a little cliché to say that I should tell you since you’re about to die, but it looks like that’s the situation we actually are in here. It would be rude of me to kill one of my employees without an explanation, at least.” *He motioned at the guards, who stepped between me and the door.* “How about I tell you a story. I know Sky used to be a fan of stories; perhaps this will help keep her entertained until we need to throw her out. Years ago, there was a businessman. He’d achieved some success in his life, leading companies to profit and so forth, but beyond that he was no different than any other CEO in corporate America. But there are some things you hear when you move amongst the rich and powerful. Secrets that don’t get leaked to the common people until later. One of these secrets he heard was about a faceless creature in a suit who stole people away. An interesting rumor, but not one that the man felt mattered to him. Even if it was true, there was no way for him to profit off such a creature. So he left that matter alone.
Until one holiday season, when his family came to visit. It seemed that his granddaughter had made a new imaginary friend since their last visit. A tall man, in a suit and without a face. Her parents were concerned about how obsessed she seemed to have become with this friend, but the man recognized this imaginary friend of her immediately. And so he questioned her, and when the holidays were over and her family returned home, he continued his own research of her friend. Now, keep in mind that this part of the story takes place several years ago. He couldn’t just do a quick search on the internet and get all the results he needed. The man had to dig deep, using the connections he’d built up in the government and in the shadier sides of business to their full extent. And what he found exhilarated him.

Not only had he discovered unquestionable proof that the Slender Man existed, but he began to get inspiration for the possible implications of that. When it was just a rumor, there was no profit to be found. But now, he had discovered a whole new source of money and power. In those early days, there was still a lot of confusion regarding the Slender Man. There were no researchers, or ‘Scribes’, or whatever it is we’re calling them now. There was no community to protect each other. There was only a series of mysterious incidents and several scared and desperate individuals with no means of contacting each other.

And if there is one thing the man had learned from his time working in business, it is the weakness of individuals. Groups can be fired up, inspired by each other to take a stand. Mob mentality at its finest. But individuals? Individuals just want to be left alone. They want to be able to live normal, boring lives without having to constantly be afraid. And when they are put in such desperate situations, they will try anything in order to escape. And the most common method of escape is collaboration. If you can’t beat them, join them. But how were these people supposed to collaborate with the Slender Man? It was a monster. Why would it even need collaborators? It didn’t care about human beings. It killed, stalked, spared, all at random. There was no way to communicate with it. How could they possibly serve such a thing?”

*Truth stood up, got a glass of water from the sink, and took a few sips.*

The man, being the experienced corporate man he was, saw an unmet demand for a service, and decided the only thing he could do would be to provide that service. It was a stroke of genius, if I may brag. ‘Oracles.’ Why not just claim to have been granted the power to communicate with it, and use that claim to establish authority over all would be collaborators? Of course, such a claim would require proof. But fortunately for this man, he just happened to be related to a girl whom the Slender Man had taken uncharacteristic interest in. He could use information provided from her as evidence of the ‘gifts’ he had been granted by the Slender Man.

It began on a small scale, of course. Just a few dozen would-be collaborators taken into the fold, spreading the word of their ‘Father.’ But it grew from there. Once the core set of believers was established, there was no need for the man to continue to prove himself. With a properly established bureaucracy, the majority of recruits need not ever even come into contact with the leadership. He was able to bring in several of his friends from his corporate days, like minded businessmen, who used what he had established as a base to expand through the country. When the man’s granddaughter disappeared for several years, she wasn’t even needed. The entire project had begun to grow organically. And best of all, the Slender Man’s chaotic nature made almost anything justifiable. If it killed someone who had thought they were working for it, that was just excused as the proxy having displeased they’re master in some way humans could not comprehend. It was like being a priest of old, telling the people that an eclipse was a sign that the gods wanted more gold in the temples.

And it was such a successful strategy, too. We brought in more money than we could have ever dreamed of working in business. And our influence….” *He laughed.* “After a senator’s son was taken by Slender Man, we could make almost any demand we wanted from the American government. No more need to waste time or money lobbying! We even had branches in several foreign countries. When I found my granddaughter in Arizona, I thought I had discovered a chance for even greater opportunities.”

*Truth paused to look around the room.*

T: “That plan didn’t go as well as I’d hoped. This was my fault, really. At this point my best strategy would have just been to keep up the status quo, and avoid drawing Slender Man’s attention as much as possible. Let my employees deal with him while I remained safe. So long as I’ve stayed out of his way, he hasn’t seemed to care what I do in his name. But that’s just hindsight.” *He sat back down on the bed.* “So there it is. Thank you for this opportunity, really. I don’t often get the chance to brag about how I came to this position. But I’m sure you now understand why negotiations aren’t going to be any use. My best strategy is just to give Slender Man what he wants, and eliminate all the people who are preventing him from getting it.” *He looked at Sky for a moment, and then frowned, puzzled.* “This is usually the part of my speech where she would start ranting nonsense. Did you train her to be silent while you were climbing this building?”

I didn’t have an answer to that. I didn’t have an answer to anything I’d just heard. I thought he had to be lying. He’d come up with this crazy story for some reason I couldn’t figure out yet. It had to be a lie, because if it wasn’t, what did it mean for all this time I’ve spent as a proxy? What did it mean for those sacrifices I made, thinking I was saving my life?

I think Truth was hoping for a shocked response out of us, because he waited for several moments before saying anything else. But I wasn’t capable of putting enough thoughts together to say anything, and Sky just continued to glower silently at him. He sighed disappointedly, and waved at the guards.

T: “Alright, kill her.”

I closed my eyes, expecting a gunshot that would end everything. Nothing happened. I opened my eyes and turned around to see what was stopping them. Both guards had expressions of pain and surprise stuck on their faces, and one even had blood trickling from his mouth. The guards fell forward, revealing each had a knife in their back. And behind them was Arkady.

A: “Fucking hell, you like to talk even more than I do! I could have burned down this whole place and you wouldn’t have noticed you were on fire until you stopped to take a breath!”*He waved at Sky and me* “Hey there. If you don’t mind, I’m going to saw this talkative guy’s head off.”

Now it was Truth’s turn to be absolutely speechless. He kept starting syllables of words, but they kept trailing off into a squeak of fear. Arkady grabbed a knife in one of the guards, and tugged at it, but it stayed stuck in. Arkady pulled at it a few more times, still not getting it out.

A: “Okay maybe I shouldn’t have stabbed them so deep…. Just, just wait there, I’ll get with you in a moment…. I mean, yeah I could just break your neck, but I said I was going to saw your head off…. Damn I stabbed this guy really hard….”

While Arkady was trying to get his knife back, fog began to creep in from the corners of the room. At first, all of us were too distracted by the spectacle of Arkady’s struggle. When it did become obvious, it had filled the room up to my calves. The lights started to flicker on and off. And when they came back on, Slender Man was in the room, standing just to Truth’s left.

When Truth saw Slender Man, he screamed. He tried running away, but the room was too small for him to get very far from Slender Man. It twisted its whole upper torso around to keep watching Truth as he scrambled against the farthest wall he could reach.

T: “Oh god… oh god oh god oh god oh god….” *Slender Man turned the rest of his body around so he was completely facing Truth.* “T-the girl! She’s right there! Just take her! You can have her! I don’t care about her, just take her and leave!” *Tentacles grew out of Slender Man’s sides, which started to reach toward Truth.* “No… please, don’t…. I’m sorry! I was wrong! I’ll leave the organization! I’ll never claim to work in your name! I’ll take it all apart! I’ll, I’ll… I’ll work for you for real! I’ll do whatever you want me to! Just don’t… don’t….” *The tentacles moved around Truth, just inches away from touching him. He walked toward the Slender Man, pleading for his life. When he reached it, the tentacles wrapped around him completely. And then, Truth was…gone. The tentacles retracted back into Slender Man, but there was no sign of Truth.

A hand grabbed my shoulder and I heard Arkady whisper,

A: “I don’t want to critique this ‘Stand still like an idiot’ strategy you’ve got going, but I would really recommend running now.”

His grip on me tightened and he pulled me and Sky along as he ran out of the room. The swamp had spread to Truth’s office as well, but the door leading out had reappeared. Arkady turned the handle, but it seemed jammed on something.

A: “Damn. Keep an eye out in case Slendy comes for us while I try to get this open.”

D: “You said you were planning to kill us once we got up here!”

A: “Yeah, I did, and if you really want I can go back to that plan. Otherwise, stop whining about being rescued and keep watch!”

*As Arkady started slamming his shoulder against the door, Sky was laughing to herself.*

S: “He’s dead! He’s finally dead! I knew he was going to die, and he did!”

A: “See, why can’t you be more like her. Look at that positive attitude she’s got going.” *Just as he said that, Arkady broke open the door.* “Alright, good, everyone through now!”

I sprinted through, looking back once to see Slender Man slowly walking out of the safe room. I lost sight of him after we turned a corner, and we kept running for another half hour just to be safe. We’re taking a break now. I’m using it as chance to listen to what I’ve recorded and try to comprehend it all by typing it up. I’m still not sure what to think. I might just hold off on conclusions until we get out.

Because that’s the plan now. Arkady, Sky, and I are going to be running to the bottom floor as fast as we can, then try to get outside. Maybe it won’t work. But at least it feels better to be doing something positive in here.

Escape

After getting through that last floor, our situation seemed to calm down. We still had to deal with the shifting geography of the building, or climbing around the tree branches that seemed to be growing everywhere, but nothing was actively trying to kill us. Even Arkady started acting a little less like an jerk. I only had to expect a few condescending remarks over the course of the day instead of an unending stream of them. He’d even started including Sky beating that tree thing to death into his collection of stories, which means we finally get the occasional break from him talking about himself. Although I noticed he seemed to double the number of things she kills with each retelling.

 He even occasionally let us talk during story time. I’d never imagined Arkady being interested in people other than himself. A lot of his conversation felt like he was just going through the motions of making small talk, but he did seem genuinely invested when Sky talked about her early days with the Boss. Which surprised me, since all those stories were things he should have already read on my blog. I asked him about that, and his answer wasn’t really what I’d been expecting.

A: “Two reasons. One, it gives the impression of empathy and investment in her wellbeing.”

D: “Why would you care about that?”

A: “I’ve generally found it to be a smart idea to stay on the good side of people who have shown themselves capable of bashing skulls in. The second reason is that I can get more information through body language and tone than I was just able to get through text alone.”

D: “That still doesn’t explain why you of all people would suddenly care about something that has to do with another person.

A: *Shrug* “The two of you have managed to become significantly more interesting in the time you’ve spent away from your usual slave roles. Interesting enough to make me a little curious about the mysteries behind that girl. I can’t be the only one to have noticed how different her story is from the rest of you proxies. Maybe if I figure out the reason why, it will explain why threatening her is so effective a tool against Slendy.”

It may have been a weird and twisted sort of interest he was showing in us, but it felt like an improvement. Which only made what followed feel worse.

We’d been climbing stairs, as we often spend our days doing, when we saw something I’d begun to think had stopped existing. The roof. It was still several floors up, but when we looked up the stairwell, we could see a definite end to our climb. I just froze when I saw it, fully understanding the implications of it all.

A: “Well, would you look at that. Still a bit too high up to reach just now. But we’re almost there! Let’s rest up for now, and then tomorrow we can get a fresh and early start on your deaths’!”

He threw down his bag in a space between two branches, and then sat down. I’m fairly sure that he intentionally made sure his two remaining knives were displayed quite prominently when he sat, as an unspoken warning. After that talk earlier of him being interested in Sky’s history, the sudden reminder that he still intended to kill us was jarring. At least his decision to rest first gave us time to think.

Usually, Arkady makes sure to go to sleep after Sky and I have. In the past, that wasn’t really a necessary precaution, since all the immediate dangers of this building were generally worse than the possibility of being killed at some vague time in the future. That was no longer the case. I pretended to sleep, and once I saw Arkady nod off, I got up. As quietly as I could, I woke Sky up, and gestured that we were leaving. I didn’t have any sort of plan where we would go beyond getting as much distance as we could between us and Arkady. We’d deal with the problems of the building trying to murder us when that came up.

Of course things couldn’t go like I’d hoped for. Sky and I were slowly walking toward the door out of the stairs when we heard Arkady’s voice behind us.

A: “Aw, come on, at least do it right. You’re supposed to wait a few minutes before you leave to make sure they’re really asleep and not just pretending as well.” *He already had a knife out, and was walking toward us.* “I really had hoped that threats of violence would be enough to get compliance, but it looks like that wasn’t the case. Oh well. Guess we’ll just reschedule the murdering part.”

I think the most frightening part about him getting closer was that he wasn’t making any effort to look threatening or intimidating. He was walking towards us so casually, that it almost seemed impossible he planned to kill anyone, up to the point where he grabbed me and threw me against a wall.

A: “Well, time to get started.”

S: “Get away from her!”

While Arkady was throwing me, Sky had broken off one of the branches growing through the floor, and was holding it like a club. Blood was spurting out of the broken end of the branch down her arm, but she was clearly trying her hardest to ignore it. Arkady lost all interest in me as he turned toward Sky.

A: “Well, would you look at this. Have you finally decided to try and stop me? I’d say you must have a death wish, but given I’m planning to kill you regardless….” *He started walking toward her, twirling his knife between his fingers.* “Can you really do it? Do you really have it in you to attack me, knowing what horrible consequences may come?” *He stood just a short distance from her, towering over her small frame* “Can you?”

Sky was shaking so hard I thought she was going to drop the branch. Then she closed her eyes, screamed, and swung it at Arkady’s injured arm. He hissed in pain and dropped his knife, which I took as an opportunity. I grabbed Sky, and we ran out the door. I could hear Arkady laughing behind us, but he didn’t seem to be chasing us. That didn’t stop us from still running as fast as we could.

Since then, Sky and I have been wandering through the building. My first thought was that maybe we could make it back to the first floor and try getting out through there, but it’s hard to do that when the rooms and stairs don’t lead to where they should. Even though we’ve been trying to go down, we somehow seem to still be getting closer to the top floor. Which isn’t an ideal direction, but at least we’re not accompanied by Arkady as we go up.

But until the situation changes, it seems like we’re going to keep walking through the building. I’ll post if anything major happens.

Possibly one of the worst floors we’ve been on. For once I’m grateful Arkady’s going over this before it posts. As much as my hands are shaking, it’s going to need some serious editing.

There was a lot more mist on this floor than on the others. I could see about a foot in front of me, and everything else was dark. Occasionally the lightning outside would let me see dim outlines of shapes through the fog, but that was it.

Sky absolutely refused to go in, and Arkady puts enough trust in her intuition that he didn’t want to risk it. But given that the stairs above us were blocked by rubble, the only ways to continue going up would be either to backtrack until we found an alternate route, or try climbing the outside again. Neither of which sounded like good ideas. Being stuck there gave me a little bit of hope; since Arkady seemed dead set on waiting until we reached the top of the building before killing either of us, not being able to progress any further might have meant we’d get to live.

Of course, the building had other plans. While we waited for Arkady to finish pacing as he tried to come up with a plan, the staircase we were on started shaking. Further down, a tree was growing up the stairwell, smashing apart everything in its way. Even with my misgivings toward the mist covered room across the door, it quickly started looking like a better alternative to waiting and being killed by the tree. I shouted a warning, and then jumped through the door. Arkady threw Sky across, and then jumped right before the stairs fell away.

Once all three of us were inside, the fog grew much thicker. I quickly lost sight of Arkady and Sky, and soon couldn’t see anything around me at all. I called for them, but there was no reply.

I walked forward, calling Sky as I went, and occasionally stumbling over a desk. A flash of lightning illuminated a silhouette of someone standing in front of me. It was too tall to be Sky, so I assumed it was Arkady. As I was starting to say his name, the person tackled me. When we hit the ground, they grabbed my throat and started to squeeze until I couldn’t breathe. Another flash of lightning, and I saw that the person strangling me was Lepidus.

His eyes were gone, and the empty sockets were covered in scratches. Small black branches were growing out of his check and the top of his head, where clumps of his hair were falling off with every movement he made. He opened his mouth, wider than his jaw should have spread, and blood poured out onto my face. A terrible shrieking noise came from it, that shook my whole body. I wanted to call to him, but I couldn’t draw the breath to speak. I didn’t understand what was going on. What had happened to Lepidus? What was all this?

Another flash of lightning, and I saw Sky standing by us. She was staring, jaw hanging open in shock. I couldn’t scream, so I tried gesturing for her to run. I assumed it worked, because she turned and disappeared back into the fog. Even if I didn’t understand what was happening, I thought I could keep her away from it.

My assumption ended up being wrong, as seconds later, Sky came running back, holding an office chair over her head and screaming. She hit Lepidus with the chair until he was knocked off me. She kept hitting him, cracking his skull and spilling blood across the floor. She didn’t stop until his head had been completely crushed. After she was finished, she set the chair down and threw up. I wanted to help her, but just laid there, still in shock at the scene.

More lightning. Several figured were around us, moving closer. As they approached, I recognized their faces. The Jackson Brothers, Dumas, Ahriman, even some people I hadn’t seen since before I became a proxy. My parents, my old boyfriend, friends from high school…. They all had the same appearance as Lepidus, with their eyes gone and small branches growing out from under their skin. All of them opened their mouths and shrieked in unison. That sound finally got me acting, and I stood up and pulled Sky behind me. Not that it would have helped, since we were surrounded, but it was the best I could do. They continued to advance towards us, blood pouring from their mouths as they shrieked.

Then out of the fog, Arkady appeared. He ran between the figures, cutting through them with a knife in each hand, laughing like a kid. He was brutal in his methods, tearing off my mother’s head and then kicking it away, or throwing Gabriel Jackson to the ground and crushing his head under his foot. When Dumas was the only one left, Arkady threw aside the knives and started hitting Dumas until he stopped moving.

A: “Well that was fun! We need more death traps like this.” *He noticed Lepidus’s body, and Sky holding the bloody chair.* “Oh, hey, you got one too, kid? Nice job.” *He ruffled Sky’s hair.*

D: “How can you always act so happy after killing people?”

A: “People?” *He picked up Dumas.* “These things look like people to you?”

D: “Of course they do! What else would they be?”

A: “Freaky blood filled tree things. Yeah, they’re humanoid shaped, but you’d have to be crazy to mistake them for actual people.”

D: “That’s Dumas you’re holding!”

S: “No, that’s not Dumas… That’s my uncle….”

*Now I was confused. It definitely was Dumas. It looked exactly like him. Arkady’s eyes narrowed in suspicion and he dropped the body.*

A: “Well, isn’t that interesting. Perhaps it would be best for us to keep moving.”

I looked at the bodies again. They still looked like people I know, but I was starting to question what my eyes saw. I thought I recognized them, but if Sky was seeing completely different people, and Arkady didn’t see them as people at all, what were they really? Were any of us right?

Arkady didn’t have the patience for confusion. And without any other options, we followed. More lighting showed other figures in the fog, but they didn’t attack us. It was more like walking through a torture gallery, with the figures all displayed in poses of excruciating agony. Their screams sounded human now, and I could hear them calling out for someone to save them. I tried to cover my ears, but it did nothing to silence the sound. It was Hell. It really felt like I was walking through Hell.

Arkady suddenly came to a stop. Someone was standing in front of him. The lightning made their face clear, but I didn’t believe what I saw at first. Not until the second flash confirmed it. The person standing in our way looked like me.

A: “Well. Isn’t that interesting. Hey, you two. Out of curiosity, what’s this one look like to you?”

D: “It looks like me….”

S: “It’s… me….”

A: “Thought so. Well, time to kill it.”

He drew another knife, but before he could use it, the person started screaming in pain. Then their whole body melted. It was just… absolutely horrifying. Watching someone who looked exactly like me dying like that. I almost was sick, and I heard Sky sobbing behind me. Arkady remained unfazed. When all that remained of the body was part of its face, he stomped down on it, crushing it.

A: “And hey, look at that, the door was right behind it. Let’s get out of here.”

The moment his hand touched the door handle, all the fog was blown away. And suddenly I could clearly see the Boss’s head looming over me.

He was standing behind us, but his torso stretched so much that when he bent over, I was looking right at him. Before anyone could even scream, his tentacles grabbed Sky and pulled her toward him. Arkady didn’t hesitate before charging. He didn’t make it far before the Boss lashed out with more tentacles. Arkady dodged most of them, until one went through his left shoulder. The Boss threw Arkady into a wall, and moved so that he stood between Arkady and Sky.

For a few moments, I thought this was our chance for escape. The Boss would get what he wanted, kill Arkady, and take us out of here. We’d go back to the way things used to be. I didn’t have to do anything but keep standing where I was, and let things happen. The nightmare would finally be over.

Then I looked at Sky’s face, and knew there was no way I could sit and wait. She looked more scared than I’d ever seen before. She didn’t seem able to speak, but kept silently mouthing “Help” at me. Could I really accept going back to how things were? Back when I spent all day documenting people’s deaths and Sky spent every night being tortured by the thing that employed me?

Arkady was quickly back on his feet, charging at the Boss while making a noise that was like a combination of laughter and screaming in pain. He’d dropped the knife, and seemed intent on just punching the Boss. He was swatted aside by another tentacle before he came close. But he kept the Boss’s attention for a while. And without really thinking it through, I lunged forward and grabbed Sky’s arm, trying to pull her away. The Boss’s upper body twisted around, turning from Arkady toward me.

It felt like my brain had been dropped into a blender. Incredible pain shot through my head, and random memories and images flashed before my eyes. But I kept pulling at Sky. I had to get her away from him. Even as everything before my eyes dissolved into a chaos of pain and memories, I kept trying to pull her away.

Arkady’s voice cut through the insanity like a foghorn.

A: “Hey Slendy, didn’t I fucking tell you that need to deal with me first before you could get either of them?!”

Arkady was charging again, holding the same chair that Sky had used earlier. Before the Boss could turn to confront him, Arkady threw the chair. Just before it hit the Boss’s head, I blacked out. When I woke up, the Boss had vanished. Sky, Arkady, and I were lying on the floor. There was blood coming from our noses, although most of it was already drying up. I wanted a moment to collect myself, but Arkady was immediately up and herding us to the door. I didn’t have the will to debate the instructions. I just wanted off that floor.

We’re resting on the stairs again. Sky’s found a corner and is crying to herself there; whenever one of us goes near her she shouts at us until we leave. Arkady’s bandaged up the hole in his left shoulder, but I’ve noticed he doesn’t seem able to move that arm much anymore. He says he’s fine, but I think he’s more seriously injured than he wants to admit (No, I’m fucking fine. I’m just typing this comment with only my right hand because I fucking feel like it. –Arkady.)

I don’t want to deal with this anymore. All I want is to go back home and lie in bed for days. But now I can’t do that. Before this, I could always claim that the only reason I’m going along here is because Arkady’s forcing us. But I stood against the Boss. I tried to stop him when he came to take Sky back. Even if I get out of here, I can’t go back to being a proxy. I’ll have to be another Runner, waiting for the day when he comes and kills me. No matter what happens here, I’m going to die.

And that’s really it, isn’t it. I’ve been pretending that we’d have a chance to escape this place. But now I know we really don’t. We’re all going to die here. The only thing we can hope for is that the Boss will be merciful enough to do it quickly.