#rp: an unforgettable night

[teoragrafton]

starter with @moondancer-rp

Baela's big day was fast approaching, and Teora was tasked with giving her friend an unforgettable night.

Teora spent a lot of time thinking about what to do, jotting down various ideas, but eventually realized the best solution was to talk directly to Baela. After all, it was her last night as a single woman, and Teora didn’t want her to feel forced into doing something she wouldn’t enjoy.

“Princess Baela, I have two plans for your final night as a bachelorette… but I decided to let you choose what you’d prefer.” Teora said. On her list were two options: a relaxing evening where they would all be treated like true princesses, with massages, skin treatments, and hair care — everything to ensure Baela felt renewed for her big day.

The other idea was more daring: they would disguise themselves and sneak away, enjoying the night as commoners, free from the responsibilities of being a princess or a lady of the court. A chance to experience the world in a whole new way.

Teora handed Baela the list, anxiously awaiting her friend's reaction. She hoped Baela would like the ideas; otherwise, she feared she might be the worst lady-in-waiting ever.

[legacieswcrp]

Tallrock territories?

The Tallrock territories are the setting for the RP, if that's what you're asking - a non-canon addition to the world established in canon. The Tallrock territories are so named by StormClan for Tallrock, the mountain to the north where Petalstar led them to settle. Here are a few highlights for you:

The northern moorland is the far north of StormClan's current territory, a wet highland moor dominated by shrubs, heather, and gorse. In its prime, it was a maze-like landscape and a popular hunting ground where StormClan apprentices honed their navigational skills along paths through the low-growing foliage. In recent history - the most recent in the RP timeline at RP start - a Fallen renegade named Chicory set fire to the meadows south of here in a plot to force StormClan out, but the fire spread into the moor and caused a peat burn that lasted for over a week, devastating the landscape there. Rebuilding efforts in the moor are one of StormClan's central concerns at RP start as they and Twolegs alike work to prevent the place from receding into encroaching grassland.

The steel tower is a radio tower south beyond StormClan's territory. Cats all over the Tallrock territories can see it from just about anywhere, along with its eerie blinking light high above the landscape at night. It isn't a place hospitable to long-term feline residency, but an unforgettable part of the region for most of its current inhabitants and a major landmark for navigation.

The Moonpool - not to be confused with the Moonplace of the same name at the lake territories - is a mysterious reservoir of groundwater that started welling up to the surface in various places several years ago. StormClan cats' pilgrimages to the Moonpool are less about covering long distances and more about finding where it has most recently emerged; by touching one's nose to the water's surface, a cat may attempt to commune with StarClan. This is where apprentices go for their first pilgrimage, where leaders receive their names and lives, and where any cat may seek StarClan's guidance at any time. Since the fire, however, visitors have started reporting that sometimes, instead of communing with StarClan, they suffer terrible nightmares.

If you're looking for a map, we don't have one yet! But there will be one before we open for our first wave of new players.

[acr3ss-the-cosmos]

What kind of love are you?

Love as a Threshold

Your love does not ask for much. Your love does not take. Your love is free, and unquestioned, and here for wherever needs it. When you fall in love, it is as gentle as a breath in the night. It is quiet, and it is effortless. It is tender. If your love was a house, it would readily welcome all who come through. If your love was a hearth, it would warm the hands of whoever stopped by, whether for a day, a month, a year, or forever. When you fall for someone, it is without strings, without conditions, without need. You love for the sake of loving, for the sake of caring for those who need it. You love with a giver’s heart and a giver’s hands and are made so much stronger for it. Being loved by you is to always feel at home. Your love may not always be well-received by those unprepared to linger, but it is unforgettable all the same.

Tagged by: @dupliciti (thank you for tagging me!)

Tagging: @memovia, @as-above-rp, @spaced-out-muses, and you!

[zcmbierabbit]

❝  Ｈｅｒｅ＇ｓ  ｔｈｅ  ｔｈｉｎｇ  ａｂｏｕｔ

       𝑫𝑨𝑽𝑬 𝑴𝑶𝑻𝑯𝑬𝑹𝑭𝑼𝑪𝑲𝑰𝑵' 𝑴𝑰𝑳𝑳𝑬𝑹,

                              Ｉ ＤＯＮ＇Ｔ ＳＴＡＹ ＤＯＷＮ ＡＴ ＡＬＬ .                                       𝙸 𝚆𝙸𝙻𝙻 𝙲𝙾𝙼𝙴 𝙱𝙰𝙲𝙺．                                          Ｉ  ＡＬＷＡＹＳ  ＤＯ．❞

                                    ⭑ Drafts ( 2 ) / Asks ( 0 )

⭑   ★     ˎˊ˗ #𝑭𝑬𝑹𝑨𝑳/𝑹𝑬𝑨𝑺𝑶𝑵: a 𝐇𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐋𝐘 𝐒𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐕𝐄, 𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐕𝐀𝐓𝐄, 𝐌𝐔𝐓𝐔𝐀𝐋𝐒 𝐎𝐍𝐋𝐘, & 𝟏𝟖+ 𝐎𝐍𝐋𝐘 roleplay blog for a heavily canon-divergent, headcanon based, & DSAF 3 focused portrayal of 𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐀𝐌 𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐎𝐍 better known as 𝐃𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐑 from the Five Nights at Freddy's fangame trilogy 𝐃𝐀𝐘𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐅𝐓 𝐀𝐓 𝐅𝐑𝐄𝐃𝐃𝐘'𝐒. 𝐍𝐎𝐍 𝐑𝐏 𝐁𝐋𝐎𝐆𝐒 𝐖𝐄𝐋𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐄, just don't touch my RP stuff please! 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐎𝐑𝐒 𝐃𝐍𝐈. Hired for the dayshift by Willow (25+/they or he / CST GMT-6), signed the Red Contract on January 22, 2022. If you're here to rp, please read rules before you follow!

⭑ Affiliated with: Rick (@curseofbreadbear/@1-800-scaryphone/their other blogs), @mute-call, & old sport .ᐟ THIS IS A STORY ABOUT : being consumed by revenge ˎ heart-aching loyalty ˎ the price of immortality ˎ family above all else ˎ blind worship of the father ˎ being seen for who you really are ˎ reclaiming your lost childhood ˎ questioning your humanity ˎ & having unforgettable fun .ᐟ

Other blogs (all low priority): @willowshub (RP hub), @ncrmality, @protectproject

[CARRD][ ART COMMISSIONS ][ PLAY DSAF | PLAY DIALTOWN ][ PROMO ]

[aroseyetbloomedwrites]

To be Surreptitious... Or not [An Iago/Francel de Haillenarte Fanfiction]

Working Chapter Title: Not so Clandestine

Rating: T (for future chapters)

Category: M/M

Fandom: Final Fantasy XIV

Relationship: Iago (Original male character)/Francel de Haillenarte

Summary: A singular meeting, turned intimate and entirely endearing, evolves into a human like ritual for him. His taste is unforgettable, his aether to sup upon an addiction. A game turned serious. There is an evolution of something inside of him yet unnamed... Dare he speak it?

Notes: This will, as they come to me and I have time, be a series of stories in the life of my RP partner and I for our characters Francel and theirs, Iago. Permission to share was granted! A simplistic and relaxing story telling.

I can also be found on Ao3, at my new name, same as here, Aroseyetbloomedwrites!

See the First Chapter below:

          This was a holy place, and as such his power did not afford him the protection with which to enter into the premises as much as he should like, the sloping gray walls a mocking tower over him as he awaits without. The doors are left open to the church, and the light shining on the other side of the building casts streams of blues and oranges through the stained glass windows, the beams of light do not quite reach the lone figure sitting within. Even without his hat, and the distance between them, the man; Iago, knew who he was watching. The lightly ruffled flax hair, the green scarf wrapped around an elegantly long neck, his most recent taste… his most recent addiction.

           In the later evening hours, as light began to minutely wane, and cast more warmly in its descent, he had heard that Francel would sometimes come to this place alone. It's activity would be greater in the mornings, and yet here he would be instead when there are no groups and no leading priest, passing his devotions quietly, he did not feel the need to be seen or recognized in a pious display, and that was perhaps a more endearing quality of the young man; that he did not perform.

          Iago does not feel the cold so keenly, though that his travels rarely bring him to Ishgard proper, he remains unaffected by the cold, but for the sake of passerby, and Francel's own unique discernment, has donned a thigh length, fur lined coat, elegant in the lines of its wistful designs. Similar to the frock worn by the nobility here, black as night and velvet raised swirling patterns along its exposed outers. Not so extravagant so as not to blend in, and it was not uncommon to see heeled boots, though that his were more severe and gave him several more additional ilms over Francel when they stood together. Francel was more modest, his thigh boots more practical and barely raised, but then, he does a lot more walking than Iago, who cannot feel the bite of heels anyways; he who travels mostly with void paths and clever teleportation magicks. 

          Iago, who stands unshivering against a lamp post, keenly watches into the building as Francel slowly comes to a stand. And then he will push away so that he might come as close as he dares to such a hallowed place without feeling its glowing burn. Tucked into his arm is a bouquet of roses with their thorns nipped, tied together with a purple ribbon and lightly frosted from the cold drift of snow which lazily circles downwards over them. It had collected in the deep dark purple of Iago's hair, but goes unnoticed and unmelting in the sleek strands. Francel sees him from the doorway, and at first his weariness is plain to see as Iago stands in the middle of the pathways, watchful. But then, that a wide smile overtakes Francel's rounded face as he spies who awaits him outside, quickly donning his hat and hurrying across the snow swept pavement to stand before him. He is unassuming and looks only into Iago's brilliant light gold eyes, and in an act of close familiarity gently reaches out with a gloved hand to brush those flakes of snow which had nestled atop Iago's hair off the crown of his head.

          "My, but you did not have to wait outside!"

          Iago gives a handsome little smile, and a gentle shake of his head. 

          "Would it not be rude of me, as an unbeliever?"

          Francel gives pause, but his smile is still kindly and he casts a look over his shoulder and back towards the Halonic church he had just recently sought reprieve in. 

          "Mayhaps had we followed our old teachings, but in our hearts we shall learn to make room for all now, regardless of their beliefs." 

          When those deep blue eyes are cast back towards him, he finds he has no response and instead shrugs one shoulder dismissively and decides to present the roses to Francel instead. He holds them up and watches as the young lord becomes quite red across his nose and ears, and delights in the highlight of freckles across his cheeks that he can see. Had this body he possessed been living, Iago did not doubt his own dusk grey skin would warm in response, and darken under Francel's endearing fluster. For he was very infectious, and the dawning of a grin, and the growing warmth in those eyes certainly made him feel more… alive.

          Francel receives of his gift graciously, with that sweeping smile and a shimmer in his eyes. Their hands brush in the exchange and the young lord flusters further, his smile wobbles and the corners of his eyes grow lines in the wake of the grin he tries to hold back. Then, that he should hide his face in the bulk of the flowers, his chin and mouth press into the array of petals softly frosted, and the normally peach pale skin of his freckled cheeks are alight with a matching rouge to the roses, now dusted with flakes which melt upon his warmed skin. Iago reaches out with his ungloved hands and lowers first Francel’s defensive arms, looking into his face as he touches him, his hand then brushing droplets of water from the bridge of his smaller nose, and the apples of his cheeks with the sweep of a thumb. Francel leans in to the touch, but gives a shiver and flutters those long lashes as he peers up at Iago.

          "My, but you are cold to the tips of your fingers. Would you like to warm by a fire?"

          Iago pulls away briefly, for he had forgotten to warm himself before daring to reach out and touch, and was blessed by Francel's inherent innocence and consistent worry. 

          "Only if you shall accompany me." 

          Francel seems to fluster again, bringing the roses back to his face and peering over them at Iago, whose lacquered lips turn up at their corners at Francel's sweetened countenance. But he is so precious, the way he shies and the way he demures, that Iago wishes to have more than one singular taste. But to dip his fingers into the cherry of this pie over and over again. He turns and gestures to the side, down the walk way, and Francel timidly puts his arm through Iago's to be guided back. Cradling his roses close to his chest while he feels the press of the man at his side. Sneaking glances from the corner of his eye at the others handsome profile, only to be caught and have to hide a timid smile with the turn of his head. Iago doesn't mind that Francel is so taken with him, he finds that had it been another it would perhaps have been annoying to play this game, but that Francel was so earnest and sweet and honest, it was impossible to grow annoyed.

           And so arm in arm, they'd find warmth together and in each other. 

[opportunistic-chicanery]

@unforgettable-garbage1997 asked:

(12. what roleplay trends do you remember from the year you started tumblr rp? how did you feel about those trends?)

I still have no idea what roleplay "trends" are so I'll answer for "threads".

I remember back when I wrote for Hugh, I had a thread where it started with him waking up from a night of blackout drinking married to Zenigata from Lupin III. And that was the second thread they had together it was so dumb. And Hugh gave Carmen Sandiego the nickname Carmen candy/ caramel candy which is still something that cracks me up.

[nimbostrxtus]

An Unforgettable Night - @dreamsofasoldier

Cloud sat in front of the vanity mirror of the honeybee inn's unisex dressing room, touching up his makeup as other honey boys and girls fluttered around him getting into costume and grabbing their accessories. Nothing too flashy, just a little bit of foundation to pronounce the sharpness of his cheekbones, a brush of mascara to bring attention to his striking blue eyes, and a little touch of lipgloss to make his pouty lips all the more kissable.

Satisfied with the makeup, the blonde rose from the vanity chair and walked over to the clothing rack, stuck choosing between the black slacks with the form-fitting vest, or the backless leotard with the fluffy collar that gave his slim figure the illusion of a plump chest. What the hell, he made sure to thoroughly shave tonight so he might as well take full advantage of the bikini wax he was currently sporting. Grabbing the leotard, Cloud slipped into one of the stalls, removed his day clothing, and slipped on the black and yellow themed costume. It had taken a lot of practice but he eventually perfected the art of sliding the netted stockings over his knees without ripping any holes in the thin fabric. Tying the straps of his shoes up his leg and slipping the antenna headband on his honey-blonde head, Cloud was almost ready.

"Cloud your seven o'clock just came through the door," one of the receptionists called, poking her head into the dressing room.

"Zip me up, please," he asked, stepping out into the main hall to join her. She quickly obliged before leading him down the hall to his customer's room. This was not one of Cloud’s regulars so he wasn't sure what to expect. There had been no special request left at the reception desk or any preference in rooms, usually indicating at a new client who wasn't quite sure what they wanted. Cloud had met a wide variety of customers in his time; some were fans who wanted a private dance, some just wanted him for his body, some were dissatisfied with their marriages and needed an escape, and some were lonely souls who just wanted someone to talk to.

Whatever Cloud was expecting, he was not prepared for the sight awaiting him on the other side of the ornate door. Sitting on the plush loveseat in the middle of the hexagonal guest room was one of the most handsome men Cloud had ever seen, far too handsome to be in a place like this. But it wasn't his chiselled jawline or the eccentric hair that blew Cloud away, it was his eyes.

"A SOLDIER," he gasped, mouth agape.

Cloud had always been a fan of SOLDIER, it was the reason he came to Midgar in the first place, to become one of them. But when his blood results came back negative for mako compatibility, Cloud finished his minimal required service as a Shinra grunt and went to find other work in the city, eventually finding himself at the steps of Andreas Rhodea's establishment who had been very impressed with his dancing.

Quickly composing himself, Cloud put his haughty face back on and closed the door behind him. "We don't normally get your type around here," he purred, hips swaying as his heeled shoes clicked across the waxed floor. "So what's your taste, handsome?" he purred, circling the loveseat while running his hands down the customer's shoulders. "I could dance for you, we could play some games, I could give you a massage, or run you a bath in the jacuzzi and serve you drinks."

Doing a full lap of the loveseat, Cloud slowly lowered himself onto the man's lap and rested his palms over his shirt, feeling the firm pecs hidden underneath. Leaning in so their lips were only a breath width apart, Cloud whispered sultrily. "We could do nothing and just talk all night, or I can take you to bed. So what flavour are you looking for?"

[kinncman]

A LIST OF PLOTLESS TOWN RP-FRIENDLY CHARACTER IDEAS & CONNECTIONS INSPIRED BY MOVIES! (PART 2)

once again, you can obviously spin any of this in any way (platonic, romantic, familial) etc, and not all of these are the exact plots of the movies they are referencing so pls don’t @ me i am but a lowly translator of ideas.

click here for part one.

content warnings for: drugs, food, hospital, light implications to a toxic former relationship

THE LAKE HOUSE // basically, the lake house except nobody is a ghost and everyone is from the same year <3 muse a is an architect who has been living in The House they built. for reasons utp, they are forced to sell it. muse b is the buyer. muse a can’t let go of the house so even though the title has been transferred to muse b, they keep making excuses to visit The House.

LIGHT SLEEPER // muse a is a former drug addict whose job is delivering drugs to high-profile clients. muse b is their ex and also a former drug addict, with whom their relationship fell out bc of the drug abuse. they coincidentally meet again in a hospital when muse a visits a regular client of their boss who OD’d and muse b’s mother is in for chemo/other intense procedures. muse a and muse b reconnect. they both confess that they are now clean and sober. muse b doesn’t believe muse a since muse a admits that they still work for their old boss, but muse a insists that they haven’t used in years. muse b, on the other hand, is a successful business person who’s really cleaned up their act and is nothing like the person muse a knew before (i.e. a Mess TM). despite the feelings that they hold towards muse b, muse a knows that they should keep their distance since they are the reason that muse b started using in the first place and they wouldn’t want to throw any progress away. HOWEVER, fate seems to keep bringing them together in the most inconvenient places and when they least expect it the most; they allow themselves to indulge in old habits (sex, not drugs) even tho they know they’re totally bad for each other. just when they’re starting to become regular fixtures in each other’s lives again, muse b disappears for weeks on end. as it turns out, they were the one who was never clean and sober to begin with.

PHANTOM THREAD // muse a is a highly-renowned fashion designer / artist / photographer who meets muse b and decides that they want them to be their muse (after already having had a string of former muses). being invisible all their life, muse b accepts this new role— however, to muse a’s dismay, they are nothing like any muse they’ve had before in that instead of having their muse wrapped around their finger, muse b has them wrapped around theirs. great for exploring shifting power dynamics!

GRAY MATTERS // (originally a familial and queer relationship but hey whatever floats your boat) muse a and muse b are siblings (or best friends could work, too). muse a gets engaged to muse c and muse b is their maid-of-honor / best man. because muse c and muse b are the two most important people in muse a’s lives, muse a makes them spend the week before the wedding together bUT OOPS muse b realizes that they have feelings for muse c and they share a drunken kiss which muse c instantly forgets about in the morning??? which is #awkward because 1) MUSE C IS MUSE A’S SPOUSE-TO-BE and 2) MUSE B NEVER REALIZED THAT THEY’RE NOT STRAIGHT. so now they’re trying to deal with coming to terms with this newfound attraction that never thought they could have with the same sex on top of trying to decide whether or not to remind muse c of what they did that one night (since they seem to have zERO recollection) and come clean to their sibling / best friend.

LONG SHOT // muse a works for muse b, who is a very powerful exec / influential artist / whatever. muse a is very much infatuated by muse b, who thinks that they are way out of muse a’s league. muse a reveals that muse b used to come over to muse a’s house to babysit them (because lbr, even tho the the age gap might not be that much, a 14 yr-old will be paid to watch over a 10 yr old). what happens from there?

VELVET BUZZSAW // muse a and muse b are rival art curators / music producers who claim that they are the ones who have rightfully ‘discovered’ muse c. muse a and muse b then go through great lengths to try and win muse c to sign over to them. muse c has no plans of defecting to either sides but decide to string them along for the perks (and for the attention). great for exploring a kooky triad of frenemies or a polyship.

PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE // muse a is a painter / filmmaker / photographer who is tasked with relaunching muse b’s career. muse a thinks that muse b is a brat. muse b thinks that muse a is full of themself. 

I’M HUNGRY, I’M COLD // you might wanna try and watch it here first, it’s v short! muse a and muse b are best friends who’ve been on the lam for a long time (for reasons utp) and are now broke bc they blew up all their funds on life’s little pleasures. maybe they start conning people? maybe they try to get a dozen dead-end jobs at once that they suck at so they keep going back to square one? either way, they must decide whether or not they should finally face the music and go home. or maybe they just need to find the means (and a reason) to stay in their current town, and fast. 

BABETTE’S FEAST // muse a is formerly the head chef of a michelin-star awarded restaurant who is now working as something else. muse b had one unforgettable (for sentimental purposes, reasons utp) meal in said restaurant which, unbeknownst to them, was cooked by muse a. the two meet in the current setting, several years later, and become friends / lovers / etc, with muse b sparking muse a’s interest in cooking once again. muse a cooks The Meal™️ for muse b, not knowing what it means to them, and muse b finally recognizes who muse a is as they are flooded by memories of that night they first tasted the dish.

CIGARETTES & COFFEE // muse a and muse b are newlyweds who are in town for their honeymoon. however, things go awry on day 1 when muse a blows it all on some stupid, petty thing (in the original, they blew it on a game of craps in a casino when they’ve neVER played craps before and muse b is fuckin LIVID it’s just hilarious and sad) and their relationship is immediately put to the test when they have to figure out how to scrape money to get home (but also maybe kind of fall in love with the place??? and decide to start their family there??? idk) 

SUCCESSION (this is a tv show but this particular dynamic is just too damn good not to include) with a little bit of THE PANIC IN  NEEDLE PARK // muse a and muse b come from rivaling families (for whatever business, but they gotta be high profile). they meet while theyre trying to be lowkey doing ~~normal people stuff and instantly click despite their families’ tumultuous history, but have to keep their relationship (platonic or otherwise) away from the public eye to avoid raising suspicion from the critics. they think they can help each other’s recoveries by being in each other’s company but all they do is enable each other, further destroying not only their lives, but their families’ reputations as well. 

[pearl-blue-musings]

✨🎶Announcement🎶✨

Hi hi! I hope you’re all having a good day/night whenever you read this! But if you can’t tell I’m taking a mini hiatus from writing.

I have a lot of family stuff going on that has me out of sorts so attempts of writing have been very minuscule. And with my wrist still being slightly out of commission it’s made writing, doing anything, having motivation generally difficult. I know I have a lot of projects ( two collabs, finishing GAWG, finishing unforgettable, doing more requests....) but I’ll get to those when I can.

That being said, I’ll still be around! So please still interact with me, talk with me, rp, all that jazz. That stuff is still happening, but most major writing is on hold and I won’t be taking on anymore projects (rip my two new smaus I came up with) until things get better for me.

I’m sorry I have to do this and you may unfollow me but life has gotten crazy and what’s keeping me sane at the moment is talking, interacting, rp-ing with all of you.

I love y’all so much!!!

-elle ✨🎶

[project-rosewood-476]

Every Rose Has Its Thorns Chapter 1

So I’ve finally decided to post the first chapter of my creepypasta fanfic Every Rose Has It’s Thorns. This is based on an RP that I’m doing with @creepypasta-shtick so this takes place in their universe that they created so a lot of this were their ideas too just as much as mine. You should go check them out!. Maplehood creek, Rosewood Prep, and Tabby Anderson belongs to me.

Every Rose Has Its Thorn

Chapter 1

Tabby Anderson laid awake staring blankly up at the ceiling. She was replaying the last months worth of events that happened in her life over and over again in her head. Like a broken record. Over the course of a month she watched the ones she held close all jump to their deaths one by one while everyone’s cheering drowned out her own screams of terror. She could still hear the breaking of the glass window as Horatio, the guy who made all of her friends jump to their deaths, forcefully shoved her fist through the window. It was an unforgettable sound as it would be one that would haunt the rest of her life. She let out a silent gasp as she clenched her bandaged left hand from the phantom pain. She no longer had any use of her left hand as that was gone forever now. Living as a constant reminder of what she failed to do.

She winced from the fresh bruises and scars that never healed as she turned over to her side as she looked at the alarm clock. It read 2am in big red numbers. She let out an audible sigh and she squeezed her eyes shut as she banged her head over and over again on her pillow. Insomnias a bitch as it was but it was even more of a bitch to deal with when your stomach is empty and your mind is full. She realized that she had school in a couple of hours with the strict regimen that her stepdad had her on.

“On top of no sleep for tonight I also have to deal with another day of hell at Rosewood Prep and another day of hell at home too. All by myself”, She said in thought.

She looked around at her surroundings in her room. It was pretty minimalist for the most part. She looked at her dresser with the lopsided mirror that made the shadows in the room dance. She had her Rosewood Prep uniform laid out for the next day. She had her stack of unfinished homework that she didn’t finish on top of the school textbooks. She would scramble at breakfast tomorrow before she went to class to finish the homework. Laid on the side of her school books and homework was her black bag that she’s had since forever. She then looked at her closet door that was slightly ajar. There was nothing in it except for a few nice shirts and a lacey pale blue flower dress that hung up in there.

Tabby flopped back onto her pillow as her eyes made their way back up to the ceiling. She wasn’t sure just how long she could make it at Rosewood and at home since it was just her now. I mean her only motivation for living was taken from her and Rosewood wasn’t a place you could survive on your own. She didn’t know if she could make it to graduation. She then came up with the dawning realization. One that made her bolt up straight in her bed with her unnaturally wide eyes growing wider. If she stayed any longer she would be killed for sure, whether it was by Horatio, her step dad or herself. Either way one of those three would get her it was only a matter of time. Tabby couldn’t die not yet at least. Not until she fulfilled her promises of avenging her friends and killing Horatio once and for all. She got up and winced at her bruises that were still tender. She got dressed in a white tee shirt and black jeans with faded dirty pink converse. She got her black bag and began to pack. She packed a couple of photos, one of her mom, stepdad, herself, her older and younger brothers, one class photo in the 8th grade that was just her and her now deceased friends, a picture of her little brother, and a couple of sketches of her that her best friend Autumn made. She then packed some clothes, hair brush and toothbrush. She was about to sneak out when she realized she forgot the most important thing. Tabby ran back to her dresser and took out the money she’s been saving for the last two years from her job at the This or That restaurant and her red plaid jacket that shes had since the 6th grade. It was enough money to buy a bus ticket and have a little leftover to live until she found a job and got a stable income. After she pocketed the money safely away and tied her jacket around her waist, she snuck out through her window.

Tabby landed with a soft thud on to the ground she laid there for a bit and groaned. She got back up and brushed herself off and picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulders. Tabby took a few moments to appreciate the peacefulness of the night. For it being in the middle of November it was surprisingly warm. Must be one of those freak mother nature weeks or something. She could hear the few cars going by occasionally and there was no sound of people. She could hear the wind rustling through the trees that were the woods surrounding her town. Tabby knew that there were shortcuts in her section of the woods that led to the next town of HolyAnn. That was where the bus stop was and where she could buy a bus ticket and get out of Maplehood Creek for good. Tabby kept her back to her apartment complex and ran straight into the woods and never looked back. Ever.

Meanwhile deep in the heart of the woods, the whimpering of the woman before them was not stirring Hoodie’s sympathies. She could shake and cry all she wanted, about how she needed to get home to her children and husband. Hoodie didn’t particularly care all that much. Masky turned to look at Hoodie.

“Hm, do you think we should let her go?”, he asked in a taunting voice clearly mocking the poor woman’s pleads.

Hoodie and Masky loved to toy with their victims. In Toby’s opinion, it made them take too long to get the job done. However, the creativity and cruelty the two of them displayed were why they were some of the Slenderman’s favorites. Toby noted that they were only violent with victims around each other. Solo missions and missions with only one or the other resulted in the two being much less brutal. Though, Toby noted, Jeff was much more crazed and violent than these two. Toby’s head snapped up when he heard the woman scream in pain. He did not turn to see what one of the men had done to her. Someone in the woman’s family was trying to get information about the Slenderman. Killing her would be sending a message. Toby continued to stare off into the woods, knowing the direction he was staring into was where several houses were.

Tabby continued to curse herself as she got deeper and deeper into the woods. She was clearly lost but she refused to admit it to herself. She then heard a woman’s scream. Tabby’s fight or flight instinct kicked in and she was on high alert as always. She thought she was running away from the danger only to stumble upon a masked man, a man with a frowning mask, and a man with orange goggles and the corpse of the dead woman. She locked eyes with the orange goggled man. She unfortunately has the freeze response so she couldn’t run or fight even if she wanted to at this minute. Tabby was a pitiful sight to see. All covered in various bruises and scars of different colors and sizes, unnaturally wide, haunted hazel eyes that were colored underneath from lack of sleep and were slightly sunken back due to malnourishment. Her cheeks were slightly hollow also due to malnourishment and she stood in a potential fighting stance that exposed her bandaged left hand. She quickly realized that running would ensure her getting killed. If she was going to die she was going to die with what little dignity she had left and face death face on, She wasn’t going down without a fight.

“Oh fuck…”, she let out quietly.

Like with everything else in her life she had the misfortune of being at the wrong place at the wrong time. She was having a flashback to when she was 12 with a similar situation with her step dad happened. Death was not new to her; she was the least fazed by that. She was more worried about her own survival at the moment. She shook her head to get rid of the flashbacks and to focus more on the situation at hand. Should she go with the situation or fight?

It did not matter how quiet the girl was. Hoodie and Masky have been doing this line of work for a long time. They were also blessed by the Slenderman with practically supernatural senses. Hoodie stared coldly at the girl. Masky chuckled.

“Well, well, well what do we have here?”, he said looking at the frail stranger in front of them.

Toby continued to make eye contact with the girl. He recognized the signs of abuse and neglect and had a flashback of his own. He had been hiding in a closet with his older sister. He couldn’t have been more than eight or so at the time. He remembered his father yelling and screeching at his mother. The sounds of a fight and his mother screaming. He remembered footsteps stomping up the stairs and his father calling for his sister and him to come out. He remembered his sister covering him in towels and blankets to hide him just before his father opened the closet. His sister had saved him from a beating that night.

He snapped back to the present when he heard Hoodie speak, in his raspy quiet voice.

“Let’s just kill her there’s no point in leaving her alive”

Masky seemed to be considering that.

“Alright, Hoodie, you-”

“No”, stated Toby abruptly.

“I’m sorry what?”, asked Tabby surprised.

The two men stopped and stared at the newer proxy.

“Don’t be ridiculous”, Tim began to lecture Toby.

Toby, however, stood his ground.

“No let’s just let her go”, he stated

“Are you fucking stupid���, Masky stated coldly, “That is a major breech of conduct”

Toby shook his head, ”There’s really no point in killing her”.

Hoodie just listened as the two men began to debate. He personally figured that killing the girl was unnecessary as they were not ordered to do so. However, he realized that they just couldn’t let her go either.

Tabby rolled her eyes and crossed her arms in defense. Although she looked like a mixture of ready to either bolt or fight.

“Oh please killing me would be a sweet blessing compared to the 17 years that I had and specifically with this month in general”. She stated.

She didn’t dare look at Toby for too long as she quickly learned growing up that if she looked at someone directly in the eyes for too long, it meant a challenge and resulted in a sure beating.

“If I do get let go I’m going back to where I live, clearly I picked a bad night for this and didn’t think this through enough. I’m going to find that bottle of whiskey in the cabinets that I know damn well my parents have hidden somewhere and I’m going to drink myself to oblivion and forget this encounter ever happened”, Tabby added out loud talking more to herself than to the others. She hasn’t been killed yet so staying and going with the situation was her best option.

Hoodie spoke up.

“Are you sure you’d go back home?”, he asked bluntly.

Masky glanced at him. It was like he could sense that Hoodie was analyzing the kid.

“I mean you’ve just gotten away from em, hm?”, Hoodie prodded as he gestured to her black backpack.

Hoodie was known for being scarily perceptive. Even Masky was staring at him.

Tabby huffed and pushed her hair back.

“I…have nowhere else to go but if I stayed I would be dead in the very near future. So I was running away. But obviously this is a bad night to do so, clearly I didn’t think this through enough and I have one other to protect…”, she said defensively.

Masky hummed.

“I think that if living is such a hassle to you then-”, he was cleaning the bloody blade off his jacket.

“No! Lets not kill her-!”, Toby intervened again.

“Why?”, asked Tabby quietly.

Toby looked at the girl and then looked down.

“Because I understand what you’re going through”, Toby whispered.

Hoodie pretended that he hadn’t heard what he said while Masky scoffed and was about to argue again when Hoodie spoke up.

“Let’s take her to our boss. Let him decide”

“Hoodie! He has to ask to see a human. Just simply bringing one to him-”, Toby protested.

“It’s better than letting her go”, said Hoodie with a shrug.

Everyone looked back at Tabby for her decision. It was either this or death. Her options were limited.

“Alrighty lets see here….I can’t run….That would ensure my death and I’d be hunted down for sure…I can’t fight all three of you at once….I really have nothing to lose anymore….so going with you guys seems like the best course of options to ensure my survival for now…I really don’t have much of a choice now do I?”, she took a deep breath, stood up straight and looked at them with an emotionless expression, “Lead the way I guess. The sooner I know me fate the sooner I can carry on with my life dead or alive”

Hoodie nodded, ”You’re right. Even if you ran or even if we let you go our boss would have us hunt you down”

Masky nodded and perked up.

“I’m impressed with your ability to make a rational decision in a life or death situation”, he mused, “Toby. You walk with her and make sure that she doesn’t try anything”

They were going to break the rules just this once. Maybe the boss would take pity on the girl. After all, he’d done the same with Toby. Toby went to stand next to the girl as Masky and Hoodie led the way deeper into the woods.

Tabby moved a couple of steps from Toby to give him space. She just looked at the ground praying that he wouldn’t beat her or kill her. Not yet. She walked with Toby not daring to speak. Being used to sneaking around she was quite stealthy. She made very little noise to where you would almost forget that she was walking with you. She was fidgeting with the hem of her white shirt like she was wringing someone’s neck. Even though she showed no emotion. She was anxious. Her anxiety was skyrocketing. She had to fight the urge to run every time she heard a noise. Her eye twitches occasionally. That was due to her being taken off meds that she didn’t need because doctors refused to do diagnosis correctly.

Toby had no intention of harming her. He could tell that she wasn’t doing too well, and he couldn’t really blame her. They passed the corpse of the dead woman as he followed the two older proxies. Hoodie and Masky were having their own conversation ahead of them. Toby decided to try to chat.

“Er..I’m Toby”, he stated, “What’s your name?”

He really didn’t expect a positive response from her. Why should he? He knew that she was probably freaking out. He did too when he was put in this situation.

“My name is Tabby”, she replied looking at Toby for a quick moment.

She looked wary and cautious but decided to show no fear. Hoodie and Masky paused in front of a haggard old tree with the boss’ symbol carved into it. Masky pulled off his glove and pressed the symbol with his bare hand. It began to glow faintly. It seemed like the woods grew darker, as if shadows were melting and joining together in some kind of macabre dance. Toby remembered being absolutely terrified of the opening of a portal when he was new. Especially a portal that led right into the heart of the Slenderman’s domain.

Tabby kinda looked up and around her in a mixture of awe and mortification. She stopped fidgeting slightly occasionally wringing her shirt before catching herself and smoothening out. She was desperately trying to show no signs of weakness despite how she looked.

Toby understood. Hoodie went through the shadows first and just seemed to vanish. Masky nodded to Toby and Tabby.

“You two are next Toby will lead the way”, he said.

Toby smiled at Tabby reassuringly.

"It-It’s just cold”, He assured her. His face twitched a bit. Damn it he had been doing so well so far, "It won’t hurt or anything.”

Tabby gave him a hint of a small smile although she was still suspicious and didn’t trust him or any of them for that matter one bit. Her eye twitched again. But she didn’t raise herself to be a little bitch so she jumped through the portal after Toby. She hid her left arm behind her back to avoid any questions about her hand.

It was cold and dark. Toby felt his feet hit something soft and cold. The ground always felt off. He heard the sound of a lighter clicking, and turned and saw Masky behind them with a lit lighter. The small flame wasn’t nearly enough to fully illuminate the entrance, but it was enough. Hoodie was waiting for them near what looked like a thick wall of foliage. Hoodie had his arms crossed and looked a little impatient. They had to take a walk through the Pocket to even get to the boss’ place, which would be dangerous for the human, as she was, well, a human that wasn’t a pet in a haven of killers.

“We don’t have all day.” Hoodie said firmly.

“I’m here” she said rather defensively.

“Good”, Hoodie stated.

Now he took off his glove. Masky protested a bit.

“I can do it, my glove is already off-”

Hoodie ignored him and sliced his palm slightly. He waved his hand in a way that would splatter the blood on the plants. Just like that, they slithered back, creating a doorway that seemed to lead into a huge town. Hoodie walked resolutely forward. Masky sighed and put his glove back on.

"You two go after him.” He said.

Tabby nodded not looking at him. She quickly walked a little ahead of Toby but she wasn’t more than an arms length away from him. She looked around at her surroundings. It was very different from her hometown where the only sinister thing was Rosewood Prep where she goes to school. She was used to the feeling of darkness making observations to herself.

Toby offered her a small smile.

“Make sure you stay close…” he warned her quietly.

Tabby nodded slowly, slowing down her pace to be evenly matched with Toby. She was careful to avoid eye contact with everyone.

The town was bustling. Toby saw some people he knew outside. Clockwork’s bar was bustling with activity. He could see EJ perched on a bench, eating…something. Judging from the blood splatters on his hands and clothes, Toby figured he knew what it was. The sky was clear and very dark. There were a bunch of plants and trees that Toby knew no human would have ever seen before. It was a very colorful place surprisingly, save for the pitch black sky and dark ground. But it was always cold. And it always felt a little off. Lights floated against the sky, giving the illusion of some sort of stars. The town was also illuminated by lamps and the lights from the buildings.

"It’s…different….definitely not like Rosewood Prep" she said quietly more to herself.

Toby nodded.

“Yeah. That’s the school in the town right?” He asked.

He was homeschooled so he wasn’t too sure. Masky walked behind them and Hoodie walked in front. A woman in a tight black dress and a wig stopped Masky temporarily and handed him a file. He seemed to thank her and continued to follow them.

Tabby nodded politely as she walked by the woman.

“it’s one of them unfortunately. There’s also Maplehood Creek elementary school. I went there for the first 4 years then I got transferred over Rosewood” she gave him a bitter smile and a bitter laugh “In Rosewood you’d either have to be very rich, mentally disturbed or very intelligent to get in. And I’m two out of the three” her eyes showed a dark, pained haunted expression.

Toby nodded. He understood.

“Yeah, I’ve heard that about that school.”

He looked around, then whispered.

"That woman that gave Masky the file used to go there too. You probably didn’t know her or anything but she did go there.“ He stated earnestly.

It was true. Jane had gone there. Toby knew several others who had gone there too.

"I never went to school so…well I did for elementary but that didn’t go too well for me.” Toby said.

Masky was glancing through the files.

She showed an expression of understanding and relief, “so they’ve probably have horror stories of their own about that place”.

She looked at Toby “don’t worry it didn’t go too well for me either that’s why I got transferred”

She remembered her first day at that sinister place. Meeting her first real friend and making her first sworn enemy and accidentally witnessed Horacio physically torture some poor kid. All at the ripe old age of 9 years old.

Toby nodded.

“Yeah. That school is absolutely ripe for producing people like, well…” He gestured around at the people in the town, “It’s why where you live is such a hotspot for, well, paranormal activity as well as people like me.” He explained.

He didn’t want to go into detail about his hellish elementary school days. He knew proxies who would watch that school day in and day out because of all the people that would just snap there.

She looked at him. “I now see why you guys didn’t decide to kill me… Makes sense I’ve always been able to see paranormal shit all my life from the time I could remember…I guess that I’ve always had some sort of potential”

she gave a bitter laugh.

“Who knew that my step dad would be proven wrong about me. The shit I saw and went through made me the survivor that I am today and I don’t mean to undermine your hellish experience but to me that sounds like heaven compared to Rosewood. I wish I had your elementary experience”

She hesitated for a minute before her expression turned dark, fearful and pained.

“Are you aware of anyone named Horatio Galloway?” She asked quietly

She held her bandaged left hand close to her.

“Ha, well I mean if you define "heaven” as being relentlessly tormented by all your peers, having a hate club made about you, and being put in the hospital twice by kids older then you then I suppose so.“ Toby smiled.

"Also, usually we kill people who are sensitive to the paranormal. Well, the people who work for my boss do.”

Toby was silent after being asked about the stranger.

“I’m not, I’m sorry. Though someone else here might be aware of who he is.”

“I had all of that and more. I’ve been put in the hospital more times then I care to remember”, she physically flinched as she felt the phantom pain of her hand and the beatings of her step dad.

"At least you didn’t watch the only people who were the closest thing you had to a real family jump to their deaths one by one at the hands of Horatio. And there was nothing I could do about it”, she went quiet.

“I-I said too much. It’s not really anyone else’s business”, she tilted her head to the side thoughtfully, “hm…if I die I at least will be with my friends again…hopefully” she sighed “that’s fine…I’ll get my revenge eventually…if I live long enough…”

Toby nodded. He understood. He spoke.

“My father liked to say that my sister died in a car crash. She was in one, that was true, but the reason it killed her was because of a head wound my father had given her. The car cr-a-ash-”, he stopped and cleared his throat, “was simply just an excuse.”

“Dads aren’t shit”, she said as she playfully punched his arm gently with her right hand with a small smile.

Toby understood what it was like to lose people. So did a lot of the folks here. They soon were heading up a steep hill towards a monolith of a mansion. It was beautiful, with sprawling gardens and marble columns. All three of the men quickened their steps towards the metal gate, which swung open to let the group in. It seemed that whoever or whatever was inside was expecting him. Toby figured Masky had let the boss know. All proxies could communicate telepathically with their boss. But only their boss.

She almost forgot about her anxiety as she was talking to Toby. Her anxiety spiked up as she was about to receive her fate. She went back to wringing her shirt.

“Its so strange…I might die at any minute now and I’m strangely okay with this. You know death was very real to be growing up. I knew I’ll die any day now whether I’ll do it myself or someone else would”, she shook her head, “I just never expected my death to be like this. This turned out to be a longer night then expected”

Toby patted her shoulder.

She dodged his touch and then offered him an apologetic smile.

“Sorry instincts”

“I’ll vouch for you.” He said simply.

“What if that’s not enough? What if I have to die anyways regardless?”, stated Tabby.

Hoodie led them up the stairs to a huge door, that also creaked open invitingly. The inside of the mansion was beautiful, with golden curtails, matching rugs, and wooden floors. Two people in matching masks and uniforms closed the door when Masky had stepped through. Without a word, they both gestured, at the same time, for the group to follow them.

Tabby whistled and was impressed at her surroundings.

“This is so much better than my apartment…”

Toby glanced at Tabby.

“Disgraced proxies.” He explained, then mentioned he would explain everything later to her after the conversation with his boss.

“Oh…”, she nodded an okay as he said that he’ll explain later. She sincerely hoped that she would be alive for the explanation.

She made the sign of the cross and put her hands together in a silent prayer and followed them. She stood up straight with her hands to her sides and kept a neutral emotionless expression for first impressions.

Toby understood. There wasn’t much he could do for her except put in a good word for her. Masky looked like he had a bit of a headache. The two people in the pearly colored masks eventually led them to a heavy door. One of them pushed it open. This room was darker than the rest of the mansion. It was cold. Painting of landscapes hung on the walls. It seemed to be some sort of sitting room. In the corner, on a plush armchair, rested a tall imposing figure. As soon as Hoodie, Masky, and Toby entered the room, they approached the chair and kneeled. The proxies in the pearly masks kneeled right next to the door, allowing Tabby to go in. Tabby entered the room cautiously and looked around. Tabby didn’t know what to do. She saw everyone else kneeling so she did the same too. Wincing at her bruises as she did. She looked down, not daring to speak or look up until she was spoken too.

The room seemed to rumble as the figure in the chair spoke.

“Masky…why have you brought this human here?”, It was a smooth, but chilling voice.

Masky remained kneeling, and addressed his creator.

“Conflict in the group as to what to do with her, sir.”, Masky said.

The being chuckled coldly.

“How silly. Why did you not just do away with her?” The being asked.

Masky sighed, and responded.

“Some in the group believe there is no purpose in killing her.” He stated firmly.

Toby was muttering something under his breath, over and over. “Cruel but fair, cruel but fair, cruel but fair-”

There was only one thought in her mind, "is this really going to be the end of me?”

That was when Toby stepped in.

“Sir! Don’t punish my teammates for what I did. They both wanted to kill her but I suggested bringing her to you! I figured she…that she could be useful, maybe. Even if you just let her go, sir.”

That’s when Tabby stepped in.

“Now wait a minute! If anyone should be killed it’s me!”

She quickly turned to the being.

“Sir with all due respect, I should be killed. I was the one who made the stupid decision to run away from home. I was stupid enough to stumble upon them doing their job. I never should have ran away in the first place. I was stupid enough to not run away from what I stumbled upon when I had the chance”

she said more quietly, “sir please don’t punish them for my own stupidity. It should be me and me alone. I’ll take the full blow if I must and even if it includes death”, she looked down.

Toby looked at her in shock, hoodie sucked in a breath, and Masky sighed, facepalmed and shook his head.

She realized her mistake but it was too late to take it back. The damage was done. She was sure for certain now that she’ll definitely be killed now. She waited for the consequence.

“Silence.”, The figure said, waving his tentacles threateningly.

"I hold these men to a higher standard than mere humans. However…“, The being cocked his head. "I’ll admit that usually the humans brought before me simply beg for their life. You did not, which…amuses me.”

“Oh…yeah I forgot about my own life for a minute there…uh….spare me? Please?”, she said awkwardly not really putting much effort into it.

Toby perked up. She might just be spared.

“You simply were at the wrong place at the wrong time. Normally, I would have you slaughtered anyways.”, the being paused.

The proxies remained kneeling. The Slenderman seemed to settle.

“Since you have amused me, I’ll put your fate in your own hands. You can choose to die, in which case I shall send you out with either Knot or Paene.”, he gestured to the two proxies in the pearly masks, “Or, you could stay here, and see what we can make of you.”

“You mean if I choose to stay I can live and eventually get my revenge and a new life?”, she asked in disbelief.

She thought about it, “but if I stay I’ll never see my mother or little brother again…” she then remembered that her mother and little brother were treated better than her. He would never beat them, only her.

"They don’t really need me…and I have nothing else to lose… and I have been asking for a second chance at life since I was 12…“

She looked at the being making her final decision. As she said something that she didn’t believe, "I want to stay”. Meaning that she wants to live.

"Very well.“, the powerful being said, and offered her his hand to shake. He could sense something in her that was…darker.

Tabby gave him a firm handshake with her right hand to seal the deal.

"You may stay with either Masky, Hoodie, or Toby.”, the being said.

"I’ll stay with Toby", she quickly looked down. Her chances of surviving would greatly increase if she stuck to him for now. Besides he was nice to her and spared her life so she kinda owes him.

Once she proved herself useful, she could have her own home. Until then, she needed a mentor and someone who could explain the new life she was given. The being nodded to Knot and Paene to show the group out. He actually had some business to attend to with Masky and Masky only, and it involved the files he had brought to him. The Slenderman nodded, and sent her, Hoodie, and Toby out while he spoke with Masky privately. Toby was happy to at least be able to help her adjust. He hoped she’d be able to make the cut. Even though he was new, he was still a decent proxy meaning the apartment he had had two rooms and enough space for them to live comfortably. Jane was their neighbor along with a few others Toby had never met. Tabby followed Toby closely; she was careful not to stare as she was Generally polite for the most part. She saw a doctor with stitches going across her. She made damn sure to avoid her since she didn’t like doctors. She saw an eccentric child playing with LJ, the Doll maker and Jason the toy maker. She saw two boys arguing with each other that reminded her of an old married couple.

Toby was thinking.

“We can get Jane to make you a mask.”, he said, “I think you might like her."

Tabby looked offended, "what’s wrong with my face? Is it because of my eyes?”.

She did have unnaturally wide eyes. She often got picked on for them. People called her wide-eyed, bugsy, googly eyes ect…

“No, no it’s nothing to do with your face!”, Toby assured her, “It’s just that people like us wear masks. It’s kind of like our new identity. But any face covering works, really.”

They passed a haggard, tall, skeletal thing with long tangled black hair. The creature’s limbs were covered with dirt, mud, blood, and other…things. It watched Toby and Tabby continue on, mouth ripped open and hanging near its collar bone. It stared with its yellow blank stare. They passed a tall man with broad shoulders, very attractive and charming-looking. He was holding a cat in his arms. He looked relatively normal. They finally made it to Toby’s apartment building.

She looked at the apartment complex, “it’s a lot nicer than my old apartment…”

She didn’t look at the other people as she didn’t want others to kill her. He led her into the lobby. The lobby was empty, save for a lady at the front desk. She looked normal, save for the fact she had no eyes and her mouth was stitched shut. She was doing paperwork. Toby didn’t seem to mind.

“Come on!”, He said, a little excited to show her where she’d be staying.

Tabby gave him a small smile and let him lead the way. Toby let her into his apartment. It was oddly clean despite being lived in by an 18 year old boy. The blinds were open. There were a few dishes on the sink but nothing too unclean. The walls were a light green with dark brown trim. It was a decent place. A little cat slept peacefully on the couch. It was quiet besides the humming.

“Your room will be the door right next to the hall closet.”, he stated, “My room is locked, so don’t worry about getting into the wrong room.”

She nodded in understanding as she took in her surroundings. She dropped her backpack in a corner and slowly walked up to the cat cooing at it. Not daring to touch it until she gained its trust but it’s evident that she has a soft spot for cats.

“Your apartment is nice and it’s relatively clean…I always had to play Cinderella at my old apartment”, said Tabby.

Toby smiled.

“I just like being in clean spaces.”, he said, not wanting to get into the reasons for that.

He introduced the cat to her. The cat’s name was Nugget.

“She was a stray. I found her beating the crap out of some raccoon so I took her in. She’s a real big baby.”

Nugget remained asleep, obviously unbothered by Tabby’s presence.

She nodded, ��so do I. I have Bad OCD”, she left it at that not wanting to get into the reasons for that.

"Nugget is really cute. I love cats"

“Well, lucky for you, Nugget loves sleeping in your room so you may wake up and find her next to you.”, Toby said with a smile, “I’ll give you some time to settle in.”.

“Okay” she picked her back pack up and went to her room.

It looked the same as the rest of the place with the same colors just smaller. There was already another bed with a small bedside table and a small dresser with a mirror on it. She unpacked. She only had a week’s worth of clothes for summer and winter and like 3 pairs of pjs. She put socks and underwear in one drawer, shirts in the next, pants in the next and then pjs in the next. She hung up the plain pale blue long sleeved dress that she had in the closet. She put her hygiene products and feminine products in her closet. Lastly she took out the two pictures that she had and put them on the nightstand. And she took out a couple of sketches that her best friend Autumn made for her. They were both of Tabby in different poses. She laid them on the bed. The bed was bare as there was no bedding on it. She’ll buy frames for her pictures and bedding for her bed once she got money. She’ll ask later if she could hang stuff up on the wall.

Toby busied himself while she got settled into her new room. He had done the dishes from what he had managed to eat that day and checked on the food he had. He was running low, but thankfully he’d soon be paid for the mission with a bonus, as he was now training someone. Proxies got paid per mission, though it was always possible to get money on the side. The longer and more complex the mission, the more pay you’d get for it. Toby had finished cleaning up his mess in the kitchen and was looking over his mission schedule for that week. He had given Jane a call to let her know her services would soon be needed. He figured that a friendly female presence would help Tabby adjust to this place, and he knew the moment she had her mask was the moment she could go around The Pocket safely. Jane would make it to her liking. Toby knew that while he’d be the primary mentor, there were things he could not teach her and would need help with. He also knew that he needed to explain the rules.

She sat on the bed and looked into the mirror and took a good long look at her reflection and took the time to process tonight’s events. How fucking quickly her life changed from running away to becoming a proxy.

“Wtf actually happened? How did I survive this?”, she said out loud to herself.

Toby knew his schedule was clear the next day. That would be good. He figured that they soon would need to get something to eat but Toby didn’t feel it was a good idea for Tabby to go out too far without a mask. Not wearing a mask made you a target for the malus population, or even sometimes higher ranked monsters or other proxies. It was deemed unacceptable to not wear one unless on a stealth mission. Thankfully Tabby has bad social anxiety so it’s unlikely that she’ll ever venture out by herself. If anything she’ll venture out if she had too only with another person with her. Toby knew that she would have to make friends to survive for long here. It was always best to have someone in your corner unless things went to crap. Thankfully Toby knew some decent people who could definitely help her out of her shell a tad and also would be loyal. She decided to leave Toby alone for now since she didn’t want to get in his way and bother him. He knew where to get her if he needed her. She just flopped on the bed staring up at the ceiling. It’s insomnia week so she’s not going to sleep for a couple of days. Her anxiety died down and the adrenaline wore off.

She talked quietly out loud to herself, “Alrighty ground rules. Don’t speak unless spoken too. Only make eye contact for a little bit when someone is talking to you. Always be polite and respectful, fight if you have too, just keep your head low, stay out of the way and if someone asks you to do something quickly, quietly and efficiently”.

She nodded as she agreed with the rules that she made for herself. She gave herself a little pep talk.

“I survived Rosewood for the last 8 years. I can survive here. This is no different from Rosewood only the steaks are higher. I can live with that. I’m sure there’s a weapon store somewhere here. I can buy some weapons to defend myself with when I absolutely have to go alone”. She took a deep breath “I’m finally going to do it Autumn…I’m going to avenge you and the others….just hold on”

Toby knocked on her door, and let her know he was going out for groceries. He told her Jane would be over in about fifteen minutes to start working on a mask with her and asked her if she needed anything. He was planning on just making some simple food for dinner. Jane was a very talented mask maker, and Toby knew that she would do a good job with Tabby’s. Toby had a bit of a flashback. When he was new, still slightly burned and bruised from the fire, he was sitting down on some stone steps outside a building and he was crying. He remembered feeling a tap on his shoulder and seeing Jane sitting next to him. She was ranked lower than he was, she had explained, so he could feel assured she wouldn’t hurt him. He remembered her taking him back to her apartment and making him some food before showing him where he was supposed to go. Jane was an incredibly sweet person and was able to make people just open up to her. She did a lot of espionage missions and did a lot of work with stealth.

Tabby opened up the door and nodded.

“Do you think you can buy my two frames? About an 8 x 9? And at least two knives for me to defend myself when I absolutely have to go alone? And some bedding too?”, she added quickly, “if you don’t want too that’s fine! I can wait until I get my own money! I don’t need anything fancy! Just something sturdy and simple. And something warm. I don’t want to be a burden on you. I can take care of myself! I don’t want you to think I’m trying to take advantage of you! I’m actually really grateful!”, she babbled on as she fidgeted with the bottom of her shirt and looked down prepared for the harsh comeback.

“It’s okay! I can get that for you. Any specific colors you want for the bedding and the frames or should I just get stuff that matches the room?”, Toby asked.

He had no problem providing her with stuff. She was a guest in his home and he would be a bad host if he didn’t help her out. Plus she was in a new world with new rules that probably seemed a bit hellish. If he could help in any way he would be happy to.

“Oh, and I’m grilling some chicken and making some salad for dinner. Is that okay or do you want me to bring you back something?”, he asked.

“Teal…I like the color teal…it’s my favorite… as for the frames just simple black ones will do. No need to be fancy.”, she added quietly.

She listened to him when he said what he was making for dinner, “That’s fine I’m not a picky eater. but I have to watch you make it because I don’t trust anyone to make my food unless I’m watching or if I’m making it myself. It could be poisoned. No offense to you".

It was common knowledge at Rosewood that you don’t eat the school food as everyone’s caught Horatio poisoning the food more times than not. So everyone brought their own lunch and the kitchen shut down.

“Okay, that’s fine with me.”, Toby assured her, “You can even help me cook it if you want.”.

He understood. When he first got to the Pocket he was given to an older proxy to be trained to who called himself Demitrius. Toby had been training with a girl named Farrah. Demitrius despised them. He was so awful to them, which they both had to take as they were new. Then they had both started getting sicker and sicker. Farrah had found out that they were slowly being poisoned so they were both moved to different mentors. He didn’t feel like explaining that however.

“I’ll make sure I’ll get you what you need, okay?”, said Toby.

She nodded as she sounded relieved, "Okay. I’m pretty good in the kitchen myself”.

As she’s always had to cook dinner for the 5 of them, the people she lived with. On top of her working at the This or That restaurant.

“Okay thank you”, she ventured out to the living room as she sat down on the edge of the couch since he mentioned that a girl named Jane was coming over soon.

“Okay, I’ll see you.”, Toby said with a smile. He turned and left the apartment with a list.

Soon enough, the door slid open. The woman from earlier came into the apartment. She was tall, and wearing a very pretty painted mask and a wig. She had changed from the dress from earlier into a long sleeved t shirt and jeans.

“Hey hon! I’m Jane.”, the woman said with a kind voice.

She quickly looked up at her, “hello my name is Tabby”, she quickly looked back down again as she was fidgeting with her shirt again. She was covered in bruises and scars old and new. And her bandaged left hand was obvious.

She stood up trying to be a good hostess, “would you like anything to drink? I’m sure we only have water here for now”.

Jane smiled and shook her head.

“No thank you, I’m good.”, she said.

Jane noted her bruises, scars, and her hand. She gave her a smile.

“I was asked to come here to discuss the type of mask you would like.”, she said tentatively.

“Hmm…I don’t want anything too fancy as I don’t want to drag attention to myself more than I already will since I’m fresh meat…and something of a teal color”, she was thinking as she made room for Jane to sit if she wanted to.

Jane sat next to her with a smile, “Hm, teal, that would look nice. You won’t be fresh meat for long, but I understand wanting a plain mask. Maybe a golden design over the teal? That could look very pretty.”

Tabby nodded excitedly, “yeah! Like golden spirals in different directions”

Jane nodded, “That could be pretty.”, she sketched out a tentative design and showed it to her.

“Yeah…”, she just stared for a couple of minutes as she was having a flashback to when Autumn was alive. She was the artistic one in the group. And was also her best friend/big sister. She was always showing Tabby her sketches.

She shook her head to clear away the memories.

“Like that”, she confirmed.

“Okay! Anything else? Would you like me to paint the lips, add any engravings, stuff like that?”, Jane asked.

She remembered one older proxy, about 40, who had lost his entire group in one mission. He had come to her and had her engrave their names on one side of his mask.

She hesitated for a minute, “could you engrave 14 names in the inside of the mask? And paint the lips black please?”.

“Okay, lips black. Can you write out the names please?”, Jane asked, handing her the sketchbook and a pencil. She would be more than happy to.

Tabby took her sketch book and wrote down the names ‘autumn, ora, Emma, heath, Gavin, Donny, Rebecca, Mitchell, Morgan, jewel, Julie, Caleb, Riley, Emmy, and Daniel’. She handed back the sketch book.

“Okay. I’ll carve them on the inside of the mask.”, She said.

She figured those names carried sentimental value to Tabby.

Tabby looked up, “thank you”, and she looked down.

Jane nodded, “I’ll have it done by either tomorrow or the next day, okay?”.

Tabby nodded, “yes that’s fine. Take all the time you need. I don’t plan on going out anytime soon”.

“Of course. I’ll get it ready.”.

“Okay then”, Tabby wasn’t really good at holding up conversations as she never really got too much socializing. Especially if it’s a stranger.

Jane smiled.

“Would you like me to leave, or would you feel more comfortable with someone else in the apartment?”, Jane asked with a smile.

“Oh you can stay if you want if you’re not busy”, she won’t admit it but she didn’t want to be alone in this strange new world just yet.

"I’m not all that busy. If I could bring some of my mask making stuff over here that would be great.“, Jane said. She understood

"Yeah that’s fine. I’m sure Toby won’t mind as long as there’s no mess afterwards”.

"Oh I won’t make a mess.“, Jane said peacefully. She said she would be very fast.

”Unbelievable“, she said in thought, ”I’m talking to a killer…I’m having an ally ship with two of them so far“, she shook her head, "my life really did take a drastic change”

Jane went to her apartment and soon came back with all her supplies. She could get three of her orders done if she worked fast. Jane began to chat with Tabby as she set up.

“So Tabby, you’re very new, hm?”.

“Yeah my life turned into this in one night. I was honestly not expecting this to happen. Originally I was running away”, admitted Tabby.

Jane nodded. She understood. She began making the mold for one of the masks.

“I understand. But this will be a pleasant change, you’ll see.”, Jane promised, “Revenge and whatnot is quite exhilarating”.

She shook her head slowly, "I hope so. I’m just doing it because I know I can’t die and go with my friends without avenging them while he is still out on the streets and in school. Someone else will suffer at his hands and I’ll be damned if someone else has to suffer by the hands of him like I did”, she said quietly.

“I think I know who you’re talking about.”, Jane said, “And…if it’s any consolation at all, ghosts do exist and several of them have contact with other dead folks. There may be a way to talk to your friends, albeit temporarily.”, She set the mask cast to dry and made another one.

“There’s only one I would like to talk to one last time. I owe her everything after all she did for me”, she said quietly. She then changed the subject.

“Toby said that you also went to Rosewood Prep”.

“He’s right. I used to. I still have human contacts in there.”, Jane said. She set a fan on the first mask as she finished the second one.

“So how long ago was that? What was it like? Was it still the same students who were just as corrupt as the teachers? Was it like the hunger games where you had to be on guard and fight every day to survive only with more rules and regulations? What horror stories do you have of that place?”, she asked excitedly. She never met anyone who lived long enough to get out of Rosewood. Normally the people who do got the fuck out the first chance they got and were never really heard from ever again.

“I was there two years ago, actually. I’m still pretty new here myself. I…I have a lot of stories.”, Jane said.

She shifted anxiously, “I once got caught stealing food from the kitchen, and they locked me in the sports shed for almost a week. They poured water on the ground for me every day and I had to lick it up from the ground. Teachers would have favorite kids and that would keep them out of trouble. Rich kids were treated much better. Anyone who made lower than a C on anything was punished. Sometimes they would lock kids who were hallucinating in the upstairs bathroom and just leave them there. I have so many.”

“Horatio Galloway” Tabby’s face paled and her eyes were wide in fear, “most of my horror stories had to do with him” “rarely did I ever get into trouble with the teachers. I was always a straight A student. It’s only when I got into trouble for skipping classes because of Horatio”.

“I think I remember him.”, Jane said, “I didn’t get in as much trouble with him ever. I did okay in my schooling but I was rebellious.”. Jane set the second mask to the side, and started on another.

“It was probably a good thing that you’ve gotten punished for stealing the food. It was probably poisoned by him. I’d rather be locked in the sports shed than have a slow death”, pointed out Tabby.

“It was before the food was prepared. I wasn’t stupid. I took fruits and veggies and unopened pre packaged things. They were denying a friend of mine food. I got caught after she got to eat.”, Jane spoke with some pride.

“Good for you”, Tabby said proudly.

Tabby then looked down and her voice quivered, “then you must be aware of the Rosewood massacre that happened a month back”, She rubbed her left hand.

Jane’s eyes darkened, “I heard rumors about the massacre but don’t know the details. Several of my friends are still there…”.

“I can tell you the real full story. The massacre as they called it really did happen. I saw it with my own eyes but being the person that Horatio is he made damn sure that I couldn’t do a damn thing about it”, she gave a bitter laugh, ”always had it out for me since day 1".

Jane looked sadly at her.

“I’m so sorry you had to be there.”, Jane said softly she began to paint the first mask, a pretty lavender mask, “Talk about it only if you would like to.”

She sighed and thought about it for a while. She’s never talked to anyone about this.

“It…was homecoming…you know at Rosewood how each homecoming is a different theme every year. This year was carnival themed. Which I don’t like as it is because I have a severe distrust of clowns. Too many horror movies growing up you know? Anyways my mom decided to let me go to the event and she and my grandmother came with me. That was the catch. Horacio was standing at the entrance dressed as the ringleader handing out pink candies that were laced with LSD to everyone. You should know at Rosewood it is common knowledge that you do not take anything that Horacio gives you. Whatever it may be. I didn’t take the candy because I knew better. I tried warning my mom and grandmother about it but they wouldn’t listen. I was too smart for his bullshit but not smart enough. I couldn’t find my friend group anywhere. But I knew that they were here so I didn’t worry about it too much and I’ll find them later. So I got to the seats and watched the show which was quite boring since I wasn’t hallucinating from the candy. But the last act though. It was outside. I saw all my friends lined up on the rooftop of the school and it’s a fucking tall building. while everyone was thinking that they were doing some acrobatic tricks i watched them jump to their deaths one by one….i was screaming and crying begging someone to help but all ignored me and i couldn’t shout because they were too far up hear me and I couldn’t break into the school either. i couldn’t do anything. later on the LSD wore off and they were mortified to find the 14 dead bodies. all confused on how it happened. So they deemed it the Rosewood Massacre. After the show was over I confronted Horacio about what he did. I attacked him to strangle him. My goal was to kill him. but the problem was that we’re too evenly matched with each other. in strength and intelligence so it turned out to be a fist fight. we did a good amount of damage to each other. until he caught one of my punches and shoved my fist through a closed window shattering the window and every bone in my hand. i had to get the glass surgically removed as it was deep in the tissue so i can’t feel a thing in my hand anymore and they had to set my hand for the broken bones to heal. But since doctors refused to do their jobs correctly they set it wrong so it healed wrong and now my hand is paralyzed. he took everything away from me! My family! My home! My motivation to live then! and my hand!”, she was more hurt than angry.

Tabby quickly looked away to recompose herself, “I’m sorry for the sudden outburst. I never talked about that day since to anyone before”.

“I understand.” ,Jane said softly. She had been letting the lavender mask dry so she could paint flowers on it and had been working on the second one, listening to the subject.

“I’m so sorry.”, Jane said softly, “I understand what it’s like to lose everyone. A lot of the teachers at that school were just plain cruel, and I still don’t know how and why the human government hasn’t shut down that institution or why parents won’t stop sending their children there. No one deserves to lose people the way you did."

"That’s because the shit they do there is unbelievable. No one would believe them if others heard their stories. I don’t know about your parents but mine didn’t believe me either and neither did my therapists”, explained Tabby.

The second mask was a half white and half black one.

“We can get you an appointment with the Puppeteer perhaps. He can just drain your sadness away.” The Puppeteer was highly sought after for his empath abilities. It comes back after a while unless he numbs your memory, but it’s nice to feel peace just for a little while.“

She shook her no.

"No thank you. I don’t like my mind being tampered with. I’ve been through 7 psychologists. I don’t need anyone else. My sadness, anger and grief is my motivation to put Horacio Down once and for all. I can have peace of mind after that”, said Tabby.

“I understand. He doesn’t tamper with your mind though. He feeds in negative emotions so you can at least get a bit of sleep and have a moment where everything feels okay. And you’re right. My parents didn’t believe me either. All my letters were monitored as I lived in the boarding section.”, Jane said, “My parents didn’t believe in therapy, so.”

She finished up the first mask. It looked lovely and glossy.

“As much as that sounds nice. I can’t sleep even if I wanted too. I have insomnia and narcolepsy. So it’s a hit or miss”, explained Tabby. “I’ve heard horror stories about the boarding section. I guess I was considered lucky enough to be able to go back to the place where I lived”.

“Oh, he can deal with that too.”, Jane said, “He’s honestly a blessing. And yeah. The boarding rooms were awful.”, She didn’t want to go into too much detail.

"Maybe I’ll think about it" , she nodded in understanding. She learned in order to keep a friend you don’t push boundaries and you don’t ask too many questions.

“So Tabby. What do you do for fun?”, asked Jane, changing the subject.

“Fun?” she asked, confused. She had to sneak around after school or at night in order to have some fun as her step dad was a cruel and strict man.

“I normally like to read and write, have time to myself to philosophize. I liked to hang out with my friends whenever I could. Listen to music”, Tabby finally said.

"Ah, I see.” Jane said. “Those are fun hobbies. What do you like to write?” She asked. She had stenciled out a white design for the black side of the mask and mirrored that design in black for the white side. The third mask was hardening.

“I like to write fiction. Darkly realistic fiction. Sometimes free verse poetry”, Tabby said.

“Oh, that seems fun.” Jane said, continuing her work on the masks. She checked the little black clock up on the wall. “Toby will be home soon.”

“Yeah. Although I left all my written works back at Rosewood. I didn’t think to bring them back to the place where I lived. I didn’t exactly plan on running away. It was a spur of the moment type thing you know?”, she nodded, “I’m not too worried about him. He seems like he’s the type that can handle himself”

“Ah, I understand. Maybe you could get Toby to get you some notebooks or something to write in.” Jane said. “And you’re right, he most definitely can. He’s pretty strong.”

“Maybe and that’s good I guess”

Jane finished up the second mask and began working on the third. She looked like she was thinking.

“Has Toby told you the rules yet?”, Jane asked.

She shook her head no, “I know that there are rules and guidelines. I figured I would ask him later when he got back”

"Ah. Well, if you’d like, I could start filling you in.” Jane offered.

“That would help out a lot. The more I know the less of a chance I have of being killed”, said Tabby.

“Okay. I’ll tell you a few of the official rules then.” Jane said, adjusting her position and making sure her mask was secure. “First of all, there is a hierarchy here that is absolutely set in stone. Since you’re a proxy, you’re lower in the hierarchy, but you are not the lowest of the low.”

“Sounds like my position in any life in general but okay what else?” She asked.

“It’s best to try to consort with your rank and above. So for you, that would be other proxies and monsters. The higher beings are not likely to befriend you so I wouldn’t bother.” Jane explained.

“So like you and Toby for example?”, asked Tabby.

"Not me, actually. Toby flaunts a few of the rules because he’s popular. I am actually one of the lowest in the hierarchy.” Jane said with an awkward nod. “It’s not like you’d be punished for speaking with me or anything like that. People would just look down their noses a bit at you.”

“That’s nothing new to me. I can live with that. Who would be my best chance to make an ally with, the higher proxies I mean?”

“Hm. If you want high-ranking proxies that are pretty friendly, then believe it or not, Masky would be your go to guy. If he’s not trying to kill you, he’s very pleasant. Clockwork is another proxy I would chat with if I were you. She runs that little bar a couple minutes from here. Kate’s not high ranking, but she can pull you a lot of favors because she knows people. There are a few monsters who don’t care too much about the hierarchy either.”

"He was trying to earlier. If it wasn’t for Toby I would mostly likely be dead in the woods. I’m avoiding him for a while. I could give Clockwork and Kate a chance once my social anxiety dies down and when I get the courage to go out on my own willingly. Anything else that I need to know?”

Jane nodded. “Yes. Relationships with humans that aren’t mission-related or cleared by your boss as allies is VERY against the rules. It will get you put down to my level.”

Tabby nodded slowly “well I’m too fucked up for a relationship. I’m sure no one would want me anyways…The man I loved is dead now. No one will replace him. So I can have allies but it has to be cleared by the boss first?”

“Yes. By allies I mean humans who are aware of our world and have chosen to side with us.” She was painting what looked like a galaxy on the third mask. And I would be careful. You may find someone and it may shock you. I didn’t expect-“ Jane stopped then continued painting in silence.

"You don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to. I’m not the one to push boundaries. And that makes sense. What else do I need to know?”, asked Tabby.

"Treat all gifts with suspicion. Even if they’re from people you know. There are a lot of backstabbers here.”

“I’m highly intuitive and I have serious trust issues. I don’t trust anybody or anything. Unless I see them making it or doing something with my own eyes. I’ve already came up with the conclusion that this is no different from Rosewood. Except the stakes are higher and I have more freedom for the most part. If we survived Rosewood for that long we can survive here”. What else?“

"You’ll find that this may be a bit tougher than Rosewood, mainly due to the missions. This is a very high stakes job. Many proxies die young. But it is also so rewarding too, really. Cause once you root yourself here, you’ve got some people that have your back.”

"Well then I guess I’ll have to do my best not to die. I’ll try to keep myself alive for as long as possible. Is there anyone I I shook steer clear away from? Like a red flag warning?”

“Jeff.” Jane said firmly. “Ignore him. Don’t do favors for him and don’t let him do favors for you. Ever.” Her hands remained steady even if she was freaking out.

“Is Jeff to you like Horacio was for me?” She asked quietly. “I’m good at ignoring people. I ignore people like they are the plague. I’m antisocial af”

“Well, he set me on fire and murdered my family in front of me, so yeah, I’d say so.” Jane said. She said it in a way to make it seem like it didn’t hurt her but it was easy to tell that it did.

“Horatio can’t get me here…can he?” Her voice quivered and her eyes were wide with fear.

“Horatio is just a measly little human.” Jane said. “After you’re trained and fully transformed, he won’t really be able to harm you on his own. You could absolutely humiliate him.

"But he’s always been 10 steps ahead of me…I couldn’t even get close enough to kill him and believe me I’ve tried countless times…what if he’s still 10 steps ahead of me after I transformed? All my efforts would be in vain”

“He won’t be. Like I said. He’s just a stupid human. You will be able to get rid of him with no sweat.”

She sighed the problem with Horatio was that she and him were too evenly matched. In intelligence and strength. She just uses her intelligence differently than he did.

“I’m sorry for what you went through…including the stuff with Rosewood. I really am. What else do I need to know?”, asked Tabby, changing the subject.

“It’s fine. I’m coping okay. You should probably know that the ghost community is a great community to be friends with.“ Jane admitted. "They’re everywhere and they can get into places for you.”

She nodded “I’ll try talking to them at some point”

"I can easily introduce you to almost anyone you’ll need to know. When you finish training, you’ll be put into a group.”

“What do you mean?”

“Proxies work in groups. Usually. You’ll be given missions to do either solo, with some members of your group, or your whole group. They will be the people you can trust most.”

She nodded in understanding “Toby said something earlier about disgraced proxies. What are those?”

"People like me. Other people call us honorary humans, or just disgraces. They are proxies or monsters who have broken some of the cardinal rules and were caught and punished for them.”

She nodded in understanding, taking in the information “is there anything else I should know?”

. “Not really much that I can think of right now.”

“Okay thank you for taking the time and effort to explain things to me. I’ll take your advice. I’ll ask Toby if there’s anything else I should know when he gets here and see what advice he has. I’d like to hear what he has to say”

"You should. I’m just telling you things I know from experience.“ Jane said. She heard footsteps outside the room.

Tabby froze as her ears picked up on the noise. She got defensive ready to attack or bolt. Toby, carrying everything he had bought at the grocery store in his arms and a basket. Jane got up to help him unload it all. Tabby sighed in relief and she got up to help too. Her mom made her carry 4-5 heavy bags in each hand every time they went grocery shopping. She may be small but she definitely has some lean muscle to her. She’s still useful despite her left hand. Toby thanked both of them. He set down the bags of food on the counter and handed the things that Tabby had specifically requested to her. Jane had gone to start packing up her stuff after putting some things away. She knew that she probably needed to go now. Tabby went to her room to put down the bags. She’ll take them out later once everything settles down. She went back out to help.

Jane pack up.

Jane pretty much had everything packed up and ready to go.

"I’ll swing by tomorrow with your mask.” She assured Tabby

“Okay. It was nice meeting you and having you here. It’s nice to know I’m not alone with Rosewood”

“You’re definitely not alone. If you need someone to talk with who’s not, well, a man-” Jane smiled a bit. “Then just give me a call or drop by. I literally live next door.”

She laughed. She gave herself a weird look. It was a sound that she hadn’t heard in a long time. She only reserved it for Adam or her friends. “Well that’s convenient then!”

Jane nodded and smiled. It was nice to hear her laugh. Toby’s voice came from the kitchen.

“Thanks for coming, Jane!” Jane smiled at Tabby and waved goodbye

Tabby gave a small wave goodbye. Jane left the apartment. Toby poked his head in and let Tabby know he was going to start cooking now if she felt she needed to make sure her food was safe. Tabby nodded and she went in to help cook the food while keeping a close eye on Toby to make sure he didn’t try anything with the food. Despite her hand she was actually very handy with a knife (cooking wise and also fighting wise). She was very fast and efficient in the kitchen. She was using her wrist to hold some of the vegetables in place as she cut them. On top of always cooking dinner at home for 5 people she also worked in a kitchen at a small restaurant afterschool. It got her out of the house for a while since she never wanted to go home. She only quit last month due to her hand. Honestly she would have become a chef if she never made the choice to come here. Toby made sure she saw and knew what was going on with the chicken he was cooking. If he added a spice, he told her what it was. He admired how skilled she was with a knife even though one of her hands was essentially crippled. He could tell she had experience. That was good to know. Most of the killers couldn’t cook. Jane always ended up burning everything so he always offered her food. The neighbors next door, however, were excellent cooks but since they were literally a family unit, Toby never really spoke to them. He knew that monsters and proxies would sometimes settle down and start families but he never really met them. Most families got moved to another part of town. But she was the type of person to go through with her choice when she made one whether it was good or bad. She would see it through to the bitter end crash and burn. That was the most dangerous thing about Tabby.

She liked how Toby respected her wishes and went out of his way to tell her what the spices were. She never really had a lot of respect in her life so it was a nice change. She liked how the moved well together in the kitchen. It almost reminded her of those types of families she saw on tv that the husband and wife would help each other in the kitchen. The thought made her look down and blush a little.

Moving on. She was thinking about the irony of her situation. She hated all adults she didn’t know in general specifically males in particular. And here she was living with an adult serial killer and a Male nevertheless. The situation made her burst out laughing out of nowhere.

"Jesus…unbelievable…“, she said, wheezing for breath.

Toby glanced over at her.

"Hey, you okay?” He asked.

He had ticked a bit in the middle of the “okay” but it hadn’t really affected his speech. He figured she might have gotten herself with the knife a bit. But then why would she be laughing? Hm. The chicken was almost done. After dinner he would go out to check his mail to make absolutely sure he had no bills to pay or no missions he had neglected to see. He could hear faintly next door a baby crying. He heard footsteps, a small creaking sound, and some shushing. Soon the baby quieted. Toby smiled to himself. The people next door never let their baby cry for too long. They were very considerate neighbors.

She calmed down a little bit, wiping her tears away from laughing as she was still giggling.

“I’m fine. I’m not hurt. Even if I did get myself with the knife I wouldn’t feel it because I used to work in a kitchen so my hands are pretty calloused”.

She showed him her left arm that had a crescent shaped burn mark on her bicep.

“That’s from work. I didn’t realize it until two hours later when my arm was feeling irritated. So I looked down and saw a burn mark about 2 inches and a half in diameter. It eventually died down and became this. I was laughing because I realized the irony of my situation. You see I never really trusted adults in general. They don’t do their jobs protecting their own kids. But if you’re male you have a higher chance of me not trusting you. And here I am living with a technical adult male serial killer! I don’t think you understand. I went against everything I knew and believed in one night. I took a leap of faith and I don’t do that for just anyone so you better feel special”, Tabby explained.

She smiled and shook her head, "my life really did take a drastic turn of events”.

Toby nodded. He understood. He offered her a small smile.

“Well, I’m glad you did decide to take a leap of faith.” He said earnestly.

He plated up the chicken, then asked if she needed help with finishing up the salads. He heard faint music from Jane’s apartment. The baby next door didn’t start crying again. It was, for once, pretty peaceful. It was impossible to hear outside while the windows were closed, but if they were open it would be highly probable they would hear screaming.

She shook her head no, “the salad will be done in a few minutes. I just needed to put the vegetables in and toss it” she did that and tossed it using a chef’s flip without utensils mixing it good. The salad is done”.

She plated the salad on both of their plates. She sat down and waited for him to sit to begin eating. Toby sat across from her with his plate. He was starving. He had gotten himself a knife and fork, and had gotten some for Tabby as well. He asked her if she wanted anything to drink. He had water, soda, and juice. No milk. He was lactose intolerant.

“I would like some water please”

Her expression changed to a more serious one as she was going to get down to serious business.

“So Jane told me the basics of the rules. Like how there is a hierarchy. We’re proxies so we’re low but not the lowest of the low. How ally ships between us and humans and humans not from here are strictly prohibited. It’s best to have a few higher up proxies as allies. And that I should stay away from Jeff” “but I want to hear what you have to say. Like anything else I should really know? Anyone I should stay clear away from?”

Toby went up to get them both some water.

“She’s right. She covered almost everything. Especially about Jeff, though if you get on his good side he can teach you some pretty cool stuff. I think it’s important to know higher being politics as well. Proxies have a specific boss. Monsters can serve whoever they want and do jobs for whoever. But it’s important to know which higher being hates who, because sometimes they will act out against the proxies that serve that higher being.”

She nodded slowly in understanding “I’m fairly observant so I’m sure I’ll pick up a few things on higher being politics here”.

“Is there anyone who you think I should stay away from personally?” She said in between bites. She was scarfing down her food like she wouldn’t see food again. She didn’t eat much in general for the last 8 years due to Rosewood. You had to bring your own lunch and her family was too poor to buy extra food. So she ate dinner at home and that was the only meal she would eat. They barely had enough food for the month while struggling for rent. Although when she was very young she could eat like a champ. For the last 3 months when her step dad came up with the cruel and unusual punishment for her to eat nothing but rice. But she got sick of it and she either stole a little bit of food from the stores when her mom used to send her out or Autumn was very generous and brought her some food for her own house.

"I’m also not too fond of Jeff. But I also wouldn’t trust LJ either. But he’s friends with BEN and The Puppeteer so you can’t really avoid him.“ The ghost community was super tight.

"Is there enough for seconds?”, she asked.

"Yeah. There’s enough for seconds if you’d like.“

"I don’t trust clowns either. I watched too many horror movies as a child you know? But I’ll be wary and cautious like I usually am with everyone and everything else” she got up for seconds and scarfed down her second and third plate. It wasn’t until her fourth plate when she stopped.

By then the entire thing of food Toby had cooked was gone. He didn’t mind one bit however. He got up to do the dishes.

“Yeah, don’t trust clowns. They aren’t…they aren’t all that great. Especially here.”

“They’re never in general”. She went to help with the dishes while drying them.

“Thank you” she said quietly after a period of silence.

“No problem.” Toby said with a smile. He helped put the dishes away after they were finished. He heard a meow and saw Nugget plodding towards them.

Tabby’s face lit up as she started cooing at the cat and kneeled down to pet Nugget. She sucked in a breath at the pain of her bruises. She started petting the cat affectionately.

Nugget purred and pressed her body up against Tabby, her tail indicating that she was pleased with this. Toby smiled.

“I think there’s a scrap of chicken on the table. Hold on.”

“I mean if you give it food you have a higher chance of befriending the animal. It works with me”

Toby laughed and picked up some scraps of chicken from the counter. He offered them to Tabby so she could feed the cat. Tabby took some. She ate a piece herself and feed the rest of the scraps to Nugget one by one. Nugget seemed to enjoy the chicken. Her purring was very loud as she ate it. Toby watched from afar with a smile.

"Is there a library around here?”

“Yeah, there is. I could take you there.” Toby offered.

“Good. If you’re not busy tomorrow that is. I would much rather have someone to come with me to show me around and I’m not taking the chance of dying on my first day out since I’m fresh meat as it is so curious about the new girl that it is inevitable to say the least. Two is better than one. "I would also like to get books on this place and plants and stuff so I can have a lesser chance of dying and not being afraid. A wise man once told me that you can’t be afraid of something that you understand. Like being afraid of the dark for example” she babbled.

“Sure thing.” Toby said, “I don’t have any missions tomorrow and your training schedule hasn’t been sent yet. Books will be good and all but talking to other people about stuff here will make it much easier to learn. Like, you can read all you’d like about the poison daisy, but field experience with someone who knows much more about it will be helpful. Also, we still have to teach you how to fight properly and other things that will make you more successful. It will come much easier to you once you fully transform though.”

"Okay. And I know that there’s only something you can learn from experience. I just want to learn all I can from books first. The rest I’ll ask around and experience for myself and what do you mean “properly”? Are you saying I can’t fight. I may be crippled but that doesn’t mean I can’t kick some ass one handedly! I’ll have you know I’ve gotten into a lot of fights and I’ve won the majority of them. Well despite getting my ass kicked many times before…“

"I understand.” Toby said to her first comment. He wanted her to learn as much as she could from books first too, it would keep her from being gullible and from getting hurt badly.

“I’m not saying you can’t fight, I’m saying that you’re living with people who fight and hurt for a living. You’ve won fights, sure, but that’s against humans.” Toby finished cleaning up the rest of the kitchen. “It isn’t a smart idea to overestimate your own abilities here. Really. The people here are stronger than humans, are faster than humans, can take more damage than humans, some have literal magic powers, or extra limbs, or whatever. ”

She sighed in defeat.

“That’s true. This isn’t Rosewood. I’m not up against people my own age who are equal in intelligence and strength and skills. This isn’t my territory. But I’ll adapt and overcome like everything else in my life so far. I’m a quick learner. Just one day at a time that’s all”, said Tabby tiredly.

“I know. That will help you live.” Toby said. He sighed, then smiled.

"Don’t worry. We can train you. We can also get the WPA to train you so you’re specialized if you want.“ Toby said.

"What’s WPA?” She asked, tilting her head to the side.

"The Women’s Proxy Association.“ Toby said. "They’re a group of specialized fighters that ensure the training of female proxies. They’re bad asses. They’re kind of like Amazons, if you want the human equivalent.”

"Oh…that sounds like something I’d be interested in…” she was still tilting her head but smiled up at him.

“Oh and another thing. If we’re going to be living together for a while we need to establish ground rules. I only have two. One, please don’t lie to me. I give you the common courtesy to give honest information. I would also like to be hurt with the truth instead of living a lie. If we’re going to be working together in some way we’re going to need some form of honest communication. Two, please don’t fight my battles for me. I don’t like other people suffering from my own stupidity and I know in this society that’s just the way shit goes around here but I’ll do my best to minimize that when someone’s with me. I can and will take care of myself. If someone has a problem with me it’s with me alone and nobody else okay? Does that sound reasonable to you?”.

Toby nodded. “Yeah. That sounds good. I don’t really have any ground rules for myself at the moment, but I’ll let you know.

He was pretty honest for a proxy, and while he wasn’t the type to let people he cared for get beat up, he understood how she would want to stand up for herself. It was good she had that drive to stick up for herself. Proxies who didn’t have that usually ended up dead.

"So what do you want to do now?”, Tabby asked.

"Well, seeing is it’s kinda late, we should probably get some sleep.“ Toby said. "Well, you should. I have another small mission tonight but it shouldn’t take too long.”

"Ah well you see I have insomnia…and narcolepsy so I don’t ever get enough sleep. This is a week and a half of no sleep. But I’ll be here when you get back. Try not to die okay?“ She gave him a small smile. Which was code for 'be careful I care somewhat’.

"I won’t, it’s a fairly riskless mission.” Toby assured her. It really wasn’t too bad of a mission. “It’s just a delivery.” Toby got up to leave. “There’s sleeping pills in the hall closet if you’d like. They’ve got the power of like, horse tranquilizers.”

“Alright I’ll think about it and I’ll see you later”

“Alright, I’ll see you.” Toby soon left.

Tabby went to her room to unpack the bags that Toby had bought her. She took out the frames and gently slid both pictures into their frames and set them on her night stand. She took out the two knives and positioned them like she was about to get into a fight. They were good for defense. Tabby took out the bedding; it was a soft patchwork blanket with a teal color scheme and pillows to match. She positioned them just how she liked them. She decided to not hang up Autumn’s artwork so she put them in her nightstand and deemed that it would be private and personal.

Toby slipped through the shadows, the package in hand. He realized the quickest route would be through monster’s only territory, but as long as he wasn’t caught he would be fine. He darted through the trees, paying close attention to any noise he would hear. He eventually managed to pass through it unharmed, which made the bulk of his journey a lot easier.

She stepped back until she was near the door to take a look at her room. It was simple and basic but you could tell that it was her room. Then she came across the dawning realization “like it or not this is home now”. Home. That was a place she hasn’t had in a long time. Sure she lived with her mother and two brothers and her step dad. But it wasn’t considered home or a family. Tabby knew that a home is where you feel safe and you belong and a family accepts you for you broken or not. Tabby shook her head.

“This isn’t home. I mean I’m living in this world now so I guess this world is my home now but this place isn’t. It’s not my territory and I barely even know him” she talked out loud to herself.

Toby walked down streets that were covered in multicolor slick, which was essentially the water in this dimension. He carried the package in his gloved hands. Even through his mask, he could smell something cooking. He knocked on a heavy dark door. It swung open almost immediately. He gritted his teeth as cigarette smoke permeated the air. It reeked. The man standing before him was tall, and horrendously burned. The tales told about him said that his skin had been bleached, and that was partially the case. However most of his skin was mottled and scarred with varying shades of red. His face was barely distinguishable as a face. The eyes were sunken and shriveled. The nose was covered in scars. His mouth was clumsily cut into a wide, oozing grin. The man seemed to sniff the air. He clicked his tongue.

“Ah. Twinkle Toes. Nice to…hehe… see you."

"Hey Jeff.” Toby said uncomfortably. “Is Barb here? She told me to bring her this.” He held up the small package. Jeff clicked his tongue again. He felt the package with his marred hand while seeming to stare directly at Toby.

“Yeah, Barb’s here. You can come in.”

Her eyes widened in paranoia as that was kicking in now ”how much did I tell him really? He isn’t stupid so I’m sure he picked up on more than what I told him…wait let’s see…I told him about my insomnia, narcolepsy, anxiety and OCD, I told him about Rosewood, I told him about Horacio, he already figured out I came from an abusive home…“, she counted on her fingers. Several things. Not bad. Nothing too personal, just observations and bare basic surface. She sighed in relief. But her paranoia was still there ”why did he spare my life? Me out of everyone else that could have stumbled across tonight? On top of that, why is he so nice? I mean I appreciate it but No one is this nice for free. Accept for Autumn but we were kids then and we didn’t really know anything. What if he’s trying to gain my trust just to catch me off guard to kill me later? Especially in my sleep…what if he has other motives? I can’t trust him nor am I going too. I’ll work well with him and I’ll be nice and kind back because it’s right. But trust seems to be a long shot…“, she rubbed the bridge of her nose like she had a headache. She hated when her paranoia showed up. "Goddamn Rosewood” she muttered to herself. She got out of her room to pace around the apartment to think out loud.

“However he did save my life…if it wasn’t for him I would have probably gotten my death wish early…and he did take me in for now…so like with Autumn I kinda owe him everything"

She shook her head "I am thankful for all he’s done for me so far…but I can not and will not care too much. It’s like Jane said a proxies life isn’t that long on average….I don’t want to hurt him and have his efforts of keeping me alive to be in vain…that’s not fair to him. I’ll have allies but no friends. All my friends are dead and they can not and will not be replaced. Moving on means forgetting and I promised myself that I wouldn’t forget them” but she knew that deep down inside that wasn’t the real reason.

“I can’t have what happened at Rosewood happen to anyone else that I’ve become allies with…I don’t want to get attached and go through that heartache again…while I’m still going through it…” she admitted quietly to herself.

Toby didn’t have much of a choice as Jeff pulled him into the building. The cigarette smoke only got stronger. But thankfully, he heard Barb’s laugh from the upstairs, so he made his way up the creaky staircase. That’s where he found her. Barb was around eight feet tall, and had four muscular arms. She had a sharp jaw and broad shoulders as well as long dark blue hair. She had fur the same shade as her hair coating her arms and legs. She had a tattoo gun, and was tattooing another monster. It was a pretty large and complex tattoo, but Barb had a lot of the skill to make it look nice. She turned when she heard Toby.

“Hey Tobes!” She said in her loud, booming voice. She extended a hand that wasn’t being used. “You brought the pills?”

“Yeah, EJ gave them to me earlier.” Toby said, passing them to her. Barb smiled, showing sharp teeth.

“Thank you!” She boomed jovially. The monster getting tattooed, a tiny wisp of a woman with eyes all over her face and arms had all her eyes trained on Toby. It made him very uncomfortable.

“Well, I should probably go-” Toby said.

She looked around and it was too quiet to her liking.

“On second thought those sleeping pills sound nice right about now” she mused to herself.

She went to the closet and grabbed the bottle and read it carefully to make sure they were sleeping pills. She opened up the bottle and only took one since Toby said that they have the power of a horse tranquilizer and she’s…well…small. She popped the pill dry and took some clean bandages that she found and a hand towel. She would clean her crippled hand and dress it in new bandages so it doesn’t get infected since the surgical incisions were still fairly new. She went to the bathroom to wash her hands with soap and water and patted her crippled hand dry and wrapped it in new bandages.

After she was done she could feel the pill kicking in. So she went back to her room. She locked her door and was debating on whether or not to move her dresser to barricade the door just in case he or someone else were to break in and attempt to kill her in her sleep. Since when she actually goes to sleep she’s a deep sleeper. But she decided against it since she was too lazy and it would be a hassle to move it out of the way if she needed to escape immediately. She took her two knives and curled up laying down on her bed with her back facing the corner. She normally didn’t sleep with covers on as they were a hassle to get off is someone were to attack her. She had her knees pulled up to her stomach for protection and her arms crossed to protect her chest and neck. She had both knives in each hand that laid against the back of her neck too for protection. No one was going to attack her easily. It was the only way she could feel safe while sleeping. And pretty soon she was out like a light.

Toby eventually got back to the apartment. Jeff had wanted to show him something, which he knew wouldn’t have ended well. He made sure to lock the apartment door behind him. It was quiet. Nugget was probably in Tabby’s room. Toby peeked in her room to check on her and saw that she was asleep. Nugget was on her bed. After making sure she was okay, he closed the door and went to go take a shower and get ready for bed. He was pretty tired. He had run into Masky on his way back who managed to get him to share a drink and talk for a bit, which Toby found nice. Masky was in a much better mood today than other days. His shower and clothes change was quick. He put his dirty clothes into the hamper. He took it down to wash his clothes twice a week. The apartment had a shared laundromat.

Tabby stirred awake as Toby closed the door

“son of a bitch” she thought to herself.

She wasn’t protected enough. But even in her sleepy state she could recognize that it’s Toby so she had nothing to worry about that much but for once in her life she was just too damn tired to do or say anything about it.

“I’ll deal with it in the morning” she grumbled to herself and went back to being dead asleep in her protective position.

Toby was in his pjs. He went to the kitchen and got a glass of ice water before heading back into his room. He closed his door behind him. He sat on his own bed and turned on a fan. He liked it cold in his room. He had a small little radio next to his bed that he used to play soothing music or sometimes just audiobooks or things like that. Soon he managed to sink off into a deep sleep.

[the-ship-maker-2]

Every Rose Has its Thorn

So I’ve finally decided to post the first chapter of my creepypasta fanfic Every Rose Has It’s Thorns. This is based on an RP that I’m doing with @creepypasta-shtick so this takes place in their universe that they created so a lot of this were their ideas too just as much as mine. You should go check them out!. Maplehood creek, Rosewood Prep, and Tabby Anderson belongs to me.

Every Rose Has Its Thorn

Chapter 1

    Tabby Anderson laid awake staring blankly up at the ceiling. She was replaying the last months worth of events that happened in her life over and over again in her head. Like a broken record. Over the course of a month she watched the ones she held close all jump to their deaths one by one while everyone’s cheering drowned out her own screams of terror. She could still hear the breaking of the glass window as Horatio, the guy who made all of her friends jump to their deaths, forcefully shoved her fist through the window. It was an unforgettable sound as it would be one that would haunt the rest of her life. She let out a silent gasp as she clenched her bandaged left hand from the phantom pain. She no longer had any use of her left hand as that was gone forever now. Living as a constant reminder of what she failed to do.

    She winced from the fresh bruises and scars that never healed as she turned over to her side as she looked at the alarm clock. It read 2am in big red numbers. She let out an audible sigh and she squeezed her eyes shut as she banged her head over and over again on her pillow. Insomnias a bitch as it was but it was even more of a bitch to deal with when your stomach is empty and your mind is full. She realized that she had school in a couple of hours with the strict regimen that her stepdad had her on.

   “On top of no sleep for tonight I also have to deal with another day of hell at Rosewood Prep and another day of hell at home too. All by myself”, She said in thought. 

     She looked around at her surroundings in her room. It was pretty minimalist for the most part. She looked at her dresser with the lopsided mirror that made the shadows in the room dance. She had her Rosewood Prep uniform laid out for the next day. She had her stack of unfinished homework that she didn’t finish on top of the school textbooks. She would scramble at breakfast tomorrow before she went to class to finish the homework. Laid on the side of her school books and homework was her black bag that she’s had since forever. She then looked at her closet door that was slightly ajar. There was nothing in it except for a few nice shirts and a lacey pale blue flower dress that hung up in there. Tabby flopped back onto her pillow as her eyes made their way back up to the ceiling. She wasn’t sure just how long she could make it at Rosewood and at home since it was just her now. I mean her only motivation for living was taken from her and Rosewood wasn’t a place you could survive on your own. She didn’t know if she could make it to graduation. She then came up with the dawning realization. One that made her bolt up straight in her bed with her unnaturally wide eyes growing wider. If she stayed any longer she would be killed for sure, whether it was by Horatio, her step dad or herself. Either way one of those three would get her it was only a matter of time. Tabby couldn’t die not yet at least. Not until she fulfilled her promises of avenging her friends and killing Horatio once and for all. She got up and winced at her bruises that were still tender. She got dressed in a white tee shirt and black jeans with faded dirty pink converse. She got her black bag and began to pack. She packed a couple of photos, one of her mom, stepdad, herself, her older and younger brothers, one class photo in the 8th grade that was just her and her now deceased friends, a picture of her little brother, and a couple of sketches of her that her best friend Autumn made. She then packed some clothes, hair brush and toothbrush. She was about to sneak out when she realized she forgot the most important thing. Tabby ran back to her dresser and took out the money she’s been saving for the last two years from her job at the This or That restaurant and her red plaid jacket that shes had since the 6th grade. It was enough money to buy a bus ticket and have a little leftover to live until she found a job and got a stable income. After she pocketed the money safely away and tied her jacket around her waist,  she snuck out through her window. 

      Tabby landed with a soft thud on to the ground she laid there for a bit and groaned. She got back up and brushed herself off and picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulders. Tabby took a few moments to appreciate the peacefulness of the night. For it being in the middle of November it was surprisingly warm. Must be one of those freak mother nature weeks or something. She could hear the few cars going by occasionally and there was no sound of people. She could hear the wind rustling through the trees that were the woods surrounding her town. Tabby knew that there were shortcuts in her section of the woods that led to the next town of HolyAnn. That was where the bus stop was and where she could buy a bus ticket and get out of Maplehood Creek for good. Tabby kept her back to her apartment complex and ran straight into the woods and never looked back. Ever.

      Meanwhile deep in the heart of the woods, the whimpering of the woman before them was not stirring Hoodie’s sympathies. She could shake and cry all she wanted, about how she needed to get home to her children and husband. Hoodie didn’t particularly care all that much. Masky turned to look at Hoodie.

    “Hm, do you think we should let her go?”, he asked in a taunting voice clearly mocking the poor woman’s pleads.

     Hoodie and Masky loved to toy with their victims. In Toby’s opinion, it made them take too long to get the job done. However, the creativity and cruelty the two of them displayed were why they were some of the Slenderman’s favorites. Toby noted that they were only violent with victims around each other. Solo missions and missions with only one or the other resulted in the two being much less brutal. Though, Toby noted, Jeff was much more crazed and violent than these two. Toby’s head snapped up when he heard the woman scream in pain. He did not turn to see what one of the men had done to her. Someone in the woman’s family was trying to get information about the Slenderman. Killing her would be sending a message. Toby continued to stare off into the woods, knowing the direction he was staring into was where several houses were.

    Tabby continued to curse herself as she got deeper and deeper into the woods. She was clearly lost but she refused to admit it to herself. She then heard a woman’s scream. Tabby’s fight or flight instinct kicked in and she was on high alert as always. She thought she was running away from the danger only to stumble upon a masked man, a man with a frowning mask, and a man with orange goggles and the corpse of the dead woman. She locked eyes with the orange goggled man. She unfortunately has the freeze response so she couldn’t run or fight even if she wanted to at this minute. Tabby was a pitiful sight to see. All covered in various bruises and scars of different colors and sizes, unnaturally wide, haunted hazel eyes that were colored underneath from lack of sleep and were slightly sunken back due to malnourishment. Her cheeks were slightly hollow also due to malnourishment and she stood in a potential fighting stance that exposed her bandaged left hand. She quickly realized that running would ensure her getting killed. If she was going to die she was going to die with what little dignity she had left and face death face on, She wasn’t going down without a fight. 

     “Oh fuck…”, she let out quietly.

    Like with everything else in her life she had the misfortune of being at the wrong place at the wrong time. She was having a flashback to when she was 12 with a similar situation with her step dad happened. Death was not new to her; she was the least fazed by that. She was more worried about her own survival at the moment. She shook her head to get rid of the flashbacks and to focus more on the situation at hand. Should she go with the situation or fight?

   It did not matter how quiet the girl was. Hoodie and Masky have been doing this line of work for a long time. They were also blessed by the Slenderman with practically supernatural senses. Hoodie stared coldly at the girl. Masky chuckled.

   “Well, well, well what do we have here?”, he said looking at the frail stranger in front of them.

   Toby continued to make eye contact with the girl. He recognized the signs of abuse and neglect and had a flashback of his own. He had been hiding in a closet with his older sister. He couldn't have been more than eight or so at the time. He remembered his father yelling and screeching at his mother. The sounds of a fight and his mother screaming. He remembered footsteps stomping up the stairs and his father calling for his sister and him to come out. He remembered his sister covering him in towels and blankets to hide him just before his father opened the closet. His sister had saved him from a beating that night. 

   He snapped back to the present when he heard Hoodie speak, in his raspy quiet voice.

   “Let’s just kill her there’s no point in leaving her alive”

   Masky seemed to be considering that.

  “Alright, Hoodie, you-”

   “No”, stated Toby abruptly.

   “I’m sorry what?”, asked Tabby surprised.

   The two men stopped and stared at the newer proxy.

   “Don’t be ridiculous”, Tim began to lecture Toby.

   Toby, however, stood his ground.

  “No let’s just let her go”, he stated

  “Are you fucking stupid”, Masky stated coldly, “That is a major breech of conduct”

  Toby shook his head, ”There’s really no point in killing her”.

  Hoodie just listened as the two men began to debate. He personally figured that killing the girl was unnecessary as they were not ordered to do so. However, he realized that they just couldn’t let her go either.

  Tabby rolled her eyes and crossed her arms in defense. Although she looked like a mixture of ready to either bolt or fight.  

  “Oh please killing me would be a sweet blessing compared to the 17 years that I had and specifically with this month in general”. She stated.

   She didn’t dare look at Toby for too long as she quickly learned growing up that if she looked at someone directly in the eyes for too long, it  meant a challenge and resulted in a sure beating.

   “If I do get let go I’m going back to where I live, clearly I picked a bad night for this and didn’t think this through enough. I’m going to find that bottle of whiskey in the cabinets that I know damn well my parents have hidden somewhere and I’m going to drink myself to oblivion and forget this encounter ever happened”, Tabby added out loud talking more to herself than to the others. She hasn’t been killed yet so staying and going with the situation was her best option.

   Hoodie spoke up.

  “Are you sure you’d go back home?”, he asked bluntly.

  Masky glanced at him. It was like he could sense that Hoodie was analyzing the kid.

  “I mean you’ve just gotten away from em, hm?”, Hoodie prodded as he gestured to her black backpack. 

   Hoodie was known for being scarily perceptive. Even Masky was staring at him.

   Tabby huffed and pushed her hair back.

   “I...have nowhere else to go but if I stayed I would be dead in the very near future. So I was running away. But obviously this is a bad night to do so, clearly I didn’t think this through enough and I have one other to protect…”, she said defensively. 

   Masky hummed.

  “I think that if living is such a hassle to you then-”, he was cleaning the bloody blade off his jacket. 

  “No! Lets not kill her-!”, Toby intervened again.

  “Why?”, asked Tabby quietly.

  Toby looked at the girl and then looked down.

  “Because I understand what you’re going through”, Toby whispered.

  Hoodie pretended that he hadn’t heard what he said while Masky scoffed and was about to argue again when Hoodie spoke up.

  “Let’s take her to our boss. Let him decide”

  “Hoodie! He has to ask to see a human. Just simply bringing one to him-”, Toby protested.

  “It’s better than letting her go”, said Hoodie with a shrug.

  Everyone looked back at Tabby for her decision. It was either this or death. Her options were limited.

   “Alrighty lets see here….I can’t run….That would ensure my death and I’d be hunted down for sure...I can’t fight all three of you at once….I really have nothing to lose anymore….so going with you guys seems like the best course of options to ensure my survival for now…I really don’t have much of a choice now do I?”, she took a deep breath, stood up straight and looked at them with an emotionless expression, “Lead the way I guess. The sooner I know me fate the sooner I can carry on with my life dead or alive”

   Hoodie nodded, ”You’re right. Even if you ran or even if we let you go our boss would have us hunt you down”

  Masky nodded and perked up.

  “I’m impressed with your ability to make a rational decision in a life or death situation”, he mused, "Toby. You walk with her and make sure that she doesn’t try anything”

  They were going to break the rules just this once. Maybe the boss would take pity on the girl. After all, he’d done the same with Toby. Toby went to stand next to the girl as Masky and Hoodie led the way deeper into the woods.

   Tabby moved a couple of steps from Toby to give him space. She just looked at the ground praying that he wouldn't beat her or kill her. Not yet. She walked with Toby not daring to speak. Being used to sneaking around she was quite stealthy. She made very little noise to where you would almost forget that she was walking with you. She was fidgeting with the hem of her white shirt like she was wringing someone's neck. Even though she showed no emotion. She was anxious. Her anxiety was skyrocketing. She had to fight the urge to run every time she heard a noise. Her eye twitches occasionally. That was due to her being taken off meds that she didn't need because doctors refused to do diagnosis correctly.

   Toby had no intention of harming her. He could tell that she wasn't doing too well, and he couldn't really blame her. They passed the corpse of the dead woman as he followed the two older proxies. Hoodie and Masky were having their own conversation ahead of them. Toby decided to try to chat.

   “Er..I’m Toby”, he stated, “What’s your name?”

   He really didn’t expect a positive response from her. Why should he? He knew that she was probably freaking out. He did too when he was put in this situation.

  “My name is Tabby”, she replied looking at Toby for a quick moment.

  She looked wary and cautious but decided to show no fear. Hoodie and Masky paused in front of a haggard old tree with the boss' symbol carved into it. Masky pulled off his glove and pressed the symbol with his bare hand. It began to glow faintly. It seemed like the woods grew darker, as if shadows were melting and joining together in some kind of macabre dance. Toby remembered being absolutely terrified of the opening of a portal when he was new. Especially a portal that led right into the heart of the Slenderman's domain. 

   Tabby kinda looked up and around her in a mixture of awe and mortification. She stopped fidgeting slightly occasionally wringing her shirt before catching herself and smoothening out. She was desperately trying to show no signs of weakness despite how she looked.

  Toby understood. Hoodie went through the shadows first and just seemed to vanish. Masky nodded to Toby and Tabby.

  “You two are next Toby will lead the way”, he said.

  Toby smiled at Tabby reassuringly.

  "It-It's just cold”, He assured her. His face twitched a bit. Damn it he had been doing so well so far, "It won't hurt or anything."

  Tabby gave him a hint of a small smile although she was still suspicious and didn't trust him or any of them for that matter one bit. Her eye twitched again. But she didn't raise herself to be a little bitch so she jumped through the portal after Toby. She hid her left arm behind her back to avoid any questions about her hand.

   It was cold and dark. Toby felt his feet hit something soft and cold. The ground always felt off. He heard the sound of a lighter clicking, and turned and saw Masky behind them with a lit lighter. The small flame wasn't nearly enough to fully illuminate the entrance, but it was enough. Hoodie was waiting for them near what looked like a thick wall of foliage. Hoodie had his arms crossed and looked a little impatient. They had to take a walk through the Pocket to even get to the boss' place, which would be dangerous for the human, as she was, well, a human that wasn't a pet in a haven of killers.  

  "We don't have all day." Hoodie said firmly.

  "I'm here" she said rather defensively.

  “Good”, Hoodie stated.

   Now he took off his glove. Masky protested a bit.

  "I can do it, my glove is already off-”

  Hoodie ignored him and sliced his palm slightly. He waved his hand in a way that would splatter the blood on the plants. Just like that, they slithered back, creating a doorway that seemed to lead into a huge town. Hoodie walked resolutely forward. Masky sighed and put his glove back on.

  "You two go after him." He said.

  Tabby nodded not looking at him. She quickly walked a little ahead of Toby but she wasn't more than an arms length away from him. She looked around at her surroundings. It was very different from her hometown where the only sinister thing was Rosewood Prep where she goes to school. She was used to the feeling of darkness making observations to herself.

   Toby offered her a small smile.

  "Make sure you stay close..." he warned her quietly.

  Tabby nodded slowly, slowing down her pace to be evenly matched with Toby. She was careful to avoid eye contact with everyone.

  The town was bustling. Toby saw some people he knew outside. Clockwork's bar was bustling with activity. He could see EJ perched on a bench, eating...something. Judging from the blood splatters on his hands and clothes, Toby figured he knew what it was. The sky was clear and very dark. There were a bunch of plants and trees that Toby knew no human would have ever seen before. It was a very colorful place surprisingly, save for the pitch black sky and dark ground. But it was always cold. And it always felt a little off. Lights floated against the sky, giving the illusion of some sort of stars. The town was also illuminated by lamps and the lights from the buildings.

   "It's...different....definitely not like Rosewood Prep" she said quietly more to herself.

  Toby nodded.

  "Yeah. That's the school in the town right?" He asked.

  He was homeschooled so he wasn't too sure. Masky walked behind them and Hoodie walked in front. A woman in a tight black dress and a wig stopped Masky temporarily and handed him a file. He seemed to thank her and continued to follow them.

  Tabby nodded politely as she walked by the woman.

  "it's one of them unfortunately. There's also Maplehood Creek elementary school. I went there for the first 4 years then I got transferred over Rosewood" she gave him a bitter smile and a bitter laugh "In Rosewood you'd either have to be very rich, mentally disturbed or very intelligent to get in. And I'm two out of the three" her eyes showed a dark, pained haunted expression.

   Toby nodded. He understood.

  "Yeah, I've heard that about that school."

  He looked around, then whispered.

 "That woman that gave Masky the file used to go there too. You probably didn't know her or anything but she did go there." He stated earnestly.

 It was true. Jane had gone there. Toby knew several others who had gone there too.

 "I never went to school so...well I did for elementary but that didn't go too well for me." Toby said.

  Masky was glancing through the files.

  She showed an expression of understanding and relief, "so they've probably have horror stories of their own about that place".

  She looked at Toby "don't worry it didn't go too well for me either that's why I got transferred"

  She remembered her first day at that sinister place. Meeting her first real friend and making her first sworn enemy and accidentally witnessed Horacio physically torture some poor kid. All at the ripe old age of 9 years old.

  Toby nodded. 

  "Yeah. That school is absolutely ripe for producing people like, well..." He gestured around at the people in the town, "It's why where you live is such a hotspot for, well, paranormal activity as well as people like me." He explained. He didn't want to go into detail about his hellish elementary school days. He knew proxies who would watch that school day in and day out because of all the people that would just snap there.

  She looked at him. "I now see why you guys didn't decide to kill me... Makes sense I've always been able to see paranormal shit all my life from the time I could remember...I guess that I've always had some sort of potential" she gave a bitter laugh.

  "Who knew that my step dad would be proven wrong about me. The shit I saw and went through made me the survivor that I am today and I don't mean to undermine your hellish experience but to me that sounds like heaven compared to Rosewood. I wish I had your elementary experience"

  She hesitated for a minute before her expression turned dark, fearful and pained.

  "Are you aware of anyone named Horatio Galloway?" She asked quietly She held her bandaged left hand close to her.

  "Ha, well I mean if you define "heaven" as being relentlessly tormented by all your peers, having a hate club made about you, and being put in the hospital twice by kids older then you then I suppose so." Toby smiled.

  "Also, usually we kill people who are sensitive to the paranormal. Well, the people who work for my boss do."

  Toby was silent after being asked about the stranger. 

  "I'm not, I'm sorry. Though someone else here might be aware of who he is."

  "I had all of that and more. I've been put in the hospital more times then I care to remember”, she physically flinched as she felt the phantom pain of her hand and the beatings of her step dad.

  "At least you didn't watch the only people who were the closest thing you had to a real family jump to their deaths one by one at the hands of Horatio. And there was nothing I could do about it", she went quiet.

  "I-I said too much. It's not really anyone else's business", she tilted her head to the side thoughtfully, "hm...if I die I at least will be with my friends again...hopefully" she sighed "that's fine...I'll get my revenge eventually...if I live long enough..."

  Toby nodded. He understood. He spoke. 

  "My father liked to say that my sister died in a car crash. She was in one, that was true, but the reason it killed her was because of a head wound my father had given her. The car cr-a-ash-", he stopped and cleared his throat, "was simply just an excuse."

   “Dads aren’t shit”, she said as she playfully punched his arm gently with her right hand with a small smile.

   Toby understood what it was like to lose people. So did a lot of the folks here. They soon were heading up a steep hill towards a monolith of a mansion. It was beautiful, with sprawling gardens and marble columns. All three of the men quickened their steps towards the metal gate, which swung open to let the group in. It seemed that whoever or whatever was inside was expecting him. Toby figured Masky had let the boss know. All proxies could communicate telepathically with their boss. But only their boss.

  She almost forgot about her anxiety as she was talking to Toby. Her anxiety spiked up as she was about to receive her fate. She went back to wringing her shirt.

  "Its so strange...I might die at any minute now and I'm strangely okay with this. You know death was very real to be growing up. I knew I'll die any day now whether I'll do it myself or someone else would", she shook her head, "I just never expected my death to be like this. This turned out to be a longer night then expected"

  Toby patted her shoulder.

  She dodged his touch and then offered him an apologetic smile.

  “Sorry instincts”

  "I'll vouch for you." He said simply.

  “What if that’s not enough? What if I have to die anyways regardless?”, stated Tabby.

   Hoodie led them up the stairs to a huge door, that also creaked open invitingly. The inside of the mansion was beautiful, with golden curtails, matching rugs, and wooden floors. Two people in matching masks and uniforms closed the door when Masky had stepped through. Without a word, they both gestured, at the same time, for the group to follow them. 

  Tabby whistled and was impressed at her surroundings.

  "This is so much better than my apartment..."

   Toby glanced at Tabby.

  "Disgraced proxies." He explained, then mentioned he would explain everything later to her after the conversation with his boss.

  "Oh...", she nodded an okay as he said that he'll explain later. She sincerely hoped that she would be alive for the explanation.

  She made the sign of the cross and put her hands together in a silent prayer and followed them. She stood up straight with her hands to her sides and kept a neutral emotionless expression for first impressions.

  Toby understood. There wasn't much he could do for her except put in a good word for her. Masky looked like he had a bit of a headache. The two people in the pearly colored masks eventually led them to a heavy door. One of them pushed it open. This room was darker than the rest of the mansion. It was cold. Painting of landscapes hung on the walls. It seemed to be some sort of sitting room. In the corner, on a plush armchair, rested a tall imposing figure. As soon as Hoodie, Masky, and Toby entered the room, they approached the chair and kneeled. The proxies in the pearly masks kneeled right next to the door, allowing Tabby to go in. Tabby entered the room cautiously and looked around. Tabby didn't know what to do. She saw everyone else kneeling so she did the same too. Wincing at her bruises as she did. She looked down, not daring to speak or look up until she was spoken too.

  The room seemed to rumble as the figure in the chair spoke.

  "Masky...why have you brought this human here?", It was a smooth, but chilling voice.

  Masky remained kneeling, and addressed his creator.

  "Conflict in the group as to what to do with her, sir.", Masky said. The being chuckled coldly.

  "How silly. Why did you not just do away with her?" The being asked. Masky sighed, and responded.

  "Some in the group believe there is no purpose in killing her." He stated firmly.

  Toby was muttering something under his breath, over and over. "Cruel but fair, cruel but fair, cruel but fair-”

  There was only one thought in her mind, "is this really going to be the end of me?"

  That was when Toby stepped in.

  "Sir! Don't punish my teammates for what I did. They both wanted to kill her but I suggested bringing her to you! I figured she...that she could be useful, maybe. Even if you just let her go, sir."

  That’s when Tabby stepped in.

  "Now wait a minute! If anyone should be killed it's me!"

  She quickly turned to the being.

  "Sir with all due respect, I should be killed. I was the one who made the stupid decision to run away from home. I was stupid enough to stumble upon them doing their job. I never should have ran away in the first place. I was stupid enough to not run away from what I stumbled upon when I had the chance" she said more quietly, "sir please don't punish them for my own stupidity. It should be me and me alone. I'll take the full blow if I must and even if it includes death", she looked down.

  Toby looked at her in shock, hoodie sucked in a breath, and Masky sighed, facepalmed and shook his head.

  She realized her mistake but it was too late to take it back. The damage was done. She was sure for certain now that she'll definitely be killed now. She waited for the consequence.

  "Silence.", The figure said, waving his tentacles threateningly.

 "I hold these men to a higher standard than mere humans. However...", The being cocked his head. "I'll admit that usually the humans brought before me simply beg for their life. You did not, which...amuses me."

  “Oh...yeah I forgot about my own life for a minute there...uh….spare me? Please?”, she said awkwardly not really putting much effort into it.

  Toby perked up. She might just be spared.

  "You simply were at the wrong place at the wrong time. Normally, I would have you slaughtered anyways.", the being paused.

  The proxies remained kneeling. The Slenderman seemed to settle.

  "Since you have amused me, I'll put your fate in your own hands. You can choose to die, in which case I shall send you out with either Knot or Paene.", he gestured to the two proxies in the pearly masks, "Or, you could stay here, and see what we can make of you."

  "You mean if I choose to stay I can live and eventually get my revenge and a new life?", she asked in disbelief.

   She thought about it, "but if I stay I'll never see my mother or little brother again..." she then remembered that her mother and little brother were treated better than her. He would never beat them, only her.

 "They don't really need me...and I have nothing else to lose… and I have been asking for a second chance at life since I was 12..." 

  She looked at the being making her final decision. As she said something that she didn’t believe, "I want to stay". Meaning that she wants to live.  

 "Very well.", the powerful being said, and offered her his hand to shake. He could sense something in her that was...darker.

 Tabby gave him a firm handshake with her right hand to seal the deal.

 "You may stay with either Masky, Hoodie, or Toby.", the being said.

 "I'll stay with Toby", she quickly looked down. Her chances of surviving would greatly increase if she stuck to him for now. Besides he was nice to her and spared her life so she kinda owes him.

 Once she proved herself useful, she could have her own home. Until then, she needed a mentor and someone who could explain the new life she was given. The being nodded to Knot and Paene to show the group out. He actually had some business to attend to with Masky and Masky only, and it involved the files he had brought to him. The Slenderman nodded, and sent her, Hoodie, and Toby out while he spoke with Masky privately. Toby was happy to at least be able to help her adjust. He hoped she'd be able to make the cut. Even though he was new, he was still a decent proxy meaning the apartment he had had two rooms and enough space for them to live comfortably. Jane was their neighbor along with a few others Toby had never met. Tabby followed Toby closely; she was careful not to stare as she was Generally polite for the most part. She saw a doctor with stitches going across her. She made damn sure to avoid her since she didn't like doctors. She saw an eccentric child playing with LJ, the Doll maker and Jason the toy maker. She saw two boys arguing with each other that reminded her of an old married couple.

  Toby was thinking. 

  "We can get Jane to make you a mask.", he said, "I think you might like her."  

  Tabby looked offended, "what's wrong with my face? Is it because of my eyes?".

  She did have unnaturally wide eyes. She often got picked on for them. People called her wide-eyed, bugsy, googly eyes ect...

  "No, no it's nothing to do with your face!", Toby assured her, "It's just that people like us wear masks. It's kind of like our new identity. But any face covering works, really."

  They passed a haggard, tall, skeletal thing with long tangled black hair. The creature's limbs were covered with dirt, mud, blood, and other...things. It watched Toby and Tabby continue on, mouth ripped open and hanging near its collar bone. It stared with its yellow blank stare. They passed a tall man with broad shoulders, very attractive and charming-looking. He was holding a cat in his arms. He looked relatively normal. They finally made it to Toby's apartment building.

  She looked at the apartment complex, "it's a lot nicer than my old apartment..." She didn't look at the other people as she didn't want others to kill her. He led her into the lobby. The lobby was empty, save for a lady at the front desk. She looked normal, save for the fact she had no eyes and her mouth was stitched shut. She was doing paperwork. Toby didn't seem to mind.

  "Come on!", He said, a little excited to show her where she'd be staying.

  Tabby gave him a small smile and let him lead the way. Toby let her into his apartment. It was oddly clean despite being lived in by an 18 year old boy. The blinds were open. There were a few dishes on the sink but nothing too unclean. The walls were a light green with dark brown trim. It was a decent place. A little cat slept peacefully on the couch. It was quiet besides the humming.

  "Your room will be the door right next to the hall closet.", he stated, "My room is locked, so don't worry about getting into the wrong room."

  She nodded in understanding as she took in her surroundings. She dropped her backpack in a corner and slowly walked up to the cat cooing at it. Not daring to touch it until she gained its trust but it's evident that she has a soft spot for cats.

  "Your apartment is nice and it's relatively clean...I always had to play Cinderella at my old apartment", said Tabby.

  Toby smiled. 

  "I just like being in clean spaces.", he said, not wanting to get into the reasons for that.

  He introduced the cat to her. The cat's name was Nugget.

  "She was a stray. I found her beating the crap out of some raccoon so I took her in. She's a real big baby."

  Nugget remained asleep, obviously unbothered by Tabby's presence.

  She nodded, "so do I. I have Bad OCD", she left it at that not wanting to get into the reasons for that. 

 "Nugget is really cute. I love cats"

  "Well, lucky for you, Nugget loves sleeping in your room so you may wake up and find her next to you.", Toby said with a smile, "I'll give you some time to settle in.".

  "Okay" she picked her back pack up and went to her room.  

  It looked the same as the rest of the place with the same colors just smaller. There was already another bed with a small bedside table and a small dresser with a mirror on it. She unpacked. She only had a week's worth of clothes for summer and winter and like 3 pairs of pjs. She put socks and underwear in one drawer, shirts in the next, pants in the next and then pjs in the next. She hung up the plain pale blue long sleeved dress that she had in the closet. She put her hygiene products and feminine products in her closet. Lastly she took out the two pictures that she had and put them on the nightstand. And she took out a couple of sketches that her best friend Autumn made for her. They were both of Tabby in different poses. She laid them on the bed. The bed was bare as there was no bedding on it. She'll buy frames for her pictures and bedding for her bed once she got money. She'll ask later if she could hang stuff up on the wall.

  Toby busied himself while she got settled into her new room. He had done the dishes from what he had managed to eat that day and checked on the food he had. He was running low, but thankfully he'd soon be paid for the mission with a bonus, as he was now training someone. Proxies got paid per mission, though it was always possible to get money on the side. The longer and more complex the mission, the more pay you'd get for it. Toby had finished cleaning up his mess in the kitchen and was looking over his mission schedule for that week. He had given Jane a call to let her know her services would soon be needed. He figured that a friendly female presence would help Tabby adjust to this place, and he knew the moment she had her mask was the moment she could go around The Pocket safely. Jane would make it to her liking. Toby knew that while he'd be the primary mentor, there were things he could not teach her and would need help with. He also knew that he needed to explain the rules.

  She sat on the bed and looked into the mirror and took a good long look at her reflection and took the time to process tonight's events. How fucking quickly her life changed from running away to becoming a proxy.

  "Wtf actually happened? How did I survive this?", she said out loud to herself.

  Toby knew his schedule was clear the next day. That would be good. He figured that they soon would need to get something to eat but Toby didn't feel it was a good idea for Tabby to go out too far without a mask. Not wearing a mask made you a target for the malus population, or even sometimes higher ranked monsters or other proxies. It was deemed unacceptable to not wear one unless on a stealth mission. Thankfully Tabby has bad social anxiety so it's unlikely that she'll ever venture out by herself. If anything she'll venture out if she had too only with another person with her. Toby knew that she would have to make friends to survive for long here. It was always best to have someone in your corner unless things went to crap. Thankfully Toby knew some decent people who could definitely help her out of her shell a tad and also would be loyal. She decided to leave Toby alone for now since she didn't want to get in his way and bother him. He knew where to get her if he needed her. She just flopped on the bed staring up at the ceiling. It's insomnia week so she's not going to sleep for a couple of days. Her anxiety died down and the adrenaline wore off.

  She talked quietly out loud to herself, "Alrighty ground rules. Don't speak unless spoken too. Only make eye contact for a little bit when someone is talking to you. Always be polite and respectful, fight if you have too, just keep your head low, stay out of the way and if someone asks you to do something quickly, quietly and efficiently".

  She nodded as she agreed with the rules that she made for herself. She gave herself a little pep talk.

  "I survived Rosewood for the last 8 years. I can survive here. This is no different from Rosewood only the steaks are higher. I can live with that. I'm sure there's a weapon store somewhere here. I can buy some weapons to defend myself with when I absolutely have to go alone". She took a deep breath "I'm finally going to do it Autumn...I'm going to avenge you and the others....just hold on"

  Toby knocked on her door, and let her know he was going out for groceries. He told her Jane would be over in about fifteen minutes to start working on a mask with her and asked her if she needed anything. He was planning on just making some simple food for dinner. Jane was a very talented mask maker, and Toby knew that she would do a good job with Tabby's. Toby had a bit of a flashback. When he was new, still slightly burned and bruised from the fire, he was sitting down on some stone steps outside a building and he was crying. He remembered feeling a tap on his shoulder and seeing Jane sitting next to him. She was ranked lower than he was, she had explained, so he could feel assured she wouldn't hurt him. He remembered her taking him back to her apartment and making him some food before showing him where he was supposed to go. Jane was an incredibly sweet person and was able to make people just open up to her. She did a lot of espionage missions and did a lot of work with stealth.

  Tabby opened up the door and nodded.

  "Do you think you can buy my two frames? About an 8 x 9? And at least two knives for me to defend myself when I absolutely have to go alone? And some bedding too?", she added quickly, "if you don't want too that's fine! I can wait until I get my own money! I don't need anything fancy! Just something sturdy and simple. And something warm. I don't want to be a burden on you. I can take care of myself! I don't want you to think I'm trying to take advantage of you! I'm actually really grateful!", she babbled on as she fidgeted with the bottom of her shirt and looked down prepared for the harsh comeback.

  "It's okay! I can get that for you. Any specific colors you want for the bedding and the frames or should I just get stuff that matches the room?", Toby asked. He had no problem providing her with stuff. She was a guest in his home and he would be a bad host if he didn't help her out. Plus she was in a new world with new rules that probably seemed a bit hellish. If he could help in any way he would be happy to. 

  "Oh, and I'm grilling some chicken and making some salad for dinner. Is that okay or do you want me to bring you back something?", he asked.

  "Teal...I like the color teal...it's my favorite... as for the frames just simple black ones will do. No need to be fancy.", she added quietly.

  She listened to him when he said what he was making for dinner, “That's fine I'm not a picky eater. but I have to watch you make it because I don't trust anyone to make my food unless I'm watching or if I'm making it myself. It could be poisoned. No offense to you".

   It was common knowledge at Rosewood that you don't eat the school food as everyone's caught Horatio poisoning the food more times than not. So everyone brought their own lunch and the kitchen shut down.

  "Okay, that's fine with me.", Toby assured her, "You can even help me cook it if you want.".

  He understood. When he first got to the Pocket he was given to an older proxy to be trained to who called himself Demitrius. Toby had been training with a girl named Farrah. Demitrius despised them. He was so awful to them, which they both had to take as they were new. Then they had both started getting sicker and sicker. Farrah had found out that they were slowly being poisoned so they were both moved to different mentors. He didn't feel like explaining that however.

  "I'll make sure I'll get you what you need, okay?”, said Toby.

  She nodded as she sounded relieved, "Okay. I'm pretty good in the kitchen myself".

  As she's always had to cook dinner for the 5 of them, the people she lived with. On top of her working at the This or That restaurant. 

  "Okay thank you", she ventured out to the living room as she sat down on the edge of the couch since he mentioned that a girl named Jane was coming over soon.

  "Okay, I'll see you.", Toby said with a smile. He turned and left the apartment with a list.

  Soon enough, the door slid open. The woman from earlier came into the apartment. She was tall, and wearing a very pretty painted mask and a wig. She had changed from the dress from earlier into a long sleeved t shirt and jeans.

  "Hey hon! I'm Jane.", the woman said with a kind voice.

  She quickly looked up at her, "hello my name is Tabby", she quickly looked back down again as she was fidgeting with her shirt again. She was covered in bruises and scars old and new. And her bandaged left hand was obvious.

  She stood up trying to be a good hostess, "would you like anything to drink? I'm sure we only have water here for now".

  Jane smiled and shook her head.

  "No thank you, I'm good.", she said.

  Jane noted her bruises, scars, and her hand. She gave her a smile.

  "I was asked to come here to discuss the type of mask you would like.", she said tentatively.

  "Hmm...I don't want anything too fancy as I don't want to drag attention to myself more than I already will since I'm fresh meat...and something of a teal color", she was thinking as she made room for Jane to sit if she wanted to. Jane sat next to her with a smile, "Hm, teal, that would look nice. You won't be fresh meat for long, but I understand wanting a plain mask. Maybe a golden design over the teal? That could look very pretty."

  Tabby nodded excitedly, "yeah! Like golden spirals in different directions"

 Jane nodded, "That could be pretty.", she sketched out a tentative design and showed it to her.

  "Yeah...", she just stared for a couple of minutes as she was having a flashback to when Autumn was alive. She was the artistic one in the group. And was also her best friend/big sister. She was always showing Tabby her sketches.  

  She shook her head to clear away the memories.

  "Like that", she confirmed.

  "Okay! Anything else? Would you like me to paint the lips, add any engravings, stuff like that?", Jane asked.

  She remembered one older proxy, about 40, who had lost his entire group in one mission. He had come to her and had her engrave their names on one side of his mask.

  She hesitated for a minute, "could you engrave 14 names in the inside of the mask? And paint the lips black please?".

  "Okay, lips black. Can you write out the names please?", Jane asked, handing her the sketchbook and a pencil. She would be more than happy to.

  Tabby took her sketch book and wrote down the names 'autumn, ora, Emma, heath, Gavin, Donny, Rebecca, Mitchell, Morgan, jewel, Julie, Caleb, Riley, Emmy, and Daniel'. She handed back the sketch book.

  "Okay. I'll carve them on the inside of the mask.", She said.

  She figured those names carried sentimental value to Tabby.

  Tabby looked up, "thank you", and she looked down.

  Jane nodded, "I'll have it done by either tomorrow or the next day, okay?".

  Tabby nodded, "yes that's fine. Take all the time you need. I don't plan on going out anytime soon".

  "Of course. I'll get it ready.".

  "Okay then", Tabby wasn't really good at holding up conversations as she never really got too much socializing. Especially if it's a stranger.

  Jane smiled.

  "Would you like me to leave, or would you feel more comfortable with someone else in the apartment?", Jane asked with a smile.

  "Oh you can stay if you want if you're not busy", she won't admit it but she didn't want to be alone in this strange new world just yet.

 "I'm not all that busy. If I could bring some of my mask making stuff over here that would be great.", Jane said. She understood

 "Yeah that's fine. I'm sure Toby won't mind as long as there's no mess afterwards".

 "Oh I won't make a mess.", Jane said peacefully. She said she would be very fast.

  "Unbelievable", she said in thought, "I'm talking to a killer...I'm having an ally ship with two of them so far", she shook her head, "my life really did take a drastic change"

  Jane went to her apartment and soon came back with all her supplies. She could get three of her orders done if she worked fast. Jane began to chat with Tabby as she set up. 

  "So Tabby, you're very new, hm?".

  "Yeah my life turned into this in one night. I was honestly not expecting this to happen. Originally I was running away", admitted Tabby.

  Jane nodded. She understood. She began making the mold for one of the masks.

  "I understand. But this will be a pleasant change, you'll see.", Jane promised, "Revenge and whatnot is quite exhilarating”.

  She shook her head slowly, "I hope so. I'm just doing it because I know I can't die and go with my friends without avenging them while he is still out on the streets and in school. Someone else will suffer at his hands and I'll be damned if someone else has to suffer by the hands of him like I did", she said quietly.

  "I think I know who you're talking about.", Jane said, "And...if it's any consolation at all, ghosts do exist and several of them have contact with other dead folks. There may be a way to talk to your friends, albeit temporarily.", She set the mask cast to dry and made another one.

  "There's only one I would like to talk to one last time. I owe her everything after all she did for me", she said quietly. She then changed the subject.

  "Toby said that you also went to Rosewood Prep".

  "He's right. I used to. I still have human contacts in there.", Jane said. She set a fan on the first mask as she finished the second one.

  "So how long ago was that? What was it like? Was it still the same students who were just as corrupt as the teachers? Was it like the hunger games where you had to be on guard and fight every day to survive only with more rules and regulations? What horror stories do you have of that place?", she asked excitedly. She never met anyone who lived long enough to get out of Rosewood. Normally the people who do got the fuck out the first chance they got and were never really heard from ever again.

  "I was there two years ago, actually. I'm still pretty new here myself. I...I have a lot of stories.", Jane said.

   She shifted anxiously, "I once got caught stealing food from the kitchen, and they locked me in the sports shed for almost a week. They poured water on the ground for me every day and I had to lick it up from the ground. Teachers would have favorite kids and that would keep them out of trouble. Rich kids were treated much better. Anyone who made lower than a C on anything was punished. Sometimes they would lock kids who were hallucinating in the upstairs bathroom and just leave them there. I have so many."

  "Horatio Galloway" Tabby’s face paled and her eyes were wide in fear, "most of my horror stories had to do with him" "rarely did I ever get into trouble with the teachers. I was always a straight A student. It's only when I got into trouble for skipping classes because of Horatio".

  "I think I remember him.", Jane said, "I didn't get in as much trouble with him ever. I did okay in my schooling but I was rebellious.". Jane set the second mask to the side, and started on another.

  "It was probably a good thing that you've gotten punished for stealing the food. It was probably poisoned by him. I'd rather be locked in the sports shed than have a slow death", pointed out Tabby.

  "It was before the food was prepared. I wasn't stupid. I took fruits and veggies and unopened pre packaged things. They were denying a friend of mine food. I got caught after she got to eat.", Jane spoke with some pride.

  "Good for you", Tabby said proudly.

  Tabby then looked down and her voice quivered, "then you must be aware of the Rosewood massacre that happened a month back", She rubbed her left hand.

  Jane's eyes darkened, "I heard rumors about the massacre but don't know the details. Several of my friends are still there...".

  "I can tell you the real full story. The massacre as they called it really did happen. I saw it with my own eyes but being the person that Horatio is he made damn sure that I couldn't do a damn thing about it", she gave a bitter laugh, ”always had it out for me since day 1".

  Jane looked sadly at her.

  "I'm so sorry you had to be there.", Jane said softly she began to paint the first mask, a pretty lavender mask, "Talk about it only if you would like to." She sighed and thought about it for a while. She's never talked to anyone about this.

  "It...was homecoming...you know at Rosewood how each homecoming is a different theme every year. This year was carnival themed. Which I don't like as it is because I have a severe distrust of clowns. Too many horror movies growing up you know? Anyways my mom decided to let me go to the event and she and my grandmother came with me. That was the catch. Horacio was standing at the entrance dressed as the ringleader handing out pink candies that were laced with LSD to everyone. You should know at Rosewood it is common knowledge that you do not take anything that Horacio gives you. Whatever it may be. I didn't take the candy because I knew better. I tried warning my mom and grandmother about it but they wouldn't listen. I was too smart for his bullshit but not smart enough. I couldn't find my friend group anywhere. But I knew that they were here so I didn't worry about it too much and I'll find them later. So I got to the seats and watched the show which was quite boring since I wasn't hallucinating from the candy. But the last act though. It was outside. I saw all my friends lined up on the rooftop of the school and it's a fucking tall building. while everyone was thinking that they were doing some acrobatic tricks i watched them jump to their deaths one by one....i was screaming and crying begging someone to help but all ignored me and i couldn't shout because they were too far up hear me and I couldn't break into the school either. i couldn't do anything. later on the LSD wore off and they were mortified to find the 14 dead bodies. all confused on how it happened. So they deemed it the Rosewood Massacre. After the show was over I confronted Horacio about what he did. I attacked him to strangle him. My goal was to kill him. but the problem was that we're too evenly matched with each other. in strength and intelligence so it turned out to be a fist fight. we did a good amount of damage to each other. until he caught one of my punches and shoved my fist through a closed window shattering the window and every bone in my hand. i had to get the glass surgically removed as it was deep in the tissue so i can't feel a thing in my hand anymore and they had to set my hand for the broken bones to heal. But since doctors refused to do their jobs correctly they set it wrong so it healed wrong and now my hand is paralyzed. he took everything away from me! My family! My home! My motivation to live then! and my hand!", she was more hurt than angry.

   Tabby quickly looked away to recompose herself, "I'm sorry for the sudden outburst. I never talked about that day since to anyone before".

  "I understand." ,Jane said softly. She had been letting the lavender mask dry so she could paint flowers on it and had been working on the second one, listening to the subject.

  "I'm so sorry.", Jane said softly, "I understand what it's like to lose everyone. A lot of the teachers at that school were just plain cruel, and I still don't know how and why the human government hasn't shut down that institution or why parents won't stop sending their children there. No one deserves to lose people the way you did." 

  "That's because the shit they do there is unbelievable. No one would believe them if others heard their stories. I don't know about your parents but mine didn't believe me either and neither did my therapists", explained Tabby.

  The second mask was a half white and half black one. 

  "We can get you an appointment with the Puppeteer perhaps. He can just drain your sadness away." The Puppeteer was highly sought after for his empath abilities. It comes back after a while unless he numbs your memory, but it's nice to feel peace just for a little while."

  She shook her no.

  "No thank you. I don't like my mind being tampered with. I've been through 7 psychologists. I don't need anyone else. My sadness, anger and grief is my motivation to put Horacio Down once and for all. I can have peace of mind after that", said Tabby.

  "I understand. He doesn't tamper with your mind though. He feeds in negative emotions so you can at least get a bit of sleep and have a moment where everything feels okay. And you're right. My parents didn't believe me either. All my letters were monitored as I lived in the boarding section.", Jane said, "My parents didn't believe in therapy, so."

  She finished up the first mask. It looked lovely and glossy.

  "As much as that sounds nice. I can't sleep even if I wanted too. I have insomnia and narcolepsy. So it's a hit or miss", explained Tabby. "I've heard horror stories about the boarding section. I guess I was considered lucky enough to be able to go back to the place where I lived".

  "Oh, he can deal with that too.", Jane said, "He's honestly a blessing. And yeah. The boarding rooms were awful.", She didn't want to go into too much detail.

   "Maybe I'll think about it" , she nodded in understanding. She learned in order to keep a friend you don't push boundaries and you don't ask too many questions.

  "So Tabby. What do you do for fun?", asked Jane, changing the subject.

  "Fun?" she asked, confused. She had to sneak around after school or at night in order to have some fun as her step dad was a cruel and strict man.

  "I normally like to read and write, have time to myself to philosophize. I liked to hang out with my friends whenever I could. Listen to music”, Tabby finally said.

  "Ah, I see." Jane said. "Those are fun hobbies. What do you like to write?" She asked. She had stenciled out a white design for the black side of the mask and mirrored that design in black for the white side. The third mask was hardening.

  "I like to write fiction. Darkly realistic fiction. Sometimes free verse poetry", Tabby said.

  "Oh, that seems fun." Jane said, continuing her work on the masks. She checked the little black clock up on the wall. "Toby will be home soon."

  "Yeah. Although I left all my written works back at Rosewood. I didn't think to bring them back to the place where I lived. I didn't exactly plan on running away. It was a spur of the moment type thing you know?", she nodded, "I'm not too worried about him. He seems like he's the type that can handle himself"

  "Ah, I understand. Maybe you could get Toby to get you some notebooks or something to write in." Jane said. "And you're right, he most definitely can. He's pretty strong."

  "Maybe and that's good I guess"

  Jane finished up the second mask and began working on the third. She looked like she was thinking. 

  "Has Toby told you the rules yet?", Jane asked.

  She shook her head no, "I know that there are rules and guidelines. I figured I would ask him later when he got back”

  "Ah. Well, if you'd like, I could start filling you in." Jane offered.

  "That would help out a lot. The more I know the less of a chance I have of being killed", said Tabby.

  "Okay. I'll tell you a few of the official rules then." Jane said, adjusting her position and making sure her mask was secure. "First of all, there is a hierarchy here that is absolutely set in stone. Since you're a proxy, you're lower in the hierarchy, but you are not the lowest of the low."

  "Sounds like my position in any life in general but okay what else?" She asked.

  "It's best to try to consort with your rank and above. So for you, that would be other proxies and monsters. The higher beings are not likely to befriend you so I wouldn't bother." Jane explained.

  "So like you and Toby for example?”, asked Tabby.

  "Not me, actually. Toby flaunts a few of the rules because he's popular. I am actually one of the lowest in the hierarchy." Jane said with an awkward nod. "It's not like you'd be punished for speaking with me or anything like that. People would just look down their noses a bit at you."

  "That's nothing new to me. I can live with that. Who would be my best chance to make an ally with, the higher proxies I mean?"

  "Hm. If you want high-ranking proxies that are pretty friendly, then believe it or not, Masky would be your go to guy. If he's not trying to kill you, he's very pleasant. Clockwork is another proxy I would chat with if I were you. She runs that little bar a couple minutes from here. Kate's not high ranking, but she can pull you a lot of favors because she knows people. There are a few monsters who don't care too much about the hierarchy either.”

  "He was trying to earlier. If it wasn't for Toby I would mostly likely be dead in the woods. I'm avoiding him for a while. I could give Clockwork and Kate a chance once my social anxiety dies down and when I get the courage to go out on my own willingly. Anything else that I need to know?"

  Jane nodded. "Yes. Relationships with humans that aren't mission-related or cleared by your boss as allies is VERY against the rules. It will get you put down to my level."

  Tabby nodded slowly "well I'm too fucked up for a relationship. I'm sure no one would want me anyways...The man I loved is dead now. No one will replace him. So I can have allies but it has to be cleared by the boss first?"

  "Yes. By allies I mean humans who are aware of our world and have chosen to side with us." She was painting what looked like a galaxy on the third mask. And I would be careful. You may find someone and it may shock you. I didn't expect-" Jane stopped then continued painting in silence.

  "You don't have to say anything if you don't want to. I'm not the one to push boundaries. And that makes sense. What else do I need to know?”, asked Tabby.

  "Treat all gifts with suspicion. Even if they're from people you know. There are a lot of backstabbers here."

  "I'm highly intuitive and I have serious trust issues. I don't trust anybody or anything. Unless I see them making it or doing something with my own eyes. I've already came up with the conclusion that this is no different from Rosewood. Except the stakes are higher and I have more freedom for the most part. If we survived Rosewood for that long we can survive here". What else?"

  "You'll find that this may be a bit tougher than Rosewood, mainly due to the missions. This is a very high stakes job. Many proxies die young. But it is also so rewarding too, really. Cause once you root yourself here, you've got some people that have your back."

   "Well then I guess I'll have to do my best not to die. I'll try to keep myself alive for as long as possible. Is there anyone I I shook steer clear away from? Like a red flag warning?”

  "Jeff." Jane said firmly. "Ignore him. Don't do favors for him and don't let him do favors for you. Ever." Her hands remained steady even if she was freaking out.

  "Is Jeff to you like Horacio was for me?" She asked quietly. "I'm good at ignoring people. I ignore people like they are the plague. I'm antisocial af"

  "Well, he set me on fire and murdered my family in front of me, so yeah, I'd say so." Jane said. She said it in a way to make it seem like it didn't hurt her but it was easy to tell that it did.

  "Horatio can't get me here...can he?" Her voice quivered and her eyes were wide with fear.

  "Horatio is just a measly little human." Jane said. "After you're trained and fully transformed, he won't really be able to harm you on his own. You could absolutely humiliate him.

  "But he's always been 10 steps ahead of me...I couldn't even get close enough to kill him and believe me I've tried countless times...what if he's still 10 steps ahead of me after I transformed? All my efforts would be in vain"

  "He won't be. Like I said. He's just a stupid human. You will be able to get rid of him with no sweat."

  She sighed the problem with Horatio was that she and him were too evenly matched. In intelligence and strength. She just uses her intelligence differently than he did.

  "I'm sorry for what you went through...including the stuff with Rosewood. I really am. What else do I need to know?", asked Tabby, changing the subject.

  “It's fine. I'm coping okay. You should probably know that the ghost community is a great community to be friends with." Jane admitted. "They're everywhere and they can get into places for you."

  She nodded "I'll try talking to them at some point”

  "I can easily introduce you to almost anyone you'll need to know. When you finish training, you'll be put into a group."

  "What do you mean?"

  "Proxies work in groups. Usually. You'll be given missions to do either solo, with some members of your group, or your whole group. They will be the people you can trust most."

  She nodded in understanding "Toby said something earlier about disgraced proxies. What are those?”

  "People like me. Other people call us honorary humans, or just disgraces. They are proxies or monsters who have broken some of the cardinal rules and were caught and punished for them."

  She nodded in understanding, taking in the information "is there anything else I should know?"

.  "Not really much that I can think of right now."

  "Okay thank you for taking the time and effort to explain things to me. I'll take your advice. I'll ask Toby if there's anything else I should know when he gets here and see what advice he has. I'd like to hear what he has to say"

   "You should. I'm just telling you things I know from experience." Jane said. She heard footsteps outside the room.

   Tabby froze as her ears picked up on the noise. She got defensive ready to attack or bolt. Toby, carrying everything he had bought at the grocery store in his arms and a basket. Jane got up to help him unload it all. Tabby sighed in relief and she got up to help too. Her mom made her carry 4-5 heavy bags in each hand every time they went grocery shopping. She may be small but she definitely has some lean muscle to her. She's still useful despite her left hand. Toby thanked both of them. He set down the bags of food on the counter and handed the things that Tabby had specifically requested to her. Jane had gone to start packing up her stuff after putting some things away. She knew that she probably needed to go now. Tabby went to her room to put down the bags. She'll take them out later once everything settles down. She went back out to help.

    Jane pack up.

   Jane pretty much had everything packed up and ready to go.

   "I'll swing by tomorrow with your mask." She assured Tabby

  "Okay. It was nice meeting you and having you here. It's nice to know I'm not alone with Rosewood"

  "You're definitely not alone. If you need someone to talk with who's not, well, a man-" Jane smiled a bit. "Then just give me a call or drop by. I literally live next door."

  She laughed. She gave herself a weird look. It was a sound that she hadn't heard in a long time. She only reserved it for Adam or her friends. "Well that's convenient then!"

  Jane nodded and smiled. It was nice to hear her laugh. Toby's voice came from the kitchen.    

  "Thanks for coming, Jane!" Jane smiled at Tabby and waved goodbye Tabby gave a small wave goodbye. Jane left the apartment. Toby poked his head in and let Tabby know he was going to start cooking now if she felt she needed to make sure her food was safe. Tabby nodded and she went in to help cook the food while keeping a close eye on Toby to make sure he didn't try anything with the food. Despite her hand she was actually very handy with a knife (cooking wise and also fighting wise). She was very fast and efficient in the kitchen. She was using her wrist to hold some of the vegetables in place as she cut them. On top of always cooking dinner at home for 5 people she also worked in a kitchen at a small restaurant afterschool. It got her out of the house for a while since she never wanted to go home. She only quit last month due to her hand. Honestly she would have become a chef if she never made the choice to come here. Toby made sure she saw and knew what was going on with the chicken he was cooking. If he added a spice, he told her what it was. He admired how skilled she was with a knife even though one of her hands was essentially crippled. He could tell she had experience. That was good to know. Most of the killers couldn't cook. Jane always ended up burning everything so he always offered her food. The neighbors next door, however, were excellent cooks but since they were literally a family unit, Toby never really spoke to them. He knew that monsters and proxies would sometimes settle down and start families but he never really met them. Most families got moved to another part of town. But she was the type of person to go through with her choice when she made one whether it was good or bad. She would see it through to the bitter end crash and burn. That was the most dangerous thing about Tabby.

   She liked how Toby respected her wishes and went out of his way to tell her what the spices were. She never really had a lot of respect in her life so it was a nice change. She liked how the moved well together in the kitchen. It almost reminded her of those types of families she saw on tv that the husband and wife would help each other in the kitchen. The thought made her look down and blush a little.

   Moving on. She was thinking about the irony of her situation. She hated all adults she didn't know in general specifically males in particular. And here she was living with an adult serial killer and a Male nevertheless. The situation made her burst out laughing out of nowhere.

   "Jesus...unbelievable...", she said, wheezing for breath.

   Toby glanced over at her.

  "Hey, you okay?" He asked.

  He had ticked a bit in the middle of the "okay" but it hadn't really affected his speech. He figured she might have gotten herself with the knife a bit. But then why would she be laughing? Hm. The chicken was almost done. After dinner he would go out to check his mail to make absolutely sure he had no bills to pay or no missions he had neglected to see. He could hear faintly next door a baby crying. He heard footsteps, a small creaking sound, and some shushing. Soon the baby quieted. Toby smiled to himself. The people next door never let their baby cry for too long. They were very considerate neighbors. 

   She calmed down a little bit, wiping her tears away from laughing as she was still giggling.

  "I'm fine. I'm not hurt. Even if I did get myself with the knife I wouldn't feel it because I used to work in a kitchen so my hands are pretty calloused".

  She showed him her left arm that had a crescent shaped burn mark on her bicep.

  "That's from work. I didn't realize it until two hours later when my arm was feeling irritated. So I looked down and saw a burn mark about 2 inches and a half in diameter. It eventually died down and became this. I was laughing because I realized the irony of my situation. You see I never really trusted adults in general. They don't do their jobs protecting their own kids. But if you're male you have a higher chance of me not trusting you. And here I am living with a technical adult male serial killer! I don't think you understand. I went against everything I knew and believed in one night. I took a leap of faith and I don't do that for just anyone so you better feel special”, Tabby explained.

   She smiled and shook her head, "my life really did take a drastic turn of events".

  Toby nodded. He understood. He offered her a small smile.

  "Well, I'm glad you did decide to take a leap of faith." He said earnestly. He plated up the chicken, then asked if she needed help with finishing up the salads. He heard faint music from Jane's apartment. The baby next door didn't start crying again. It was, for once, pretty peaceful. It was impossible to hear outside while the windows were closed, but if they were open it would be highly probable they would hear screaming.

   She shook her head no, "the salad will be done in a few minutes. I just needed to put the vegetables in and toss it" she did that and tossed it using a chef's flip without utensils mixing it good. The salad is done”.

  She plated the salad on both of their plates. She sat down and waited for him to sit to begin eating. Toby sat across from her with his plate. He was starving. He had gotten himself a knife and fork, and had gotten some for Tabby as well. He asked her if she wanted anything to drink. He had water, soda, and juice. No milk. He was lactose intolerant.

  "I would like some water please"

  Her expression changed to a more serious one as she was going to get down to serious business.

  "So Jane told me the basics of the rules. Like how there is a hierarchy. We're proxies so we're low but not the lowest of the low. How ally ships between us and humans and humans not from here are strictly prohibited. It's best to have a few higher up proxies as allies. And that I should stay away from Jeff" "but I want to hear what you have to say. Like anything else I should really know? Anyone I should stay clear away from?"

  Toby went up to get them both some water.

  "She's right. She covered almost everything. Especially about Jeff, though if you get on his good side he can teach you some pretty cool stuff. I think it's important to know higher being politics as well. Proxies have a specific boss. Monsters can serve whoever they want and do jobs for whoever. But it's important to know which higher being hates who, because sometimes they will act out against the proxies that serve that higher being."

  She nodded slowly in understanding "I'm fairly observant so I'm sure I'll pick up a few things on higher being politics here".

  "Is there anyone who you think I should stay away from personally?" She said in between bites. She was scarfing down her food like she wouldn't see food again. She didn't eat much in general for the last 8 years due to Rosewood. You had to bring your own lunch and her family was too poor to buy extra food. So she ate dinner at home and that was the only meal she would eat. They barely had enough food for the month while struggling for rent. Although when she was very young she could eat like a champ. For the last 3 months when her step dad came up with the cruel and unusual punishment for her to eat nothing but rice. But she got sick of it and she either stole a little bit of food from the stores when her mom used to send her out or Autumn was very generous and brought her some food for her own house.

   "I'm also not too fond of Jeff. But I also wouldn't trust LJ either. But he's friends with BEN and The Puppeteer so you can't really avoid him." The ghost community was super tight.

   "Is there enough for seconds?", she asked.

   "Yeah. There's enough for seconds if you'd like."

   "I don't trust clowns either. I watched too many horror movies as a child you know? But I'll be wary and cautious like I usually am with everyone and everything else" she got up for seconds and scarfed down her second and third plate. It wasn't until her fourth plate when she stopped.

  By then the entire thing of food Toby had cooked was gone. He didn't mind one bit however. He got up to do the dishes.

  "Yeah, don't trust clowns. They aren't...they aren't all that great. Especially here."

  "They're never in general". She went to help with the dishes while drying them. 

  "Thank you" she said quietly after a period of silence.

  "No problem." Toby said with a smile. He helped put the dishes away after they were finished. He heard a meow and saw Nugget plodding towards them. Tabby's face lit up as she started cooing at the cat and kneeled down to pet Nugget. She sucked in a breath at the pain of her bruises. She started petting the cat affectionately.

   Nugget purred and pressed her body up against Tabby, her tail indicating that she was pleased with this. Toby smiled.

  "I think there's a scrap of chicken on the table. Hold on."

  "I mean if you give it food you have a higher chance of befriending the animal. It works with me”

  Toby laughed and picked up some scraps of chicken from the counter. He offered them to Tabby so she could feed the cat. Tabby took some. She ate a piece herself and feed the rest of the scraps to Nugget one by one. Nugget seemed to enjoy the chicken. Her purring was very loud as she ate it. Toby watched from afar with a smile.

  "Is there a library around here?"

  "Yeah, there is. I could take you there." Toby offered.

  "Good. If you're not busy tomorrow that is. I would much rather have someone to come with me to show me around and I'm not taking the chance of dying on my first day out since I'm fresh meat as it is so curious about the new girl that it is inevitable to say the least. Two is better than one. "I would also like to get books on this place and plants and stuff so I can have a lesser chance of dying and not being afraid. A wise man once told me that you can't be afraid of something that you understand. Like being afraid of the dark for example" she babbled.

  "Sure thing." Toby said, "I don't have any missions tomorrow and your training schedule hasn't been sent yet. Books will be good and all but talking to other people about stuff here will make it much easier to learn. Like, you can read all you'd like about the poison daisy, but field experience with someone who knows much more about it will be helpful. Also, we still have to teach you how to fight properly and other things that will make you more successful. It will come much easier to you once you fully transform though."

   "Okay. And I know that there's only something you can learn from experience. I just want to learn all I can from books first. The rest I'll ask around and experience for myself and what do you mean "properly"? Are you saying I can't fight. I may be crippled but that doesn't mean I can't kick some ass one handedly! I'll have you know I've gotten into a lot of fights and I've won the majority of them. Well despite getting my ass kicked many times before..."

  "I understand." Toby said to her first comment. He wanted her to learn as much as she could from books first too, it would keep her from being gullible and from getting hurt badly.

  "I'm not saying you can't fight, I'm saying that you're living with people who fight and hurt for a living. You've won fights, sure, but that's against humans." Toby finished cleaning up the rest of the kitchen. "It isn't a smart idea to overestimate your own abilities here. Really. The people here are stronger than humans, are faster than humans, can take more damage than humans, some have literal magic powers, or extra limbs, or whatever. "

  She sighed in defeat.

  "That's true. This isn't Rosewood. I'm not up against people my own age who are equal in intelligence and strength and skills. This isn't my territory. But I'll adapt and overcome like everything else in my life so far. I'm a quick learner. Just one day at a time that's all", said Tabby tiredly.

  "I know. That will help you live." Toby said. He sighed, then smiled.

 "Don't worry. We can train you. We can also get the WPA to train you so you're specialized if you want." Toby said.

  "What's WPA?" She asked, tilting her head to the side.

 "The Women's Proxy Association." Toby said. "They're a group of specialized fighters that ensure the training of female proxies. They're bad asses. They're kind of like Amazons, if you want the human equivalent.”

  "Oh...that sounds like something I'd be interested in..." she was still tilting her head but smiled up at him.

  "Oh and another thing. If we're going to be living together for a while we need to establish ground rules. I only have two. One, please don't lie to me. I give you the common courtesy to give honest information. I would also like to be hurt with the truth instead of living a lie. If we're going to be working together in some way we're going to need some form of honest communication. Two, please don't fight my battles for me. I don't like other people suffering from my own stupidity and I know in this society that's just the way shit goes around here but I'll do my best to minimize that when someone's with me. I can and will take care of myself. If someone has a problem with me it's with me alone and nobody else okay? Does that sound reasonable to you?".

  Toby nodded. "Yeah. That sounds good. I don't really have any ground rules for myself at the moment, but I'll let you know.

  He was pretty honest for a proxy, and while he wasn't the type to let people he cared for get beat up, he understood how she would want to stand up for herself. It was good she had that drive to stick up for herself. Proxies who didn't have that usually ended up dead.

  "So what do you want to do now?", Tabby asked.

   "Well, seeing is it's kinda late, we should probably get some sleep." Toby said. "Well, you should. I have another small mission tonight but it shouldn't take too long."

   "Ah well you see I have insomnia...and narcolepsy so I don't ever get enough sleep. This is a week and a half of no sleep. But I'll be here when you get back. Try not to die okay?" She gave him a small smile. Which was code for 'be careful I care somewhat’.

  "I won't, it's a fairly riskless mission." Toby assured her. It really wasn't too bad of a mission. "It's just a delivery." Toby got up to leave. "There's sleeping pills in the hall closet if you'd like. They've got the power of like, horse tranquilizers."

  "Alright I'll think about it and I'll see you later"

  "Alright, I'll see you." Toby soon left.

  Tabby went to her room to unpack the bags that Toby had bought her. She took out the frames and gently slid both pictures into their frames and set them on her night stand. She took out the two knives and positioned them like she was about to get into a fight. They were good for defense. Tabby took out the bedding; it was a soft patchwork blanket with a teal color scheme and pillows to match. She positioned them just how she liked them. She decided to not hang up Autumn's artwork so she put them in her nightstand and deemed that it would be private and personal.

   Toby slipped through the shadows, the package in hand. He realized the quickest route would be through monster's only territory, but as long as he wasn't caught he would be fine. He darted through the trees, paying close attention to any noise he would hear. He eventually managed to pass through it unharmed, which made the bulk of his journey a lot easier.

   She stepped back until she was near the door to take a look at her room. It was simple and basic but you could tell that it was her room. Then she came across the dawning realization "like it or not this is home now". Home. That was a place she hasn't had in a long time. Sure she lived with her mother and two brothers and her step dad. But it wasn't considered home or a family. Tabby knew that a home is where you feel safe and you belong and a family accepts you for you broken or not. Tabby shook her head.

  "This isn't home. I mean I'm living in this world now so I guess this world is my home now but this place isn't. It's not my territory and I barely even know him" she talked out loud to herself.

   Toby walked down streets that were covered in multicolor slick, which was essentially the water in this dimension. He carried the package in his gloved hands. Even through his mask, he could smell something cooking. He knocked on a heavy dark door. It swung open almost immediately. He gritted his teeth as cigarette smoke permeated the air. It reeked. The man standing before him was tall, and horrendously burned. The tales told about him said that his skin had been bleached, and that was partially the case. However most of his skin was mottled and scarred with varying shades of red. His face was barely distinguishable as a face. The eyes were sunken and shriveled. The nose was covered in scars. His mouth was clumsily cut into a wide, oozing grin. The man seemed to sniff the air. He clicked his tongue.

  "Ah. Twinkle Toes. Nice to...hehe... see you." 

  "Hey Jeff." Toby said uncomfortably. "Is Barb here? She told me to bring her this." He held up the small package. Jeff clicked his tongue again. He felt the package with his marred hand while seeming to stare directly at Toby. 

  "Yeah, Barb's here. You can come in.”

   Her eyes widened in paranoia as that was kicking in now "how much did I tell him really? He isn't stupid so I'm sure he picked up on more than what I told him...wait let's see...I told him about my insomnia, narcolepsy, anxiety and OCD, I told him about Rosewood, I told him about Horacio, he already figured out I came from an abusive home...", she counted on her fingers. Several things. Not bad. Nothing too personal, just observations and bare basic surface. She sighed in relief. But her paranoia was still there "why did he spare my life? Me out of everyone else that could have stumbled across tonight? On top of that, why is he so nice? I mean I appreciate it but No one is this nice for free. Accept for Autumn but we were kids then and we didn't really know anything. What if he's trying to gain my trust just to catch me off guard to kill me later? Especially in my sleep...what if he has other motives? I can't trust him nor am I going too. I'll work well with him and I'll be nice and kind back because it's right. But trust seems to be a long shot...", she rubbed the bridge of her nose like she had a headache. She hated when her paranoia showed up. "Goddamn Rosewood" she muttered to herself. She got out of her room to pace around the apartment to think out loud.

  "However he did save my life...if it wasn't for him I would have probably gotten my death wish early...and he did take me in for now...so like with Autumn I kinda owe him everything" 

   She shook her head "I am thankful for all he's done for me so far...but I can not and will not care too much. It's like Jane said a proxies life isn't that long on average....I don't want to hurt him and have his efforts of keeping me alive to be in vain...that's not fair to him. I'll have allies but no friends. All my friends are dead and they can not and will not be replaced. Moving on means forgetting and I promised myself that I wouldn't forget them" but she knew that deep down inside that wasn't the real reason.

  "I can't have what happened at Rosewood happen to anyone else that I've become allies with...I don't want to get attached and go through that heartache again...while I'm still going through it..." she admitted quietly to herself.

  Toby didn't have much of a choice as Jeff pulled him into the building. The cigarette smoke only got stronger. But thankfully, he heard Barb's laugh from the upstairs, so he made his way up the creaky staircase. That's where he found her. Barb was around eight feet tall, and had four muscular arms. She had a sharp jaw and broad shoulders as well as long dark blue hair. She had fur the same shade as her hair coating her arms and legs. She had a tattoo gun, and was tattooing another monster. It was a pretty large and complex tattoo, but Barb had a lot of the skill to make it look nice. She turned when she heard Toby.

  "Hey Tobes!" She said in her loud, booming voice. She extended a hand that wasn't being used. "You brought the pills?"

  "Yeah, EJ gave them to me earlier." Toby said, passing them to her. Barb smiled, showing sharp teeth.

  "Thank you!" She boomed jovially. The monster getting tattooed, a tiny wisp of a woman with eyes all over her face and arms had all her eyes trained on Toby. It made him very uncomfortable.

  "Well, I should probably go-" Toby said.

   She looked around and it was too quiet to her liking.

  "On second thought those sleeping pills sound nice right about now" she mused to herself. 

  She went to the closet and grabbed the bottle and read it carefully to make sure they were sleeping pills. She opened up the bottle and only took one since Toby said that they have the power of a horse tranquilizer and she's...well...small. She popped the pill dry and took some clean bandages that she found and a hand towel. She would clean her crippled hand and dress it in new bandages so it doesn't get infected since the surgical incisions were still fairly new. She went to the bathroom to wash her hands with soap and water and patted her crippled hand dry and wrapped it in new bandages. After she was done she could feel the pill kicking in. So she went back to her room. She locked her door and was debating on whether or not to move her dresser to barricade the door just in case he or someone else were to break in and attempt to kill her in her sleep. Since when she actually goes to sleep she's a deep sleeper. But she decided against it since she was too lazy and it would be a hassle to move it out of the way if she needed to escape immediately. She took her two knives and curled up laying down on her bed with her back facing the corner. She normally didn't sleep with covers on as they were a hassle to get off is someone were to attack her. She had her knees pulled up to her stomach for protection and her arms crossed to protect her chest and neck. She had both knives in each hand that laid against the back of her neck too for protection. No one was going to attack her easily. It was the only way she could feel safe while sleeping. And pretty soon she was out like a light.

  Toby eventually got back to the apartment. Jeff had wanted to show him something, which he knew wouldn't have ended well. He made sure to lock the apartment door behind him. It was quiet. Nugget was probably in Tabby's room. Toby peeked in her room to check on her and saw that she was asleep. Nugget was on her bed. After making sure she was okay, he closed the door and went to go take a shower and get ready for bed. He was pretty tired. He had run into Masky on his way back who managed to get him to share a drink and talk for a bit, which Toby found nice. Masky was in a much better mood today than other days. His shower and clothes change was quick. He put his dirty clothes into the hamper. He took it down to wash his clothes twice a week. The apartment had a shared laundromat.

  Tabby stirred awake as Toby closed the door  

  "son of a bitch" she thought to herself. 

  She wasn't protected enough. But even in her sleepy state she could recognize that it's Toby so she had nothing to worry about that much but for once in her life she was just too damn tired to do or say anything about it. 

  "I'll deal with it in the morning" she grumbled to herself and went back to being dead asleep in her protective position.

  Toby was in his pjs. He went to the kitchen and got a glass of ice water before heading back into his room. He closed his door behind him. He sat on his own bed and turned on a fan. He liked it cold in his room. He had a small little radio next to his bed that he used to play soothing music or sometimes just audiobooks or things like that. Soon he managed to sink off into a deep sleep.

[zcmbierabbit]

[      🍕     ˎˊ˗      #FERALREASON :            a private & highly selective ˎ ﹠ 21+ portrayal of DAVE MILLER // WILLIAM AFTON from the FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’s fangame trilogy ˎ DAYSHIFT AT FREDDY’S . Hired by Willow ! ( 25+ + they/them + cst / gmt-5 ) . Canon divergent ( doubly so regarding FNAF ) ﹠ headcanon based . TRIGGERS SUCH AS : murder ˎ abuse ˎ mental illness ˎ medical horror ˎ and possibly more. PLEASE READ RULES BEFORE FOLLOWING [ DOC ] MINORS DNI. NON-RP BLOGS FRIENDLY HERE.

A STORY ABOUT : revenge ˎ loyalty ˎ the price of immortality ˎ found family ˎ and having unforgettable fun !

        I also post art here and am taking commissions! Message me if interested!

       Est.  Jan  25,  2022.  Came  Back  May  10,  2022.

[rpmemesbyarat]

RP Meme from "Rock & Rule" Part One of Two

The only survivors were street animals; dogs, cats and rats.

We've seen every new singer in the whole country.

Your record sales are dropping.

Have you finished decoding it?

A scientific breakthrough for me; an unforgettable magic show for the masses.

So whaddya say? Nothing. That's what I thought you'd say.

Hey, I'm rehearsing.

So if we did two songs, one could be mine.

You trust everybody.

You lose, cowboy.

You'll be okay, you're just nervous. Take a deep breath.

I'm not nervous, I'm scared.

Don't need you, I don't live in this town

Don't trust you, don't want you standing around

Can't stand you, ain't gonna stick around

I wasn't born for loving, I was born to raise Hell

I was born to raise Hell

I hate you, and I hate this town

I hate you, do you like me?

You like our music don'tcha?

It's such a pity you want me to go

You're PRETTY USELESS!

Someone cut the power?

I wait, just in case you need me

I still will set the stage, send my thoughts to you

I'm one of your biggest fans!

This wouldn't have anything to do with your world-wide talent search, would it?

I'll be your angel if you want to see how perfect sharing love with an angel can be

Like I said, this band's on it's way to fame and fortune.

I loved it! And so did a warm, personal, and influential friend of mine.

Don't let him get us! He'll put a heck on me!

Old fashioned but new! I love it!

Okay, okay, I'm getting the idea. I may be stubborn but I'm not stupid.

You've already screwed things up for one night.

I trusted you , you jerk!

Sometimes I walk, sometimes I talk. I'm talking now.

Hey you know, everything got a little weird.

What will the signal be for your eyes to see me?

Won't you come up for a spell?

He wants to talk to us. It could be big fun.

One way only - and this ain't it.

He's all a magic act; video tricks. It's a scam.

If I didn't know you better, [NAME], I'd say you were jealous.

I guess you're not coming in?

Shoot yourself.

How do you get in?

Maybe you gotta sacrifice a goat or something.

Are you calling me a liar?

You are calling me a liar.

That's it, party's over. Let's blow.

Come on, it's a waste of time to creep around this depravo's mansion escorted by two of mother nature's finest freaks.

Words to the wise, guy. Be nice, or be dog food. Follow?

You gonna apologize, rude boy?

I'm sorry, dogbreath dicknose!

Anyone want a beer?

I just love it when he talks French

You look even more beautiful in person, than onstage.

Better get some antiseptic on that before it festers.

Enough about them, let's talk about you.

What did you think of my last album?

Oh, I'm sure you're into reaching new levels of consciousness, aren't you?

Shall we take a stroll in the garden, my dear?

success does have it's rewards,

Such trophies are minor compared to what I really want

My magic. Is that too much to ask?

It was still great. I was there!

Don't toy with me, [NAME]!

I'll show them power.

My contract has room for only one signature; yours.

Open your eyes! Accept my offer.

I didn't offer you anything; I offer you everything!

We all have our illusions, far be it for me to take away yours.

I was looking for you. What's going on? I demand an answer!

Hey you know, you're a pretty nosy guy.

Violence is not the answer to anything. Can't we discuss this like civilized human beings?

I think their brains have seized up!

To the power and the glory that is me

Triumph of the glory of me

Everyone outta the pool!

Excuse me, but could you put me down?

Oh, so you wanna play rough eh?

These hands are lethal weapons.

I could paralyze you.

Whoa! Keep him away from me!

Happy trails, punkeroos!

You guys are totally stoned!

Alright, where are the keys!? Where are the keys!?

Hurry, wake up! You gotta drive, I don't know how to drive!

We only got half a car left.

What are you doing in a public fountain?

A real crime's been committed!

Is this a confession?

I'll get the evidence.

You thought you seen it all, you ain't seen nothing new

Big city, big lights, can see it up ahead

Make a name for myself, and I'll be number one

Hold on to your privates, generals, we're going through.

Okay, that's it, you're gonna stay here for a long time!

Keep your flippers off me!

Stuff it, pinheads!

You got it sister!

[trilixa-ffxiv]

🌙Moonlight Rendezvous🌙  (Masquerade Ball)

"Sanctuary of the moon Tainted by the crimson light Naught save the night shall know our sorrow, we give unto it our all...all…" 

 Hidden away behind a mask not to be seen by others leaving the mysterious aura of who you really are.  Well The Rising Sun welcomes you to our Moonlight Rendezvous which is being held in our newest location. 

Yes we are expanding and will be rooted at Goblet, WARD 10, PLOT 13; a time to be mysterious and dress in all elegance. 

We proudly invite you to join this Monday for an unforgettable night of gorgeous music by DJ Spiralfruit dancing from our elegant dancers and maybe you'll walk away with a Tsukuyomi weapon of your choosing. Tickets start at 30k NO LIMIT (Winner must be present at the time of the announcing) And remember to dress your best 

 Website: https://therisingsunclub.carrd.co/ 

 Discord: https://discord.gg/dcKEHysC3b

@crystalxivrp​ @crystal-rp-ffxiv​

[the-royal-courier]

What: The Tirisfal Theatre Troupe’s 7th Anniversary Show! Where: Hearthglen, taking place at the tower in the center of town! Hearthglen is a neutral Argent town located in the Western Plaguelands, at the top-most center of the map! When: Friday, October 16th, beginning at 7:00 PM (server), pre-shows happening at 6:30 till start! Who: Anyone, of both factions! Please do update cross-RP and bring Potions of Tongues with you, however! You never know what friends you can make across factional barriers!

Seven years have now passed since the name of the Tirisfal Theatre first hit the streets with the fantastically hilarious anti-Garrosh show, “Hellsqueal: The TRUE Warchief’s Tale”. Now, seven years and thirty plus scripts later, the Tirisfal Theatre returns to celebrate growing yet another year with a humble but exciting gathering!

Once more helmed by Lord Atos Sunhart, denizens of all races, factions, and what-have-you in between are hereby cordially invited to celebrate another year of our humble theatre alive and kicking!

"A Hallows End Party BEFORE Hallows End?"

The Tirisfal Theatre’s breakout performance was first performed on the third Friday of October of the same year. As such, it’s been a tradition of ours to celebrate our anniversary on that same day. As it so happens, this is the oddest year for it, in that the third Friday falls earlier in the month, before the in-game Hallows End event even happens!

That being said, that doesn’t make this any less of a Hallows End party! So show up in costume, have a blast! It’s not quite a Bash, but it’s certainly…a Monster Mash.

Event Schedule

Pre-Show Performance

6:30 PM

We know that early birds enjoy finding their seats before a good show even starts! That’s why we’ve got a nice little performance set to happen with our own rookie troupie, the firebreather Ji’shol! Might even have other surprises in store for you, enough to adequately entertain you before the real show begins!

Opening Ceremony

7:00 PM

Gather round the tower, and find your seats! The opening ceremony is simply a formal statement from the troupe, but also an explanation of some of the rules for our big night, as well as the various giveaways and prizes for the raffle and the Transmog Tournament! More on that later!

The Champion’s Costume Contest

7:15 PM

Come in your coolest transmog in this free-for-all mog contest! Five judges from the troupe itself will select one person from the participants as their favorite! Those five will then be voted on to see who is the best dressed!

There is no theme this time! Like spikes? WEAR SPIKES! Is fire your thing? Burn our eyes out with your hot fashion sense! All the 5 selected winners will receive 20,000 gold, with the winner of the voting stage receiving a bonus 30,000 gold for a total of 50,000 gold for the first place winner! While it won’t buy you a longboi, it’s certainly a nice amount of coin for your pockets! More details on this will be given in a separate post!

The TTT Presents: The House on Raven Hill!

7:45ish Onward

We’ve put together a brand new play for your enjoyment, appropriately themed for the season! Come follow an aspiring house flipper in his unfortunate journey to Grand Hamlett, where he thinks he’s getting a good deal, when all he’s getting is a good deal…of trouble! (Play is roughly 30-40 minutes in length)

Closing Statements & Grand Fireworks Display

End of the Night

Parting is such sweet sorrow, and yet it is something we all must endure! If you signed our guest list and stuck around till the very end, your name may have been drawn to receive a flat color commission of your character of choice from our own extremely talented JayneStrange! After the raffle, you’ll notice you may have been given a load of fireworks - HOLD ON TO THOSE! You’ll need them in a bit!

The Tirisfal Theatre has coordinated a fireworks display for you to enjoy at the tower, and in the grand finale, you, the audience, will be called upon to join in the explosive fun! Just be careful with your fingers, and remember not to jump in until the right moment! Consider this your unofficial entry into the Tirisfal Theatre’s ranks!

Though the event is short notice, you can bet that we’ve been busting our butts to bring you the same excellent quality shows we’ve been bringing for the past seven years, with attention to detail, dedicated cast, and unforgettable moments imbued in our work!

We hope to see you all there, Alliance and Horde alike! Don’t delay, see a play on that day! …that day being the 16th of October. And more like night!

See you all at the show!

[the-ultimate-wish]

Nickname: Dramana

Gender: womfn

Pronouns: she/her!

Star sign: Aries squad ♈

Height: 5'5

Sexuality: straight up chilling

Hogwarts house (BuzzFeed quiz): You Are 34% Slytherin, 28% Ravenclaw, 23% Gryffindor, and 15% Hufflepuff. Which... is interesting because on Pottermore I used to be Hufflepuff, then slowly confirmed to be Slytherin from a separate quiz if y'all wanna try this one instead.

Favorite animal: I've always been a fan of big cats, like tigers or cheetahs

Average hours of sleeping: Y'all keep track??

Dogs or cats: why not both?

Number of blankets: 3 on cold nights, otherwise 2

Where im from: California girls we're unforgettable-

Dream trip: straight to my bed hahaha

When I created this account (link): Fri, 26 Aug 2016. 4 yrs ago babeeey. My main account is a little older than that

Why i created this account: lol whoops forgot this. I had seen souls ask blogs pop up and wanted to try my hand at original souls as well! These characters really bloomed after joining rp events, and after several failed attempts to keep up rp and comics of the soul kids, i converted them to fandomless and now make so much progress like this in their own magical world!

Followers: Currently 173!

Rules- Tag 20 followers you would like to get too know better

Tagged by: @underfell-souls

Tagging: @lyn-oof @ryanriotspirates @yellxwsxulfrxmthewest (it wont let me tag) @tymki @waddledeeart @theshiningdiamond @fridayhater iiiiif y'all wanna ;u;