The Killers' Nightmare (A Female Creepypastas X Male Reader story)

Chapter 75 | Altercation-Provocation

"Does she mean the Mistress?" Smiley whispered to Lazari.
"Yes. I believe so" I confirmed, chuckling slightly at the situation at hand.
"I mean, horned, horny, I'm both realistically. Just... situationally for the latter" Zalga noted, chuckling to herself as well.
"Is she here!?" Rachael yelled out worriedly, frantically looking around in fears of an ambush.
"Sort of..." I grumbled. "Look, Rachael. Those two are... friends of mine right now" I began, stepping closer to my paranoid housemate. "They asked for my help, and I agreed to give them a hand" I explained, gently placing my hand on her head. "I just need to grab a few things from inside, and then we'll be off. 'Kay?" I added, gently patting her head until she began retracting her claws.
"Fine..." she grumbled, looking to her feet and going slightly red at the affection. "But I'm coming with you!" She exclaimed, holding my hand on her head as she looked up into my eyes. "If they jump you, it's a two-on-one! You'll need me as upback!" She explained.
"You mean 'backup'?" Smiley corrected.
"Shuddup, mask-face!" Rachael retorted, failing to come up with a quick insult within her limited vocabulary.

"Alright, alright. Settle down" I said tiredly. "Everyone, please head inside" I requested, pulling Rachael out of the doorway to let the guests enter first. "Make yourself at home while I get myself set up. Mi casa es su casa and all that" I said as Lazari and Smiley walked past Rachael and myself. As I was about to follow them in, Rachael pulled me aside.
"You can't trust them, honey!" She whisper-yelled. "Look at what that Doctor did to me!" She added, turning around and lifting up my shirt that she was wearing.
"Holy shit..." I muttered, staring in disbelief. Her entire back, save for the centre, was cut up and bruised. From what I could tell, it had only recently began to heal from the damage. But the worst of all was what took up the space in the centre. Something had evidently been burned into her back, and as I stared at it I could only look on in horror. It was as if two sharp-pointed ovals had been overlapped like a plus-sign, with a circle in the cross-section and a dot in the centre of that. It was like someone had overlapped a pair of eyes and, as I stared at it, I felt like it stared back. But, worst of all, it was a shape I recognised. I could still feel the exact shape heating up in my bandaged palm, and I could still vaguely hear the cries of pain from Liu. "Zalga's fucking symbol..." I muttered, clenching my fists in fury.

"Go inside and keep an eye on our guests, Rachael" I ordered, all emotion now removed from my voice.
"Darling?" She muttered, turning around and looking at me with pleading eyes. "Do you understand now?" She asked, slowly outstretching her hand.
"I'm trusting you to watch over the two inside" I stated, moving away before her hand could touch me. "If they hurt you, or try to force themselves past you, kill them" I ordered, turning and walking inside with Rachael hot on my tail. "Am I understood?' I asked as she shut the front door behind.
"Completely" she confirmed, her tone now matching my own.
"(Y/N)? What's going on-"
"Don't move from that couch, girls" Zalga ordered, her tone laced with justified panic as I walked behind the proxies. "Until (Y/N) confirms our position himself, consider yourselves hostages. In 100% enemy territory" she explained as I began walking up the stairs. "Do not even attempt to negotiate. Our fates are in his hands, and if the Rake asks anything of you then tell her nothing but the whole truth" she added, talking quickly before I could slam my door.

"Talk. Now" I demanded, immediately reaching under my bed to load up on weapons.
"Where do you want me to start?" Zalga asked, a light scoff escaping my lips for her.
"Won't talk on your own?" I asked, stopping in place.
"It's basic practice to try and negotiate, is it not?" She retorted.
"Oh I'll show you some fucking negotiation" I growled, violently throwing the weapons case in my hands at my door. As it collided with a mighty *BANG* and it's contents spilt onto the ground, I heard a frightened yell come from downstairs. I planted my foot under my bed and found the rope I had left tucked away, and quickly pulled it out. "You, Zalga, are not in the position to be making any demands" I stated, speaking in a quiet and monotone voice as to ensure no one heard me. I put my foot into the loop of my pre-tied noose and swung my foot around so the rest of the rope was flung into my open hand. I took a few steps towards my desk and pulled out my chair, dramatically plopping it down in the centre of my carpeted floor. Standing on my new platform and looking at the exposed beams in my ceiling, Zalga soon began to pick up what I was putting down.
"No, don't! If you go, so do I!" She exclaimed in mild shock and terror.
"No shit" I said flatly, tying the free end of the rope to the beam above me. "C'mon, Zalgi, I thought you wanted to negotiate!" I exclaimed, evidently not in a clear state of mind as I put my neck through the loop.
"Don't do it! What about the Rake!? You gonna just leave her on her own!?" Zalga questioned, trying to pull at my heartstrings enough to cause me to stop.
"Already thought of that one" I retorted calmly, a smug smile planted on my face as I spoke. "C'mon now, Zalgi, negotiate for our lives!" I exclaimed, holding onto the rope with one hand as I slowly leaned my weight off of the chair. "Time's ticking" I added smugly.

The room was silent for a moment, until the legs of my chair began to creak under the shifted wait. Just before the chair was about to buckle however, my raised foot was suddenly slammed down onto the chair - evening the weight back out. "*pant pant* Holy *pant* shit..." Zalga panted exhaustively, with me now understanding that it was her who forced me back into a safe spot.
"Running low on steam?" I asked smugly, once again raising my leg and shifting my weight. "Think you could pull that off again?" I asked, already having a decent understanding of what her answer would be.

"Just tell me what you want from me!" Zalga pleaded, her tears welling up in my eyes as the noose tightened.
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER!?" I yelled in return, the sight of Zalga's symbol now burned into my mind.
"Hypnosis through torture!" She responded fearfully. Hearing her acknowledge what she did as torture made my blood boil but my desire for answers, as opposed to retaliation, helped me keep as close to a level head as possible.
"Explain" I demanded, now placing all four of the chair legs back down.
"R-really? You're not gonna kill us-"
"You have five minutes, don't waste 'em" I interrupted, folding my arms and resting my neck on the inside of the noose.

It was pretty quickly revealed to me on Zalga's methods and the science, or rather magic, behind them. Giving herself minimal pauses for breath, she had relayed to me her tactics and it's history of success. In summary: whenever she managed to get ahold of an enemy, or a 'stubborn' hostile, she could forcefully 'change their opinion' if she could make them 'submit'. Amongst her explanation, she credited Rachael for lasting longer than most. Apparently she was one of the more 'resilient' captives that she'd encountered in her time. "Truly, I never would've taken The Rake as such a loyal creature, but she certainly holds you in a high regard" Zalga continued.
"Wait a minute..." I muttered, having a realisation. "What did you call Rachael?" I asked, slowly removing my neck from the noose.
"Rachael? That's a... ironic name given the pronunciation" Zalga noted. "I called her 'The Rake', that's her Creepypasta name" she explained, my eyes widening after hearing Zalga use a word that sent others into something akin to a frenzy.
"That word, 'Creepypasta'... where'd you get that from?" I asked, hoping to shed some light on the mystery of its origin.
"That old thing?" Zalga questioned, almost taken aback from its simplicity.

"We Zalgos are the ones who log their existence"