Trees don't move. || A proxy story

C H A P T E R 9

“Oh, well at least you have an idea of why we had to take you here. What did he say?” I asked. “He said something about me because strong in sense of strength, direction, and manipulation.” She replied. “Well that's interesting.” I said, thinking it was interesting but not very informative. “I guess.” She said, shrugging her shoulders.

“Hey not to pry, but what was going on with you earlier? You didn't wave back at me earlier, I mean I got the run down from Hoodie but I wanted to get more information from you.” She asked, I tensed up slightly. “What do you mean?” I asked, kind of choked up. “Earlier, when you came back, I waved to greet you and you looked at me, grunted, and walked off upstairs.” She responded. “Oh, well (Y/N)... I wasn't exactly me at the time. I- or we were Masky. I don't remember any interactions with you at all when I came back but I know Masky was in front.” I said, feeling a little anxious as I just hung my head. “Oh.” She replied. “Yeah.. he's not very verbal plus he doesn't know who you are yet.” I said, looking up at her.

( 2nd person POV )

After a moment of silence between you two, you spoke up. “Well that makes sense, I was just a little confused.” she said, chuckling awkwardly. “Oh, well now you know. I don't really like going out of my way to talk about it.” Tim said, taking a deep breath in and stretching slightly. “Well, do you want to go for a walk? I could use another smoke after all of this conversation.” Tim said a minute or two later, standing up from his chair. “Sure.” You said, a spark of hope in the back of your mind. “Now, per Slender's orders I'll have to hold on to you anytime you go outside period until we can trust you to not run off.” He said, grabbing his mask.

When he said that, any spark of hope you had quickly died out. “Now, I can either handcuff our wrists together or I can hold on to your wrist with my hand.” He said, slipping his mask on over his face. You sat there and thought about it before you decided, handcuffs could be harsh but if he held your wrist you'd be more likely to get more breathing room with wearing the handcuffs instead and they'd make you more comfortable, mentally speaking anyway.

You sighed and decided on the handcuffs. “Handcuffs.” You said, watching as he pulled the handcuffs out of his jacket pocket. “You keep handcuffs in your pocket?” You said, a bit shocked. “Uh, Yeah?” He responded, putting one side of the handcuffs on his wrist before moving on to you. “Tell me if it's too tight, ok?” He said, putting the other side of the handcuffs on your wrist that was parallel to his wrist with the cuff on it.

Surprisingly it was just tight enough for you to not be able to slide your hand out but still comfortable. Thankfully, you already had your shoes on so that saved y'all the trouble of grabbing your shoes and trying to put them on.

Soon enough you two were downstairs and out the door. Once we were outside, you took in as much fresh air as you possibly could.  Honestly, sure you were obviously still pretty scared of the situation happening but at the same time, you've come to terms with the fact that you won't be able to really leave. You sighed, taking in the scenery around you and lost in thought.

“So, about the whole training your fighting abilities thing. What do you already know and what do you need to work on?” Tim asked, breaking the silence and my train of thought. “Well uhhh, I know the basics of how to defend myself but basically everything I know needs work.” You answered honestly. “Gotcha. So how are you feeling?” He asked, looking over at you while you two walked. “I mean, I'm doing the best I can for a situation like this. I didn't even get to see my mom one last time or- or my friends. I'm a senior in highschool or at least I was Tim, I had a fucking life. But hey, everyone here had a life at some point, right?” you said, getting choked up with emotion. Tim just took a drag of his cigarette and exhaled smoke before he answered. “Yeah, everyone had a life. It's pretty sad that most of us can't remember much of it though. Hell, everyone who knew of our existences don't even remember us. After Slenderman takes you in it's like you're off the grid, unknown by those who once knew you.” He responded, taking another drag from his cigarette.

“Wait, what do you mean ‘unknown by those who once knew you’?” You asked, your heart sinking. “Oh, well Slender has this ability that allows him to get rid of any memory or trace of you from anyone and anywhere.” Tim explained. “Oh..” You said, visibly sad. “So does that mean, even if I wanted to see my mom and friends again, they wouldn't remember me..?” You asked. “I'm afraid so..” Tim answered. You were visibly heartbroken and sad just thinking about the fact that one of your biggest fears partially happened.

For the rest of the walk you were just quiet and upset, the occasional “mhm” “yeah” and nod to acknowledge Tim talking to you. Tim noticed you were pretty upset and felt a bit bad. “How about we head back, hm?” He said, putting his hand on your shoulder. You just nodded and you two turned around and started heading back towards the mansion.