You've Missed Mouthy

A Long Way From Home

(Eyeless Jack's POV)

Another chilling night, another couple clean catches, and a dozen mouthfuls of succulent organ meat. How long has it been since I last had a satisfying meal? Five weeks almost, damn. No wonder I haven't wanted to be around the others, I would've snapped and taken off one of their limbs, no mercy. Now that I'm finally alone, I remove my mask and hold it in my free hand. A smile cracks across my face as I inhale the cold forest air, letting the chill nip at the back of my throat. I wanted to go on a hunt the moment Slender brought us back to the mansion, but I let the other two psychos drag me around for a bit before deciding that I couldn't stand the hunger gnawing at my insides. So I slipped away when the sun started to set, with a mini cooler under my arm. With the eerie night air remaining incredibly quiet, so much so that no animals chirp or squeak, I walk with leaves crunching under my shoes. Finishing the last bite of a chilled kidney, I wipe my mouth with the back of my hand. Stepping up to a nearby tree, I run the blood soaked digits of my gloves down the bark, leaving long smears to mingle with the forest moss. Beautiful, this sweet air and solace atmosphere surrounding me. Being that I'm the predator, I love to live without the fear of being topped on the food chain. I'm not afraid of the stray monsters that crawl in these woods, and with my blood-thirst quenched, my senses are at their peak. I should let this moment last as long as possible. "Oh! Look who's enjoying the lovely weather. Hello Eyeless, did the night treat you well?" A malicious voice plays in between the trees, ringing in a playful tone. "I certainly had a blast participating in the children's game of hide-and-seek, though I wouldn't say little Tommy felt the same after being found." I recognize the voice and sigh heavily. "You've wrecked the peace with your fun, Laughing." I growl looking at the lanky clown leaning against a tree. "Oh it wasn't just fun. It was a grotesque hit, quite a show." He starts to laugh maniacally, tilting his head back to roar into the sky. The deep sound turning high pitched as he keels over to slap his knee, continuing to cackle at his own words. "You should've seen the pain in their eyes as their short lives passed through them. Oh, do I love the feeling of crushing all their dreams and expectations all at the same time." The black and white clown smiles at me with his sadistic grin, keeping his long cone nose pointed at the ground. "You always do." I confirm bluntly, having heard the same monologue many times before. I know he likes to torture his victims while making it "fun" for them too. I sigh, running my tongue over my pointed teeth in order to dislodged leftover bits of meat stuck between them. "But, yes, I did get a good catch. Enough to stock for later purposes too." I change the subject back to his earlier question, motioning to the mini-cooler slung over my shoulder as I pull my mask back over my face. The cold material chills my skin on contact, and I exhale to warm the inside of the mask. "Oh, why is it you never give details about your kills, Mr. Cannibal? Jeff and Ben can enthuse about each and every gore-ified moment for hours." The clown says straightening up to his full height, towering a foot over me. "Because it's different, this isn't a sport for me, I need human organs to keep myself functioning. Hell, if I wanted to be more conservative, I could take one kidney and half of their liver and they'd still be able to live their lives. I don't need to talk about my feeding habits with any of you." I growl, giving Laughing Jack the most direct answer. I continue walking forward, back to the mansion, Laughing stepping loudly behind me. His long strides catch up with me quickly, and we end up side-by-side. "You're no fun." The monochrome monster mutters through his black lips, letting his arms hang at his sides. As the two of us walk, the leaves on the forest floor are becoming more disturbed, but not from our feet. The trail breaks in two and signs of struggle are apparent. I tap Laughing's arm, pointing at the area most irregular. The clown stares for a moment before shrugging and sniffing the air deeply. "Smells like blood, looks like that wrinkled goblin caught an intruder, the remains should be somewhere that way." He grumbles like it's a totally normal appearance to see, waving his clawed hand at the broken bushes. "I don't remember the Rake having trouble fighting off a human, look at these marks." I return with another mumble, walking over to a large tree where several large slashes are traced like marks attempting to climb directly up the trunk. The shreds of jean stuck between the bark causes me to pull free a piece of the dirt-stained fabric. The smell of blood gets stronger as I turn to look at Laughing. He looks up from something held in his fist, smirking as he holds it out for me to see. A black tennis shoe. "And if our dog-like friend was the one who is behind this, it'd still have a foot in it." Laughing chuckles, looking at me with a crooked smile. "Rake can't climb trees, can he?" I sigh, turning my head up to look into the branches of the tree covered in creature's claw marks, seeing several bloodstains leading in a zig-zag pattern going higher and higher. Each puddle and streak somehow fresh, though I can't see nor sense anyone other than the black and white clown next to me. I look at Laughing shaking my head to say there's nothing to report. But before I finish a full turn of my head, the clown's eyes get wide and his brow darkens over them, raising his shoulders defensively while his head whips to the side. I'm hit with a sudden presence that forces me to fall into a hunter's stance and look in the same direction as Laughing. Falling from a low hanging tree branch is a figure, his form blurs and he hits the floor with both feet, standing for only a moment before crumpling in on himself and falling completely silent. The source of the blood is coming from him, and I can't stop my curiosity from taking me towards his body. The figure pushes himself onto his elbows, throwing his weight to one side before attempting to kneel on the leaves beneath himself. He sits,staring at me with two big black eyes, breathing heavy as I recognize... her. "What the hell are you doing here?" I accuse the proxy on the ground as the clown behind me starts to laugh insanely. "Oh how fun, we get to play with a new little friend before returning home." He growls maliciously, his deadly intentions clear in the tone of his voice. I hear him take a step closer, and I hold my hand up to him to tell him to wait. "Answer my question, Mouthy." I hiss bitterly at the grey clad girl re-adjusting her position to stand on one leg. I can see that the leg she won't let touch the floor is cut badly, the Rake's long claws have left deep gashes in her calf. The blood dripping from the crusted cuts flows from ripping the scabs as she moves her leg. It'll need to be disinfected quickly otherwise she'll lose everything below her knee. Mouthy shifts a little, flexing her twitching fingers so I can see holes in her gloves, the tips of her knuckles withered away from rough impacts. She doesn't answer me, rather she starts to shake and wobble. I need answers out of her before she passes out from blood-loss. "Answer me!" I growl, pulling her attention back. "...c-couldn't stop them..." She looks at her clenched fists, muttering in a child's voice. Her arms drop, and her neck snaps up to us. "Where's... Slender!" Mouthy's voice is deep and demanding, making her unstable form more menacing, and for a moment my body wasn't willing to answer. "Eyeless." Laughing Jack adresses me, forcing my ears to be on his hunched form. "I see you two know each other, but I don't. Care to explain who the hell he is?" The clown gives me and angered look, glaring at my mask intently. "I'll do it if you teleport us to my lab. Now!" I growl back, pointing at Mouthy. He sighs, stalking towards her and wrapping his arm around her shoulders, setting her off balance before dragging her towards me. Laughing grabs my arm, surrounding us all in a purple-ish smoke. - - -
In the next moment we arrive in my lab, but Mouthy isn't under Laughing Jack's arm. "Why'd you let go?" I growl at the clown, setting my mini-cooler on the floor. "He was ripped from my arm, Eyeless. Something doesn't want him in the mansion." He glares at me, an accusing look that wants answers. "Take me back to the woods." I say, reaching for the small med-kit sitting on one of the counters. "Then find one of the proxies and drag them out to me also. I'll stick to my words and give you an explanation later." I look at the monochrome monster, throwing the bag over my shoulder. Laughing Jack stares at me intently, a frown playing on his lips. "You better." He growls, grabbing me again and throwing me back between the trees of Slender's woods. - - - The cold air hits me again, but it's not calming. Turning around, I see the pile of grey fabric sitting among the leaves. Blood pools around Mouthy's leg as she sits looking at the wounds with curious eyes, lifting her hands for closer inspection. "Don't touch it, I'll infect." I state bluntly and watch as she pulls her hands back. I drop the bag down and sit on the ground, roughly taking her calf and hooking her ankle onto my thigh so that the gashes are both off the ground and in front of me. "Try not to move, this is going to hurt." I look at the proxy with a quick glance, and watch her nod at me. I begin to assemble a needle to use for stitching, when the familiar purple mist crawls into the corner of my vision. Mouthy looks up past me at the smoke, an alert air waving from her body as she lowers her head. A light coughing plays in my ears as the clown returns to the dark forest, a bundle of yellow under his arm. Laughing Jack spins, letting Hoody stumble a bit before stalking up to us. Mouthy cringes as I apply a disinfectant to her leg. Ignoring the others and her, I put all of my focus on the wound. I hear the other proxy's footsteps as he gets closer. "M-Mouthy? W-what are you doing here?" He stutters, clear confusion in his voice. A short pause follows as he stares at my working hands on her calf. "Where's Kate?" Hoody mutters, causing me to stop. That's right, the two girls are never apart. If Mouthy's here than so should Kate, but from the reaction Mouthy is giving I doubt that is the case. The grey proxy stares at Hoody, her shoulders shaking. "Couldn't stop them. Need Slender." Mouthy's voice sounds like a child restraining a scream, pain both physical and emotional ready to burst from her throat. Reading this clearly, I search my bag for an injection of lidocaine to help numb her leg. Hoody's feet shuffle, and he looks slightly between Laughing jack and myself. He swallows, looking back down to Mouthy. "Slender's been gone for a few days, we all thought he was with you four." Hoody mutters, and I can see Laughing Jack's brow briefly rise in confusion. I continue on Mouthy's leg, having finished stitching the first slash mark. Blood still pours onto the leaves, and I can now hear Mouthy's heavy breathing. "... he wasn't..." Mouthy growls, curling her bloodied knuckles into fists. "Where's my shoe?" Her voice is back to deep and angry as she addresses Laughing. The clown lowers his brow to her, contorting his face into an unamused expression. He snarls at her, shrugging his shoulders. "How am I suppose to know, brat?" Laughing snorts, not expecting the grey proxy to point at his feet. He looks down to see the black shoe not far from him, but way out of Mouthy's reach. The clown smiles, reaching down to grab it. Standing up and holding it out towards her, tauntingly. "Fine, come get it." He chuckles, and I feel weight shift off of my thigh as Mouthy starts to move towards Laughing Jack. Upon instinct, I grab her wrist to stop her, because she still has the stitching needle in her leg. "No Mouthy, don't move." I command angrily, my bloodied hand wrapping around her forearm. Her head flicks away from the black shoe and down at me, her hands clenching quickly before a growl erupts from her throat. Mouthy wastes no time in throwing her other fist down to make contact with my arm, punching my wrist. The surprise and pain of the attack causes me to recoil, giving the grey proxy an escape. Mouthy rushes at the monochrome clown without another breath of air, diving at the monster confidently. She disregards the fresh blood dripping down her leg as her cuts reopen, dizzying my senses with the smell. Laughing Jack smiles widely, lifting his long arms into the air to hold the shoe several feet above the proxy's head. He chuckles at his little game, however Mouthy doesn't stop to consider her options, running directly at him as best as she can. She crouches right underneath him, pushing off of the ground to jump onto the clown. Laughing steadies his stance to not fall as Mouthy wrapsa bloodied hand around each of his feathered shoulders. The black and white of his trousers gets stained with dirt and blood from her feet climbing up his body. Once high enough, Mouthy wraps her legs around his torso so as to have both hands free and still not fall. Laughing snarls bringing his free arm up to rip her free from himself, making the two of them start to lean. Mouthy's balance is readjusted underneath her and she starts to fall backwards, however instinct makes her arm shoot out to grab onto something. Laughing grunts as the grey proxy latches her hand around his long cone nose, irritating him even further. The clown decides that this game isn't playing in his favor, so he lets the shoe fall from his fist as the proxy starts punching his shoulder. With both hands free, the clown reaches his long claws up around the girl's neck, pushing her away from him. Mouthy is reluctant to let go, grabbing his own neck and moving to hitting his collar, leaving blood from her knuckles on his white skin. I throw my hand into my bag, snagging a powerful sedative before jumping to my feet. Mouthy's back is too me, and she's too drowned in blood-lust to notice me approach. I swiftly lift up the back of her hoodie to reveal skin, before jabbing the sedative into the general area of her kidneys. She cringes, pausing long enough to let the clown have an opening. I jump back, waiting for her to let go and fall backwards, but rather I see the monochrome killer crack a major grin. "I'll kill you, bastard" Laughing Jack growls, grabbing her throat with his other hand as well, finally prying her off of him. "I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, you're crazy enough to be like us. Too bad you won't live much longer." The clown tilts his head back to cackle into the trees, tightening his grip around Mouthy's neck. She grabs one of his forearms, attempting to smash his other wrist to make him release her. Quickly her movements grow weaker and less frequent, until she stops moving entirely. Laughing Jack shakes her limp body, dropping her to the floor. As a look of success crosses the clowns painted lips, I lean down to check her pulse. She's fine, alive and breathing. "Hoody?" I call out to the other proxy still leaning against a nearby tree, lost in his thoughts. He looks up to me, and I nod in return. The yellow hooded proxy walks up to me, entirely ignoring the clown smirking at "his" work. Without warning he reaches to take her out of my grasp, holding her against his arm and chest. Hoody reaches to pull down her hood and reaches for the strap of her mask, carefully taking it off. She looks the same as the last time I saw her with her mask off, blank and deprived of light. Deep check bones and dark bags under both eyes, making her pale flesh even more death-like. I chuckle a bit. "At least she's not screaming, this time." I mutter to Hoody, he nods back. "L-looks like she hasn't slept in days." He says pointing at the dark circles around her eyes. "D-did you already try to t-teleport into the mansion?" He asks and I nod again, grabbing my bag in order to redo the stitches on the girl's leg. "Wait, wait, wait. The brat is a chick?!" Laughing shouts, growing angry that he had mistaken Mouthy to be male, though honestly I thought that too until I recognized her. Hoody turns to look at the clown, nodding like a bobble head as Laughing lets his jaw drop. "Why didn't anyone say anything?" He groans, muttering other things under his breath also. "I don't suppose you can give me that explanation while we walk back to the mansion, not like you promised to do so, right Eyeless?" Laughing chuckles lightly, blocking me into giving answers. I look to Hoody for a moment before sensing the strict demeanor radiating off of the man. "T-this has to be the worse kept secret..." Hoody sighs, looking down at the sedated girl in his arms. "A-answers are going to be indirect u-until we know what's happened with the o-others." He looks at Laughing with an air of authority. "S-she's important to Slender... a-and she's a long way from h-home."



"Cursed to be ignored, angered at the mockery. caution the shadows, incase you've missed Mouthy."All images and characters belong to their respectable owners.
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