A/N: I'm back! XD I'm done with uni until October, I've got myself a new office job (9-5.30's are the best!) and I'm doing better! For those of you that followed my upload in Cruelest of Hearts, I'm trying to see things through, my teacher is avoiding me for now, but my Course Leader (a boss-ass-Queen!) truly listened and guided me, and I'm forever grateful. On another good news FUCKIN' PALAYE ROYALE ARE COMING TO THE UK AND I BOOKED VIP TICKETS (mayormaynothavesoldmykidney) SO I'M GOING TO MEET THEM AND I CAN BARELY CONTAIN THE FANGIRL XD Anyway, I hope all of you darlings are doing well, I'll get around to responding to every single message I got in Cruelest of Hearts and privately within the next days! If you want to support me guys, remember that you can do so by buying me a ko-fi! Keep being awesome and here is the new chapter!
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'We did this to her...'
Kate brought her burning, fatigued feet to a stop as the words escaped her, feet sinking into the deep snow that had covered everything in the past few days. Usually, she would have minded the way piercingly cold water rushed inside her boots. She would have wanted to rush towards that dilapidated house they called their own to prop them in front of the blazing fire and call it a fucking night.
She would have wanted that, yet now, it seemed sinful compared to the crushing weight of guilt that consumed her.
'We need to keep going, Kat.' Hoody was unaware of her inner turmoil or maybe chose to ignore it, his broad figure making way through the high meters of snow. He went first like he always seemed to do, his dark yellow hoodie is odd against the assaulting white cleanness of the raw scenery.
Even in the depths of the Slender Woods, Kate found that Nature was the only thing to always remain beautiful.
Everything had gone to shit so fast and so hard, she had whiplash from the intensity. Against all odds, against all gods and devils, the little human had survived her ordeal and came back to them, at least for the most part.
Kate could not believe her own two eyes when she realised just who was sitting on that rocking chair, but the immense guilt of what had happened to her, of what they had allowed to happen to her was more crushing than all the lives Kate had taken from the moment she woke up inside those deep caves.
It is always different when it is someone you know, someone you have shared a bowl of stew or someone you have helped back on their feet.
And to see ______ now fight for her life as the Proxy Mark ravaged what was left of herself, what was left of her mind, only split whatever was left of Kate in half.
Especially when Jack had gone into grim detail about the state he had found her in. It didn't take a genius to know that someone had pushed her inside that tank and Kate swore to her Master's name that she'd find out and make them pay.
Half part of the equation would pay. The other...
'We did this to her, Hoody!' she was not moving from her spot. She did not dare move as she glared at the male's turned back, glared at the man whose promises were always too good to be true.
Usually, she didn't mind. Usually.
Alluring promises of what may be were a siren's song that kept the sailors going straight for the razor-sharp rocks, alas, now Kate had awoken and saw herself rotting against the shallows, seagulls pecking at her exposed flesh 'You promised me we'd return her back to the human world!'
Hoody paused in his step; shoulders dropping, gloved hand going for his face, yet he never turned to look at her.
'Both of us know very well that dealings with the Slender Man never end well for the human.' He throws at her, voice characteristically devoid of any emotions, although Kate knew it was a perfectly placed guise he used to protect himself 'It is the Law.'
'Really? Is that what you had in mind when you assured me that He didn't want any more Elites? That four of us were enough?!'
'How am I supposed to know what He wanted?'
'You SAID despite whatever he wanted, we'd take her back!' anger poisoned Kate, a venom bubbling in her heart from a spark she couldn't really pinpoint -maybe it was guilt, maybe sadness-, a tidal wave through her veins, her body, a sibilant sound in her ears.
'And we would have! But she went and threw herself inside the tank! Now there is no other choice than to become one of us.' Hoody turned to look at her. Kate couldn't see his walnut-coloured eyes, hidden deep under his ski mask, but she could feel them like hot coals against her skin.
'We were supposed to keep her safe! We were supposed to keep her in a single piece and no MATTER WHAT I TOLD YOU, you agreed to send her into the lion's den! How is that fair?!' her voice wavered, anger and guilt clashing with one another, hands thrown open in a wide gesture 'We did this to her!'
Hoody probably saw it. He was unsettlingly good at knowing what she was thinking at all times, so he read her like an open book once again and eased his posture in an attempt to calm her: his shoulders leaned back, his hands fell lifelessly on his sides as he gazed upon her.
'What is this about Kate?'
'It is about fucking up a perfectly good human-'
'No. No, it is not, so do not lie to me Kat.' He interrupted her 'Tell me the truth.'
Kate sighed exasperatedly. Her eyes burnt her; it was too bright, the air too light, even under the heavily clouded sky. There was a lump in her throat that made her angry and confused in her mind as she passed her hands through her black locks, pulling at them in a desperate attempt to feel something other than all... this.
'I just wanted to see one get away.' She eventually murmurs, unsure even of herself 'In all her fuckery and naïveté, she truly did help us and we did her wrong.'
Which was half the truth.
The rest of it was that ____ reminded Kate of someone long forgotten, someone that barely resided in her mind nowadays, but the kindness with which they had treated her stayed strong. A lingering feeling the Mark didn't torch completely.
In a way, she also did want to see one get away; to know that, even if they were too deep into this shit, maybe -just maybe- others wouldn't have to carry the burden. Of near-constant insanity, bloodthirst, submission and total obedience to a creature that was of this world and at the same time, of another.
To silence her frustrations, Kate closed her eyes and withdrew to the simplicity of darkness.
It had been a while since the last time she thought of things like that -the last time was when Toby joined them, but his insanity was enough proof that he was just as gone. There was no doubt in her mind for a second that she lived and breathed to serve her Master; he only needed to nod and Kate would do her best to do him proud, because if it weren't for him, what would her life be now?
She didn't have any reason to live other than receive orders, both she and Hoody knew that. Their lives were too far gone, too plunged into the abyss to even dare hope for something different.
'She deserved better.' She finally sighs 'Now, if she's even got half a brain left, she'll die and save herself from this nightmare.'
'Now you are being ridiculous.'
Hoody's snide comment cut straight at her. Lowering her hands from her head, she stared in disbelief.
'Ridiculous? Really?! What is good in all this?!'
'A sense of purpose. That you are doing something with your pathetic life.'
Kate guffawed so hard, Toby would have been put to shame, 'Fuck this. I'd rather rot.'
Hoody took a threatening step towards her. Body suddenly taunt, hand raised, finger pointed. 'You don't mean that.'
But Kate was unafraid 'Yes I do. I'd rather be rotting ten feet under than have Him eat away at my brain-'
Hoody was at her face in the time it took her to blink.
Black-gloved hand raised to snap against her offending mouth, anger emanating from his every pore. His towering body was twice her size, dwarfing the lithe woman almost completely.
Kate was faster.
She always was faster.
It was almost instinctive the way she grabbed his hand and flipped him onto the powdery snow with the ease of a warrior; Hoody landed with a heavy thud, dazed for a single second, but it was enough to have a switchblade pressed against his jugular.
The man gave a frustrated grunt as he relaxed his body back onto the snow, but Kate's breathing was calm as she leaned over him.
Trapping his hands under her legs, sitting comfortably upon his chest in a way that forced him to look only at her. Leaving only her piercing eyes to stare at his ski mask, rage and insanity battling fiercely with hurt.
Yet it was Hoody that broke the silence first.
'You chose to become a Proxy.' He mused calmly, a matter-of-fact tone that betrayed he had reigned over his emotions and he was out for blood 'Do not hide behind your finger, calling for a pity party like a schoolgirl.'
The accusation hangs in the silence between them. Slides over the virgin snow, echoes in the wind.
'No, I didn't. I just wanted the pain to end.' she whispers, breath fanning Hoody's face 'You did. You wanted this. And remember, I taught you everything you know.'
Hoody remains silent for a moment and Kate can almost see the gears turning inside his deranged mind, feel the disappointed scowl he is giving her under his mask. This was territory they had silently agreed not to venture into, less it ate at their intimacy.
Because they had been together long before the other Proxies joined them. Only the two of them. The First Elites to exist, relying only upon one another. A rock amidst the burning inferno of insanity and slavery. Still, there was none better to destroy them completely than each other.
Demons were constantly calling for blood and for once, just this once, they had been let loose.
Kate regrets crossing the line the instant her words have left her. She can acutely hear Hoody's breath and-
'Do not blame others for your failures Kate. It is your fault the human got attacked; you let your guard down and got jumped.'
The raven-haired woman held the knife, yet Hoody was the one to stab.
For a moment everything is silent.
The trees, the wind, their breaths and her heart; she stills in her movements, peering down at the man in numb shock. Unable to understand just what he told her.
The next moment she is up; knees burning, body jumping backwards to get away from the offending man as heat rushes raw through her veins, shaking her already strained vision, buzzing across her skin. Hoody pulls himself up calmly and Kate doesn't care that her switchblade is now laying on the ground. Forgotten. Hoody doesn't care at all that snow clings to his already soiled clothes, his silent stare regarding the female who is uncharacteristically silent.
Then she is moving, turning his back to him, walking off towards the direction of Jack's house.
'Kate! Hold on a sec-'
There is regret laced in Hoody's voice, a rare emotion colouring his words.
She would have teased him if only her body wasn't that disgusted.
She feels a hand grab her wrist, but the appendage jolts away as if burnt by a hot iron, her brain taking in his presence and filing it away as a threat. And Kate never dealt well with anything even remotely close to the 'threat' category.
'DON'T TOUCH ME, BRIAN!'
Now it was Hoody's turn to withdraw.
Kate paid no mind, not to him, not to the strain in her breath as she turned her back and made her way through the forest, hers the only footsteps she could hear in the 10-mile vicinity. She didn't care he wasn't following; she didn't care that the golden rule of the Slender Forest was to always go in pairs. She didn't care that she was leaving him behind, alone. He could rot in the fiery pits of hell.
All she cared about was the insistent burning of her insanity scorching away her mind and poisoning her heart, allowing rich guilt to flow inside her veins.
Your fault. Your fault. Yourfaultyourfaultyourfaultyourfault.
'Where is Hoody?'
A voice brings her back to reality, back to the stability of the ground under her feet.
Tim is looking at her as she approaches Jack's cabin, the Proxy puffing out a cloud of smoke, curiously looking at the empty space behind her.
Kate doesn't respond, doesn't even acknowledge him. Tim tilts his head to the side, and instinctively he knows. Boy had dealt with it for a long ass time, he could practically be considered a marriage counsellor by now.
Cursing under his breath, he sighed deeply in exasperation.
'What did the poor bastard do now?'
'Has _____ spoken yet?'
'In the three hours, you were away? She recited the national anthem backwards.' He shrugs, scooting to the side to make space in the narrow steps for her. 'Brought me to tears.'
'Remind me to laugh someday.' Kate bites back, stopping in front of him to steel herself before she'd venture inside that cursed cabin. 'Master wasn't there, so we don't know if she'll wake up.'
Tim chuckles lowly, and it is the first time in months that the sound seems genuine 'She will. She's just taking her sweet time.' he muses, taking a slow drag from his cig 'She'll probably wake up to slap Toby unconscious at some point.'
'Still talking to her?'
He nods, stretching his neck to ease the aching muscles 'Hasn't shut up even once. Jack had to give Halloween earplugs and I debated asking him if he offered some. Maybe I can take sacrificing a kidney to stop listening to the asshole's monologue for the ages.'
Kate raises an eyebrow under her mask 'What about you, Tim?'
'What about me?'
'Is it better now?'
She doesn't need to specify exactly what, Tim knows already, nodding as he chucks the cig away 'He's silent now. I'm tired. The basics. Although if Toby keeps yapping, I'll murder him without Masky's help.'
'Bare-handed?' Kate can't help the chuckle.
'In the bedroom, with a stick up his fucking ass.'
Kate smiles underneath her mask, the movement foreign to her face and to her mood. But Tim helped, just like he always seemed to do.
With a reassuring pat on his shoulder, Kate decides to leave him be, for now, instead making her way towards _____'s bedroom. The wood creaks underneath her boots, and even halfway through the living room, she can hear Toby narrating in great detail how he slashed a fucker in half with just a swing of his hatchet.
Of course, Kate rolls her eyes, he forgets to comment how that guy was a mole they had on the inside of an organization that once came dangerously close to revealing who they really were. Toby killing him drastically affected their mission, and he got a good beating from Hoody, but in the end, the outcome was the same.
Lots and lots of body bags.
'A-AND I fucking t-tell him 'I-I'll s-s-hove my foot s-o far up y-y-our ass, you'll c-c-ough up my toes!' m-motherf-ucking piece of shit w-wanted to t-t-test me so I g-gutted him l-like a fish. Swish swish motherfucker!'
'Toby what are you doing?'
Honestly, it felt like Kate just walked in on an oversized toddler telling his mom all about the amazing adventures he had at kindergarten.
Toby was on his feet, waving wildly with his hands, walking up and down the narrow space right before ____'s chair, practically talking her ears off. Truly, it was a wonder how she didn't wake up just to scream 'please, no more! I'll talk'.
The tall male was in complete disarray, brown locks protruding towards every possible direction, goggles thrown messily on the floor, mouthguard is forgotten somewhere upon the bed. Deranged excitement alighted his eyes and pulled his chewed lips on a sadistic smile as he narrated in great detail how he cut through his enemies as if they were salami. Kate wanted to facepalm so hard, she'd get teleported into the future.
Still, even if she hated to admit it, it was less unnerving than having him not utter a single word. Even if he had three months' worth of talking to catch up to.
'Kate-y Kay~! J-just on t-time! T-tell kitty cat here h-how awesome I w-was when I s-s-aved ya f-f-rom the R-rake!'
'Didn't you break half your bones that day?'
'B-Bones? W-wh-ere w-e were g-going we didn't need b-b-ones!'
'You fell into a coma Toby!'
'Pfffffffffffff c'mon-n-n. Y-You should h-h-ave seen the o-other guy~!'
Toby cackled so loudly, the glass on the windows shook.
As he talked, he bounced from leg to leg, constantly moving, constantly trying to eat away at the energy that had consumed him, scratch the itch of not being able to kill something. Because for all the weeks they were here, he did not leave ____'s side for a second, pushing down at his urges, never leaving her out of sight. Much to the chagrin of the rest, who had to deal with his obnoxious blabbering.
'W-what did Master say?' he plopped himself down by ____'s legs, tilting his head to the side and reminding Kate of a dog with rabies 'Who did t-this?'
Kate sighs, passing a hand over her mask 'He wasn't there Tobs. If she doesn't wake up, we'll never know.'
'S-so we still d-d-on't fucking know.' He frowns.
'No, although it must have been someone who knew. It doesn't leave us with a lot of options.'
'Kitty w-will c-c-ome bback and s-she'll t-t-tell us.' His neck ticks and his shoulder pops 'T-t-then, you b-better n-n-not stand i-in m-y way~!'
'Nobody will Tobs. I swear you that; we'll find the mole.'
Toby remains eerily quiet for a moment, chocolate-coloured eyes staring through Kate and at nothing in particular as his mouth hangs open.
In the moment it takes Kate to let go of her breath, Toby's hand lands harshly against the wall behind him.
He is at his feet before Kate can realise it and his clenched fist hammers against the wall, inches away from _____'s head with such ferocity that blood stains the wall as it gives away under Toby's assault. The man is screaming, indecipherable screams and curses all tangle together to create a mess that matches Toby's inner state; he doesn't stop when a sickening crack comes out of his knuckles, he doesn't stop when Kate throws her arms around him, trying to stop him.
He cares not when Tim and Hoody burst into the room, Hoody jumping over the bed and kicking him against the wall. At the same time, Tim was picked _____ in his arms, pulling her away from the maniacal frenzy of the goggled man protectively.
'STOP TOBY STOP!'
'FUCK YOU IN YOUR PUSSY ASSHOLE! F-FUCK THIS, FUCK YOU, FUCK A-ALL OF-'
Hoody's punch lands straight onto Toby's jaw.
The man chuckles maniacally, spitting a mouthful of blood that colours his teeth red and his punch finds Hoody straight in the gut. He doubles over but never lets go of Toby's shoulders, instead breathing through the pain to bring his knee against the taller man's stomach, effectively knocking the air out of Toby's lungs.
Toby couldn't feel lots of things, but even he had to breathe in order to properly function.
Giving Hoody enough leverage to grip the back of his neck, push him down and drag his sorry ass out of the room to take the fight somewhere that they wouldn't owe Eyeless Jack more than they already did.
Toby has other plans.
He grabs Hoody by the waist and they tumble out of the room, almost breaking through the opposite wall in a mixture of limbs, grunts and curses, before wrestling one another so hard, they disappear from sight. Kate can hear the characteristic sound of a coffee table breaking into smithereens.
Tim curses loudly and places ____ in Kate's arms, before pointing a finger at the raven-haired female 'Stay inside the room, don't come out until I come to get you. This'll get fucking ugly.'
This was possibly the understatement of the century, yet Kate only nods once before Tim is crossing the door, pulling it closed behind him and Kate can practically hear the moment he allows Masky to take over.
After all, nobody could growl like an animal more than him.
Another crash and suddenly it is silent all over again.
Kate's grip tightens around ______ and she sighs, a desperate attempt to push away whatever has happened as if she could do so simply by breathing.
Men.
Wasted money.
Ever-so-carefully, she crosses the room to rest ____ back to her spot on the rocking chair. _____ feels so light against her arms, obviously having lost lots of weight and the bandages feel rough and already soiled by the healing skin underneath. Her muscles are completely loose, not once reacting to her surroundings, like a puppet that had its strings cut.
How fitting for their awful predicament, Kate thought.
Maybe to be free, to cut through the thread, is to surrender to death.
Or even worse: to hang in the between, inside limbo.
Never able to walk the rest of the distance but neither go back.
It feels like she can scatter to the four winds to the slightest wrong move, and by the way Toby contained himself not to punch the comatose girl earlier, it was obvious all of them knew it.
Carefully, she detangles the tubes connecting her with the rich variety of IVs, medicine and blood. Gingerly, she pads at her bandages to make sure she's not bleeding anywhere.
With extreme care, feather-light, sorrowful.
Remorseful.
A tidal wave of tangled emotions Kate hadn't experienced before, triggered by the human's mere presence.
Absentmindedly, she thought of the conversation she had with Hoody earlier.
Kate was, above all else sorry. But there was nothing she could do anymore.
What a strange turn of events.
Everything began and will end with this tiny, insignificant human.
Her hand comes to rest upon the bandaged hand of the human girl with a careful tenderness Kate hadn't shown in years. Yet it was needed, not for _____'s sake but for her own, for her own peace of mind that traces of her lost humanity still lingered deep within her veins, under the multitude of layers conquered by The Chaser, by the insanity and her Master.
'I don't have any words of consolation to offer you. I'm not here to make this pill easier to swallow.'
A lump had made its annoying way in Kate's throat, lodging itself among the tender flesh, making it hard to breathe, hard to focus. Still, her voice came out expertly controlled and emotionless. It was a skill Kate had trained to near perfection after years and years of being a Proxy.
Emotions only get you mauled to death inside the Hunger Games of the supernatural realm and too much weighted upon her shoulders to offer such opening. Too many people. Fellow Proxies. The Elites.
Yet in the silence of that room, surrounded by the suffocating smell of medicine and clear alcohol, holding the dying human's hand, it all came out pouring into a tidal wave that threatened to overwhelm the strictly composed, raven-haired woman.
'What you're going through is fucked up. It feels like you are being pulled apart and put together at the same time. Whatever's yours is no longer there and the Mark is mauling you from the inside out. You're dying and being birthed at the same time.'
She squeezed _____'s hand, and if it were to offer her support or take it for herself, she knew not.
'I remember the time I woke up deep into those mines, bloodied and screaming my brains out of my mouth. All alone, with no one there to tell me what was going on, who I was, what I was doing there. I could not remember a single thing but my name and my Master's.'
'Even now, I don't remember much of me waking up in there. I was unconscious most of the time and when I was not, I was crawling my way next to the wagon tracks. I remember thinking, that they'd either lead me outside or deeper into dark Hell. It had rained much those days because the mine walls were dripping with water in random places; it was the only way I could quench my thirst. Shit, how fucked up is that huh?' Kate chuckles unamused, shrugging nonchalantly.
'Of course, after I could walk again, I could hear people come and go around me in the mines. Not many, just a boy and a girl. The boy was also chosen by Master but the girl wasn't. At some point, I beat her to death before burning the boy alive. I remember him screaming, the smell of flesh being torched and even now when I think of it, I hurl. He was weak and the Mark destroyed him, he couldn't bear the transformation but neither die from it. The girl must still be there; I tossed her body down the elevator hole... or whatever was left of her.'
Kate muses and stares at the unmoving girl.
'I was alone for a long, long time. I forgot how to speak, how to properly function. Only Master was there and the bodies I took for him; the mines had fucked up my eyes, but Master was happy to have me walk in the shadows. Even now, after so long, I still wake up and think I'm back into the earth, back into the darkness.'
'One day, Master led me out of the caves and into the Woods. I followed him for days, for nights, not stopping at anything. He spoke to me, said he was going to reward me for my obedience, me, his First Proxy. So, he brought me to Hoody.'
Kate remembered that day like it was yesterday. She had followed the Tall Man for so long that her shoes had completely fallen apart, forcing her to walk barefoot.
Yet she endured, she didn't feel the fatigue, didn't feel anything but the cold wind against her exposed neck and her raven hair.
Twilight had crept its way over the skies, painting them in brilliant blues and deep purples, easing Kate's strained eyesight as she neared a dilapidated school that had been almost overrun by vegetation.
She met Hoody in a small classroom on the first floor; he was surrounded by broken desks and forgotten papers, sitting down on the floor, smug smile widening when he saw her.
He already knew who she was and it took only a glance from Kate to understand a lot about him; he was smug, self-assured, with darkness already swirling in the depths of his walnut-coloured eyes.
A smug asshole of 25 years.
Surprisingly, he wasn't a Proxy just yet.
'The first thing he did, was offer me his socks and shoes. In comparison to him, my feet were tiny, but he insisted it'd keep me warm. He talked and talked for ages, then painstakingly taught me how to respond. I learnt to speak all over again and he was so happy! I even gave him a ski mask to use while on missions, taught him to defend himself and attack his enemies.' She smiles under her mask.
'He told me all about him, how he and his friend had been stalked by the Slender Man since they were little, how he thought it an honour to serve under the rule of the Black King. Even if his friend wasn't quite as on board, he devised a plan to change his mind since Slender Man wanted him as a Proxy.'
'I watched him as he led his college friends straight towards our Master. Convincing them to film a series near one of the gates to the Slender Woods, he unleashed our Master upon them all. All to convince the Black King that he would be a valuable asset to his cause, by meticulously working to force his friend to see that there was no sanctuary, no solace, but the embrace of the Black King. One by one they fell, one of them going off the deep-end and murdering most of them under the guidance of our Master. But it backfired on Hoody.'
Kate inhaled a deep breath to steady herself, as tears rolled down her face silently under her mask. She bit her bottom lip, chewing on the offending flesh without caring if it bled or not.
'He was lying on the floor when I found him. He had fallen from two floors up onto the concrete without anything to break his fall, left for dead from his so-called 'friend'. There was blood everywhere; his head was almost completely split open, bones were broken, Mark in full effect. I didn't know what to do ______, I didn't want him to die, I didn't want to be alone again, I didn't want him gone!'
So, Kate waited.
She pulled Hoody to a secluded corner of the school, cleaned the trail of blood he left in his wake and she nurtured him back to health, hoping that one day he would wake up. She retreated to the cool comfort of the shadows and watched like a hawk as the Mark laid its claim over his body, destroying and piecing him back together at the same time.
'When he woke up, he remembered nothing from his old life but for me, his friend Tim, and any piece of memory related to both of us. For his commitment, Master granted his wish and made him the Leader of the Elites.'
'Not too long after that, Tim came to find us in the Slender Woods.'
'By the time he did, Hoody had already established a circle of Watchguards around the Slender Woods, securing the perimeter, and I was in charge of setting up the Proxies outside the Woods.'
Kate scoffs deep in her lungs.
'Imagine our surprise when Tim came and found us in the Slender Mansion. Completely on his own, bypassing every single protection we had placed. He didn't know how he did it, and from what we gathered he had full memories of his life. My best guess is that, because he was haunted by our Master at such a young age, he received it early on and managed to suppress it enough to lead a somewhat normal life. If he didn't reek of Master's power, we'd have skewered his ass over a bonfire.'
Some type of commotion can be heard outside of the room. Voices raised, swears and intelligible words raised and disrupting the calmness of the rolling evening and Kate's story. The slender girl can only roll her eyes and sigh deeply, wondering in an off-handed way if Toby was throwing another one of his tantrums.
May Jack kill them all for all she cares.
'On the other hand, we found Toby amidst the scorching fire. This dumb-ass bitch had thrown a tantrum and raised such a fire, that by the time we found him, he had second-degree burns, was choking to death and the forest was so ablaze, it would take freaking weeks for the humans to place the fire under control. Somehow, he still had the energy to swing his hatchets towards anything even remotely alive, as if someone poured acid on his ass.'
'Imagine a deranged man that is out of control and fucking berserk, mowing everything in his path and then combine it with him feeling absolutely jack-shit. The moment I saw him emerge from the fire like that Terminator, I swear to you, I thought we had to deal with another Rake. It took both Tim and Hoody to pin him down long enough for me to sedate him with what was literally horse tranquillizer. When Eyeless Jack heard we were going to detain him, he supplied us with the strongest concoction he had and even that took 15 minutes to take effect.'
'Tim swears his ribs were never the same again and Hoody still limps a bit when it's too humid.'
Kate peers down at your bandaged and silent form, wondering to herself why she told you all that. She certainly hadn't dared share all this information with anyone else, but there was something aching inside her chest as she leaned over, bringing her lips next to your ear with slow movements, squeezing your hand reassuringly.
'I want you to know, _____, that it's okay to let go.' She whispers.
'The pain is so immense and death seems so soothing at the moment, an escape from all this nightmare of darkness. There is no shame in knowing when to let go ______. Nobody is going to judge you if you give up; deep inside, all of us would choose that if we could, so if you see the opportunity, take it. Release yourself, escape this. Don't damn yourself in an existence of darkness, of insanity and death.'
With her free hand, Kate gingerly pulls her mask off, enough to reveal her full lips. Then with care, with slow and careful movements, she plants a kiss on top of your head.
'I'll keep you in my mind, we all will. I swear to you, I will find who did this to you and make them pay, regret the moment they chose to lay a hand on you. I swear on my Master and on my life.'
Straightening her back, Kate lowers her mask, all the shields the woman meticulously kept in place raise around her once again.
A mask of calmness and lethal precision, lowered only for you, only for the human who dared to defy all odds.
She respects you. In her mind, she had to pick up the pieces for all four of them, avenge you solely because you had the balls to stand beside them, despite the horrors they had brought upon you.
As she lets go of your hand, she is once again Kate the Chaser, the First Proxy.
Suddenly, before her fingers leave you, your grip tightens into steel.
Surprise rises inside Kate and her frantic eyes fall on your form, only to hear a low choked grumble come out of your mouth. Your whole body is jerking a little bit, convulsing as if trying to spit out something.
She's kneeling before you before she even realises.
'______?! What is it?'
A sibilant sound escapes you, air that has failed to find your vocal cords as you seizure.
'_____!!!' she calls out for you, voice echoing, gripping your shoulder with her free hand, trying to keep you still.
A few murderously slow seconds pass...
Then you stop as suddenly as you started and the fricative sound returns.
'......The......Arc......!'