"Masky."
She knew Masky was...more of the lead than anyone in the time she had been by his side. He was the most capable, at least in her eyes. Perhaps even Slenderman agreed with her, silently of course. There was a small nod, one that Y/n couldn't see due to her eyes being closed.
"Good choice," an audible agreement now. She could feel the hand that Slenderman held was slipping away from her own, mind spinning and body tilting slightly as the buzzing in the back of her mind slowly faded, "this will only take a moment..."
Y/n squeezed her eyes shut tighter. Even without sight, she could feel the way the entire world spun on her heels and wracked her senses. For a moment, she stumbled backward but shot her eyes open when her back met with a solid force of a cool wall. At the harsh thud against the wall, bits and pieces of the old paint or wallpaper fluttered to the floor.
The place she was currently standing in was the hall of some sort of large building; it wasn't the building she was in before as these hallways were much smaller and much older. There were multiple doorways lining the wall she was facing. She shifted nervously, her mind still taking in the surroundings. Though, as she shifted her weight, she heard the crunch of the old flooring and scattered debris beneath her feet.
Y/n cringed at the sound and slightly pushed herself off the wall, dusting off whatever clung to the back of her clothes. She decided it'd be best to find a more open area or room, maybe even a landmark of sorts that'd help her determine where she was exactly.
Y/n turned to her right and began stepping carefully down the hall, towards what seemed to be a more open space. At the threshold, she blinked in surprise. The area before her was more like a courtyard, a square, overgrown garden of trees cut off in the center of the area while there was the cemented floor that surrounded the entire section. Above the overgrown area was a skylight, the bright, real sun shining down on the wild trees and grass. If this place was better kept or well-maintained, it probably would've been a beautiful sight.
She stepped out into the open hall and looked around. There were just...more doors, more halls, but to her far right, directly across the small courtyard, she spotted a longer hall. Directly down the middle, at the very end, she saw what seemed to be a doorway, but without the doors. Light flooded in, but it wasn't like this place was dark, not at all.
Building her courage, Y/n began walking with light steps around the wild garden and then straight ahead. Though, when she got to the area where she was just about to leave the courtyard, she easily spotted movement ahead of her. Even with the light blooming behind the figure, she saw the way they stopped, no doubt spotting her as well. It was hard to catch what they looked like with the light casting a shadow over the front of their form.
Y/n squinted as they approached with quickened steps. Her heart accelerated and she almost felt the need to run until they called out her name. The voice rang in her ears. Familiar.
Wait, wasn't that-
Her feet moved before she could process anything else. She ignored the throbbing pain in her leg, ignored the feeling of exhaustion screaming in the back of her mind. Y/n could only run to him until they had made it to each other.
It was an odd situation in her mind, but Y/n hoped that Masky wouldn't shy away from something like this just this once. She didn't exactly throw herself to him, but her body was so heavy at this point that when they were at arms-length, Y/n hugged him. She wrapped her arms around his torso, her legs almost giving way as the adrenaline halted so quickly in her body. It felt like...Y/n could just finally fall apart.
"Hey, hey," Y/n hadn't even noticed, but now, finally close and listening to him, she didn't hear the usual muffle of his voice behind his mask, "breathe...you're okay."
She felt his hands, one on her shoulder, the other on the center of her back. His voice wasn't its usual dismissive self, not stern or irritable. He squeezed her tightly, then quickly released his hold, pulling her away as well. For a moment, she thought he had just suddenly decided that he hated the feeling of embracing each other, but she jumped in surprise when his hands landed on both shoulders.
"Are you alright?" Tim asked with sudden concern. Y/n flinched from the feeling of his hand grabbing onto her injured shoulder, which caused him to lift both hands slightly in apology, "you're injured?"
"It's not major," Y/n quickly reassured him, but judging from the look on his face, he didn't exactly believe her, "Doctor Smiley made sure that they were fine..."
Tim narrowed his eyes, his hands hovering over both shoulders a moment longer before he pulled his hands away and relaxed them at his sides, "and...where is he now?"
Y/n opened her mouth to respond, but to be completely honest, she had no clue. As far as she knew, Doctor Smiley had gone off on his own to join up with the others that remained in the forest. She shook her head slowly, "I just...appeared here. I don't know where here is but," she motioned around with her hands, "I don't really recognize it."
Just as she said that there was a vague feeling in her mind that told her that she was wrong. Y/n had been here before...but not here-here. Her eyes drifted over to look at Tim's expression changing. His lips pursed for a moment and he finally stepped back, a sigh escaping him. Only now did she notice that the mask she usually saw him wear was hanging haphazardly on his hip.
"That's probably a good thing..." He began walking slowly down the hall in the direction she had just come from. Y/n turned on her heel and began to follow him, "I mean, the recognizing part... This used to be a hospital."
The words settled into silence as they continued towards the open courtyard. Tim paused, taking in the sight. He stared down at one doorway specifically, watching it with a close eye, as if he was waiting for something to happen. Yet, nothing did, so he just shook his head and the two of them continued, Y/n following behind closely.
"...I told myself I wouldn't come here again after...everything that happened... But nothing goes the way I want it to these days," he gave a dry chuckle. As the two of them passed by a certain room, Y/n took a quick look inside.
It was, of course, ruined for the most part. Pain peeling off the walls, part of the wall itself missing. Scraps of trash and stone piled up in one corner; Y/n couldn't imagine how many people came to explore this place just to get a bit of a thrill. Yet...a part of her memories finally began to piece together a few thoughts.
Back from the old maze, she had been brought into a room just like this, yet it was much cleaner. A phantom pain shot through her ankle as she remembered waking up during the time Hoodie had dug a bullet out from her leg. Though, if that place was a replica of this building, then the people who constructed it must've known about it in some way.
"You okay?" Tim had stopped walking, noticing that Y/n had stopped to take a look inside one of the rooms. She hurried to catch up with him.
"I should be asking you that," she murmured, meeting his eyes before he could turn back around. His brows furrowed and he gave a stiff nod in return.
"Yea," he sucked in a quick breath, "this place doesn't have a lot of great memories...but it's the past."
Guilt stabbed deep into her heart and she bit on her bottom lip out of the sudden awkwardness she had brought upon them. Her mind raced for a new topic, and thankfully, she had one.
"What, uh, happened before you got here? How did you find us below the facility?" Before the both of us were warped in this abandoned hospital, she did not add.
Tim didn't respond right away as he kept his attention to the right, passing by different rooms, but he did respond eventually, "well, I specifically told Liu to not do anything until I got back...but," he sighed, shaking his head, "thank god Helen and Liu were still both in the building, or else I wouldn't have had a damn clue where you were."
"I found you and Toby a bit after...and when you suddenly ran off, we both went looking for you. And then, to my greatest fucking surprise, I suddenly step out of the forest in front of this place with nobody else around," Tim slowed in his steps and raised a hand to drag over his face, "if you weren't here I would've thought I actually was going crazy..."
Before she could get the chance to respond, Tim suddenly stopped in his tracks. Y/n had to tilt herself back not to just walk straight into him. The brunette quickly stepped off to the right, into the room that had suddenly caught his eye. He entered through the doorway that hugged the rightmost wall.
This room was larger than the rest, with a bit of sunlight leaking in from the windows too. There were three windows near the top of the wall, closer to the tall ceilings. The white paint, now discolored into a nasty yellow color, peeled off of these walls too. The stone floor wasn't as heavily littered as the halls or the other rooms, only chips of paint and dust covered the floor.
Y/n watched as Tim approached the left side of the room. She noticed he was staring at a place near the center of the wall where there was a large amount of graffiti. Not just at the center, but specifically in this room and on that very wall. Though, it must've been placed there a long while back due to some, if not most, of the graffiti being chipped away at by age.
Tim reached out and grazed his hand over a section of the graffiti. Peeled pieces of the paint fell to the floor in front of him and he stopped in his motion and stepped away, turning to his left so he wasn't exactly faced towards her, but sideways, "sorry," he looked either a bit embarrassed or as if he was caught lost in thought, "like I said, a lot of old memories."
Y/n approached slowly and gave a weak smile of her own, "I understand," in a way, she truly did.
Tim turned his head towards her and kept her in his gaze for an unsettling amount of time. His look was neutral before but then softened as he turned and stepped closer.
"I'm...sorry, Y/n," he murmured, only three feet away from her, "you shouldn't have been alone...you shouldn't have had to go through something like that again."
"No, no, it's-" She stopped herself, furrowing her own brow for a moment and then relaxed, "I'm...not going to pretend like it wasn't fine that something like that happened again...but we've all suffered so, so much..."
Y/n lowered her head, "I just want it to be over."
"It is over, Y/n," Tim stepped closer, causing her to look up. Cautiously, he lifted one hand and placed it on the side of her face, smoothing a thumb over the line of her jaw and where blood had been smeared. Although the affection was new to her...it just felt right. Y/n's lips curled up into a small smile. Sad, but a smile nonetheless.
"Remember what I said before?" He murmured softly, "you're alive, and that's all that matters."
Her heart twisted at the familiar words. The words he had spoken to her when she had awoken in that cabin and reminisced over the ones she had lost that were so dear to her.
All at once, she felt a sudden wave of tenderness and relief wash over her body, "Tim?" Her voice was quieter than before, but he heard her anyways, "you'll stay with me, right?"
The man blinked in slight surprise but nodded once. His hand that was placed upon her cheek moved up and brushed back the hair that stuck to her forehead. He then leaned forward and placed his lips upon the skin on her forehead for a few seconds, his other hand moving to take hers.
"Of course," he moved his head back and chuckled, the sound genuine and unlike him, "we'll be together for as long as you need."
Y/n could only look at him with a feeling of adoration now as she nodded.
"Together."
~
Epilogue completed.
[Up next; Hoodie]