The first I noticed when we got to the city was the lack of stars at night. In the forest with Slender, we were able to see a plethora of stars every night, blanketing the sky with their shine. Before Jeff, there would be times where I'd go out and just watch them slowly move. Sometimes, if they were visiting, one of the other proxies would join me outside and we'd talk. Out of all of us, I was definitely the most likely to talk about my past. I'd never bring up what I did to Aislin, but I was always happy to talk about my childhood or my times in school. They would tell me more about their day to day things, unwilling to open up about their past.
During the time we've been gone and heading towards Zalgo, I'd learned to take comfort in the stars. After all, they were the same stars I'd seen at the cabin. This was the furthest I've ever been away from Slender and the emptiness in my mind where he was stung me. If Alicia and Karlyah weren't there with me, I know I would have been overwhelmed by the loneliness. There have been times where I'd tilt my head to the side or look off into the distance, trying to concentrate and find a voice that wasn't there. I felt so disconnected from everything.
But now, to have my stars taken away from me due to the light pollution, I felt like something personal had been stolen from me. Although I knew their numbers were diminished, I still found myself constantly looking up in a hope that they'll all suddenly reappear. However, they don't.
"So, Falin, you're going to wear your necklace?" Alicia looked up at me from across the camp.
I nodded, sliding it off my wrist. For some reason, it didn't work if I wore it looped around my wrist but the second I put it on as a necklace, I become a different person. It was odd but I couldn't explain it.
"Yeah. Don't forget, Karlyah is coming with me."
Alicia's eye twitched slightly. "Right. Why again?"
I shrugged, looking over at the dark haired girl. "Why are you coming?"
Karlyah was sitting in a creek fully clothed, running her fingers through her tangled mess of hair. She'd occasionally pull out a twig or leaf and I suddenly wondered why we never made her do this before. Until she'd gotten into the water, I'd never noticed how grimy she was. My perfectionist side twitched slightly, cringing at the idea of having touched her. I can't believe I even let us leave Slender's cabin without first bringing a comb to her hair. Or, better yet, a pair of scissors.
"Falin is friend." She frowned, looking at a leaf oddly. "I'll go with him to protect. He's nice."
I had a mild flashback to when I wanted to cut off all her hair but smiled brightly. "Of course! See, she thinks I'm nice."
Alicia gave me a cold stare. "Whatever, just don't get in trouble you two. Get her some more clothes while you're at it. It's already bad enough that she'll be dripping wet as you two walk around the town, we can't have her cold and wet every time she needs to get clean."
I nodded, agreeing. Karlyah could catch a cold. Standing up, I stretched slightly and ruffled my hair. "Alright. We won't be long. Stay hidden and if something attacks, just grab any one of the vials I showed you and throw it straight at their face."
Her eyes focused at a point on my chest. I looked down, slightly concerned by her intense stare. Then, I looked back up at her, confused. She shifted in her seat, starting to stand. "Is your back okay?"
Her voice was softer than I'm used to. I paused for a second, trying to collect my thoughts. "Uh, yeah. It hasn't been bothering me very much. It's healing well."
Her eyes met mine and there was something weird in them. "Have you checked it?"
"We've been too busy. I'm sure it's fine." I started to leave, but she grabbed my arm tightly. From the water, Karlyah narrowed her eyes at Alicia.
"Let me check it before you go."
I paused again, caught off guard. Hesitantly, I asked, "Do you even know how to check a wound?"
"No, but I'm sure I'll be able to tell if it's infected or not."
"You know I'll have to take off my shirt."
Her face went red. "Stop being ridiculous and trying to stall. It won't work. Like you said, infection is dangerous. What would we do if it's you getting some disease."
I sighed, knowing she has a point. Reluctantly, I took off my shirt and turned around, noticing Karlyah come out of the water. Alicia's hands gently touched my back, causing me to tense up in anticipation of the pain. She paused, waiting for me to relax. After several deep breaths, I untensed and she touched my bandaged wound carefully. It hurt a bit but nowhere near as much as I was afraid it would.
"You do know we'll be wasting the last of our bandages to rewrap it." I pointed out, feeling her start to unwrap the bandages.
"I'm well aware of that," She snapped as she continued. "Which is why I wanted to do it now. Plus, this one is looking dirty. It's good that we're getting rid of these now."
I looked down at the bandages I could see. Compared to my pale skin, they did look a bit dingy. Knowing she was, once again correct, I stayed quiet and let her finish. When she's done, my back felt oddly naked, having grown used to the bandages. Alicia paused for a moment so I looked back over at her to see what she planned to next. Karlyah was standing right beside her, both with their eyes on the stab wound. I couldn't read the expression on either of their faces, which worried me as they weren't saying anything.
"Is there something wrong?" I asked, feeling nervous.
Alicia came out of her reverie, shaking her head. "No, it looks fine. I think it's closing up a bit." She looked at me oddly. "Are you sure it doesn't hurt?"
"I mean, it did. Not as much as it used to."
"Oh," She nodded, her eyes going back to the wound. "You made it sound a lot milder than it really is."
I shrugged. "Look, it doesn't hurt nearly as much as it might seem like it should. Just wrap it already so we can get going. Not a lot of stores stay open very late."
She went to my bag and grabbed the roll of bandages, going behind me again. I relaxed my back again, making it easier for her so she can go faster. I'm barely even paying attention when a hand touches me right on the wound. I refrain from tensing up but the small touch sends a shock through my nerves. They carefully trace the outline, making me flinch from the odd sensation and the pain that follows after. It didn't hurt a lot and was more of an involuntary thing than anything.
"What are you doing?" I asked, sounding harsher than I should have. "Cut it out and wrap it already."
"I would if Karlyah would move."
Perplexed, I turned slightly and met the eyes of the younger girl. She just stared back at me, her hand continuing to wander over my shoulder. I just watched her as she made her way down the cut and then stopped. That entire side of my back tingled with the after sensations. I didn't know what to say or do. Karlyah was such an enigma and it was hard to understand why she did anything she did. She looked away and nodded, moving out of the way so Alicia could step forward and wrap the bandages around my shoulder.
Alicia worked in silence. I turned back around so make it easier on her. Occasionally I would check her progress to make sure she was doing it right. For the most part, she did okay but her fingers would brush against my skin every once in awhile, sending small jolts of pain down my back. When she was done, I double checked that she secured it properly before putting my shirt back on. The bump it made was considerably smaller than it used to be and that made me feel happier. Finally, I was healing.
Settling my shirt into place, I grinned at the girls. "You ready for this?"
***
The walk into the city proved uneventful. Karlyah stuck close to me and would occasionally lift her head into the air, breathing in deeply and muttering something that sounded like colors and smells. I'd question her about it now but I wanted to devote all of my attention to the mission at hand at the moment. There would be time to question her later on about it.
As we walked, my hair kept falling into my face. To everyone else's eyes, it was probably a dark brown or black but, to me, it was still a pure white. We hadn't been away from Slender for a long time but my hair had always grown fast and it had already been longer than it normally was when we left. I kept having to push it from my eyes, quickly growing more and more aggravated with it. Occasionally, Karlyah would look over at me curiously, her own hair hanging flat against her face, the calmest I've seen it since I met her. It still looked like a mess, but it was a much nicer mess than before.
We stuck mostly to back roads, following signs to lead us to a more inhabited part of town. When we first walked up, we found ourselves in a neighborhood of falling down houses and people with their whole life story written on their hands, the lines of their faces, the stoops of their backs. I couldn't hold any of their gazes for long, mostly because it would be suspicious. However, I did wonder why so many people were out at this time. Sure, it wasn't late, but I'd figured they'd want to rest and be with their families. I was thankful when we finally left the houses.
"Falin?" Karlyah looked up at me, curious.
I hummed something in response, my attention focused on our surroundings. Judging by the way she had been looking at me, I'd figured she wanted my attention in some way or to ask something. For the most part, I had just been waiting for her to ask or call my name.
"Are we really going to have new clothes?"
"Not us. I have enough and I think Alicia is borrowing Jeff's leftover clothes from the house." A shock went through my head at his name. It's been awhile since I really thought of him or said his name out loud. He's become just a goal, a wisp of a thought that could be set aside for the moment until it was needed. I shook my head, trying to get him out. "If we can, we'll get you some clothes though. We can't have you walking around in rags."
She looked down at her shirt, which has been terribly worn down. Thankfully there were no holes in it or her pants but the longer we traveled, the more I worried. Her hands picked at the thin fabric and she smiled slightly. Seemingly pleased with my response, she focused her attention forward and kept walking. I did the same, figuring our interactions were done for now.
It was pretty peaceful for the most part walking with her. She didn't seem to have a very good idea of the layout of towns so she let me lead for the most part. We started following main roads, where cars would hurry past us only to be stopped by a red light or a car moving slower than them. Street lights started appearing more frequently and guided us closer to civilization. I felt a bit nervous because it's been forever since I was inside a big city like this. I'd grown used to the small towns around the forest I stayed in with Slender.
After staying on the busy roads for a bit, we eventually came across the typical cluster of buildings and shops. We crossed the street together and walked straight into a Walgreen's. Karlyah rubbed her nose as soon as the automatic doors opened for us and made a face. I ignored it for now, walking into the store and heading straight to the back where I knew most of the medical supplies were kept. As we walked through, I kept my eyes open for the possibility of clothes here but didn't see anything. More likely than not, we'll have to go to a different store for clothes.
When we get to the medical supplies, I quickly looked over everything, assessing what they had for purchase here. It was a fairly wide assortment, which pleased me. I ran everything through my head twice, mentally recalling what I'll need or might need based off of what we've been through so far. With my list in place, I grabbed everything I needed, occasionally handing things off to Karlyah to hold. She started to stuff things in her pockets but I stopped her with a quick look. For a moment too long, Karlyah just stared at me with her typical blank eyed expression before going back to looking over the items.
Both of our hands were full by the time I was done with everything I thought I needed. We walked up to a counter with everything in our hands and casually waited in line. It felt odd doing something so mundane but I really wasn't in the mood to have police chasing after me and being forced to move camp in the middle of the night because I decided I'd rather steal than buy. We have plenty of money thanks to Slender, so it would be more beneficial to just pay for the stuff.
Everything went by smoothly. The cashier gave a funny look at our purchases but I ignored it and swiped the card, entering the pin in. She bagged our stuff without a word and Karlyah grabbed a few, leaving the rest for me. I put the card back into my wallet and grabbed the last bags, proceeding to shuffle Karlyah out the store behind me. When we're out, I looked around for any signs of a store that sells clothes.
Seeing Wal-mart made me pause for a moment because of the stories I'd heard about the place, but then I looked at Karlyah, which hardened my resolve. One look at her ratted hair and worn down clothes was enough to make me shudder. Together, the two of us crossed a few more streets to the Wal-mart. The parking lot was huge but neither of us really minded the walk. It was a bit unnerving how silent it's been between us but I didn't care to break it. Going inside Wal-mart didn't encourage us to talk more either.
As soon as we walked in, Karlyah took a step back, looking incredibly overwhelmed. I put a hand on her shoulder but she shrugged it off and walked forward, heading to the clothes. Filing the incident under 'Things to Ask Karlyah About Later,' I followed after her, hanging back a bit. People in the store seemed to be avoiding her and I smiled at that. I couldn't blame them.
Karlyah didn't even care to try the clothes on. She just grabbed whatever she liked that appeared to be in her size and threw it at me. I could never really guess where the clothes were going when she threw them over her head so I was left chasing after them and looking like a complete idiot. After she was satisfied, we headed to a cashier and I begrudgingly laid the clothes on the conveyor belt. Once more, our purchases got an odd look but I just sighed and swiped the card. It was only as I was grabbing the new bags that I realized we were both still carrying our bags from Walgreens.
We left Wal-mart even more laden with bags. I had no idea if she was ever even going to wear all of these clothes. Me being me, I was so ready to complain about all the bags and if it was necessary but, when I looked over at her, something stopped me. Since I've her, Karlyah was never really one to smile. When something amusing happened, a cold grin would stretch cruelly across her face, chilling everyone within a mile radius. But now a small smile pulled her lips up into a pleasant expression completely different than one I had ever seen before. I sighed mentally, knowing I could never tease her when she looked so pleased.
"Thank you, Fay."
I froze up. "Karlyah, don't-"
"I like Fay. I want to call you Fay." She gave me a challenging look. Screams rang in my ears but I pushed it down, as far down as it would go. "Thank you."
"It's just clothes." I said weakly, still highly disapproving of her using Aislin's nickname for me.
"These are mine. Never had mine own."
I smiled slightly. "Well, stick with us and you'll have a lot of things you've never had before."
It was quiet between us before she hesitantly asked, "Can I have home too?"
More than anything, I wanted to be surprised by her words, to act like I hadn't already guessed it on my own. But then I'd be lying. "Yes," I said. "You can have a home too. I promise that."
She didn't say anything but I could see the pleased expression on her face. I wanted to point out that she looked much nicer like that, though I just decided to stay quiet. Better to not open my big mouth and ruin everything.