Chapter Text
Toby stared as the busted up and shot police cruiser peeled away in an attempt to escape the hospital's dark parking garage. His hatchet was lodged decently into the rear windshield. Having already lost one, he didn't hesitate to race after it, arms pumping to push his body forward. He could make out his comrade yelling behind him, but, per usual, he ignored it.
The male lept upon the closest vehicle's hood, causing the alarm to sound under his weight and boots. He raced to the top before propelling onto the next van. He did this several times until he caught up to the fleeing black and white machine, jumping once more onto the trunk.
It was different staying stable on a moving vehicle than a stationary one, but he had something to grasp. The handle of his ax. He gripped it with both hands, feet firmly planted, boots having grips on the bottoms.
The female driving must have seen or felt her hitchhiker because she swerved repeatedly in an attempt to shake him off. Wind whipped around his face, causing his hood to be pulled back off his head. Chocolate brown locks became twisted but didn't impair his sight in the least.
Eventually, as they came upon the exit of the parking garage, the blade wiggled loose of the glass, and the male was sent tumbling off onto the concrete below. Any injures such a fall caused went unnoticed due to a lack of nerve endings. Toby got up, noticing his right leg was having some difficulty moving how he wanted it to. The appendage was either strained or broken. Oh well.
Masky and Hoodie caught up to him, trying to shoot the tires out but having no such luck.
"Damn," the white masked one cursed, taking out a pack of cigarettes and lighting one. "He isn't going to be happy."
Brian nodded his head in confirmation, not one to speak hardly at all.
Toby stared at the blade, unable to make out much of his reflection due to the poor state of the metal. It was a wonder how the ax hadn't broken yet.
"I-it's out of our hands n-now. Boss will han-ndle things."
The trio felt a spike of dread creep up their spines. They had failed their mission. There was no telling how they would be punished, or how severely. At least some of His rage would be directed at the woman who escaped them. At least they weren't in her shoes.
My hands trembled as I drove. It had been a close call, but I had managed to survive a literal massacre. Why those people were targeting me, I had no concrete evidence, but I could only assume they knew the Jeff-looking guy, and were trying to finish me off since I managed to escape him, too.
But why? It wasn't like I knew anything about their operations or plans or whatever. Up until fifteen minutes ago, I didn't even know what any of the others looked like. I was/am by no means a threat. So why? Why go through the trouble of killing me?
'It doesn't matter,' I told myself mentally. 'Just focus.'
My eyes were on the road but a thought occurred to me. I was driving a police cruiser. They have radios! I decided to pull over so I could put all my attention on the device without risking crashing. I grabbed the receiver but paused.
.....
'How do you work this thing?'
Groaning in irritation, I searched and fumbled until I was (mostly) sure it was turned on. I pressed the button on the side of the talking part.
"Uhm... Hello? Is anybody there?"
It took a moment, but then the sound of static rang out. Then a voice came through.
"This is dispatch, go ahead."
Hope fluttered in my heart as I eagerly replied.
"This is (Y/n) (L/n)! I, uh, borrowed this car.. I had no choice, I swear! But the officer who drove it got shot, and I was afraid the men would shoot me, too! They're probably still at the hospital. You have to send more officers to stop them! They shot a lot of other people, and-"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down." This voice was new, not the first one that had spoken up. "You stole a police car, there's an officer down, and armed assailants who've already hurt civilians. Is that right?"
"Yes, exactly!"
"Which hospital?"
"Uh, Christus Francis Hospital."
"Did you see how many armed men there were?"
"Three, at least, but they said something about a 'master'? And I think they also mentioned the guy who stabbed me a little while ago. I don't know of they're the same guy or not."
"Listen carefully. I'm going to send as many units as I can to the hospital to keep them pinned until S.W.A.T. can arrive. Do you know where you're at so we can send someone to your location?"
"Ah.." I flipped on the brights on the headlights to get a better view around me. "It.. It's.. I don't know, exactly. Somewhere with really spaced out street lamps? I drove for maybe fifteen minutes from the hospital?"
"Okay. Here's what you need to do. All police vehicles have trackers implanted in them. There's a switch near the windshield wipers that controls the sirens and lights. Turn it on. It will help the deputies find you."
I searched and found it, flipping it on. Instantly, the cries pierced the night, as well as the flashing of red and blue. It made me flinch at the suddenness despite it being my own doing.
"I got it," I confirmed.
"Good, I can hear them over the radio. Which direction did you leave the hospital from? We can send someone out to check the roads."
"Okay.. I think I left the right side..? Or maybe the left?.."
"Yeah, but which cardinal direction?"
"Uh.. The s-"
My breathe caught in my throat as I released the button. There was something near the closest lamppost to the car. It was tall, really tall. It was about the same size as the pole! Was that.. was it a person? They had hands, from what I could see. Stark white, compared to the blackness around them.
"I think you cut off. What was that?"
I yelped, startled by the voice. My heart felt like it lept into my throat. Gaze having broken from the figure to look at the source, I turned my attention back to the post to find that no one was there anymore. Hesitantly, I looked back to the black box.
"S-sorry.. What was the question?"
"-an't m-.. -as th-"
It was damn near impossible for me to understand anything over the heavy static.
"I'm sorry, but I can't hear you. What did you say?"
More garbled nonsense came in return. I couldn't make heads or tails of it. I tried a few more times to get a response but all gave no results. Eventually, I threw down the speaker in irritation. My body hurt, I was probably still bleeding, and tired as hell from the adrenaline wearing off.
Guess I had no choice but to wait to be found. At least those cosplaying psychos would be taken care of soon, and I could go back to my normal life again. Maybe including a shit-ton of therapy.
God, the high pitched wails were giving me such a headache.. my temples were pounding. Honestly, I would turn them off if it didn't mean it would take longer to get to me.
Something wet fell on my lap, causing me to look down. A fresh drop of blood stained my already soiled hospital gown. My hand reached for my face. There was a dampness under my nose. The tips of my fingers grazed the spot before I pulled them away to inspect the substance.
I was having a nose bleed? That was.. random. I rubbed my temples to try and sooth the ache. Bile rose in the back of my throat. Why do I feel so sick?..
I retested my forehead on the steering wheel to try and force the pain and nausea down. Were these symptoms apart of blood loss? Too much adrenaline? Nerves?
I sat there like that for who knows how long, just feeling worse and worse. At least my nose stopped dripping onto my lap..
Eventually, I threw my head back against the seat, eyes opening to stare at the roof of the car. What was taking so long? I ran a hand over my face and looked around me. Still dark, still alone, still exhausted.
Something moved in my line of sight, but it took me some time for it to click in my mind. I turned to the passenger side window only to feel my blood freeze in my veins.
He stood there in an inky black suit and a red tie. His limbs reached past his knees, highly disproportionate from a normal human, as were his skinny fingers. What skin was showing matched that of fresh milk. And his face.. oh, God. He had none! No eyes, no nose, no mouth, no ears! It-it couldn't be!
But, the more I stared, the more I realized that there was no denying things any longer. These weren't normal people dressed up as fictional characters. They were the real deal, and the head honcho was 'staring' right at me. My lower lip trembled as small coughs escaped passed. They grew harsher more and more each time until I was practically bent over in a fit.
I now knew why I was feeling so ill. The symptoms all matched those from Marble Hornets. Slender Sickness.
He stood there, menacingly, taunting me. After everything I did, I was really going to die, wasn't I? Help wouldn't arrive in time, not when he had supernatural abilities. Tears brimmed the edge of my eyelids, one escaping my left and trailing down my cheek.
It was only then that it came to me. The sirens weren't causing my headache. It was the growing ringing in my ears that blended into the noise.
I sat there, fear mounting, unable to look away in case he decided to close the distance.
What else could I do but surrender?
The thought bounced around. It grew in volume until it was all I could focus on.
But, still..
I don't want to die.
Forcing myself to tear my eyeballs from the entity, I threw open the door, twisted my body so that my bare feet touched the cooling asphalt, and ran.
There was no way I was going out without a fight.