The way we love is so unique

And when we touch, I'm shivering

And no one has to get it

Just you and me

Chapter Fifty Nine

||MASKY||

†

"Hey, Masky! Hey, Masky, hey!"

My gaze shifted slowly from the orange bottle of pills I'd been fidgeting with for the last twenty minutes, to the little girl in front of me.

Rose.

She was standing there in an ugly yellow dress covered in tiny embroidered flowers and with a giant smile on her face.

"Hi!" She chirped happily once she realized she had my attention, and I continued to watch her as she took my own hand and splayed it over her small face, giggling as she asked, "peek-a-boo?"

Shaking my head I took my hand back, indicating I wasn't in the mood.

I had enough to worry about now that my mind was attacking itself, the voices no longer whispers in the back of my head; now they were right next to me, talking so clearly I could almost feel the cold puffs of air from their breaths.

'Useless.'

'You almost killed her. You don't deserve her.'

'Where is she?'

Rose gave a pout as she looked back at me, brows drawn "are you sad?"

'Where is she?'

No. I am angry though, at myself.

Just three days ago I was sure I'd lost the only person that meant anything at all to me, and when I realized I hadn't, I swore to myself that I'd protect her forever.

So then why did I tell her it was okay to go to that stupid high school dance while I was here, alone with the voices berating me?

'She almost died.'

'Where is she?'

'Kill yourself.'

I should've said no, should've kept her on a tighter leash, but that was a selfish thought, and recently I'd been forced to become less and less selfish where she was concerned.

'Where is she?'

The panic I'd felt when I thought she was gone had sobered me up quite a lot. It made me realize that I wanted her for keeps, even if I didn't deserve her. I had pushed her to the point where she would rather take her own life than spend another moment with me and I couldn't have that.

She needed to live.

She needed to live for me like I was now living for her. She needed to live so I could show her how grateful I was for her existence. So I could worship her with my entirety, devoting myself to her. I'd practically put her through hell, so for her to fall for me regardless, for her to put her trust in me and give herself to me like that, only expecting my own heart in return- she must be a saint.

I'd always thought I knew myself and what I was about, but maybe I was wrong.

Maybe she was my purpose all along.

She saw a barren wasteland in me and brought life to it. She made me feel alive again and if it weren't for the voices-

I was knocked out of my reverie by the smell of fresh roses and I looked back at the little girl before me as she shoved the plant in my face.

Its stem was long and its petals a pure white- wet with dew. She smiled softly at me, waiting with the flower in hand and I eventually took the rose, rolling the stem between my fingers silently despite my indignation.

"Feel better, okay?" the little girl said, patting my head with her small hand before she skipped out of the room.

Sighing, I rested my head against the back of the couch, closing my eyes.

'Where is she?'

It's fine.

She said she would be good, didn't she?

'It's your fault.'

'WHERE. IS. SHE?!'

The expression on my face didn't budge when the screaming started. There's no denying that the apprehension growing inside me was because of my jealousy.

Just the thought of her spending her evening with someone who wasn't me-

Would I need to intervene?

Would she resent me if I did?

I tried to relax, blowing out a breath as I started fidgeting with the pill bottle again, hearing the capsules rattle around inside.

These pills...

They were supposed to "help" me but they ended up almost taking her away instead. Maybe if I'd been on them the whole time, maybe things would've been different for us.

'Find her.'

'Where is she?'

'Find. Her.'

"What's that you got there?" Ben had suddenly appeared next to me on the couch and I turned my head to give him an annoyed look that he couldn't see behind my mask.

He grinned, coming closer, "lemme guess, percs? Xannies?" Seeing the label on the bottle his brows furrowed and he tilted his head to the side, "you're back on your pills?"

"Who's on pills?" Jeff entered the room with a bandaged wound on his head and a blood-splattered t-shirt that I almost didn't notice since he was carrying his son on his hip.

This is new, and unexpected, especially after what he'd done just yesterday. When I saw who was hanging off his arm, however, I grimaced. I guess kidnapping their own kid and trying to turn him into a mindless killing machine wasn't enough of a red flag for Tamara to leave him. She sported a large shark-toothed grin but her eyes were a soul-less void.

After she'd beaten Jeff to a pulp they somehow managed to make up and were back to 'normal' as per regular programming.

I couldn't judge them either when my own relationship had its fair share of problems.

"That's great Tim," Tamara beamed, "looks like Kit's a good influence."

"I'm not on them," I grumbled, sitting upright on the couch as Jeff set the boy down. Micah immediately made a dash for the exit, his little feet echoing off the floorboards. He was probably off to find Rose.

The room was starting to feel too crowded and too noisy, as once the door had been flung open, the extra people suddenly started filing in. They were almost like shadows, or smoke and they huddled together, whispering among themselves while casting me obvious glances.

The others seemed unaware of them, however, and a question was asked. I could see them waiting for my response.

"What?"

"I asked if you were thinking of getting back on your pills," Tamara flopped down next to me on the couch and I grimaced at the proximity, immediately getting to my feet.

"No."

I charged forward, walking through the shadows that vanished almost instantly and I heard Ben groan from where he sat on the couch, putting his feet up on the coffee table, "damn that's too bad. You're always less doom and gloom when you're on them."

Whatever that means.

I was halfway across the room when something Tamara said caused me to halt.

"What did you just say?" I asked, turning to face her. I must've heard wrong.

"I said it's nice of you to let Toby take Kit to prom."

"...Toby?"

Jeff's smile was ear-splitting, "you didn't know did ya? I saw 'm earlier and he looked real excited too. How many bases you think my boy's gonna score tonight?"

It was evident that Jeff was only trying to get a rise out of me, trying to get under my skin, but his words hardly caused a reaction at all.

Without another word, I turned and exited the room. I couldn't let my emotions get the best of me. Not now.

So what if she was with Toby? It didn't matter, she was mine, not his.

I suppose it's good that she's out enjoying herself now before she would need to leave her former life behind forever. Then she'd be all mine and I could keep her on lockdown.

For now, though, I could wait a few more hours for the pills to kick in.

If she can trust me with her heart, I can trust her for one night.

†

||KIT||

†

"Are you one-hundred-percent sure it's a good idea to let them take us to Prom?" I asked for the second time, looking over at the two killers sprawled out on the beanbag chairs as Amy was helping me with the zipper on my dress.

She laughed out loud, throwing them a glance, "you're the one who said we'd look like losers going together, Kit."

"Yeah, but at the same time-"

"Don't worry, they'll behave," she spoke before looking over at them with narrowed eyes, "right boys?"

Toby and Brian both nodded enthusiastically at her question.

They were all dressed up in sleek tuxedos and had done away with their masks, looking the most normal I'd ever seen them before. If I didn't know the boys sitting so comfortably in those chairs were murderers, I'd think they were just two cute guys.

Well, they still were-

"I d-didn't even bring my hatchet," Toby grinned proudly, holding his hands up, palms facing us.

My eyes shifted to Hoodie, "and you?"

Amy patted my back, done with pulling the zipper up all the way, "he's fine, relax."

Hoodie only huffed and I picked up my clutch purse from the bed, checking that I had everything I'd need inside, "and you're sure no one will recognize them?"

"As I said, they'd get recognized more easily if they were wearing their usual getup," Amy spoke, fixing her chest in the full-length mirror by her bed. Her sparkling champagne dress was littered with rhinestones and only accentuated her thick curves, "it should be fine. No one remembers what these guys looked like anyways thanks to the shroud."

She was probably right. Earlier when I'd asked, Amy was explaining to me how 'the shroud' was an extra layer of protection Slenderman and Zalgo used to keep the previous identities of their proxies a secret.

I checked my hair for the last time, having finally gotten a silk press that left it hanging down the middle of my back and I tucked a few stray tendrils of hair behind my ear, looking over at Amy who was checking the strap of her white platforms. When she decided she was ready, the two boys got up from where they'd been lounging and came over to place the corsages on our wrists.

Toby was grinning as I held out my hand to him.

"What's funny?" I asked with a tilt of my head.

"Oh n-nothing," he spoke softly, sliding the flower onto my wrist and patting my hand, "I just think Tim's really m-missing out."

I smiled at his statement, "yeah?"

"Yeah, you l-look beautiful."

I smiled again but this time it was less genuine, now that I was forced to think about him again and remember how much I was missing him. I was itching to touch the bite mark on my neck that I'd tried to cover up with makeup, "thanks for the compliment, Toby. You look pretty good yourself."

"Y-yeah, I clean up nice," he chuckled, patting his tie as he glanced at himself in the mirror, his brown hair falling over his forehead.

"You too, Brian," I spoke at the giant Amy was mumbling something to. His head drooped sheepishly as he mumbled a thanks, cheeks red.

"Tonight should be fun," Amy grinned, biting her lip in a very telling way as she poked his flushed cheek with the tip of her nail.

Brian only blushed a deeper shade of red and as they left the room, I followed behind with a chuckle, Toby flanking me.

There was a buzz of activity downstairs with random workers coming in and out of the house, getting it ready for the after Prom party Amy would be throwing. I'd wanted to head straight back home once Prom was over, but Amy wanted me to be there for our last hurrah before the beginning of the end of our normal lives as high schoolers, and that was something I could definitely get behind.

"Wait, wait-" before I could go down the stairs, Amy pulled out her phone and shoved it in Toby's hands, "we need pictures."

Toby and Hoodie thumped to the bottom of the landing and Amy roped an arm around me, pulling me close to her bosom with a grin as Toby started to snap pictures of us.

I felt tears prick the back of my eyes and I returned the hug with a long inhale.

A few months ago I was dreaming of this moment but to have it actually happen despite everything I've been through is something I'm grateful for.

A gang of killers had crash-landed in my life and turned my whole world upside down. The ordeal might have even turned me into a very different person than I was before, but I didn't regret any of it. I was still happy with the results.

I chose the world I truly longed to be a part of and if put to the test, I'd choose it again in a heartbeat.

Once Amy and I were done taking pictures together, we got some more with all four of us taken by one of the event coordinators who didn't mind us borrowing her time.

"Open the door for us, servants," Amy snapped, using her lipgloss to poke Hoodie in the back once we finally approached the front door, ready to leave.

Toby beat him to it, however, flinging the door open with a flourish.

"My queens," he twitched, giving us a deep bow as he held the door and when I giggled, Amy rolled her eyes with a hidden smile and went by him, chin in the air.

"Cute," he grinned, motioning to her with a slight tilt of his head before flashing me a quick wink.

I chuckled as I crossed the threshold, holding my floor-length aquamarine dress a few inches off the ground. After begging for what felt like decades, Amy had finally decided to let me wear short pumps under my dress and I was psyched about it since I didn't have to twist my ankles dancing around all night in the six-inch deathtraps she wanted me to wear initially.

The boys held the car doors open for us and I sat in the back with Toby while Amy sat up front in the passenger seat next to Hoodie, our chauffeur for the night.

"I never had a P-prom," Toby spoke with a twitch and I reached over to adjust his tie, smiling.

"Well, I'm glad I could be your date."

"They're a lot less fun than they look in the movies I'll tell you that," Amy clicked her tongue as she turned to look back at us while Hoodie pulled out of the driveway, "the only reason I'm even going is to get my crown."

"And what about GG?" I asked with a grin, knowing the poor girl had been campaigning harder than anyone else for the position.

Amy let out a scoff, "as if that try-hard could outshine me."

×××

: Bit of a filler chappie because I didn't want to end the book on an odd-numbered chapter lol

Thanks for reading, voting, and commenting thus far. I appreciate you.

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