A Call.

Voicemail:

"There was once a shady lady,

Who attitude was quite degrading

She fought little proxies

And kicks some guys balls

But she met the love of her life

And she never returns his calls.

I'm awful at rhyming. Mediocre at best. Check your refrigerator for a number to call, and give it a test. Hehehehehehehe." 

I shook my head and went into the woods after retrieving the number. It was morning by then and I was pacing through the trees, listening to the crunching of leaves and branches. Ignoring my pajamas getting snagged now and then on branches. Kicked a flower. Apologized knowing Mystery would have scolded me. Then I dialed the number, and once they picked up I didn't give them time to speak, "Is this a joke? Who is this? How did you get into the mansion?

"Hehehe, hey love muffin. You sound antsy. You look delicious. I must say, your apparel is very alluring today. Hehehe, please, please, please, one question at a time. What do you think this is? Cranium? Hehe, go fish, love. Let's begin." I heard a timer turning on through the phone. "Questions?"

"How did you get into the mansion." I demanded an answer, the prior two answered already.

"Hahahahohohohehehe, how DIDN'T I get into the mansion? Hehe, too bad you don't have your witch around to help you... So vulnerable, so vulnerable." Advocate snickered, no doubt pleased with his ability to stalk me with a lack of being detected. "You really should consider better security... But to give you a straight up answer, I walked through the front door. Hehe. Didn't you see me? Oh what a pity... Nice place you've got."

I scowled, glancing into the direction of the mansion. "Mystery might have left but the wards were returned and are being maintained. You expect me to  believe you walked on through an armed establishment like a fucking ghost?" I scoffed quietly, "You intend to do harm. There's no way..."

"Harms been done, babe. Check the woods, I'm sure you'll find a nude MASC greenhorn out there somewhere, if you search long enough. Hehe, but that begs another question? Was it me who did the killing? Or am I even telling the truth? Does anyone really know? Do I know? Hehe, maybe. So many questions but we're on a time crunch, beautiful. Next question."

"Impossible." I muttered about him beneath my breath. "What is the purpose of giving me this number?"

"So we can keep in touch, sexy pants." He giggled, I groaned. "And I need a more direct, personal way of contacting my very best friend." I heard screams from the other end. "Shut up, I haven't even started drilling yet! Hehe, anyways, darling. I have a guest who keeps interrupting me. Attention hog. What was I saying? Oh right, have you ever been to Broadway?" A drill turned on in the background.

I sighed, pushing the screaming aside. There wasn't anything I could do and feeding Advocate's attention towards that was not something I'd do. "Twice a while back. Why?"

"Oh just curious. I'm writing a play. Hehe, we should have a sit down sometime and talk about it. Are you free this weekend? Hehe... Oh and I apologize for my absence of blogs since the party. Busy, busy, busy! But now things are starting to simmer down, and it's time to stir the pot..." I could hear a loud banging in the background.

I flinched at the first bang before relaxing, back to not being surprised by his antics. "Right... I can see that. And are you actually asking or are you going to show up either way?" I asked dully, examining the woods around me. For any sign of the enemy, or any surprise from Advocate even.

"Stop looking around like you expect me to be there in person, dear. Hehe, I can't be in two places at once, can I? Can I?! Hehe, I guess we'll have to wait and see." The banging abruptly ended, a gurgling noise picking up in its place. It sounded like someone was fricking drowning. "My response isn't as important as yours. Are you freeeee?"

That question would become something frequent. As would the background noise. Since then I caught glances while running errands outside the mansion. In a reflection, moving through crowds, passed an isle and there he was. He's always been bold but this was upping his usual games. It was a taunting, just standing from the corner of my eye. Out of reach, damn well knowing no doubt the knife I had on my person at all times. Trying to chase after his form after it disappeared was useless, led me nowhere. I stopped feeding that game and would continue doing what I intended, without becoming overly distracted.

I've been doing a lot of research, assisting around the mansion, and teaching Josie a thing or two. Speaking of which, I threw her out the front door a few evenings ago. Woke her ass right up. Josie perked instantly and turned, attacking me in return for it. I laughed, pulling a knife on her and watching as she fumbled on properly evading an actual weapon. A surprise attack to teach her to be ready, especially with weapons. Well, she was ready immediately, but not for the weapon.

"You're going to drive me insane." I smiled, flipping the knife at my handiwork on her. She wiped the back of her hand against her bleeding cheek, "I think you're losing your marbles."

"Just means I gotta find them" I mused, "Like in Peter Pan."

"They were found for the old man." Josie sighed, I threw the knife at her as she finished her sentence. Squeaking she narrowly dodged it, her chest heaving. "ARE YOU-"

I was back on to attacking her, unable to stop grinning. She ran away, in circles. It came to the point where it went from an actual sparring match to tag. A rougher version of tag that involved tackling and punching. And occasional head-butting.

Brood came out the front door, "What are you two imbeciles doing?" He spat, completely dumbfounded by how we were tangled. Both of us looked his way before laughing. "Are either of you drunk?"

I lifted my hand, "Not this time, sir."

"I wish." Josie whined.

He rubbed the bridge of his nose, sighing dramatically. "Drugs?"

"Nope!"

"I could use some painkillers." Josie whined further.

Brood looked at us flatly, "Don't kill each other. We'll need Shady for the searching for the body in the morning. You both should rest."

We exchanged some jackass comments back and forth before finally going inside.

When morning came around I got up with Mr. Sunshine at my side as I met up with Brood. "Keep your men here, just bring a handful to carry the body."

"Why?" He was skeptical, glancing at Mr. Sunshine who was grinning without the two layers of masks.

"Because this guy will sniff it out."

"He's a police dog now?" He snorted.

I shrugged, "Might as well use his abilities if we've got them." I beckoned both of them to follow, motioning for Mr. Sunshine to take the lead. "Find us a winner, deary."

He didn't need any further encouragement. His sharp eyes narrowing as we left the mansion, immediately we were chasing him through the woods. He brought us to a dead deer at first, his head shaking when he realized it wasn't the same scent. Mr. Sunshine tried to eat the deer, we said no, he tried to bring it with him, we said no again. And then the search was back up.

Which led us straight into Prosper. He was standing ahead of us, in the middle of the woods. His current body looked like utter shit, he was bleeding, holding his side as blood, both fresh and old was trailing down his neck. Both from the cuts and what looked like underneath, whatever happened to him fucked his day up. His cracked mask lowered, fiery eyes locking with mine as I heard the MASC soldiers take aim and removed the safety at once. Prosper was gone instantly.

"What does he want?" Brood questioned with a scowl.

I shrugged, "Hell if I know."

We walked for a few minutes before I caught sign of him off to the side of us. Disappearing and reappearing through the trees he weaved through, watching us as we followed Mr. Sunshine. As we walked I flicked Mr. Sunshine's hand, he snapped his attention to me and I motioned for him to keep leading on. His face contorted with dislike, a low growl emitting from his throat as he slid closer in a protective manner. I shot him a glare and motioned again, not wanting suspicion to form. Abiding he led on, as we walked I progressively slowed my pace until detaching from the group completely. My eyes landed on Prosper far to my left, waiting. I followed as he weaved through the trees, limping and not even caring for his injuries as he did so.

We ended up at the small fort which was barely holding itself together. Which meant we were near my house.

"Road Runner." Was the first thing out of my mouth, he cocked his head as he stood before me. Both of us on opposite ends of the small camp. "Lenore was her name, I have her file. You're Owen."

Prosper rolled up his sleeve, revealing the tattoo on one of his wrists. Confirmation. "Which one will live, which one will die?"

"It's a wait and see game." I rested my hand on the knife strapped to my thigh, some reassurance. "Your boss finally realize my information from the Darklings was true?" Prosper remained motionless, betraying not a single thing. "I guess it doesn't really matter, he's bound to die one way or another." Again, nothing. Not a flinch, a bitter retort, emotionless all together towards the comment. Which interested me as to why that would be. "You haven't been obeying him."

"Free reign. I do the job as I see fit."

"I haven't been dragged back yet."

"Advocate didn't hand you over. No different."

"Why are you here, letting me see you looking like shit?" He bowed his head, looking himself over and gave a throaty chuckle in response. "You and Road Runner have been fighting constantly for a few months now."

"We've always fought."

"Why?"

Another chuckle, then he was gone. A moment later at my side, a hand under my chin that tilted my head to the side, the other holding my head in place tightly. The side of his mask was at my ear, I kicked out at him, elbowed the spot he held, it didn't even make him flinch. "Why haven't you told her? Hello? Hello? Hello? I know you're in there." He hissed, the Caged One I could feel give a small tremble within, not out of fear, acknowledgement she heard him. Not that he knew. I could see her lifting her head, tilting it as if she was listening. "You're going to kill her and I won't have to do a thing at this rate. Waiting for the chance to regain your body. It doesn't work that way, it will never work that way. All or nothing, my girl."

The Caged One roared, a fit being thrown inside my own head. My knees briefly buckled at the sudden headache I got. She shook her head furiously, flailing, screaming. I didn't understand, that was the point. It wasn't about me, it was about her. "IT'S MY BODY!" was all I heard before whiteness took over my vision.

I felt like I was gliding for a moment, moving but yet not, unable to see anything but white. With a blink it was all back no normal, except I was on my back... Several feet from where I originally was. Prosper was standing over me, his head tilted down as I stared back with absolute confusion. "She's tired of waiting." He said, I didn't know if we were talking about Road Runner or the Caged One at this point anymore. Prosper simply vanished.

I looked around, nothing explained how I moved unless Prosper did it himself. But there was no signs of a struggle. Looking upon the Caged One she was breathing heavily, surrounded by the blackness with only a single ray of light shining down on her location. She wouldn't respond when I called to her, merely shied away out of the light and melted into the darkness.

Whelp, still alive. I managed to find Brood, he threw me a questioning look and I didn't give an explanation. Wasn't necessary. We found the body a few minutes after meeting up, a nude MASC soldier that was obviously murdered. We brought him back and buried him in what was becoming a graveyard out back.

I cleaned Mr. Sunshine up from all the mud he gathered on his arms and face. Off to the side I noticed a black cat staring, near where Lullaby and DeMii fell asleep together in a chair. It was the first time I came to notice things clicking together with Proctor's blog.

And then it was Thursday, the 26th of January. We were all caught up.

I'm going to post today's events, with Advocate's newest phone-call and Lenore's file. Oh yea, we're back to getting work done on this thing.

Stay safe,

-Shady

Saturday 10/1/11 - Monday 10/3/11

I have left Massachusetts. What was I doing there? I went to visit Elaine. Seeing as she posted about our events I take it that she's well enough for me to say where I was and what has happened. I wasn't around for the beginning so I can really only explain from when I first saw Prosper and what led me into this brawl.

Shall we?

I drove straight Massachusetts, traffic was a nightmare but managable with music. I forgot how long it has been since I've listened to anything, my thoughts usually made music all their own for hours on end. It was nice to just sit and drive mindlessly. When I came into the town (which I will not specify on) I drove for a bit looking for the right place, which wasn't easy. When I cam to a red light I found a familiar figure standing next to the park entrance to my left, it was Prosper. He was wearing a new mask, same as the old one. He moved down the sidewalk like a ghost, unnoticed by people. I followed with the car until he turned off at the last park entrance, I managed to pull free from traffic and park before pursuing him through the grounds. He fled into the woods and I chased, ended up losing him but found my way out.

I ended up driving a few blocks until I came to the scene. I caught sign of Prosper teleporting and parked before getting out with the axe. He appeared before Jake (who I was surprised to see there with Elaine), there was a gun barrel to his forehead and I knew he was about to teleport. After dealing with this jackass for so long you pick up on the smallest bits of his traits. I ran in from his right, threw all my weight into ramming him from the side and knocking him over a few feet away. I got a glimpse of Elaine to check her condition before charging Prosper, who was kneeling on the ground. I swung down the axe and he teleported, he moved behind me and I was kicked forward. He was gone again.

I pulled myself up and saw Jake was in close quarters, and considering he was not one of Prosper's asylum girls he'd be the target. Considering what I walked in on that was indeed the case, Jake was the first to be eliminated in Prosper's view. I ran over to them and managed to get my axe between the two of them. I could hear the wood cracking further, I had duct taped the shit out of the handle but Prosper is a strong bastard. His serrated blade kept digging into the tape, shredding it bit by bit until Elaine stabbed him from behind. I dodged as he lurched, blade narrowly missing me, I was lucky just to be grazed. Elaine had Prosper from behind and I took the opportunity swing the axe at his thigh, it was an awkward little swing but it impaled him nicely.

He was NOT happy. Prosper seethed and tore himself off her knife, the back of his fist hit me in the side of the head and I was knocked to the ground. Jake began to open fire, pushing back Prosper and distracting him. My arm hurt like hell still from healing, it was stupid to even be doing this shit I know but whatever. I grabbed the axe after pulling myself up and hopped onto Prosper's back, sliding the handle of the weapon under his chin in yanking back. I dropped my weight, not even trying to stay on his back. It made Prosper arch backwards as I landed on the ground and planted my feet, keeping him awkwardly bent and wide open for an attack.

Elaine charged Prosper, slipping out blade hidden on her person and stabbed him three times. One blade to the throat, another to the heart, the last carving open his stomach. Jake took aim, once she had pulled aside he fired a headshot that stilled Prosper. I could feel his body grow heavy and fell backwards as his weight came down, the axe lost in my grasp when I hit the ground. His body dispersed and became nothing, I blinked a few times and found Jake standing over me, his hand outstretched. I took it, he smiled but it wasn't pleasant and it was too late when I was yanked upwards and pressed against him, blade to my throat.

"Who are you, then?" He asked me, a low and dangerous voice emitting from his throat. "Another one of the crazy bitch's faithful hoarde, here to save the day?" I stare at him, watching as he winks at Elaine and can feel the blade as it digs in by a fraction. A fine trickle of blood running down, this was definitely not a time to play games.

Jake is trained, he's not like a proxy that's plucked out of a home and handed a weapon to play dirty with. I remained as still as I could muster to not alarm him, my mind going over every part of him that was touching me, how strong his hold was, possible weak points. This angle I was being held at made it difficult, delaying what he was itching to accomplish was a better bet, hopefully Elaine could help while I did that. "It's Shady. We talked a bit before Prosper ever stepped into your life, remember?" I forced myself to be calm, my voice didn't betray me and for that I was glad. I inched my hand closer to my pocket where the switchblade was while speaking to him, "Can't save the day, Jake, just trying to keep you both alive. Especially after what that fucker did." So maybe I could direct his anger towards Prosper and off of Elaine and myself. Anything to take his attention off of us.

"It's as much her fault as his." He borderlined purred in my ear, my sprained wrist caught in his hold and twisted around my back. I growled at the pain that shot up and into my bad shoulder. So much for getting the knife. "Shady. It's so good to finally meet you. If she hadn't gotten in touch with you, Prosper never would have found us. It will be a pleasure to see you bleeding out into the pavement."

"Leave her out of this, it isn't her fault, Jake. You want me, come get me. I'm weak and broken and useless. Your favorite kind of prey." Elaine called to me, baiting him to her.

I moved my upper body, trying to lessen the pressure on my wrist, "It wouldn't matter, my involvement or not, Elaine was always his third." I glanced to Elaine from the corner of my eye, giving her the cold hard truth. It didn't matter really since Jake would probably kill me just to hurt Elaine but he needed to hear it. "What happened to Cam, to you, it couldn't be helped. I hate to say it. He has been watching since the asylum, since before then on my behalf. What makes you think he wasn't doing the same for you, for Elaine?"

That hit a nerve and he growled, "No. If it weren't for Elaine, he'd be safe. We'd be happy. The two of us together, like it should have been." Jake twisted my hand with a cruel gleam in his eyes.

"Killing her won't solve anything. He's gone, Jake. We got him. The three of us. You and I could be great if we worked together, Jake, we both know that." I could hear Elaine as she took a step closer.

I clenched my jaw as he twisted my hand further, "He gone... For now only. If you want revenge for Cam then you should help us for when he comes back. To find a way to end him completely."

I can hear Elaine moving forward and glance to see her stumbling about. My eyes narrowed skeptically, she wasn't that hurt, was she? It could have been the adrenaline before but it didn't stop the concern. If she was really that hurt she couldn't defend herself, it would be suicide to beckon Jake like she was. But Elaine isn't an idiot, she's a clever woman and I held some faith she knew what she was doing. "Come on, Jake, Cam wouldn't want you to do this."

By Jake's smug smile it looked to be working. "Cam would want to be alive. He never wanted any of this. You two killed him. You don't have a damn pit of say in this."

I can't get out of Jake's hold, by then I had come to that conclusion. I could distract and delay but Elaine would have to make the move to get me away or get Jake to loosen the hold. Quite frankly I was running low on patience to play hostage, especially since I dislike people touching me to begin with. And this... This wasn't helping. "You're going to kill people who are trying to avenge Cam? You don't think he'd want his friends to stay alive, to help end his killer?" I bit out with some annoyance.

"Prosper's dead. We all saw him die. People don't just come back from the dead." He snorted. "Don't bullshit me, bitch."

That was the moment it happened. He moved his knife in a gesture and I knew that was all that was needed. Elaine bolted quickly, her push was all I need and I dodged to the side with it. Elaine landed on top of Jake, knife turned and stabbed directly into his chest. I pulled myself up and grabbed the axe, using it as a walking stick as I came near Elaine. I looked to Jake who laid gaping and bleeding, the knife square in his chest. I would have questioned medical attention but there wasn't any point, not with that wound. I glanced to Elaine, "You alright?" It's obvious she's in pain when she moves to sit on a hood of a nearby car.

"No. But now you have proof. Elaine is dangerous. A killer. Don't trust her. Make sure everyone knows she killed me. Don't let her lie."

I glance to Elaine who is frowning before looking back down at him, "I'm sorry, Jake. You can tell Cam that too now." I muttered before pulling myself up and moving towards the woman, had to focus on her survival now. "How badly are you injured, do you need medical attention?" I asked her while glancing over her wounds. Personally, she needed it, but runners have a tendency to be stubborn with hospitals.

"... Broke a couple ribs. The shoulder may be broken, may just be dislocated. Probably have another concussion. Yeah. Hospital's probably a good idea." Her eyes flicker to the body briefly, "I can become un-missing. Tell the cops Jake was the one who kidnapped me. Two birds, one stone."

I nodded which cracked my neck, wincing I rubbed it a bit not expecting that in the least. "I was going to ask if you wanted to do anything with the body next. That works, though." I glance over her briefly, my mind digesting the situation fully. "We should probably get medical attention done quickly. Prosper will be back in a couple days at most. Better to get a head start."

"Right. Call 911? I think I'm about to pass out." Elaine stoically says despite being lightheaded.

"On it, just relax there." I pulled out my cellphone and dialed up, giving the report to the operator as I watched Elaine, making sure she didn't faceplant onto the pavement. I waited there until the ambulence pulled up in the parking lot and disappeared. Watched at a distance with my axe as they got into the vehicle and took her away. I couldn't have my information taken in, it was bad enough making the call considering the time span I had if MASC was trying to actually track me. Worth it, though, at the end of it all.

I went back to the car and patch up, wiped the blood and smudges away, switched shirts briefly from the bit of blood. Couldn't draw unwanted attention when I snuck into the hospital. Which I did, effectively. I looked around for Elaine's room for a bit, finding it I entered and pulled up a chair. Did nothing but wait for some time for her to wake up, dodged a few nurses when they entered. That was fun.

It didn't take long for Elaine to stir, I was happy to see the drugs working to keep the pain dulled down. She tried to adjust herself and move around, bad move, let her figure that out though for herself. She has to know her limitations, I waited patiently for her to notice me which was pretty damn quickly. Perceptive as always. It was adorable, really, she blinked at me with a small, "Oh. Hello." which amused me despite recent events.

"Hey." I leaned back in the chair with a half smile, urge to yawn rising. "How are you feeling? Drugs helping?"

Elaine eyed the IV a moment, "Yeah. They must have me on the good shit. I feel fantastic."

I found myself chuckling at the look on her face, priceless. "Good, good. We should probably get to why I came here, though. Before anymore interruptions come around." Straight to business now that I know she was doing pretty alright considering things. "Asylum. You mentioned in an email about us being from the same one."

"... Right. What did you want to know? We only overlapped for a bit."

"How well did we know each other?" I asked her.

"Not horribly? I mean. I'm older than you, and you came in towards the end of my stay. But we talked, some."

"What about?"

"We talked about feeling guilty for killing people and not knowing why, mostly." Elaine gave a shaky laugh before adding, "We have that in common, I guess." I quirked a brow but stayed silent, letting her continue. "It's. It's been a long time, and that part of my life is hard to remember, but we talked about that, and some friend of yours vanishing, and a man in a mask... And some chick named Lenore? You didn't like her."

"Friend vanishing and a man in a mask, I can get that. Lenore? I don't--Wait, I have a file back at the house about a girl named Lenore." I looked to the wall with a scowl, thinking. Lenore, yes, I most definitely had a file about a girl named Lenore. The friend vanishing was Mr. Sunshine and the man in the mask Prosper, those things connect. Now Lenore would have to be discovered and sadly that would have to wait till I got home. "What were you in there for?"

"...Did you not read my post?" Elaine laughed lightly, "I thought everyone knew by now. I killed people as a kid. Thanks to Slendy, I think. Still not sure. Can't remember it-or most of my first two years at the asylum."

"Sometimes people don't mention everything to a group of strangers." I calmly retorted with my eyes intently watching Elaine, body language says a hell of a lot and I was not going to ignore hers. "What do you remember from those times?"

"The times I talked to you? About as much as you’d normally remember of conversations you had ten years ago?" She paused before adding, "You didn’t get there till after I was back to myself."

"So I arrived fucked up right before you left then basically?" I smirked lightly.

She nodded while laughing, "Well. I still spent a year or so in the asylum the same time as you. Not exactly right before."

"Considering how fucked up time is when you're not sane it seems short in comparison. But damn... A year still? I don't remember you at all." I swung my legs over one arm rest of the chair and leaned back against the other one. "Do you remember meeting this Lenore?"

Elaine shrugged with her good shoulder, "Nope."

"So we've got a ghost. What about Prosper back then. He worked at the asylum, the 269 tattooed on the underside of his wrists. He made masks for other patients, you remember that at all?"

"Yeah, I do. I remember him." It sounded more like she didn't want to. "Creepy motherfucker. He mostly left me alone, at least when I was 'awake'." I was about to question that when she added with a shiver, "Loved you, though. No real surprise there."

"What do you mean by that all?"

Elaine blinked, "Well. I dunno. He’s always been creepy. I couldn’t stand him, and he avoided contact with me. From what I gather that wasn’t always the case, I'd see him lurking out of the corner of my eye." I shuddered at the idea of Prosper doing such to children. “I just never touched the masks, so he left me alone, I think.” She shrugged. “You, he followed. And that one other girl... Fuck it's hard to remember. I don't know if it's the drugs or just a bad memory."

"It's alright. Having something is still better than having nothing at all. Just conversing about it might trigger something later on too, if not immediately." I flashed a reassuring grin, "We've got time. Why not tell me what happened today instead, what did I stumble into earlier?"

"Jake’s been trying to kill me.” She answered flatly. “Me and everyone I care about. For revenge. Because of Cam.” It shocked me to see this change in Jake but at the same time it was understandable, even if not reasonable. "Prosper interrupted us fighting."

"It's sad it turned out that way, I'm sorry you had to lose both of them because of this." I muttered while rubbing the back of my neck, "He just interrupted, he didn't give you anything or say, hell, do anything to tell you something?"

Elaine shook her head, "No, he just cut in when Jake just about had me. Would’ve died if he hadn’t interfered."

It quirked my interest to hear that. Prosper wasn't in the business of saving lives. "So he saved your life and gave me his cracked mask that Road Runner broke when he went to visit her. This is weird. He didn't try and attack you?"

"Well, yeah. He gave me all this crap I’m in the hospital from. But only after I attacked him.”

AFTER she attacked him. Was that something significant? "So Jake was attacking you, Prosper saved you, but hurt you when you attacked him?" I snorted, "Maybe he was keeping you out of the way?"

“Possibly? Maybe he wanted me for himself?”

That made better sense. "Considering how possessive he is of his asylum girls I wouldn't be surprised. And it's like him to jump in at the last second."

Yes. That made a lot more sense but pieces were still missing.

I sat with Elaine, dodged more nurses and the doctor until morning. She had company come which eased me, I didn't want to leave her alone and injured like that. It was nice to speak with her, to put a face to the text I've been reading. Elaine, I'm sorry for your loss. If you need anything just drop a line, feel better.

I split ways and headed off to my next destination which was another days travel, day and a half almost with the fricking traffic. I write this to you now from the outskirts of the large area I'll be exploring. I'm glad to have had Trinity's computer skills put to work before she left, MASC, if you're trying to track this you'll have to try a bit harder. I'm so tired, excuse errors. Been a long couple of days already.

Oh and MASC: I read what happened to Lullaby, what Mystery reported as well. That was unwise. Very unwise. You are lucky it was only Mystery there.
Also, interrogating Mr. Sunshine, really? HA! Made his day.
My companions back home: Be careful, dears.
Everyone else...

Stay safe,
-Shady

The Attack.

I need to pay more attention to this place and stop posting when it's significant. Fucks sake. I've been working my ass off between the orderly and tending to affairs around the mansion, then the attack... Sigh. Also, Victor's story is still being done, I haven't stopped there.

I just need to breathe but it's difficult, especially with the way everything is as of now. Even before the attack things were a bit tense, I left very early in the morning. I went to the one place I can't breathe at all to try and solve it. The cemetery. I visited Billy, it was a... Nice morning, yea. Picked some flowers, tied them together with some wire from the tool kit. I really don't see much point in laying flowers, they just wither and die anyways, but it's tradition, right? And Billy loved traditions. He cherished them, I guess it rubbed off some. I've been thinking of getting back into contact with Joshua and maybe Smiles. Maybe. With the way shit is looking you know it might not hurt. But then I just mock myself and laugh at how pitiful that is, how selfish it would be.

"Look at what happened the last time a friend was brought into the fray."

The Caged One mentioned such. I felt myself half smile at the reminder. Fuck this life.

It would be selfish. I'm selfish but not that much. I sat back next to his grave and mused over where I am in life now. Let's look at it together, shall we?

Executor despises me.

Prosper is trying to skin me alive.

Road Runner is trying to make me a murderer and is willing to sacrifice and murder those I care for just to fuel that fire.

My family doesn't register I've been gone all this time, they don't pay much attention. Not that they did before. It's ridiculous that it bothers me, even if it's the slightest fraction.

My adopted family whom I presently am living with I can barely protect, maybe I'm just too fucked up to do much, I don't know. You can't protect another unless you can protect yourself, and we've seen I've been doing a half assed job lately.

Proxies I've redeemed have been mostly staying that way, so that's the good perk I guess. People I've actually helped are now helping themselves and others, just motivates me further to help more. And seeing others reaching out to do such things as well only helps get me off my ass.

I resorted to kidnapping a man who cons and blackmails his bosses for a living practically, a smug bastard that hasn't answered jack shit really. My patience is thinning and the Caged One is seething which makes shit even worse.

"Your hands are already stained in red. Do what is necessary. Drag him within the woods, take him into depths where the screams cannot be heard."

Temptation to do such was killer (no pun intended). Do you know the type of anger in you that just boils and boils until it smooth out and finds a new use? Ok, now how about that new use is murder or torture? Ok, now add a childhood you in your head called the Caged One telling you that it's necessary to do. Ok? Ok. Now, go ahead and add to it you know it is necessary and you don't give a flying fuck about the consequences in doing it anymore.

Now you'll ask "Why haven't you done it then?"

The answer is simple, my adopted family. I haven't acted for them.

"But time is growing short and we need to act."

So the options become limited.

"We killed once in the name of one we loathed. We can kill again in the name of protecting those we love."

Is it necessary?

"Don't make the same mistakes."

Because I totally remember them, right... Thanks. Awesome.

Fuckthislife.

Maybe I'll be happy once this world fades into the dark. When the universe decides Earth is no longer popular and tosses it aside, heh. We are so petty and don't even realize it, it's so adorable.

Always wanted to be an astronomer, you know? It's silly. I used to stare into the telescope as a kid and try to find the planet I came from. Now look at me, clinging to humanity like it's worth something. One pathetic chapter after the next.

And I am fucking done playing to its tune.

I laid at Billy's grave and watched the clouds like we used to while we could still see them, just before nightfall came crashing down upon our heads. Once upon a time, heh. It was such a nice day outside--blurry vision-heavy breathing-stumbling forward--looking down, bloody hands--looking up, scared faces--screaming, crying--YOUMONSTER--Whoareyou?-knife, cuts so good-onebyoneweallfalldown-Cut them! Cutting them! KILLING THEM!-it hurts it hurts it fucking hurts-their faces ashamed, gone daughter gone, gone friend gone gone gone-Imissyou-I'm not sorry--about to do-NOT SORRY EVER--nice day, knife in hand--blood--heavy breathing, collapsed body--whysobroken?

I left the cemetery when my mind triggered that sequence. Out of fucking nowhere, right? Did it smack you in the face too? Yea, I didn't know what to do either but that's the sequence that I had this time. It was the same place as the previous ones; I'm considering this might be what Road Runner is talking about. "Become what you were" and "Become a murderer again". Yea, key words being: Were and Again. How wonderful is it that I might have been a murderer as a kid? How severely fucked up does someone have to be to murder as a child? What the hell happens to just trigger that at a young age? Fuck if I know. I've been told not to pursue further both verbally and by actions done by those around me. Can you honestly tell me that if you were not in my shoes that you wouldn't be looking for answers?

Can you honestly tell you wouldn't be feeling vulnerable until you do? That you could trust yourself when you don't even know yourself?

Tell me. Go right ahead and tell me, look me in the goddamn eyes already and say it with a straight face and maybe I'll consider it.

To make matters worse Prosper was at the tree line. I pulled out a knife when he approached, his mask was smashed up. Looked like a cracked egg, I wondered what the hell happened briefly before deciding whatever did good for him, he deserved it. What surprised me most was when he slid the mask off his face and took a moment to look at the broken thing before handing it over. I was hesitant to take it, when he didn't make any kind of change I did. It was stupid and I knew it when he grabbed my wrist and lurched my upper body forward. Prosper's amber eyes were in slits, it's amazing how dark his face looked on such a bright morning. And then, out of nowhere, he curled up his lips into an ominous smile and backed off. Let go of me in the process and pointed to the mask before tapping the side of his head. The knife in my hand shook, I wanted to go stab happy on Prosper's face but resisted. I told myself Road Runner comes first, he may have plunged the knife but she organized it.

On top of that Prosper was burned alive at the warehouse and Executor rebuilt him and sent him back our way. Even if I killed this form of Prosper he'd come back and probably throw a bitch fit. I don't want to hear it, from any of you. I wanted to attack, still do, for killing all those people, for hurting Elaine and killing Cam, for hurting Mystery, hurting so many people. Logically speaking, there wasn't any point. I wasn't about to risk my life all alone like this and I wasn't about to risk others either. I've see what he does when angry, so no, just... no.

I weighed his mask in my hand, it was pretty damn heavy. Not one of those flimsy plastic ones, it breaking like this must have been a bitch to do or the impact must have been massive. I have no idea what it's made out of it, ask Mystery later what she thinks. I can't draw much on why he gave this; my only thoughts are maybe it was because at the asylum he made masks. I brought it back to the mansion and when I entered Mystery intersected me, she came with one intention but paused when she noticed what I was holding and questioned it. I told her what happened and how I made up my mind on what to do with our guest. She wasn't happy, so put it lightly. I told her I was going to take the orderly for a drive that night, I didn't want her waiting up. We got into a short argument over it, Mystery didn't like the man in the least but she wasn't open for interrogation; least not to the extent I was intending. I told her it had to be done and left it there.

 I went to put the mask where I put the other stuff I was keeping, down at the bottom of the mansion where Mr. Sunshine first slept. Prying open the trunk and laying it inside with the mask from Executor's time. Prosper knows what I remember just from this blog alone, if he's sending a message it's going to be based on what I can recall still. That's the difference between him and Road Runner; he acts on the now and reminds me of the past while she works the past to end the future. Mr. Sunshine has taken up sleeping higher up in the tree that's rooted down where my trunk is. This room seemed to be a nice quiet spot for me to stay in; I considered moving down here to sleep but haven't taken any actions yet.

I was down there when I heard a loud explosion from upstairs, I grabbed the axe and bolted in time to see Mystery exiting my line of sight as she was thrown upwards through the ceiling. I looked to who was responsible and felt a glare, my mind reeling to take in just what the hell was happening. There wasn't time to dawdle over the details, my mind said, "Enemy in base, terminate." and so I acted. I gripped the axe which didn't really matter when something hit me from behind, I was suddenly thrown forward and before I knew it was one the ground and rolling until I hit the wall, the side of my face aching.

I tried to pull myself up and collapsed, my head spinning like mad. Every time I pulled myself up the world beneath me spun and I collapsed under my own weight again. I could hear off to the side Lucas and soon the thunderous roar of Mr. Sunshine, my heart skipped a beat as I used the wall to pull myself up. Vision coming clear I could see the attacker (who we know now as Thuggee) spot and turn towards me. Lullaby caught my attention and his own the moment she entered, he turned to her with a grin and vanished. I felt my insides boiled and grabbed the axe with an intent to murder. Dodgy intervened when I began an approach, surprising me with ease but I whacked him with the butt of the axe. He's fast, I'll tell you now Dodgy is deadly. I guess I took him by some surprise with my own bloodlust at the time and got the upper hand there. I smacked him across the face with the handle of the axe, spinning it in my grasp and bringing it down upon him. He slipped out of the way just barely, before I could pull the axe back up my knees bent forward as a kicked impacted them from behind. I hit the floor and rolled, swinging the axe up with all the force I could muster from that angle, he caught my wrist though. Pain shot through it and I bite out something nasty in return to him.

When Mr. Sunshine came charging my axe was raised from the ground with force, enough to split the wood just before it was flung and collided into my friend's shoulder. Before I could get out a word to him Thuggee was in front of my and then everything just blurred as I hit the ground once again. Dodgy didn't miss a beat, nailing me in the torso a few times with his leg. I spat at Thuggee and found it flung back, I won't forget ever making eye contact with that bastard. Him all to happy, winked even, before my blurred over as pain exploded through-out my body. And everything just hurt; I was writhing on the cold ground. It felt like forever before my body began to overcome, to push itself to adapt like I've always forced it to. I groaned trying to pull myself up, finally able to focus on stuff around me.

Sucking it up I pulled myself to my feet, ignoring the agony that raked through-out my body. I pulled the knife from my ankle strap and left the room moving towards the ruckus. I could hear him approaching and walked out, slashing at Thuggee with the knife. I used what knife training I had to try and land a blow upon him but he was worse than Dodgy with dodging. He caught my wrist when I went for his chest and with a flick of my arm I heard the snap before I felt it. Thuggee got me in the torso twice and suddenly I found the setting had changing. We were outside, the morning sun making me squint just before I was on the ground... Again. He grabbed my ankle, more pain but I didn't hear a crack or the likes. I was good news until he summoned that fucking orb and I was back to square one with pain raking through my body. Screaming his name with slander.

Another long while I was left writing it felt like. I could barely hear all the yelling and what not around me, it all felt faint as I was on my back, trying to adapt once again. Something shadowed over me and when I squinted upwards I found myself staring into Thy Executor's mask, his hands met the sides of my head and everything shut off, my vision blackened briefly. I felt like a computer restarting, the moment I could see I wrenched away and collapsed, he leaned back down and yanked me to a stand. Told me to wait before vanishing. It was brief before he was back again, Proxy 85 in his arms looking dead. He leaned 85 into my hold, with the one decent arm I've got.

"Leave here immediately, the others already have." I went to argue before looking up and seeing Thuggee with another Executor, I looked back to the one in front of me and knew it was a clone. He grabbed jaw roughly, an overwhelming power emitting off the clone by vibe alone. “Get. Out." He demanded, for once it wasn't a monotone voice. He voice quivered with anger and ripped his hand away, teleporting above to join the battle.

I lifted 85 who was barely conscious, he stumbled to help but could barely manage. I dragged us both to the woods, a man emerged from them that I couldn't recognize. He looked me in the face and I saw it, amber colored eyes (seeing Executor's post I know now it was Prosper flung into a nearby body. His post is correct, I've realized, there is really a nearly completed circle of bodies around our home). He ran back into the mansion as we kept moving farther and farther from it. Mr. Sunshine appeared and took 85 into his arms, lessening the strain on my own body. I leaned against a tree and ordered him to get 85 to the others, taking a second to follow and arrive on the scene of MASC. I was manhandled into the car, smacking the soldier away as he shoved me inside. Mr. Sunshine coddled and at that point I was too pissed off and exhausted to stop him. Just leaned, feeding him some support.

So... All in all we stole their truck and went to a motel. We got situated in the room and Mystery helped me make a splint for my broken arm. We stopped Mr. Sunshine's bleeding collar barely, the fact he was laying down when Executor showed after a short bit and did nothing but growl viciously made me concerned. Executor stayed near the windows, Prosper was at his side leaning awkwardly off a bad leg. Executor was torn up, head to toe. He remained standing straight and slowly scanned the room from left to right before dropping his head to look down at 85 on the bed; the boy was looking back up at him wearily. "Fine mess you brought upon yourselves. Do be more careful in future events." He stated out loud before leaning down and picking up 85's barely breathing body. Executor vanished out of sight and Prosper followed a moment afterwards.

And MASC found us not too long afterwards. Mr. Sunshine was vicious towards them and we had to try and keep him calm, blood loss helped a bit with that. They separated us all which infuriated my beastly friend to the point where they had to sedate him. MASC had a doctor lend me a hand with some treatment while I spent time in the room, glowering at the fellows babysitting. When the medic came in and brought a chair up in front of me, just before he sat down I kicked the leg sending it backwards and watched him hit the floor. One of the soldiers restrained me back into the chair when I went to get up and I barked out how I didn't approve of being manhandled and then having authority forced upon not only myself but my kin. I played nice while the doctor fixed me up and left. Interrogator visited and I laughed, despite my ribs, at his mentions of Mr. Sunshine. He began to force authority and I flashed him a nice bruised smile, "Would you kindly fuck off." left my lips on a cheerful note.

He wasn't happy and sat down across, intimidations tactics won't work with me. He threatened many things and I sat back in the chair wishing I had popcorn. I wasn't fazed, not with those I knew before this all. They needed us, and when Mystery and I met up we both acknowledged it.

Since then we haven't been playing ball. They began getting people to work on repairs; I've been on the sidelines yelling at them doing shit wrong. We were missing people, still are now. Trinity went after Tim and I can't believe I helped distract after seeing her blog post. I'm worried as hell but... She's smart, so damn clever, I know I can trust her to get through it.

So... My axe is cracked, I'm fucked up like everyone else, and... Thuggee broke the chunk of wall I was sleeping on. So I got nowhere to sleep, making a bed in the basement where my trunk is. Mr. Sunshine was stalking me around until Lullaby and Doctor Proctor showed up, now he's following poor Proc around. It's cute, Doc is a bit uneasy by it and I can't help but laugh every time I look over and see Mr. Sunshine shuffling behind him at some distance. Good to have him around, makes for good conversation.

I went out and explored the bodies thing after seeing Executor's post. I followed this trench that was covered by a thin sheet of dirt only. It surrounded the mansion but only made a C, still left to be connected. Which meant Prosper wasn't finished with his work. I found out later from Road Runner's post that Prosper visited her (most likely due to his post which sounds a lot like he's going to try eliminating us or start testing our mettle) and she's the reason his mask is cracked. I found the files I was looking over before, they fell down here from my "bed" during the attack. I put them in the trunk; will post up the information regarding them later. Speaking of the orderly... Yea, he's dead. Baked alive. Did I mention yet how much I loathe Thuggee? Not just for attacking my kin but now killing my lead. Why. Do. All. My. Leads. DIE?

Fuckthislife.

Anyways, I'm going to yell at more MASC soldiers, wander the night on my usual routine walks. Everywhere I go a damn soldier is on my ass, I can't tell you how many times I've chewed them out so far. Hehehe, I made one flinch. It was satisfying.

Post later with some stuff. Going to pull a Doctor House and pop some pain pills.

Ignore typos, one bad wrist and a broken arm makes typing a bitch. Don’t ask how long this post took me to do, heh.

Stay safe,

-Shady