Fuck.

I'm such a failure.

So This Happened.

I went back to the mansion on Tuesday to drop off Mr. Sunshine, ended up staying and going over things with Proctor. Ended up passing out there, too. Guess I needed it, heh. Well, I went back to the house, alone as usual, and did some work. Grabbed a glass of water, proceeded to lose muscle control after taking a sip. The glasses shattered on the tile, I collapsed and passed out.

I woke up groggily before the adrenaline punched me in the face. I was strapped to a dining room chair at an oval dinner table. The room I was in was dark, candle lit, and filled with odd... Dare I say, romantic things. I didn't need to guess who the hell this was, "So you decided kidnapping me would be the best course of action?" I sneered, fully irritated by this. I began tugging at the leather straps that kept me secured to the chair. "Don't you know what stay the hell away means?"

The faint smell in the room became stronger, the Advocate appeared from behind. He emerged into the candlelight and set down a plate of spaghetti and French bread. I bit my tongue to keep from snapping. "Don't act like you don't enjoy the attention. Heh, you don't seem to know me well at all if you think I'm one to take threats seriously." I bit harder, watching at he set another plate down and took a seat across from me. "Panties always in a bunch. Tsk, tsk, just try and enjoy yourself." He said, drawing my hunting knife (which was previously on my person) from out of thin air.

I looked at my knife he was using as a utensil before glaring back at his masked face. "You want me to enjoy being kidnapped? Kidnapped by someone working for that monstrous pig!" I scoffed, giving another tug to the straps. "You can't just kidnap people whenever you don't get your way, Advocate. This is absolute bullshit!" I seethed, trying to pull loose. His face was the last I wanted to see and his voice was the last thing I wanted to hear.

"Monstrous pig? Hehe, you give him too much credit." The Advocate poured himself a glass of wine from a bottle that sat on the table. He tilted his mask and took a sip, "Would you like something to drink? No? Hehe, I bet the last thing you drank made you feel a little too loose, eh? Hehe... Fun..." I was about to snap, but the way he said fun was off. It wasn't the usual... Well, Advocate voice. He seemed distracted, maybe even bored by the flat tone. That was the first unsettling feeling I got. Something was off. "I could have done worse, ya know. Hehe, I could have set up a date with one of your friends." He blew out the candle closest to him. I watched at the shadows engulfed his masked face. Unable to be seen he removed the mask and began eating, his chin being the only real visible thing in the dim lighting.


I twitched lightly. "If you haven't noticed my friends are mostly dead." I growled. It was the truth at this point and time. Dia was hiding and unavailable for the most part. I wasn't about to unnecessarily contact her, safer to barely hear from her. Mystery was traveling the world, training, fighting the Executor, hunting down E-Bear. Contacting her is rarer than it is Dia. Proctor just got back and has a lot to handle. Mr. Sunshine is mostly gone. And Joshua? He's just... Joshua. Only here because I'm not willing to risk letting Advocate get him, and he absolutely hates me. "Congrats, you didn't have to do a damn thing, except scare one of them out of their wits." If I could clap I would have. After what he said about removing my connections, etc. looks like he really didn't have to lift much of a finger. I took a deep breath, using every ounce of willpower to calm down. It didn't work much but at least I wasn't on the verge of wanting to verbally snap his neck. "What is the point of this?" I asked, feigning being calm by the way he continued acting.


The Advocate's head bent a moment, I caught his lips curling into a smile but he remained silent. That wasn't a good sign in my experience, and the Advocate being unpredictable made things less pleasant. He continued eating while I watched, remaining quiet and saying nothing.


I frowned further, my subconscious going nope, nope!, I leaned back in the chair to put more distance between us. "You can't treat me like some possession of yours, Advocate. Let me go." I evenly said, removing the anger to try and work another angle.


"Can't do this, can't do that." He fiddled with my knife as he said it, tracing circles on the table. "Ha."

I sighed, still trying to wriggle my hands loose. "Let me rephrase, you obviously can, but it doesn't make it ok." IT'S FAR FROM O-FUCKING-K! my mind screamed. This was pointless. Waste of time. I had Lullaby and Lenore to find, not sit here kidnapped by someone working for a third enemy. I swallowed my anger again, because Advocate's behavior was something different and I wasn't about to test it while I was secured to a chair. "What do you want, what are you trying to achieve here?" I asked with a bow of my head.


"Hehe, it's called a date, Shady. Never been on one before, eh?" He chuckled and then stabbed my hunting knife into the table abruptly. I flinched at the motion but it was the silence that followed after that made my insides uneasy. I caught the smile for a second time before he put his mask back on, once more concealing his identity. I didn't answer him, the back of my head hit the chair as an annoyed sigh followed. I frowned as I watched him, as he watched me for what felt like forever. A silent predator lurking behind a mask in dim lighting, staring at you being strapped to a chair, it's not a good feeling. He didn't make a sound or move a muscle for a few minutes. Then suddenly, he stood up and checked his watch. "I hope you enjoy the meal." I rolled my eyes as he reached under the table in front of where he was sitting. The sound of duct tape ripping could be heard, when he removed his hand my pistol was in it. The safety clicked off the gun he no doubt confiscated from my unconscious body before. Chuckling, he sighed. "Packing heat, eh?" He clicked the safety on and slid the gun into his satchel. I didn't protest, especially when he approached the chair and bent over, pressing a kiss to my cheek. During which he managed to pull out a syringe and had stuck it into my arm, drawing blood for whatever reason yet again. Pulling away he patted me on the head, I jerked away from his hand and listened as his footsteps grew quieter as he entered the darkness. The only other sound being a door clicking shut as he left.

I glanced at my arm, the injection mark bleeding slightly. A minor annoyance compared to the bigger picture: I was strapped in the dark, in an unknown location, now left alone (for he was no doubt not returning, that much I knew). Long story short: Dislocating your thumb really does help when you're trying to free yourself from bound wrists. Hurts like hell, though, especially since I had to twist my hand and try it a few times. And those few times hurt too. But what's a little pain, am I right? Ughs...

I wasn't about to start calling for help. I couldn't see at the time I was in an apartment room, it was too dark for that. I didn't know who was in listening range and what kind of people they were. Hell, it could have been someone worse than the Advocate. So I was just trying to quietly and slowly get out. Almost tipped the chair a few times, and one free hand with a dislocated thumb (that you can't fix without another hand) is a pain in the ass when secured to a chair. I used whatever was in reach to cut loose my other hand when prying it proved impossible. And I wasn't dislocating both thumbs. That... Took forever, using a plain old dinner knife to saw through leather. You guys, you wouldn't believe the various levels of rage there are until you do this. My patience was gone the first hour, it took many more to cut loose. Many. Hours.

Writing it alone pisses me off and I just--

Ok. So I ragequit writing and took a break. -_-
I'm good now.

I managed to get my cellphone out and called Joshua.

"Where have you been?"

"Track the call cause I sure as fuck have no idea."

And that sums up our conversation. Apparently I've been gone a little over two days. Cool, awesome, yea. Super dee duper. I'm going to break-

I stopped writing again.
I'm seriously good now.

So Joshua came up the back of the apartment complex and managed to find me, via calling my name until I heard him and called back. Effective enough. He broke into the room and helped me out the rest of the way, checked my thumb out, snapped it back into place. Glorious. I snatched my knife and we left the place, walked down the front (main staircase) of the apartment complex and that's when the real fun happened, guys. Hit the last stair, don't know how, or why, but there was an explosion from the room I was just in. Joshua grabbed me and ran until a piece of plaster hit him in the back. The explosion wasn't just linked to the room Advocate put me in, it went further. It continued through the building, apartment after apartment, just gone. Every room torched and crushed, every person caught in it just... Damn. I protectively covered Joshua's head, likewise he did the same to me where we were in the parking lot. The building collapsed in on itself, the screaming of the poor folks that didn't die quickly could be heard.


"We have to go." I said, grabbing his arm and helping him off the ground.


"We have to call 911." Joshua shouted, "And get in there to-"


I squeezed his arm and yanked him forward, "We. Have. To. Go." The panic on his face was pure, he looked back at the building and I tugged on his arm. I needed his focus. "We can't be tied into this. We. Don't. Exist."


"W-what are you talking about? You're insane, all those people-we have to help whoever is in there!" He shouted back at me, I could feel him shaking under my grip. He was scared as fuck, that would be a suicide mission and help no one in his condition.


It made me sick. "Joshua, we'll make an anonymous call on the road. But we have to go. Give me the keys!"


His hand moved to his pocket a moment before hesitating. "No, you're a monster! I won't drive away when there are people being crushed and burnt to death in there!"


I pulled close and dug my hand into his pocket swiftly, snatching the keys out. "Yea, yea, yea, I'm a fucking monster. Get in the car before I show you what that means, Joshua." I unlocked the vehicle and heard where it was, with a squeeze I nudged him into the direction. Sirens already in the distance. "People are coming, professionals."


"I am about to become a paramedic, @#%$%&, and you just want me to leave people dying in there?!"


"Yes." I shoved him hard towards the car. "You want to get a job someday again? Get your ass in the car, we've spent enough time arguing."


He fought me the entire way to the car, I opened the door and forced him in. "You're not human." Joshua snarled just before I shut the door.


"Maybe." Was my only retort before I got in and drove away.


It sucks, but if he wants any chance of rejoining society someday and getting a job being a paramedic he can't be linked. I won't let his future be ruined.


We got back to the mansion and he went to his room, furious. After a silent car ride, ha. More silence. As if he couldn't hate me more, right? Ha. Whatever.
Joshua watched intently for updates and news on what happened, I didn't want any part of it. I didn't want to hear the number of survivors, if there were any, etc. Nope. Not right now.


His behavior told me enough, it wasn't good. He bit my head off a few hours later, Josie tried to calm him down. Brood wasn't happy about it, but being Brood was more focused on us not being caught. We don't exist to society right now, we're invisible. LeCroix calls us criminals, heh. We are just... Stuck in this odd limbo of existing but not being apart of world. In the underworld of it all, dealing with all the monsters.


Joshua blames me for it. He blames the Advocate just as much, but he can't scream, shake, and glare at him so it's just me. I've been taking his rage and fear-filled comments since we got home. Talking to Proctor about what happened helped as he checked my hand over, making sure it was a-ok. Despite my negative changes he's still good to me. I thanked him for being patient. I'm still thanking him.



.
.
.
After a few more hours Joshua opened the hatch door to where I was in the basement, a stern look was on his face as he said, "I found Lullaby."

I dashed up the ladder, practically shoving Joshua out of the way. Proctor is back, he needed to know this. He is her father more than Thuggee will ever be. He became irritated by the whole situation the moment I mentioned it. I had to pursue him for a minute or so until he stopped just outside his room. Abruptly he turned to me, locking our eyes, "Don't hurt her, bring her back." Proctor said in a tone that left little room to argue. I nodded and he entered his room, closing himself off to the world.


I grabbed my backpack, grabbed some things and slung it over my back. "Get me the earliest flight. I'm out of here."

"What are you going to do?" Brood asked as I approached him.

"Bring her home."

I'll be replying via cellphone from here on out. Be back in a few days.

Stay safe,
-Shady

Auntie is coming, little dove.

Another Visitor.

There was a knock on my door; it woke me up from where I fell asleep at the table. Getting up I walked to the back door and glared out the window where a female stood. A familiar female, might I add. It was the officer from Dia's old town. The young woman with bright amber eyes, an inch or two above average height, built for agility, flexibility, and combat by the looks of it. She was trained to enforce damage, that much was clear. A hand was propped on the curve of her hip, gripping it with some impatience and I could see the definition of her muscles clearly. What sort of challenge was I being presented with today?

I unlocked the door and opened it a bit. "Yes?"

Her expression remained stern, the auburn hair framing both sides of her face. The majority of it was pulled back into a ponytail, no doubt if it was down it would reach near her waist. "You're The Shady Lady and you were at the scene where Gallows and Graves murdered my uncle, as well as torched an entire town."

I leaned against the door frame and looked at her dully, "How sure are you that I am who you say I am?"

"Bitch, please." She held up a hand, speaking in light tone as she did so. It wasn't in that sarcastic tone that usually came with the phrase. It was said... Smartly? I guess is the best way to say it. As if some sheltered genius was trying out such lines for the first time. I find it amusing now how true of an example that is, fits her completely. "Don't insult my IQ. I remember your face and every visible birthmark. You also dyed your hair more since the last time." She looked me over. "Your shoes have a few more holes since then too. You only had the four before, there's seven total now. Been having some trouble?"

I scowled at her. "Oh, you're one of those." She looked insulted a moment, I smirked. "What do you want?"

"To come inside would be a nice start."

"I don't let strangers into my house." I went on, taunting her lightly.

She looked frustrated after that. "You know who I am through Blogger."

"Stranger danger! Stranger danger!" I continued, determined to have fun with this one.

"My name is LeCroix." She shot out her hand in greeting.

I opened the door and walked away from her gesture. "Ok." I went back to the dining room and grabbed all the papers and files, throwing them onto my bed briefly. I came back to find frustration still plastered on her face. "You shut the door?"

"Yes." LeCroix answered tersely. I sat down and motioned her to sit across from me. She did so and stared for a few minutes before lifting a finger and to tap her cheek. "You have ink imprinted on your skin."

"I was reading before."

"With your face?" She raised an eyebrow but her expression remained innocently curious.

"No, dumbass. I fell asleep before you so rudely interrupted." I rolled my eyes and licked my thumb, rubbing it against my skin to get off the smudges.

LeCroix folded her hands neatly on the table, sitting straight as a smile came across her face. "Maybe you shouldn't fall asleep on your work." I felt my hand twitch. "You do that when you feel the need to stab something, Shady."

My eyes slid to lock with her own, "Oh?"

"The twitch. I saw the muscles in your upper arm move similar to how someone’s hand twitches. If you want to stab me you can go ahead and try." LeCroix leaned forward an inch, a feral grin replacing the smile. "I already know I'm stronger than you." I leaned back in the chair and just looked at her. "Smarter too. You're losing your edge even if your skills have sharpened, but skills and mental stability are two different knives, Shady. I should kill you before you become a problem." I encouraged her to continue. "I'm really hoping you pull through it. I'd gain a lot of unnecessary enemies if I did it, which is why I'm holding off. You have a lot of information that would die with you, too."

I smirked somewhat amused by her words. "Like where Gallows and Graves are?"

"Yes."

"I have no fucking clue. You wasted time coming here, really." I chuckled. Her face immediately contorted into irritation, hand slamming against the table. "You think I'm lying? I'm not. The deal I struck with Graves ended when they both attacked your hometown. I have barely corresponded with either of them since then, and what has been exchanged is useless to you."

"That Mister Creevey sent you a message, your blog said as much."

I sighed at her, "Because of Josie. They are all tied together for whatever reason. And no, you can't talk to the girl."

"Why?"

I grinned, "Cause you'll break her and she's very fragile." LeCroix was not amused by any means. "Seriously, I have no idea where they are. East Coast, somewhere. How did you lose them?"

LeCroix lifted her hair to show the bruised side of her head. "Graves managed to get me." I winced. "It wasn't pleasant and I was unconscious for hours. " She brushed her hair back down neatly. "There is no chance of getting you to let me talk to her, is there?"


"I would have heard about it if she was being messaged by them. She would have gone crying to Joshua if not me, and he would have informed me."


"You sure your friend tells you everything?"


"Are you playing dirty with me, LeCroix? Trying to get me to doubt Joshua so you can ask your questions?" I asked, tapping my finger patiently against the table.


Her smile returned. "I'm trying but you're not making it easy."


"Gallows and Graves haven't passed this way. I'm guessing for a very obvious reason." I said the last part slowly, throwing her a knowing look. "They aren't idiots; you should really stop treating them as such." LeCroix returned to looking stern. "Believe me on that one, you won't catch them so easily. You're going to need to find a useful source of information to keep up. They don't have a route, completely lost in this world. Find a tracker or source of information that knows about the duo."


LeCroix leaned back, her fingers curling around her chin thoughtfully. "What about Thy Executor? You have some history with him. Would he be willing?"


I clicked my tongue, "That... Is very dangerous. He no doubt has information and can track them; no doubt he's one of your best bets on tracking them. But the consequences that come with that are many and severe. He's a businessman, strike a deal if you can, and if you do be careful not to leave loopholes. He will exploit everyone."


"Do you know where he is? I haven't seen him post anything lately."


I remained still, my insides shifted uncomfortably for various reasons. "He's everywhere." She tried to ask further but I wouldn't give her an answer. "Email him, he'll answer. He only uses those sites when he needs to. Stir up some fear, create some whispers, get people thinking on something he wants them to think about. If everyone links up to the same thought he can navigate what answers he wants faster." LeCroix looked skeptical a moment, but the surprise by that was evidently stronger. "You don't understand what he is. What he can do."


"You almost sound after of him, Shady." LeCroix said, the surprise on her face turned into curiosity. "I read about the things he has done to you but you've always fought through them."


I felt my hand twitch again, by the quick glance it was obvious she noticed. "He's done more. He has done worse than anything I've written about. It would be smart to try and avoid his gaze while you can. He willingly struck a deal with Gallows and Graves to keep them in line in the city, knowing they couldn't leave on their own. Not like others can. It was to prevent them from finding a way out, too. They are technically his employees still and he's the one throwing proxies their way, trying to eliminate them now that they have left the city." I leaned on the table with a sigh. "He doesn't do things without reason. Every move, every word, it's precise and calculated. To throw you off, to reel you in, every little thing is him influencing you to act. It's a little nudge; he's both the angel and devil on our shoulders. He talks when he has something to say, when we have a part to play. I'm going to tell you very, very bluntly yet again: You would be better off with him not noticing you for as long as possible."


We were both leaning forward on the table, looking directly at one another. I could see her eyes working, absorbing every movement I made while her hidden ears absorbed every detail. "How do you know all of this? You haven't mentioned much about Thy Executor in a while on your blog."


"I don't sleep much for a reason, and when I do it's never for long. My body can't relax itself to return to a full sleep state from the frequent visits. I don't post about it to keep from clogging up things. I have them all written down in a document, though. Maybe sometime I'll upload it, we'll see." I paused. "I know plenty. I can see Executor and he doesn't like it. He leeches off of me, or tries to, and I do it right back. I don't know how. It's not something someone can just up and do to him. He puts nearly everything into trying to break into the vault. We see each other during those times." I rubbed the bridge of my nose, the drowsiness from the short nap still present. "I've survived eight encounters with The Executor, in person. It's usually the periods of time where I don't post or answer much that he's caught me off guard."


"How do you get away from him?"


I shifted, sitting on my knees on the chair and leaned forward under the light more. My arms held out so she could see some faint scars on my upper arms mostly. "I wake myself up. It doesn't always work. Sometimes I have to do it a few times. He comments about how I'm going to bleed out when it doesn't work the first few times. I won't give him what he wants, he can't access my vault so easily, and he knows I'd die before handing over what I know. Sometimes I have to bring it to my breaking point... To the point where he has to release me so I don't off myself." I pulled my arms back and resumed leaning against the table. "I've woken up from our dreams together to find him standing before me in the woods. I run to get back to the mansion and he invades my head again, I can feel my body collapse once more when he recaptures my mind. It's a constant fight to get my body to move, drag itself, to stab itself. Controlling your body while constantly evading or assaulting an enemy in your head isn't easy. Mystery, when she was around, would have to drag me into the bathroom and help with the wounds."


"The damage you must have done to your body is no doubt extensive. All of that muscle and tissue tearing, the ligaments too." LeCroix said as her eyes traveled across my folded arms.


"It has taken its toll, yes. It's mainly the reason I have such trouble in combat at times. Technique is one thing but the damage has been done. It's like people with arthritis that have trouble grasping things. It's all in my arms, parts of my legs, hindering my combat. That's why I'm usually putting myself on defense and take the hit or block it, aim for placing my opponents in submission, or kill them quickly when I have to. My attacks aren't at one-hundred percent anymore because of my body's condition." I lifted a finger and tapped the side of my head. "It's why I rely on tactics to save my life over blind actions. I've got the endurance and the pain tolerance on my side."


LeCroix chuckled at the last part. "I've noticed that. Do you like pain or does it just not bother you?"


"Little things don't bother me. Hit my funny bone, cut myself open, depending on stab locations too. Bullet wounds, not as bad as expected, course the type of bullet matters more. Haven't been shot enough to say much there. Being impaled on a pipe sucked, that was the worst thing. That was worse than Thuggee breaking all those bones." I chuckled.


Her faced hardened a moment, "Should I ask the Advocate you think?"


"And owe him something? He'd make you work a lot to get any information, even the smallest detail. If not at first then later." I tapped my finger against the table, she looked down watching. Probably noticing the irritation. "There are better sources out there, trust me on that one. It's not worth the hell you'll be dragged through for a scrap of information you could probably just read about on the blog site."


LeCroix pulled out a small notepad and jotted down some things, "Alright. What about the young woman named Dia? She's close to you and Gallows, from what I hear they had an affair." I stared at her evenly. "I need to know where she is as she seems closest to Gallows and Graves than any other."


I sat back with a firm frown, "I'm sorry but I can't release any information about her current whereabouts."


An eyebrow rose, "This is very important. I'm hunting down two mass murderers."


"And I understand that, I really do. But some things take priority, and this is one of those things. I'm sorry, LeCroix."


Her brows furrowed in frustration as she let out a sigh, "I really don't want this to turn into an interrogation, Shady." She said, her amber eyes boring into mine. Her hand reached into her leather air force jacket and pulled out a gun, one she laid out on the table beside her. Casually she returned her hands to being neatly folded, only slightly tenser. "I'm trying not to stray far from the law unless it's necessary, but this information is vital. I need it one way or another, please tell me what you know."


"Again, I understand that, but some things take priority." Her jaw clenched by a fraction. "If you want to try and turn this into an interrogation, go ahead and try. You won't win." I tapped my foot loudly three times; a chair from the dining room table shoved out and Mr. Sunshine emerged. His face was contorted into a sneer as he growled loudly. He took up standing beside my chair, ready for my say so. I leaned forward a briefly to say, "I know he's stronger than you, faster, and a hell of a lot more clever too."


LeCroix stared hard a moment before she relaxed, she grabbed the gun and placed it back into her jacket before lifting her hands in defeat. "You got me, alright. I'll play fair, but she will slip up, Shady, and when she does I'll track her down." I placed my hand in Mr. Sunshine's, easing him slightly with a small squeeze. "What can you tell me about Dia?"


I smirked at her question, "Define Dia? I might be unstable but I'm not insane, deary. Defining Dia would take hours. She's quite the complex woman."


"Like yourself. You two get along based on your similarities."


"And our differences." I said with a raised finger, tsking her slightly when I pointed it at her. "She's a smart woman, and clever too. Knows what buttons to press most of the time, that, and sometimes her curiosity, can get her into trouble though. She means well with all the things she does. Helping people has always been her priority. It's what Mystery and I saw first in her. The attitude was a bonus." I grinned; amused by the thoughts that were coming forth on how Dia and I first met. "She values honesty, and to her it's expressed through actions more than words. Does what she can to comprehend everything. I think that's what Gallows enjoys, besides her attitude. She accepts him as is, even if he is a dick. Sure, Dia is a bit fearful when he starts swinging away with his blades, but that's still him being openly honest about who he is. She doesn't shy away from it." I paused, resting my head back against the chair. "She's not... Prey. She just is, to him at least."

LeCroix stared at me like I was crazy; I gave her a lazy shrug. "Ok. What is Graves to him?"

"His everything, probably." I scoffed. "She's his guardian, his gravedigger, his tool. A doll. They are more in sync than he is with his scythe. I think you've seen by now, she's a tank. A fast tank. The moment you threaten Gallows it's over, LeCroix. Graves can crush your skull beneath her shovel, boot, or between her hands. She's a fearless, emotionless proxy. Intelligent, acknowledges emotions but does not have any equipped to her persona. Have you seen her stare?"

"If looks could kill, stare?"

I nodded. "That's just how it is. All. The. Time. Silent, staring, you don't hear her breathing. She holds up deals when she finds it necessary to compromise. Saved my life from Ferus with one I made with her." I pretended to wipe sweat from my forehead with a chuckle. "Graves labels Dia a distraction, rather keep Gallows away or else he will get too caught up to look out for danger. And they've got plenty of it. But his attention is on her, they've had their private time together. So she does make a good candidate to talk to. I suggest leaving her a message." I said, glaring sternly at the last part.


"You can't read people through emails as you can in person, Shady." She frowned. "Dia is my top priority to speak to. What about Ferus, he has had some contact."


I opened my mouth then promptly shut it a moment later. "Well... That can go good or bad. Good luck!" I gave her a double thumbs up.


LeCroix frowned further, "What about Mister Creevey?"


"Don't." I leaned on the table again. "Seriously, don't. If Graves backs off from danger you don't want to go tangoing with it. Even I know that guy is bad shit and I haven't met him... Yet. Not looking forward to it if I do."


"What is he?"


"Complicated."


Her brows furrowed again. "The people you're giving the ok to approach aren't present, while all the rest you suggest to stay away from. You call that complicated?"


"It's an understatement." I grinned. "It's your choice what to do, I'm just telling you it's going to be a pain in your tight ass. Just keep reading the damn blogs, they'll tell you plenty." Her face scrunched up at my comment and I laughed. "LeCroix, you've entered a world unlike any other. I'm sorry about your uncle but your path for revenge is going to lead you through hell and test your limits."


The corners of her lips quirked up into a slight smile, "You're trying to kill a woman named Lenore for setting a stage that got your brethren, Billy, killed. We both want revenge for something, looking at you I know what to expect and how to avoid becoming insane because of it."


"Lovely." I replied, "I can't wait to see how that works out for you." LeCroix frowned again before getting up, she tossed a piece of paper on the table. I snatched it and read what it contained, a phone number. "You always carry pieces of paper with your number on them?"


"I knew I was coming here today. In case you kicked me out I wanted it ready." She commented offhandedly.

I walked her to the door, we exchanged goodbyes.






LeCroix is not someone I hope to see again soon. No offense, deary. I remember when Mystery spoke to me about E-Bear and Executor. LeCroix, and the level of intensity she gives off as a hunter is double that. She's sheltered, I can tell as much, despite being an officer previously. That brief form of innocence still shows. But it's rare. I gave her tips, warnings, gave her the option to contact me in return. I’m not going to turn away people who want help, but I’m cutting it off at certain things.


On the upside, Josie nearly cried with joy that I defended her from that "Scary lady". Seems to be a bit less... Timid around me again. Wonder how long that will last till she's back to sobbing every time I look at her. Sigh.


I've got some things to do, that's what happened yesterday.
And Mr. Sunshine says hi... I think? Or maybe he's just hungry. Ughs.

Stay safe,
-Shady

Forty-Fifth Post.

Doctor Proctor is back. Hijacked the body of the empty proxy that attempted to assault me. It can be read there, and what else is to come from the information he has gathered. It's a lot to take in, but reading his notes and listening to him speak assists greatly. He insists he rambles, it's quite amusing, I consider it the opposite. It's details, that's exactly what I need from him. It's all information and the more the merrier. More on this will be written when I have studied everything and memorized it wholly.

The bag of dicks known as Thuggee is probably going to be PMSing about this, toss him a tampon people. And the Advocate, I had suspicions, idle thoughts on the possibility. But the confirmation is enough to make me punch the nearest wall, which I did the moment Proctor went to bed. Fuck you, Advocate. If you ever come back here... On second thought, don't. Don't ever come here if you know what's good for you.

Lullaby hasn't contacted me again. MASC agents said they left pretty quickly, which confirms the end of Lullaby's post. What's wrong, dove? I thought you weren't all that concerned? Then again, your feelings towards me hunting you down and dragging you back means nothing to me. Little girl, you don't know a thing about responsibility and just what it does to people. You may age rapidly but it hasn't made an impact on your intellect and common sense. But in any case, Auntie loves you all the same, child. Be seeing you.


Joshua and I are fighting again, which relates to the previous post. Brood has intervened on our conflicts. My eye is a bit bruised after I said something inappropriate but factual. Joshua was displeased by it, he gave me a black eye and I gave him a bloody lip. The moment things get better between us they get worse a moment later.

Commentary that led to this outcome:

"What are you going to do? Just hunt her down and murder her like she did Billy? What about all those morals you insisted on before?"

"When I had no memory?"

"It was better when you had nothing! You weren't so bloodthirsty."

"I'm doing something about what has happened to our friend, our brother. And you sit on your ass, bitterly, or are off fucking Josie behind closed doors. The only useful thing you have done is with our technology. Otherwise you've done nothing to contribute to avenging him."

"This isn't about avenging him to you, #@%$^%&, it's revenge. You'll turn into a monster, you're already one as it is. Imagine what will happen if you continue."

"At least I'm fucking honest with myself, you condescending prick. You just lie to yourself about what is right in front of you. You sure it's just Road Runner suffocating on her own illusions? Or are you just mad you didn't do something before, and sulk now because of it? Maybe if you contributed... Maybe it would have done something. But no, I'm still here and he's dead. Stand the fuck back up, you bitch, and do something if you really want to."

And that was when he punched me, and I returned it in full. Brood intervened, naturally grabbing Joshua and pulling him away to another room while soldiers held me. Once they were out of sight I was released, looked directly at Josie who immediately looked away. Upon glancing back at me I motioned for her to follow with my finger.

I left into the woods, she followed as planned. The moment we were out of the wards, behind some trees, I rounded on her. Her shirt was in my hands, her back against a tree, and our noses inches apart. My anger at all the behind the scenes bullshit I have yet to list, as has she, finally at its limit.

"I don't know what you are doing, or want from my brother, but if you do a single thing to add to his suffering I will smite you worse than Thuggee could ever do. I'll gladly burn everything you love, crush every dream, and break every bone in your frail little body if you cross him. Fuck me over all you like, but if you endanger him I'll bring your world to ruins."

She was terrified, the labored breathing, her tight grip on my hands, the pupils. Her survival mode activated, beyond that there was nothing. I know her, I see right through the kindness and innocence. No one believes me, with good reason perhaps, but I see it plain as day. I waited for an answer as she stared at me, by a fraction she calmed down. Her hues looking into mine as her face calmed a bit, "But you already make him suffer so much. I can't help it if pain comes between me and him, that stuff just happens if stuff doesn't work out. You can help it but you don't."

I could feel myself twitch. "This isn't about Joshua and I. This is about you and him and what I will do to you if you cross him. Get it straight, Josie. I don't give a flying fuck about whatever is going on between you two, or the petty feelings that tie into it. If it works it works, if it doesn't that's just as dandy." I pressed her harder into the tree. "But that's not what I'm referring to and you know that. Mister Creevey sent me a message, you know. And I'm just positive you're about ready to flee, given the circumstances. I can only imagine the amount of emails you have from that creature. And I damn well know how it will affect Joshua if you up and disappeared, abandoned this place without a single word."

"What... What did he say to you?"

"Your suffering will know no bounds for this transgression." I let that sink in a moment before continuing, "He means to punish me because I didn't kick you to the curb from his announcement. Because I'm giving you a home, teaching you to fight back, and keeping you here mostly for protection."

Josie returned to being terrified. "He's really coming here. You have to help me! I'll run, just let me go. He's coming here-"

My hand  covered her mouth as she began to grow frantic. "Good. We'll kill him when he does." Her eyes leaked tears when she realized she was bait. "And I will help you, Josie. Stop being a coward and start showing something of worth. We're going to kill your greatest fear."

"What if we don't kill him?" She asked when I removed my hand.

I stepped back from her, "Then we'll wound him. We'll track him down as we are Lullaby and Road Runner. A wounded animal doesn't get to far, and honey, we're going to hit him with a semi-truck."


"You can't... You haven't seen what he can do!" She wailed.


I shrugged and let her go completely. "I'm sure I'm going to find out."


"He's going to kill us."


"Some of us, probably." I began heading back towards the mansion, she directly at my side, shaking like a leaf.


"He's going to kill you." Josie insisted.


I flashed her a grin, "He's going to try."


----

I'm just making best friends everywhere, aren't I? Ha. Oh if only that mattered at this point. Joshua will be storming my room the moment he reads this. Be it today, tomorrow, whenever. But all the fucks I give. This blog is a recording on what happens in my life, so here it is. A recording on what is happening.


As our enemies are being tracked so am I doing the tracking of another kind. The next location to visit. Mystery left some interesting suggestions, I'm not saying where I'm looking to go next but a place is in mind. And, after-all, there is still the bigger job to do aside from dealing with petty murderous proxies. Oh yes, that's right, petty. Can you hear it? The sound of your own brain ticking at the rising anger from the truth of your own worth? Oh, I can and it's fucking beautiful.

Stay safe,
-Sir Gives A Fuck, Shady

Forthy-Forth Post.

Josie and Joshua are growing comfy with one another. I won't let him bring her here. Nothing against either of them, the less people know about this exact property the better. For now. Less stress when it comes to dealing with the neighbors as well, thosedouchebags. Joshua hasn't been here much with dumb and dumber yet, I think it's because of me. No, no, I'm sure. I visit the mansion a few miles away every early morning to visit DeMii's grave along with the others. I return here to continue making necessary changes.


Family friends continue to pester. It's irritating. I answer to give them brief responses before hanging up. Some have stopped by to visit without previous warnings, I have to pretend the knife in my hand is because I'm getting ready to prepare lunch.


I've been in this small, silent house for a while now. Joshua comes to visit, he's already moved on to clinging to that girl mostly. He's taken my place in teaching her some things, less for me to be concerned about currently. Least until we switch places on living arrangements. Least something is keeping him busy, heh. My brother gets bitchy without anything to do.

Lullaby decided to contact me, which can be read here. I was sitting at my desk at the time, doing my research on tracking Road Runner's attacks. The child called and I answered, it was a foolish mistake on her behalf. Joshua had already set up tracking systems to our phones and gave me the run down on how to flip the switch in order to do so. I sent his phone an email the moment I heard her voice, everything fell into place there. I meant everything I said to her, folks. Her stabs were useless, my mind already worked through them after I put myself through it. Children, though, what can you do? Brood and I came together and decided to send out a pair of MASC soldiers to the location we tracked. I'll be giving chase shortly, after some things.




The main event of this post, though, is that I was attacked yet again today. More of Road Runner's manipulated proxies. She won't quit, at this point she's using any pawns she has left to assault me while being assaulted and hunted by Prosper. Triangle, much?


After having finally fallen asleep I was awoken by this said proxy, who had his hand wrapped around my neck and was strangling me. A knee was on the bed, his other foot planted on the floor as he hovered over me with an unseen face. Without being held down fully I pulled my legs up to my chest and kicked out as his, dislodging him from me. I went to pull myself back to grab my knife but he caught himself and grabbed my ankle, dragging me out of bed. I twisted around in his hold, his other hand burrowed into my hair and latched on. Ankle dropped, I found myself reeled backwards and thrown out of my room (door opened by him) across the small hallway and into the closed door across the way. I pulled myself up as he landed in front of me, fist coming my way. I slid back down the door as his fist broke through the old thing, sliding through his legs and getting up behind him. Bolting through the hallway and into the kitchen I dialed Joshua's number before dropping the phone into the dry sink, still ringing. The proxy came running, grabbed a knife off the counter and threw it at me. It burrowed into my shoulder, earning a sharp gasp.


Approaching the table that separated us he didn't take a moment to pause or go around it, bending down he hooked his hands underneath and flipped it aside. I attacked before he could straighten back up, his head turning to one side as I landed a punch. He grabbed my wrist after the hit, before I could pull it back, and lifted me off the floor a few inches. It felt as if he actually drove me through the tile floor when I landed, my head hitting the welcome mat. Probably the only thing keeping me from a cracked skull. I groaned, my eyes focusing back up on him, and as weird as it sounds I could have sworn I saw cat eyes staring from beneath the chair I was lying next to.


The proxy grabbed the front of my shirt and yanked me up, ripping the lodged knife out as well, I grabbed hold of his tattered sweatshirt and shoulders for leverage, lifting higher and drove my knee beneath his chin. I landed a moment later next to the sink, a few feet away from where we were. Pulling myself up I leaned over the sink as he arrived behind me and grabbed the back of my neck, as I was turned around (the gleam of the knife from the corner of my eye being seen) I dragged out the frying pan from the sink. The sound of unwashed utensils falling against the sink reached my ears just before the sound of the pan hitting the side of his head did. It knocked him down onto a knee, I bolted.


I ran up the stairs and hid around the half wall, listening as he made his way up after me moments later. A simple trip on the final step was all it took by the end of it, my legs wrapping around his one and twisted, throwing him off balance, he fell backwards and landed in a heap at the bottom of the stairs. He hit the small, but sturdy bookshelf which collapsed on top of him (as well as all its contents).

Joshua arrived sometime afterwards, he assisted helping me drag the body downstairs and past there, off the side room I was working on. The look on his was priceless.

"What... What are you building here?"

I directed him over to a corner table and we put the corpse there for now. "If there are plans to rehabilitate proxies we need somewhere to do it. And if we have a need to interrogate others..." I shrugged lightly, my thumb jabbing into the dead proxy's direction. "Good storage place too when we need it."

Joshua looked at me disapprovingly, I simply held the stare until he broke it. "What about the wards? Aren't they supposed to be protecting the property?"

"If I put them back up yet they would be." I smirked, "She'll run out of proxies soon, and when she does she'll be pissed off and tired of the job not getting done. She'll have to visit sometime herself."

"You're trying to make her come here?!" Joshua practically yelled as I shut the door to where we put the proxy. "Are you fucking crazy?" I measured with my fingers 'a little bit' in response, he was not amused in the least. His hands grabbed my shoulders and slammed me back against the door. "Don't you remember what happened when she showed up last time?"


"You won't be here for it."


He loosened his hold, "That doesn't make it any better, you can't do this to yourself. She'll kill you-"


"SHE'S WEAK!" I yelled in response, smacking away his hold on me. "Pathetic little insane bitch who can't comprehend something won't go her way. If she's so intent on making it pan out for her benefit then I have no qualms with letting her pretend such. The end result will be me tearing down whatever control she believes she's ever had. Don't interfere."


Joshua scowled, "You should let Brood and his men sniper her when and if she arrives. It would be easier than you breaking her."


"She's already broken. I just want to crush what's left." I shoved past him back upstairs.

He followed. "You're going to suffocate her on her own illusion, that's cruel, @#%$^%&."

"Good!" I bit back at him, "It will be my hands around her neck wringing the life out of her, and she'll know it when it's game over."


After cleaning up, fighting with Joshua over this 'current state of being', and kicking up shit from the past, which resulted in a violent outbreak between us in the living room, we went separate ways. Stress partially relieved by our physical fighting, corpse in the basement to deal with later, him gone and the house once again empty.


I went out to the woods to dig a spot for the body, upon returning I was greeted with a surprise. The once dead proxy was standing in my kitchen, leaning on the counter in his tattered clothes. A hand was on his head, breathing heavy. Immediately I pulled out my hunting knife, caught by surprise by the reappearance of this once dead fellow. He jumped back, the 5'9, athletic built male looking genuinely surprised. The hood was off allowing the short, wavy brunette hair to show. His wide almond shaped eyes fearful, the blue and yellow tint to them showing clearly in the light.


Emotions, it made me pause and consider him. Looking at the pushed up sleeves I could see his arms were scarred, mainly around the wrist area. Abuse or suicidal? I held the knife firmer in my grasp, taking a few advancing steps to gauge a reaction.


"Shady, it's Casey! It's Proctor!" The voice called in a desperate plea of understanding.

I stopped in my tracks, "The fuck?"

Forthy-Third Post.

I asked for a week without contact, and what happens? I get proxies showing up on my doorstep. I've come to realize some fuck tampered with the wards while I was burrowing beneath the sheets. It was a relatively quiet week of me, you know, laying about in bed with some boozes and NyQuil, the house on lock down.

First during the early week I got a visit from a single proxy. Sent by who? Manipulated by who? Road Runner. As were the rest. What did I say? What did I warn before? Come on my property and I'd gut you. He didn't have time to even pull out his knife, I already had mine digging into his chest. Words weren't needed, I knew what he was. I looked him in the eyes and saw there was emptiness, not the sort a killer has where they are emotionless and apathetic. This was different, far more hollow than what Graves was. A puppet, a shell, fucking zombie.

I grabbed the collar of his sweatshirt and dragged him through the front door, dropping him to the floor before slamming shut the door and locking it once more. His body twitched a while, I dragged him into the basement and left the corpse there to attend to cleaning what smears he left. It's a tedious process, but once finished I went down and tended to the body. I threw it in the freezer we have because fuck him, I was not leaving the house till the week was over.

Over the weekend was when I got a phone call from Mr. Unpredictable.

I was in the middle of packing objects up into boxes, getting ready to clear out unnecessary materials from my kin to put into storage. This house was to become something more useful than just a reminder of a false life. Since it was Saturday and the week had finally come to pass I turned my phones back on. It rang that evening, despite my obvious dislike. I answered it, waiting a moment to listen. No greeting, so I cleared my throat enough to mutter, "Yea? Hello?"

"Hello m'Lady. I hear your plan panned out. Hehe, how'd my recipe work?" I noticed it was Advocate with ease, but his sane tone was something that surprised me. If I wasn't so used to his voice it would have thrown me off. I instantly wondered what game he was playing at this time, but then lacked caring much.


With a soft grunt I responded, "It panned out." and placed him on speaker phone as I packed things into boxes. "You sound different." I commented, it was a random subject change for obvious reasons. "Why?"


"I've been busy. I'm a changed man." He said with mock sincerity. "We all have faces we put on." I could hear just then as a bus drove by, dully I quirked a brow at the background noise. "You sound different too. How are you, beautiful?"


I ripped the duct tape, sealing a box closed. I didn't care to answer his question, it was obvious enough no doubt. I wasn't caring to hide the emotional toll that I was collecting in the aftermath. "Where are you?" I asked instead, kicking the box across the wood floor to the other side with the others.


"Oh I see. My baby is feeling weighty." I heard him sigh. "I guess this is a good experience. You'll need to have some practice with ignoring basic emotions if you're going to help me in my line of work." He chuckled. "Wish I could be with you right now. But this business trip isn't something I can cut short. As for where I am, I'm at a payphone. Somewhere in Ohio. Heh. Fun, fun, fun."


"I'm not helping you." I scowled, stopping myself ahead of time from continuing. I was trying to be civil, despite the various negativity I was feeling. "Anyways," I forced the word some. "what kind of business trip?" I paused, my mind returning to one point especially as I snatched another box. "And why are you calling me from a payphone?"

“Medical business, of course. I’m making some house calls, doing some consultations, freeing people from the weights of physical pain. You know, what I’m good at.” He chuckled, amused. “Sometimes it gets gruesome though. Sometimes… You know, it’s actually a funny story how I… Misplaced my phone. My cell started ringing while I was helping a man remove some… Rotting flesh from his body. Painful procedure, and we were both on edge.” The Advocate paused a moment, I could hear footsteps passing behind him. “I was very irritated about being interrupted, but he was more so. He ended up getting so upset that he thrashed his head against my phone and broke it. Hehehe.” Obviously, by his tone he had used the phone as a weapon to club the man, and broke it in the process. It didn't surprise me in the least. “I didn’t even try to remove the broken plastic from his forehead. After breaking my phone, he decided to swallow the fragmented pieces of it as I attempted to aid him with the pain relief via high dose of pain meds and well… Hehe, I left a little after that. Strange man.” He laughed on the other end. “But back to what I was saying before, I’ve got quite a few places to visit before I can return home… I should be grabbing a new cell next stop, though. Hehe.”

My eyes narrowed, minor amusement rising. "Strange man indeed." I mused, imagining what he described (just as he described it, not the actual obvious happening). I shook my head from side to side a moment. "Well, you gotta do what you gotta do. Your job, no?" I shrugged lazily to no one. "Jersey will be a little less bloody." There was another pause. "...For the moment." I trailed, my thoughts turning onto Road Runner and the dead proxy in the freezer a moment. Snapping out of it I returned to packing away things. "So... How many house calls?"

"A little less bloody." I heard him quote with obvious pleasure. "Dear, I think you're going to be making up for my absence." There was a happy sigh, my eyes narrowed again. "Babe, you say you won't be helping me now... But remember that you still owe me plenty of darling favors." He reminded me pointedly. "Speaking of which, I've decided on what a few of them will be." There was a click on his end, I assumed it to be he was adding another coin to lengthen the call. "As for how many house calls I have to make, well at least ten more... And that's not including the spontaneous checkups."


I was scowling by then. "I'm repaying you is all. When do you plan to inform me on this list?" I inquired dully, tapping my index finger against the box a moment. The gears in my head were turning as I processed the information. I could feel a headache forming from the new dose of information coming in to think on, aside from the other shit. "Damn. Got quite the number of... House calls." I coughed lightly at what he was deciding to call it. "What's the purpose in this? Or is it just for shits and giggles?"


"Leftovers. that's what the buzz is about." The Advocate chuckled. "Deals to settle, clients to meet with, stuff for the boss. Inform you on the list? Hehe. Curious are you. Curiosity killed a bunch of cats, I hear." The sanity slipped a moment, his voice briefly returned to the insane tone I've come to find familiar. His disguise returned just as footsteps passed behind him again. "Don't worry too much, love, I'll be home soon. I promise to work extra fast, just for you." He laughed sweetly, I quietly sighed. "I might call you again later once I find a replacement cell, just so you can have the number on hand if you need me. Speaking of cats... How's the doctor?"


I tapped my finger against the box slowly once more. "Satisfaction brought them back." I retorted with dryly, ignoring his slip all together before answering his question. "Proctor is fine. As fine as someone in his odd situation can be. Physically. Mentally it isn't as easy to gather. Even more so after..." I paused, thinking about DeMii and Lullaby. "Yea." I picked up a book, weighing it in my hand a moment before throwing it as hard as I could into a vase. A mess was made but it distracted me from my rising thoughts. "Who is your boss?"


"Nice throw." He snickered. "Sheesh, right to the big questions. I thought that would be blatantly obvious by now." He sighed. "The added emotional weight has slowed your thinking a bit, babe. When I get home I'll give you a nice massage and help relieve all that pent up tension." I scowled again at how he avoided the question, I let him having no real interest in bickering. "Tell him I say... Hello. Or meow. Or mew. Or purr, whatever it translates to." He was chuckling pleasantly, a smile in his voice. "Hey beautiful, I'm running out of time on my quarter but I love you and I'll be calling you soon, honey. Hehehe." He tapped the speaker, "Hear that, babe? It's the sound of me on my way home. I'll see you and kitty very soon. We can spend some quality time alone together, eh? It'd be nice after the busy month we've both had. Wish me luck." He chuckled, waiting on hanging up. Guess for my goodbye or something.


I flinched pretty badly, tapping stopped the moment his bluntly said his little 'I love you'. I felt my hand twitch, looking at it there was slight shaking. I glared at the limb a second, "Right. Sure." I muttered with a sigh, shrugging off what he said all together. I mentally noted to get someone to watch Proctor from now on, Advocate's keen interest concerned me. "We'll discuss more when you return. Good luck, though I doubt you need it, dear." I lightly chuckled, shaking off the weight of his words and continued packing.


"I'll have my brownies bring you a secretary--Whoops, haha... Flip that." He said, but the call abruptly cut off and brought our conversation to an end.


I mused slightly, cursing him mentally for making me crack a smile. Of all people. Figures.




It was later when a surprise showed up, knocking on my door. I figured it was Advocate's so called secretary but I came to find out, nope, it wasn't. The knife came at me just as I opened the door, I shoved it shut onto the proxy's arm immediately after seeing the gleam. A window broke from the other end of the house, footsteps storming my way. A second proxy came around the bend, her finger on the trigger of a gun aimed at me. I stared carefully, my mind shoving aside all the burdens and focused on the movement alone. To cut it short, I dodged as she fired and the bullet broke through my back door window and into the shoulder of the second proxy. I kicked the door hard while turning to face her, snapping the arm of the male proxy and used that leverage to launch at the female. A second bang went off, away from me as I grabbed her wrist in one hand, throat with the other, and slammed her hand against the counter until she released the weapon. She scratched, punched, and kicked, but the twig must have missed the memo on that doing jack shit unless it has actual power behind it. I dislodged myself from her and grabbed the gun, moving to the second back door with it pointed at the female, the male already broken and vulnerable.


Staring at them I came to notice they had the same trait as the previous, as all the proxies I've encountered since meeting Road Runner. Hollow, manipulated beyond repair.


"Can people in your position be saved?"

"I am beyond redeemable." Graves spoke in her usual monotone voice as we stood out on Dia's porch one late night. She didn't believe she was capable of being saved, unaware of the spark of life still lingering inside her.  "There are those worse than ones like me, too. Should you encounter them I suggest you eliminate the targets on sight. They are husks and nothing more. Incapable of feeling, thought network severed, imprinted with a single goal."

I shoved my hands into my pockets, weight shifting to one side.  "How are they created?"

Grave's looked at me, her onyx eyes part of the darkness of the night.  "Their souls are torn asunder. There is nothing but a shell leftover. Shoot out their legs and they'll crawl to kill you. Remove their arms and they'll bite out your throat. Any means to finish the job they have been tasked."

"What happens afterwards to them?"

"They are directed onto another, or they are killed. Mere tools, usually worthless after their first order."

I pulled the trigger, the female collapsed to the floor. I directed it upon the male, aiming at his knee and fired. There were no signs of pain, there was nothing. He tried to crawl after me, using his alright arm and opposite good leg, it was failing. I walked to my room and grabbed the rope I kept there. I returned to the kitchen and tied the male. It would have been easier to do this with the female, but she was uninjured, a swift kill was less troublesome and capturing the male was easier, even if he was heavier. I dragged him down the stairs and around back in the basement to the tool table, with much annoyance I got him on top and secured him down. After that it was a matter of throwing the female's body into the freezer as well and cleaning up the mess upstairs.

Then I had my time to access the living male. Doesn't respond to pain, unlikely to feel it. This was worse than Graves, she was capable of reacting to pain, not emotionally but being aware. Which served her well, she knew when she was too injured to continue. This thing I was standing over before was unaware, it had no limits. It continued until it died or was killed. Even tied down it continued to try and attack, its broken arm partly torn apart from his attempts. It was a pitiful sight. This was just a guy who was thrown into this shit, and the result was he was laying on my table as a husk. I pulled out a knife, less messy, and sunk it into his forehead swiftly. He became the third within the week to die on my property. The third to go into the freezer. It was getting too cramped, I had to deal with their bodies.


So I did. Not saying where, when, how, etc. because bodies or pieces of bodies have a habit of showing up in the most unpleasant ways around me. FuckyouProsper.


Cleaned up the basement. Left the house, rented a moving truck and spent the next day loading up the boxes. The basement has been cleared out, leaving the layout perfect for what this house is to become. Done and done. Everything is stored away.


I'm making changes to make the house more secure, fixing the wards as well, changing some things around. Especially with the basement entrances and exits, tch. Have to fix that. This house is ridiculously open.


Sigh. Work, work, work. My hand keeps twitching, I don't like it.




Joshua came by with dumb and dumber, hesitantly, might I add. He was surprised by how quickly I got to work on the house. I flashed him a bitter smile. He made lunch and we talked for a few minutes while the duo MASC soldiers scouted the property.


"Shady," I looked up from the sandwich I was poking carelessly. "why is there cardboard and duct tape covering one of the windows?"


I glanced over my shoulder at the window, having lacked the time to fix it. "Well, you know..." He looked blankly at me. I shrugged. "Got nothing." I took a bite of the sandwich.


"Funny, but seriously, what happened?"


"Well... There was a proxy at the back door, a diversion so one could break in from the other side of the house." Joshua looked alarmed. I held up a hand and waved off his worries. "They are both dead, it's all good."


He coughed, "How?"


"I killed them?" I retorted, throwing him a look. Was he stupid all of a sudden? Surprise was still plastered on his face, it made me sigh and put down the sandwich. "Joshua, you might know me, but there is a lot that's still going to surprise you. Hell, there's plenty that's surprising me."


"Yea." He agreed, a hard look on his face as he gave a single nod. His eyes moved away from my face to the table near the windows. "Where's the old picture and vase?"


"How the hell do you keep noticing that shit?" I groaned, leaning back in the chair. A smile formed on his face, a chuckle following, which broke out into a quiet laugh.  It was weird to see him laugh.


Joshua leaned on the table, his smile half gone by the end of his laugh. "The night you got run through with that pipe, by that bird chick-"


"Lenore." I stated with a firm scowl.


"Lenore." He corrected. "You counted the rounds in my gun, you didn't have your memories then. You weren't aware of your own experiences unlike now. I have to keep up with my twin, don't I?"


I loosely folded my arms, a half smile forming to mimic his. "You underestimate yourself, Joshua. You always had the hawk eyes, I noticed what was essential, you speculate everything."


"I try." He lightly mused.


Good boy, Joshua. Get into the game, work that brain of yours so I won't have to worry about leaving you on your own. You're one of the smartest people I've ever known, about time you started showing it.


"I'll need help updating security systems." I saw him quirk a smirk, glancing at the bag he brought with him. No doubt his laptop, he always kept it at his side. "Think you can play with some different things while I hit the wards?"


"Oh yea." Joshua patted his bag, "I can hook you up with a nice defense. I looked over MASC's, I can mimic it and personalize it for this property. Wire it to some different locations."


I wagged my finger, "And the power issue, if it goes out. Back up options, I don't want just a Plan B, I want a C, D, E, F, G." He didn't say anything, he didn't need to. Joshua continued smirking as he grabbed his plate and walked into the kitchen to clean up. That's my boy, him and Billy used to fuck the school again and again with hacking into their systems. I remember they thought it was someone trying to get back at them from a board meeting, then thoughts were it was a rival school doing it, panic rose at what was fucking with their systems. Turned out that Billy and Joshua began a prank war that escalated. Joshua had a way with technology, I trust his ability to get the job done.




What has been going on since that week? Moving Joshua in here, as well as dumb and dumber, getting the property secured, being attacked in between by more husks. My Jeep is scratched and has a new dent it from those fuckers, swear to whoever it was like Left 4 Dead for a moment with that asshat.
Oh, and I've been hunting Road Runner. It was leading me nowhere until Mystery called me, alarmed. She was hunting down another one of Executor's clones when she instead found Prosper assaulting Road Runner. I guess they were doing their teleporting trick again. Executor was in the vicinity, he entered the scene and unleashed an assault upon her as well. Road Runner was apparently injured, bleeding, her arm in a sling still and looked bad from when it was broken twice. When she fled Prosper gave chase, it left Mystery with Executor. He commented on how he was going to eliminate the pest, Prosper had been hounding after Road Runner since I was impaled because of how injured she was. They were fighting long before that, but this was prime striking time.

So Road Runner is the prey to the Executor, eh? Prosper is in his glory chasing after her blood trail. Least I have a lead now to hunt them both down. Mystery is hanging in there, doing alright. Still hunting for E-Bear.

I'm returning to the mansion in a few days once everything is finished here.

Stay safe,
-Shady

The Saturday of Saturdays.

They invited me to join them again, I declined and walked them out the door to see them off.

"I'll bring something back for you!" Lucas had said out the window, I could hear my mother telling him to stop sticking his head out or he might catch a cold. I closed the door, the smile I was wearing was gone because only moments ago, before they left I went outside to start the car for them and warm it up. As well, I followed  the instructions given to me by the Advocate to ensure they met their fates today.

I sat on the kitchen floor for a couple hours afterwards, the house phone next to me. It began ringing and I looked to find it was the police. I answered, the news of their deaths came as a confirmation. They wanted me to go to the hospital and identify the bodies in the morgue. I slapped myself once before getting up and grabbing the keys, I drove there and identified their lifeless forms one by one. It was said they ran off the road and crashed down the hill into the rocks at the base of the mountain. Least they went out in one of their favorite areas, right?

They gave their sympathies. I gave a simple nod to the workers before driving home, pausing to throw up on the side of the road and kick the shit out of my car. THEY MEANT NOTHING. Fuck their sympathies and fuck their pity!

I began making funeral arrangements for four once I arrived home. It took a while to set times and dates, the likes. Had set days to pick out the coffins, plan the newspaper bullshit to let everyone know they are gone which will in turn make them leave me the fuck alone once the funeral comes to pass. And all the legal matters that would follow after the funerals regarding insurance, house ownership, the likes.


Joshua and the two soldiers, twiddle-dee and twiddle-dumb came with him. I was in the kitchen again when he looked at me questionably.


"It's done." I stated. He was talking, trying to comfort me on my decision. His voice was drowning out, I rubbed my eyes as I lowered down into a crouch, finding it incredibly hard to just stand. I felt sick and disgusting, I felt ugly, more than that, I felt hideous. I still do. And he wouldn't stop talking. "Joshua, your sympathies are appreciated. Now please leave." He questioned, I caught how he said I shouldn't be alone right now. I couldn't see him with my hand over my eyes, I didn't want to even look at him right now. Reminders, that's all he was. Is until their funerals. I get he was trying to assist but... He wouldn't just shut the fuck up! And I snapped, punching a nearby cabinet as hard as I could. Joshua immediately quieted down, "I don't want to see any of you until their funerals. Get. Out." I growled. After a moment of debating with himself he retreated back to the mansion.

I've never felt so disgusted with myself. My choice to do this, I get it and take full responsibility. It's better in the end for them, finally back to being whole in whatever exists or doesn't after death. Damnit though, they were real to me, those disfigured bodies were something I thought to be stable. Both families, adopted and blood-related are destroyed. I don't know what to do or where to go at this point. This realization came after I kicked Joshua out, a brother from another destroyed family from my past. I considered that maybe that is my trend, heh. I think what stings most is I did this to them, twice now. It was my fault before I even knew it was, before I could comprehend it. Are there some kids just born terrible? Am I one of them? Was I just born a monster? This hideous, disgusting piece of shit.


Not important. The answer is already a clear yes.

I got up and locked all the doors and windows, set the alarm, unplugged the house phone, smashed a family photo which only made me feel worse as I crawled into my bed and turned off my cellphone.
This is my last message until the funerals are dealt with.


I don't want any calls. I don't want any messages. I don't want any visits. If anyone chooses to ignore the latter I will gut them.


I'm taking the week off.
-Shady