Wires: A Mae Borowski and Ticci Toby Story Part l

It had been three months since that strange night in the woods, Bea thought to herself. Not entirely sure why it crossed her mind or why she was keeping track, she pushed the thought to the back of her mind. There had been no further incidents after that fateful evening and she had more pressing matters to attend to right here and right now.

Mae had been helping out at The Ol' Pickaxe here and there. Though she mostly just tagged along with Bea, who did most of the actual work. Bea didn't mind. She'd missed having her friend around. And now she was back. Unreliable as ever. Yet somehow endearing.

Today Bea found herself working alone however. While not uncommon for Mae to skip out here and there, Bea noticed Mae had been missing more than usual. Several days in fact. With a mixture of frustration and concern she eventually found herself at the Borowski's doorstep. Unsure as to whether she would even find anyone home, she rang the doorbell.

After a few puffs from her cigarette and no answer she rang the doorbell again. It was late enough in the morning that both of Mae's parents would be out, Bea though to herself. And if Mae was out and about, there was no telling where she could be.

The thought that Mae might be fine and simply ditching her again made Bea somewhat cross. She reached out to knock on the door only to realize it was slightly ajar. Bea wondered if they had perhaps left in a hurry. Feeling bad at the possibility of something having happened to Mae or her family, Bae flicked her cigarette onto the street, slowly opened the door and stepped in.

"Mae? Mrs. Borowski?", she yelled into an empty living room.

"Hello?! Anyone home?!"

Nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary. After walking into the back and finding no one in the kitchen Bea decided it best not to encroach onto their home any further. She considered driving over to the church in the hopes of finding Mae's mother; and with her some answers perhaps. "I shouldn't be in here." she muttered under her breath, as she turned towards the door.

She reached for the doorknob, only to hear a loud *thump*. Bea stopped in her tracks. It had clearly come from upstairs. She stood there for a few seconds, not even realizing she was holding her breath. After a few ticks she let out a sigh and turned around, deciding to go further into the house. "I'm already a home invader, I guess." she dryly said to no one.

Not sure what to expect, Bea stood at the bottom of the stairs looking up. The lights were out and it was mostly dark. What little light and visibility was most likely coming from outside though a window. It looked gloomy. It was a gloomy day after all, she thought to herself. Glancing around the living room Bea noticed some light switches nearby.

A loud *ka-thunk* and an "Ow!" startled Bea from her pause. That was definitely Mae she heard!

"Mae?! Are you ok?!" she shouted as she bolted upstairs, no longer hesitating.

Bea stopped to listen for a reply as she reached the second floor. But all she could hear was the ticking of the grandfather clock.

"Mae?!" she shouted up the flight of stairs to the attic, one foot on the steps.

"What the eff?!" A loud crash soon followed.

"Mae, It's me! I'm coming up!" A tinge of concern cracked in Bea's voice as she began to climb the flight up to the attic.

"I'm... ow! I'm ok!" Mae shouted. "Don't come up here!" Bea could hear the sound of things being moved around.

"Are you sick?" Bea asked as she reached the top, "You haven't been around lately.", she leaned just beside the entrance to Mae's room.

"No, I-I'm ok! I just..." Mae answered from insider her room, clearly flustered.

"Is something wrong?" Bea inquired, starting to get more concerned.

"Nothing's wrong! I just need to-" Mae said before being cut off by the sound of something, or someone, falling onto the floor with a loud *whomp*. "Ow-ow-ow-ow-ow..!"

"That's it, I'm coming in! I hope you're decent!", Bea barked, growing tired of the back and forth.

"No wait-"

Bea was at a lack of words at what she found as she stepped into the room. There was her friend in the middle of the room, surrounded by what appeared to be several bag of diapers. It took a moment to notice that the cat herself was wearing one.

"I told you not to come up here!" Mae shouted in a panic, shoving Bea out of the room hard enough that she would have easily flown down the stairs down to the second level had she not grabbed onto the rail.

Getting a grip and trying to process what just happened, Bea took a deep breath to try and compose herself. It did little to help. She was mad.

"Mae, you asshole!" she roared up the stairs, "You nearly killed me!"

"Go away!"

"No way! I'm coming up!" Bea sniped back. "And I WILL kick your ass if you try to push me down the stairs again!"

"Leave me alone!" Mae yelled, her voice wavering.

Bea stormed into the attic-turned-bedroom to find Mae in the corner huddled up, baseball bat in hand. "Now what the hell is that for?" asked Bea bemused by the ridiculousness of the scene she was now in.

"I said leave me alone!" Mae yelled again. "I told you to go away!"

"You and I both know you didn't mean to push me." Bea sighed, her anger beginning to melt away into concern once more. "I startled you and you panicked."

Mae sat there, looking away from Bea, still gripping her baseball bat. She looked as if she was going to cry.

"I'm sorry for barging in on you." Bea apologized. "I haven't heard from you in days. I was worried."

Mae turned towards Bea, her bright eyes teary. She opened her mouth briefly as if to say something, but stopped herself and looked away.

"And..." Bea continued as she stepped closer to Mae, "Well, knowing the things that went on all those months ago, I never know quite what to think."

Bea kicked one of the diaper bags out of the way as she made her way next to the bed. She noticed a tall cubby up in the corner of the room. Too high for someone of Mae's stature. She must have been trying to store the diaper bags up there without much success. It would certainly explain the chaos.

"Look, I don't care if you have some kind of medical issue here." Bea sighed trying to understand what was going on.

"No, it's not like that! I'm not sick!"

"Then what is it? And could you please let go of the baseball bat. We both know you don't really want to use it."

"It makes me feel safe..."

"I'm sure it does", Bea slowly reached for the bat, "But I don't want to risk you freaking out again and whacking me in the head with the thing."

"That's not what I meant..." Mae said angrily as she began sobbing, bat rattling onto the attic floor.

"What did you mean then?" Bea asked calmly as she sat herself next to the very upset cat.

"Augh!" Mae groaned trying to pull herself together, "Isn't it b-bad... e-enough...  that you know w-what... what a total mess I am without... without seeing me like this?!"

"I'm sorry if I embarrassed you." Bea said looking down. "You're having a bad day. Week. Whatever. It happens."

"You don't get it..." Mae blurted, barely a whisper.

"Clearly. I do not." Bea responded dryly, looking directly at Mae.

Mae wanted to be angry, but she knew Bea had a point. Bea let the words sink in for a bit before attempting to continue.

"I am trying. I really am. I can leave if you want. Or you can try to explain what is going on with you."

Bea failing to get an explanation stood up, took a deep breath and asked, "Are you having dreams again?"

"What? The dreams? No, why?" Mae finally spoke up.

Bea looked down at Mae, relieved to hear that the nightmares had not returned. Noticing that her friend was still very much padded, she asked, "Those make you feel safe?"

"Yeah." Mae admitted. "It's hard to explain."

"No, I think I get it. Like a safety blanket. Right?"

"Kind of..?" Mae replied, tilting her head slightly to the side, "I guess..? Yeah."

"I suppose you should seek comfort in whatever way you can get it." Bea shrugged, "I'm not going to tell anyone. I'm not one to judge."

"Thanks Bea..." Mae replied after a few slow deep breaths, feeling much more at ease.

"Help me pick this stuff up." Bea said in an attempt to change focus, "You obviously can't reach up there very well. And you've been dropped on your head enough as it is."

"Oh shut up, that didn't happen." Mae rolled her eyes with that 'why the fuck am I even here' look, one hand on her waist.

"Whatever, just help with this." Bea scoffed. The two moved Bea's stuff for what felt like a split second. As they're done, Mae stretched and yawned as Bea pulled out a cigarette from the cigarette box.

"Thanks for helping me put that stuff away." Mae escorted Bea out the door. She was in much better spirits, thanks in no small part to Bea.

"Don't mention it.", Bea said, grateful to be able to light another cigarette. "The stuff we stuck under your bed should last you a while. If you need help getting stuff from the top, let me know."

"Will do! I'll, uh, try to come in to work tomorrow."

"Just get better. That's your job right now." Bea cautioned taking a puff.

"Are you saying that as my boss?" Mae snidely inquired, eyes narrowed.

"As whatever it takes for you to get better." Bea answered with her typical dryness, as she stepped off the porch and onto the sidewalk.

"You got it boss!" Mae shouted as her friend walked down the road.

"Goodbye, Mae!" Bea said aloud with some conclusiveness.

Locking the door behind her, Mae decided to go have a nap. Getting emotional always drained her. Even if she did feel pretty stupid about how she acted in retrospect. Still, she was relieved that Bea had been so cool about everything. Turned out she had nothing to be worried about in the first place.

Dinner was uneventful, and though her parents could tell that Mae wasn't being fully forthcoming when they asked how her day went, they chose not to press the issue and instead settled on having a nice quiet meal together.

Mae chose to skip watching TV with dad. Instead, Mae hopped onto her laptop. She was hoping to see if she could catch Bea before bed. It was hard to know when she would be home given her crazy work schedule. Though Bea had mentioned that her dad had started slowly getting back into his job.

That would be nice, Mae thought to herself, shortly before thinking that she should get around to playing some Demontower V: Butchering on the Giblet Sea. She'd barely had a chance to do so since it came out and she needed something to distract her from her pretty embarrassing day.

Though before she could do that, she heard that familiar messaging sound. Deciding to forego her gaming for the evening she clicked on the small graveyard icon instead.

Mae peeled herself from bed, slowly coming to realize that her alarm was buzzing quite loudly. After fumbling for the snooze button, Mae sat in bed for a few minutes trying to shake the fog in her head. Looking out the window it definitely seemed to be mid-afternoon. "So much for an early start." she muttered to herself.

Standing up her legs felt wobbly. She still felt very tired, in spite of her ungodly amount of sleep. Maybe she *was* sick, she wondered.

Memories from the day before suddenly tumbled into her mindscape. A mixture of shame and embarrassment rolled over her. She tried to shake the feeling, remembering what Bea told her the night before.

Beebee: "It's not a big deal. Really. It's a non-issue."

Maeday: "You don't think it's dumb and childish? You think everything I do is dumb and childish."

Beebee: "If it helps you cope, then it's actually a kind of adult thing to do."

Mayday: "Ugh! No! Don't ruin this for me."

Beebee: "Fine. It's childish. And it's kinda dumb. But it's harmless. And I really don't care."

Maeday: "Geez! Don't hold back or anything!"

Beebee: "You insisted."

Maeday: "I did! And you shall take this secret TO YOUR GRAVE!"

Beebee: "I'll have it cremated with the rest of my dark clandestine secrets. Along with the husk of what used to be my idealism and hope for the future."

Maeday: "Dark."

Beebee: "It's something to look forward to."

Mayday: "Oookayyyyy.... Imma turn in."

Beebee: "Good night, Mae."

Maeday: "Goodnight Bea."

Mae sat up on her bed and peered out her window. She looked out at the group of houses across the street.

She stopped suddenly, and her gaze slowly centered on something standing under the street light. She heard ringing in her ears and she couldn't look away. The figure stood beside the street light, about 2 feet shorter then it, long arms draped at it’s sides as it stared up at her with non-existing eyes. The figure had no features what-so-ever. No eyes, no mouth, no nose, yet it held Mae’s hypnotized stare, seemingly peering into her mind. The ringing in her ears grew louder and louder each second she stared before suddenly it all went black.

The next morning Mae woke in her bed. She felt different. She wasn't tired at all, and when she consciously woke up, it felt like she had been lying there, awake for hours. She had no thoughts flowing through her mind. Mae sat up slowly and stumbled over to the wall, but when she stood up she automatically felt dizzy. She stumbled to the doorway and walked down the stairs.

Her parents where sitting at the table, her father was in-tuned with the small TV that sat on the counter top, and her mother reading the newspaper. She quickly looked over when she felt Mae's presence looming behind her.

“Well, good morning sleepy head, you’ve been sleeping forever.” She greeted her with hesitated smile.

Mae slowly looked over at the clock and noticed that it was 12:30 p.m.

“I made you breakfast but it got cold, I was going to wake you, but I felt you needed sleep,” her expression fell from happy to worried as her daughter resisted responding to her.

“Are you alright?”

Mae stumbled over and sat by her father. She felt as if she was on idle, and had no control over her actions. She was seeing everything she did, but it didn’t seem to register in her brain properly. She reached out to touch her fathers arm, then went out the door.

"Huh, that's odd." Mae's father said, "She hasn't done that before."

"Stan, I'm starting to worry about her, she slept for hours on end and now she's not even talking to us. Is she going to...to do it again?"

"Candy, it's probably the medication, she probably got up and got disoriented, relax."

Stopping at the Ol' Pickaxe, Mae was surprised to see Mr. Santello behind the counter.

"Hello, Mae. If you're looking for Bea, she's currently out on a job." he explained as he fumbled with the till. "Something about a furnace, she said." Then he noticed Mae's flushed face, her eyes filled to the brim with bags underneath. "Um...sweetheart, are you feeling okay?"

Like with her mother before, no response. She wanted to say something, but she didn't have the strength to even make a single grunt from behind her closed lips. She was still under that bizarre trance. Mr. Santello snapped his fingers in front of her face, trying to snap her out of it, in which, she snapped back to reality, "Uh, huh What? Oh, hey Mr. Santello…"

"You feeling okay, kiddo? You look like a zombie."

"I...I dunno…"

Mae approached the counter. "Yeah, dunno when she'll be back." Mr. Santello said apologetically. "I can let her know you dropped by."

"Don't worry about it. I know she's busy. I have other stuff to do anyway! See you later Mr. Santello!" Mae waved heading out the door.

"See you around, Mae." Mr. Santello said with a wave goodbye.

Mae decided to make her way to the Video Outpost 'Too' hoping instead to catch Angus, and perhaps Gregg thereafter.

"Hello, Mae. Feeling better?" greeted the large posh bear standing behind the counter. While never terribly close, Mae had develop a fondness for the big guy. He too had developed a type of protectiveness towards Mae that you often see displayed by older siblings or uncles. Especially after the events of that night in the woods.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Mae asked suspiciously, eyes narrowed.

"I heard from Bea that you had been sick for a few days. Gregg and I were thinking of paying you a visit."

"Does this mean we can go get Gregg when you're done here?"

"Sure. My shift is pretty much over. The night shift is already in the back."

"Excellent! We shall fetch your paramour post haste!"

"That doesn't-" Angus stopped himself, realizing he didn't have the energy to go down this path right now. "Never mind. Let's go."

"So did you guys have any plans?" Mae asked, now fully informed of what the word 'paramour' actually meant; thanks in no small part to Angus.

"Other than seeing you, not really." Angus replied as they made their way to the Snack Falcon. "There was a party we had thought about going to, but we weren't too committed to it. Gregg was pretty worried about you when he heard you were sick." he elaborated as they arrived at their destination.

"MAAAAAEEEEEEEEEE!" yelled the orange fox, arms flailing, from behind the counter. He was excitable as ever, and never failed to make Mae smile.

"I LIVE!" Mae yelled back, wide eyed, arms in the air.

"Too bad you didn't die from your brain boiling from fever!" Gregg joked.

"Too bad you didn't die from boredom without me!" Mae shot back.

"Too bad neither of you have been crushed under the existential weight of your own mortality." Angus said rather flatly.

"Wow, Angus." Mae said surprised.

"Too much?" Angus apologized.

"No no!" Mae interjected. "That was good!"

"Yeah, Cap'n!" Gregg added. "Come to the dark side!"

"I thought we already were on the dark side?" Angus said wryly.

"That's a loaded statement." Mae stared off into nothing, big red eyes wide.

"I guess it is." Angus said, as Gregg hopped around the counter. "Ready to go, bug?"

"Now that Mae is better, we can all go to the party!" Gregg announced, unconcerned with leaving the Snack Falcon unattended.

"That depends on how she's feeling, bug." Angus cautioned. "She should probably take it easy fo-"

"Naw, I'm good!" Mae interrupted, "I'm tired of being cooped up by myself!"

"If you're sure..." Angus said with some concern.

"You heard her! Let's go!" Gregg was already out the door.

As she left for the party, she felt as if she was being followed. She turned, and saw nothing.

That night at the party, Mae gulped down so much punch that it's unbelievable. Besides, Mae was already drunk and everybody can tell by her movements and her slurred speech.

"Thiss punsh iss ssour." Mae slurred as she approached the gang. "I thing iss spiked..."

"I didn't know she wasn't supposed to drink." Germ said apologetically trailing behind Mae. "I would have warned her."

"I'm just going to be anywhere else right now." Jackie gritted her teeth walking away.

"Angush tol' me to tell if'n I'm not feeeeling gud..." Mae slurred defiantly. "And thatss what ahm doin'!" she said to a now gone Jackie.

"That's ok, Mae." Angus calmly spoke, putting his hand on Mae's shoulder. "You came and told us. Just as we asked. Thank you."

"We got this. Thanks Germ." Germ nodded in acknowledgement before disappearing into the scenery as he is often known to do.

"I'll drive her home, guys." Bea said decisively, car keys already in hand, frustration in her voice. "Angus, help get her to my car."

"Of course." Angus nodded as he tried to lead Mae out to the exit.

Not having much success of getting Mae to move in the direction he wanted, Angus figured it best to simply carry her to the car. Mae instinctively latched onto Angus like a small spider monkey. The claws stung a bit, but Angus figured it was better than risk dropping her.

Bea opened the front passenger door, making it easy for Angus to drop her into the front seat. That is, if Mae would let go. She'd practically fallen asleep from the garage to the car and was in what could only be described as some sort of sleep-death grip, mumbling to herself.

Managing to pry Mae off with some assistance from a very amused Gregg, they secured her onto the seat with the seatbelt.

"What's that?" Asked Gregg pointing at Mae, who had curled up into the seat.

"That's her butt, bug." Angus answered wryly.

"Ha-ha." Gregg said sarcastically. "I mean that." he said, pointing at what was an obvious diaper sticking out of the back of the drunk cat's pants.

"Whatever you think it is, Gregg, please keep it to yourselves." Bea scolded, pulling Mae's shirt over the exposed diaper, sitting herself in the driver's seat.

"Is she still sick?" Angus asked, somewhat worried.

"No... she's..." Bea hesitated. "Can we talk later? And don't tell her that you saw anything."

"Of course. Drive safe." Angus closed the passenger door allowing Bea to drive off.

As they watched Bea drive off, Angus, Gregg and Germ saw somebody in the woods nearly inches from where they dropped off Mae. They could easily tell it was a male white cat- the same species as Mae, but they saw the hatchets in his belt as he stared at them through his yellow goggles. That's when they noticed the mouth guard, it had a smile on it, which freaked them out a little bit.

"Hey, dude, you need something?" Angus asked. No response. "Umm... Sir, it's impolite not to answer." He called out once more. Again, no answer.

"Heh, what a freak." Gregg smirked.

"Dude, are you ok? If you want us to leave, that's fine." Germ added.

The three of them quite down, they felt that something wasn't quite right with this man. The stranger then walked into the woods behind him. Just like that. The three friends looked at each other with an unnerved look. "Wow... That's...Weird." Angus said. They got in Angus' car and head for Angus and Gregg's apartment.

"Ahm sowrreeee!" cried Mae drunkenly, "I did-didin' mean to ruh-ruh-ruin the puh-puh-party!"

"You didn't ruin anything." Bea sighed, now wishing Mae had stayed asleep the whole trip home. "You weren't well. I am taking you home. No harm done."

"Buh-but..." Mae tried to argue, choking back tears.

"You did the right thing." Bea said trying to calm down the clearly drunk and upset kitty. "I'm not mad."

"Ah-are yuh-you shoore..." Mae asked sheepishly.

"You didn't do me any favors." Bea admitted, "But... I understand that this wasn't exactly your fault, either. I'll have to deal with Jackie later. But whatever."

"J-Jackie?" Mae asked somewhat confused.

"I'm trying to get her to understand you a bit better. You two actually have a lot in common." Bea hesitated for a bit before adding, "Tonight probably didn't help."

"I did-didn' mean to! Really!" Mae protested.

"I know." Bea stated, clearly starting to get annoyed. It appeared to be enough to convince Mae to stop apologizing.

Mae remained quiet for the rest of the ride, half-drunk half-asleep, much to Bea's relief.

"We're here." Bea slowly parked in front of the Borowski's house. "Mae?" she tried shaking the once again conked out cat.

"Of course..." Bea lamented as she made her way around to the passenger seat.

Mae was surprisingly easy to lift. "Must be all those years of working at the Ol' Pickaxe" Bea thought to herself, proving to be much stronger than she looked.

Thankfully Bea had the foresight to dig Mae's keys out of her pocket before pulling her out of the car. Though she fumbled a bit trying to open the door and not drop her catatonic friend. Using a leg to leverage Mae helped Bea get the key in the door and turn the knob.

Stumbling through the door, cat in arms, it appeared everyone was in bed by now. "So much for getting any help from the parents." she muttered to herself as she slowly lugged her friend up the stairs to her bedroom.

After what seemed like an eternity, Bea finally managed to stuff Mae into her bed. Tucking her in, Bea took a moment to breathe; noticing how deceptively peaceful Mae appeared when not jumping around, being a vandal or talking.

Getting ready to make her way out, Mae stirred in bed and mumbled, "Bea...?"

Mae woke up feeling like a ton of bricks. She didn't know what time it was, nor did she care. She tried to slowly make her way out of bed. Taking a few tentative steps her foot caught on something and she suddenly found herself falling.

"Ow! What the-" Bea woke up abruptly, a hungover Mae on top.

"What're you doin' 'ere?" Mae asked, unmoving.

"You asked me to." Bea groaned, trying to muster the energy to shove the cat off.

"I don' 'member..." Mae tried to recall, head in a fog.

"I expect you don't remember much of last night." Bea explained.

"Onnoh... did I trow up?" Mae panicked.

"No. You didn't throw up." Bea answered, exhausted with this conversation already. "Can you get off? Or do I need to pick you up myself again?"

"You kin' do dat?" Mae asked incredulously.

"Yes. Though I would much rather not." Bea stated dryly. "Please get off."

Mae rolled over onto the floor next to Bea, who sighed with a monotone, "Thanks." before reaching for a cigarette.

"Hey!" Mae complained.

"Force of habit..." Bea apologized, putting the cigarette away.

"Onnoh! You godda ged to work!" Mae suddenly panicked, startling Bea.

"Could you just... chill out? Please? For a bit? Mae?" Bea said massaging the temples of her forehead. "I called dad. I took the day off."

"Why...?" Mae asked, trying to pull herself together.

"Because you asked me to. Because you're my friend. Because I wanted to make sure that you were ok." Bea answered flatly, letting her words hang for a minute.

Mae didn't know quite how to respond to that, so she just hugged Bea as tightly as she could and said, "Thanks, Bea..."

"And don't take this the wrong way, Mae..." Bea hesitated, "But you reek."

Mae started to act like a child as usual.

"I mean it", Bea demanded, "Bath. Now."

"I wanna to go back to bed!" Mae protested.

"You've slept enough." Bea declared, "And, in case you haven't noticed, you need a change."

"What?" Mae asked before it suddenly dawned on her, "Oh... Wait! No! I don't usually... It musta been cuz I was drunk!" she protested.

"I'm amazed it took you so long to notice." Bea shrugged. "Better than wetting the bed I suppose..."

"Fine. Whatever. I'm going." Mae shot back defiantly, trying to stand up, only to fall back down, still hungover from the previous night.

"Want some help there?" Bea asked trying to stifle a laugh.

"No! The floor is nice!" Mae insisted, "I believe I shall lay here and slide my way to the tub!"

"The one in the downstairs bathroom." Bea snarked, finding it harder not to laugh at the absurdity of it all. "Suit yourself."

"You can go now!" Mae waved Bea away, "Yer services are no longer required!"

"I'm tempted." Bea snorted, picking up the hungover cat off the floor.

"I doth protest!" Mae complained.

"I doth not care." Bea countered as she began to make her way downstairs, Mae securely in her arms.

While Mae took her bath Bea decided to make her way to the kitchen. She figured Mae should be fine siting down in a tub of water while she figured out a way to get them fed and hydrated. She was somewhat relieved to find that Mae's parents had already left for work. Bea didn't want to have to be the one to explain to Mae's parents why she just stepped out of their daughter's bedroom. Who was still hungover, no less.

Looking around she decided she could whip up some eggs and bacon without much trouble. But before she could get to it, Bea heard a loud *thump* coming from the upstairs bathroom and the indisputable woes of Mae Borowski.

Bea sighed to herself and acquiesced to the forgone conclusion that today would be a long day.

Bea found a naked, soaked Mae sitting on the bathroom floor, her head in her hands. From the looks of it she'd slipped when she tried to get out of the tub.

"You ok there, Mayday?" Bea asked with some concern.

"Yeah, I just bumped my head." Mae answered rubbing her head. "I'll be fine."

"You've got a bit of a bump there." Bea said inspecting Mae's head of still-wet fur. "Let's go, then." Bea stated as she wrapped Mae in a towel and picked her up with ease, much to Mae's shock.

"Woah! Since when can you..?" Mae asked somewhat anxiously, not realizing she was digging her claws into Bea's back.

"Since yesterday." Bea answered dryly. "And ease up on the nails."

"Sorry!" Mae sheepishly retracted her claws. "You kinda caught me by surprise there."

"Good to know I can still surprise people." Bea snarked as she made her way upstairs, cat in arms.

Arriving at Mae's bedroom Bea plunked the towel-wrapped cat onto the bed and proceeded to rummage around for some clean clothes for Mae to wear.

"I can dress myself." Mae complained.

"My confidence in your ability to adult is somewhat depleted at this time." Bea snorted, clothes in hand.

"You think I'm a screw up!"

"You are hungover." Bea shot back with some anger at the accusation. "You also hit your head. You need to take it easy."

Mae tried to protest, but thought better.

"Lie down." Bea said with her usual pragmatism, holding what was clearly a disposable diaper in hand.

"Whowhatnow?" Mae asked incredulously.

"Don't make me ask again." Bea stated rather plainly. "I'd rather you weren't so difficult and would just trust me for a change."

"Ok, Beebee..." Mae agreed feeling slightly defeated.

Mae sat there, butterflies in her stomach. She'd never had anyone diaper her before. Though she'd always wondered about it, this wasn't exactly how she had imagined it ever happening.

"What's that look for?" Bea asked, snapping Mae back into reality. "I assumed you'd want one after the night you had."

"No! Yes! I mean..." Mae muttered flustered. "You don't have to..."

"Maybe I want to." Bea argued, surprising even herself. "Now lie down."

Mae lay herself back down onto the bed without protest. Before she knew his her friends scaly croc hands pulled her up by her feet, sliding a diaper underneath. Powder soon followed, and one taped bum later Bea was done.

"There. That wasn't so bad, was it?" Bea asked somewhat amused.

"You're way better at this than I am!" Mae sat up in amazement.

"I imagine it's easier than doing it yourself." Bea said pulling a shirt over the short cat's head.

"Can we skip those?" Mae asked as Bea reached for some pants.

"I think it's safe to assume you aren't going out today." Bea answered wryly.

"I promise I wont run off pantsless into the woods." Mae joked.

"Please don't." Bea commented dryly. "I don't have the luxury of pretending not to know you."

"Everybody knows you LO~O~OVE me!" Mae batted her big red eyes at Bea.

"Everybody knows I'm a sucker for lost causes." Bea said, trying hard not to care. But she did. She loved the strangely endearing ball of fur and anxiety that she called friend. Dysfunctional a friendship as it may be.

"Let's get some food into you", Bea announced, hoping to change the subject. "I'm pretty hungry and I bet you must be too."

"Tacos?!" Mae exclaimed excitedly.

"Bacon and eggs." Bea stated unflinchingly.

"Bacon and eggs!" Mae cheered. "Hold on, let me go upstairs and grab my phone!"

That's when Bea's phone rang. She looked at the numbers of the caller ID. They weren't Gregg's or Angus'. It was a different person not from Possum Springs. She answered, "Hello?"

"Hello. Who is this?" Asked the man behind the phone.

"Um... Bea Santello. Who is this?"

"Just some guy wasting my life away."

"Hardy Har." Bea laughed sarcastically, "Funny. Now why are you calling me, wrong number or something?"

"Neither. I'm just calling to say that I love your friends' songs like, Die Anywhere Else, Weird Autumn, and Pumpkin Head Guy. I pretty much listen to my favorite, Don't Mess With Me by Temposhark, but you guys, pretty impressive to say the least."

"Heh, so you're a fan?"

"No no, but I do listen to your songs once in a while."

"That's cool, it's better to enjoy our music than to listen to anything else."

"I know right? By the way, how's Mae?"

"Huh?"

"How's Mae, the one on the guitar?"

"She's on base, but she's... Wait, how do you know her name?"

"Cause I can see her through the window."

Bea's eyes widened, it's like the whole neighborhood went dead silent for a while. She noticed that the man already hung up and she did not dare go upstairs, thinking that something bad is about to happen if she does. None the less, she called Gregg and Angus, telling them to come over. As they did, the two immediately went upstairs, armed and ready: Gregg with his crossbow and Angus with his brute force. Gregg kicked the door open and the two looked.

Nobody was there...Except Mae, who's startled by her two friends bursting through the room like the F.B.I.

"What the hell is your effing problem?!" Mae swore.

"Bea just called, she said that somebody was stalking you through the window." Angus said.

"Yeah, dude, we're here to take this prick down!" Gregg said, rummaging through Mae's room, looking for the apposed stalker.

"What?! Who?" Mae asked, now realizing the situation at hand.

"We don't know for sure, but this guy just talked to Bea on the phone, saying that he listens to us once and a while, but also said that he's looking straight at you through the window." Angus then placed a hand on Mae's shoulder, "But don't worry, we're here to make sure that you're absolutely safe."

"Damn, he's not in there." Gregg said, finished looking through the closet. "Well, guys, whoever he is, he's gone now. Are you sure you're safe, Mae? Because you can tell us if you are or not."

"Guys, I'm okay. I was trying to look for my phone when you guys kicked the door nearly off it's hinges."

Gregg and Angus looked at each other, then back at Mae. "Alright, that's understandable. But anytime you see the guy, just let us know, we'll take care of it." Angus replied.

"Okay." Mae nodded.

"Hey, Mae! Found your phone!" Gregg said, holding it in his hand.

"Oh, thank you, Gregg!" She said as Gregg handed her the cell phone. And with that, the two left the house, telling Bea what they thought they saw.

"Hey Angus," Gregg said, "you think the stalker was that guy from the party?"

Angus thought for a second, and became deeply concerned, "Good point. Maybe he does have some connection to Bea and Mae's encounter. Next time if we see him, we follow him, okay?"

"Sounds like a plan-- But, is he gonna kill us if he catches us following him?"

"That's up to debate if he kills us or not. Let's just go undercover a bit, then we'll let the police know about this."

Mae woke up to the sound of the downstairs front door opening. Putting some pants on she decided to head down. She assumed it must be her mom, as her dad was probably still at work.

As expected, she found her mom in the downstairs kitchen, just about to sit down at the table. Mae hopped onto the counter with a bright, "Hi mom!"

"Hi sweetie!" Candy said, happy to see her daughter. "How was your sleepover with Bea?"

"How did you know about that?!"

"I saw her car parked outside this morning." Mrs. Borowski explained gesturing towards the street. "Did you two have fun?"

"I got sick from punch and Bea had to drive me home." Mae confessed. "She left earlier to do stuff. She made bacon!"

"That's nice of her. Be sure to thank her for looking out for you as often as she does." Candy said somewhat sternly. "Not everyone has friends they can count on like that."

"I know. And I do." Mae said mildly annoyed at being reminded to be thankful.

"Good. Otherwise I might have to embarrass you by going to the Ol' Pickaxe and thanking her myself." Candy teased. "Invite her over for dinner too!"

"You're already embarrassing me!" Mae rolled her eyes.

"Embarrassing their kid in front of their girlfriend is part of being a parent." Candy shot back with a wry smile.

"She's not my girlfriend!" Mae protested. "She's straight! She's told me herself!"

"She fusses over you more than anyone else. " Candy noted. "Not even her own father gets this much attention from her."

"Gregg and Angus look out for me too!" Mae argued.

"And that's lovely of them to do." Candy agreed. "But those boys have each other. You have Bea."

"If you say so." Mae said hoping to drop the subject, "I'm gonna head out for a bit." Mae hopped off the counter and head towards the living room.

"Have fun." Candy said waving her daughter goodbye. "And hun? Get some longer shirts, maybe?"

Mae groaned pulling the back of her shirt down over her exposed diaper.

Mae found herself at Angus and Gregg's apartment building. Not having had much luck of finding either at their respective jobs, and feeling that she missed out on an evening out with them, she decided to pay them a visit and see if they were home.

The stairwell was open for a change, much to Mae's relief. Not having to risk being electrocuted by the buzzer again was probably a good sign, she thought.

After a quick hop up the stair and into the hallways, Mae found herself at the apartment and knocked.

Mae heard murmurs behind closed doors, but she could not make out what was being said. There was movement inside the apartment for sure. Before she knew it the door rattled.

"Oh! Hey there, Mae!" Gregg looked genuinely surprised. "I wasn't expecting to see you today after last night!"

"Bea made sure I didn't die." Mae grinned. "Yet. So, any luck finding the stalker?"

"We looked around Possum Springs a bit, and not so much as a footprint." Gregg said, "But, glad that you're doing well after what just happened."

Gregg and Mae sat themselves on the couch while Angus sauntered back into the kitchen. It was here that Mae noticed the indistinguishable smell of cookies baking.

"Whatcha baking?!" Mae flopped on the couch and made herself comfortable, giving her shit a tug to make sure it sat over her hips. "Special occasion? I'm not bugging you guys am I?"

"Those are for you actually!" Gregg chuckled. "We were gonna head over to your place tomorrow night just to check up on you. Angus wanted to bring something to cheer you up with. But you're here now so you saved us a trip!"

"I will accept your friendship cookies!" Mae extended her arms. "Gimmie!"

"They wont be ready for a little while, yet." Gregg admitted. "But Angus is on it, and his chocolate chip cookies are the best!"

"Is it ok if I hang around then?" Mae inquired.

"Absolutely!" Gregg declared without hesitation.

Suddenly, Mae felt that, she was being watched. She looked away from him. Her mind went blank for a moment. She looked down at her lap, and in the surrounding, she heard a faint ringing sound. Her eyes widened and she froze in her place.

"Um, Mae? Are you okay?" Gregg asked.

Mae felt a shiver go down her spine until she froze once again and slowly looked over out the window, where she saw it. A dark feature-less figure, peering in at her. She stared, eyes widened, the ringing growing louder and louder till suddenly her nose began to bleed, and she started having rhythmic, jerking movement, mostly in the neck, face, or arms. She was having a Clonic Seizure. She's now foaming at the mouth, her site became blurry and foggy, she can't even see Gregg and Angus helping her as everything all went black.

That night Mae laid in bed. Her eyes dazed as she stared straight up at her ceiling. She could feel herself begin to doze off, when she heard the scattering of footsteps down her hallway. She sat up and looked towards the doorway, her door wide open. There was no light, everything was lit by the luminescent blue glow of the moon through her window, leaving a cold lighting. She stood up and slowly made her way towards the doorway, when suddenly the door, which was previously wide open, slammed in her face. She gasped and fell back.

She was out of breathe when she hit the ground and she began breathing heavily, her eyes wide open. She waited for a few seconds before getting back up on her feet. She reached out and grasped the cold door handle with her hand and creaked it open. She looked out into the dark hallway and tiptoed out of her room. The window in her room lit up the darkness with blue moonlight as she padded her way down. She could hear footsteps rustling around her, and faint giggling let by the pitter patter of small feet, which sounded like a child had run in front of her, giggling and running around. The hallway was a lot longer then she had remembered. It seemed endless…like the long walk to The Ol' Pickaxe. He heard a door creak in front of her.

“Mom?” she called out in a shaky voice.

Suddenly a door slammed behind her and she jumped and turned around. Behind her she heard what sounded like children singing. She could hear them, but she couldn't see them. It's as if the walls around her were singing in what sounded like a ghostly, yet, beautiful tune. The haunting voices chanted:

"Slenderman, Slenderman, His branching arms are for collecting, Slenderman, Slenderman, His face is empty of expressing, Slenderman, Slenderman, He won't let you say goodbye, Slenderman, Slenderman, you most certainly would die."

Mae walked backwards until she backed up into something. She stopped for a second. Everything was dead silent except for her heavy breathing and crying. She slowly looked up to meet the blank face of a tall dark figure that stood over her. Underneath the moonlight, she could tell the tall dark figure was the same species as her, except hairless and void of any facial features: No eyes, no mouth, no nose. Just a blank head. Behind the tall dark mass where rows of children, looking to range from 3 to 10 years, their eyes completely black and dark black blood leaked from their eye sockets. She screamed and ran as fast as she could only to be tripped by dark black tendrils that wrapped around her ankle. She fell straight on her stomach and got the wind knocked out of her chest. She tried to scream out but she couldn’t make a sound. She wheezed out, before it all went black.

Mae woke up with a start. She screamed out and sat up as fast as she could, completely short of breathe. She wheezed out and held her chest with her hands. It was just a dream…. just a dream. She laid back down on the hospital bed. It felt like a giant weight had been lifted off her chest as she took in deep breathes. She stood up and padded over to the window, dragging the heart monitor with her. She saw nothing. Nobody was out there. No ghosts. No figures. Nothing.

Later that day, Gregg and Angus visited Mae in the hospital. Gregg was fooling around as everyone would expect,till Angus got involved and settled him straight.

"Gregg, no!" Angus interrupted, having somehow materialized right next to the hospital bed and divined exactly where Gregg was going.

"But..." Gregg complained. "We're compadres!"

"She needs to take it easy." Angus admonished while adjusting his glasses cooly. "Don't do anything that might stress her out."

"I'm right here you guys!" Mae chirped indignantly as she laid in the hospital bed.

"I'm sorry, Mae." Angus nodded acknowledging his slight rudeness. "Bea said you had that seizure last night, and I would rather not do anything to upset you further."

"What are you even talking about?" Mae asked, confusion all over her face.

"We know about the diapers." Gregg blurted out. Angus facepalmed hard enough that a *slap* echoed through the white room.

"I'm not gonna lie to her, cap'n!" Gregg complained, not noticing the now frozen Mae, wide-eyed and gazing off into nothingness.

"Oh, crap..." Angus lamented as he stepped over to Mae. "It's ok. No one is judging you."

"Hey, you in there, Mae?" Gregg waved both hands in front of the stunned cat.

"BEA TOLD YOU?!!" Mae finally snapped back to reality, making Gregg jump out of his skin.

"No! No!" Gregg protested waving his arms.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE HER!" Mae continued, now sitting up ignoring the tube in her arm, paws on her face in a mix of terror and anger.

"MAE!" Angus called out sternly, looking Mae straight in the eyes. Mae's eyes met his with a mix of confusion and shame. Having gotten her attention, Angus calmly explained, "Bea didn't tell us anything. In fact she told us not to say anything about it." He gave Gregg a pleading look.

"We just found out, ok?" Gregg added, putting a hand on Mae's shoulder. "You were out cold and we were putting you in Bea's car and we just... noticed."

Mae nodded, slightly less upset, but still equally as embarrassed at this turn of events. "So..." Mae faintly tried to speak up, lying back down on the hospital bed. She also laid down because of the tube in her arm. There were worse ways of having your best friend find out about some deeply personal secret you had hoped to take to your grave. Getting 'get well soon slash sorry for being a butt' cookies certainly helped.

"That could have gone better." Angus lamented from across the table as he took a sip from his glass of milk.

"S'ok..." Mae mumbled as she shoved two entire chocolate chip cookies into her mouth. "Ahm ober id!""

Told you!" Gregg said triumphantly looking at Angus. "We don't need to hide anything from each other cuz we're besties!"

"Naw..." Mae gulped the cookies down and spoke up. "You were definitely an assbutt the way you did it!"

Angus grinned smuggly and let Mae speak for herself.

"You coulda at least waited a bit to tell me." Mae continued as she grabbed three more cookies and began to gobble them up. "I jus' gob ub!"

"I was just curious!" Gregg grumbled to no one in particular.

"What? You wan't one?" Mae teased as she swallowed and reached for more cookies. "I can give you my dealer's number!" Mae added snidely before chomping down on said cookies.

"What? No! Maybe?! I dunno!" Gregg fumbled with his words. "I was just curious!" he repeated, as Angus stoicly raised an eyebrow his way.

Mae shot up on her seat, "Omigob, Angub can be yor... *gulp* daddy!" pointing at Angus, who had suddenly turned several deep shades of red.

"Hey, be nice to the cap'n!" Gregg said with a wide grin on his face, enjoying this a little too much. "He's bashful!"

"Sorry!" Mae apologized sitting herself back down on her seat. "I just think it'd be cute."

"It's alright." Angus finally regaining his composure. "It's good that you can laugh about it." He nodded sagely.

"Yeah, I guess I really don't mind you guys knowing if you're gonna be this cool about it." Mae admitted, feeling much better than she had a while ago, before cookies were offered in an attempt to assuage her infantile wrath. Angus began cleaning up the plates while Mae chugged down her entire glass of milk with gusto!

Then Mae brought up the question, "Hey, did you guys see that tall dark figure before I had that seizure?"

"W-what dark figure?" Gregg asked, a slight hint of confusion on his face.

"Oh, you know, this tall guy...What's his name?" Mae began to look up at the ceiling for a bit, before snapping her fingers. "Slenderman! Did you see him?"

"Slenderman?" Gregg asked. "Does he look like my uncle Robert?"

"No, way more skinny and...really scary to say the least... He was tall, white and had no face. And I think he was wearing a black suit with tentacles in his back."

"Dude, you play WAY too much Demontower!" Gregg laughed.

"Wait," said Angus, "Slenderman... Sounds familiar. Where'd you hear that name?"

"In a dream I had, there were children singing it. They had no eyes, like they're gouged out by something. And they sang...Something like: Slenderman, Slenderman, His branching arms are for collecting, Slenderman, Slenderman, something like that."

"Jeezus… That gave me chills just hearing it." Gregg said.

"I think you need to see Bea, maybe she has something on this; Slenderman."

After Mae left the hospital, she started to feel uneasy about the whole situation, after seeing that dark figure back at the house, the apartment, and now in her dreams. She felt as if she didn't want to be released from the hospital, but at the same time, she did feel a bit relieved to be out. So that she can hang with Bea. And have her look in on this, 'Slenderman', figure she keeps seeing. The two friends found themselves in front of the Taco Buck. While Mae insisted that she was still full, that didn't stop Bea from getting something to eat for herself. Seating herself across from Mae in one of the empty booths, the crocodile slid a paper bag across the table.

"You don't have to eat now," Bea explained, "but you're at least going to take some food home. You can eat later if you want."

"You didn't have to..." Mae started to complain but thought better of it.

"I don't want your parents to think I brought you back without at least trying to get some food into you." Bea elaborated before chomping down onto her own taco bowl.

"I'm not a baby!" Mae complained.

"No, you're not." Bea answered flatly. "Give me some credit, Mae." Bea sat back, letting out a loud sigh, feeling exasperated. "You should know by now that I think better of you than that." Bea's words had a tinge of hurt in them. "Instead of being so defensive all the time, a simple 'thank you' would be nice every once in a while."

Mae hesitated as Bea's words hung in the air. The goth croc's expression unflinching.

"I just..." Mae finally broke the silence. "I feel like you don't take me seriously."

"I take you very seriously." Bea insisted in a calm authoritative voice. "Your health, your emotional well-being. These are all things I am taking into consideration constantly. I watch out for you because I know that doing it yourself is sometimes a challenge. I know those shortcomings are not your fault, that they're not you. But a result of your mental health. And..." Bea hesitated trying to pick her words. "I sometimes suspect that maybe if someone helped you out with that stuff more often, well, maybe you'd be able to be, I dunno, yourself more often. And do the things you can do more effectively. Rather than struggling all the time."

After a few beats, Bea went for another bite of her taco, thinking she was done talking. Mae opened her mouth briefly before Bea continued, "I do these things because I think you're worth it! Not because I think so little of you!" The anger in her voice wasn't obvious, but it was there.

"Hey Beebz." Mae finally interjected.

"What?" Bea asked looking frazzled.

"Thanks." Mae said with a big toothy smile. "Say Bea, did you see anything weird recently?"

"No, why?" Bea asked.

"Because I keep seeing some tall dark figure, I think his name is, Slenderman."

"Wait... Slenderman? The so called, Operator?" Bea looked at Mae with a look of confusion. "After we eat, we'll go to the library."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

After they ate tacos, they went to the library and looked up the Slenderman on the internet. Just like that, there was Slenderman memorabilia. There was absolutely everything about the tall black mass, including a little internet series called Marble Hornets.

"Wooah…" Mae said in awe.

"It says here that The Slenderman is a fictional supernatural character that originated as a creepypasta Internet meme created by Something Awful forums user Eric Knudsen in 2009. He is depicted as a thin, unnaturally tall humanoid with a featureless head and face and wearing a black suit."

"Wait, Fictional? But I actually saw him!" Mae said with a serious look on her face.

"Maybe it's due to your dissociation, we'll probably-"

Mae cut her off, "It's not that, it's... *sigh* You don't believe me, do you?"

"How could I not," Bea interjected, "I believed you when there was a cult that killed our friend, but now some supernatural being that steals kids? I just don't know to be honest."

"Well, look at the sightings and the recent stabbing! It's there, it's all there! We just need to look deeper."

"Mae, we looked and I'm safe to say that they can easily be explained as debunked or simply schizophrenia. What you just seen might be part of your mental illness, nothing more nothing less."

Mae groaned in frustration, "I can't effing believe this! You're saying it's part of my dissociation? So, what, you're gonna say that the Hindenburg Disaster was done by Nazis?"

"Mae, it's alright to have a different opinion on the matter, but at least hear me out. Okay?"

Mae thought about it, but nodded and agreed. They walked out of the building, and chatted some more.

"Did you have a good time with the boys back at the hospital?" Bea asked aloud as she took a few quick puffs from her cigarette."

Yeah, though it was awkward at first." Mae admitted, catching up with Bea.

"How so?" Bea asked raising a brow.

Mae took a deep breath. "They knew about the diapers, and Gregg wanted to talk about it, but Angus didn't want him to upset me, but they were arguing about it in front of me, so Gregg told me anyway, and I assumed you'd told them, so I got real mad at you, but then Angus explained that you didn't, so then I wasn't, but it was all still weird."

"But you sorted it out." Bea stated."

Yeah, and we ate cookies." Mae added.

"And you ate cookies." Bea repeated dryly.

"So... were you worried about me?" Mae teased, an attempt to change the subject.

"Can you blame me?" Bea quipped trying not to smirk."

Yeah, I guess after yesterday..." Mae trailed off suddenly feeling shame.

"Hey! It's ok!" Bea turned to Mae, trying to get the cat to look at her. "I really don't mind!"

"Why not?" Mae demanded in a harsher tone than intended. "I mean... I don't get it. Most people don't go out of the way that you do for me. And with the Slenderman after me, what if he turns me into his servant, like those people on the internet, Tim or whatever? You saw them in those videos, they're merely puppets on strings! You think I want that tall, faceless asshole around me?" Her voice notably softened.

Bea took a drag of her cigarette and exhaled a puff of smoke into the air, as if trying to collect her thoughts. "Mae, I don't want to talk about it right now." Bea declared and continued walking.

"Oh yeah, like taking care of shitty people?" Mae blurted out absent-mindedly. "No wait! I don't mean-" Mae bit her tongue. Bea stopped dead in her tracks, the short cat right behind the tall croc.

Bea exhaled one last breath of smoke, flicking the remainder of the cigarette butt away. Mae could not see Bea's expression, but was nonetheless positive she'd screwed up yet again.

"Look, I get it. My dad was an asshole." Bea stated matter-of-factly, still looking away. "But there's more to him than that. And he deserves a chance."

Bea was huffing by the time she made it to her apartment building; years of smoking having done her no favors. Nonetheless, she'd made it somehow. Catching her breath, she noticed Mae was already standing by the entrance to the building.

"O... kay..." Bea tried to catch her breath for a moment. "We made it." She was relieved, if only for a moment, before she noticed the look of anguish on Mae's face.

"No I didn't..." Mae whined defeated, tears welling up in her eyes. "I'm sorry!""

Mae..." Bea pinched the middle of her nose with her finger and thumb and took a deep breath. "It's ok. Let's just get you in there. We can get you cleaned up."

"I'm so sorry Bea!" Mae looked down at the pavement, tears streaming down her face. "All I do is cause trouble for you!" The disgruntled cat shoved her paws into her eyes, trying to wipe away the tears.

"Mae. Listen to me." Bea put her hands on Mae's shoulders. "None of that, ok? What did I just tell you earlier?" There was a kindness behind the sternness of her voice.

Mae could only muster a nod between open sobs now. Bea got her keys and unlocked the door. Taking Mae by the hand Bea led the sad cat into the building and up to the apartment.

Bea flicked the light switch as she entered her home. She assumed her father must have gone to bed, which was just as well. He had been doing much better, but Bea was still uncomfortable dropping company in on him like this.

"Go to my room." Bea instructed. "I have to put some things away and I'll meet you there in a minute."

Mae did as she was told. Even in the darkened apartment she made her way there with ease. Though walking had become something quite discomforting. Thankfully the diaper she had been wearing appeared to have held up. So far, anyway. Bea's room was still mostly unpacked boxes, but some effort had been made to spruce the place up a bit since last Mae was here. Not wanting to risk leaking onto the bed, Mae decided to simply stand by the door and wait for Bea. Before long Bea walked into the bedroom. Without saying a word the goth lizard started rummaging through her closet. “There we are…” She mused to herself. Having found what she was looking for, Bea turned to Mae. The cat's eyes widened when she noticed the diapers in Bea’s hands. The same kind she wore. She opened her mouth as if to ask why Bea had those in her bedroom of all places.

"Because I think about these things, Maeday." Bea answered the unasked question. "Now, let's get you cleaned up."

Later that night, Mae snuck out of Bea's house and walked to the cemetery, she had got her flashlight out and headed out to visit Casey's grave. But something felt different that night. It was hard to explain, but she felt as though she was being watched. She would constantly look around nervously, only to find that there was nothing around.

The only sounds she heard were the crickets chirping in the grass and the occasional car that passed by. So, Mae spent the entire night on edge, something in the back of her mind telling her that there was somebody (or something) with her in that cemetery. As she got to the grave, Mae noticed that the birds were gone, and there were no cars passing by anymore. Everything was eerily quiet. Just then, she saw what appeared to be a male cat standing about a hundred feet from her. From what she could see, he had an unusual appearance.

He's about the same height as Mae, but his face was mostly covered by a large grinning mouth guard and a pair of steampunk-ish goggles, which had a yellow-ish tint on the lenses. His large brown eyes seemed almost unblinking, but behind his goggles hid sadness and held bags from the lack of sleep. The only part of his face that showed was his pink nose, that was now red from being in the cold. His face wasn't the only part of the stranger, however. His white, sleek, and slender body was covered in a pair of dark blue jeans and a black turtleneck. He had on a slightly baggy green-ish, grey hoody that covered his head. He wore an old pair of black Converse shoes and held two hatchets, one with an old wooden handle and a dull blade, and one with a steel blade with a bright orange handle.

The man drew his hatchets, walked, then ran at Mae and began slashing.

"Oh shit!" Mae said out loud, shocked that this stranger is suddenly attacking her.

Each one of his moves were futile, as Mae moved around, dodging his attacks. Mae began to fight back. The man had just now begun to notice the baseball bat Mae carried around just for protection. She just swung at her attacker, and his response was to swing his hatchets back at her each time she came nearer. The hooded figure managed to chop down the bat, breaking a chunk out of it, but it was still usable. What had just happened astonished Mae.

Gregg was there as he shot the attacker in the back with one of his arrows, then as the man turned around, Gregg shot him in the leg.

"Gregg?!" Mae was taken by surprise by Gregg's heroism.

"That'll teach the bastard! Are you okay, Mae?" Mae didn't know how Gregg got there, everything just exploded into one giant nuke. What the two saw, really blew them away.

The man wasn't phased. He just stood there, took the arrow out of his leg, and continued his pursuit!

"Mae! Run! I'll hold him o-"

Before Gregg can finish, the man socked Gregg in the jaw and slammed the back of his skull against an angel statue, which knocked him out cold.

"Gregg no!" Mae yelled in horror.

The man picked up Gregg's crossbow, and underneath his mouth guard, he said coldly, "Now... Where were we?"

Mae was a good fighter with the bat, but she's no match against a speeding arrow to the face. So she ran as arrows began flying towards her like a barrage of bullets. She climbed up the steel fence that's connected to the gate, and her attacker followed in hot pursuit, shooting arrows in the process. She made it over the fence, and continued, knowing the gate's already locked. But as she looked forward, she felt a sharp pain in her back. She yelled in agony and slowed her pace. She staggered and fell to her knees, then she was now on her side. She reached around her back, and knew she'd been shot, she felt the arrow piercing through her flesh and was deep enough to hit the spinal column. The intense feeling was unbearable, as she laid there in so much pain. She seen people wounded in movies, but feeling it in real life, it was something no one should go through. The pain was enough to make her eyes water, and her lips quiver. She can hear the man's footsteps in the dirt get closer till his shoes was nearly inches from her. She looked up, and saw him staring down at her. He drops the crossbow and reached towards the arrow in his back.

"You know, I don’t know who the fuck you are, but you kinda remind me of myself." He said, then after he yanks it out with that disgusting sound of the arrow being pulled out of his flesh. And slammed it in the dirt, nearly inches from Mae's face, so that the arrow was sticking up. It made her flinch, but soon regained her composure. The man continued, "You got a giant chip on your shoulder, but all you're missing, is a will to fight."

Just then, Mae started to say something towards the man. But she couldn't say much due to the pain, what she meant to say was: what the hell do you want? in a commanding tone.

But what came out. In agony. And in so much pain. Was a one, soft, quiet, whimper.

"W...What...?"

The man sighed, "You have no idea... do you?" He took off his mouth guard and his goggles, and revealed his face to her. He revealed to have a split eyebrow and a few cuts on his face. But that's nothing compared to his mouth, however. The left side of his mouth was torn; revealing his gums and teeth, it's as if a wolf bit a chunk out of his face. Mae wanted to scream at the gruesome site, but all she did was wheeze and pant.

Just as the man smiled menacingly, he raised the hatchet over his head, ready to bludgeon the frightened and injured cat.

"Enough..." A hissing, otherworldly voice pierced through both their minds, like something out of someone's dream. The man's face immediately turned from maniacal plessure, to a look of shock and horror. The uncontrollable killer suddenly shrunk back into a scared little child. He suddenly dropped the hatchet and turned slowly to look behind him, and Mae can see it... The tall faceless figure loomed over the man, who gasped at what he sees. This is what stalked Mae relentlessly, the one, and only... Slenderman.

"M-m...Master..." The man trembled, "I...I didn't mean to- I'm sorry."

"It's him..." Mae said to herself, both in terror and awe of the Slenderman's presence. Then the voice in her head came again. She can see the movements of the Slenderman's blank head. It's as if it's talking, but yet it had no mouth. Then again, she can hear every syllable and sentence of the being, and what baffles her, is that the man can hear it as well.

"Your feelings for your dear sister, and the anger towards your father has given you strength. And I see that you've even embraced it as you struck down the girl. But. I can still see some use for her, and don't want anything happening to her... yet. She still has to except the reality of the situation, and come to grips with the horrors of everyday life. And if that's unnerving to you as it is, then your feelings for your sister has blinded you, and made you even more of a psychotic killer than the boy with the smile carved into his face. And I've already dealt with Masky about the situation, but Toby, my child, I expect more from you."

"I'm sorry master, really I am. D-don't kill me, please master, I beg you to take me to the mansion..." The man, who is apparently named Toby, was literally begging for mercy.

Slenderman then said, "As long as you remain loyal, I shall take you there. But I will not kill you, I still have use for you. And as for you my dear, there is nothing to fear. And I deeply apologize for Toby's incompetence. I have one, final request." The Slenderman teleported to her, knelt down and held out his long, boney hand. "Come with me, and I will make all your fears, all your sorrow, and the agonizing pains of yesterday, all vanish without a trace."

Mae became hesitant, "I... I don't understand."

Toby stepped forward, "I know you don't. He's wanting you to become like us, a proxy."

Mae's eyes grew in shock, "What...? But... But what about my friends, my family, all the great times I had?"

"You will have a chance to see them again, but only for a short time. Your friends and family are merely shadows of their former selves, and the only time they ever cared, is when your in grave danger. But, I can see that you fight for yourself, your fear, your dissociation, and willingness to survive, has given you an inner strength. You will make a perfect member of my proxies... Margret Borowski."

Mae was speechless, she fought the urge to keep silent and asked, "H-how did you know my name...?"

"I've known you as I was your own father... I am centuries old, I know every name of everyone across the globe. I even know your friends names: Gregory Lee, Angus Delaney, and even Beatrice Santello… I can go on forever. But, none of that matters. What matters, is that we finally meet, face-to-face. Even though I don't have one, I can still see yours."

"Mae, he doesn't just offer this to anyone. This is a one-time-deal. If you accept this, he'll make you a warrior, build you up to greatness like he did to me. But, if you back out, you're considered an enemy. But it doesn't have to be that way, though. We can fight this plague together, as brothers and sisters at arms."

"Dude, I thought you hated my guts or something." Mae said.

"That's before I knew that the Slenderman had other plans. Nobody can tell what he's thinking, hell, I can't tell what's going on in his head, and I've been around him for days on end. But, please Mae, we can fight against those meaningless shapes together."

"Wait, how did you-"

"The Slenderman has given me and the others visions of you, Mae. We're not Gods. At least, we're merely soldiers in battle against the ones that started this war. It's us against them, Mae. And if you join us, you'll be rewarded greatly."

Suddenly, the gates were open, and Mae's gaze fell from the Slenderman, to, in her shock...Gregg, who's limping towards her and saw the Slenderman's face. He fell to the ground, and continued crawling, "Mae..." he says, "Mae... Don't give in..." She looks on at the Slenderman, "Please Mae... Don't do this... I d-... don't want you to become...like... like those, assholes... P-please Mae...I-I beg you... Th-think of... our history..."

"What'll it be, Mae; your destiny... or your fate?"

Mae couldn't decide, she looked at Gregg, and at Slenderman for a good solid second. Before... The unimaginable happened...

Her hand giving a firm grip on Slenderman's! Causing Gregg to gasp in shock, anger, betrayal, and most of all, fear.

"Okay... Okay... It's a deal... But, as long as you or your proxies won't harm my friends, nor my family."

The Slenderman looked at Gregg, which made Gregg even more vulnerable to whatever sickness was inflected on him from the dark mass' gaze.

"Deal..." The Slenderman replied. He then picked her up, almost cradling her in his long arms.

"At first, I thought of you as useless garbage. But now, now I see some potential. I give you credit for fending for yourself back there. But... Here's a little secret." Toby leaned in close in her ear. "I don't feel, ANY of it."

Mae suddenly became disoriented, not realizing the arrow in her back has caused her to loose blood. Slenderman can already tell, and makes her go to sleep. "You need rest, my child. Your training starts, tomorrow."

With that... Mae blacks out once more.

Slenderman looks at Gregg, who has his crossbow aimed at the Slenderman's head. But Gregg was still trying not to loose focus due to the Slenderman's presence. "You have no place, in the new world..." Slenderman states, before Gregg shot an arrow at Slenderman's head. But he, Toby, and Mae both vanish before the arrow hit it's mark.

"Mae... Nooo…." Gregg reaches out and says in a defeated, groggy voice, before finally collapsing in the dirt, and blacked out as well from his head trauma from earlier.

Mae wakes up with a gasp, she is in the middle of the woods. She sat up and looked around, hearing nothing but the wind in the trees, and seeing the fog surrounding it, giving it an ominous, eerie atmosphere.

"Sleep well?" Toby replied, giving her a jump scare. "Good, cause when your a proxy, you get very little."

"Where are we?" Mae asked, "There's no civilization anywhere."

"Of course there isn't." Toby answered, "You're in the heart of it all."

"Well, it's a big heart, that's for damn sure. But. Hey... The arrow in my back, it's gone!"

"Heh, you just realized it now?" Toby smiled, "And Masky says I'M the dumb one."

"Hey, you got me into this mess, you should be helping."

"I already did."

"Huh?"

"I pulled the arrow out of your back, and Hoody wrapped up your wound with bandages from his first aid kit."

Mae then noticed there was bandages around her stomach all the way to her back like a belt.

"Who's Hoody?" Mae asked.

"Well, him and Masky are like co-workers in a sense, but Masky. Sometimes I can't fucking stand him."

"Why?"

"Oh, it's nothing really, it's just that he thinks I took his place as the Slenderman's right-hand. Sometimes I just want to slam my hatchet into his forehead on occasions though. Oh well, maybe one day..."

"He's that bad, huh?" Mae asked.

"Yeah, now come on. Your training starts now."

Toby walked with Mae into the mist as he starts her training, as a local proxy.