SAFE HOUSE - CPxR - Chp 9 - Return

At school about three days later, people in the hallways grouped together and parted as you walked by, whispering amongst themselves. In class, everyone would sneak glances at you, still whispering. In your second class of the day, your friend who originally told you about Jeff being caught, slammed their hands down on your desk, making you jump and look up.

"What the hell did you do, (f/n)?!?! You helped a murderer?! What would even possess you to do that?!"

You put your head back down and rolled it to the side, glancing up at them.

"I have my reasons."

"Like what?!"

"I owed him. He saved my life. I saved his. Fair's fair."

"He did not."

"He did." You told them about the incident during the museum field trip, in the back alleyway.

"That's bullshit. Why would he do that, following you?"

"Because Jack told him to. Besides, if I didn't get him off death row, I'd feel bad, plus the rest of his... Friends, who knows what they would do."
"What do you mean, friends?"

"The others. You know, like Eyeless Jack, BEN Drowned or Slenderman."

"You know more than just Jeff the Killer?!"

"Yes. Yes I do." You replied, closing you binder and sliding in into your bag, zipping it shut. By this time, the class was listening to your conversation, eyes barely blinking as they watched.

"What the hell (f/n)?! How did this happen?"

"A slight misunderstanding and Mac'n'cheese. Good bye." You swung you bag up, slipping your arms through the straps and walking out of the class. You were fed up with what was going on, plus nothing important was going on that class, it was just a review period. You could do that at home. You unlocked the door, the house quiet except for the TV. Your father was at work and your mother still out with the rest of her family on the farm.

So far, no one has returned, so you were alone yesterday and the day before. Today, however, a young teen sat in a chair, legs crossed and feverishly attacking a game controller's buttons, watching the screen intently. He blew a short puff of air upwards, which moved some of his brown hair out of his face and off his glasses. 

"Um, hello?" You asked, standing at the front of the room. The kid screamed loudly, much like a scared young child, and hit the start button to pause the game.

"Oh! Um, I'm sorry, you startled me..." He said, voice meek.

"Who are you? I feel like I know you..."

"I go to your school. Well, I used to, anyways. I'm James. Um, Slender told Sebastian and I to watch the house while they were away, in case someone tried something. Seb's in the kitchen."

"Oh, okay, um... How do you know Slender, if you don't mind me asking."

He wrung his hands, clearly nervous. "I, ah... I kinda... Sorta... Killed Tiff... And I freaked out and ran and He found me." His voice got quieter as he spoke.

You blinked. Tiff, or Tiffany, one of the popular girls with a habit of jumping from guy to guy. You had heard about her being killed almost a year ago, they found her heart cut out and pinned to her sleeve and the words "Be Faithful" carved on her skin.

You heard the fridge door slam shut and someone walking out of the kitchen.

"Damn, dunno why there's no energy drinks in there. Really should get some." The male commented. Tall with somewhat tanned skin, he wore what was once a white tank top and now tinted blue, along with faded blue jeans and god knows how many chains. His chain belt had multiple, smaller chains hanging off it. A few more were looped over his shoulder and a pair of aviator sunglasses sat on top of his head. In his arms was a pile of food, ranging from leftover pasta to potato chips along with bottles of pop.

"Why do you always raid the kitchen, Seb?" James sighed.

"Because like no one else does and the food in the manor sucks unless I go and get something. Who's the (chick/dude)?"

"Um, I think (her/his) name is... Umm..."

"(f/n)" You interjected. "Are the rest of them still getting Jeff out?"

"Yeah, but they should be back soon." 

You nodded, and sat down in the TV room, pulling your homework out of your backpack and beginning work on it as James continued his game and Sebastian started to eat.

Later that evening, well after your father came home, (who was finishing paperwork in his study) the back door opened and a loud round of laughing echoed through the house.

"Guess who's back, fuckers?!" You heard Jeff exclaim as he walked into the house. You looked up as he walked in: there was fresh blood on his knife and clothes. In fact, the entire group had blood splattered on them. Jack seemed to be preoccupied by a zip lock bag full of kidneys.

"Jeff, off the carpet, you're dripping blood on it!" You exclaimed, not surprised by the fact, but annoyed by it. He grumbled, but complied, shuffling to the side.

"You know, you guys should probably do some laundry..." You trailed off, looking at the blood covering all of them.

"You guys look like you just came from that opening scene in Hobo with a Shotgun. You know, the one with like, that blood fountain. It looks nasty, clean yourselves." Sebastian scoffed behind you, making you jump and tilt your head back to look at him, due to him being a fair bit taller than you. He turned to look at Morana, who had her gas mask off and was using a small cloth she had soaked with a chemical cleaner to clean the blood and soot off her mask. "Mora, if you're tired and need any help with anything, I-"

"Shut it, asshole. Long day." She snapped, going back to cleaning her beloved gas mask.

"Does she usually act like that towards him?" You leaned towards James slightly and asked. He nodded.

"Yeah, since they met. He keeps trying to get her to date him steadily. Sometimes, she'll go out with him on a date, but only to get him to shut up for a while. I think some of the others are betting on if she actually likes him or not. I think she does, she just denies it all the time." He whispered back to you. You nodded, watching as Jeff and BEN argued over the best way to get blood out of clothes, which quickly turned into a shoving match.

"Just don't wreck anything guys!" You called at them, as they were now rolling around, trying to prove who's boss to the other.
You walked to the kitchen to start making food for those who were more than likely hungry. You dumped meat scraps in a steel bowl for Smile, who practically inhaled the food given to him.

You chuckled and shook your head, making the classic macaroni and cheese that got you into this mess in the first place.

"I guess this is normal, now." You sighed, watching the other proxys cheer on Jeff and BEN, whose fight had been moved outside by an irritated Slenderman. You walked outside to join them, as a shouting match had started between Kenley and Morana.

"GET 'IM JEFF!"

"C'MON BEN YOU GOT THIS!"

"TEN TO ONE, JEFF WINS"

"TWENTY TO ONE, BEN!!"

"THIRTY!"

"ONE HUNDRED!" You screamed, causing the bets between Kenley and Morana to screech to a halt, as Jack looked up from writing the bets down.

"On who?" Morana asked, keeping her eyes on Kenley.

"Smile.Dog!" You beamed.

"He's not even in this fight-"

"YOU'RE ON, KID!" Kenley interrupted Jack.

You whistled and Smile came bounding over from a bush where he was trying to get to a w scarred rabbit who got caught in the branches.
"Sic em, Smile!" You chirped, pointing at the scuffle between Jeff and BEN.

Smile.Dog barked and charged headfirst into the fray.  He quickly side-checked Jeff and pinned BEN to the ground, much to the dismay of the combatants. You held your hand out towards Kenley, and twitched your fingers.
Begrudgingly, she slipped her wallet out and pulled one hundred dollars out, handing it over to you. You counted it, nodded and pocketed the money.

I guess this is normal now. Then again, what is normal? You thought. After all, I'm running a Safe House.

"DAMMIT SEBASTIAN GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE!" Morana screeched, chasing after the tall male, who laughed and held her gas mask above his head as he ran. You shook your head and sighed, scratching Smile's head as you watched Morana tackle Sebastian to the ground.

Eeyup. Normal.