*HERE'S THE NEXT CHAPTER MY LOVELY CREEPS! ENJOY.*

Chapter 32

We set out into town. Jack and Ben went racing off to do their challenge. Masky and Hoodie offered to take care of pirate Sally since obviously Slendy can't do it. And Jeff and I are walking around figuring out where to go for our date. I saw many kids out wearing cute costumes. Everyone tonight was having fun. As I was walking I recognized one house in particular. My house. I miss going there everyday after school. I miss walking through the door only to run upstairs and plop down on my bed to read a good book. Most of all...I miss my parents. I had to go visit them. At least tonight, it is Halloween.

I told Jeff to walk over to my house with me. He kindly obliged. We walked up to the front yard and I immediately got nervous. I wonder if they're even home. Of course they would be. Every Halloween they always stay home to give trick-or-treaters candy. They had to be home, they just had to. I ring the doorbell and wait in silence, the sound of kids cheering and screaming behind me. After a while I thought that they weren't home this time. Maybe they're both busy. Or maybe they're both too distraught to even stay home, especially on a holiday we all used to celebrate together.

Just as a wave of sadness was about to hit I heard the door start to unlock. I looked up and brighten. The door opens and my father is the one to show up. I smiled and so did he. I jumped up on him and gave him a big hug. "Oh my baby girl I've missed you," he says, hugging me and spinning me around. I laugh and say, "I've missed you too! Where's mom?" He was about to answer when a woman stepped out to check the scene. Once she saw me the both of us beamed. "Mom!" I exclaimed and ran in for a hug. She took me into her embrace and slightly cried. "Oh my sweet darling," she said. She pulled back and examined me. "My, my, look at you! You look so beautiful in this costume! And...have you grown muscle?" She squeezes my biceps and I chuckle. 

"Just a little," I said, bashfully, "nothing special." She gave me a smile and then looked to the door. "Who is that outside?" she asked. I turned and beckoned Jeff to come in. He shook his head and gave me a look. I glared and beckoned him again. He shook his head and I groaned. "Excuse me for one moment," I told my parents and walked outside to drag Jeff in. He clawed at the door frame but I managed to pull him in. He grumbled and didn't look at me or my parents. I punched him in the shoulder and he whined. "Jeff, don't be rude," I said and he growled. I looked at my dad and he had a stern look on his face.

"Wait a minute," he muttered. He was silent and then seemed to perk up from a realization. "You're the man who had to take Elizabeth away!" he exclaimed. My mom looked and seemed to change her attitude. Jeff leaned in next to me and said, "This is why I didn't want to come in." I gulped. My parents looked like they were going to pounce on him at any second. I laughed nervously and said, "Um...hehe...n-no he's not...?"

"Elizabeth," my father started, "don't try to cover for him. I recognize a person when I see it." He glares at Jeff and Jeff shifted his feet uncomfortably. My mother walks up to the bleach white killer and seems to be inspecting him. She walked around him and has a curious look. She pokes his cheek repeatedly, making his face twitch every time. My mom finally steps back and says, "What's your name boy?"

"Uh...Jeff," he stammered.

"How old are you?" she asks.

"Eighteen," he answered uneasily.

"Do you go to school," my mom asks, becoming more persistent.

"No," Jeff said, getting a little scared.

"Do you even have an education?" another question from my mom.

"Yes I do."

"Ever enrolled in collage?"

"N-No...."

"Did you drop out?"

"I guess you could say that."

"When did you drop out?

"Um....I don't know....eighth grade?"

"So you have absolutely have no high school education whatsoever?"

"Well...uh-."

"If you don't go to school then what do you do for work?"

Jeff went quiet and after a few seconds started making a weird, uncomfortable noise. "Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeehhhhhhhhhhh." This went on for a while until it was time that I explain instead. I told my parents about him, telling him that he's a killer, which oddly enough they didn't react to when I said it. I explained that he was my protector and vowed to never hurt me. I told them that I live with a bunch of other people like him and that I train in magic and combat to come to my potential as the proxy, which I explained about as well. After I was done they stared at me. Not surprised or angry, just blank. Then my father looked at Jeff, then back at me saying, "That's strangely believable." My mother was hesitant but then smiled at Jeff. My dad held out a hand to him and Jeff gladly took it. "Well, Jeffery," my dad said, "you better be doing a hell of a job protecting my only daughter." Jeff laughed nervously and my father said, "Let's hope you don't kill my daughter."

Jeff was caught a little off guard but then chuckled. Suddenly my father's grip on his hand got tighter and he pulled Jeff down. My dad loomed over him and said through gritted teeth, "Let's really hope you don't kill or hurt my daughter. Because if you do, your hand won't be the only thing I'll be squeezing the life out of...! So be a good boy and do your job." Jeff nodded frantically and my dad let him go. "Well then now that that's settled," he bellowed happily, like what happened right now didn't happen. "Will you be staying a while," my mom asked sweetly. I looked at Jeff, who was clearly spooked by my dad's words but he gave me a look that said it was okay to stay a while.

"Yeah, we'll stay a while," I told my parents. They both smiled and walked into the kitchen. I looked at Jeff and he murmured, "For the first time ever....I'm afraid of someone other than Slenderman. Your father scares me."

"You bet your ass I do," my dad says nonchalantly as he walks from the kitchen to the living room. I can tell this won't be a good experience for Jeff. But at least I'm with my parents. Hopefully my father doesn't end up killing Jeff. He's already got me and Slendy to deal with. 

...

We stayed for about an hour. We had to go soon. Jeff and I still have to go on that date. I told my parents that we had to go and they understood. My mom gave us candy for tradition even though I told her she shouldn't. She just replied with a smile and told me, "Don't be silly." We were walking out the doorway and I hugged my mom and dad lovingly. After a while I let go and Jeff and I had to set off. I waved a good-bye to my parents as we walked onto the sidewalk. I turned and heard the front door close. Even though I was pretty bummed out about leaving my parents I was happy I visited them. That was enough for me to feel some closure.

We walked through the still bustling streets and searched for somewhere to hang out. I thought about going to town square since there's usually a festival nearby every Halloween. I lead Jeff deeper into town and soon we found out that I was right. I quickly dragged Jeff in and immediately rushed around to look for a game. I found a water shooter game where I had to shoot the ghosts. Jeff and I ended up competing in that game. I had won and got a little stuffed ghost holding a Halloween pumpkin bucket. I thought it was cute and I put it in my picnic basket. 

Jeff and I went on to other activities. There was one game that Jeff wanted to play. It was those games where you get a fake mallet and slam it down on a trigger plate as hard as you can and  it would ring a bell of some sort. For some reason I had a feeling Jeff just wanted to play it just to show off. Unfortunately he failed when he missed the trigger plate and slipped onto the ground. He groaned and I laughed. He grumbled as he tried again. After two more tries he finally got it, threw down the fake mallet and flipped it off. I went hysterical with laughter. Once I was done laughing Jeff came up to me with a derpy look on his face. He handed me something and I smiled. He had won me a cute giant squid. I gladly took it and hugged it tightly.

"Thank you," I said. He blushed slightly and said, "You're welcome." I hugged the squid closer and grabbed Jeff's arm. "Now onward my Mexican!" I exclaimed and he laughed. We played several more games, got several more prizes and had several more awkward moments where Jeff failed to come to his manly potentials. But I loved those moments. Jeff decided to be a douche and take me into a haunted house. I protested of the idea but then he reminded me that I lived with a bunch of psycho serial killers. He did have a point so I had no choice but to give in and go into the haunted house with him. An employee gave us a fake lantern and we headed inside. It was really dark, luckily we had the lantern. Jeff turned it on and we started walking. Creepy, disturbing music was playing all over the place and it had a creepy atmosphere.

"This place doesn't look so bad," Jeff cackled as I clung to his arm and my giant squid. He looked down at me and gave me a smile. "Don't be a scaredy cat, Sunshine," he said, "this is all fake. None of it's real. There's nothing to worry about. Nothing will go wrong-."

Suddenly a fake dead body dangles in front of him and he screams. He punched the prop away and dragged me forward. I looked at him and said, "That was the most high pitched scream I ever heard." He frowned and said, "Shaddup! It just caught me off guar-."

Someone in a deformed costume suddenly pops up and Jeff screams again. I'm barely flinching. As we went on through the haunted house Jeff screamed for everything that popped out at him. I just watched him either punch the object/person or watch him shake his maracas out of fear. Finally we came to the end of the haunted house and walked out. Jeff took a deep breath and then made that weird awkward noise again. I rolled my eyes and started walking. "You sound like a dying sheep," I said. He gave me a look and said, "That's because a part of me did die just now."

"And it appears to be your manliness," I taunted. He was going to object to that but he stopped and shrugged. I chuckled and we walked. We decided to get out of the festival and head to the park. It was still open and people were walking about. Jeff lead me deeper into the park. We started walking on a gravel path and into an unoccupied area. I remembered this trail. This is the trail to the abandoned lake. Eventually I could see I was right and I saw the sparkling water. "Why are we going here," I asked Jeff quietly. He held my hand and said, "Why are we not going here?" I chuckled and just let him lead me. We stopped at the lake's edge and Jeff put his hands on my hips.

He took off his hat, not getting the fake wolf ears though so they stayed on. He took off the fake mustache and chuckled. He leaned in slowly, nearing my lips and I would've been happy to indulge but I had another idea. I raised up my giant squid and Jeff ended up kissing it. I giggled and he frowned. "I don't want to kiss the squid," he grumbled. I gasped and petted the stuffed purple cephalopod. "He just wants your love," I told Jeff. He gave me a look and said, "It's a he?" 

"Yes," I replied, "his name is Christopher Bubbles....the third." Jeff stared at me for a while and then suddenly face-palmed himself. I laughed and hugged Christopher Bubbles. Jeff tried to maneuver past my squid but I kept shoving it in his face repeatedly. He finally got past my squid and planted a kiss on my lips. I put a hand behind his neck and leaned in more. Then I pulled away and said, "We can't do this right now."

"Why not?" he asked. I shifted my feet and said, "Because....Christopher Bubbles is here." Jeff gave me a look and I smiled. Then he leaned in and said, "Let him watch."

"What, no," I laughed. He chuckled deeply and kissed me. It was cold out but his lips warmed me up. He pulled me in closer into his embrace. I clutched his hoodie and tip toed slightly. He was really tall but I don't mind it. It's very cute. Jeff gently took off the hood of my red cloak and lowered his head down to my neck. He kissed longingly and I just held onto him. He kissed back up to my jawline and I moaned a little. He kissed my lips and groaned slightly. My face was heating up. I've never felt like this. I've never had someone like me this way. It's a first. But I feel fuzzy. A good kind of fuzzy. 

I hugged Jeff tighter. I don't ever want to let go. I feel a feeling that's greater than any kind of joy. My life hasn't been the easiest. But everyone I have ever loved have been trying to keep it at bay. I never thought I'd meet a bunch killers but I'm glad that I have. It's weird but you learn to live with it. I never want to lose anyone, including Jeff. He can be a real pain in the ass sometimes but he makes up for it somehow. My heart beats rapidly whenever I'm around him. Whenever he gives me affection it's the best thing ever. My feelings are jumbled and fuzzy. But...now I think I have a clear idea of what I feel towards Jeff. 

After a while we pulled back from our kiss and breathed. Jeff leaned his head against mine and held my hand tightly. I didn't mind the pressure. I loved the warmness of his hold. I blushed and smiled bashfully. I quickly kissed him and hugged him tightly, burying my face into his chest. He seemed taken aback but then chuckled and wrapped his arms around me. That was the first time I've kissed him first. He always does it first. It feels nice. No wonder Jeff does it so much. He pulled back and cupped my face. He leaned his head against mine again and started to speak. "Ellie," he started, "I....I'm not sure how to say it....dear lord this is awkward." I giggled and he seemed to brighten up a little. "Ellie...I-."

"Sneak attack bitches!!!" someone yelled out of the blue. Jeff turned only to be pelted by a random water balloon and tackled down. I just stood there, wondering what just happened. A figure walked out from the trees and laughs. "Headshot!" the figure yelled. I looked closer and saw Hoodie, in his Shifty costume, full of satisfaction. I looked over at whoever tackled Jeff and it was Masky, in his Lifty outfit, who got up. "Hi," he said and started walking back over to Hoodie. I looked over and now Sally was with them, happy as ever with a bucket full of candy. I heard Jeff groan and say, "What the hell man?! It's freezing cold and you pelt me with a water balloon?!"

"Don't forget tackled down," Masky added. Jeff growled and took off the wolf ears he still had on. He gave them to me, picked up a maraca and said, "Hold my ears girl! Shit about to get cray cray!" He then charged after Masky and Hoodie waving the maraca in the air. He jumped on both of them and started beating them with the instrument. All I heard was screaming, the shakes of the maraca and Sally laughing with glee at the sight. I just watched, holding Christopher Bubbles tightly. Jeff finally got up and walked back over to me, huffing. He dropped the maraca and sighed. "Now...," he started, "where were we?" Suddenly another water balloon pelted him and he blew it. "Son of a bitch!" he yelled and went after Masky and Hoodie.

Apparently it all went out of hand and I got involved in the fight. We pelted water balloons at each other, but I'm avoiding it all. Finally I got hit and it was Jeff who made the shot. He laughed and I chased after him. He ran off into the trees and I had to keep up. Damn he was going far into the park! And he was pretty fast. I could still see his white hoodie as I was running though so I still knew which direction he was going. But he suddenly turned into another direction and I ended up losing track of him once the area got thicker with trees and bushes. I couldn't see him anymore. I sighed and kept running. I was bound to run into him. 

After a while of running around and not finding any sign of him I decided to head back to the lake. Unfortunately I had no idea how to get back from where I was. So I wandered around aimlessly with no one around to help me. I went further into the park, hoping to see Jeff or Masky, or Hoodie or even Sally. Where's Christopher Bubbles when I need him? 

I must've walked around for about an hour or so because I made it to the park's metal fence. I looked through to see a field and a few trees and houses. I sighed and decided to walk along the fence to find my way back. It was dark and I could barely see anything. Only the moon gave off light and the light was dim from where I was. I was getting annoyed by this but just kept walking. As I kept going I saw something stuck on top of the fence. I walked over to it and managed to see it clearly. I almost jumped out of my skin. Luckily it wasn't what I thought it was. At first it looked like a dead body but it was just a scarecrow. Strange, what's something like this doing out here, especially stuck on the fence.

I looked at it closely. The maker of the scarecrow gave it a female shape. It wore a dress stitched together out of rags and it only had bandages around its legs and feet as shoes. The hair was dark and it had empty eye sockets and a jagged smile. I poked the hand but of course nothing happened. I shouldn't get worked up. It's Halloween, I'm sure this was a prank done by some kids. I looked back at the scarecrow. It looks slightly realistic. Like it's practically a costume. Whoever made this did a great job. I decided to try and lift the thing off of the fence. I grabbed the waist carefully and slowly lifted it off, being careful not to tear the body. Man this thing was heavy. I thought scarecrows are made of straw, not friggin' bricks. It's like I'm carrying a person for God's sake!

I managed to get it down and onto the ground. I loomed over it and eyed it. No scratches or anything. I thought I'd just leave it here for park security to find and take care of. I started walking when I heard grass crunch. I turned around only to see that the scarecrow was gone.

The scarecrow....is gone....

I actually wondered if it really was a person dressed up in a costume. But it would've been impossible for the person to move. The fence pierced through them. They would've been dead. I got a little panicky and looked around for them. God, where did they go?I decided to just go back to what I was doing before and that was following the gate back to the entrance. I still had a suspicious feeling racking at the back of my head. I had to push it aside though. As I walked I heard grass crunching. It wasn't me, I know because the footsteps were off beat with mine. I turned around to find nobody. I breathed a little heavier and picked up my pace. More footsteps out of place with mine. I looked all around for any sign of anything. Nobody.

I just started running, not taking any chances to keep walking. With every hasty step I hoped to find the entrance of the park. The faster I ran the faster the other footsteps went. I heard metal scraping, like a metallic object was being dragged across the fence. My heart beat with every noise. I know someone is following me. I just hope I'm fast enough to lose them. The scraping got louder and louder and louder. The footsteps became quicker and quicker and quicker. My heart only beat faster and faster and faster. Someone is after me. I don't know who but I don't want to find out. I ran along the fence only for it to change into a corner. I made a quick turn and kept running. After that I heard no more footsteps or scraping. But I wasn't about to check for anything.

After a while of not hearing any noises I dared to look back. Something was there. I stopped for a second to try and focus on it. It was a figure. A human figure. I thought it was one of the park security but something felt off about the figure. I watched it as it grew larger and larger. Then I realized that it wasn't growing larger. 

It was coming closer...

I started running when something gripped my leg and I tripped. I fell down harshly and looked to see what grabbed my leg. My eyes widened at the figure from before. I realized my stupidity as it was the scarecrow. Why did I take it down? I should've left it there. I crawled away from it as I kept my gaze on it. The head moved as I did, never turning away. It started walking towards me. I panicked and quickly got up to run but I was pulled back by the hood of my cloak. I slipped out of it and turned to face the scarecrow. It eyed my cloak then turned to me. It threw the red cloak across the ground in rage and pulled out something. It was a scythe. The blade still covered in what looks to be blood. My heart pounded and something unexpected happened. The scarecrow.....spoke.

"Such a frail little girl," it said, the voice gentle but menacing, "surprising that you are the proxy. I expected more. No matter, I'll be rewarded greatly for capturing you. So I would like to make this easier on you, duckling. You can give in and come with me, without any harm, and serve as a slave for My Lord. It's simple really. However...if you refuse to surrender I'll have no choice but to use force." She raised her scythe up and said, "I'm sure you wouldn't want that, know do you? So be a smart girl and choose the right decision." I was trembling in fear and anger. I managed to pull myself together and stand straight. What I said next was so stupid in this situation, yet it was the right thing to say.

"I won't give in," I said strictly, yet deep inside I wanted to whimper and run. She frowned and huffed. "Well, if that's your final answer then so be it. I'll make sure you suffer the worst torment possible...!" She lifted the scythe up higher and laughed wickedly. All I could hear was her wretched laughter as she swung the scythe around towards my head. Why did I take her down? Why did I ever take her down...?