Chapter 3 A House Full of Gamers & Secrets of A Dead Boy Who Still Suffers

Ben has to admit that although he trusted his friends a lot, there were a few things that the elf has kept a secret to them. Normally, there are a few secrets that you haven't told, not even your precious pet, right? Well, whether you do or do not does not matter anyway. There are only a handful of people who know Ben's secrets, but he isn't worried about them snitching to Slender or his friends.

It's weird, but Ben even trusts these guys on what is going on in his life at the moment. Ben theorizes the reason behind this is because everyone in that house acts as a "therapist" to the other and instead of a house, it has become like a graveyard of secrets. Speaking of graveyards, Ben hasn't visited his tomb since three years. Well, even if you are a ghost it would still be creepy to visit your own resting place.

"But dad invites me everytime, I can't really refuse him." Ben sighed as he walked by with grocery bags on his hands. Ever since he joined Slender's side, he chose to live in a house instead of his game. A house right next an old man that does garage sales every once in a while, a house he's known for years.

Mr. Lawman is or was his father when Ben used to be alive, the man still lives though he isn't so young as to lift a box full of toys all by himself anymore. When Ben had moved into the house next door, he made sure to always visit his father… even though his housemates say that it's hurting him even more.

"There he is." A blue creature that resembles the actual Sonic, but with black eyes and red pupils was waiting for him. It would be hard to imagine a human sized Sonic standing in your living room with his arms crossed, but does anything even make sense in this fic anymore?

"Exe."

"So, we need to talk." Exe said and Ben put the groceries on the living room table. "But, after you're done." Ben rolled his eyes and took the groceries bags with him again as Exe jumped on the TV. After putting everything away, Ben changed into his link's clothes and jumped into the TV.

Once inside, everything was dark with a few codes in green here and there. From each side, there were three doors. Ben entered the dark blue door and no matter how many times he's been there before, it was still breathtaking to see the Green Hill Zone in the flesh. Albeit, a dark version of it. Ben walked at his own pace as he heard the waves of the red blood ocean clash against one another.

"Well, I'm here." Ben said as he spotted Exe leaning against a palm tree. "What's up?"

Exe glanced at Ben before looking back at the ground. "I've been thinking about my existence again." Ben walked closer to Exe and leaned on the palm tree next to where he was. "I mean, if I wasn't created as some stupid urban legend, I wouldn't have ever existed."

Ben remained quiet, the only thing that was best was to let Exe talk it out. "I'm just an 'Anomaly'," Exe sighed. "I exist because I was born out of the belief of a shit ton of morons who believed strongly to my legend."

"Which is why I'm glad you were born." Ben said as they turned to look at each other. Ben offered Exe a small smile. "I'm glad you exist, I don't know how I would have dealt with these idiots if you weren't here." Exe chuckled and returned Ben's small smile. A comfortable silence settled between them.

"Thanks, Ben."

"No problem." He said. Ben bid farewell to Exe as he started to run somewhere and walked back to the living room. He sat on the couch, exhausted. Ben grabbed the pillow of the couch and slammed it on his face as he let out a muffled scream. He put the pillow back and laid his head down on it. Ben kept thinking about a certain Woods and it wasn't his best friend. He felt betrayed, Ben thought that Liu really considered him a friend. "Well, I am his brother's best friend, why did I ever think he would trust me?" Ben asked no one in particular.

"Because you're an idiot."

"What do you want, Steven?" Ben sighed as he stared at the pokemon trainer with half his body out of the TV. Steven chuckled and rested his chin on his right hand with a smirk.

"Annoy you, of course." Steven pulled back to avoid being hit by the pillow Ben threw at him before going back to his initial position. "But seriously, is this about the Woods brothers again?"

"So what if it is."

"Nothing, but don't you think it's weird to be friends with both of them?" Steven asked and Ben sat up with a frown.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, if I was Jeff, I would be uncomfortable knowing that my best friend is in touch with a family member whom I don't talk to anymore." Steven said. Ben stayed quiet for a minute, widened his eyes once he realized something. Ben felt more guilty and excused himself to his room. Ben slid down the door and hung his head low.

"I'm such a fucking idiot." Ben mumbled. He hugged his knees and buried his face in them. He heard a phone ring and materialized his inventory to take out the burner phone he bought last year. "Hello?"

"Ben?" Liu's voice. Ben widened his eyes before glancing away in shame.

"What do you want?" Ben asked, feeling as though today was 'Annoy Ben Day'.

"Heh, Someone's in a bad mood."

Ben sighed. "Liu, why did you call? The meeting isn't until two days." There was a long silence and Ben glanced at the phone worried.

"I thought you said I could call you whenever?"

Ben felt all his mistakes caught up to him. "I'm sorry Liu, but I just realized that you and I should have never talked more than we should to begin with." Ben said with a forced laugh. "Besides, you were using me to know about Jeff's whereabouts and lied to me about yours."

"Ben-"

"You don't even trust me, so I don't know why I thought we could be friends." Ben noticed his vision had become blurry and Ben closed his eyes to prevent any tears from falling down. Why does it hurt a lot? All Ben could see is Jeff with a hurt expression turning his back on him. "Stop talking to me, unless it's about the plan." Ben said before hanging up. He materialized his inventory and put the phone away.

He stood up and laid down on his bed. This was for the best, right? Ben's blood tears started falling down, hitting and staining his pillow. Ben closed his eyes, he would do anything for his best friend. It was thanks to him that he was given the Immunity Pass and saved him after all.

"Are you okay?" Mr. Lawman asked as he glanced at Ben with a worried look. Ben smiled at his father in a reassuring manner, but the dark circles under his eyes contradicted everything.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Are you sure? If you're not feeling well we could always have dinner some other time."

Ben shook his head. "I'm fine, really, besides tomorrow you're going to visit your son right?"

Mr. Lawman smiled sadly at the thought of that. "Yeah."

Ben gulped. "I can go with you this time."

"Really? But, don't you have to work?"

Ben laughed. "You could say I was given some small vacations."

Mr. Lawman smiled. "Alright, then we can meet up for breakfast before going."

"Sure." Ben said, though he was already regretting it on the inside. The things he does just to be with his dad.

"You look like shit." Johnny said, Liu rolled his eyes at him before he continued to sharpen his knives.

"He always looks like shit, that's his whole deal." Jason said, taking a seat next to Johnny. Johnny nodded in agreement. Liu just ignored them, but normally he would have at least tried to snap back at them. Jason and Johnny glanced at each other surprised. Something must have happened to have the youngest killer in such a bad mood.

"Maybe he fought with his brother again?" Johnny whispered to Jason.

"But they haven't even talked since then, besides he looks worse than when he saw his brother." Jason whispered back. As both friends tried to figure out what was wrong with Liu, Dr. Smiley walked into Liu and Jason's room.

"Oh my, someone looks pretty down." Smiley said, smiling teasingly as he glanced at Liu. Just like before, Liu decided to ignore everyone and focus on his knives. "You know, if something's bothering you, you should try to talk it out with the person you're having a problem with."

"Hey, wait a minute Smiley! That's suicidal." Johnny said. Smiley raised an eyebrow at him. "Didn't you see what happened when you-know-who came last time?" He explained.

Smiley stared at him before chuckling. "I wasn't referring to Jeff." At that, Liu stopped his movements and glanced at the doctor. Smiley smirked at him. "Want a doctor's appointment?"

Liu stood up.

"How do you know so much?" Liu asked once he sat down on the chair across from Smiley's desk.

"Well, I'm a demon so of course I know everything." Smiley said with a chuckle. "So, you used to talk to Ben a lot, but since you look so down I assume something happened?"

Liu stayed quiet for a minute as he frowned and glanced at his feet. Smiley tried his hardest not to laugh, despite Liu being twenty-one already he looked like a sulking child at that moment. "Yeah, we… started talking when I was 17."

Smiley nodded. Liu has been living with them for a year, so going back to that incident, Smiley knows that Liu at some point did live in Neutral territory. "And how long have you been in love with Ben?" He asked, smiling as he rested his chin on his right hand. It was fun to listen to love stories amongst their own kind, they were always funny or tragic.

Liu blinked and glanced up at Smiley surprised. "How did you…"

"It's obvious to see and you wouldn't be this upset if Ben didn't mean anything to you." Smiley said, his smile widened when (if he squinted closely) he saw the light blush on Liu's cheeks and tip of his ears. "So, what happened?"

Liu sighed. "That's what I want to know too." Smiley hummed amused and encouraged Liu to continue. "When I walked out to the garden with my burner phone, I called him and," Liu stopped, frowning again. "He said we should stop talking to me unless it's important."

"I see." Smiley said. "I still think you should talk to him."

"And how the fuck will I do that if Slender's territory isn't letting anyone from other sections enter?"

Smiley smirked. "Well, I never said you had to talk to him in his own house." He said. Liu raised an eyebrow at him. "But anyway, tomorrow you'll go visit your parents, right?"

Liu sighed. "Yeah."

"Well, as a doctor, I already recommend talking to Ben but try to keep an open mind, kid." Smiley said, opening the door for Liu. The younger Woods rolled his eyes.

"I'll try." He said.

"Ben, are you sure about this?" Silver asked, holding Ben's scarf as he mentally counted the seconds before his arms disappeared. Ben smiled tiredly at Silver before taking the scarf.

"Yeah, I mean, I have seen my own tombstone before."

"Well, yeah, but we can see that it still hurts you." Silver said, looking at Ben with a worried expression. Ben laughed and patted his friend on the head.

"I'll be fine." Ben said and before Silver could protest, Ben had changed into his human appearance and walked out of the house. Mr. Lawman was already waiting for him in the car. "I'm ready." He said, forcing a smile. Mr. Lawman smiled back and started to drive away from Slender's territory. They stopped by a small diner that they used to frequent a lot for breakfast.

Despite Ben not coming in a long while, when he ordered "the usual", the woman already knew what he meant. Now, Ben is already dead and he shouldn't have any hunger. But, right now he is hanging out with his father and although he can no longer taste food (sometimes he eats out of habit), he needs to pretend to enjoy it.

"You know, even though I go visit my son sometimes," Mr. Lawman chuckled as he took a sip of his coffee. "I have this strange feeling that he's not really gone." Ben might be dead, therefore he shouldn't feel anything. Yet, why after so many years can he still feel pain in a heart that is no longer there?

Ben smiled sadly at his father. "Maybe he is, in a way." He said, glancing at his half eaten omelete. "Maybe he is taking care of you from above."

"Maybe." Mr. Lawman said. "I pray that he's already in peace."

"I'm not." Ben thought. "I'm sure he is." He ended up saying. After their breakfast, they continued on the road until they arrived at the graveyard. Ben's right hand started trembling, but he stopped it by putting his other hand on top. "We're here." He said.

Mr. Lawman and Ben walked inside the graveyard. Ben was already feeling bad and could see a few ghosts wandering around here and there. Not that his father would see them. They arrived and Mr. Lawman replaced the withered flowers with a new small bouquet of peonies. Ben stared at his own resting place in secret distress. He gulped before glancing away.

As Mr. Lawman "catches up" with his son. Ben glanced around at the few ghosts in the area, there was a small boy running around while giggling, an older woman sitting atop of her tomb while a soldier was talking with her. Ben sighed and tugged a little at his green scarf. Somehow, he ended up thinking about Liu. How was he doing? Was he mad about what Ben had done? Probably. But it was for the best.

Besides, it's not like he'll meet him anytime sooner. Though, that black and white scarf from the gentleman over there does look identical. Ben froze and his (current) brown eyes connected with a familiar pair of green. "Oh, is that your friend?" Mr. Lawman asked once he noticed Ben was staring at something.

"Y-Yeah, he is." Ben said hesitantly.

"Oh well, you can catch up to him if you want, I don't mind." Mr. Lawman said with a kind smile. Ben felt like crying, but he only nodded and hesitantly walked over to where Liu was.

"H-Hi." Ben said, glancing away nervously.

"Hi." Liu said dryly. Ben was mentally cursing himself and tried to ignore the pain in his chest. Liu glanced back at the joint tombstone where his parents rested. "I thought you didn't want to talk to me anymore."

Ben flinched. "Well, yeah I don't want to anymore." Liu hummed and glanced at Ben, then at the man he was with. Mr. Lawman kept talking to his son's tombstone. Ben noticed his gaze and crossed his arms. "Don't ask."

"I wasn't going to." Liu sighed. He remembered what Smiley had told him yesterday and took a deep breath. "Hey, can I ask why you decided to stop all this?" He said, glancing at Ben. Ben felt his body tensed up and glanced down at his feet. He couldn't tell Liu the reason why he cut connections with him.

Ben dug his nails on his right arm. "I can't tell you."

"Well, that hurts." Liu said sarcastically, but Ben could really see the hurt in those pretty green eyes. Ben wonders if he is a defective ghost, one that somehow still feels pain and suffering. On second thought, isn't that the only thing ghosts feel? But then, why? Why is it that even after they all died, they can still feel all those negative emotions. It doesn't make sense to Ben.

"Sorry."

"Is it because of my brother?" Liu asked and Ben looked up at him with wide eyes. Liu smiled bitterly. "So I was right.��� There goes another reason to hate his brother and kill him.

"No, no, I-"

"That's fine." Liu said, putting his hands on his pants pockets. "I suspected as much." Liu turned around to leave. Ben was feeling worse than before and wanted to reach out to Liu, but he couldn't. No, he mustn't. Ben clenched his fists.

"I'm sorry." Ben whispered as he saw Liu walk away. He felt tears threatened to fall and crouch down as he put both of his hands on his head. "I'm a real fucking idiot." He let out a shaky sigh. Ben glanced to his right, the joint tombstone. The top read Woods while the bottom had both Jeff and Liu's parents' names.

"Zack?" Mr. Lawman called out to him, putting a cautious hand on his back. "Are you okay? What happened to your friend?" Ben stood up and rested his forehead on Mr. Lawman's shoulder. His father was surprised by the gesture, but didn't mind it since he saw "Zack" like his own son. Ben couldn't deal with all this guilt and regret, he was at his limit. Mr. Lawman started to pat his head when Ben couldn't help but cry.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Mr. Lawman asked with a worried tone. Ben shook his head as he let out a sob. "I understand, but I'm always willing to hear you out, after all you've done so much to me."

Ben closed his eyes as he tried to calm down. He was a real fuck up, wasn't he?

Sally narrowed her eyes and pouted while holding her chin as she stared at two familiar black haired killers. Jeff glanced away nervously with a frown while Helen just stared back at her with an unamused look. She pointed at them. "Why haven't any of you come visit me!?"

Jeff sighed and Helen rolled his eyes. "Here we go again." Helen sighed.

Sally dramatically put a hand on her chest and glanced away with an exaggerated sigh. "I guess when your children grow, they stop wanting to visit their parents."

"Shut up, you are just older than us by a year!" Jeff exclaimed as he pointed at Sally annoyed. Sally took a deep breath before hitting Jeff in the head with a hardcover book. Jeff shouted in pain as he held his head and Helen put a hand on his mouth to avoid laughing.

"Kids these days." Sally said annoyed. "Anyway, are you guys Christmas shopping?" Sally asked, her eyes shining while putting her hands together.

"Yes, we are."

"Are you guys doing the secret santa this year?" Jeff asked, putting his hands inside his hoodie pockets. Sally nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah!" She smiled, but then her face morphed into annoyance. "But sadly, I got Nathan." Helen tensed up at the mention of that name. Jeff glanced at him. "What about you guys?"

"Us too, I got Nick." Jeff said with a shrug.

"I got Mr. Widemouth himself." Helen sighed. Jeff and Sally patted his back. "Why does he have to be so damn picky!?"

"Why don't we go together! I'm good at picking gifts." Sally said with a smile. Helen teared up a little as he grabbed both of Sally's hands.

"I'm in your care, mom." Helen said. The three of them laughed.

"What would Nick want? Something medical related?" Jeff asked as he tilted his head to the side. Sally rolled her eyes.

"I don't think a doctor would want medicine as a gift."

"She's right, you know." Sally perked up at the voice while Jeff made an annoyed face before both of them stared at Jack. He was staring down at Jeff with a smirk while Jeff looked away unamused. Sally glanced between them before smiling mischievously.

"Long time no see, Jack!"

"Hey Sally! How is Pain?" Jack asked, knitting his eyebrows with a small smile. Sally put her hands on her hips as she sighed.

"He's been spacing out a lot lately, but other than that good." Sally said. "What are you guys going to do for Christmas? Me and Jeff will be doing Secret Santas!"

"Ah, that's nice." Jack chuckled as he glanced at Jeff with narrow eyes. Sally put a hand on her mouth so they wouldn't notice her wide smile. "Though, we don't really celebrate Christmas."

"Ha? Why not?" Jeff asked, raising an eyebrow at Jack while putting a hand on his hip.

Jack shrugged. "We just don't."

Sally giggled. "Well, I'm glad we bumped into you Jackie! Jeff is picking a gift for Nick, but as you can see he only cares about him."

"Can't blame me." Jeff said, rolling his eyes. Sally nudged him in annoyance.

"Can you help him? Helen is the one who needs the most help right now."

"Sure, I have a lot of free time right now."

Sally smirked. "Sure you do, well thanks!" Sally chirped up before walking to the electronics section, where Helen was buying a gift for Ben. She playfully hit Helen on his back, before smiling up at him. "Ready to pick Mr. Widemouth's gift?"

Helen sighed. "Not really, but I trust you." Sally and Helen walked around the mall, not really seeing anything that could be Mr. Widemouth approved. "Hey, you and Ben used to be very close, right?" Helen asked when they sat down on the food court for a break.

Sally smiled sadly at Helen. "Yeah, we were."

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Did Ben ever hide something from you or try to shoulder everything by himself?" Sally widened her eyes before glancing down at her hands with a frown. Helen sighed, he saw it coming. Ben has been acting very weird ever since the meeting.

Sally knitted her eyebrows. "Ben… tends to do that a lot." Helen rested his chin on his right hand, paying attention to what Sally wanted to say. "He would blame himself a lot whenever I got hurt by Slender," Sally chuckled. "I remember how he used to hate Jeff because of that, but even I knew that Jeff didn't ask for that."

"Do you know if he has any secrets?"

Sally glanced away with a grim expression. "That's not for me to say." Helen felt hurt and frowned down at the table. "But, if you are asking me about this… then, he must be in great pain right now."

"And, what do you suggest we do?"

Sally smiles sadly at him. "Wait for him and when he opens up, hug him as tight as you can." Sally takes a deep breath and sighed. "After all, we are all battling with our own demons, are we not?"

Helen smiled. "Yeah, you're right."

"Now, come on! I think I have an idea as to what gift would fit Mr. Widemouth." Sally laughed and stood up full of energy. Helen chuckled as he followed Sally close behind. After the shopping is done, he would talk to Jeff about Ben.

"You look like total shit." Exe said once Ben had returned from the graveyard. Ben was too tired to deal with the blue hedgehog, so he decided to ignore him and walked inside the TV. He opened the green door and a little wind hit his face. He stared up with blood-shot eyes at the Clock Tower.

There was no music playing, but Ben had already memorized it from a long time ago. He gave a small smile, remembering the nights he would stay up late in secret to play this game. "Home sweet home." He said.

"You're not going to eat dinner with us?" Smiley asked, opening the door to the small garden behind the hospital. Liu was sitting on the bench next to the door with one leg up and his arm resting atop of his knee. He shook his head as he stared blankly to whatever was in front of him, Liu wasn't really paying attention to his surroundings at the moment.

Smiley sighed and closed the door behind him, he leaned on the door and stared up at the night sky. It was clear to see that talking with Ben hadn't worked out. "I hate my brother." Liu said, breaking the silence. "I really hate him, that's why I want to kill him."

"I see." Smiley closed his eyes and smiled.

"He… wouldn't tell me." Liu said, glancing down at the ground. Smiley hummed as he opened his eyes and glanced at Liu. "I don't know what to do."

"Maybe he has his own reasons."

Liu snickered. "Like?���

"I don't know, I'm not Ben." Smiley said with a shrug. "But, well, you tried your best didn't you?"

"I don't know." Liu said. Smiley sighed as he put a hand on his nape.

"I know your twenty-one, but you sure are as annoying as a teenager, you know?" Smiley said. Liu glared at him while the demon laughed. "In any case, it's your choice now, are you going to give up on him like an idiot or battle your way in?" Smiley asked with a smirk and a mischievous glint in his eyes.

Liu stared at him before glancing up at the dark sky. "Alright, I get it," Liu clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Just leave me alone already."

Smiley chuckled as he opened the door. "Oh my~ You and your brother sure are alike, huh?" He said before going back in. Liu glared at the door before standing up and taking a walk around the garden. He hated the most when people still treated him like a kid.

Three days have passed, it was time to go to the meeting. Though, Ben was nervous. He hadn't come out of Majora's Mask after that whole incident and although he received a lot of missed calls from his father and friends, he just isolated himself. When Ben walked out of Helen and Jeff's TV, he was surprised to see Sadie with them.

"Ben!" Jeff shouted with a smile once he noticed his friend had come. Ben tried to say something before Jeff put an arm around his shoulders. "Tell these idiots that watching Beastars doesn't make me a furry."

Sadie laughed as Helen rolled his eyes. "Dude, just admit that you are a furry."

"I'm not a furry, you asshole!" Jeff shouted in annoyance. Ben blinked before bursting out laughing. Yes, this is the same people he's been friends with for a long time. He forgot for a moment there that these idiots would always be there to cheer him up. They are… his new family.

Feeling slightly better, Ben smirked. "I mean, that's debatable."

"Come on!" Jeff sighed as Helen and Sadie made fun of him.

��It's rare to see you here, Sadie." Ben said as he sat down next to Helen.

"I know, I just came here to discuss what we should bring on Christmas and ended up talking about furries." Sadie said with a smile. "Well, I still have some gifts to buy, so I'll be leaving. It was nice to see you Ben. "

"Bye Sadie."

"Tell Nick that he's a pain in the ass for me." Jeff said with a smirk. Sadie chuckled as she shook her head playfully. When Sadie left, it was back to being just the idiotic trio again. "Dude, you have no idea how hard it was to find a fucking present for Nick!" Jeff plopped down next to Ben and sighed dramatically.

Ben chuckled. "Oh? I thought you would end up buying him pills or something since he works with Nurse Ann."

Helen snickered. "He was that close to do it."

"Shut up! You couldn't even choose Mr. Widemouth's gift without help."

Ben raised an eyebrow as he glanced between his friends. "You guys helped each other with the gifts?"

"Fuck no!" both killers said in unison. "Sally helped me." Helen said.

"Sally?"

"We bumped into her when we were going to the mall." Jeff explained.

"Oh."

Helen smirked at Jeff. "Though Jeff got helped by someone else~"

Jeff glared at Helen and Ben smirked in amusement. "Oh~ please do tell." Jeff rolled his eyes.

"It was Jack, no big deal about it."

"What!? Tell me everything!" Ben said, shaking Jeff by his shoulders. Jeff put a hand on Ben's arm so he could stop and smiled arrogantly.

"Okay, okay, I'll tell you."

The day of Christmas shopping

"I'll just buy him a shirt and that's it." Jeff sighed, giving up when they were barely starting to look for a decent gift. Jack shook his head and rested his arm on Jeff's shoulder.

"Do you even know what size he is?"

"I don't know, small?"

Jack hummed in thought. "What size are you? Let me guess, medium."

"Well that's obvious!��� Jeff said, annoyed. "I don't even know why you're helping me, I can do it by myself with no problem."

"Really now?" Jack asked with a smirk. Jeff felt like punching that smirk off his face. "Then go ahead and choose a shirt Nick would like."

Jeff stared at him with suspicion. That was a trap and Jeff knew it. "You used to live in Slender's territory, right?" Jack clicked his tongue in annoyance while Jeff smirked victorious. "You know Nick, right?"

Jack was quiet for a minute. "Yeah, we used to work together."

"Oh, really?"

"Well, let's just say I was part of the medical assistance in his jurisdiction."

"Did you work with Nurse Ann too?" Jeff asked, feeling interested about Jack's time living in the hellhole he is in right now. Jack sighed. He motioned Jeff to walk with him and stared at Jack, expecting.

"I was the main doctor there."

"No shit!"

"Yeah, but that's all in the past."

Jeff pouted. "Why did you leave and how?" Jack stopped dead on his tracks and Jeff raised an eyebrow at him in confusion until he saw the glare Jack was giving him. He had hit a nerve he shouldn't have.

"That's none of your business." Jack said in a defensive tone. Jeff felt annoyed at that. He was just asking, he could have said he didn't want to talk about it more nicely.

"Well, sorry but if I'm going to help you, I think it is my business."

Jack scoffed. "Right."

"If you're not going to help, just leave me alone," Jeff sighed. "I'll give him money or something." They stayed quiet for a few minutes, an awkward tension between them. Jack grabbed Jeff by the arm and pointed to a music store.

"Last I knew, he was most of the time listening to music," Jack sighed. "I assume you two have similar music taste, so just buy him an album."

Jeff glanced at him. "Uh, thanks?"

"Yeah, I'm gonna leave, I'll see you in two days." Jack said before ruffling Jeff's hair and walking away. Jeff stared at his back unamused before walking inside the store and buying a Gorillaz album. He isn't sure if Nick likes that type of music, but he could show him what good music is with that gift.

"And that's what happened." Jeff said with a shrug. Ben and Helen stared at him unamused. "What?"

"I thought it would be more-"

"Spicy."

"Well sorry, but we just don't get along that much."

"Right," Helen said before standing up to stretch. "Well, any ideas on how to kill time before going to the meeting?"

Tim wanted so bad to just lay lazily in bed with Toby in his arms. Yet, here he was, guarding the "entrance" of Slender's jurisdiction that led to the second neutral land. Tim knows about Jeff's situation, but he can't help but feel annoyed that their boss was acting like a cringy obsessive anime girl that those weebs like so much. A celopath as real people call it. "I wish I could get paid for this bullshit." Tim sighed in annoyance.

"Masky!"

"Well, if it isn't Nina." Tim said, crossing his arms as he noticed the young female killer. She was carrying a box with a strange logo. "Out on a delivery, I see."

"Well, I gotta earn some extra bucks somehow," Nina laughed. "Any plans for christmas?"

Tim shook his head. "None, Slender is unpredictable so we stopped celebrating it a long time ago."

"Oh, that's sad." Nina said, knitting her eyebrows together for a second. "Well, I must get going, but if you want to at least give a small gift to Toby leave us a call!" Nina said, winking before walking away. A gift, huh? Tim thought. Somehow, after the proxies agreed to stop celebrating Christmas, they haven't exchanged gifts or anything of the sorts. Toby used to love his gifts and Tim loved to spoil him ever more that day.

"Hey, lover boy, our shift has ended." Tim blinked and noticed his co-worker Brian waving a hand in front of his eyes.

"That soon?"

"Well, we have nothing better to do."

Tim sighed as he started to walk back to the mansion. "Why do we even have to do this? Now we are working double the amount we should have in the first place!"

"I know, but what can we do when our boss is horny over an idiotic killer."

Tim snickered. "Well, he almost fucked Jeff." Brian gave him a look at which Tim only rolled his eyes. "What? It's the truth! The three of us were there." Brian sighed. That incident is one the three of them wish to forget, but it wasn't that easy. Everything involving Jeff was not easy.

Once they arrived at the mansion, Toby didn't take long to leap into Tim's arms as his partner caught him in surprise. Though his surprise quickly melted away as Toby gave Tim small kisses around his face. Tim chuckled and kissed him back on the lips. "I missed you too." He said. Brian made a disgusted look before walking to the kitchen.

Toby got off him and intertwined his fingers with Tim. Tim kissed the back of Toby's hand with a smile and walked over to their room. They didn't have much time to themselves nowadays, so they like to spend their limited time talking while cuddling in bed.

"Wh-What's on y-y-your mi-mind?" Toby asked, glancing up at Tim. Tim hummed as he put a hand on Toby's cheek, stroking it before leaning down for a quick kiss.

"How much I fucking love you." Tim said with a smile, his gaze softening. Toby laughed and Tim loves it. Who would have thought they would end up together? Neither of them foresaw that to be honest. One moment, Tim was telling Toby to shut the fuck up and the next he was making out with him.

Funny how life works.

Tim thought back on Nina's word. He decided to actually give Nina a call. But that would have to wait, right now all he wanted to do was be with Toby as much as he could before they got back to work.

Ben unconsciously put a hand on his neck as he silently walked behind Jeff and Helen. They were on their way to Smiley's, making sure that if Slender saw them they had to run for it. Helen nudged Jeff and glanced at Ben. Jeff sighed and slowed down to Ben's pace while Helen walked ahead of them.

"Yo, you're very quiet today."

"Sorry, I got lost in thought." Ben laughed nervously. "What's up?"

Jeff stared at his friend before glancing away. "Remember when you used to hate me?" Jeff said with a smirk.

"Yup, I was pretty dumb back then."

"You are still dumb as fuck though." Jeff laughed while Ben playfully nudged him. "Anyway, I'm glad we're friends now."

Ben felt his guilty conscience add another weight. "I feel the same."

"I'm glad we're on the same page," Jeff said, looking at Ben with a grin. Ben forced himself to act like his normal self, but Jeff noticed every time Ben would put a hand on his neck. A habit that he's developed after a certain incident with Slender. While Ben carried a weight around his shoulders, Jeff carried another. Jeff can somewhat guess the trauma Ben has suffered thanks to him.

And sure, Ben could have other traumas, but adding new scars to an already broken person isn't something to be proud of. Jeff put a hand on his left wrist and continued to talk to Ben. Helen glanced back at them and sighed. Everyone has their own demons, huh? He thought.

Smiley was already waiting for them before guiding them to the third floor and into a room that Jack had rearranged to make it into a meeting room. Jeff sat down on the opposite end of his brother and next to Smiley. Helen sat between LJ and Jason, so he could avoid Johnny as much as possible and the only seat left for Ben was between Johnny and Liu. You gotta be fucking kidding me. Ben thought.

Reluctantly, Ben sat down and tried to keep a poker face. "Alright, now that we are all here," Jack said, standing up. "We will be working on trying to gather as much intel as we can."

"Why can't we just ask Zero? She has a group for that stuff." Johnny blurted out.

"Have you ever gone to her place?" Smiley asked, raising an eyebrow in mockery. "You have to exchange information with her in order to get what you want and Zero is very good at her job so it's pretty hard to exchange information with someone who knows almost everything."

"Oh, right."

Helen snickered. "What a fucking idiot." Johnny glared at him.

"Anyway," Jack sighed. "I hope you assholes had a good rest during the day because we will be busy until dawn." Jack smirked and Ben noticed Jeff was staring at Jack with the same smirk.

"Too bad we aren't together." Liu said, glancing at Ben. Ben tensed up and glanced away, ignoring Liu's gaze and words. That was going to be a long night, Ben was sure of that.

"How are we going to convince people anyway? Hey, so there might be a high probability of a war, wanna side with us? It's not that easy!" Jason whined. Ben was amused and annoyed at Jason. It was weird, to say the least. Although some of their kind have been killed before Ben, only a selected few became "famous" both inside and out. Like Ben when his game used to be passed around or Jeff, who's been killing nine years now and his face has become known to the police and the people.

Jack is also famous, ever since a survivor managed to escape and took a photo of him, leaking it to the internet. What's also weird is the city they live in, is like a Gotham but for killers and monsters alike. Mingling with humans in the day, killing them at night. Yet they keep coming and coming to this city. For morbid curiosity, of course.

"Let's drop by with Dr. Pain, there's someone I know there."

"An acquaintance?"

"An old friend." Ben said, smiling sadly. How long has it been since he last spoke to Sally. They arrived at a shady looking hospital, one of those that you read on horror stories where the MC stumbles upon it on an eerily empty street at night. They walked in, but no one seemed to be in the reception. "Ahem, I came to speak with Sally." Ben said out loud. A small brunet boy wearing a patient gown walked out from behind the reception counter. Just like Jack, he had no eyes and there was a stitched mark on his neck.

The boy pointed to the stairs. "Thanks." Jason said as they walked passed the boy. On the second floor, there were some people going in and out of the rooms. Ben glanced around, but he couldn't see Dr. Pain anywhere.

"Ben?"

"Sally!" Ben exclaimed once he noticed Sally was wearing a nurse outfit. "It's been a while…"

"Yeah…" Sally smiled while knitting her eyebrows. "Are you guys coming for a check or?"

"Actually, I wanted to speak to you, are you free right now?"

"Uh."

"Nurse! Miss Janet passed out again!" Someone shouted from one of the rooms. Sally sighed before giving Ben an apologetic smile.

"Do you mind if you wait for a bit? I have my break after this."

"Sure, we'll wait in the reception." Ben said. Ben and Jason walked back down, but the kid was no longer there and once again the reception was empty. The silence was awkward, at least for Jason. Ben was lost in thought, thinking about what he was going to buy for everyone.

"So, um, how long have you known Sally?"

"Fifteen years."

"Wow, that's… a lot."

"Yeah, we met when we were kids after all."

Jason gasped. "You mean you've met before dying!?"

Ben didn't know if he should laugh or cry. "No, I meant that when met after we had barely died."

"Oh, right." Jason laughed nervously. What is wrong with you Jason!? That was obvious! Get a hold of yourself. Jason thought. "And how did you meet?"

Ben put a hand on his neck and glanced at his feet. "Slender introduced us, he said that since we were still kids we should be close."

"I see." Jason said. He's only three years younger than me, but he's been killing since he was a kid, huh? Wait, has he actually killed someone? I think he would just drive his victims into suicide. Jason thought. "You and Sally were close, right?"

Ben smiled. "Yeah, we were like siblings." Ben laughed, remembering the times they would fight because Sally wanted to play his games or the times when they both would play in the forest.

Jason widened his eyes when he saw the fond expression Ben was making. Jason felt uncomfortable. "Ahem, is it true that you're not killing anymore?"

"Yeah."

"How can you stay with Slender if that's the case?"

Ben gulped. "Well, Slender has this thing called Immunity Pass," He explained. "He gives it to those who decided to retire from killing, but since they have nowhere to go, they want to have the right ro remain where they are."

"Huh, that sounds similar to one of our laws."

"Really?"

"Yeah, though ours it's called Retirement Fee." Jason said, smiling as he finally made progress on talking with his temporary partner. "Hobo is more of an expert on what it entails, but it's kind of like the Immunity Pass."

Ben glanced at Jason, interested in how Zalgo's jurisdiction works compared to Slender's. "Sorry to keep you guys waiting! Let's go to talk at Offender's, is that okay with you guys?" Sally said, having changed her nurse outfit for a casual pink dress. Jason looked at Sally surprised, sure she was and didn't look like a kid anymore, but her looks didn't make her seem like the type to drink.

"Sure, I don't mind." Ben said. "It's been a long time since I went there anyway."

"I'm okay with that too." Jason said. As they walked towards Offender's Tavern, Ben and Sally caught up after so long. The more Jason spent time with them, the more he noticed that they really acted like siblings.

"I'm about to finish the Demon Slayer manga soon, by the way." Sally said, smiling sheepishly.

"Girl what the fuck? We're already in December and you still haven't finished it?"

"Well sorry, I like to take my time reading a story! Unlike you and Helen that finish a nine hundred anime in two days."

"Pft, amateur! I finished it in one and besides, we skipped a lot of the filler episodes for One Piece."

"Anyway, I want to cosplay Nezuko!" Sally chirped and dramatically took a deep breath as she put a hand on Ben's shoulder. "Would you do me the honor of being Tanjiro?"

Ben smirked. "Are you kidding? The honor is all mine!"

"Yay!" Sally and Ben laughed. Jason knows that they aren't really a couple, but he still feels like a third wheel. Left out of the conversations because he isn't a weeb. In fact, why are some killers into anime anyway? What's so good about that that even a cold-blooded killer would become obsessed with an asian cartoon?

"Offendy! Give me a Bittersweet Boba." Sally shouted once they arrived at the tavern. Some killers were already there and looked at Sally confused for a moment before realizing who she was.

"Well, well, someone's in a good mood." Offender chuckled as he started to prepare the drink. Sally, Ben and Jason sat on the bar counter. "And what would the gentlemen like?"

"Old Fashion for me." Jason sighed.

"Daiquiri." Ben smiled. Offender nodded.

"Coming right up." He said as he gave Sally her drink.

Sally happily took a sip of her drink, blood pouring down from her head. "So, what did you want to talk about?"

Offender gave Jason and Ben their drink and offered a wet towel to Sally. She thanked him and wiped her face. "Well, it's not so easy to talk about it." Ben said, taking a sip of his drink. "I don't want to alarm you, but what would you do if-"

"A war breaks out?" Sally said quietly. Ben and Jason looked at her surprised. "Pain told us all about the meeting that happened on our side, right now everything is just theories."

"Right, theories." Jason said, glancing away with a frown.

"Since you two are together, it makes me think like there won't be a war." Sally said with a smile. She took a sip of her drink before closing her eyes and resting her chin on her right palm. "I don't really want to choose, I rather not come out if that ever happens."

Ben and Jason glanced at each other. "What if you had no choice?" Jason asked, resting his chin on his right fist. "Who would you choose?"

Sally hummed and sighed. She glanced at Ben and smiled. "Wherever Ben is, I'll be there."

Ben smiled back at Sally, feeling touched. Jason sighed, but gave the "siblings" a smile. It wasn't much, but they have one ally now. "Well anyway, Sally, are you not killing anymore too?"

Sally laughed. "I do, but I help Pain on Wednesdays and Saturdays."

"Oh, that's nice."

"Yeah, by the way, is that all you guys wanted to talk about?" Sally asked, tilting her head in confusion. Ben and Jason tensed up. They tried to come up with some stuff, but nothing came to mind. So Ben let out whatever was on his mind.

"L-Love advice!" Ben said, feeling his cheeks warm. "I wanted to ask you for love… advice." Ben said, glancing away nervously. Jason blinked and looked at Ben surprised while Sally's face was light up like the first time she discovered anime.

She put an arm around Ben's shoulder and teared up a little. "Tell me everything, my son."

"I want to apologize about what happened that time." Jack said, Jeff hummed as he watched Jack sit down next to him with a thick folder. They were the only ones that stayed behind since what they were doing was basically exchanging information that they had of Slender and in Jack's case confirm or debunk some rumors.

"Well, whatever, you said it wasn't my business anyway." Jeff said, annoyed. Jack sighed and opened the folder.

"I used to live and work in Slender's jurisdiction," Jack said, carefully touching the notes he's made ever since he arrived here. "I was the main doctor there."

"Yeah, you already told me that."

"I know, but, it's strange." Jack said, re-visiting the parts he's written about Jeff. "During all my time there, I've never crossed paths with you." Jack said, frowning. Jeff rested his chin on his right and stared at Jack. It was true, they've never crossed paths and what was even more weird was Jeff didn't know who Jack was before. He was one of the "Originals", so he should know everyone that was started killing around the same time Jeff was.

"Maybe we just never had the time, Slender would always tend to my own wounds because he didn't want others to touch me." Jeff said with a shrug. Jack blinked and sighed.

"Yeah, you might be right." Jack said. "Anyway, do you know how his modus operandi is?"

"Not really, I would always do my own shit, but I did notice that the proxies would make sounds before running away sometimes."

"I think I know what you mean, I never really saw what Slender's proxies are good at, but I think they lured Slender's targets."

"Oh, Tim said something similar," Jeff frowned, trying to remember his time in Slender's mansion. "He said something about how Slender only lets them have their fun if it's a group of victims rather than one."

"Interesting." Jack said. "Is it true that his victims are mostly kids?"

Jeff hummed. "Not all the time? Brain said that ever since they became proxies, they've been killing only campers or anyone who stepped inside the forest."

"So you don't know if before that he would kill only kids."

"Nah."

Jack hummed, tapping the files with his pen. "You know, when I was living there," Jack said, leaning back on the chair as he crossed his arms. "I remember Slender would hold these meetings where everyone living under his jurisdiction would go to his mansion and basically have like a town meeting."

"Oh, I remember those! They were so boring."

"I don't remember seeing you there?"

"That's mostly because I was always behind everyone, even after moving in with Helen."

"Ah, that explains it, I was always at the front." Jack said, smiling at Jeff. Jeff felt something weird on his chest. He can't really explain it, but it was nice to be talking like this with Jack. It felt nice. "I wonder why he decided to stop having these meetings though."

Jeff shrugged. "I don't know and I don't care." They both laughed. Jack also felt a weird sense of familiarity with Jeff. It was like talking to someone he knew for a long time. Jack shook his head, there was a reason why he was doing all this for and he wasn't going to dwell much on unnecessary stuff.

"Was living in that mansion fun?"

Jeff tensed up, he stared blankly at Jack. "There's nothing fun in that place."

"I mean, the proxies weren't so bad, right?"

"Eh, so-so." Jeff said, sighing. "Can I ask why did you leave or are you going to be a bitch about it again?" He asked, pouting. Jack chuckled and looked at the table in front of them.

"I didn't leave, I was kicked out."

Jeff raised his eyebrows surprised. "Really? Why?"

Jack felt his body become stiff. "I rather not say." Jack sighed and picked up his pen again.

"Come on! Don't leave me intrigued like that."

"Sorry not sorry."

"Jackass."

"Dumbass."

"Asshole."

"Moron."

"Jerk."

"Bitch."

Jeff laughed. "This is ridiculous."

"Hey, you started." Jack said, smirking at Jeff. Jeff rolled his eyes with a playful smirk and mumbled a 'whatever'. Jack decided to continue with the information exchange. Both of them were careful enough to not speak about their own issues that have and are still suffering because of the tall monster. Something at the back of Jeff's head told him that there was something weird, but he couldn't really know what exactly.

"I wonder what would have happened if we met."

"I'll probably annoy you." Jack said, leaning his arms on the table and looking playfully at Jeff. "You look fun to mess around with."

"Hey!" Jeff pouted as Jack laughed. "Then, I would probably annoy you back."

"Sounds about right." Jack smirked as Jeff smacked him in the arm. "Let's stop talking about other stuff, that's why we keep getting distracted."

"Ho? I distract you?" Jeff mockingly smiled at Jack. "I'll keep that in mind."

If Jack could do it, he would have rolled his eyes. "I'd like to see you try."

"Is that a challenge?" Jeff said, leaning a little closer with a mischievous glint in his eyes. Jack stared at Jeff with a mischievous smile, something about him really piques his interest. Just when he was about to say something. He, once again, had to remind himself why he was doing this.

Jack's playfulness vanished and sighed. "No, let's keep working and this time without distractions." Jeff noticed the change in moods of the cannibal and clicked his tongue. He didn't really get him, he was like Katy Perry's song from 2008. Jeff won't admit it, but he was disappointed? He wanted to… Jeff isn't sure what he was doing to be honest. All he knew was that he liked it, but it sucked that Jack wouldn't reciprocate that.

That sounded gay. Jeff thought. "No homo."

"What?"

"Nothing." Jeff said, shaking his head and cringing about his stupidity sometimes. "What were you saying?" Although Jeff was paying attention to Jack and sharing more info, Jeff's mind was elsewhere.

Zalgo tapped the desk with his claw-like finger. He had been paying close attention to everything that was happening in his jurisdiction. Making sure everyone had everything they needed for their jobs, implementing new laws that were beneficial to everyone and keeping his end of the bargain that he's made with Slender. Yet, he was feeling restless.

"Mister Zalgo?" A minion walked into his office, in his hands were dark, almost burnt documents. "I brought the thing you had requested."

"Bring it here." Zalgo said, sitting upright and almost snatching the documents out of the minion's hands. He blew fire into the documents, restoring them as if nothing had happened. Zalgo read the content and sighed in relief. But he couldn't let his guard down.

"Mister Zalgo?"

"Ah, that's everything for now, you may leave." Zalgo said. The minion nodded and walked out. Zalgo sighed and glanced at the papers again. "It could have been worse."

Now, all that was left was to see their development. How long will they continue to sleep? Slender might have tricks up his sleeves, but it pales in comparison to Zalgo's experience. Nevertheless, everything is ready to be set in motion. "Who will win this match this time, I wonder?" Zalgo said with a sinister smirk.

Tim squinted his eyes as the sun set up. How fucking long has it been since he's had a proper night rest? The three of them would only have a few hours of sleep before waking up again to guard the fucking entrances of their side and since Slender didn't think he and Toby would do a good job together, he has to guard the second entrance alone.

"I should get paid for this bullshit." Tim gritted. He dragged himself back to the mansion and he couldn't even arrive at his own room, he passed out on the couch. Brian was already asleep while sitting on the dining table and Toby was the only one that managed to arrive at his bed. Splendor walked inside the mansion and noticed two of his brother's proxies half dead.

"Oh my."

"Splendor, what brings you here?" Slender said, appearing right in front of his older brother. Splendor smiled and was glad that his brother at least acted like he used to before.

"I came here to discuss the meetings that happened a few days ago in the Neutral areas." Splendore said, putting his hands together. "Can we speak in your office?"

"Sure." Slender said. Both of them disappeared in the blink of an eye. Brian sat up and with heavy bags under his eyes he turned to look at Tim's corpse on the couch.

"Yo, you heard that?" Brian asked. Tim muffled a 'Shut up, I'm sleeping' and Brian yawned as his body begged him to sleep. "I hope it's nothing bad, we're already suffering as it is." Brian said. Then as his eyes were about to close, he laughed. "Imagine if-" Brian couldn't even finish before he fell dead on the dining table.

"Do you remember when EJ used to work with us?" Nurse Ann asked, checking out some documents. Nick glanced at her with an eyebrow raised.

"Yeah, but why bring him up now?"

"You used to be so scared of him in the beginning."

"H-Hey!" Nick's cheeks were tainted in pink. "I was a rookie, okay?"

Nurse Ann closed her eyes, putting the documents down for a minute. "I just remembered him because there are still some medical notes left from him."

"Ah, now that I think about it, Jack used to write a lot of notes."

"He was obsessed with notes." Nurse Ann chuckled as she glanced at Nick. "I hope he's doing well over at Zalgo's."

Nick sighed. "Don't let Slender hear you say that name or else."

"I know, I know." Nurse Ann said. She put the documents back in the archive. Hopefully he recovers soon. Nurse Ann thought as she stared out the window.

Jack groaned in pain at the incoming headache. Jeff and his friends were gone, but Jack decided to come into his "secret" room. Jack decided to sit down and take a small break. After all, no matter how hard he tried to remember, his memories wouldn't come back just like that. He stared at the ceiling, remembering the time he spent with Jeff.

"I should be careful." Jack mumbled. He glanced towards his left side, the whole wall was covered in notes, papers and a photo of Slender stuck to the wall with a knife. There are two major questions Jack hasn't been able to answer since five years ago. Who am I? and Who are you? The last question referring to the person his heart tells him he's missing, yet he doesn't remember who it was.

All he knows is that Slender is keeping them away somewhere in his jurisdiction and Jack needed to bring that person back to him. He stood up and turned off the lights as he walked out of the room. Locking it.

He walked out to the garden and sat down with a defeated look. Just who was it? The one Jack would embrace the most, the one he would tease and the one he would feel the most alive with? "Why can't I remember?" Jack mumbled. Whoever it was, he just wanted them back so bad.

Jeff felt a sudden shiver and buried himself deeper into his sheets. "That damn creep must be talking about me again." He said before putting his eye mask on and dozing off to sleep.

"Zack! Good morning."

"Good morning, Mr. Lawman." Ben said, smiling.

"You're early today." Mr. Lawman laughed as he opened his garage, revealing a neat set of tables with old stuff ready to be sold.

"Well I got to sleep earlier than usual." Ben lied. He sat down next to Mr. Lawman.

"That's good to hear." Mr. Lawman laughed. "So, how is college treating ya?" Ben smiled as he started to talk to his own father. Exe sighed as he watched through the kitchen window his friend suffer. No matter how many times everyone has told Ben to stop since it's not helping him, there he goes again. He would go visit his father every day, help him with his garage sales and even go so far as to visit his own grave just to be by his father's side.

"For someone who is supposed to be dead, he sure acts like he's alive, huh?" Exe mumbled. He ran back to the TV, leaving his friend behind as he continued to drown on his own sorrows and regrets.