Missing

Tim

We had been walking for the last hour or so, the song of the birds slowly disappearing, and the rows of trees slowly became thicker. The only sounds were our footsteps, snapping and crushing the leaves and twigs under our feet. If we weren't looking for Slenderman's brother I would have wanted to just sit in this forest, it's much more relaxing then Slender's. Slenderman's forest was always so gloomy, the brilliant sky and sun being hidden by towing trees. The smell of the blood always lingered in the air. But here, in Splendor's forest, the sky could clearly be seen. And the only smell was one of life; flowers, pine trees, sap, and rain. It always felt so welcoming whenever I visited, but what could you expect? Splendor doesn't kill or rape people. Hell, he doesn't approve of his brother's lifestyles. It makes me wonder how he ended up that way, how he became so innocent, so naive to the world. 'Innocent...Navie...' I thought about those two words and glanced back at Toby. 'Is Toby navie though? Innocent, yes. Even though he had killed someone, he is still innocent. At least in my eyes,' I ranted on about this but snapped out of it by a hand grabbing my shoulder.

"Y-You good, Masky?" Toby asked arching his brows, "Y-You were s-staring at m-me," He added, and I quickly realized he was right.

"Sorry, Tobes," I laughed, putting my gloved hand on his messy chocolate brown hair. "I was just thinking about something," I smiled messing up his hair a bit. Toby nodded and let go of my shoulder. I looked forward and saw that Brian had kept walking, leaving both Toby and me alone.

"O-Okay," He stuttered out. I watched as Toby stumbled forward, walking ahead of me. I swiftly shook my head and caught up with him. We walked shoulder to shoulder, well should I said neck to shoulder. Toby was much shorter than me, I'm about 5'11, maybe 6'0. I never really measured or paid any mind to my height, but Toby. He's easily 5'4, 5'6 at most.

"S-So, Masky," He stuttered clearly trying to start up a conversation. "W-Why were you staring at m-me?" Toby asked now looking up at him, his sweet voice making me relax a bit. I just smiled under my mask, 'Yup, innocent.'

"I'll tell ya later, Kid," I messed up his hair once more before looking forward again. Toby was about to speak again but was cut off by Brian yelling something.

"GUYS!" He yelled, "I found it!" Brian spoke again, this time softer. Hearing those words, both Toby and I raced towards Brian, now standing wood to face with an old mansion. The door was unhinged, barely holding onto the rotting door frame. Many windows were smashed, any paint on the outside of the house was now chipping anyway. Any flowers that had once stood proudly outside of the house were withering away, weeds and vines replacing them.

"Damn, this place went to shit," I mumbled.

"You're telling me," Brian spoke up, "This place was so colourful not too long ago...What happened?" He asked turning to me and Toby walking towards him.

"Not sure Hoodz, guess we'll just have to ask Splendorman once we find him," I sighed before walking closer. Each footstep a faint sound consuming us. At first, I thought it was just my mind playing tricks on me, but I quickly changed my mind once Toby said something.

"I-Is that just my s-schizophrenia or i-is someone c-crying?" He asked, which made me think about what he had just does Toby have has schizophrenia? Like, I know it's kind of a joke that all killers hear voices. But, Toby really does? Damn, that must suck...  And the second thing he said also caught my attention; there was someone crying. Or at least sobbing. The sounds echoed throughout the house.

"I hear it too," Brian noted.

"Me too," I agreed. And after a few moments of silence I spoke again, "Well, let's go look for the source," The two nodded in unison, and with that, we all went looking.