Silent Tale

Silent Tale

It took twenty minutes for the spiders to be drained of their essence but when the last one had finally collapsed to the side, the tall monster hestitantly kneeled up. His clothes clung pathetically to his delicate frame, making him appear smaller. By now the humans were quiet, throats too sore from overuse to scream anymore. All they could do now was stare in shocked silence.

"Damn... At first I thought you just... Gave up. But now..." The woman shook her head in disbelief. "You planned this all along didn't you?"

Papyrus merely nodded as he walked foreward and pulled out his knife. It was hard to cut the web, not because it was too thick, but the pink liquid on his hand made his weapon slippery.

It took another twenty exhausting minutes to cut both humans off the web. Thankfully once they were free they must've sensed the skeletons tired state and suggested a place to rest. Papyrus, too tired to argue, merely nodded and followed the humans. The woman then remembered that she left her bag in a nearby bathroom when the spiders dragged her away. She claimed that it was a safe place to rest in as well.

Papyrus allowed himself to numbly follow after the pair. He trusted his companions to lead them to safety.

Sure enough, after a few minutes he could see an outline of the building. It was rather large for restroom, but he didn't voice his opinion since it was better than what he could hope for. The three of them entered the women's bathroom, (since the men's door was boarded shut) and locked the door behind them. The lights didn't work but thankfully the windows provided enough for them to see clearly. The three sat on the floor in awkward silence.

Papyrus opened his bookbag. "Do you want an apple?" He asked as he handed them the last of his red fruits. They accepted and when they offered to share he politely declined. He wasn't hungry and his jaw was still sore.

While they were eating, Papyrus took the time to study the woman as she opened her bag and pulled out some sort of hand held camera. She didn't look unusual or strange for a human but he was still a bit hesitant about her. He was also curious about the state of her right eye.

He pointed at it. "I don't mean to be rude or nosy, but did you injure your eye recently?"

The woman looked up from her camera and stared blankly at him until the question finally sinked in. "Oh, my eye!" She rubbed the ripped skin around it, making Papyrus internally recoil. "Would you believe me if I said that I woke up like this?"

"What the hell?" Henry exclaimed. "Your fuckin' eye is gone! How hard were you out long enough for an eye to go missing?"

"Hey, it's not like I volunteered for this!" She pointed at her face. "I screamed and panicked for like an hour before calming down!"

Henry winced. "Well, when ya put it like that..."

Papyrus held out a health drink for her to take. "It looks like it's still bleeding. Drink this, it'll make you feel better." He handed another one to Henry. "Here's one for you too."

Henry studied the little bottle while the woman immediately opened it and took a sip. Papyrus had forgotten to warn her about the flavor and felt bad when she choked in surprise and started coughing.

"Did you just made me drink a bottle filled with piss?" She spluttered. Henry raised his eyebrows and sniffed the bottle cautiously.

Papyrus opened his mouth to explain but stopped when she began to swoon. Henry reached over and steadied her until she stopped.

"W-whoa... That was..." She blinked frantically as she tried to clear her vision. "... I haven't been that high since my college days."

Henry snorted.

"An exciting experience I'm sure..." Papyrus frowned. "But that does remind me that we haven't properly introduced ourselves..."

The woman sheepishly scratched the back of her head. "Yikes. My dad would've been disappointed at me for my terrible manners. After all, manners maketh a man... Or something like that..." She trailed off before shaking her head. "Anyway, the name's Maria Jones. Nice to formally meet ya." She held out her hand.

Papyrus smiled and shook her extended hand. "Nice to meet you, Maria. I am Papyrus the skeleton. But you can just call me Papyrus."

She returned the smile and as Hemry introduced himself, Papyrus felt his mind wander. When he had first met her, the human seemed to know a bit about him. Like she had met him before or perhaps watched him...

Papyrus glanced at the woman. He didn't think she was dangerous, but he wouldn't have survive this far if it wasn't for his attention to detail. Plus he had a feeling that she was hiding something from them, which could be dangerous in a place like this.

"So are you going to tell us the truth now or do you want to keep us waiting?" Henry said, voice neutral. He had a bad feeling in his gut the moment he laid eyes on her.

"What?" Maria's looked like a deer caught in headlights. "I- I don't know w-what you're talking about."

"Oh come on!" Henry looked skeptical. "I know you're hiding something, and I think it's only fair that you tell us."

Maria huffed. "I don't have to say anything if I don't want to."

"That is true." Papyrus responded evenly. "But if you're hiding something from us, than I'm afraid you can't come with us."

He watched calmly even when he saw the look of panic and fear flash across her face. "I don't want to leave you by yourself, but if you can't trust us than we can't trust you." It was as simple as that.

Maria seemed torn between telling them and keeping quiet, but when Henry and Papyrus stood up, she made her decision. "... Wait..." She finally breathed out. "I'll tell you..."

Papyrus and Henry exchanged looks but sat down anyway. They looked at her expectantly.

"... T-the truth is that... I've uh.." She swallowed loudly. "I've kinda been.. Recording you..." She trailed off awkwardly as she traced the shape of her camera.

Papyrus tilted his head as the answer became a little clear. "You were watching and recording me." He stated rather than question.

Maria winced as Henry looked at her like she had grown a second head. When the skeleton put it that way, it was bound to sound creepy.

Papyrus closed his eyes as he remembered details of his travels. "Those footsteps... It felt like I was being followed but everytime I turned around.. There was no one there.."

He looked at the woman. "Were you the footsteps following me?"

"... I guess." Maria shrugged as she looked at her camera in embarassment and shame.

"How long were you stalking him..?" Henry asked, eyebrows raised.

Maria sighed. There was no point in lying to them and she deserved whatever emotions they'll throw at her. "Since you and your short friend came out of that gift shop."

Papyrus felt his mind reel in shock. She was watching him for that long, and he hasn't even noticed?! Well, he did notice her footsteps but he never caught her personally.

Henry looked thoughtful but didn't say anything. He somehow felt like this wasn't really his business to question them, at least for now.

The woman seemed hesitant but she eventually nodded to herself, as if she came to a decision, and pointed at her camera. "I've been recording you... But everytime I try to rewatch the recordings I just get this... Static looking image."

Papyrus watched as she picked a video and nothing but static covered the screen. "I honestly don't know why I keep recording things, even if all the results are like this, but..." She bit her lip. "I-I just feel a little better doing it. L-Like I'm not entirely alone... You get me?"

Papyrus nodded, content with the answer while Henry looked a bit angry. "So instead of helping Papyrus, you decide to stalk him and watch him almost get murdered by various demons?" He remarked coldly.

Maria looked up, eyes wide with desperation as she opened her mouth to respond but Henry wasn't finished. "You basically let a... A kid to roam around this hellhole without even thinking about helping?! What were you thinking?!"

Papyrus frowned. Him? A kid? That was hardly true, he WAS eighteen, after all. Still, he did think Henry had a point. His journey would've been more pleasant and probably more safer if he had a partner. Two heads are better than one and all that...

"So why were you recording him? Did you want to catch his death on camera or something? Wanted more views and likes on your videos?! Like one of those people who think that watching the action play out while you're safe in the sidelines is ok because it's better that it's happening to them and not you!?"

Henry looked livid as his face turned an angry shade of red. "Did you even wonder if Papyrus had a family?! How would you explain to them what had happened if he had died?!" Henry changed his features from anger to fake sadness. "Oh! I'm so sorry about your loss! As you can see, I was too busy recording to help Papyrus as he was slowly being ripped apart!" He mocked with a high voice and his lower lip trembled as he exaggerated her explanation.

The young man than looked blankly at Maria. "I bet you didn't even think that far ahead, did you?"

Maria didn't answer, too busy crying to respond properly. Papyrus wanted to comfort her and tell her that it wasn't her fault, but honestly? He was too tired to do any of that.

A very small part of him enjoyed watching her cry. If she thought that her recordings were more important than a life... Well, she deserved her bitter tears.

Shaking his head to get rid of those poisonous words, he patted her shoulder sympathetically. "I know you probably feel bad, but we really must get going. We don't want to stay here too long..."

After five minutes, the woman seemed to compose herself and she slowly rised to her feet. She didn't say anything or looked at anyone when she pulled out her camera and started a new recording. Henry looked at her in disbelief before turning away in disgust. Papyrus just ignored the camera focusing on him and turned away as well.

Perhaps recording things did make her feel better.

The three of them exited the bathroom and back into the fog. The sun seemed to be going down, since the mist had a red tint to it.

No one spoke or tried to make light conversations as they walked through the rest of the abandoned park. It made things easier to hear and pay attention to their surroundings, but Papyrus couldn't help but feel uneasy about their silence. Especially since it was filled with unhappy tension.

Well, not exactly unhappy, Henry was angry and Maria was probably too scared to say anything that might further offend the man. Still, it struck a little too close to home for him.

He was about to ask about the weather when a scream rang out.

Papyrus closed his eyes as he tried to ignore the sound as it echoed around the park.

'Please stop...' He thought uselessly. 'It's too late anyway. Screaming won't do anything..'

"What the hell..?" Maria whispered. She swung her camera in random directions, as if it would change the scenery. "U-umm guys? D-don't you think w-we should-"

She let out a gasp as something (someone?) collided into her, sending the woman and her camera flying. She turned around and was about to scream when she got a better look at the person who ran her over.

Papyrus put his knife away when he realised it was just another human girl. She looked a bit younger than Maria and also more different.

The skeleton looked at her clothes. A small, see through white croptop that easily showed her pink bra, and a mini skirt. It was so short that he could see an equally pink underwear that was mostly string than cloth. He has never seen anything like it. What was the point or wearing underwear if it didn't cover your bottom?

He could see that her clothes didn't have any tears or rips or even stains of blood, yet she didn't seem uncomfortable with the fact that she was so... Revealing?

Still, as oddly dressed as she was, he still helped her to her feet, if only to be polite. As soon as she stood up she grabbed his hand and started running, which was quite impressive considering her ten inch heels.

Papyrus lets himself get dragged away. He looks over his shoulder to call Henry and Maria but froze when he saw two other strange and deformed figures running behind them.

"Run!!" He shouted as he was led away.

Maria (who was recording again) looked at Henry in confusion before turning around. She screamed while grabbing Henry's hand and taking off in their direction. The young man glanced behind as well and promptly willed his feet to go faster at the sight he witnessed.

Trailing behind them were two more naked mutants, except these were slightly different. They were much taller and skinnier, bordering on anorexic. They also didn't appear to have any arms, or faces for that matter.

Papyrus' legs start to shake. His soul churns as he overexhausts himself. Still, he's thankful that the woman seems to have no problem pulling him along. She must've been really strong or he was just too light. Either way, he has a feeling that if she lets go, he'll just collapse.

He turns around and looks at the mutants chasing after them. They seem to be quite fast (since they had abnormally long legs) and didn't look at all fatigued from all this chasing. Papyrus then looks at the exhausted faces of his companions. They were only human. They couldn't run forever; it was probably best to end this now.

Papyrus reached back and pulled out his axe, which wasn't too difficult considering it was sticking out of his bookbag. He swiftly removed the woman's hand off his wrist, sidestep out of his friend's way, and pulled his axe sideways.

The two monsters didn't have enough time to stop and they each meet the sharp end of his axe. One immediately died on impact while the other was injured but unfazed.

Papyrus ducked under a powerful kick it sent his way while readjusting his grip on the axe. He flung his weapon with deadly precision but the creature merely ducked out of the way. For a brief second, the mutant was now at his height and the skeleton wasted no time to pull out his knife and slice its neck.

Warm blood sprayed his face, filling his sockets and nose, but he didn't flinch. This has happened too often to be a surprise anymore. He was too bloody and dirty to care about cleanliness.

The three humans had stopped and watched the short fight with a mix of awe, relief, and fear. They were amazed and relieved that they were now safe but a bit scared that the skeleton had taken the mutants down like it was no big deal.

The strange attired woman that had grabbed his hand, seemed like she was regretting to have ever touched him. This made a spark of anger ignite in the monster, but he quickly pushed it aside. Now wasn't the time for negative feelings.

Though he did sense the feelings of unease from his two friends so he swiftly wiped his knife clean and put it away. He did the same to his axe (once he found it) and faced his companions.

The tall skeleton considered asking them if they were well, but ultimately decided against it. He didn't have time to be judged for his actions and if they had a problem with it, then they should just tell him.

Papyrus glanced at the humans before pushing forward, not even caring to see if they followed or not. After a bit of hesitation he heard footsteps trailing after him and he couldn't help the small smile that covered his face.

He would need all the help he could get to find his missing friend.