Hush, Girl, Hush, Girl, Just Bat Your Eyes
Chapter 4- Hush, Girl, Hush, Girl, Just Bat Your Eyes
Freak didn’t know how to feel about this new place.
He liked Helen. Helen was nice.
Helen’s friend seemed nice as well. He was unlike any person Freak had ever seen. Maybe he wasn’t a person at all? Freak would have to ask.
The soup was good. It was light and easy on the stomach. He ate as much of it as he could, washing it down with whatever was in the pouch. It tasted good. Really good.
Freak didn’t know how he felt about staying here. While Helen claimed that they wouldn’t be trapped here, Freak had no way of verifying that. The food was good and he wouldn’t freeze to death, but what about when he leaves?
“Ssspeaker?” Flame hissed, “What isss wrong?”
“Ssshould we really ssstay here?”
“Why ssshouldn’t we? It isss warm. It isss safe.” The snake replied.
“What if we get trapped again?”
“Then I will bite, and we will burn them, and we will run again.” It said matter-of-factly. Freak sighed. He supposed the reptile had a point.
Helen had mentioned someone wanting to talk to him once he got better, they could at least stick around until then. At least they didn’t seemed to be disturbed by him, most people were put off by his eyes and never got close enough to even see his mouth. Freak supposed that was a good thing.
“Freak?” He turned his attention back to Helen and the human-not-human. “How old are you?”
“I’m five (5) sir.” The man in the blue mask nodded and wrote it down on a clipboard. “What are you?” He looked back up.
“I am a demon. Most call me Eyeless Jack, although here they call me E.J. or Eyeless for short.”
“Not Jack?”
“No. We have another Jack who lives here. I suggest you don’t go near him on your own, he gets… Weird around children.” Freak nodded, although he didn’t know what E.J. meant by ‘weird’ and he didn’t really want to find out. He vaguely remembered Petunia’s stranger-danger talk with Dudley.
“We can introduce you to some of the others tomorrow, but you need to rest now.” Helen cut into the conversation. “I am sure you and Flame are both tired, yes?”
Freak slowly nodded as Flame hissed it’s agreement. E.J. took the bowl and set it down on a little metal table next to the cot, the empty pouch was thrown away. Freak lied down on the pillows and watched the two (2) carefully. E.J. walked off while Helen continued to sit with them.
“You are safe here.”
Freak new it was true, and somehow drifted to sleep.
He did not dream.
Helen continued to watch over the small child as their eyes slowly closed, the little snake curled up next to their head on the pillow. It was unusual, unlike any he had seen before. Then again, most of the beings here were like that.
He let out a soft sigh and gently left the cot. The kid wouldn’t stay down here forever, and they would need a place to sleep once they got better. So, Helen went up to where most of the rooms were. His own was towards the back, although not near The Slenderman, and there were plenty of empty rooms near it. Entering the room next to their own, Helen began checking for anything too dangerous for a five (5) year old.
Once they made sure the kid wouldn’t fall through the floor or get a respiratory infection from mold spores, he went to speak with one of the older Proxies. Luckily he was able to find exactly who they were looking for in the kitchen.
“Masky?” Helen called. The man looked up, his mask lifted slightly in order to press a cigarette to his lips. Eyeless normally didn’t tolerate smoking in his kitchen, because it was in fact HIS kitchen, but so long as he stayed close to the screen door the older Proxy could remain an exception.
“Helen.” He replied with a breath of smoke.
“We have a new member. They will need supplies for their room once they get out of the infirmary.” The other took a long inhale of smoke, held it in his lungs, and blew it out once more.
“You mean that new kid that The Operator put you in charge of?” Helen nodded. “Ok, I’ll head out to get the essentials tomorrow. Anything else you’ll have to get yourself, or send someone else.”
“Thank you.” He replied softly as he exited the kitchen. Speaking to the other Proxies was uncomfortable. It wasn’t that Helen didn’t like them, he was completely apathetic to the others around him, other people just make them feel pressured.
They made their way back down to the infirmary. Freak was still sound asleep, while Flame was slithering around on the table seemingly trying to taste the left over soup.
“I’m sure I can find you your own food. Freak needs all the food he can get right now.” The little serpent hissed at him, and he assumed it was an affirmative. He laid his hand on the table, palm up, and allowed the snake to slither up and rest a top his shoulders as he searched the fridge. They found some of the cubed meat that Eyeless saved in case himself or anyone else couldn’t come up to the kitchen. Flame ate the meat, quickly swallowing it down.
Helen stood, eyeing the snake carefully. They had watched as Freak and Flame conversed, and he had a feeling that Flame was the reason the kid had stuck around. He only hoped that the snake would continue to convince Freak they would be safe here, at least until The Slenderman could speak with him. Helen knew that kids like Freak thought they had nowhere to belong, that no one would understand so it wasn’t worth their time to try and make them. He was that kid.
They looked at Freak and saw the same little girl who loved to do nothing but draw. The same little girl that Helen had been when she was 14, getting bullied for something she didn’t even do. She didn’t have anyone back then.
Freak would not have to be alone like she had been.