Trapped (A Ticci Toby Story)

Chapter 2- Embers

I was almost asleep when my door creaked opened and the sound of small foot steps carefully crossing my wooden floor pulled me awake.
I knew it was sally even before she climbed onto my bed.
I kept my eyes closed as I waited for her to settle in, but instead I felt her small finger poke my cheek.
"toby." she whispered.
"hm?" I lifted my head and found her in the darkness. Her eyes were wide and her lips were parted slightly with fear. I pulled myself up.
"...What's wrong? Did you have that dream again?"
She shook her head and crawled into my lap.
"you really scared me, where did you go? I thought zalgo took you." she whispered angerly.
I could vaguely see the welts of her now angry tears on her cheeks as my eyes adjusted in the darkness.
"What? no, I... I" I started past the ball of guilt that resided in my throat.
No one was supposed to know...
Did she tell masky and hoodie?
I swallowed tightly.
She pushed her head into my chest and wipped her tears onto my shirt and stayed there.
"you're heart is beating really hard" she said against my chest. She looked up at me with a smile. "don't worry I haven't told anyone... yet"
"yet?"
"yet."
I narrowed my eyes at her.
"are you blackmailing me?"
She only smiled.
"do you realize if they found out I'd never be able to leave this house again?"
"yep." she chirped.
I scooped her up and set her off my lap. "what do you want?"
"I just want to know where you went." she tilted her head in a slight pout.
I brushed a single remaining tear off her cheek and frowned.
"I just needed to get out... I'm never allowed to leave and its driving me insane. I can't stand being stuck here."
"I know..." she looked down.
The guilt hardened in my chest once i realized how stupid it was for me to say that to her.
Unlike her, I had a choice to leave or not.
Sally's existence rested on a thin line. She couldn't live through what I could, she couldn't break a bone because it would never fix itself. She can't cut her finger because it would never stop bleeding. She was like a glass doll being held together with glue. She was fragile and needed to be treated like it. Zalgo gave her life, frozen youth, and breathtaking beauty that resembled a porcelain doll.
But her, jack, and ben were each given different gifts and curses with their unnatural lives, but they all shared something in common. Their freedom was stripped from them. Zalgo owned them all, and he was more than willing to take them back to the underworld the moment they strayed too far away from slender's territory.
She can't leave.
Sally smacked my forehead with the palm of her hand, forcing me to snap out of my thoughts.
"Don't be guilty, Toby. I like it here." She crawled back into my lap and nestled into me. "but don't run off again, or I'll tell on you next time I catch you."
'Catch' was the key word.
I smiled slyly.
"Sure thing... "
She picked up her head and glared at me with an unamused pout.
"Toby, I mean it. I rather jeff die than you."
That only widened my smile more.
"Has jeff been getting under you skin lately?"
She rolled her eyes.
"He's all butt hurt because I hid the remote!" She flinched at the loudness of her voice. We held our breaths and listened for hint of disturbance outside my room.
After a moment sally's round eyes fell back onto me. "I wouldn't have hid it if he would let someone else use the TV for a change." she wispered grumpily.
I smiled at her, but didn't say anything.
She yawned and nestled back into my chest.
"I know what happened yesterday. I heard masky tell jack when he was fixing your cut... You're pretty dumb, Toby."
I narrowed my eyes "you were easedropping?"
She pulled open an eye briefly before letting it fall shut.
"....Only a little... I was worried. I wish slender wouldn't force you to go with them..."
Not you too...
"I knew what I was doing." I lied.
Her hands tightened on my shirt and she shoved her face harder against me.
When she fell silent I knew that she was crying.
I panicked.
"Sally I-"
"you're my only friend, Toby. I don't want you to die." she whimpered.
"you... Have jack... " I pointed out dumbly.
I wasn't sure how to make her stop crying. She was the only girl I knew... It wasn't like this was a skill that I developed.
She shook her head and let go of my shirt.
"He doesn't like me anymore. He's always too busy in the infirmary or with slendy to talk to me. I don't think he even thinks about me anymore.. " she hiccuped.
"Sally, I'm pretty sure you're the only person he really loves."
If love was anything like the way I feel for her, jack, masky and hoodie-everyone. I knew jack wouldn't just stop caring about her because he was busy. He would drop everything and kill for her if he had too.
Sally sniffed and leaned back, her brown curls still hanging in her face.
"I don't believe you." she wiped her cheek with a green striped sleeve.
"Maybe you should become someone's meat shield... That's how I got masky's attention." I joked.
She glared at me again.
"That's stupid. I'm not going to do that!"
I laughed.
"Then maybe you should just talk to him."
She crossed her arms over her small chest.
"Maybe you're on to something... Maybe you should take your own advice."
"yeah right." I broaden my shoulders and stuck out my chest "I live on the edge! How many people can say they survived a gun to the head and a angry masky?"
"Oh wow toby, you're so amazing!" sally played along sarcastically.
My partially opened door creak open. Ben stood on the other side of it, looking as if he was a phantom of sleep.
"Hey..." Ben said tiredly "Can you two be quite? It's kinda late.. "
We said in unison.
"Sorry"
"Sorry, ben."
After ben shut the door, sally turned back to me. Her eyes pleading.
"Toby, I mean it. Promise me you won't get yourself killed." she whispered.
I opened my mouth to deflect her statement, but i found myself staring down at her pleading eyes, and tear washed face and my heart ached for her.
"I... I promise..."