𝐓𝐢𝐜𝐜𝐢 𝐓𝐨𝐛𝐲 𝐱 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫: 𝐄𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐎𝐟 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐢𝐭

Visons of Vermin and Validity

Y/N is in the staff kitchen of the children's hospital, sipping on coffee and avoiding her duties. The caffeine in her system quickly picks her up, giving her a much needed boost of energy after tossing and turning relentlessly the night before. She even tried to take a quick nap before work but to no avail. Everything bothered her, small annoyances crept and crawled under her skin like pests. Her pillows were too hot, her blanket twisted around her figure, feeling like a hug from a cold lover, her racing  thoughts wouldn't shut up and her anxiety was giving her the shakes, tremors wracking her body. She simply couldn't come down — and she's sober (for the most part), she should've been able to conk out no problem.

It's only 3AM and the clock on the wall seems like its hour hand is broken, refusing to move. Time only seems to fly by when you're having fun, but nothing about work tonight was eventful in the slightest. Mistakes were made left and right; dropping things, tripping over her words when speaking to patients or other doctors, and don't even get her started on the printer jam. Jesus, that almost sent her over the edge completely, ready to throw the no-good piece of junk across the room.

Worst of all is how jumpy she is. She nearly leaps a foot into the air at any sound or flicker caught by her peripheral vision. Her coworker Mark, another psychiatrist that helps the older children on the top floor, tried to talk to her when she first came into the kitchen. He apologized profusely for startling her so badly and she just brushed him off and made a beeline for the coffee machine. He asked her about her sudden disappearance, having been totally MIA for about 2 weeks, and she just used the common "family issues" excuse. Mark is a weird one; he definitely has a perverse fantasy about female doctors, that's probably why he became one. He wanted to watch his hot coworkers as they make themselves useful and take care of the invalid patients, but to his surprise, most of the doctors here aren't worth a double take. Y/N caught his eye immediately once she started working here, desperately trying to get with her. She's taken, she lies, but she is emotionally unavailable.

He's sat at the table in the room, swishing his tea around while reading over a file.

Mark only reminded her of everything she didn't miss about this place, feeling his nasty stare like usual as she exits the room. He's obviously checking her out. You can't possibly miss those lustful eyes the second you walk into a room with him.

Y/N clutches her folders to her chest, sighing with displeasure at the irritating pressure building in her bladder, deciding to make a pit stop in the bathroom.

Once she's finished, she exits the stall, grimacing at the graffiti on one of the stall doors. Someone desecrated the pristine staff washroom with a large circle and an 'x' drawn through it in red spray paint. Or it seemed like it was spray paint. She didn't look hard enough to assume anything else but it was a little too runny and wet to be paint, she realizes. It was a dark crimson red as well.

Y/N washes her hands thoroughly, drying off and taking in her tattered appearance. Her hair is in a tight uniformed bun just like all the other doctors, bobbypins barely holding her together. She leans forward to adjust the out-of-place strands when the mirror warps into an illusion of the woods. On the trees hang bodies, their decapitated heads on the ground. Slenderman stands before the scene, front and centre to ensure Y/N gets his message indefinitely. Hanging limply in the grasp of his black tendrils is Y/N and Toby's dead bodies.

The mirror suddenly smashes, glass flying all over the bathroom and into Y/N's face. She's lucky to have agility and reliable reflexes, shutting her eyes before the shards can blind her. She leaps away from the counter with a shriek, opening her eyes to see the bathroom looking perfect as usual. It looks even better than when she first entered. Y/N takes a shaky breath and readjusts herself, trying to gain back her professional posture. She wipes away the tears and puts on a stoic guise, exiting the bathroom without looking back.