“Hey Lisa, I found where the Noctis safehouse is.”

“How?”

“Time Travel.”

“That… doesn’t explain anything.”

“Yeah, well, time to put that book down, we’re heading out.”

Of course my next question was why we were going to the safehouse. 330’s response was that the Noctis, being a group who kept tabs on Slender activity, probably has had its share of encounters with other secret groups. Which makes them the best chance of finding out if the CIA’s up to anything in the area.

The downside to this plan is that after our interruption of their exchange, the Noctis here just means Brandon. And I doubt he’s very happy with us.

The safehouse turned out to be surprisingly close, within walking distance. Another apartment, located in a complex that looked as if it had been designed to be as bland as possible. Perfect disguise, I guess.

The door cracked open slightly after 330 knocked on it, and I saw an eye peeking through before it was slammed shut. 330 sighed. “Always gotta be done the hard way….” She vanished, and a second later I heard Brandon shouting from inside. The door was opened, and 330 came out, leading Brandon by the arm.

“Let go of me!” He pulled out of her hand.

“Brandon, we need to ask-” Brandon hit her in the face, but she continued. “…you some questions. Or at least let us look at any notes the Noctis may have been keeping-” He hit her again.

“She’s dead because of you!” Brandon’s eyes were growing wet. “Because you stopped our exchange, she tried to use herself as the sacrifice, and… and….”

He completely broke down. On his hands and knees, body shaking, tears hitting the ground.

“She was the only one who took me in. She taught me how to deal with this. We were doing fine until you came and messed everything up, and now she’s gone and I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.”

Dealing with other people crying was a skill I’d never got a chance to learn. Don’t think 330 knew how to either. Unsure of what to do, we both stood on the side awkwardly and watched this kid being wracked with grief. Maybe there was something I could have said, but nothing came to mind. All I could think of would probably just have made it worse….

Eventually, the crying lessened, and he calmed down enough to speak. “Why did you come here?” I could barely hear him.

“We were hoping that you had been keeping track of any other Slender Man groups around. Specifically government ones.”

Brandon shook his head. “No… not really. I mean, I ran into FBI people every once in a while, doing cleanup after some of our exchanges, but we never kept track of it….”

“FBI? Close enough. Do you know where we can find them?”

Brandon told us the address. It was further on the edges of the city; we’d need to take the car to get there. As we were going to leave, Brandon spoke again.

“I sometimes wondered if we were doing the right thing… sacrificing those people…. But it seemed like the only way…. Would things have been different if you’d never come? Would she still be alive if we’d gone through with the exchange like normal?”

330 didn’t stop to answer him. I hesitated, but again my mind was blank for a response. Quickly followed 330 away.

We’re going to be checking out this FBI place soon now. See if they know anything.

-Lisa