A sigh escaped my lips as I sat back down next to Zane. I was really hoping to see him awake when I came back. Only a few minutes went by before I heard the door open.

I turned my head to see Jeff walking over to me. "Back to waiting again, huh?"

"Yeah, I just want him to wake up."

Not long afterwards, Masky, Hoodie, Toby, Jasper, and Paul all entered the room. Jeff and I both looked over at them. Masky was the first to speak.

"It's gotten dark so we're going out to search for any remaining camps. Paul and Jasper are tagging along in case we run into more dogs."

I stood from my seat and went over, stopping in front of Masky. I grabbed him by the collar and peered up at his masked face.

"Just don't let anything happen to the rest of my boys, okay?"

He quickly nodded and I let him go. The group quietly left and I sat back down in my chair. I stayed there for awhile, snacking and making small talk with Jeff.

After about an hour, I stood, pecked Zane's forehead, and left the room with Jeff right behind me. The only one in the living room was Oliver, who quietly watched TV. I sat beside him, instantly earning his attention.

"Is he still unconscious?" he quietly asked me.

I nodded. "Yeah. But don't worry, Oliver, Zane's strong. I think he just needs more time, that's all."

I wrapped the blond boy in a hug, which he instantly returned. At that moment, the front door opened and the proxies came in alongside Paul and Jasper.

Jasper approached and sat beside me, holding out a torn piece of cloth. "We found a couple of small camps. Some of the hunters had a different scent so I took a piece of their clothing."

He held the cloth up to me, letting me smell it. "Hmm, you're right, Jasper. This has a different scent than usual. Smells more like...chemicals."

Slenderman suddenly appeared in front of us and said, "I think this is the clue we needed to find the lab. Rest up, tomorrow night we'll head out."

Jeff and the proxies all headed to their rooms for the night. The boys all stayed on the couch while I went back to see Zane again. I kept the piece of cloth in my hand as I stared down at Zane.

After waiting a couple of hours, I gazed down at the cloth and mumbled to myself, "I think it's time to end this. I'm not going to let any of my boys get hurt again."

I looked over at Zane one more time before quietly leaving the room. I snuck through the living room where Paul, Jasper, and Oliver slept. I went out the front door and headed out toward the woods.

"Well look who's sneaking out all alone."

I quickly turned to see Jeff leaning against the side of the house, twirling his knife between his fingers.

"Jeff, what are you doing?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

He stood up straight and casually made his way over to me. He eyed the cloth in my hand before meeting my gaze again.

"You're going after the last of the hunters alone, aren't you?"

I frowned slightly and averted my gaze. "You can't stop me, Jeff. I have to do this. I don't want any of the others getting hurt again. It's my job to protect them and that's what I'm going to do."

I turned and started to leave until I felt his hand on my shoulder. "I'm not going to stop you, Marlow. But I would like to come with you."

I looked back at him in surprise. "Really?"

He nodded and his smile seemed to widen. "Yeah. I can't let you do something like this on your own, now can I?"

I smiled and replied, "Thanks. Now let's go."

I handed the cloth to Jeff and shifted into my Nightstalker form. He held the cloth out, letting me take in the scent. I then sniffed the ground and air before taking off into the woods.

I followed the faint trace of the scent until it began to fade. I slowed down before coming to a complete stop. I glanced around while Jeff caught up to me.

Jeff looked up at me and let me sniff the cloth again. I managed to pick up the scent again and chased after it. After spending a lot of time just following the scent, we finally came to a place that looked like an old rundown facility.

"Is that it?" Jeff quietly asked.

I snarled as I peered out at the place, seeing a hunter stepping out with a cigarette in his hand. I leapt out and onto the guy, hearing him scream as I ripped him apart.

With Jeff right behind me, I charged through the large doors and made my way down a hall and into a large room. I gazed around at the tanks and cages that lined the walls. Each one had a large, mutant dog inside.

There were about a dozen scientists in the room that gasped or screamed upon seeing me. The dogs began barking and growling from inside their cages.

With Jeff at my side, I rushed forward, slicing my claws across each scientist I passed. As we finished off the last few, an alarm went off and the cage doors automatically opened, releasing all the dogs.

I noticed a small group of hunters enter the large room and join in the fight. With the dogs surrounding and jumping at me, I fought back, biting and clawing them apart.

After killing off the dogs, I took a moment to catch my breath. But as I did, one of the hunters jumped onto my back. I panicked at the thought of being stabbed again and went into a frenzy trying to throw the guy off.

In an instant, I saw a white blur tackle the guy on my back, knocking him off me. I watched in surprise as Jeff stabbed the hunter in the chest.

"Don't worry, Marlow! I've got you're back!" Jeff told me.

We worked together to take down the remaining hunters. Once they were dead, I began breaking the large tanks that contained the half mutant dogs. After I destroyed every one of them, I noticed one familiar creature in a small cage in a corner.

I walked over to it, peering down at the Rake inside. It hissed at me and backed away. So this explains why I haven't seen the Rake for quite sometime. It was captured.

I actually felt sympathy for the odd creature. I carefully leaned down and clamped my jaws around the lock on the door. In one swift movement, I ripped the door open.

I backed away, watching as the Rake carefully stepped out while staring up at me. I gestured my head toward the entrance and watched it take off out of the building. I then looked to where Jeff began dragging out jugs of alcohol from a nearby storage closet.

I tilted my head and watched him in curiosity. He glanced at me as he began pouring the clear liquid onto the floor and the corpses.

"I figured it would be a good idea to get rid of everything. This is the easiest way to do that."

Once every jug had been emptied, he grabbed a box of matches from his pocket. He lit one and threw it down. We both turned and ran out of the large building, hearing small explosions behind us.

I heard Jeff laughing as he ran alongside me. "Hahaha, we did it! We finished them all off, just the two of us!"

I made a few small barks at him and gestured to my back. He must've understood because he quickly jumped onto my back, allowing me to pick up speed.

He held on as I ran and jumped over obstacles while making my way back toward Slender Mansion. After a short while, we finally made it back to see Slender outside with all the others.

I slowed my pace and stopped in front of them. I panted while Jeff climbed off my back.

"Guess we're busted," he said in a casual tone.

"Just what were you two thinking?" Slender sternly asked us. "Do you have any idea how reckless that was?"

I quickly changed back to normal and started explaining, "But we're okay and we found the lab and took out everyone and everything inside. I know it was stupid to go alone, but it's all finally over."

Slender seemed to tilt his head slightly. "You really killed all the remaining hunters and dogs? Just the two of you?"

"Even burnt down their lab," Jeff chimed in.

Sender was quiet for a moment before speaking again. "Well then, good work. Looks like your recklessness paid off this time."

"Uh, thanks?" I replied, questioning whether he was actually complimenting us or not.

We went inside and I took a quick shower before going to check on Zane again. Jeff, Paul, Jasper, and Oliver later came in. Paul immediately started bombarding me with questions.

"So what was it like in that lab?"

"Weird. Like something you'd see in a mad scientist movie."

"Oh, so did they have any mutated mutant dogs?"

I looked back at him in confusion. "What?"

"What I mean is were any of their mutant dogs more mutated than usual?"

"Not really."

"You sure?"

I stood up and turned toward him, frowning in annoyance. "Yes, Paul, I know what I saw! Now are you going to continue asking me stupid questions or-"

I was interrupted by a low groan from behind me. My eyes grew wide and watery as I quickly turned to see Zane painfully sitting up. A wide smile spread across my lips and I almost instantly jumped onto the table next to him and wrapped him into a hug.

"Zane! You're awake and you're okay!"

I repeatedly kissed his head and hugged him, hearing him say, "Marlow."

I held him against me a little longer before frowning. I slowly pulled away so I could yell at him.

"What were you thinking, you idiot?! Do you know how worried I was?! Why did you jump in front of me like that?!"

He winced as I gave him a few small slaps on the head before breaking down in tears. He almost immediately took my face in his hands, wiping away my tears and giving me a gentle smile.

"I'm sorry, Marlow. I never meant to worry you like that. I just couldn't let you get hurt again. I'd take a bullet for you any day."

I smiled and hugged him again. One by one, the others joined in, making it a group hug. The Nighthunters are all wiped out and Zane is going to be okay. It's all finally over.