Disclaimer: ;) ready your jimmies, I don't own this.
Chapter VII- The Weeping Willow Sheds It's Leaves
Jeff's POV
As we walked back to Slender Mansion, I glanced over at Ava as I hear her giggle to herself. The moon was full and the silver rays shot down and highlighted her face complimenting it and showing off her soft features. A little bit of blood was splattered on her face from before (I got a little out of hand) and her eyes suggested she was quite psychotic, and I liked it.
"What's so funny?" I questioned, her sudden outburst startling me.
"I'm just thinking about the looks on those kids' face when they walked in."
I raised a brow, "Oh? See, I knew you would enjoy tonight!" I felt quite smug.
"Yeah, I need to stop hanging out with you guys, you bring out the worst of me."
I reached down and held her hand. She twitched at the random and unexpected touch, looking up at me with large, hazel eyes that twinkled in the starlight. "Or the best..."
Her cheeks turned a bright red and her gaze retreated, breaking off from my own, "Perhaps."
There was a rustle in the brushes in front of us and a familiar figure pounced out. The being perched in front of us; its skin a pale white like my own and it being not quite human but more dog like in comparison. Its claws were at least seven inches long and dripped with blood, a crazed look in its eyes told me it had freshly killed.
Ava shrieked and latched onto my arm, trembling terribly, "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!"
I snickered, "Calm down, it's just Rake. Hey dude."
He cocked his head to the side and narrowed his eyes at Ava, I knew he could smell she was human. "This is Ava, Slendy's new pet."
"Hey! I'm not a pet!"
"Sure, whatever helps you sleep at night." Rake backed away before giving her one last glance and running off. "He doesn't like you."
"What, how can you tell?" Ava was still glued onto my arm.
"Well, just be happy he didn't eat your ass."
She frowned, "He was creepy."
"Wait till you meet my pet dog Smile." I was snickering just thinking about it.
She groaned, "No more, I say nay."
I smiled, "Let's go."
...
Ava had fallen asleep not that long after we had gotten home. I was glad, for the past month I have watched her, she's slept terribly but now she was curled into a tight ball and resting like a baby. As I watched, I felt the urge to kill, to make her go to sleep.
No. Get out of my head, she's family. She's my friend.
The voices slowly claimed and she shifted, gripping the sheets and pulling them above her head. I sighed, giving Ava one last glance before slipping out into the living room. Jack sat on the couch channel surfing.
"Hey bro," I flopped down on the sofa next to him.
"Hey," We were quiet, staring blank-mindedly at the tv. "You have a crush on her or somethin'?" Jack's voice was nonchalant.
I almost shrieked and fell off of the plush sofa, "WHAT?"
"You have a crush on Ava or somethin'?"
"Wh-what? Of course not!" My cheeks felt extremely hot, Jack continued to stare at the tv. "Why would you even assume that?"
"Meh," he shrugged his shoulders. "You do watch her sleep and spend a lot of time with her. I watch the way you look at her and it's different you know? I can't really explain it. Anyways, even if you did like her, you can't date her."
"And why's that?"
"Because she's mine."
I snorted, "Yeah I forgot, 'you marked her'."
"That's right, and I don't like to share."
I rolled my eyes, but Jack and I both jumped at the sound of a throat clearing behind us. "As far as I'm concerned, nobody owns me."
My back went ridged as I turned to see Ava standing behind us with her hands on her hips. "Uh, hey Ava..."
"And you watch me while I sleep?"
Jack snickered next to me, I growled at him before turning back to Ava, "No."
She raised a brow, "Mind going in a walk with me Jeff?"
"Yes."
"Why? You're not scared of me are you?"
"Yes."
She smirked grabbing my hand and dragging me off the couch. "Deal with it then."
...
The night was fairly cool for an August gust. Ava and I walked in silence through Slender's woods; I wasn't really sure why she wanted to go but I was sure on one thing: The Silence.
I liked it, I don't know why everyone always has to be talking, always starting a conversation, but with Ava it was different. We could just sit speechless and just embrace the comfortable presence of each other.
But I guess something was weighing on her mind, "Jeff?" We stopped our stroll and I leaned against a tree, waiting for her response. "Do you really watch me sleep?"
I shrugged my shoulders and she groaned in frustration, "Why can't you just be straight forward for once?" She let out a deep breath a turned to march on.
"I don't remember what it's like to dream. It must be nice." My voice was an extremely soft whisper that I could hardly hear myself.
"What?" Ava slowly reached out and the tips of her fingers brushed against my forearm. "Jeff, I, uh, do you even sleep?"
"Sleep is for the weak. I refuse to be weak."
"Jeff, sleeping doesn't make you weak-"
I cut her short as I pinned her against the tree, gripping her wrists. "And what would you know about weakness Avaline?" I growled.
Her pupils dilated and for a split second I saw fear in her eyes. I softened, burying my face into her neck. "Please don't be scared of me Ava. I can't lose you too."
Her fingers softly ran through my long black hair, "No Jeff, I'm not afraid of you."
"How can you not be?" My voice cracked, "I'm a murderer, a monster."
I felt a sudden sharp pain on my cheek and watched her hand pull away from the quick slap. I was taken off guard, slowly reaching up I cuffed the aching cheek. "Never again." Her voice was angry and low. "I never want to hear that again do you hear me Jeff? You're perfect to me."
"What makes me so special?"
Her cheeks became a fiery red, "Um," she fidgeted, shifting her weight some.
I laughed and she hissed, "This isn't funny Jeff!"
"Oh, but on the contrary, it's hilarious. Ava has a crush on me!" I taunted her in a childish voice.
"Jeff shut up! I do not!"
"Then why are you getting so defensive?"
She made a small whimper-like noise before pouting and stumbling off without me. I grinned; well, isn't that cute? Little Ava has a crush on the extraordinary Jeff the Killer. I mean, I am beautiful and all but...
I smacked my palm on my head, "Ava, you're heading away from the mansion!" I called out to her in the night. I heard a distance grunt and then the sound of twigs snapping.
...
I yawned, not sure if I felt like sleeping tonight or not. I stumbled into the mansion to find the halls empty and relieved that Ava made it back and everyone was asleep for once. Except of course Jane.
I rolled my eyes as I knocked on her door, it slowly swung open and she sheepishly rubbed at her eyes.
"Hey Jeff, why are you up?"
I stumbled into her room then casually sat on her bed shrugging, "I need advice."
Her brows came together, "Me of all people? This must be important... What's wrong Jeffrey?"
I took a deep breath, "It's about Ava."
...
I woke up the next morning and stretched, feeling relieved when my back and shoulders pop. Shuffling out into the kitchen, I poured myself a bowl of cereal and sat on the couch. Soon after, Ava sheepishly climbed onto the couch next to me and yawned.
"Hey," I muttered in between bites.
She gave me a weak smile and then curled up into a ball, "Everybody disappeared, it's just us today."
I shrugged, "It's a Saturday, everybody goes out."
She sat up and pulled the large red bang from her eyes, "What do you want to do?"
"Uh, I could make a few suggestions," I implied wiggling my eyebrows at her.
Ava giggled, getting off the couch and taking my now finished breakfast into the kitchen and washing my bowl. "When do you think everyone will be back?"
"Meh, it depends, we all do our own thing." I grabbed the dish from her hands and quickly dried it and put it back up in the hickory cupboard.
"We could go see a movie, I knows there's a couple slashers out right now."
"Eh, as much as I like a good murder, those movies are stupid." I grumbled under my breath.
She giggled, "Wow, I expected the complete opposite Jeff."
I smirked, Ava sat back down on the couch and pulled out the game controllers and handed me one, "And what exactly did you expect?"
Her cheeks were painted with a flattering pink, "Uh, you know, I figured you'd be into the whole scary movie thing. Like, so you could compare tactics or whatever with the antagonist."
"That doesn't sound like too bad of an idea actually, thanks Ava-chan."
She gave me a warm smile before starting the game. We played some kind of first person shooter for awhile before we gave up and decided to go out. I pulled my hood up and put on sunglasses and some light makeup to hide my pale skin.
We went out for icecream and hung out at the park for awhile before a low rumble could be heard in the distance. Ava's body tensed and she turned to me with a nervous smile, "We should probably be heading home right?"
"Why, it's nice out."
"Can we just go please? I don't want to be here anymore."
"I guess," we started to walk home, the sky started to become grey as we walked and the air became extremely humid. I loved the rain but I hated getting wet.
"Hey Jeff, can I ask you something?"
I glanced down at Ava who stared up at me with large, curious eyes as we walked. "Shoot for it."
"What's up with Jane? I've read that she really hates you but as far as I can tell, she's got a fairly large crush on you. I went to talk to her this morning but she gave me a dirty look and shrugged me off. Is she just not a people person or what?"
"She's never really been a people person but she's not generally rude so I'm not really sure what her problem is."
"Oh, she wasn't just being rude to me this morning, it was like full blown she-bitch."
"Hey, I know you're new here and all, but we all respect one another, whether we admit it or not. It's one thing for us to argue and fight because we're all family and we get along like one, but we don't treat each other like that."
She let out a sharp breath, "Yeah, sorry, I'm just not use to having a family I guess. I can hardly remember the small details about my brother but me and him fought a lot. I guess you could understand that."
"Or not," she looked up at me with confused eyes, "Me and my brother were closer than twins. Just because your family is broken doesn't mean I'll know where you come from."
"Excuse me? That was rude..."
"Whatever, I need to go." I ran off before she could stop me. I stopped in the now empty park and glanced up at the black, rain cloud filled sky. I blinked as several cool drops fell from the sky and onto my face, running down my cheeks and causing my concealer to run. It only took seconds for the rain to start to down poor, the vacant park looking like a stretched waterfall.
...
Ava's POV
It was raining.
The rain brings darkness, the darkness brings pain, as if the being craves it like a sickness, as if the being has something to gain.
The needles in the arm of god contemplate one's stress, stop praying he has abandoned us, to one's self pitty I shall digress, the only hope comes with the dusk.
Yet with the dawn comes a greater evil, a reminder of mortality lingers in one's mind, his heart refuses to beat as the if he's the devil, run and see what the rain will find.
My heart was pounding in my head, tears burst from my eyes as I ran as fast as I could to Slender Mansion. How could Jeff abandon me like that?
If there is one thing I'm more frightened of than Jack it's rain. I've always hated it, it scares the hell out of me and all I can do is cry and curl up in a ball until it's over.
Slender, if you can hear me, I need you...
I was lost, I didn't know my way home. How could I get lost so easily? God, I'm so frustrated. I finally gave up and fell to the ground and cradled my knees.
What am I to do? I'm all alone, I'm always alone.
The rain came down like a never ending darkness. The rapid beads splattered off of my hoodie and head, creating small puddles in the creases of my clothes.
I gasped, a pair if warm hands were gripping me and lifting myself from the muddy ground. I shrieked, squirming at the unfamiliar grip. The unknown being flipped me over its shoulder and I stared down at the hunched back, lanky, albino skin that carried me.
"Rake?" I whispered and he responded with a low growl. I started shaking, recalling what Jeff said earlier about him eating me. "W-Where are you taking me?"
A huffed noise was all I received from the dog like humanoid. After a couple minutes of walking, the sight of the mansion came into view and he sat me down.
He turned to leave and gave me one last glance. "Uh, Rake?" He looked back at me with large hallow eyes. "Thanks, I guess you're not half as bad as I thought."
He gave what looked like a nod before disappearing into the brush. I sighed, still shaking some; I ascended the stairs and entered the house tumbling into Slender.
"Avaline Jackson! Thank Beelzebub, I was just about to go look for you. Are you alright?"
"Yeah," I laughed nervously, "The Rake helped me find my way home."
He tilted his head, "The Rake huh? Strange, he never socializes with us."
I shrugged, walking past him to go take a shower. Once I got out and changed into a crisp white shirt that said "Snow White's Poison Bite" and grey tights, I walked down stairs to see Jeff talking to Jane. She immediately gave me an awkward glance and I felt as if I was streaming.
I walked up to Jeff and slapped him, "What the hell Jeff? You ditched me!"
"Yeah, so?" He held his cheek and Jane snorted.
"Did you ever once stop to think about somebody else besides yourself for once?" I felt the hot tears streaming down my face again, "I was so scared!"
"What the hell are you talking about Ava?"
I let out a sharp breath and ran up to my room, from downstairs I could hear Slender yelling at Jeff and explaining my fear of rain.
About twenty minutes later, a knock came at the door and I didn't ever bother to answer it. It came again and once again I ignored. "Aren't you going to answer it Ava?"
"Why should I Jeff?" I heard a soft bang and I guessed that he was resting his forehead on the door.
"Please?" His voice was soft. I grunted and felt strained to turn the brass knob.
As he came in I closed the door behind him and he leaned against the wall, crossing his arms. "What do you want?" I almost hissed out.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know, I was wrong to do it, I'm a jackass, whatever you want to hear to make you feel better."
"Well don't you feel remorse," I stated sarcastically and rolled my eyes.
"Well, I'm really sorry, and I don't really do the whole apologize thing so this is my 100%."
"Why'd you run off in the first place?"
"I'm kind of moody if you haven't noticed."
"More like schizophrenic..."
"Shut up," he smirked, playfully punching me in the arm. "I swear it'll never happen again. I don't want to hurt you."
"And why's that Jeff? That's all you seem to do."
His face turned bright red, "Well, uh, you're really my only friend besides my dog, and, uh-"
I cut him off; gripping his hoodie, I pulled him towards me and standing on my tip toes I softly kissed him. I surprisingly was the one to pull away first. "So little Ava has the hots for the amazing Jeff the Killer huh?" His voice was extremely cocky and smug.
"You sound arrogant," I looked away from him and let the silence set in, "And yes, I "have the hots" for you."