Thanks to all who have stuck with this story!~

I love you all in the least creepy of ways :3

I plan on writing more and Imma be honest I love your reviews, I looked back I realized that there are quite a few of you following and favoriting and so on and so forth. The reviews, honestly, make the updates happen that much faster, I'm not going to be a beggar though I'm just (super) saiyan. Either way I'm still going to write, but thanks anyways!

Also sorry for the usually long, LONG waits inbetween chapters :3 you can blame laziness (and a little bit of writer's block)


.:9:.

I woke in silence. Warm daylight was streaming through the curtains and I blinked several times to rid the floaters from my vision. I rolled over on the bed, this wasn't mine. It was the first thing I registered when I started to wake up that I was somewhere foreign. I had turned half expecting to come face to face with Slender, but I was perplexed to find myself in an empty bed.

Sitting up I rubbed my head as I felt a migraine working its way in. I went to the bathroom to take some Advil before going to see if I could find someone. In the kitchen I found Masky sipping coffee out of a straw.

"Well good morning sunshine," he said in his usual sarcastically chipper voice.

"It's quiet, where's Slender."

He tilted his head before making a humming noise, "Why do you ask?"

I shrugged, "He's usually always around."

Masky let out a short laugh before finishing his mug and setting it in the dish washer, "He's dealing with little Jeffry again."

An image of wide bloodshot eyes and an unnatural joker's smile flashed through my mind and I shuddered. That name was all it took for that memory to resurface. I opened my mouth to say something but a knock on the door interrupted me.

"Ooh that must be him," Masky ran to answer and I peaked around the corner, worried it might be another one of Slender's… friends.

From the angle I was at I couldn't make out who was at the door, until they stepped in. I gasped, what the hell was Slender wearing?

"Sorry love, but I've gotta bounce. Slender won't be happy but at least he knows him, Kiera this is Slenderman's brother, Splendorman, you two have fun now!" Masky slid out the door and I blinked as it clicked softly.

My gaze drifted slowly back to "Splendorman" and I cringed at his apparel. He was wearing what seemed to be a carnival ringmaster's outfit. The clothes consisted of a red bowtie and a red, gold laced undershirt. He black jacket had the dots from a twister mat, and two, long coattails stuck out in the back. He bowed politely when I remained silent and he tipped his hat to me.

"Hi…" I didn't know Slender had a brother, the two looked so similar though. I'd say he was playing a joke on me, but something tells me he doesn't do jokes. Or if he does, he's not very good at them. I noticed that his mouth, unlike Slender's, was showing fully in a wide and somewhat deadly looking smile. Despite the horror of the torn-looking mouth, it seemed friendly enough which was odd since there were no other prominent facial features to back up his happiness.

I froze over as Splendor suddenly lifted me up in a tight bear hug, "It's so wonderful to meet one of Slendy's friends! He never lets me get near his things, never." Splendor suddenly shuddered as if he were recalling a horrifying memory.

After a few more spins he set me down before skipping around the living room and sitting down on the sofa, "Uh…"

"Come join me! I'm supposed to keep you company until my older brother gets back, I don't mind, I'm glad to meet you. Oh I see you're marked… how strange, you know even though we're related I've never seen any of his marks up close. Its strange, mine doesn't even look similar to his…"

Splendor prattled on and on, but somehow I found it comforting that for once the silence in my life could be filled for a brief moment. Slender never had anything to say, but it seemed as though Splendor had the world to talk about.

He was rather sweet too, he asked me questions here and there, including me in the conversation. Either way I sure as hell liked him a lot more than his brother. Why couldn't he have been the one to have imprisoned me for life?

Scratch that, I'd rather not have been imprisoned in the first place.

At one point the conversation dulled for a little and I made us both some hot chocolate. When I returned, I was in the middle of trying to swallow a marshmallow when Splendor sighed and looked at me, "He's not all bad, you know."

I blinked, "Who?"

He voice was high and bright as he talked animatedly,"My brother, Slender. He's like um... like clay! If you leave him out to dry for too long he get's dry and can crack real easy," his voice lowered into a whisper as if he were telling a secret, "but if you water him a bit he'll get all squishy!" Splendor giggled to himself and sipped his cocoa.

I laughed at the analogy but curiosity wandered into my mind, "How do you know?"

He tilted his head in question. "What do you mean?"

"How... do you know he can be "squishy" like that?"

Splendor's smile faltered for a moment and he bit his lip, "Ooh... I want to tell you, I want to because I like you, you're a nice person! But it's not my right to tell, I promised him I wouldn't tell anyone ever... I... oooh!" he looked torn so I quickly decided to reassure him that it wasn't worth it.

The conversation lulled again before picking up full throttle about this, that, and the other. I didn't know what time it was, but when I looked out the window the sky was dark. We continued to chat and our conversation was veering into what my life was like with Slender and what do you know? Speak of the devil and he shall appear.

The door was thrown open roughly and out of surprise we both jumped and stood as if we had just been caught doing something we weren't supposed to. Slender looked frustrated from other things outside the house, but when his gaze fell on Splendor he directed all his anger on him. He marched up to him and grabbed a handful of his outfit.

"What are you doing here?" he growled.

Splendor shivered before scrunching his shoulders together, he pulled off his hat and held it against his chest as if it were a shield, "Masky needed my help."

Slender let go of his shirt collar and began to pace, "That idiot, of course I can't count on him, what on Earth made me even think I could even begin to trust him." Slender let out a heavy sigh, "at least he wasn't dumb enough to call him."

Spledor's head tilted the side, "Sexu-" one of Slender's appendages slapped itself across his mouth.

"I don't even want to hear his name! If he even tries to get his hands on her I will demolish him! "Relative" or not."

I pursed my lips and tried my best to shrink into the shadows. A creak in the floorboards alerted the two of my position and I froze. Slender dragged a hand across his face in a frustrated manor before taking in a deep breath.

"Buddy I-"

"Stop talking. Get out of my domain. Immidiatly," Splendor's shoulders slumped and he walked towards the door. He started to let himself out but before he was gone he tipped his hat to me and shut the door in a swift motion.

I turned slowly to Slender. He just shook his head before going into the kitchen, I watched as he grabbed a cup and filled it with water. Before taking a sip he pulled out a bottle and dropped in a little pill that dissolved instantly into the liquid.

I raised an eyebrow, "Was that an ibuprofen or something?"

"Or something."

The room was silent save for the creaking of the boards in the wind and I felt compelled to ask about his family tree, "So… what was all that about?"

Slender stared at me for a long moment before finishing off the water and brushing past me in a rather rough motion, "If you're so desperate to know look it up. I won't exaggerate when I say "Anything you wish to know about me and my extensions can be found on the internet." We are, after all, just a thought to most of you."

He walked away and after a few heavy footsteps down the hallway I heard the door being closed harshly. I stood there for some time, debating on whether or not I'd be scarred for life if I looked up his roots. After listing all the pros and cons I decided to go find my laptop.

I sat on the couch and opened up my Toshiba to log on, then opening up the ever so trusty Google and typing in the first thing I could think of which was "Slenderman family."

I saw a lot of useless websites and things that wouldn't help, I used my researching ability from years of being a journalist and all I could conclude was that the best way to go about this was look on images.

I found one of four Slender creatures, one was Splendor I was sure, same ringmaster outfit, odd wide smile. There was a second that was nearly identical to Slender the only difference was that this one was sporting a blue sweater vest. The last one was really strange to me, he wore a trench coat and he was holding a red rose next to a razor toothed smile that looked just as ripped as the others.

There were also numerous drawings of Slender and his extended family, but I saw most of the main four. After some time I decided to conclude that most of the others were made up, especially on account of the names like "Vendorman," who seemed to be coming out of a vending machine. Really people…

I did some more in depth research and scoffed when I learned the names of the other two possible relatives of Slender. First off, Trenderman was just some fashion lover, and after looking at various photos I realized he was just like every other pale, pasty, and plastic clothing model at the stores. Where he came from I have no clue, and he seemed completely different from the ever stoic Slender.

Last and hopefully least was the one I could only guess the two had been talking about. To me, names speak a thousand words, and well this one just read a whole book to me. His name was Sexual Offenderman. What the hell. What the actual fuck. What world was I living in?

I ended up spending the whole night trying to get over the fact that such a thing as a Sexual OffenderMAN existed! Let alone possibly related to thing holding me hostage for all eternity.

When the sun rose I was exhausted and ever more confused than when I started. I heard footsteps and I looked over the edge of the cushion to see him looking over my shoulder at the screen.

"For once I'm glad for the internet, it saved me an embarrassing conversation."

I gave him a look before shutting the laptop and pushing it off my lap. I felt a sudden rush of cool air and it felt freezing after having the hot computer on me most of the night.

"What's so embarrassing about it? Besides the obvious fact of his name."

I heard Slender sigh heavily, "I can't even begin to complain… he was an accident, they're all accidents! And I don't mean that in the pitying way you humans say it when a child is born unexpectedly. I was trying to create an army, I needed help for the war. And what do I get? These things, these things! They are nothing like me, they were supposed to, but out of all of them he is the worst…" Slender made a loud frustrated noise and started pacing.

"How?" I wanted to keep him talking and I think it was because of my journalist intincts.

"He shouldn't be consorting with humans on a daily basis. At least the other two know how to stay out of the human world, at least they have no desire to..!" he groaned again, "and those stupid little flowers. Those ugly, stupid little flowers and the petals everywhere. That guy… you can't live with him! He brings home a different female every night, not to kill, not to collect, but to… ugh!"

Slender started mumbling to himself, groaning and getting angrier and angrier. The only thing that stopped him was the old saying, speak of the devil and he shall appear.

"I guess I really am nobody's favorite," I gasped and turned just in time to see a Slenderman like creature slither in through the window.

"Get out!" the house vibrated with Slender's voice and I shrunk into the pillows.

"Hey I heard you talking smack about me, and you know I'm rather tired of it. I am well aware that you hate me but can't you keep it to yourself for once? You don't need to be telling every pet you own. Speaking of which, hello you're a pretty young thing."

I fell further into the cushions and tried to shy away at the ruby red rose he tried to hand me. All that reading told me to never accept anything this thing gave me.

The pressure to take the rose however, grew as he got closer, I was rather tempted to pluck the flower from his grasp to admire it closely, and just as I started to reach for it Offender went flying across the room.

I jumped as Slender shoved several of his appendages through his brother's body. Black blood oozed from his open wounds and his coughed out some onto the floor. Somehow I couldn't help but figure that'd I'd have to clean it up this time.

"Why on earth are you here?" he demanded, trying to keep himself in check, I could see his suit starting to tear at the seams.

"I decided to listen to Jeff on this one," I felt the temperature drop as Slender fought off Offenders extra arms and used his left hand claw at him until nothing but raw and bloody skin was left under his coat.

"That is a very unwise decision and you know it," Slender pushed against him and he pushed back.

Offender smirked, "He's got something you don't. And this time it's not just more people, he's got a power like none other. He's found a way to reach into the depths of fucking Hell and absorb their power. You can't win." Slender growled, "And when you're done for, I'll be taking that pretty little youth under my belt."

Slender wrapped his clean hand around Offenders throat and lifted him up off the ground. He said nothing as he pinned down his hands and feet to the wall. "I always win. Nothing can change that," in a swift motion Slender shoved his hand all the way into his brother's mouth before ripping out his tongue and throwing it to the floor.

"You can't kill me," he slurred out, mouth dripping black ooze.

"No, but you'll wish I could if you so much as look at her again, don't you even for a second think that this is a prize you can win. She belongs to me."

For a moment, his smile dropped. Offenderman looked at me from around Slender before wrestling his way out of his grip. His smirk returned and he crossed his arms, "Oh I see what's going on here. She's your bitch, fine I guess I can respect that-"

Before he could say another word Slender hurled him out the still open window and shut it forcefully, cracking the glass.

He stood there for a long time, breathing heavily and hunched over. I remained curled on the couch at the spectacle.

After about thirty minutes ticked by, Slender backed away and looked at me. I opened my mouth to say something, but I couldn't think of anything so I let the moment pass. He walked out of the living room and disappeared until the moon came out.

When the stars started to come out Slender reentered the main room and did a series of intricate taps on the hallway wall. A few seconds later the doorbell rang and he went to go answer it.

Before he opened the door he turned to me, "I need to go out and settle some things with… everyone and everything. Splendor will watch you since you two are already acquainted." He straightened his jacket and put his hand on the door. I thought that was it for today but his last comment stuck to my heart, "And for the record, you are nobody's bitch. Especially not mine."

And with those final words, he walked out into the night.