With a shudder my stomach was emptied of its contents for the second time this morning. Coughing, I reached up to flush the toilet and get rid of what remained of my food from the other day. I gave another shudder when I swallowed the thick bile that had gathered at the back of my throat.

This morning was not going so well.

I had first gotten up at 4:00 a.m. to, of course, vomit, and it was now only 5:37. I don't think I'll be sleeping any more. Well, I have things to do anyway. I closed the toilet lid, grabbing the counter above me to help me get back up. But my legs were shaking, as was the rest of me, so it took longer than it should have been to start rising from the floor.

When I was halfway up, I jumped reflexatively as a cold hand slid under my shirt to rest against the center of my stomach. I looked up into the mirror to see Slenderman standing behind me.

His hand brought the familiar healing sensation into my skin, and it also pressed into me slightly, helping to pull me upright again.

"Where were you the first time I violently threw up?" I half-growled, not entirely serious. I just wanted to be snappy.

"Hunting," he replied. Though I already knew the answer, so he did it just to be obvious.

Putting both hands on the counter to steady myself, I breathed deeply. My reflection looked completely hellish. Tangled black hair fell into my face, sticking out in places, and I looked pale, more so than usual. Because of my lack of sleep I also had bruises under my puffy eyes. Absently I blinked, feeling the tiredness in my eyes.

"Mmm," I groaned, rubbing my forehead. I felt loathingly pathetic. Even with the soothing coolness that was calming my aching stomach.

His hand left me after a minute or so. I sighed with relief when I no longer felt and pain in my internal areas.

When I stumbled around him to leave, he turned and followed me. "Where are you going?"

"To pack the rest of Tom's things. I told his daughter that I would finish with the rest of it today," I replied. I gripped the railing to the stairs with both hands and took one wobbly step. This was just awesome. I almost wanted to tell Slenderman to knock me out just so I could be out of my misery for a little bit.

I heard a sigh, and a black tendril wrapped around me, allowing me to walk without having to worry about trying to keep myself balanced. Slowly I released the railing, but still kept my hands out slightly just in case.

I stole a glance at him beside me. "Why are you helping me?"

"It was pitiful to watch you otherwise," he said with a hint of a playful condescending tone.

"Shut up." I would have tried to shove him, but I knew I wouldn't have been able to move him, even if I wasn't weak at the moment. Besides, I had no intention of making him let go so that I could fall on my face.

Well. What had happened to me? I had become a passive little thing. Maybe I should work on that.

Upon entering the livingroom, I saw a sight that made me stop abruptly. Through the window on the other side of the room I could see the truck, right where I left it, but stacked in the back of it was the rest of the boxes for my last load today. Tied down and everything.

His tentacle left me as I faced him, utterly confused. "But...what...did you do that?"

A nod. I glanced around the room to find it empty of all the other boxes that I had brought down the other day to be taken away. They were all gone, put into the truck and ready to go.

I looked up at him, suspicious. This was not something that was normal, even though everything about him was abnormal. You know what I mean. "Okay, I know you weren't being nice. What's the alterior motive for doing this?"

He paused before answering. "I was hoping to have you to myself today. It wouldn't be possible if you still had duties to perform."

"...Oh." That was all I could manage to say. I wasn't really sure about how to respond to this. I shifted on my feet. "Well...what do you want to do?"

"Whatever you wish."

Hm. Whatever I want, huh? "So, if I wanted to go into the forest and have you run around with me riding piggyback, you'd do it?" Internally I was in a fit of gut-busting laughter. But on the outside I allowed a grin to spread across my face. I couldn't help it.

He seemed mildly confused. "You're in no condition for exhilaration and...piggyback riding." He shook his head at our human phrases. "I was more expecting another simple talk of ours."

"Pfft. You're no fun." I went around him, wobbling haphazardly, into the kitchen and got a coffee mug from the cupboard. Some tea would definitely do me some good. I wasn't about to even attempt to eat anything solid yet, my stomach gave an unpleasant turn at the thought.

After I made my tea, I blew gently on the top of it to try and cool it off. Taking my cup back into the livingroom, I saw another interesting sight. Slenderman was sitting on one end of the couch, one leg on the floor and one stretched out on it, just like last time. His white face stared at me in expectance, almost like a child waiting for a reward.

The thought made me smile uncontrollably like an idiot, trying not to laugh as I went around to take my own seat on the other side of him. I laid my legs out next to his, not unlike the last time we sat here and talked.

"Is something amusing?" he asked, sounding genuinely curious.

This didn't help me much, and I snickered quietly, no longer able to make my lips blow on my tea any more. "It's nothing. I'm assuming that you have more curious questions for me, so ask away." I took a sip of my drink, secretly enjoying how I confused him so.

"I have been thinking about something for a while now. When I came here and found Jeff trying to kill you, he didn't have his knife, which meant that you somehow fought him and got it away from his possession. This meant that you didn't want him to kill you. And yet you tried to get yourself killed many times by me, or by your own hand. Why didn't you let him take your life if you wanted to die so badly?"

I took another sip. I saw how it didn't make sense to him, but I did have my reasons. I took a minute to put together the words in my head so that they would make sense. "Believe me, I wouldn't mind it if I died, but I want to do it my way. If I could control it, anyway. That's why I came to you in the forest that day. That was the way that I chose to do it, I wanted to be killed by the infamous Slenderman."

I laughed a little at myself. "I didn't like Jeff anyway. I don't want to be another victim of his to add to all the others that he's killed. But in the end, I might not get to choose how I die. I just wanted to try and have my own attempt in the future."

Honestly I expected him to ask me a question that I had been dreading. Do you still want to die? And I wouldn't be able to answer him. Or myself for that matter. Yes, it would be a great relief to end my life, but there was something in the back of my mind that fought against the statement. I didn't have anything to live for, so that wasn't it. Something just felt different. As if I wasn't completely sure what I wanted to do anymore.

I wasn't getting better. That would probably never happen. However I did feel that there had been a small change somewhere, though I couldn't figure out exactly where. Or what it was doing to me.

Thankfully Slenderman seemed to either not think about the question, or he decided not to ask it. "I see. I can understand your dislike towards the idea of being his victim."

I almost wanted to point out how blatantly pissed he'd been when he pulled Jeff off of me and stabbed him against the wall, but I decided that it might not have been a smart idea. Besides, it didn't really matter. "Why do you like having these talks? Are you trying to learn more about humans or something?"

He gave a cold laugh that told me in itself that that was not the case. "Please. I couldn't care less about your race. I already know all that I need to know, and I have no desire to become obsessed with learning everything about how you function." The harshness died from his voice. "To answer your question, I enjoy your responses to my questions, whether they be about humans or not. It's not about the subject that we speak about. I find you interesting to talk to."

Well then. I took a large gulp of tea and winced a bit at the sudden warmth rushing into me. "Good. Because if you were just some misunderstood creature wanting to understand our lifestyle and not wanting to kill us, I would have to find some way to decapitate you."

This elicited a chuckle from him, which in turn made me smile a bit into my mug. Every sound he made seemed to have its own beauty and sound that made you want to hear more. I could probably listen to him talking all day.

Oh, right. I was.

"No, honey, go back inside," Marie told her daughter, shooing her back into the hotel room. The girl had come outside multiple times wanting to help us put the boxes into the U-haul. She now pouted at her mother with her eyebrows down and covering her eyes slightly, making a face so unique that I couldn't help but laugh.

At my laughter the girl looked up at me through her mother's arms. "Rei, can't I help? I'm big enough, I can carry all the boxes at the same time!"

"Your mother said no," I responded with an apologetic look. I pulled a box from the truck and the girl pouted at me then, making me chuckle and shake my head as I went over to the U-haul.

Marie closed the door to the hotel and locked it so that her daughter would stay inside. She came up to me with an exhausted sigh, picking up a box from the truck. "And she's not even a teenager yet. Can't wait for those years."

Heh. I went back to the truck for another box. This time I stacked a couple on my arms, careful not to drop anything.

I had talked with Slenderman until after lunchtime, when I decided I should get the stuff over to Marie. Mostly we just talked about how stupid people were and things like that. Much like our last conversation. But this time I didn't end up falling asleep on him, at least. He almost tried to tell me that I couldn't leave because he wanted to talk more, but I said that we could talk more when I got back. Sometimes he acted like a child, though I wouldn't ever say that to his face. I had no intention of pissing him off and getting my body impaled onto a tree.

I did accomplish keeping some food down. I made some soup for lunch and it didn't seem to upset my stomach. So far so good. I might still vomit it up on the way home though, I wasn't making any promises.

By now I had stopped questioning my choices having to do with Slenderman. I already knew I was insane, to a degree, but there was no reason now to be worried about spending this much time with him. Some would say that it wasn't normal, but then again, what IS normal? I sure as hell don't know. And I don't want to. I'm perfectly content in my world where I have some sort of a relationship with the being known as Slenderman, and I'm not exactly suffering for it.

"Again, thank you so much for doing this," Marie huffed, closing the back to the U-haul. "It means a lot to me."

"It's no big deal," I assured her. And it wasn't. Tom's things were going to be taken out of there sooner or later, I just happened to be the person to get them out.

She gave me a smile and stuck her hands in her back pockets. "Well, I hope to see you again in the future. It was nice meeting you."

I nodded at her, getting back into the truck and starting it. I wasn't sure that I would be able to spend any more time with Marie in the future. She reminded me too much of Tom. It wasn't a bad thing, but I didn't really feel like I had any right to be involved in his family. I'd only known him for a little while.

I pulled the truck out of the hotel parking lot before her little daughter could come out and look at me any more with her big eyes. Children would be the death of me.

Wouldn't life be so much easier if we all just stayed children? Not having to worry about getting jobs, or problems in the world, or any problem for that matter. We could just live blissfully in our ignorance and not have to experience the pain and cruelty of the world that comes with growing up.

Of course, I never had that oblivion to dwell in when I was a child. I had always been aware of things, it seemed. It only got worse as I got older. I remember knowing about my loneliness and knowing that only my real parents could alleviate it, not the fake foster parents that I was always pushed into. They weren't real.

I had known that life wasn't so great as people tried to make you believe it was. I wasn't like the ones who 'got over' their pain from being abandoned, I saw behind their fake smiles, saw the demons that were still alive as ever. And they wouldn't die, no matter how much they tried to bury them.

I never buried mine. I only told them to shut up and shoved them in their corners until I needed them.

The ride home was, of course, boring. But it was calm and quiet, which I didn't mind. The sun had just gone down. So it wasn't quite dark yet, but it was getting there. I had finally gotten rid of the instability in my body and felt a bit stronger. I wasn't completely back to my normal strength, but it was better than how I had been before.

However this did nothing to quell my speeding heart when I had to slam on my brakes right as I got onto the entrance to Tom's long driveway. In the middle of the gravel path stood a brown bear, staring at the headlights of the truck with beady eyes. I could see its breath coming in puffs through its nose. I just sat there, not knowing what to do. Do I go around it? Seeing how small the driveway was, that wasn't an option. I would have to wait for it to move.

Trying not to move too quickly, I let go of the wheel and felt under my shirt for my gun. My heart dropped to my stomach when I felt empty space. I had forgotten it at the house. That was simply amazing of me.

So now, if the bear attacked me, I wouldn't be able to stop it. I really screwed myself over this time.

As I sat there, the bear did move, but instead of simply going back into the trees around us it went to the passenger side of the truck. It seemed to be curiously sniffing around the entire vehicle. I watched it, frozen, expecting the worst. And, of course, I was right.

The bear suddenly reared up and put its front paws on the truck, slamming them down on it. This made me jump out of my skin. Part of me was angry that Tom's truck was getting ruined, but the other half wasn't nearly as concerned about the car. At least scratches and dents could be fixed.

I turned the car off. Maybe the bear would just go away.

Wrong this time.

The bear slammed its massive paws against the truck door, making the vehicle rock back and forth with the force. It repeated the motion several times as if trying to break open the machine to see what was inside.

It eventually ceased, only for a moment, before then pushing all its weight into the side of the truck. It gave a victorious howl when the car then teetered up, two wheels leaving the ground, making me swear and put my hands to anything I could grab in an attempt to hold myself still. However this did not matter as the truck landed on its side, throwing me against the door right next to me.

My face smacked against the window, bruising me instantly, but the only thing I could concentrate on was undoing my seatbelt that was currently cutting into my body painfully. When it was undone, my body collapsed against the car door. It looked so strange at this angle, staring at the pavement through the now cracked window.

While I was attempting to push myself up to a not so uncomfortable angle, the car suddenly lurched back onto its rightful position. I landed back against the seat, on my side, my legs stuck under the steering wheel. With a grunt I pulled them out and looked around to find the bear. It was still on the other side of the vehicle, but now it was towards the back of it, sniffing curiously at the bumper.

Alright. I had a couple of options here. I could stay in the car and be violently thrown around, but probably live while the bear got bored and went away, or I could get out and hope I could make it to the house before the bear chewed my head off. The second option was probably the stupidest thing to do.

…Let's go.

I shoved the car door open and leapt out, stumbling a bit before moving into a sprint down the driveway. I didn't glance back to see if the bear was following me. It would have slowed me down or made me trip.

All the way down the driveway I silently cursed myself for a lot of things. Not having my gun with me, not honking the horn to scare the bear away, and just being stupid in general.

Eventually I could see the house, just 15 feet ahead.

Just as relief washed through me, I heard a deep growl, and I spun around to see the bear just walking towards me. Its lips were curled into a snarl as it approached me. I backed away, my eyes darting from it to my surroundings, hoping to find something to defend myself with.

Suddenly I backed into something solid. I whirled around and looked at a black suit, then up to his white face staring down at me from his fully extended height. His black tendrils were moving about behind him as he simply moved around me, going between me and the bear. I could only watch in awe at his lithe movements.

Slowly he then transformed into his more monstrous form. I could see his limbs reshaping themselves into sharper angles and of course, his tentacles becoming larger and more restless.

The bear eyed him, seeming unsure, then took another step forward and stood up on its hind legs. It then gave a deep bellow, its jaws stretching widest as they could to allow more sound to come out. It was loud, even to me, who was behind Slenderman.

When the bear finished, it stayed on its two legs, as if waiting to see what Slenderman would do. I was expecting Slenderman to rip the thing apart, or simply toss it into the trees. But what he did next completely surprised me.

He inhaled, his form expanding with the intake of air, and let loose an absolutely deafening roar, making the ground vibrate under my feet. Involuntarily I fell onto my ass and could only stare up at him in shock, as the sound continued. It was the most inhuman noise I had ever heard, blaring into my ears. I felt very small, looking up at him in such amazement, feeling the power from his voice rattle me to my core.

I didn't see the bear running towards the forest until the sound finally ceased. I was dropped into a silence, my ears ringing. I saw the bear disappear into the woods and I kept staring at that one spot until Slenderman turned towards me. My ears were ringing heavily as my eyes focused on him, his form shifting back into its normal appearance.

I somehow found my voice and said brilliantly, "Holy shit!"

And then I began to laugh, pushing myself onto my feet and feeling an idiotic smile on my face. "I didn't know you could do that!"

He chuckled at me, clearly amused. I waited for my hearing to fully return again, which he did as well, letting us dwell in silence for a bit. I rubbed at my ears a little to make sure they weren't damaged.

I realized something. Slenderman could have just teleported the bear away, or just killed it, but instead he did that, whatever that was.

"Oh, you just wanted to show off," I concluded.

He seemed to be giving an invisible smirk. "How did you manage to bring that thing back with you?"

"It shoved the car over and I didn't feel like getting tossed around inside it, so I ran back here and it didn't like it." Crap. The car. All my excitement died away and I groaned, looking back down the driveway at the sorry looking truck sitting at the entrance. I would need to ask Tom's old boss to come here to make sure everything was alright with it.

I guess I could do that early tomorrow morning before I left to go to my parents' house. But if I couldn't drive it, I had no other way to get there. Unless Slenderman was in another weird 'helpful' mood. I wasn't about to ask him.

Sighing, I went into the house, with Slenderman following me like he so often did it seemed. Although sometimes I couldn't tell whether he was or not, his footsteps were so light. But I could feel his presence.

I took my boots off and set them by the door. When I had bent over to do so, I winced as pain blossomed in my side. Car doors were hard.

I probably had a pretty nasty bruise on my face as well. That was the first thing to hit the window when the truck landed on its side. Absently I poked at my face, walking into the kitchen and getting a glass of water to drink. While I was drinking it and leaning back against the island, Slenderman seemed to flow in through the doorway and stand in front of me.

I looked up at him as I sipped. He didn't say anything, but neither did I. Sometimes there wasn't really anything to say.

I set the empty glass next to me, feeling utterly exhausted. I was lost in my thoughts then, staring at his blank face, not focusing.

I was meeting my parents tomorrow. It felt almost surreal to me, having not known these people all my life yet having some connection to them. I wasn't planning to rekindle that connection by going there, of course. I'd seen ones that had done that. They could never fully have a normal relationship with their parents, no matter how much they wished to have one. The pain always got in the way. Or how they felt that their parents would never fully know them, seeing as they hadn't been with them on their journey of growing up.

Who knows? They might end up hating me once they get to know me, just like everyone else And then I would leave that place with nothing more but familiar emptiness. It honestly wouldn't bother me that much. I know that it should, but it simply didn't.

This was part of my awareness, knowing that something was wrong, but having no way to fix it or not even having the will to. I knew that so many things were wrong, but...they just seemed to be that way indefinitely. Set it stone, almost.

Yanking me from my thoughts was a cool hand on my cheek. My eyes refocused on Slenderman and I realized that his hand was resting against my face, almost in a caressing manner, but not moving. I was confused, but then I felt his powers healing my injuries and I was slightly less puzzled. Only slightly.

I kept myself rooted there, fighting the urge to simply collapse from my weariness. I was so tired. Not just physically, but mentally as well. There were times that I felt that I could not live like this any longer, tortured with this clarity of everything, and now was one of them. Tearing my eyes from his face I looked to his suit instead.

Soon I felt the tingling fade from my skin, signaling that I was fully healed again. I waited for him to take his hand away and leave me, letting me drown in my familiar dread and anguish, but his hand wouldn't leave my face.

Deeply puzzled, my eyes met with his white face again, searching for an answer, or anything that would alleviate my wonderment. Suddenly then I felt a strange thing coming from him. It was an emotion of some sort, seeping into my skin through his, making me become more alert. It was almost like a mix of concern and admiration.

For some reason I imagined that he would have had an adoring expression on his face, so I shook my head, trying to rid myself of his touch. "Don't look at me like that. I look like shit."

I was only making up excuses in hope that he would stop. But instead he halted my movements, not releasing me.

"Oh, how wrong you are."

I couldn't stop myself from staring at him. I was so confused and I didn't know what to do here. "What?..."

"Even with all that agony shining in your eyes, you don't cease to be so mesmeric to me." His other hand came up to lightly smooth my hair out of my face, then cup the other side of it. "But why are you in such pain?..."

A storm was rising inside of me and threatening to consume me, from the inside out. I couldn't think straight due to all the usual feelings filling up my chest and choking me. It was as if they were trying to combat the calmness that Slenderman was projecting to me. I had never been in this situation before, or felt the overwhelming feeling of contentment rushing into me through his touch.

Conflicted, I began to shake my head again in another attempt to escape this blissful torment. But he wouldn't let me, pushing his slim figure against mine to keep me trapped there. Immediately then my body alighted with a cold fire.

Weakly my hands gripped the island behind me, and I gazed up into his featureless face, only to have it be so close to mine. His cool fingers then began to rub across my skin, the touch seeming featherlight, but so vividly real against my face. I was losing this battle. Though I wasn't so sure I wanted to fight any more.

His presence seemed to silently whisper unspoken words to me, some of them I made based on what emotion I could read from him. All of them seemed to be trying to soothe me, to urge me to let him in. I could feel an increase in the emotions that were filling me, the soft comfort finally beginning to overcome the indignant hurt that I'd felt for so long.

This had never happened before. I felt afraid, honestly and completely afraid. It was as if I was allowing him access into the deepest most vulnerable parts of me. In the back of my mind I had a fleeting thought to keep fighting, but I knew it was no use. Even if I shut him out, he could get back in without any effort. This was the only thing that would ever make me fear him. No one had been able to do this to me.

Why would he do this?...wasn't he supposed to be torturing me? Well, I guess this was a form of torture, but not the kind I was expecting. He was supposed to be making me suffer. But...not like this. Something was wrong with him. Something was...different. We were both losing ourselves, it seemed.

Quietly drowning in my newfound euphoria, I saw him lean down even closer to me, and he pressed his invisible (and what I thought to be nonexistant) lips to my forehead.

And then he pulled my consciousness away as easily as he pulled back from me.

Hello friends! A lot of my writing here is based on/inspired by the music I listen to, so most of the things that happen between Slendy and Rei are just ideas that pop into my head when I listen to music xD but I like how they turn out :3 Hopefully you like dis chapter, I'm trying to update regularly as I can. If anyone out there is also talented with computer design or just art in general, please tell me! I really want to make some fanart for dis story D: