Hey Everyone! The eight pages are finally finished and we can continue on with the storyline! I really hope everyone is enjoying the story, and thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favorite, followed and read the story. I appreciate all of my readers.
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Chapter 11: The Skeleton
CR gawked at the skeleton pitifully lying before his feet. Fallen leaves and other assorted plantation had managed to wrap itself around the skeleton's body; long vines also protruded from its eye sockets. Judging by the shape of the human skeleton, he came to the conclusion that it once was a woman; and glancing at the curvature of its spine, it was probably a young one. Despite being dead as a doornail, it was sitting relatively straight. Questions arose in CR's mind. Who was this human? Was she someone who also lay under the curse of the monster? Had she been searching for the eight pages, but came up unsuccessful? Or had she found the eight pages, but was stuck in the same position as he was? Now, now CR, there was no time to ask questions. CR took a quick glance to his left and noticed that the entrance was at least fifty yards from his current position. He had to get out of here, and back to Kate's side with at least something useful in his hands aside from an old gun and unreliable ammunition.
CR then focused his attention onto the backpack that was tucked into the skeleton's arms. The backpack was relatively tiny, pink with a flowery design that was covered by scratches and dirt. Flies, beetles and wasps swarmed the item. They were shooed away before the item was carefully torn from bones. Now in safe hands, the man took a peek inside. After shuffling through the dusty mess, CR discovered a small first aid kit, some unlabelled glass bottles with liquid inside, an old flashlight that worked (Finally!), a t-shirt and some batteries. There was also food and water tucked inside, but the food was rotten and the water had a brown tinge to it. After ditching the food, water and useless pieces of paper that were stuffed into his wet jacket pockets, he wrapped the backpack around his shoulders, and turned towards the entrance.
Then static entered his vision, and the high pitched frequencies overwhelmed his senses. Before he could blink, Slenderman – who was covered in black, hallow holes – appeared and prepared for the kill. CR quickly grasped the revolver from his back pocket and raised it to the level of his eyes, but alas, a lone tentacle knocked the weapon out from his hands. The gun landed far from his reach. The man flinched, preparing himself for a nasty burn, a whack, or the tentacles penetrating through his body...but all was still.
Nothing happened.
"What the hell?" CR thought.
After taking a quick peek, CR was shocked at the sight in front of him. There was Slenderman, frozen in place. The tentacles had slunk backwards, and the monster's blank face was now positioned towards the night sky; and in between he and monster was something dressed in pure white. It bore white hair, skirt, stockings, jacket, and boots that reached its knees. It was the shape of a woman most likely, and it was also still.
Luck was on his side tonight. The woman had pierced Slenderman with a long sword. He now thought himself too lucky as far as he was cornered. He should be dead.
Whoever that strange woman or thing was, she had protected him. Instead of staring at the scene in shock and asking questions, he took this as an opportunity to escape. With his shredded ankle, CR hobbled out of the nightmare, and journeyed back into the forest. He hoped that he wouldn't get lost while finding Kate who may be dead.
CR found Kate in the same position as when he left her. She was flat onto her stomach, with her cheeks resting on the ground; however, she was motionless. The man slowly approached the girl. Once he was at her side, he felt for a pulse. Relief washed over CR when he found a strong pulse; she was healing. CR took a quick glance at her back, and noticed that the knife wound wasn't as bad as it was earlier in the night. Did Slender give the proxy healing capabilities? He touched the wound, but Kate hissed back and took a swipe in retaliation. She looked more closely and noticed her friend crouching at her side. She said, elated, but groggily:
"CR, it's you. Where did you go? I woke up earlier, and you were gone. I was worried. I thought you had abandoned me."
"Never," CR assured, "I agree that it was unwise to leave you here alone, but nonetheless you are now safe. Believe it or not, I played the game again. There were eight pages and they led me to some helpful items. I found a backpack with a first aid kit and I believe some...medicine...maybe?"
Kate tried to smile. "Well, it won't hurt to try. I've started healing, but let's get myself better before..." she trailed off.
He said in a worried tone, "What's wrong Kate? Are you sick?"
Still in a sprawled position on her stomach, Kate turned her head to the left, and said, "CR, the sun is rising. It's going to be a good day, I think. If we work quickly, we can get a head start and finally make it to the radio tower." She looked back at CR. "CR..."
"Yes?"
"...your head."
"Huh? What are you going on about, Kate? What about my head?"
"When we were escaping last year, a tree had fallen on our car. You hit your head really hard against the steering wheel, and you fell unconscious. As a result, you received head trauma from the force of the impact. You remember what happened then, don't you? Well, enough of my rambling, but I shall say that around the time I had killed you, your head wound had scabbed, and the bleeding stopped; however, when you were practically resurrected from the dead, your bullet wounds were gone, but the head wound was still there, and it was bleeding."
CR raised a brow. Kate was obviously dehydrated. Was she going mad? Hallucinating? "I don't get it...what's your point, Kate?"
"It's been two days, and during that entire time, your wound was bleeding..."
"And?"
"Now...it's not. It's going away."
CR touched the gash with his fingertips. Kate was right. The side of his head was no longer wet with fresh blood. She was also right in the fact that ever since CR was resurrected, the head wound refrained from scabbing; and because of that simple fact, it made CR come to the conclusion that he was a monster, ghost, or anything but human. He wondered if the recent injury on his calf would eventually stop bleeding too. If so, it definitely was an indication that the man in this picture was definitely human, and could die twice!
After fondling the wound, CR unloaded the backpack. He fiddled with the many supplies inside until he found what was needed. There were very little available bandages and alcohol wipes, but the tiny amount that he acquired was enough to do the job.
Suddenly, a new emotion hit CR; hope. Soon, Kate would hunt rabbits and fish in order to solve their hunger, and CR would discover a clean stream of fresh water to quench their thirst. Yes, everything was going to be alright.
DAY THREE: 05:00 hours
Chapter 12 is next...
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