Chapter 26
I kept the phone call short and sweet. As much as I wanted the Winchesters to find and stop the monster involved, I also wanted to minimize my interactions with them. Dean said Sam believed Slenderman to be the problem as well and they would look into it. I hung up before he could say anything else.
Liam asked who I was talking to once I got off the phone, and I told him it was just a friend who was asking about the video game Liam was showing me. He didn't press. We decided to order in pizza and spent the rest of the night lounging about, eating pizza and watching movies.
We considered going out to party considering it was Friday night, but having just celebrated Thirsty Thursday the night before, we decided being antisocial lazy bums suited us just fine for the night.
"Will you stay here tonight?" I asked him. It wasn't unusual for us to spend multiple nights in a row together. In fact, it had been weeks since I'd spent a night alone.
"Always," Liam told me as he planted a kiss on my forehead. I left him on the couch while I retreated to the bathroom to brush my teeth and wash my face. When I finished, I replaced him on the couch.
Minutes later, Liam returned smelling intoxicatingly minty fresh. He picked me up off the couch in one swift motion and carried me to the bedroom.
He held me close to him, showering my face and neck with kisses.
"I love you," he murmured in my hair.
"I love you more," I whispered back. I faced him and nuzzled my face into his chest. I inhaled his musky scent, closed my eyes, and quickly fell asleep.
A shrill scream broke the silence of the night. Liam jolted awake and looked around the room wildly. We looked at each other through the darkness, neither of us making a sound. We were met with complete silence, as if even the crickets were too afraid to continue their songs.
It may have been my eyes playing tricks on me, but I swore the room got darker, like the moon was hiding. Liam rubbed the palms of his hands against his eyes and looked at me.
"Probably just some drunks," I whispered. Liam paused for a second, but nodded and yawned as he leaned back into the bed. He pulled me against him and simultaneously pulled the comforter tightly around me. I was wide-awake, and listened to the complete and utter silence. Liam may not have been bothered, but I had been around that exact kind of silence enough times to know better.
It was no coincidence this eerie quiet happened the night after the Winchesters appeared and the night I discovered Slenderman.
A few more minutes passed and I started to doubt myself; I wondered if I was just being paranoid.
And then another scream filled the air. This time, I quickly dipped my hand underneath Liam's pillow and gripped the gun he had stashed there.
"Drew!" Liam reached after me but I had already jumped off the bed and was halfway out the door. Barefoot and armed, I ran through the hallway, down the stairs, and found myself in the parking lot behind the complex.
"Drew, what the hell?!" Liam followed at me heels. I quickly shushed him and scanned the parking lot. Nothing. I continued to walk through the parking lot, unsure of what exactly I was looking for. Slenderman? College kids just being dumb? I hoped to at least find the source of the screams.
We were met with nothing.
"What is going on with you?" Liam was exasperated.
"Nothing," I sighed after a moment. "I'm sorry, I'm just a little one edge. Seeing Sam and Dean again… It must have affected me more than I thought."
"Sam and De-you mean those FBI guys? What are you not telling me?" I bit at my lip nervously. It wasn't that I didn't want to tell him. In truth, I didn't know what I wasn't telling him.
"What is that thing?" the scream was closer, frantic, and her words were fast and shrill. Liam immediately straightened up and listened.
"Give me the gun," Liam commanded. I responded by gripping the gun tighter.
"Drew," he hissed, this time through gritted teeth. "Give. Me. The. Gun." I turned to look at him for a brief moment, knowing if I gave him the gun, it could result in the death of both of us. I chewed at the skin on the inside of my lip and crept in the direction of the scream.
"Drew!" Liam hissed. "Drew! Get back here!" I ignored him as I continued on, walking faster and faster the longer I was met with silence.
As I passed the edge of the parking lot, past the last car, I was knocked to the ground from the side.
"Ow!" I muttered against the heavy weight on top of me.
"Drew!?" Sam's exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"
"Apparently the same thing as you," I groaned as I shifted to my back underneath him. "Trying to find out who's screaming."
"It's Slenderman," Sam answered breathlessly. A bead of sweat dripped down his forehead. "He's after this girl. We managed to intervene but he's persistent."
"Are salt bullets working?"
"They're helping deter it but they aren't killing it."
"Got any extras?" Sam rolled to his side and unloaded a handful of salt bullets from a compartment in his belt and handed them to me. "I'll see you out there."
"Sammy!" Dean's voice boomed from the distance.
"Stay safe, Drew," Sam sent one last look my way before running to assist his brother. I unloaded the bullets from Liam's gun and reloaded with salt bullets as quickly as I could. Liam had caught up to me and knelt down in front of me, looking me dead in the eye.
"You need to start explaining." He noticed the bullets littered across the floor around me. "What are you doing to my gun?"
"Liam, I can't explain this right now. I promise you, I will. But right now, you need to leave. It's not safe for you."
"It's not safe? I'm not leaving you if it's not safe. What are you doing?"
"Liam!" I was frustrated. "I love you, but you need to get to a safe place. I promise I'll explain everything." Without another word or look in his direction, I bolted after Sam.
I stood a few feet away from them. Both Sam and Dean were facing the park, with a girl my age following closely at their heels. A tall, lanky, dark creature crept slowly towards them. His tentacles swarmed around his body; just looking at him send chills down my spine.
He lunged towards Dean and I shot at it without a moment's hesitation. Sam, Dean, and the girl all turned quickly to look at me.
"You're welcome," I called out.
Dean whistled. "Damn, Char! Who are you?"
"What the hell!?" Liam's familiar voice shrieked from a few feet away. I silently cursed myself for not seeing to it myself that he left. "Drew! You just shot that thing!" I took a deep breath and closed my eyes for a moment before turning to face him.
"Liam, I promised you I would tell you everything but now is not the time. It's going to come back any minute and you need to take this poor girl and get out of here."
"I'm not leaving you in danger! As your boyfriend and as a police officer, my job is to protect you!" Liam argued.
"Listen pretty boy, we're the only ones who can protect her," Dean cocked his head to the side in an annoyingly egotistical manner. Liam's eyes narrowed in anger as Sam shot a look at his brother.
"The best way you can help is by getting this girl to safety," Sam clarified and gestured towards the petrified girl next to him. "Drew can handle herself, but she can't focus if she's worried about you. Get to safety and we'll meet you soon." Maybe it was Sam's comforting voice, or maybe it was just Sam in general that got through to Liam, but he reluctantly nodded and held his hand out. After stealing one last look at Sam and Dean, the girl ran to Liam and gripped his arm tightly while they ran to safety.
An ear-splitting wail sounded as an alarm before tall, dark, and octopus came barreling towards us. Sam fired off another shot, which slowed him down a little, but didn't stop him.
I took a few shots at Slenderman as I sprinted towards the Winchesters.
"What's the plan?" I asked breathlessly when I reached them.
"Keep shooting," Dean answered as he fired another shot. The monster, Slenderman, paused a moment, crouching low to the ground as if waiting for its strength to return. We paused, waiting for its next move.
But as quickly as it appeared, it vanished. I lowered my gun and scanned the area.
"Is...is it gone?" I asked slowly. I saw Sam nod out of the corner of my eye.
"Yeah," he brushed the hair out of his face. "It's gone." I breathed a sigh of relief as I tucked a strand of loose hair behind my ear.
Before I could talk myself out of it, I found myself saying, "What's next?"
"Next?" Dean cocked an eyebrow. I nodded.
"How do we kill this thing?" Dean clapped his hands together excitedly.
"Alright, now that the band's back together-"
I cut him off. "Hold up, first things's first: the 'gang' is not back together. This is my home and I want this thing gone. The sooner, the better."
Until next time xx much love
TeamNoSleep
If you're a fan of Big Time Rush, check out Serenity's story: Nothing But A Memory.