Chapter 14 - It's My Turn
There was still some power illuminating the building, which was odd for a structure that had been abandoned for several years. Their only hypothesis was there were some emergency generators running with very little juice, and it seemed that they were only providing the communications department – the seventh floor – with power.
CR and Kate were back on the seventh floor, questioning where on earth they could possibly go. The lights were dim, but it was still hard to maneuver the hallways without bumping into walls and doors.
"Hold up," said CR. His hand was against the wall supporting his body. He was panting and sweating at the forehead. Was he tired already? The chase had just begun. "My leg…NGN…it's really hurting. I need a breather."
Kate quickly grasped his other hand, and pulled him towards her rather aggressively. She was strong. She then said, "No, there's no time to take breathers. We have to keep going. My shoulder still hurts like hell, but do you see me complaining?" CR heeded her words. With their hands still intertwined, they approached the set of stairs they first attempted to go down, but this time, succeeded to the fifth floor which was completely engulfed in darkness.
They entered the first unlocked room they came across; it was a conference room with gray walls, tilted picture frames, cracked concrete flooring with plants invading the spaces, a table on its side, and chairs placed in all sorts of directions in the room. The windows were also broken, and large chunks of mud and rock were near it as if a landslide had once hit the room. On the other side of the room was another door that led into a separate classroom; CR and Kate did not hesitate to enter that door and hide.
"Be as quiet as possible. Maybe he'll pass and move to a different floor," said Kate.
Not even a minute later, they heard heavy footsteps. They breathed lightly through their noses as they heard Slenderman turn the doorknob and enter the first room. Kate bet that he used his tentacles to open the door. Slender sauntered around the room, using his tentacles to throw things as he searched every nook and cranny for the two people he despised the most. The monster then turned and noticed the second door.
The footsteps stopped. That's when CR realized that he'd forgotten to lock the door. He couldn't try now; the click would give away their location. Then, they slowly backed away from the door until their backs hit the window sill. CR looked behind him and looked down. They were high, but it wasn't high enough to kill them. CR turned around and opened the large window.
The door handle shook.
Kate whispered, "CR, what are you doing?"
"Kate, we have to jump, now," he responded.
Kate poked her head into the cool air and looked down. She instantly felt vertigo take over her. This was too much. It was exactly like last time. Last time, they were trapped, and had the opportunity to jump, except they weren't as high and had a chance at escape. Their legs could break in three pieces, but at least they'd escape with their lives.
"Come on, Kate," CR urged, "There's no time."
The door handle turned and the door slowly creaked open.
Kate closed her eyes momentarily. She promised herself. This time, she promised herself that she would jump if given the second chance. Without hesitation, Kate grabbed CR's hand. They both climbed through the window and on the count of three jumped thirty feet. For a few seconds, they felt like they were floating, and by using each other, they fell perpendicular.
Kate squatted as she landed on her feet, absorbing as much shock as she could. Her legs felt like millions of wasps had stung her, but otherwise, her body was intact. Due to her being a partial supernatural being, she could do this without risking injury or death. CR – however – landed on his bad leg first. He heard and felt a large snap before falling forwards, and allowing his hands to break the rest of his fall. His hands were tingling immensely and he couldn't feel them, but due to the adrenaline, he couldn't feel much until he grasped Kate's hand again, stood up, and started running in a field covered in thick bush, old, scattered, vintage items, rock and tall, poisonous grass. They had to retreat, they had to hide, and then take as little time possible finding the path that lead to the main interstate. Rescue would be there soon and they couldn't lose this one chance.
After a step or two, Kate felt CR let go of her hand. She then heard him scream before she turned around and watched her friend hit the ground.
Kate turned around, "CR!"
CR grabbed his right leg and screamed again between clenched teeth. "SHIT, my leg is definitely broken."
Kate took a quick look at his leg. It was bleeding again and he was right, his leg was broken, probably in three places too.
If he wasn't a liability before, he sure was now.
In their case, the most logical solution would be to leave him behind, but this time, she wanted him to join her alive so they could live a fresh life together free of monsters and demons. "Okay…um, just stay calm."
"Shit, I don't know if I can – AH!"
"CR…" Making up her mind, Kate grabbed her friend's arm and started dragging him. She tried forcing him back onto his feet, but every time he tried getting up, he fell back down. After continuing the cycle four more times and the pain getting worse each time, CR said, giving up:
"Kate, I can't do it. Just leave me be. It was good while it lasted."
"Come on, CR," she huffed, "Just a little bit further into the forest. Only a few more feet and we'll stop…"
CR spat, "And do what after, Kate? I left the backpack with the supplies in the radio toweeeerrr – whatever – it wouldn't matter. AH – there's nothing in that backpack that could help me now."
"I don't care," Kate said, frustrated, "I'm not leaving you behind. Now get back on your feet and let's keep going. We're almost there." Then, she could feel tears stinging her eyes. No, she couldn't cry now. It wasn't over yet.
After a few more minutes of starting and stopping through the forest, they finally came to an open field filled with piles of giant, loose rock. Something happened here recently.
CR fell down again. He gasped between breaths, "Kate, it's time to stop! I'm going to pass out from the pain and exhaustion if we continue like this. You might have the stamina, but I don't."
"Just a little further, CR," she assured, "Once we get into those trees, we'll stop."
CR growled, "But you said that the last ten times. What makes this any different? I can't continue."
"I promise this time," she said, "trust me." Then, she tugged on his arm harder to get him back on his feet, but a sharp pain ran down her shoulder instead. She let go of CR. Her shoulder was still a mess. She wasn't healing as fast as she usually did. Why? Kate then turned around noticed Slenderman creeping out of the trees and into the open field, tentacles flailing about and lusting to kill. Fear then overwhelmed Kate and CR. They were not ready to die, not here, not again.
Kate took a deep breath, mustered what little courage she had inside of her, and brought out her knife. She said to CR who was nursing his leg, "Go! Get a head start. I'll follow you."
CR shook his head before saying in disbelief, "What?"
"I said go. I'll catch up with you."
"But how…"
"Crawl if you have to. Just go!" She looked at him, and he was giving her another confused glare.
He said, "Kate, your eyes…"
Kate had no idea what he was going on about. "What about them? I said go!"
CR heaved. He could hardly breathe due to the pain and how exhausted he was, but somehow he managed, "I can see your eyes. Last time I checked, they were nothing, but black pools." After, he quickly turned onto his hands and knees and started crawling away from the scene, but it didn't stop the pain from relentlessly overwhelming every bone and muscle in his body. His crawling was slow, but hopefully Kate could buy enough time for him to escape back into the woods. He had to trust Kate.
After CR's comment, Kate took a moment to touch the socket of her left eye. Before, they were black voids and her fingers could slip through, but now, she could feel her eyeball. She was right. Just like CR, she was changing too. Did this mean, she was being forgiven or something? Was she one step closer to being free?
After what seemed like eternity, Slender stopped approximately fifty feet before her. He was more than ready to strike, but so was Kate. She heard a scoff come from the monster before he said, "So, you finally decided to fight back. I didn't think you had it in you," a beat, "Hmm…you look different. You're less pale. It doesn't matter. You're still an ugly bitch."
Kate said with a scowl, "I got this far, so I'm not backing down. Not this time. I'm going to protect my best friend, even if it means dying. I can at least say I tried."
CR heard that statement. He thought, "That's not right. It's supposed to be me fighting to the death."
Kate's eyes and intent to kill were dead set on the monster. She said, "It's finally my turn."
Chapter 15 is next…
