A/N: I don't own anything!

Chapter 2

Sunlight streamed through the slight crack in the curtains onto the sleeping girl. Slender knew he should probably leave, as most humans would be waking soon. She did not appear to be like most humans though, letting out a light snore and rolling over. He couldn't quite understand why he had stood there all night, observing her, planning his next move. He caught a glimpse of a flash of metal on her neck and used a tendril to gently lift it so he could see.

He chuckled internally at the sight of his silhouette on the pendant. Oh Emily, you always did have quite the sense of humor. Lost in thought he remembered the daughter of the first witch from Charlotte's line. Emily's mother had forced them to flee once the trials started, nearly a decade after their bargain. Slender had followed them to Virginia, desperately hoping to find the one from his vision. He knew she'd come from that line and figured she would be Emily's daughter. Several hundred years later and he was still waiting.

He had become almost friends with Emily over the years. Her mother still despised him, but Emily would sneak out of the cabin and they'd talk. She was rather inquisitive and even though he never admitted it to her, she was quite delightful at times. It was her who created the talisman situated on Charlotte's neck, she had fondly referred to it as their new family crest.

After Emily died, and it was clear that her daughter was not the one, he made it a point to not connect with any of the women. He would check in every 5-10 years to see if any of them were the one he was looking for. Charlotte's mother had proved quite a challenge, as she had uncovered a way to shield their family from his sight. Usually his mark allowed him to know where their family was at all times, and that woman had found a way to thwart that after he had encountered her a decade ago. The spell held in place until the day before.

A beeping sound from Charlotte's phone drew his attention back to the present. He froze, ready to disappear if she woke. Her sleep was quite interrupted though, so he crept closer to the phone and gingerly picked it up. Since some of his powers were quite ineffective against their family, he was able to utilize technology in their presence, something he had discovered by accident when he checked in on Charlotte's mother 10 years prior.

He pressed the button to see the notification, which was a text message from someone named Jack.

Look baby, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean what I said.

I know it's been a while, but I still miss you.

Call me please.

Slender frowned and swiped to delete the message. No need to distract her from what the day would bring. He moved to set the phone down when an alarm went off. Startled, he dropped it on the bed by her feet and turned invisible as she began to wake up.

Charlotte groaned and tossed her hand out, looking for the infernal device. Not wanting to tip her off to his presence, he gently picked it up with a tentacle and soundlessly deposited it onto the side table, narrowly avoiding her flailing arm as she attempted to locate it.

"Ugh." She groaned as she finally caught it and silenced it. She sat up and blearily blinked, looking around the room. "Is it morning already?" She grumbled to herself, and Slender's heart nearly leapt out of his chest. Despite the catch in her throat from just waking up, her voice was inherently musical, and he was nearly certain the one from his vision.

She flicked on the light and stood, or at least tried to stand, for as soon as she moved upright a gasp of pain and a twisting of her muscles nearly brought her back down. He frowned and moved forward, ready to catch her if she fell. Not that she'd know what had happened, but in time she would. She winced and glanced towards her back.

"Are you kidding me?" She hissed, "Today is not the day for a flare up." She sighed and hobbled towards a bag in the corner, pulling out some cream and a prescription bottle. His frown deepened. What had happened to her? She slowly made her way back to the bed and popped two of the pills without water and pulled her tank top over her head. Slender moved behind her, not wanting to invade her privacy more than he already had and had to stifle a gasp.

Her back was scarred and twisted, it looked like someone had mauled her. The skin stretched and pulled in all different directions, small scars littering the entire thing. She carefully applied the cream and cautiously stood back up. Rage unlike anything he had ever felt flowed through him. How dare someone do that to her?! She hummed a bit to herself and pulled on a T shirt and some jeans before grabbing her things and heading outside.

She went to the front desk to turn in her key and slipped into her car. He teleported into the backseat as she drove off, remaining invisible. She flipped the GPS on and the stereo, singing along quietly to a song. He smiled at her carefree attitude and watched as she pulled down the lane into his forest. He teleported to the edge of the living room in the cabin and checked that everything was in order. His plan would only work if she felt comfortable enough to stay.

The roar of a quad runner caused him to glance out the window. Her hair was flying around her head in a perfect halo, as the light hit it, he noticed some soft red tones to her dark brown hair. The quad climbed the hill quickly and once she reached the edge of the clearing, she turned it off and stepped towards the cabin, nervously fiddling with the pendant. He smiled, once again Emily's charm work was astounding, she had enchanted the pendant to bring comfort to the wearer when in direct contact with her skin; an ingenious bit of spell work he was grateful for, as he was sure once he revealed himself to her that she'd need some additional comfort.

He gave her some space as she began to explore and decided to go on a hunt. A few towns over there was a murderer who had walked free from his trial due to lack of evidence, and Slender had decided to see for himself the type of person he was. The myths surrounding Slender were...exaggerated at best. Over the years, parents had seen him and spouted off tales of woe that he kidnapped and murdered children, when the reality was that he made sure that the people he killed were bad. Well, most of the time at least. He had slipped up a few times over the years when he had gone a long time without hunting and stumbled across a lone hiker.

Once he returned to the cabin with a full stomach, he noted the slight changes in Charlotte; she had changed into a pair of yoga pants and an overly large sweatshirt. Her curly hair was pulled into a messy bun on top of her head and she was wearing a large pair of glasses. She was curled comfortably on the leather couch and had a laptop situated on her knees with a package of potato chips next to her and a diet soda. A ringing sound started coming from her computer and she smiled slightly before hitting the 'answer' button.

"Charlie!" A booming male voice came from the speakers.

"Hey Ted!" She exclaimed.

"How ya doin' kiddo?"

"I'm alright, you?"

"Oh, hanging in there. Where are you? That's not your house."

"I'm at my family's cabin." Slender cocked his head, who was this man she was talking to? He moved behind her so he could see. A large man with a bristly red beard in a cop's uniform was on the screen.

"Good for you! You needed some vacation time." Her smile dropped a bit.

"It seems like all I'm getting to do is vacation." He frowned,

"I'm sorry Charlie, I didn't think-"

"No it's fine, I don't expect you to tiptoe around me." She stated firmly.

"So are you really not coming back?" He asked wearily. She nodded,

"The chief offered me a desk job shuffling paperwork, but I don't think that I could handle that."

"Well paperwork never was your strong suit partner." He joked, trying to lighten the mood. She smiled softly and glanced upward quickly.

"Sorry Ted, someone's here, I need to go." And quickly hung up. Slender looked around, wondering if she had seen him, but it appeared that she just wanted out of the conversation. She pulled her knees up to her chest and began to sob. He frowned at the sight, wanting to offer some comfort. He knew if he appeared though that he would startle her, maybe even scare her completely away. A thought popped into his head and he made his way over to the bookshelf and located one of Emily's diaries. He used a tentacle to push it to the floor, startling Charlotte and causing her to get up and look it over, before gently opening it. Hopefully her ancestor's words could offer her comfort where he could not.