I stopped vomiting blood a day or two after I finally realized I couldn't be with him. But I hadn't seen Slen since that day though. Maybe he knew the conclusion I had come to and wasn't coming back. I felt lonely after that though. I didn't want Slen to leave me. He was kind of my only friend. I was barely able to walk around for a few hours without stumbling. But I was getting better. I was able to hold down a few bites of food at a time.
I mainly drank chicken or beef broth though. I was able to keep as much of that down as I pleased. So I sat in front of the TV with a quilt wrapped around my shoulders and usually either a bowl or mug of broth. I was surprised when my television screen went fuzzy and Slen appeared in my apartment. I switched it off and looked at him expectedly while I took a drink from my mug.
"I see you're doing better." He told me simply, going and having a seat on the sectional, stretching his long legs out.
"Yeah. I'm good. I'm sorry though, Slen, I can't." I told him. He only nodded understandingly.
"I wasn't going to take you as my mate even if you had decided you wanted to." He told me simply. I huffed, feeling quite relieved.
"What made you choose that?" I asked.
"I have an aunt that had the same situation you have. Her body started attacking her when my uncle told her about being his intended. She chose to be his mate. They had a daughter together and Regine is happy, but she is also always sad. You deserve better." He told me. I felt happy. That was exceptionally gracious of him.
"You aren't going to leave me though, are you?" I asked, taking another swig of my drink. He shook his head.
"You mean much to me besides being my intended, Echo. And I know that I mean quite a bit to you as well. I won't leave you." He told me. I smiled gratefully.
"Good." I said softly. I was happy that he wasn't going to leave me. He was going to get a new fledgling. He was going to be with someone that could do him good. I just hoped that Slen didn't make the mistake of not taking her like he did with me. Even though it sounded bad. A child being taken from his or her family was actually really heartbreaking. I looked at Slen from the corner of my eye. The Slenderfolk didn't seem bad. They were no worse that the humans. They may not have asked to seed the human race, but on the flip side of that coin the humans were so selfish that if they found out there was another intelligent race of beings that the humans would not hesitate to hunt down every last one Slenderbeing until Slen's kind had no choice but to retreat into their home and never return to the human's plane of existence, leading to the ultimate extinction of his race. I frowned.
"Humans suck." I muttered.
"What was that?" Slen asked, sounding to laugh just a little.
"Humans as a race of people suck…." I answered. "If people that really mattered instead of just a bunch of kids and young adults knew you existed, your people would be hunted to the last one and completely wiped out. Humans don't like to share. Sometimes I hate knowing that I am one." I told him. Slender nodded.
"Your race claims to be better that what they used to be in say, the dark ages. But I've seen the evolution. Humans went from stupid beings fumbling about it darkness with twigs on fire and burning 'witches' at the stake, to being so deep in technology that even though they can detect my kind and Earth bound spirits, and see us and them with their own eyes that they're too 'smart' to believe what they are seeing is real. Humans don't want to know that they aren't alone in this world." Slen told me. My frown deepened.
"Did you request a new fledgling yet?" I asked.
"I have. She's already been born, but she wasn't assigned to anyone yet." Slender told me.
"What's her name? How old is she?" I replied.
"Dawn. She's only a few weeks old. I won't actually speak to her until she's five." Slen answered. I wondered what the little girl looked like.
"If I was your intended… does that mean I don't have a human soul mate?" I asked. Hey, don't blame me for asking. It's a legitimate question. If I just rejected the person I was literally born to be with I may have just screwed up my chances at having my happily ever after. I may be a weird woman that holes up in her apartment all the time and hangs out with what most girls would identify as the monster of their fairytale, but that doesn't mean I don't deserve my Prince Charming, alright?
"My kind doesn't believe in that type of destiny, Echo. Most of my kind has fledglings made especially for them, only a few have a full blooded Slenderbeing as their mate. We know the exact moment their born and the very place they live, granted if they move we don't, but you get the point, yes?" He replied. I narrowed my eyes at him.
"You don't think it was destiny that brought me here to find you again?" I asked him. Slender stopped, gazing at me in curiosity. I think I just tore everything he believed in down.
"Th-that was mere coincidence." He said.
"And coincidence isn't an agent of destiny?" I inquired.
"I never said destiny didn't exist, Echo. Just not romantic destiny. That's just malarkey." Slender told me. I laughed, taking a drink of my now rather cold broth. I scrunched up my nose and stood up, making sure the blanket stayed around my shoulders and went to the microwave and nuked my broth for about thirty seconds.
"How much longer do you think it will take me to recover?" I asked as I realized her knees where getting shaky while I walked back to my recliner.
"You've been making incredible progress as it is. Perhaps just a day or two. You'll be fine by Monday at the latest. I'm sorry I threw this on you, Echo." He told me. I shrugged.
I had gone out one day after I got better so I was returning home, walking up the stairs, fidgeting with my keys, not paying attention to where I was going, I tripped on the third to last step and nearly falling down the flight of steps. I grabbed out for the railing. Someone's arms went around my waist as I nearly fell down the steps, picking me up off the ground with ease and setting me right. I almost expected Slen, but as I looked to my savior I saw a rather handsome face with kind gray eyes, a slightly crooked nose and a sheepish smile on his face.
"Hi there." I said. I had never seen this man before. Jenny and Roger had moved out of their apartment and the one across from me was now empty, so I assumed he was either my new neighbor or interesting in the apartment.
"Hi. I'm Jake Stryker, I'm moving into apartment 4-D." He told me. Called it, aw yeah!
"Oh hi, I'm Echo, I live across the hall from there." I told him with a smile. Wow he was cute. "And I don't fall down stairs a lot… just occasionally, thanks for that." I continued. He laughed. He had a nice tenor voice that sent chills down my spine.
"Echo, huh?" He asked, walking up the stairs. I realized he was wickedly tall (for a human, taller than Slender when he was at 6'4)
"Yeah, my parents were sort of Flower Children. Gave me a weird name. I like it though, kind of suites me." I told him, mentally smacking myself in the face for pretty much telling him I was weird. He laughed.
"It does, it's pretty." He told me. I blushed.
"Thanks. Where are you from? Around here, or somewhere else?" I asked him, grabbing onto the strap of my messenger bag nervously, tucking my hair behind my ear. Damn, attraction felt weird.
"I grew up in Haven Junction. What about you? I think I hear a little bit of a Pennsylvanian accent." He told me. I smiled.
"Yeah, I grew up there. I'm a huge history nerd because of it." I told Jake.
"Oh that's cool, what brought you over here?" He asked.
"Unexpected circumstances really." I replied. We arrived at our respected doors and I started to unlock my apartment. Maybe I should invite him over for supper.
"Hey, you want to come over for supper? I know when you move it its nothing but pizza and take out, and that gets old. I'm a pretty good cook, I could whip something up." I told him, turning to look at Jake. He had to be at least 6'7. At least. No shorter than 6'6. He smiled charmingly.
"That's very nice of you, I'd appreciate that. Tonight?" Jack asked.
"Sure. What do you like?" I asked. "I may have to run to the store, but I won't mind." I told him. He unlocked his door, opening it some. I felt a rather 'Slender' presence on the other side of my door.
"Is it too late for roast?" Jake asked timidly. I smiled graciously, checking my watch. Around two…. If we had a late supper.
"If you don't mind eating late I could cook it until about eight, that'll give it six hours. Can't be too bad, right? I'm thinking garlic mashed potatoes for a side, green beans, how does that sound?" I asked him. He nodded.
"That sounds fantastic, thanks." He told me kindly. I nodded.
"No problem." I replied and entered my apartment. Slender stood there, about seven and a half feet today.
"Was that Roger you were talking to?" Slender asked as I went into my kitchen nook. I shook my head.
"No, my new neighbor, Jake. He kind of saved me from falling down the stairs. So I'm making him supper. How are you today?" I asked him.
"Fine. I went and visited Dawn. Turns out she's a first generation fledgling." Slender told me.
"Oh that's good. I need to go to the store and get a roast. I've got green beans and stuff for garlic mashed potatoes, just not a roast." I muttered.
"How did you fall on the stairs today?" Slender asked.
"I wasn't paying attention and tripped." I replied, getting out my Crockpot and making sure it's clean. I mainly used it for macaroni and cheese. He didn't reply.
Getting back from the store with a few more things than I went for, I started on supper. I munched on my blue gummy sharks. I really loved my blue gummy sharks. I chopped up my carrots and onions, hoping that was okay with Jake. I wondered if he wanted to come over while it cooked, get to know me so supper wouldn't be weird. I slid the chopped carrots into the Crockpot and turned it on. I went across the hall and knocked on the door. Jake opened it, damn he was tall. I wasn't used to humans being tall. But wow.
"Do you want to come over and hang out while supper cooks? It's kind of quiet for me. Television doesn't really help." I told him. He smiled. He had pretty white teeth and such a nice smile.
"I'd appreciate that. I used to have roommates in a house across town, but they left for college in Ohio and I had to get a smaller apartment that I could afford by myself. I didn't really want to break in a new group of roommates." He told me.
"Maybe I should get a few people to live with me too. There's one other room that's empty and it's kind of bumming me out." I replied. Jake laughed a little as we entered my apartment.
"Do you want some candy?" I asked him, offering the gummy sharks to my new neighbor. He smiled and took one.
"You like candy?" He asked.
"I love candy. Junk food is my weakness. I try to eat more vegetables than candy. Gotta keep healthy, right?" I said. Jake nodded.
"Tell me about yourself." I said, turning to the fridge and grabbing a root beer.
"You want a drink? I got Coke, Sprite, Root Beer, I like soda." I told him, Jake laughed.
"For someone who wants to stay healthy you sure do have a bunch of bad stuff. I'll take a coke, thanks." He replied. I grabbed a coke and handed it to him.
"I exercise hardcore for like two hours straight to keep myself in shape thanks. The exercise room in the complex is pretty good. Do you work out? The way you picked me up earlier says you're kinda strong there." I said, realizing too late that may have been a little weird.
"I do, no offense, but you're actually not all that heavy." He told me. I smiled a little; I had lost a quite a few valuable pounds with the whole 'body attacking itself' thing.
"Yeah, I was really sick last month. I couldn't eat much. I was surviving on broth alone." I told him.
"That sounds horrible. What was it?" Jake asked, sounding genuinely concerned.
"Just a really bad flu." I told him. He took a drink from his soda. "So hobbies?" I asked, changing the subject. I didn't want to stay on that for too long in case he asked a question that I hadn't prepared myself to answer with a believable response.
"Oh, as cliché as it sounds, I'm an artist. I haven't sold any pieces or anything, but I paint." He told me. I smiled.
"That's really cool. Now that I think of it, I'm boring. I like books, maybe I should write one; I've never tried my hand at it or anything." I replied. He chuckled.
"Maybe you should. You never know." Jake replied.
"Do you have a specific style or do you paint whatever you want?" I asked.
"I replicate the Renaissance Era mostly, but sometimes I just paint. I have a cabin in the mountains that I go to when I need inspiration." He told me. I smiled laughing.
"Ooh, that sounds mysterious. Are you a mysterious man, Jake?" I asked teasingly as I grabbed a gummy shark.
"Sometimes I like to pretend I am, Echo." He replied with a clever grin.
Okay, so this isn't over. Just because Echo and Slender have decided she isn't right for him (supposedly) this story isn't over. I got something up my sleeve so don't leave. Okay? Goodbye for now darlings! Thanks for reading and if you do, sticking with my story.