AN: Chapter 5 already? Woah. I'm kinda considering what I said earlier about this story being short, and maybe if school doesn't bother me too much, I can make this longer than originally planned.
I don't own Slenderman and Slenderman doesn't own me.
Roses are red, Violets are blue, If you have the time, Please leave a review!
Chapter 5
Slenderman and me have been trekking in the woodland for a while without saying anything. Although the silence is comfortable, my curiosity kept on increasing with my desire to know more about this supernatural man. A soft breeze rustles the trees, making them appear to dance to the melody of the birds. The ones perched high in the trees continue their musical while I try to figure out where to begin my questioning.
"So… if you're not a human, what are you?"
He turns his head towards me at my idea of a conversation starter. He then looks down to the ground, as if the pinecones laying down there could provide him an answer. Right when I thought he wasn't going to say anything at all, he answers me.
I… really don't know. One day I just appeared here, and that's all I know. I never have seen anyone like me. Humans have spotted me a few times and they called me Slenderman, so that's as much as an answer I can give you.
"Oh…" Is all I can say at the right now, my brain taking a few moments to process this. After I finally ingest this new piece of information, I smile brightly towards him.
"Hey, I think it fits you. You are pretty slender, after all," I look down at myself and poke my stomach. "Probably even more than me."
He laughed quietly at my complaint. Even his chuckles aren't even heard out loud. The only way I hear them is through my mind, with his deep voice resonating in my head.
Proportionally, you may be right. However, if I were human, I would be considered too skinny to be healthy. You are rather thin yourself. Do you even eat enough food daily?
I pout a bit at his first sentence, but when he asked me about my eating habits, I start to think. My mother was the main cook of our little family of three, so I don't really know how to cook. The only kinds of food I can make are things like ham sandwiches. Which isn't much, anyway. Cooking was never one of my strong talents. So when my mother sunk in deep with her depression, she stopped cooking altogether, so I ate less and less. Now, all I might eat in a day would be the ham sandwich. I look down at myself once again. Does it really show?
"Uh… not exactly. My dad can't cook, my mom won't cook, and I shouldn't cook. Cooking isn't really my thing. So that knocks off a bunch of my options. I really don't eat that much these days."
Slenderman gives me his undivided attention when I talk, soaking in every word I have to say. When I was done, he tilts his head the same way he did when he told me his name for the first time. He suddenly faces towards a direction and looks back at me.
There's a cabin somewhere in that direction that has been abandoned, so I took the liberty of inhabiting it. It's approximately noon right now, about the time humans eat their lunch. We can go there and you can rest while I go get some human food, if that's fine with you.
He added that last part quickly. An afternoon with Slenderman sounds nice. I was about to accept his invitation right away until I remembered about my mother at home. Will she even bother to get up to eat something? I really don't want her going anorexic on me. Slenderman started to look a little nervous at my quietness, so I spoke up.
"That sounds nice, but my mom is at home and I want to check on her to see if she's alright. I'll come back once I'm done, ok?"
He takes this in, and nods. He holds out his hand, and I realize he's offering to teleport me there. I give him a small grin and take his hand. There's a small whoosh sound in the background, and the world around us blurs as if my eyes had gotten misty. It comes into focus, and there's my little blue house in front of me. I thank him; he nods, and then disappears without a word.
I become a bit anxious when I found out the front door was unlocked, worried that there may have been a robber. I let out a tiny sigh when the house looks normal. I look at the couch, but my mother isn't there anymore. I panic and run around the house until I see the bathroom door closed with the light peeking through beneath it. I give another sigh of relief, but it stops abruptly when I hear what my mother is doing. I listen to her gag again as sounds of vomiting are heard clearly.
"Mom! Are you ok?" I yell through the door, walking up to it and knocking on it when the door creaks as it opens a crack. I open the door fully to see my mother's frail form kneeling in front of the toilet with her hands gripping the sides of the toilet lid. Her knuckles are as white as the toilet itself.
I rush to her, holding her tangled hair out of the way and massaging her back with my other hand hoping it would comfort her in the slightest. One of her pale hands reach up and flush the toilet. There's a foul odor of puke in the air, but I ignore it and help my mother's trembling body up. She turns to me and slides down to the floor, her back leaning on the sink. Her breaths are small but quick, almost like if she just ran a marathon. I speak to her soft words to try to calm her racing heart. She breathes normally now and looks up to me.
"Andrea…"
Tears threaten to overtake me. I bite my lip almost to the point of making it bleed. Ever since the violent earthquake called a divorce shook our lives, she hasn't said anything to me. She gave no indication that she still spoke, no sample of her voice. Even her sobs were silent, only visible through her shaking shoulders. But now, not only did she say something, but also she said my name. My name. Andrea. Overjoyed to hear her voice again, I smile shakily.
"Mom…"
Her blue eyes stare deep into my own. Now that I take the time to look at her eyes, it's as clear as day that she was a very sad soul. Her eyes were bloodshot, puffy, and had the same black marks my father had. Overall, she looked tired and beaten down, a once strong woman brought down from her days of glory. She doesn't frown or smile, just stares at me with that neutral expression, a poker face she has perfected over the years. I offer her my hand like how Slenderman did for me, and I help her up again.
We walk to the kitchen, or rather, I walk and she shuffles her feet. I see some fruit on the counter, ones that I bought with my own money from the local supermarket. I take a ripe banana and offer it to her. I keep in mind that she just threw up, so she isn't in her best state now. A banana wouldn't be much, would it? She looks at it and shakes her head.
"Mom, you need to eat." I tell her, but she shakes her head again. She may not be as strong as before, but she still is just as stubborn. "All you vomited back there was stomach acid. Just eat the banana, it's not like it's going to hurt you."
She's about to refuse the banana once more until I start peeling it. Once peeled, I take her hand and place the banana in it. She sighs, out of being annoyed or tired I'm not sure, and starts eating it. I stand there with her until she finishes. She goes to the trashcan and throws the banana peel away. Satisfied with this, I go up to her and hug her. She tenses up, and only loosens a bit. She doesn't even wrap her arms around me. I frown, and I let go. I glance at the digital clock on the stove and notice it's 12:15. Remembering about Slenderman's offer, I decide to tell her I'm going out.
"Mom, a friend invited me over to his house to eat lunch, so I think I'll go right now, ok?"
She lifts an eyebrow, but nods. "I'll see you tonight, I suppose." Her voice has no emotion, and honestly it kind of creeps me out, but I nod back at her as a reply. I go to the front door and open it, making sure it's locked this time, and walk out. However, just when I was closing the door, I hear my mom mumble something that may or may not have hurt my feelings a bit.
"Friend?"