AN: WOAH! Chapter 10 already! I never thought I would get this far.

I will not, should not, could not, would not, can not, and do not own the Slenderman.

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Chapter 10

After those few seconds of shock, I force myself back into reality. My mother is pregnant. It felt so weird to have this thought in my head, much more say it out loud. A flashback appears in my head, playing back the events as they unfolded. My mother didn't even show a reaction as she went out of the bathroom. Not even the tiniest twitch of her mouth or any spark that ignited in her eyes. All I saw was her poker face, a stone hard expression in her face. Her emotions were much harder to read than Slenderman's. What exactly is she hiding? Or should I say, who is she hiding? Because this is not her, this woman who doesn't look at me as a mother should. It's almost like she doesn't recognize me as her daughter, or anyone she knows for that matter. Sure, she said my name, but that's as far as we gotten. Who knew that a woman with so much character and determination would break down at a divorce and completely ignore everyday life afterwards?

I step out the bathroom, my head still buzzing with these thoughts. There are sounds if the TV drifting from the living room. Looks like she decided to see something after all. I walk to the living room to see her looking at a commercial for Cheerios. Nothing too harmful, right? I swear, my life is one huge ironic statement. It's that commercial with the baby picking up the Cheerios, making a "nom nom" sound. If I haven't made my discovery in the bathroom, I thought that this wouldn't be bad. Too bad I'm too curious for my own good. I look at my mother, wondering if this will get at least a small reaction. Her face, however, doesn't change, almost as if she were a statue. I sigh.

"Mom."

She ignores me, lost in her own little world of where no one but her exists.

"Mom," I try a little louder, "Are you there?"

She finally turns toward me, but in a robotic motion. Her empty blue eyes stare into my worries green ones. For the fist time I notice that her cheeks look hollowed than usual.

"I saw them," I simply say, "In the bathroom."

She continues her steady stare. Is she waiting for me to continue? She's giving nothing away.

"The tests," I almost stutter, "They're…"

"Positive," She interrupts, "I know."

I hold back a gulp at her voice. It's as emotionless as her face. There's no ups or downs, just one flat tone.

"So," I mumble a bit, feeling kind of awkward, "I'm going to get a sibling then."

"It's not a half sibling if that's what you're wondering," She mumbles as well, "It's your father's."

I honestly have no idea what to say at this point. First of all, this is the first time she mentioned my father. But second, did she think I was accusing her of sleeping with someone else? It's been barely a week since he left. This baby should be a month or two. I struggle as I try to remember what I learned in health. I don't see why it would be someone else's. Then again, she had those nasty fights with him for a few months already, but she wouldn't be so angry to the point of having an affair. I snap out of my overanalyzing thoughts, and change the focus back to this broken woman who is my mother.

"I'm not accusing you," I claim, "It's just, you know, why didn't you tell me this before?"

"I just found out myself," She snaps at me, "I needed a moment to think this to myself, but apparently I can't."

I flinch at her cold tone.

"Sorry," I apologize, "But can you please stop hiding from me? You're still my mom and I'm still your daughter. Especially in times like now, can we not move apart?"

She analyzes me with her now icy eyes. Her glacial glare is penetrating me, searching me for any lies that I really don't have. I'm her daughter for goodness sakes, can't she see that? She makes a quiet sigh and hunches her shoulders. Only until then is when she finally softens her gaze, or should I say, melt it.

"Okay, Andrea," My mother gives in, "I'll trust you."

I resist the urge to scowl at her. Oh, I'm so glad that I am qualified for her highness, but it would be better if I were actually treated like family and not foe.

"Andrea, you're a big girl now, so you should understand me when I say," She takes a big breath here, "That it would be… difficult for a single mother like me to raise another child."

I have a look on my face of understanding, yet on the inside I'm furious and utterly disgusted by what she's saying. I love my mother, yet she's not acting like herself, giving me all this crap. She just became a single mother, so it's not like she has the experience of a mother who has been single for years. So what is she implying here? Has she decided to move in from my father already? Nothing about this situation comforts me; it does pretty much the opposite.

"Okay," I slowly say, "So are you planning to do something about it?"

"Of course I do," She replies, "I decided I have to… do something about the problem… and fix it."

I hear hints of hesitation as I listen to her vague answers. She's trying to choose her words carefully. I can clearly notice it from her pauses and her emphasis on a few of the words. To sum it all up, she doesn't want to tell me straight up. She might even attempt to sugar coat it. I hate it when people do that, to "not hurt my feelings". If they wanted to hit a nerve, that's one way of doing it. I'd prefer of they just told me it without bending the truth. My feelings aren't made of glass, so they better not do that.

"Don't go easy on me," I respond with a fiery confidence, "You're not talking to a snot nosed little girl. Let's talk woman to woman."

Her face now more legible, I can see her giving me a look that said, "Well, you asked for it" and looks deeply into the windows of my soul, aka my eyes.

"I've been talking to my gynecologist, and I want to get rid of the problem."

I widen my eyes. She isn't even going to find a guy who could be father figure. She said that she was getting rid of the problem. That could only mean one thing.

"Mom…"

"I'm getting an abortion."

I just stare at her in shock, not believing what I was hearing. And here I thought that my mother was pro-life. Turns out she's pro-choice. I never bothered asking her, but I just assumed she was against abortions. I know I am. I'm not all religious and I don't go to church or anything, but I always believed that babies deserve the chance of living. It's not our place to decide whether a real live human gets to live or not. Killing the unborn baby is murder in my eyes. But it isn't in my mother's eyes.

"Mom, you can't do this!" I yell at her, "I will help you raise the baby! As the older sister, I'll take care of my younger brother or sister and make sure nothing happens to him or her. I promise. But don't do this…"

"Andrea, I am the mother and I choose what to do with it. Plus, don't call it "him" or "her". I already set an appointment so this will most definitely happen, guaranteed. Deal with it."

I can feel my tears of frustration pooling in my eyes. My heart is pounding in my chest, threatening to break out of my rib cage. What does she not understand? Doing this will take away a precious human life. I clench my hands while my palms start to sweat. I grit my teeth and I clench my jaw. I have to bite my inner cheek to keep myself from screaming in anger. Why does life have to be so unfair? Right now I have the urge to get away from my mother and run into the arms if my father. That won't happen, but I do have someone to run to in times of need. Without so much as a second thought, I stomp out the house and slam the front door. I don't even check if it's locked. It could be wide open for all I cared. My mother doesn't even try to stop me as I run away from my house and to the general direction of the woods.

There's only one person who would listen to and respect my opinions, well, besides Heather for obvious reasons. Slenderman. He has been the most supportive friend I had since the divorce. All the familiar scenes swoosh by me as I zoom to one location in mind: the woods. My quick gasps accompany the sound of my rapid steps. Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale. I don't notice when I crossed into the territory of the oak trees. There's no exact destination in mind, so I'm just dashing through the woodland at this point. There's the color of fire everywhere, but it's only the falling leaves. No tears trickling down my cheeks, but I'm upset. I'm mad at the world. My legs are sore, and my lungs are tired. I'm aching all over, so I collapse onto the floor, next to a really tall oak tree.

Someone's been doing a lot of running.

I hear his voice in my head but he's nowhere in sight. I'm not even going to bother to get up and look for him, because I'm so exhausted. It's clear my body has been overworked. Closing my eyes, I focus on the sounds around me. There's the ever-present twitter of the birds, but there's the sound of wind too. And what else do I hear next but a twig snapping. I open my eyes to see my no-faced friend.

"Hey."

Hey.

He doesn't say anything else and neither do I. All I needed was the company of someone who cares. Though a conversation would be nice. Being the worst at starting a conversation, I just wait for him to do so. There's a long silence stretching between us until he finally says says something.

Did you need me for anything?

"Your company. All I needed was for you to be here. But did you want to talk about something?"

I have a feeling you have something in mind.

"Or maybe," I guess, "You're just reading my mind."

After what happened, I'm not going to do that anymore. What's bothering you?

I take a breath before pouring out my situation to him.

"Well, I just found out my mom is pregnant. You probably could tell how shocked I was. Though, she assured me that it wasn't by someone other than my dad. The news surprises me, because getting a sister or a brother is exciting, right? But my mom starts saying how hard it would be for her, even though I told her that I could help. She said that she's going to 'fix the problem'. I couldn't believe her, and now I'm really upset. I mean, she already has an appointment set up and everything! How could she be so cruel! She's changed ever since my dad left, and now my life is a mess."

I finish my rant with a sigh, content that I could vent out my feelings to someone I trust. It looks like Slenderman is taking a minute to absorb all this news, and I don't blame him. It's a lot. I look down and pick up a yellow leaf. While he's processing this information I tear the leaf into smaller bits until it's confetti. Letting the pieces fly in the wind, I wait patiently to so if he has something to say. Which he does, eventually.

Have you told anyone else other than me?

"No, you're the first. And the only, too. I have nobody else to tell. That's why I came here in the first place."

Do you have any friends at your school?

"I'm home schooled. I mean, I was."

How about church?

"I don't go to church."

In your neighborhood, then?

"This girl, Heather, she's a really good friend. But she moved, so I had nobody but my parents until I met you."

So that means…

"That you really are the only friend I can talk to," I finish his sentence for him, "That's why I'm going to the woods often."

This girl, Heather, does she have blond hair?

"Yup. She always braids it."

Does she have hazel eyes?

"Yeah… have you seen her before?"

I think so. The girl I saw was wearing a dress and had jewelry on.

"Yes! That must be her! When did you see her?"

Recently. She was running just like you were, and she stopped by the woods. She stayed here for a night and while she was sleeping I read her mind to see her motives. She meant no harm, and seemed to be running away from something and needed shelter. I let her stay without disturbance, and she left the morning after.

My eyes widened at this. What was Heather doing here? What was she running away from? She just moved to a nearby state. Was she running away from home? Why? All these questions flood my mind, especially since it concerns my only, well, human friend. Slenderman said it was recent.

"Did you see where she went?"

I only saw that she went in the direction of the pine trees. That's it.

One last question pops in my head. Did she go in the direction of my house? I need to see if she's there.

"Do you mind if I go to my house? I want to check if she wanted to see me."

Not at all. I'll teleport you there.

"Thanks."

And off we went.