AN: It's. Been. Two. Weeks. D: Honestly guys I'm really tired and even though we got a lot of snow days, school never ceases to tire me :P I'll burn the school down if they dare give me another assignment! We shall overthrow the entire education system that wrought upon all this suffering! (but enough of that)

Alright, so I've been asked if I will include more Creepypasta characters. What do you think? If you want to, I'll include 'em. Just say in the reviews if you want to and if so, who you want to see :)

Shoutout for my dad because it's his birthday today! Love you dad! :D

Guest reviews:

Sammy: Ooh, that's a lot of very's, and oH CRAP I'M SUPER SORRY MADAM. Ahh sorry for not updating in forever... BUT ONCE I BURN DOWN THE SCHOOL THERE WILL BE MORE UPDATES! that is, if I could burn it down.

FishCustard: Poor baby! (okay i'm the one doing this but I still pity it) That sounds cool, I can do that, but where? I mean, the woods IS small. *sees your third review* you're Canadian, eh? Then maple syrup is a must. That's quite an array of items you got there, imagine all the possibilities...

Nekoni: hey, you're a cat again :3 is that why you have "neko" in Nekoni? (gotta love Japanese!)

Idea Supplier: Splendor, hm? maybe I can do a oneshot about him, that would be interesting... personally I hate clowns and mascots (as in the people in animal suits or whatever), they're not to be trusted.

Guest: er, I know you're not talking to me, but I don't watch Doctor Who :/ sorry to all the whovians who read this!

.namrednelS nwo ton od I

(: !sweiver eht rof hcnub a sknahT

Chapter 24

When we got home, the first thing I thought of doing was flopping down on the couch. Which I couldn't, because my father beat me to it. He simply sighed and closed his eyes with several thoughts and memories currently running through his mind. I should let him have his time, not to mention some space. I go upstairs to where my bedroom is, and I flop down on my bed.

Back at the hospital, the doctor said that they will do everything they can to help my mother through her pregnancy, and that the baby will live. That's what they all say. "Doing everything they can" sometimes isn't enough. I've seen news reports about people dying young, and even though so-and-so blamed themselves for the death, I always get the feeling that it's never a specific person's fault. Sure, someone can be protected, but nothing will have a 100% guarantee of preserving life. I'm probably over thinking, that's how worried I am of the baby.

Something that I am excited about is that pretty soon we'll be able to see if the baby is a boy or girl. I recall my dream far back when I saw the little boy. I guess that's why I'm hoping with all my might that I'll have a little brother. That doesn't mean that I won't love a little sister, I would love him/her no matter the gender, but if the baby turns out to be a boy, then that means I would have some super psychic powers. Or not, I'm just getting ahead of myself.

"Yo, Andrea, you there?"

I open my eyes to see none other than Heather.

"Hey, Heather. What's up?"

"I was going to poke you with a stick if you didn't answer but I guess I can't now."

"…what?"

"You know what? Why not. Who cares if you're awake."

She pulls out a stick that she must've gotten from outside, and pokes me in the ribs with it.

"Ow! What the heck?"

"It seems that test subject number 42 is responding. I will activate the stimulus again."

She pokes me again.

"Hey! That hurts you know."

"Eh. So, wanna go to the woods?"

"C'mon Heather, you know the answer to that."

We run downstairs and hurriedly tell my father that we're going to the woods. He doesn't react at first, but out of the blue he springs up.

"Hold on, where?"

"To the woods," Heather answers, "don't worry, I'll keep an eye on Andrea."

I scowl at her, but my father remains serious. He looks indecisive, but settles on something and says it.

"This time I'll go with you two."

"Uh, why dad? We went to the woods by ourselves so many times, we'll be fine."

"What's wrong with me going with you? There isn't a problem, is there?"

"No sir," Heather says, "but you should rest right now, you look tired."

I cross my fingers, hoping this works, but I'm not so lucky.

"I feel fine. Let's go now."

We walk to the woods at a much slower pace than I'm used to. My father rambles on about what a nice day it is to go outside and take a walk in the woods. When he doesn't look, Heather makes faces that clearly express her concern and doubt. I know Slenderman wouldn't be so reckless to show up while my father is with us. At least, I hope not.

We pass the school, and he suddenly starts talking about when I was little and I went there and blah blah blah… Okay, I'm not really paying attention. I'm too busy worrying about the tension there might be when we get to the woods. Slenderman would understand, at least I'm counting on him to keep himself in check. I'll make it up to him somehow.

"...isn't that right Andrea?" my father blurts out.

"Uh, yeah," I stutter, "that's right."

"Are you even paying attention," he asks, "or are you up in lalaland?"

I let out a somewhat forced laugh. "Yeah, I guess."

"Hey Andrea, come check this out!"

Heather is far off (when did she get all the way over there?) and she is waving like a mad person. She has a sense of urgency in her eyes, motioning for me to go where she is. I tell my father to wait for me while I jog to where she is. She pulls me behind a tree out of my father's view.

"Andrea, what about Slendy?"

"Um, I don't know."

"He better not go berserk. You know how much he hates your dad."

"I'm 99% sure he won't do anything extreme."

"What about that 1%?"

"I guess if we leave my dad by himself, Slenderman might do something."

"…like now?"

We hear a scream from my dad at that exact moment, and then we share a look of dread. We look from behind the tree to see my dad on the ground, but there's nobody with him. Confused, I run up to him to see what happened.

"Dad! Are you okay?"

He chuckles. "I'm fine sweetheart; I believe your old man has been getting pretty jumpy."

He points to a fleeting animal. It's a bunny, frightened by my father's scream.

An exaggerated sigh of relief escapes me. "Oh my God, dad. You scared me."

"Don't you worry just yet, I'm fine. Sorry for scaring you."

"I guess that means," Heather suddenly says behind me, "We'll have to keep an eye on you instead, Mr. Castillo!"

"I agree whole-heartedly, Heather," my father says, "Now, let's continue our little journey into the woods, yes?"

We nod, and we trek deeper into the woods. My father looks eager. Too eager. In fact, he's probably faking it. He was right; he was getting really jumpy. Is he remembering about that time when I saw him with Slenderman? We're in plain sunlight; he shouldn't have a reason to be that fidgety. Then again, an experience with the not-so-nice side of Slenderman would be traumatizing. I can hear Heather humming some tune, but that's when I realized that the forest was eerily quiet. He must be here right now, watching us. I tap on my father's shoulder to grab his attention.

"Uh, dad? I think there's this really cool looking tree around this area. I'm going to go over there to see if I can find it, ok?" I ask him, before adding, "It's not that far off."

"Sure, but don't take too long."

"Of course!"

I run to the random area that I pointed out, then hid behind a tree to make sure my father couldn't see me from there. I feel a familiar buzz of static, and there he was. I arch my neck upwards to be able to look at him at his tall stature. He's very tall right now, not as tall as his monstrous form, but taller than when I usually talk to him. Maybe he's agitated by my father's presence?

Indeed I am.

"Hey! No reading minds allowed here."

No vermin allowed here either.

"My father isn't a pest."

What is he doing in my forest then?

I sigh, seeing no other way to explain things. "He insisted that he should come with us."

Why?

"I don't know, maybe it has to do with the fact that he knows you exist here in the forest!"

I was craving something to feed on that evening; it was rather unfortunate that your father was in the way.

I can tell that he really didn't mean that last part.

"Andrea!" I hear my father call out, "Did you find the tree?"

"Okay, I have to go," I tell Slenderman, "but don't do anything extreme. Please don't."

He better not stay here for long.

Slenderman teleports to who-knows-where to gloom over the situation. I think he's overreacting; it's just my father who's here with us. I would understand if it was a stranger we brought with us, but seriously, it wouldn't cross my father's mind to hurt me.

Slenderman kept that grudge against him, but sometime he has to let go of it. I shouldn't use the term "sometime" loosely, because it may mean a few weeks for me, or it can mean a few centuries for Slenderman. He's super old, so a few weeks would go by in a flash for him. I'd tell him to loosen up, but he's too stubborn for that. Hopefully he'll get it soon enough, and that's in human terms.

Enough of that rambling. I go back to my father and Heather to tell them I couldn't find the supposed tree. We continue our little hike, stepping on the bristled grass and the muddy ground, moisturized by the melted snow. It's getting closer to spring now, and the weather has some mercy on us by hushing the wind to a gentle breeze. I don't even need my coat, just a regular hoodie.

"So, Andrea, I met this girl you know," Heather piped up, "Her name is Mary."

Oh right, her name is Mary! I was thinking it was Maria for a second.

"Yeah, what about her?"

"I don't know, I talked to her while you were in the hospital," Heather stated before lowering her voice for the second part, "Not to be rude, but she seemed really shy and unsocial in a way. She talks insecurely too."

I explain to Heather that Mary is autistic, not as much as what comes to most people's minds, but that's what makes her unsocial. I feel like she forced herself to talk to me at first, but she's gotten comfortable with me. The same goes for my mother. Heather with her excitement and all, well, that would make Mary insecure. But that's also why Mary is super smart. I can go on and on about this but I decide to quiet down to let Heather speak.

"Really? Wow, I hope I didn't scare her."

"Don't worry Heather, she would feel very nervous with anyone new she meets."

"Did she do that with you too?"

"Yup, but she got used to talking to me. She's actually a really nice person."

"I'll have to tone it down a little, I guess."

I laugh. "You go ahead and do that, Heather."

"Girls! Look what I found over here!"

We walk over to my father, but I instantly freeze in my tracks when I see what he's pointing to. That circle with the X on it. The Operator's Symbol. It's carved on the tree, and my dad runs his fingers on it. He flinches when he gets a splinter.

"Ow! Hm… what do you think that is?" My father mumbles, mostly to himself, "It looks too precise to be an animal."

I try to quickly think of an answer, but Heather beat me to it. "Mr. Castillo, other people walk through here too, so maybe it's just a personal symbol or something like that."

I hold my breath, hoping my father will fall for it.

"Well… it's too bad they're marking up the trees. One should always know to leave nature alone!" he said.

I expel air. I actually thought that he would get suspicious. If he is, he isn't showing it right now.

"Come on, dad," I shout, wanting to distract him, "Let's have a race. You and me. Right now."

"A race?" he asks, "Oh dear, I'm too old for that."

"Aw, come on dad!" I whine, begging him, "Just one race. I promise."

"Fine, you win. A race it is!"

"Awesome!" I exclaim, "How about to that tree that kind of looks like a V?"

"Okay, I see it."

"I'll count!" Heather offers, "Okay?"

My father and I nod our heads.

"Ready…

"Set…

"Go!"

My father runs faster than I thought he would, but alas, I am fastest. I jump over a few rocks, reaching my goal. I touch the tree when I get there, feeling my fingertips rasp against the rough bark. I look back to show off to my father, but when I do, I see that he's on the ground. I gasp and run to him, making sure he's okay.

He chuckled when he finally got up. "I'm not as nimble as I used to be."

"What happened dad?"

"I tripped over something, probably a branch. I didn't get to see."

"A branch?" I question, "Where?"

I trace over where he went through, but I can't find a branch. That's when it hit me. I won because of unintentional cheating. Because of a certain someone who would really want to see my father trip and fall. Slenderman is getting kind of annoying. Using his tentacles to trip my father is just plain childish. Then again, Slenderman wouldn't go so low as to go out of his way to trip my father. He's more mature than that.

"Hey Andrea, why don't ya race me?" Heather challenged, "Or are you scared?"

"Psh, last time we raced," I pause to flip my hair dramatically, "I beat you, remember?"

"Then call this a rematch!"

"Alright Heather. Don't cry when you lose, though."

"Ha! In your dreams!"

My father counted down, and off we went. We made it a far target this time, since most of the trees look so similar and the one that was easy to spot has some distance between us. We both rushed to touch the tree, desperate for a victory. Eventually it ended in a tie and we were both exhausted. At least I was, since I just raced my father. Speaking of my father…

"Hey dad, did you see that?" I shout, "I could've won!"

I look around, but he isn't anywhere to be found. Where did he go? Did he get scared of another little harmless animal?

"Dad! Where are you?"

"Mr. Castillo, are you there?"

"I'm right over here girls!"

We both turn at the same time to see my father. He's partially behind a tree. He urges us over to him, and when we get close enough, he gives us a big hug while he peeks over our shoulders. He laughs awkwardly before letting us go.

"Are you two ready to go home?"

"Aw, already Mr. Castillo?"

"I'm sorry Heather, but I'm really tired. All that running and hiking took a roll on me."

"If you're tired, then we'll walk you home, dad. We're going to stay here for a while more."

"Uh, dear, aren't you hungry? I can order pizza for us if you want."

Pizza? We don't do that often. It does sounds really good though.

"Are you sure Mr. Castillo?" Heather persists, "We'll be just fine here."

"No, I insist. Come on."

Heather gives my father a suspicious look when he turns around. I simply shrug, if he doesn't feel comfortable here then I shouldn't force him. As we trudge behind me to go home, Heather leans in my ear to whisper something.

"Andrea," Heather begins, "Don't you thing your dad is acting strange?"

"He's just uncomfortable," I answer, "These woods bring bad memories I guess."

"And until now he decides to go?"

"He might've been tolerating it all this time, but now he reached his breaking point."

Heather sighs. "Andrea, how could you be so blind? You-know-who is messing with your dad."

"That would be really immature of him though."

"Yeah, and seeing your dad is what sets him off. We have to talk to him."

"Okay, okay, you're right. But we need solid evidence or else he'll just brush us off."

She gives me a serious look before pointing to my father's back. I look around but I don't see anything, but that's when I notice. My father would usually roll up his sleeves, in fact he did when we started our walk, but now they're extended to cover his arms. He lifted his arm to scratch his head, and by doing so he made the sleeve slip to reveal some more skin, so I see the solid evidence that we needed.

I can see some scrapes, and if my mind isn't exaggerating, the cuts look very precise.

Just like that Operator's Symbol.