Guest Reviews:

FishCustard: I can call the dad Martin from now on, it's cool :) I use sumopaint for the cover art (it's free and it has a lot of stuff you can use, my friend showed me it) Offender is pretty chill, he just can be a perv sometimes XD so were you able to get the trench coat? That's some pretty good advice, even if it was from a TV show. And yes, I had major writer's block, I would literally stare at the screen for a long time before typing a paragraph or two -_- but anyways... hey, I like the Hoodie idea :D I didn't see MB, but I kinda know how he's like (from, er, other sources)

Guest 1: got all 3! thanks :D

Guest (idea supplier): from ratatouille? wow, he actually does :O my favorite quote from him is when he said "I don't like food... I love it." I published that chapter a few days after my best friend's birthday, so I thought it would be nice to include someone's birthday.

I don't own Slenderman, but then again, who does? (I know Eric Knudsen created him, but Slenderman is too high-and-mighty to let anyone be his boss)

Thanks for all the reviews! It makes me wanna pop out of your screen and hug all of you! (though that might creep some of you out but hey that's how grateful I am) To anyone who's reading: feel free to review! I try to answer all of them, whether a member or a guest :)

Chapter 27

After all the rose petals have drifted away with the wind, Heather abruptly ran over to where Slenderman stood. She poked his stomach, trying to get his attention. He looked down at her, wondering what else does she have to say.

"Yo Slendy!"

He sighed. What is it now, child?

"Uh, excuse me sir, but I am not a child!"

You act like one.

"Whatever you say, old man."

So now I'm an old man?

"Well yeah, you're like a million billion years old!"

You're exaggerating.

"Duh. Anyways, Andrea told me about those pancakes…"

"Oh God." I muttered.

What about pancakes?

"The ones you made!" Heather yelled, "She said they were darn diddly good!"

"Um, Heather," I mumbled, "I don't remember saying those exact—"

"Shush. This is serious pancake talk going on here."

Slenderman just stared at her, unsure what to say.

"You're the only one talking about pancakes here, Heather."

"Well this is a very intense discussion we're having here, right Slendy?"

What are you talking about?

"Geez Slendy, you have to keep up! Pancakes! That's the topic, and I'd like to see you make some."

"She's talking about the pancakes you made that one time when I had to stay at the cabin."

Oh.

"Yeah— wait a minute. Cabin? Where's this cabin?"

It's a secret.

"So Andrea got to see it, but not me? This is injustice!"

Slenderman shrugs, a human gesture that must've stuck on him.

"Hold on," I muse, "where is the cabin?"

That is a secret as well.

"So you're not even going to tell Andrea? I mean, it's a freakin' cabin, not like some super secret government HQ."

"There was a stream with koi," I recall, "and a waterfall too."

They are very well hidden.

"Let me get this straight," Heather remarked, "there's more stuff that you haven't shown me? Do you even realize how rude that is?"

I show them when I want to.

To say I'm confused would be an understatement. When I saw those, was it real or just a figment of my imagination? It seemed realistic. Are they really out there or does Slenderman somehow hide them with even more powers of his? My curiosity increased tenfold, wanting to know more.

Some things are best left alone.

I peer my eyes at him, knowing that was directed towards me.

"How did we change the topic so fast?" Heather pondered out loud, "I just wanted to see Slenderman make his supposedly awesome pancakes!"

You do not need to worry about that.

Heather stuck her tongue out at him.

"Hey Andrea," she suddenly said, "Did you see that dude in front of the flower shop?"

"The one giving out the flowers?"

"Yup. That girl totally rejected him!"

"Wait, you saw that too?"

"Of course, I heard her from inside the shop! She was like, 'Um, I can't take that. I'm like, allergic. To pollen. Bye!' I almost burst out laughing!"

"So she was lying?"

"Aw Andrea, promise me you'll stay that innocent. Well yeah, something about his face must've creeped her out big time!"

Why was a man giving out flowers?

"It wasn't any flowers," Heather remembered, "It was roses. I guess he was that desperate to pick up girls! Sweet, but not with those clothes."

What was he wearing?

"He looked like some weird stalker because he was wearing a trench coat and a fedora. Pretty strange, huh?"

Strange indeed.

"We should go out to the plaza more often." Heather suggested, "It's cool!"

"It was really nice," I added, "Maybe my dad will take us again."

"I'm sure he would," Heather piped before mumbling, "You know, since he hates the forest."

You do not go to the plaza frequently?

"Nope," Heather answered, "we're always going over here with you, Slendy!"

Was that the first time you seen the... man in the trench coat?

"Yeah," I responded, "but it's not like he's going to approach us."

"Don't worry your silly faceless head off Slendy," Heather assured, "Nothing bad is gonna happen just because there's a suspicious guy outside. There's a bunch of weirdoes out there."

I roll my eyes. As if that's going to make Slenderman feel any better. However, I couldn't shake the feeling that he was concerned just because of that man. Surely he doesn't think that he recognizes the man by his description, right?

It's best that you stay away from him.

"Sheesh," Heather whined, "It's not like I'd go up to him on purpose!"

"I don't know about that…"

"You're supposed to be helping me, Andrea. What do y'all have against me?"

"You're pretty unpredictable, Heather."

"You got that right, but not in a bad way!"

It can be bad.

"Thanks for your input Slendy, I really needed it."

Just regard my warning.

"I shalt taketh thy warning," Heather droned, "Now, what we have to worry about is pancakes."

"Back to square one." I muttered.

Heather is about to speak, but closes her mouth, looking up to see the sky. Her brows furrow while she's deep in thought.

"Andrea, when is your dad supposed to pick us up?"

"I think he said he'll come for us."

I'll let you two know when he is here.

"And then what," Heather inquired, "Will you teleport to another spot?"

This is my forest. I do as I please. I'll teleport you to the edge of the forest.

"Okay, okay," Heather said while raising her arms in defense, "we get it. How about we get to those pancakes?"

What is so important about pancakes?

"Actually…" Heather starts off, "I'm not sure. I was just really motivated this morning."

"I don't know if we have time," I speak up, "but can we show Heather one of the things she missed? Like the waterfall?"

"Yeah! C'mon Slendy!"

Maybe.

"So… is that a yes? If Andrea saw it, why can't I?"

Fine.

I don't register when exactly he reached out to us to teleport us, but before I knew it, I heard the sound of rushing water as the mist felt cool on my face. That was fast.

"Woah!" Heather exclaimed, "Holy Guacamole, it's a legit waterfall!"

"What did you think I meant by waterfall?"

"I don't know, but this is awesome!"

"It is! When the sun hits the waterfall just right, it makes a pretty rainbow too."

"Hey Slendy, how did you find this?"

The waterfall was already here when I arrived, so I protected it from human contact.

"So," I hesitated, "does this mean that we're trespassing?"

I allowed you to be here, so it doesn't count right now.

"Wow, thanks!" Heather said, "Are we the first humans to see it then?"

I don't think so. Other humans might have been here before I came. I may be old in comparison with humans but I'm not older than the human race.

"I still feel special," Heather stated, "I mean, we got to meet you. Well, other people too but they weren't so fortunate I guess."

Slenderman didn't say anything.

"Uh, Slendy—"

His head suddenly turned to face a different direction. I swear I heard a small growl from him as he seemed to pick up something. Rapidly, he teleported us to the edge of the woods. I was confused until I saw my father in the distance calling us. I guess it was already time to go. My father smiled and embraced us both before we got in the car and drove off to the house, even though we could've just walked. It was awkwardly quiet in the short car ride so I tried to start a conversation.

"So... Dad."

"Yes?"

"How are you today?"

I saw Heather lift an eyebrow in my peripheral vision.

"Well I'm doing fine. Nothing wrong at all. You?"

"Great, everything is okay."

"Mr. Castillo," Heather piped up, trying ton break the tension, "Thanks for letting us go!"

"No problem Heather... though what did you do in the woods?"

"We released the rose petals, and since it was windy, they were able to drift pretty far."

"That sounds wonderful. So nothing wrong happened?"

"Nope," I said, "it was nice. The worse that could've happened is if there was no wind, or maybe is a random thunderstorm came out of nowhere."

"Or," Heather contributed, "If there was an earthquake and a tornado and a hurricane and a mudslide and—"

"Calm down," my father laughed, "It's not going to be the end of the world. I just wanted to know if there wasn't anything or anyone who could harm you two."

I know where my father is going with this. It's like he's terrified of the idea of going to the woods now.

As he should be.

I look around to find Slenderman, and we just pulled into our driveway, so he should be hiding behind a tree or something, right? Where is he?

Don't worry about that, Andrea.

I sigh, taking a quick look at Heather. She's laughing about something with my father, so she probably isn't getting these messages, especially since Slenderman addressed me. We step out of the car, slamming the somewhat creaky doors shut. I turn in a circle one more time before going back into the house with the rest of our little group. The sun is still up, and it should be a few hours until it ducks beneath the horizon again. I don't know what he thinks he's doing, so I'll just leave that to him.

The phone rings, making my father rush to it. Is he expecting a call? He picks it up and shakily says hello. I can barely hear a deep male voice mumbling something. My father nods every so often, muttering a few words here and there. He soon hangs up, glancing at Heather and me.

"Girls," he speaks up, "we're going to have a visitor."

"Oh really?" Heather asks curiously, "Who is it?"

"He's coming for business matters," he explains quickly, "grown-up stuff."

"So he's from your job?" I question, "What does he do?"

"Like I said," my father repeats himself, "grown-up stuff."

"Oh," I muse, "like what were you saying about the economy and all that?"

"Yeah," he stammers, "sure."

"Do we have to get out of your way?" Heather inquires, "or… what?"

"It's stuff that'll bore you, " he rambles, "I can drop you two off somewhere if you'd like, would you want to go to the plaza again?"

"Um," Heather seems lost for a moment, "we can just go up to the bedroom."

"W-well, you see—"

The doorbell rings, startling us.

"He couldn't possibly be here already…" my father utters to himself nervously, "How did he get here so fast?"

He opens the door, and on the other side is a young lady with long straight brown hair put up in a ponytail and large dark brown eyes. She is shockingly skinny, wearing formal attire. She shakes my shocked father's hand before stepping inside. Didn't he say it was a man who was coming?

"Susan," my father mumbles, "what are you doing here?"

"Didn't Mr. Smith say I was going with him?" she asks, "I had to come too."

"Oh," my father responds, "I see."

"Who are they?" she inquires, pointing to Heather and me, "Are they your daughters?"

"Um, this is my daughter, Andrea, and her friend, Heather."

"Oh. Hi!"

"Hey," Heather greets, "Nice to meet you."

"Hi," I tell her, "Do you work with my dad?"

"Yeah, did he ever tell you about me?"

"Nope—"

"So, Susan," my father interrupts, "Where is Mr. Smith?"

"He's on his way," she answers, "I think he's stuck in traffic."

"Okay," he says, "No rush, right?"

Susan, that was her name I think, nods her head. We're stuck in awkward silence as we wait for whoever Mr. Smith is. My father hasn't told me about his work, but I never asked in the first place. Now that I'm actually seeing his co-workers, I'm very curious. We sit down on the couch, and looking at my father, I can tell he's very nervous. I go up to him and let him know I'm going up to my bedroom. He smiles and nods in response. Heather follows me up the stairs and practically pulls us in the room. When I close the door, her eyes instantly widen as she faces me.

"Andrea!" she gasps, "You have to tell your mom about this!"

"Why?" I ask, "Is there a problem?"

"A big one!" Heather whispers frantically, "Are you sure you haven't seen or heard that lady before?"

"No," I reply, "Is that bad?"

"Of course," she seethes, "She means trouble! I can feel it."

"She's not going to replace my mom," I assure her once I catch what she's implying, "My dad promised to stay with us."

"I know," she says with alarm, "but that woman is a huge temptation. We should go spy on them."

"Heather, I think you're exaggerating—"

"No way! I have a bad feeling about this."

"My dad isn't going to cheat on my mom."

"We still have to keep an eye on him."

"Nothing is going to happen."

"But Andrea, did it not occur to you that what's-her-face is the reason your dad left?"

"...what do you mean?"

"Your dad is technically divorced to your mom. It may be because of work, and if she works with him, well..."

"Do you really think so, Heather?"

"I'm telling you, that tramp is a major factor."

"You can't call her that yet, we have yet to get to know her."

"What else is there to know— hey, that's a good idea!"

"Wait, what?"

"Andrea, you're a genius!"

"I didn't even say anything else!"

"We need to get information, but what better way is there than to stalk her?"

"That's crazy, Heather!"

"C'mon Andrea, it's a good idea."

"Are you out of your mind? We can't just stalk her."

"Who said we were doing the stalking?"

"Then who— no way. Even if we ask him, he's not going to do it."

"How do you know? If you don't wanna ask him, then I will."

"Heather, you're making this whole situation more dramatic than it is. She probably means no harm anyway."

"Okay, but how can we be 100% certain? This is just to check if she's a threat or not. Slendy isn't going to hurt her anyway."

"How are you sure that he isn't going to hurt her? Would he even agree to your psycho plan?"

"That's why I'm gonna ask him."

"What are you going to do, run to the woods and hope you leave unnoticed?"

"No silly, I'll summon him here somehow!"

That's ridiculous.

I almost jumped when I heard his voice. Almost. I can't let Heather find out he's already watching us. I wonder what Heather in her delirious state will come up with. She looks around the room, looking for whatever she thought of using. She even peeks under the bed, scanning the wooden floorboards underneath until she takes an item. It's a black Sharpie that's coated in dust. She blows off the dust as she picks up a notebook that was on her bed in the top bunk. It has her name on it, but come to think of it, I never thought to see what was in it. She rips out a piece of paper and uses the Sharpie to draw a certain symbol. After she finished drawing the X over the circle, she stares at it for a while.

"So... what's supposed to happen now, Heather?"

"Um, I don't know. He magically appears?"

"I guess it isn't working, huh."

"Thanks, Captain Obvious. Any ideas, Andrea?"

"It's not my plan, plus you said you were going to talk to him."

"Good point. How about I call him?"

"Do you mean-"

"SLENDY! WHERE ARE YOU?"

"Shh, my dad can hear you!"

"He doesn't know who Slendy is."

"Oh my gosh, Heather. How about we just forget about this?"

"No way, José. You can walk away but I won't."

"I bet Slenderman thinks this is a stupid idea too."

"Well he has to come here to tell me-"

She pauses in the middle of her sentence. After a moment of silence, she scrunches up her eyebrows.

"Why don't you say that to my face, Slendy?"

"I told you."

"Wait a second. Was he talking to you, Andrea?"

"Uh... well... you see..."

"That's not fair, you two are putting me at a disadvantage here! I have to do all the work!"

Or you can start thinking rationally.

"You know what? I'm going down there and I'll talk to them myself if you two aren't doing anything about this."

She stomps out the door and out of sight, about to march down the stairs to commence her interrogation until I hear her squeak. Confused, I go out the door only to find that she wasn't there anymore. I suddenly hear static as a tentacle wraps around my ankle, and before I know it, I'm in the forest. I turn around and see Heather tilting her head up to scowl at Slenderman.

"I was gonna talk to them as part of the plan, why did you take us here?"

It was a foolish plan.

"It was a brilliant plan!"

"Actually Heather, it was pretty bad."

"But I don't understand! Why don't you want to find out more about her?"

"I do, but not by stalking her! Why can't we just talk to her like normal people?"

"Because she might be a threat, Andrea!"

"Why are you getting so mad at a woman you don't even know?"

Heather huffs and looks away, worked up over this imaginary situation. At a loss of words, I glance at Slenderman, but he offers me none to say. Heather kicks a rock, annoyed but not so angry anymore. She hums softly, calming herself down, before facing us.

"Sorry about that. I guess I'm kinda paranoid about these things."

"It's fine, Heather, don't woryy about it."

What exactly agitated you?

"Um... well, I didn't want Andrea to go through what I went through."

"What do you mean?"

"My dad saw this other lady without my mom knowing. He later regretted it, though, and he cut her off."

"Did you mom know about it?"

"No, my dad made me keep it a secret. Besides, I don't want to be the one to break the news to her."

"That makes sense, Heather. Don't go too hard on yourself."

"But that was cowardly! I felt like I could've done something, and I guess I saw the opportunity right now. You know, to make up for my mistake. Kinda selfish of me."

"You were honestly trying to help me. I appreciate it."

"Thanks, Andrea."

"We could still get to know her, just not with that first plan."

"Yeah, it's pretty crazy now that I think about it. Would you have done it, Slendy?"

Of course not.

"How about if I said to stalk Andrea's dad instead?"

You wouldn't have to ask in the first place.

"You really do hate him, huh Slendy?"

Slenderman doesn't answer, but instead looks around the forest. Heather puffs up her cheeks, annoyed that her question was ignored. She goes up to him and tugs on his suit. Swiftly, a tentacle emerges and grabs her, placing her right next to me. He continues to look around, as if he heard something. I try to listen to whatever may be suspicious, but all I hear are the crickets and the leaves rustling on the swaying trees. Either it's a false alarm, or there is really something there but my human senses are much weaker than his. I go with the latter, now getting nervous.

I should bring you back to the house.

"Aw," Heather whines, "why?"

Instead of replying, two tentacles promptly emerge from his back and wrap around our wrists. After a second of dizziness, we appear in the bedroom. The lights flicker at our arrival, startling me. Slenderman doesn't wait to answer our questions. Instead, he leaves as soon as Heather and me are steady on our feet. Heather goes up to the window and opens it as if searching for him. She glowers, bugged by Slenderman's quick disappearances.

"Why does he always do that?" she asks herself, "It's pretty rude."

"I think he saw something out there," I tell her, "didn't you notice him looking around?"

"No…" Heather says, "We should go see!"

"Are you insane?!" I exclaim, "Slenderman didn't get us out of there just so we can go back!"

"You have a point," she muses, "but that doesn't mean I'm not curious."

"Same for me," I agree, "I think it's best to stay out of the way, though. "

Eventually, the mysterious lady and my father's boss left. Even though Heather suggested it, I didn't eavesdrop. I don't blame her for being anxious over this; I'd probably do the same if I were in her position. My father apologized for kicking us out and gave us explanations that were somewhat decent. We got pizza again, so either he was feeling really guilty or he was craving pizza. Or both.

At this moment, I'm lying on my bed, tossing and turning. I'm supposed to be sleeping by now, but I keep remembering what happened back there at the woods. Whatever it was, Slenderman can take care of it. Despite this, my mind doesn't leave me alone, bombarding me with worried thoughts. Wondering how Heather is doing, I look up at the upper bunk to check.

She's sound asleep, even snoring a little. She denies that she snores at night, and I tell her every time that it doesn't bother me. Besides, it's quiet. I'm jealous at how Heather could sleep so quickly. I duck back in my small space, trying to go to sleep myself, but it's hard to do so easily.

My breath catches in my throat when I hear a tap on the window. There are no trees nearby, so it's not like those cheesy movies when it turns out to be a jagged branch. I pass it off as my imagination, perhaps from lack of sleep. But there it is again, insisting that it's in fact real. I breathe deeply before getting up from my bed, approaching with faltering steps. I don't see a shadow through the curtains, though there isn't much light out other than the dim yellowish light from the streetlights.

Now that I'm standing right in front of the window, I'm unsure what to do. It might be Slenderman, but I highly doubt he would tap on the window to get my attention. Hesitating, I gingerly touch the edge of the curtain. An idea pops into my head right when I'm about to have a peek. I raise my arm and tap on the window through the curtain. I don't get a response, so I tap again just to make sure.

Heather mutters something behind me, and snapping my head back, I see that she's just dreaming. I smile, but gasp when I hear a sudden tap, this time a bit louder. I gather up my wits and face the window, setting my mind on finding out what's on the other side.

I grab the curtain and yank it away, only to see that there was nothing. I'm about to open the window until I stop myself. It can still be out there. I look down at the side of the house and scan what I can see of the yard. I laugh to myself when I see a bird flutter off to a branch of a tree on the neighbor's yard. It most likely tapped on my window with its beak. I can't believe I was so scared by a silly little animal. I swear I'm turning into my father.

I open the window to get a better look at the bird that frightened me, but something feels off. My face pales when I remember that there's the gutter above my window, jutting out far enough for someone to perch on and close enough to reach my window.

Close enough to be breathing down my neck right now.

AN: I haven't updated in over a month... I feel really bad, though there was no way to update before because of school projects and work, not to mention a major writer's block. The last day of school for me is June 18, so after that, I may be able to update more frequently :D gotta love the summer! Next school year is gonna be awful though, because of the SAT and AP classes and the IB program and so on. Back to the point, hope y'all enjoy the chapter (and yes, I put a cliffhanger. sue me.) Oh, by the way, I guess most of you have heard about the girls who stabbed their friend for Slenderman because they wanted to be proxies (if not, you can search it up, it was recent) I honestly think that's ridiculous. I love reading and writing about Slender, but going to that extent has no logic at all. I don't like that fact too that people are blaming Creepypasta for this. Just putting that out there. Anyways, thanks to everyone who has stuck with Colors :D until next time!