The boy thought he knew pain when that black liquid had been entering his back. He thought that was the worst pain he could ever feel. He had been wrong, so incredibly wrong. Something, no it was more than one thing, was coming out of his back. The flesh around his back was being violently ripped away to make room for the things that were growing out of his back. Something long, black, and wet came out of his back, covered in his own blood. The thing lay limply beside him, until another one of the black things started to make its way out of his back. The first thing began to tremble with the incredible torment he was feeling. As more of these things came out of him, his screams grew worse while the freed things twitched around at random. Why wouldn't anyone help him? Humans were supposed to care for one another. Wasn't in human nature to help those who were suffering? Even the man with the compassionate face was gone. The pain was only getting worse while his internal screams grew louder. Someone had to stop this.
"Wake up," Ellaina kept saying over and over again. She had little room to move, as she was now held painfully against him. Whatever he was dreaming about was really causing him pain, and that was hurting her in response. She cared about him; she loved him. He had stopped her suffering on numerous occasions, so it only made sense that she should help him in return. He had awoken her before by somehow entering her dream. She had somehow connected to him at one point when the Master had allowed her to sleep, but she didn't know how she had done it. Even when she had done it, she hadn't known what he had been dreaming about. She was about to try calling out to him again, when he suddenly came to life. He sat up quickly, a gasp screaming out through her head. He pushed her away from him, the throes of the nightmare still holding control over him.
Oh God, his voice slipped into her mind, trembling and breathing heavy from the power the nightmare had held over him. Why did he have to dream about that of all things? The pain had seemed so real, like he was experiencing it again. He looked around before setting his elbows on his knees and covering his nonexistent face with his hands; the tendrils hung limply about him. These extra appendages had been the worst part of his entire transformation from human to whatever it was he was now. He still didn't understand how that black liquid had created them. He needed to get himself back under control, but the dream was still so clear in his head. As a flash of the nightmare came through his mind, a tremble ran through his body. He dug his fingers into his flesh, desperately trying to ground himself to the world around him. He couldn't act like this in front of Ellaina. He had to pull himself together. If not for her, then for the chance that Anne could come out of the bathroom and see him so weak. He was the Slenderman, for God's sake. Humans saw him as something to fear; he was a part of their nightmares. A little dream shouldn't be able to hold such control over him, but he could still feel that liquid pumping into him, and he could still see those people observing him. He could still hear his father laughing as he had laid there suffering in a pool of blood and whatever the black liquid had been once the transformation had ended. The thoughts only brought a groan from him, making him dig his fingers deep into his flesh again, drawing fine lines of blood. Couldn't the torment just end already?
When he felt someone place a hand over his own, he immediately pulled away, seeing just for an instant one of the women who had been observing his change. Why would one of them need to be touching him? Shaking his head to clear that image away, he was able to make out Ellaina. She was looking at him with such concern, kneeling at his feet. This little human cared about him. His little human cared about him. He didn't know why she cared. She could be with anyone she wanted, so why had she chosen him, a monster…a genetic experiment? His thoughts only pulled a moan of pain from him. His father had ruined his life and for no reason he could make out. Why…why did he do this to me? I didn't do anything to him. I loved him. I only wanted his love. Ellaina, why would he ruin my life? Why? How many times had he asked himself these questions? He could never come up with an answer. It could be that Ellaina held the answers.
She had never seen him like this. She had never seen him show such completely and utterly raw human emotions so openly. He normally gave no indication of what he was feeling, unless it had something to do with a strong emotion. Clearly, the nightmare had caused him to feel more than a few powerful emotions. Slowly Ellaina came to sit next to him, resting a hand on his own which was covering his face. Ellaina pulled the hand away from his face and lightly kissed it. She slowly pulled him to her, enveloping him into a tight hug. When she felt him so easily relax into her embrace and hold onto her tightly with his face buried in her shoulder, Ellaina knew just how badly that dream had affected him. He never submitted so easily to her contact, unless he was experiencing severe emotions. Ellaina began rubbing his back, muttering soft little nothings to try to calm him. Slowly, she answered him, "I don't know why your father would wish to harm you, but he can never harm you again. No one can. I won't let anyone harm you like that again, Slendy."
He only continued to actually cling to her, needing so badly just to have this human contact ground him back to the real world, if only for a moment. Never had he had this. Any time these dreams came to him previously, he had been forced to deal with them on his own. Now, though, he had someone to help him through this pain. But, he didn't want to speak of his past to her. Reliving the nightmares was bad enough. He couldn't bring himself to speak about it. Still, she didn't ask what he had been dreaming about. She wanted to, of that the Slenderman had no doubt, but she was kind enough not to push him for more information. His Little One only continued to hold him and try to calm him, a hand rubbing his back. Why couldn't she have been there to do this for him when it first happened? Her light touch was the medicine he needed to soothe the phantom pain he could still feel so clearly. Slowly, the Slenderman pulled away from her. He shouldn't be doing this. He should never have attached himself to her. You deserve so much better than me, my Little One. You deserve a human who can show you what love truly is.
Ellaina only shook her head and looked away from him toward the bathroom. Anne was singing once again. "Slendy, I don't want better than you. When you came into my life, you said you would kill me. Instead, you came to love me, and I came to love you. I will not desert you. I won't betray your love like your father did." She turned to face him to find him only staring down at his shoes. She knew that he was deep in his thoughts, probably trying to find some reason for her not to love him. She wanted to say more to him, wanted to tell him that he was everything to her, but she was interrupted.
"Someone looks fabulous!" Anne shouted while coming out of the bathroom, sounding very much like the Jim Carrey version of the Grinch. She smiled at the two who were sitting on the couch, now staring at her. She smiled, as she was completely unaware of what was going on. She spun around, showing off the red dress she had decided to wear.
Slendy slowly pulled himself up from the couch, using a tendril to pull Ellaina along with himself. It was time to go home. He could not stand to remain here for one moment longer. All he wanted to do was get these two home safe, decide if he would let Anne live or not, and return to his own home to try and banish the nightmares from his mind.
Anne took a few steps away from him, knowing full well that he planned to grab her and bring them back home, but she had other plans. "Well, hey, we can't just go home yet. We have other hotel reservations." When the odd pair only openly stared at her, Anne sighed and rolled her eyes. "Geez, you two are slow on the uptake. Ellaina, do you realize that we are only ten miles away from Vegas?! We have to check out the casinos."
Slendy only face palmed. He was definitely going to kill this woman, perhaps even before the chance they got to go home. He would have protested about the gambling idea if it weren't for Ellaina agreeing with her friend. She said that it could be fun for them. And, by them, she unknowingly meant herself and Anne. He certainly couldn't go play slot machines. It might look a little odd for someone to spot the infamous Slenderman playing Blackjack. Still, the two women were more or less begging him to take them there. What choice did he have? He told himself as they suddenly appeared in their new hotel room that he had only taken them here as a way to shut them up. It didn't take long for the women to leave. They headed out to go gamble the day, and likely the night, away. He settled for trying to figure out how the television worked. Maybe he could find something interesting to watch that could take his mind off of the nightmares. It appeared that he was on his own to deal with them, as always.
A/N- I hated writing this chapter, but it is important to the plot. Still, it was so horrible for me to write it, edit it, and reread it. Please, don't hate me too much. I promise to give you fluff in return for this chapter. *goes to write next chapter*