"Mother?" Totheark questioned. Slenderman never made any mention of his family, but he could vaguely remember their first Christmas together when he had briefly seen the woman through a window. Slendy had brought them to his old home, saying that they deserved to at least see a Christmas tree and a real family. At that time Slendy had still thought his mother loved him. He had promised little Totheark that they would go in if his father was not present, but the man had been there. That had upset little Totheark for he had wanted to go inside and get warm and spend Christmas around a Christmas tree. But, his ever present guardian had no choice but to take them away, back home. He had still managed to get the boy a present: Tinker Toys.
Fate cannot be this cruel, the Slenderman thought as he turned away from Totheark to look at the woman. It appeared that Fate enjoyed toying with him, that it had a sick obsession with making him suffer. This woman standing before him was indeed his mother. She was dressed in a long black dress and was far too skinny to be considered healthy. He looked from the woman who had brought him into this world and back to the one he had been protecting since he had become a product of scientific experimentation. Straightening his back and pulling himself up to his full height, he turned back to the woman. You will give me the antidote, if you do not-
The woman merely laughed and snapped her fingers. She smiled as she sensed memories begin to fly through the boy's mind. Her ability to control people with her mind had been something she had developed quite a long time ago. Unfortunately, she had never been able to gain control over her son, even when he had been young. There was some sort of mental wall that protected his mind from her control. It seemed that her son's little friend had that same wall, something she found to be quite annoying. Why couldn't these children be more like her pathetic husband?
Slenderman tried to force his way around the memories. He was awake, but he could still see those images flashing through his mind; he could still feel all of the pain. But, he had dealt with pain his entire life, so he was not about to allow these memories to hold any more control over him. With a growl and concerted effort, he pushed the memory from his mind. However his mother was doing this, it made little difference. He was not about to let her control him so easily. Forcing the woman's presence out of his head, he darkly stated, You will not enter my mind, you monstrous malefactor.
She was quite surprised at the fact that he was able throw her from his mind so easily. Still, she was not about to allow that surprise to show on her face. One could never show fear in the face of the enemy. One always had to maintain control. "Monstrous, am I? Hmm, well I suppose that it would take a monster to know one. Your father certainly did a good job on you, better than I told him to do, anyway." The bait was set now, and she need only wait for him to take it.
Slenderman knew that she was baiting him. He knew that he should just ignore her statements and demand the antidote again. There was no telling if the pathogen was already spreading through Totheark, but the bait was hard to resist. What are you talking about? he asked while turning to look back at the one he had raised. He began looking over the stakes, trying to see if there was some way to remove them that wouldn't set off the pathogen. Still, he did not understand how the release system worked so he could not find a way that seemed to be safe.
Totheark looked between the two. He knew that it would not end well if Slendy was to take her bait. She had done this with him when she had been trying to draw her son to this location. Taking knowledge from her came with a price, a very high price. He could only hope that Slendy was smart enough to avoid her mental traps and get him to safety before it was too late. Then again, his father figure had never failed him before, so the masked man doubted he would start now.
It was at that point that Ellaina came into the room, holding a knife tight in her hand. Her sudden presence managed to startle the woman. One of the spikes, a similar kind like the one impaled through Totheark, flew from her hand to lodge itself in her throat. By some strange twist of Fate, it did not destroy any major blood vessels. It only managed to rip into her vocal chords.
As she fell to her knees, gasping and trying to stop the blood seeping down her neck, the Slenderman felt rage drip into his blood. He would not lose her. No, never again would he lose her. She was weak now, but he somehow knew she could live through this. She always lived through things. Ellaina could not die so easily, right? But, he was not about to let his mother anywhere near the one he loved, especially considering the fact she was injured. He had his mother slammed against the wall without so much as a thought. What have you done? You will give me the antidote. Now.
"I think not, boy," she replied as she looked at the woman who now coughing up blood. It didn't take much for her to look into the woman's mind and see her memories. The woman smiled cruelly as she forced the girl to relive some of her worst memories-of fire, of torture, of poison, of Death. If only her vocal chords hadn't been destroyed, her screams would be music. The woman looked back to the One who had her pinned up against the wall, holding her there all the more tightly. Even with his lack of face, it was clear that he was concerned for the woman. The mother narrowed her eyes and read through the woman's memories once again. She began to outright laugh. "Oh, so that is the crazy, little shrew that has come to love you? Hmm, I had ordered your father to kill her." Seeing the woman curling herself into a ball and crying as the memories became worse, Slendy's mother laughed all the more.
Do not call her that, came the growled reply. He wanted to go to Ellaina and help her, but what could he do? His mother held control over her mind at the moment. Fighting for control inside of her mind could lead to some deleterious results. Perhaps if he could get her talking, her control would slip and Ellaina could be free. What do you mean, you ordered your husband?
"Your father," she corrected.
He is nothing to me.
"Oh, really? Well, he certainly wouldn't like to hear that. As you can see, I am able to invade the minds of others and make them experience their worst memories all over again or control them if I please. Did you not wonder why you kept dreaming of your past? Well, let's just call it a little Christmas present from your Mommy." She only smirked as the Slenderman shoved her harder still against the wall. This was too good. She had the boy right where she wanted him. "Well, my son, your Daddy was under my control from the time that we got married. I don't know what lies he told you when you two last met, but I am sure that I can give you the truth.
"You see, your dear Daddy never wanted to harm you. He wanted to raise you whereas I wished you were never born, but he would not allow me to simply be rid of you. So, the result was to force his hand when the time was right. I was not about to raise a child and throw away my life. He had the choice to kill you or take you to his job and use you as their little test monkey. He, of course, waned neither, so I made the choice for him." She chuckled, remembering how easy it had been to control his mind during those days of their son's transformation. Her mind began to focus on those thoughts rather than Ellaina. Her face fell. "But he let you get away. He was able to break from my control and let you escape after you killed everyone. And now I find that you have killed your own father, the only one in the family who truly did love you. Quite a twist, isn't it?"
This knowledge sent him reeling. This could not possibly be true, yet he was able to sense no duplicity from this woman, his mother. His own mother was the one who had truly been behind making him into the creature, this beast, he was today. It was her fault that he had never had a normal life, why he had been forced to abandon any hope of ever having a childhood in place of caring for a child. His father had been the one who loved him, not his mother as he had been led to believe for so long. And he had killed the man viciously, made him suffer a pain that no human should know. Gods, why couldn't anything be easy in his life? Everything he had ever known from the age of five and onward had been an uphill battle. He had only recently discovered love with Ellaina, had found that there was still hope in the world for someone like him, and now even that was being threatened once again to be taken away from him. She was also threatening Totheark's life as well. He could not and would not allow her to harm either of them. He cared for them too much to let them die. He loved them too much to let them die.
The tendrils wrapped themselves painfully tight around her slim limbs. Give me the antidote.
"No. I will never give it to you. You ruined me, so why shouldn't I do the same to you?"
It was not by my choice to be conceived. Biology determined that, Slendy replied, anger in his voice as it ripped into his mother's mind. You think that you know how to control the human mind, do you? Let me tell you something, mother dearest, you are so pathetically wrong. It is laughable. Now, you will learn what can truly be done to the human mind when one wishes it, when one has the raw power to make it so. You wanted to cause me pain? You wanted to cause Ellaina and Totheark pain? Well, why don't you learn of their pain? It is the best way to understand another's suffering. You dared to threaten the ones I love. You dared to harm them. Now you suffer the consequences.
The mother did not know what he was talking about until memories began invading her mind, memories that most certainly were not her own. She felt the pain her son felt when the tendrils had torn their way through his back; she felt Ellaina's pain from the tormentor and his poison; she felt Totheark's emotional pain upon finding out what had become of his true father. She screamed as memories began to flood her mind.
A/N- Plot twist of doom. *evil laugh* Poor Slenderman. Why am I so mean to him?