He's gone...

I can't believe it...Taben's dead. Andromeda murdered him. I knew this destructive path he threw himself down would kill him in the end...Neither Aiden nor I could save him. My friend is dead because I couldn't get through to him...

How is Aiden going to take this, I'm wondering? I saw him yesterday and we talked and he seemed perfectly fine...(I'll get the account of what happened then up later tonight. I was going to do it now, but then I opened blogger, saw Andromeda's post, and now don't feel like doing anything.)  

I know Andromeda has a penchant for killing people, but I can't help but be shocked all the same.

In the very least, I hope Taben's at peace now...He'll be reunited with his husband and son like he wanted ever since they died.

You'll have to forgive me for this post that doesn't really describe anything that's happened to us in these past couple days. I just needed to write and get these thoughts out of my system.

I promise I'll make a real post in a few hours. I just need to calm down.

A Meeting

 Hey everyone. You may or may not know that KK and I arranged a meeting. We met up today at the Rose Garden around three this afternoon. We chose that place because, for one, it's a pretty big landmark and I could find it easily, and for another, it was a public place, which helps keep Slender Man from showing up. Well, that and KK doesn't trust me (which is understandable since we'd never met before). I had wanted to figure out what she wanted to do regarding Aiden staying with her and on top of that I had been concerned about her from Derek's post. I certainly learned a lot...anyway, here's what we said:

Me: It's good to finally meet you in person.

KK: (She didn’t look away from the glass wall she was staring through; one hand was idly fingering the baton tucked into her wheelchair.) Same here, I guess.

Me: Thanks for looking after Aiden...you definitely saved his life.

KK: Should've killed him. The dumbass had the nerve to show up at my place after I warned him not to.

Me: He was pretty desperate. He is lucky you didn't kill him, though. I'm glad I didn't try and look for him, at least.

KK: Why's that?

Me: I wouldn't want to show up at your place unannounced. I figured me being there at all would be a burden on you.

KK: The only burden would be figuring out where to hide your body until the rats ate away all identifying features. (She still wasn’t looking at me.)

Me: Why didn't you kill Aiden when he showed up? What stopped you?

KK: (She glanced at me for a moment, glaring, the Glasgow Smile and shaved head giving her a VERY scary look.) He WANTED to die. Why would I give him what he wanted? (She looked out the window again, eyes going slightly blank.)

Me: But you're taking care of him now, I'm surprised you haven't thrown him out now that he's done being suicidal.

KK: ....... (quietly) It's nice to have someone else around. That apartment doesn't feel right with less than three people in it. (same quiet tone) Did you ever wonder WHY he comes after us, Malkin? I mean, aside from the obvious answers. I really believe that He is only seen by people He has already decided to prey upon. But why us? What makes people like us so attractive to him? Maybe we aren't supposed to fight him.

Me: I do, but I don't think we'll ever understand. He's an enigma to me. I know there's no escape, at least...

KK: Of course not. But we try anyway. More proof that humans are morons.

Me: It's survival instinct, I suppose. I don't want to die and I don't want to lose Chastin. So, I feel the need to keep fighting to the end.

KK: The end might be closer than you think, Malkin. He's watching us right now. His eyes are everywhere, y'know that? We're being watched right now. Dozens of eyes all around us, all invisible.

Me: I know. He's something beyond our comprehension. He has abilities we can't fight or even understand. Maybe it is just the paranoia, but I feel him watching me every waking moment. It seems so strange that he has the power to observe and stalk every Runner the way he does.

KK: (still flat and quiet) Run run run, as fast as you can. He'll still catch you, he's the Ebony Man. We're all fucked.

Me: As painful as it is to think about, you're right. I like to think there might be a way out, but there isn't one that I can see except maybe memory loss.

KK: Doesn't work. Didn't work for Cancer Kid. Probably won't work for anyone else. (She spun her wheelchair neatly in place, then rolled toward the nearest exit.)

Me: (I followed her.) Where are you going?

KK: (flat) I'm hungry. I'm going to get something to eat.

Me: Can I tag along? I was hoping we could work something out regarding Aiden.

KK: You're already following me. I can't stop you if you keep doing it. (She was outdoors already, rolling through a light rain toward a nearby pizza place.)

Me: So, what are your plans from here on out?

KK: I don't have any. Plans are for people who know what the fuck is going on in their lives.

Me: Are you going to take revenge?

KK: On who? For what? If you're gonna ask a question, be specific. (We entered the pizza place and she ordered a sausage-and-black-olive pizza and a basket of cheesy breadsticks.)

Me: On Andromeda, specifically.

KK: I don't have a snowball's chance in hell of tracking her down. If she comes anywhere near me, I'll blow her brains out, but that's the most I have planned. That's the most I can do.

Me: She probably knows better than to come here anyway. What about Slender Man? Are you going to run or stay and try to outlast him for as long as you can?

KK: (She glared at me, her voice was still quiet but angry and sarcastic.) Yeah, Malkin, I'm gonna RUN. Me and my non-working legs are gonna hightail it out of here. Don't be a dumbass.

Me: You know what I meant. Leave this place, move around like a lot of us have been doing. Maybe not now, but later on.

KK: (back to flat and quiet) No. I'm staying put. If He comes after me, running wouldn't do me any good anyway, so I may as well stay where I'm comfortable.

Me: You aren't...thinking of giving in...are you?

KK: What's it matter to you?

Me: Mostly just friendly concern. I know we don't know each other well, but I still wouldn't want to see you die or become a proxy.

KK: Bullshit. Nobody does anything for "friendly concern". People are self-serving, predatory 

bastards, and at the root of ALL action is self-interest. So what interest do YOU have in keeping ME alive?

Me: The way I see it, all those of us being hunted by Slender Man have is each other. Perhaps that's cheesy, and I'm sure you'll tell me it sounds like bullshit, but I honestly don't want you or any of the others I know to die. It's why I followed Aiden here even though involvement with him could mean more trouble for Chas and I in the future.

KK: (She began eating a slice of her pizza.) I'm not gonna be your security blanket. If you wanna be a whiny bitch, find someone else to seek sympathy from.

Me: I don't want sympathy. I wanted to know if I could help you in any way in return for helping Aiden. I'm sure you don't want it, but I'm offering all the same.

KK: You're right. I don't want it. I don't NEED it. The eyes are always watching, Mal. They'll come for me someday. You'd do well to be FAR away when that happens.

Me: How much longer do you think you've got until he decides to come for you?

KK: What HE? The eyes don't belong to Him. He doesn't need eyes to see. He is the one eyed man in the kingdom of the blind. We're all blind, Mal, blinder than we know.

Me: You're right that we're blind. We're only human. We're conceited and greedy creatures and we don't have the power to understand the truths in this universe. It's why we have no defense against him, I suppose. But, if the eyes don't belong to him, then to whom or what do they belong?

KK: To me. And when they open, you'll all pay. (She said this in a perfectly normal tone of voice, if slightly quieter than what I expected given her personality.)

Me: All of us?

KK: All of you. Everyone on Earth. Maybe I'll kill myself before I get to that point, though.

Me: Why the whole world? What do you have against us? I can understand wanting to rain hell on Slender Man and his servants, but why the rest of the world?

KK: Doesn't matter, really. And quit trying to act like a therapist. You suck ass at it.

Me: I know. I'm mostly just trying to understand your motivations. I wanted to know where you'd go from here.

KK: Sorry. You won't find out, because I don't know myself. Plans are irrelevant anyway. Even the most well-thought-out plan dies upon use. So why bother?

Me: It seems like planning gives one purpose, at least.

KK: Purpose is purposeless. (She said this dryly and was possibly making a joke.)

Me: It would keep you from thinking too much about the inevitable death that waits in the near future. It does for me, at least. Of course, I have no clue what to do now either...

KK: There's one huge flaw in your reasoning, Malkin. (She seemed actually ENGAGED for the first time in our entire conversation at this point.)

Me: What's that?

KK: You're assuming I WANT to go on living. What if all I want is to die, and take as much of the world with me as possible?

Me: What about your husband? You won't keep on living for him? I know I can't even imagine the pain you've been through, but at least you still have him.

KK: I'm going to die on him anyway. What's it matter when it happens?

Me: The last time we spoke like this, you acted like you would strive to stay alive even if the worst happened. I suppose a lot has happened to change your way of thinking since then, though.

KK: Quit trying to "understand" me, Malkin. It makes you sound like a condescending dick. I do what I do for my own reasons, or no reasons at all, or just for the fucking fun of it. Whichever it is, it's none of your fucking business.

Me: I'm sorry; I don't mean to offend you. Like I said before, I don't want you to die. I know you don't want me to interfere, and I won't try.

KK: You're still trying by saying that. You're still trying to be "understanding" and "nice". Either say what you're REALLY thinking or get out of my fucking life.

Me: You think that my concern for you is a lie? I'm not trying to be fake in what I'm telling you. I think giving up only plays into Slender Man's hands and that we shouldn't give him the satisfaction. I know you want to die, and if I could help you keep fighting, I would, but it isn't my place and you've made that clear.

KK: No shit. Now, you said something about some "arrangement" to do with Aiden.

Me: I just wanted to know if he ever plans on leaving and to let us know when he does. I heard Bran is coming here, so I'll probably meet up with her. For now, I'm glad he's in good hands. Again, thanks for looking after him.

KK: You'd have to ask him about his plans. I'm not his fucking warden. He's free to leave whenever.

Me: Could you ask him if he'll meet me...here I guess sometime in the next day or so? I'd leave him a comment or email asking him, but I don't know if he'll see it in time.

KK: Again, ask him yourself. (She tossed the remaining 3/4 of the pizza and cheesy breadsticks into the pizza box, set it on her lap, and headed for the door.)

Me: Thanks for meeting me here. (I called over to her as she left.) I'm sorry for the trouble.

KK: (Her only response was to flip me the bird as she headed back out into the rain.)

I realize now that I probably sounded kind of formal...I tend to do that when I'm talking to people I don't know for some reason. As for me saying I wanted to help and all, it was partly prompted from seeing the extent of what Andromeda had done to her. I know she doesn't want my sympathy (she made that clear) and I hope I didn't offend her in any way, but I am grateful to her for helping my friend. I'm glad I got this chance to speak to her in the very least. 

Aiden, as you will notice from this conversation, I need to tell you that we should meet up soon to talk about what we're going to do.

So yeah, that was my day. At least it was relatively free of Slendy. I did see him on the way back from the Rose Garden, but he didn't follow me. 

I'm honestly not sure what this means for us right now. I wish I had a plan, but I'm at a loss for what to do.

The air feels heavy, like it's forcing me down. I'm more aware than ever of that niggling feeling of being watched.

It feels like something terrible is going to happen soon.

Waiting for Aiden

We don't really have a lot to do with ourselves right now. Chas found a job, so we won't starve, in the very least. We have to keep moving hotels every night or else we receive unpleasant nighttime visits from various intruders. A few nights ago it was Slendy standing in the corner and a couple nights before that it was several proxies breaking into our room and attempting to murder us. 

We're pretty much at a loss for what to do right now. We don't go out after dark and we always stick together. My parents live down in Salem, which is only an hour away from here, so we decided it would be best to take our cats to live with them for awhile.

Until Ai is able to come back to us, we don't really have many allies at this point. I was kind of hoping we would run into Bran, but I'm not sure that will be possible at this point. I don't want to burden KK with us being around, so I think it's best we remain on our own for now.

He's in the street staring at our window right now. I can feel his gaze even through the curtains. It feels as though insects are crawling all over me and I can feel him trying to speak to me. If he doesn't stop, I'm probably going to pass out. We're debating on whether or not we should change hotels, but going outside seems like a bad idea right now.

I can't pass out...I can't leave Chastin alone. If I do, I know Slendy will try and kill him. Slendy's wanted Chastin all along. He's been at this for years and hasn't succeeded. Every time he's tried something's gotten in his way. Now, however, there's nothing that can stop him. I can't protect Chas...

I know it's probably bad to think this...but I'm kind of unhappy that the illusion was dispelled now. At least when it was still in place we had something that kept Slendy from murdering us. Ah well, I don't want to seem ungrateful to KK for snapping Aiden out of it. I'm mostly just musing to take my mind off of the pain. I suppose I could just let him talk to me, but I don't really want to take chances anymore.

Ai...I know you and KK are deciding what to do. Please hurry...

He's now standing in the hallway outside our room. I can see him through the peep hole thing. He's smiling.

Fuck

I feel horrible. I feel like my entire body is about to fall apart. If you read Ai's recent post, you'll know that the Hatchling thing was all an illusion. Slender Man was just fucking with Ai's head the whole time and it spread to everyone he was in contact with. I was never a Revenant...the injuries I sustained that I thought healed are all still here and a few of them, like the broken arm and the wounds I got in my shoulder when Ai threw the large glass object at me a week or so ago, are even worse than they were when I got them because I unknowingly left them untreated.

The only explanation I can come up with for the doctors at the hospital only noticing my burns is that the illusion somehow spread to them as well. God...Slender Man's power is greater than I ever imagined. If he can create an illusion as complete and flawless as the one he cast on us, then there's no comprehending what else he must be capable of. I guess that is his specialty, though. He worms his way into your thoughts and rips you apart from the inside out, laughing while he does it. I'm in shock right now...I guess I'm finally coming to terms with my mortality.

I think the only reason KK didn't get infected by the illusion is because it was already so close to wearing off at that point. Slender Man is done fucking with us. That's part of what he meant when he showed up in our hotel room that night. He's not going to play games and promise fake truces anymore.

So yeah, I'm in absolutely no shape to be going anywhere. We're in Portland right now and Chas and I are going to the hospital soon to get my broken arm, broken nose, and the now infected cuts made by the glass in my shoulder patched up. I'm pretty much a walking disaster right now, but I'm not complaining. I could be a lot worse and I'm extremely happy the illusion broke when it did.

You know...Ai, myself, Chastin, and Brennon were all essentially slenderproxies. We were completely under his control and had no idea the entire time. There's no other explanation for it...it's the only way Ai and I would have been able to enter the Path. We were Sleepers. We were puppets on his strings. I guess Slendy got what he wanted from Chas and I, even if it was only for a short time. He isn't finished with us yet though...that much is certain.

We'll be here in Portland waiting for you, Ai. I promise Chas doesn't want to kill you. I explained everything to him and he understands that none of this was your fault. We'll do our best not to die in the mean time.

Problems have arisen

So...Aiden's at KK's apartment...I'm happy he's safe, but this presents the problem that I have no idea where the hell KK lives. I suppose it's probably better that I lay low for awhile. I'm pretty sure KK doesn't want me there anyway, even if it's to help Ai. I can only hope he'll actually bother to read this at some point so he'll know that I'm here looking for him.

We're somewhere in Colorado right now and still driving. I know it's late, but we found out the hard way that we can't stop for too long anymore.

You see, a few hours after I posted about our ordeals yesterday, we stopped at a hotel to rest. I figured we'd be okay for the time being. I mean, Slendy showed up in my apartment every day for a few weeks and I survived the encounter. He drove Chastin crazy that same week and he's perfectly fine now. Besides, we're Runners at the moment. I figured it would be alright to stop at least once, especially since we were in a different state. Hell, I thought he'd try and murder us in our hospital beds, but he never did.

You can probably see where I'm going with this. It was about 2am, if I remember correctly. I woke up because Chastin elbowed me in the nose (by the way, the pain from said elbowing to the nose was excruciating, which is odd since my nose healed after Ai broke it...). Everything seemed normal. The cats were asleep on Chas' chest and I didn't feel anything strange. I got up and went to get aspirin for the headache being elbowed in the nose gave me. Again, everything seemed perfectly fine.

As I was walking back to the bed, I began to feel a prickling in my toes that quickly shot its way up to the top of my head, causing my hair to stand on end and making me shiver. I began to get a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. I expected to see Slendy being his creepy self in the corner or something, but he wasn't there. I peeked out the window, but he wasn't standing out there either. I got back in bed, but lay awake for another half an hour or so. I couldn't shake the feeling I had. I wanted to wake Chastin up and leave that very moment. I couldn't take being in the room...it was almost painful.

After about fifteen minutes, I began shaking. I could feel the burning eyes. The eyes that pick me apart from the inside out and leave me a broken husk of a man. They bored into the back of my skull, but every time I turned over I found nothing but blank wall. Eventually, I woke Chastin up and told him what was wrong.

"Calm down." He said. "Here, hold my hand and don't look away from me, you'll feel better."

I stared at him like that for another fifteen minutes and, eventually, the bad feeling went away. The last thing I remembered was staring at his nose and thinking that it was really big (you may recall that making myself laugh during frightening situations is the only way to make myself feel better).

I woke up again later feeling a cold hand on my arm. I remained perfectly still and tried not to scream. I kept my eyes fixed on Chastin and tried to tell myself it was only his hand, knowing all the while what was behind me. Slowly, I reached over to Chastin and touched his shoulder. When he didn't respond, I shook him gently and gradually became more and more violent. Chas opened his eyes and looked at me blearily for a moment before his eyes widened when he saw what was behind me. I silenced him with an imploring look, hoping that maybe the monster behind me would go away (in retrospect, it was kind of childish, but I was terrified out of my mind so you should give me a break). The cats had moved to the end of the bed since I'd fallen asleep, and, suddenly, they both woke up and began hissing violently before running to hide under one of the dressers.

I couldn't ignore it any longer. I wrenched my arm away from the hand that was holding it and turned around.  Slendy was looking down at me, obviously. Thinking back on it, that was probably the most terrifying I have ever seen him. He radiated a dark aura of sickening, sadistic glee. It took me a moment, but I realized that he was smiling. Remember when he bit the head off of that proxy? I wouldn't call what he has a mouth exactly. It's more like a split in his head a few inches above his chin. He does indeed have teeth. Sharp teeth. His "smile" stretched from where his ears would be and is probably the most horrific thing I have ever seen, and I've seen a lot of freaky shit.

I should also point out that I've never felt more helpless in my life. I don't have my badass Revenant powers anymore. I can't even hope to fend him off...I can't protect Chastin and I can't even keep myself alive. All I could think about that night was that he could kill me at any moment. He stood over us like that for a long time and after awhile I felt that same excruciating pain that occurs whenever he tries to talk to me. I didn't let him in and, eventually, I'm assuming I passed out from the pain. I woke up the next morning with Chastin asleep next to me and the cats taking up all the foot space.

Chastin doesn't remember what happened. At first, I thought I might have imagined it all, but now I'm certain that I didn't. Slendy was trying to send a message. There's nothing stopping him from killing us now. The only reason he didn't last night is because he loves wallowing in our fear and helplessness.

So, Chas and I are living on borrowed time. Great. I tried to tell Chastin about what happened and, thankfully, he believes me. We won't be stopping again until we get there. It's just too dangerous at this point...

I don't know how finding Ai will help us at this point, but I still want to make sure my friend is safe. We'll manage somehow...

Well, I hope we don't die. Wish us luck on that...

It's been rough

Hey guys. Sorry it's been so long. Chas and I have been through a lot these past few days since I last posted and since, you know, Ai tried to kill us.

That night when I woke up after Ai's emotions knocked me out, I didn't realize it at first, but what had woken me up was actually the fire alarm and I could smell smoke coming up from downstairs. Chas and I went to the top of the stairs and found that half of the downstairs was on fire. Suddenly, a burning shape darted up the stairs and collapsed at our feet. Chas grabbed the fire extinguisher from the bathroom and put out whatever it was. Now, you may recall me telling Ai that I'm going to hurt him in very painful ways for what he did to Raven, Taben's cat. This is why. When the fire was out, I realized that the shape was a cat. It mewled at me weakly and then died in my hands. You see, I'm a huge animal lover. Seeing any animal in pain pretty much drives me over the edge and you can only imagine how this made me feel. Chas had to drag me off the floor and force me to move because I'd gone into some sort of shocked and sorrowful stupor.

Our cats, Steve and Bear, had been asleep on our bed and, thankfully, we'd thought to close the door after ourselves when we went out to see what was happening, or else they probably would have ended up like Raven (which would have been too much for me to handle, honestly). We couldn't escape through the downstairs, as the fire was already spreading up the stairs, so the only option open to us was to jump out a window. I grabbed our blanket and wrapped up our cats in it so we could carry them both more easily while Chas went to the other windows in the other rooms to see if there were any safer places to jump from. I heard a cry and a few moments later Chas came back in with burns on his hands, his arm, and his cheek. We ran into Allen's room, which faced the front of the house and had the roof over the porch beneath it that we could use to get down. The smoke was overwhelming at that point. It burned my eyes and throat and I felt like I was going to collapse. I could hear my cats meowing in confusion and fear from inside the blanket and that and Chas's yelling were really the only things that kept me going. Chas used a chair to break the window and I had him climb out first since he was already injured. I handed him the bundle with our frightened cats in it and then he helped me out. The fire was spreading quickly and was already entering the room behind me. Chas managed to climb down to the ground and had me throw our cats to him. Thinking I would be alright, I jumped down from the roof we'd been on since it wasn't that far from the ground.

It was at this point that I realized that I wasn't a Revenant anymore. I had fractured my ankle from jumping and I had minor burns on my arms and hands. I sat waiting for them to heal, but they never did. I was shocked and confused. I could still feel my connection to Aiden, but it hit me that he must have taken away my powers when he left. I realized that the smoke would have probably debilitated me had I still had my hypersensitivity and that I would have noticed the fire the moment it gave off smoke had I still had my heightened senses. Slowly, it all made sense and I began to feel more helpless than ever.

Chas left for a few moments and came back with our cats' carriers that we'd been keeping in my car (I'd had it sent here awhile ago). Steve and Bear were still frightened, but it made me feel much better knowing that we'd all survived. Chas called the Fire Department and they and the police arrived within 15 minutes. After an hour, they'd gotten the fire put out (it had only spread to a few of the trees, so thankfully we avoided a major forest fire) and told us that they had determined it to be arson. The police questioned us, and we told them we woke up to the blaze. Before they had arrived, Chas and I had discussed what story we would give them. He had been all for telling them that Aiden had started it, but I convinced him to lie with me. I know Ai didn't do this out of any kind of hate for us. I know he didn't mean to kill us and I still consider him my good friend. So, when the cops asked where Ai was, I told them he was visiting a friend in Portland and that we had been planning on meeting him there in a few days. Since there have been so many hate crimes against homosexuals in that area in the past, the police decided that the fire must have been a hate crime also. They told us they'd look into it and then we were taken to the hospital. My injuries were so minor that they released me after an overnight stay. Chas' burns were only slightly worse, however, they kept him for two days out of concern for the huge tentacle shaped scar that ran down his arm that slendy had given him months earlier. It still looks blistered and painful, but all they really did in the end was wrap it up in a bandage.

Chas and I are driving to Portland after Aiden now. We managed to rescue our laptops, wallets, phones, and my car keys before we jumped out (I forgot to mention that) because they were all in our room. The cats are in the back and seem to think we're on an extremely long car ride to the vet because they're both weirding out. Anyway, I just thought I'd let you guys know what's up and that we'll be there in a day or so. My connection with Ai still holds and hopefully that won't break before we get there so I can find him.

The only real concern I have right now is Slender Man. We're both vulnerable now. I can't chase him off and hope to survive the encounter like I used to be able to. If he decides to kill us now, there won't be anything we can do about it and Aiden really will be on his own.

 Well, we're pretty much doing what normal runners do right now, so maybe we'll be able to avoid him for awhile.

Oh...I just realized my college will be starting up again in late September. Wow, I need to get all these problems that have popped up worked out quickly if I want to avoid becoming a fifth year senior. That would suck.

I'll get back to you guys when something interesting happens.

An Update on Ai's Condition

I meant to do this a few hours ago, but things got slightly out of hand. I had made dinner and I brought it up to Ai's room. Ever since Ai first holed himself up in his room, I'd been leaving him breakfast, lunch, and dinner outside his door. Every time I came back to bring the next meal, I would find the last one untouched. Today, however, I decided he needed to eat and that I couldn't keep avoiding him. I knocked, waited a minute or so, and then cautiously opened the door when there was no answer.

"Ai?" I asked uncertainly. Before I could react, a single tentacle came zooming at me and knocked the tray of food out of my hands. "Really?" I said, staring at him angrily. "You need to eat sometime. It'll make you feel better."
"Don't come near me." He said shakily.
 "Oh, now you want me to stay away? I'm here to help you, Ai. If I leave you to your own devices you could hurt yourself or try and hurt someone else."
"You saw what happened earlier. You saw what I did to you...you're right...my grief is turning me into an animal just like it did to Taben."
"I told you it was fine, Ai." I shook my head. "I can take the punishment. You don't have to worry about hurting me. It's much better than harming some innocent bystander or one of our human and therefore more fragile friends."
"I'm sorry, Malkin...I just...I miss him so much. I don't know how much longer I can go on like this. I feel..."
"I know how you feel." I said, interrupting him. "That's why I won't hate you for any hurt you might inflict upon me. Look, I just came to see how you were doing. If you need anything, just let me know. I'll be downstairs with Chas." The mere mention of Chas' name seemed to send him back into his rage, as he threw a very large and painful looking glass object at my head that I only barely managed to dodge. It hit part of my shoulder and shattered against the wall, leaving glass shards peppering part of my arm and blood oozing down to the floor.
"DON'T SPEAK OF HIM AROUND ME." He bellowed. "YOU CAN'T PROTECT HIM FOREVER AND WHEN YOU'VE FINALLY LOST HIM YOU'LL..." He stopped and appeared dazed for a few moments.
"I'm willing to talk whenever you want, Ai. I'll come back when you've calmed down." I turned to leave the room.
"Wait." He said quietly.
"Yes?" I turned back to face him and met his gaze.
"Why are you so calm? Why aren't you retaliating? I'm hurting you. The wounds I've inflicted on you today must have been excruciating. Why are you just...taking it?" He asked, confused.
"This is the only way to keep you sane and to get you to calm down. Retaliation only means we'll get into an unnecessary fight. The last thing we need right now is to fight amongst ourselves. I know it bothers you, but this is to protect both Chas and your humanity. I won't let you become a murderer and I especially don't want to become your enemy if you kill Chas. I just want to help you recover, as your good friend."

With that, I left the room, shutting the door behind me. As soon as I did, objects that I can only assume were tentacles assaulted the place I had been standing and hit the door. I'm surprised the door didn't break from the force of it. The emotion that came with it down our mental link caught me off guard and knocked me out for a little while. I woke up a few minutes ago in bed with Chas asleep next to me.

So far, things are going from bad to worse all in one day. But, this is only the beginning of what will be a very long recovery process for Ai, if he recovers at all. I can only hope Taben doesn't decide to come here, because I'm pretty sure Ai will try and take his anger out on him next. If that happens, I don't know if Taben will survive the encounter.

Here's hoping that things don't spiral out of control for any of us.

Aiden

I thought it would be better to leave Ai alone for a couple days. Were I in his position, I would want to spend time alone to think before I let others come back into my life. But, it wasn't just that...

Firstly, it's difficult for me to be around him right now. Since our minds are connected, I feel everything he does unless I put effort into closing the connection. I've had to do that a lot lately. Normally, he has enough control to keep his emotions from flooding across the link that binds us. Now, however, I often feel random surges of anguish, despair, and roiling anger. Sometimes it becomes so strong that even trying to shut him out doesn't work. This morning, for example, I woke up to an overwhelming, heart wrenching grief that caused me to break down sobbing. It scared Chastin and it surprised me. I was so overcome that I had to have him carry me out of the house to get far enough from Ai to recollect myself.

Secondly, I...don't know if I can face him right now. I mentioned earlier that I feel partly responsible for Brennon's death and every time I've tried to go to his room and talk to him I've lost my nerve.

Ai hates me for avoiding him...and I feel awful for what it must be doing to him.

A few hours have passed. I meant to end with that but some things have happened in that time that deserve mention.

I was about to post, but Aiden came bursting into my room. His eyes were wild and his tentacles were out. It took everything I had in me to close the connection, or else the surge of emotion would have probably temporarily paralyzed me. I stood up, but before I could say anything, he hit me as hard as he could in the face. It hurt more than anything I've ever experienced in my life thanks to my damned hypersensitivity. I was doubled over and bleeding everywhere. Little lights winked in and out of my vision and I felt like I was going to faint. Finally, I was able to straighten up. I was covered with blood and I could tell my nose was broken. Aiden was still seething and he threw another punch at me. This one I was able to catch in my hand. He looked shocked, but I pushed past him to the mirror beside the bed, where I spent another few painful minutes straightening out my nose and watching as my advanced healing mended the broken bone and cartilage.

I wiped off the excess blood from my face and turned back to face Ai. Chas appeared in the doorway and, seeing that I had been hurt, tried to launch himself at Ai. I managed to catch him in time and told him to go downstairs. I promised him I was fine and that I would work things out. He looked concerned, but he did as I asked.

Ai became even angrier at this point. He wrapped his tentacles around my arms and shoved me against a wall. I didn't try to retaliate. I merely looked into his eyes and waited for him to speak.

"Why are you never here for me when I need you?" He demanded angrily. "If you'd been with me, we could have protected Brennon. IF YOU'D DONE YOUR JOB, HE'D STILL BE ALIVE. Instead, you've been spending your time protecting your precious Chastin. Even now, when I need you most, you hide away trying to protect him. I SAVED YOUR FUCKING LIVES BACK THEN AND THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY ME?! YOU HOLD JUST AS MUCH BLAME AS THAT BITCH ANDROMEDA FOR BRENNON'S DEATH! I should kill you right now you...no...killing you wouldn't repay you in full. Killing you won't make you understand. No...you're my servant aren't you? You should have to feel the pain I do. Taben and I lost everything, so maybe you should too. You're in just as deep as we are and yet you still have shreds of your humanity and the source of your happiness is still alive. No...I need to rip away that source of happiness just as mine was. Then you'll understand. I'll bring you down to my level and then you'll know just how great of a mistake you made when you let him die! I'M GOING TO KILL CHASTIN AND THEN YOU'LL KNOW MY PAIN. I'LL MAKE SURE HE GOES THROUGH THE SAME TORTURE BRENNON DID AND I'LL SEE TO IT THAT YOU HAVE TO WATCH AS HELPLESSLY AS I DID! Then you'll know what it feels like to watch your entire world die without the power to stop it. I HOPE IT TEARS YOU APART! I HOPE IT DRIVES YOU OVER THE EDGE AND LEAVES YOU BEGGING FOR DEATH!"

He continued on like that for awhile. His tentacles dug into my arms and drew blood. The force of his emotions felt like a metal spike being hammered into my skull and I barely had enough strength to keep the dam that held back his thoughts and feelings from breaking. I was able to listen to that first part of his tirade, but eventually it became too much and I had to focus all my energy and thought on maintaining the wall between our minds.

It's truly amazing what grief can do to a person. I never thought I would see the usually easygoing, kind Aiden turn into that cruel, merciless animal I saw today. I know he didn't mean any of it, though. It was fueled by sorrow, guilt, and hatred towards Andromeda and Slender Man and I just happened to be in his path when the dam finally burst.

Finally, he ran out of insults and death threats and he grew silent. I continued to stare into his eyes and, after a few moments, the tentacles released their grip and he dropped to his knees. I helped him up and made him sit down on the bed. His eyes were full of despair and he looked utterly dejected. I left the room for a moment to clean up all the blood off of myself (the wounds on my arms his tentacles had made had already healed by that point) and, when I came back, Ai sent another tentacle speeding towards my neck. I caught this one and held it tightly even though it burned me, causing Ai to wince in pain.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there to stop Andromeda, Ai." I said, guilt heavy in my voice. "I'm sorry for failing you and I'm sorry for avoiding you." Tears began spilling from my eyes, but I continued on. "I know I haven't experienced loss to the degree that you have, but that doesn't mean I don't know how you feel. I was avoiding you because your emotions tend to overwhelm me when I get close to you. I've experienced every bit of pain that you have over these past few days like it was my own." He looked up at me, confused, and was about to reply, but I interrupted him. "If you're going to take your anger out on someone, do it to me. I can take it. If you want to hate someone, hate me. If you want to hurt someone, hurt me, not Chastin. He didn't do anything, so leave him out of it. I share blame for Brennon's death, Chastin doesn't. You aren't a murderer, Ai. You're a good person and I don't want to see you corrupt yourself out of grief like Taben did. So please, hit me, cut me, do whatever you want to me to make yourself feel better. I won't die and I won't hate you for it. I am your faithful servant after all. All I ask in return is that you leave Chas out of this."

Ai seemed at a loss for words. I gave him a hug and he seemed to calm down. A moment later he took hold of my forearm with a tentacle and wrenched it as hard as he could. I heard the snap and saw the bone protruding through the skin, but I did my best to hide that I was in immense pain. I released him and he looked at me for a few moments as if expecting me to retaliate. I merely smiled at him and began attempting to push the bone back down so it wouldn't heal improperly. He frowned as if thinking and went back to his room. It wasn't until after he left that I curled up and howled into my pillow in pain until my arm went numb. I'm rather impressed with myself.

I haven't heard anything from him since and I'm going to go check on him again soon. My arm is healed up and I'm ready to take another beating if he's still angry. Let's hope things improve from here...my new mission is to make sure Ai doesn't let himself become a monster.

Disbelief

Frankly, I'm at a loss for what to say. There's just been too much death in these last two months...too much misery. I knew that Ai could cope with losing his siblings and his parents before them because of Brennon. Now though...now that Brennon's gone...what will he do? What can I do to help him cope?

I cannot pretend to understand what it feels like to lose someone...especially not someone I cherish as much as Aiden did Brennon. I know that there's nothing I can say that will make this any easier on him.

He hasn't left his room since he came home. I walked past the door once and it was open just enough for me to glimpse him sobbing. His tentacles were flailing violently from his back and there were many broken objects on the floor along with glass from the shattered mirror next to the bed. I suppose he heard my thoughts, because he looked up at me after a few moments even though I hadn't made a sound. His face was full of anguish and I had to shut off my mind from his to keep out the overwhelming flood of emotion. We looked at each other for awhile, but eventually he shut the door with a flick of a tentacle.

I don't know how to help. I feel absolutely useless. I should have been there to help him...I could have fought off Andromeda long enough for Aiden to get Brennon out. I should have known that Slender Man would do something like this. If only I'd had the foresight to know this was coming. I would've helped Aiden watch over Brennon. Together we could have stopped this. I let Aiden guard him all by himself and I didn't even stop to think that any danger could still exist.

If anything...I share responsibility for Brennon's death. Now, because of my thoughtlessness, I don't know if my friend will ever recover. All I want to do right now is rip Andromeda into little pieces, but she isn't the root of the problem. She's just another pawn. The real enemy is Slender Man, and if I'm not careful, he'll murder Chastin too.

I don't care what it takes. Slender Man isn't coming anywhere near Chastin or Aiden if I can help it. I'm not going to sit by any longer. I know I'm just a Revenant. I'm not a hatchling like Ai. I don't know if I have the power to fend off Slender Man...but I'm certainly going to try. Right now, fighting back is all I can do to help Ai.

I can hear Aiden smashing things in his room again. I'm not sure if I should go in and try to talk to him. No doubt he wants to be left alone. Normally, I would think that the best cure would be for him to be around his friends and the comfort of their sympathy. Sometimes, however, it's best to confront the reality of one's situation on one's own. 

If he needs a friend to be with him, I'll be there, all he needs to do is ask. For now, however, I'm going to stay out of it for his own sake. Right now I've got important business to take care of.

No more

I'm not going to stand for his bullshit anymore. I'm done. He can avoid the truth all he wants, but he betrayed us. He's a lying filth and he's stolen everything from us. If he comes here again, I won't tolerate him. Ai, I'm sorry, but he isn't my ally anymore. I was stupid to even think that he had a good side.

The night after we talked to him, I was sitting in our room watching over Chas as he slept. Slendy appeared next to the bed across from me and simply looked at me for a bit. I stared at him angrily for a few moments, but tried to focus on my game. I didn't want to cause trouble, but eventually it became too much. I threw the xbox controller I was holding as hard as I could at his head. He disappeared the instant it was about to hit him, causing it to shatter against the wall and leave a large hole where it hit. He reappeared next to me and bent over me. I didn't do anything. I wasn't afraid. I just looked back and ignored the burning feeling in my mind. I could feel him trying to speak to me but I repelled his mental probe as forcefully as I could, which actually caused him to recoil a bit. The anger radiating from him was terrifying, but I stood my ground. Finally, I let him in my head to talk.

"You are my greatest failure, you know." He said.
"How so?" I replied.
"I lost you to a mere fledgling, one who, were it not for my desire to allow him to grow, should be another of my servants. You have given me no end of trouble."
"You deserve it. How dare you say you haven't done anything wrong. You broke the truce. You tried to Hallow Taben. You took Allen, someone you said you would never harm. We were idiots for trusting you to the degree that we did."
"Then the fault lies with you and you alone. You know my nature. You know of my compulsion to kill. You know the stories told about me. If you were truly wise, you would never have allowed me near either of them, not that that would have stopped me. Taben was foolish to believe that I would give up your mate, whom I have been pursuing in secret for many years, in exchange for his own life. The rest of you were foolish to think that I would be tamed by a mere human child."
"Then I don't want anything more to do with you. I won't abide by your presence any longer. Get out now."
"Before I go, I should remind you of something."
"What?"
He gestures to Chastin. "You should know that his time is coming soon. You cannot keep him from me much longer."
I let out an anguished cry and threw a punch at his head with all my strength. He caught it in his hand and held it, leaning closer to my face.
"You will not be a Revenant forever, child. Your time is also coming. Do not forget."
He disappears.

I hate him. He won't lay a finger or tentacle on Chastin. If we have to, we'll run. If it works for M it might work for us. For now, however, I need to focus on helping Ai.


 

Important

Ok...this is getting bad...Ai, did you see KK's post? We need to ask slendy what the fuck he's doing to her. I don't know if she's just hallucinating, but frankly I don't care. It needs to stop. Of course, there's no guarantee he'll listen to us, but we need to try.

Secondly, we need to ask him what the fuck he plans on doing about Taben. This is all slendy's fault, and we need to try and force him to clean up his own mess for once.

Other than that I don't think we can ask for more. That's all I can really think of that needs addressing at this point. 

You don't listen

I told you already, Taben. If you come anywhere near Chastin I'll rip you to shreds. You seem to think that I'm helpless, well I most certainly am not. I'm perfectly capable of fending you off. I don't want to hurt you, but at this rate you're going to force us to fight.

At this point, Chas doesn't leave my sight. He can be mad all he wants, it's for his own good. 

I don't understand why you're doing this, Taben. If you're going to hurt someone in vengeance for what happened to your husband and son, then hurt the people responsible. All we ever did is try and help you. We were there for you when things went bad. This is all the Slender Man and Its fault. THEY caused you all of this pain. The Master you serve now gave the order to have your husband murdered. The Slender Man betrayed us, almost Hallowed you, and took your son. If you're going to hate, then hate those two abominations. If you so desperately want revenge, then take it out on them. When it boils down to it, we want the same thing. We want to be rid of those two monsters. Working for It in a misguided attempt to console yourself isn't going to solve anything. Think about it for a moment. Would Ry want you attempting to murder the people he considered friends? Would Allen?   Killing those who were once your friends will not bring you peace.

I know what you'll say in response to this. You'll tell me that I don't understand what it is to lose someone. You'll tell me I don't understand your situation and you'll go on and on about how this is all our fault.

In the end, you just don't want to face the bitter truth. You hate yourself for what you did to Aiden's family and for the other murders you committed. Serving It and claiming you want revenge on us gives you a reason to justify your past actions. That's all it is.

So, let me reiterate a point I made earlier in this post. If you hurt Chastin, I will kill you. It's as simple as that. I don't want it to be like that, but you're leaving me with no choice. If you have any scrap of humanity left in you, then you'll consider what I've said.

How could he?

I don't understand...how could Taben do this? I know he's lost almost everything...but the guy I know isn't a vengeful murderer. I guess that shows I didn't know Taben at all, which is a disturbing thought.

I promised Aiden I'd help him protect Brennon. I'm going to do just that. Taben, I'm sorry, but if you've hurt Brennon I swear to you I will kill you. If you come after Chas I will rip you apart. You're my very dear friend...but this can't go on anymore. I truly am sorry.

We're out looking around for the moment. We've been into the Path as well but we came out with nothing. Chas is with us. I'm not letting him out of my sight with the way things are going. (He's actually slightly grumpy that I think he won't be able to defend himself, but he'll be thanking me later when he isn't kidnapped.)

Concern

Um...Aiden's still drunk somehow. I'm starting to get worried. Seriously, he's been like this for HOURS. I guess this could be a side effect of being a hatchling. Of course, I would think that he wouldn't be able to get drunk at all given the way his body is (sort of like Captain America).

Chastin joined in a few hours ago and they've been giggling like mad men together for awhile. Brennon's making dinner and it's my job to make sure these two don't hurt themselves. I'd join in, but I'm kind of afraid of what alcohol will do to me given the whole hypersensitivity thing. It's probably for the best. I had to keep Chastin from hurling himself at Aiden when he started getting all cuddly with me earlier, as Brennon mentioned (it was really funny).

Anyway, just chilling with two drunken fools at the moment. I'm trying to play Catherine and they keep making me screw up. I hope Brennon comes out of the kitchen to help distract them soon.

Oh look, I see a dapper gentleman standing in the yard. I know I shouldn't be relieved that it's just slendy given what he did to Allen, but It is still a lot scarier than slendy is. I really hope Aiden doesn't notice him...I'd rather he not confront him in this drunken state. Oh...too late.

God...drunken Aiden and slendy don't mix AT ALL. Brennon and I just got back from dragging Aiden back inside. The moment he saw slendy he got up (after falling over a few times) and half ran half staggered out the door. He went up to slendy, who was probably laughing internally, and started yelling at him. Some of what he said was largely incoherent, some of it was calling slendy random names, and the rest was a bitter diatribe about all the pain he's caused that was surprisingly intelligent given the amount of alcohol he'd been consuming all day.

This is where things got risky. I don't know if everyone remembers, but a few posts ago I told Aiden he should just tentacle slap slendy one of these days. Well, he took my advice. The tentacles came out and Aiden hit slendy as hard as he could across the head. It actually looked painful for slendy.

Slendy was mad. Seriously mad. His tentacles came out and he looked ready to rip Aiden apart right there. I had to run outside and get Aiden out of there. It isn't that I don't trust your ability to defend yourself, Ai, it's just that you were extremely giggly and I don't think you knew what was going on at the time.

So yeah, we're back inside now. Chastin was shocked at what had happened for a little while but then he went back to being silly. Aiden's fine and I think the drunk is wearing off. Maybe he'll get lucky and his slendy powers will save him from the hangover that certainly awaits Chastin.

Good thing I didn't start drinking or things might have gotten bad out there...

Brennon, I think we should hide all the liquor in the house from now on. Assuming, of course, that Ai and Chas haven't drank it all.

Finally, slendy's still outside seething. I don't think he likes it when people rebel.

Um...

Aiden is extremely drunk, as you may have noticed from his last post. You are not, however, here with him.

To be honest it's absolutely hilarious. He's stumbling around and giggling. At least he isn't a mean drunk. 

Still though...I'm afraid for him. I worry about the problems that led him to get drunk in the first place.

He keeps talking about the things he wrote in his post. I keep trying to calm him down and talk to him, but it isn't working. He's too giggly.

I really just need him to know that Chas and I (or at least me) will stick by him no matter what. Nothing slendy does can scare me off at this point. The only thing I worry about is Chas, but I can protect him and he's pretty capable of defending himself.

So, basically, when you read this later, Ai, I want you to know that we'll be here for you. I know a lot of death has occurred, but it isn't your fault. This is slendy's fault. Our priority, however, needs to be keeping Taben from going on another killing spree. 

That should probably wait until later though. Aiden just fell over and he's on his back laughing. Chas just decided he needs to join in on the drunk party.

I think I'll pass guys.