What Is Love?

Chapter Nine

Danny Dare

I peered through the curtains and watched him pull out of the driveway. I couldn't believe my luck. I'd just gotten a ride home from HIM - the gorgeous man, the alabaster angel, Mr. TDH, Slen...

Slen... What a peculiar name. I'd been expecting something elegant and old fashion sounding like Edward or Christian, or maybe even something slightly British like Cedric or Victor. Slen fit him though.

I stood in the middle of my kitchen as a soft 'plip' sounded every few seconds as water dripped from my sodden clothing and hit the tile floor. I realized I had better change, but I didn't want to trek water all throughout the house, so I started to strip where I stood; there were definite perks of living by yourself at times like these. As I went for my shirt, I noticed that Slen's jacket was still around my shoulders. I gasped. I'd forgotten to give it back!

'But it gives you a chance to see him again,' I thought mischievously, a small smile tugging up the corners of my mouth. That thought made me giggle, then I shook my head.

'Danny, is this really what you've been reduced to? Giggling like a school girl over the first pretty boy to look your way? Shame on you,' the tiny voice in the back of my head scolded me, and I sighed in agreement.

I undid the top button of the midnight jacket and slid it off my shoulders. I hung it over the back of one of the chairs at the kitchen table so it could dry some, then I pulled my t-shirt over my head and tossed it with my jeans and shoes in a pile by the door. Now all I wore was my bra and underwear. I grabbed the pile - shoes and all - and dumped them in the washing machine. Then I padded into the bathroom and dug under the counter for the blowdryer. On the way in I pressed play on the stereo and started blaring Coldplay throughout the tiny cabin. Before long I was dancing in the bathroom, singing "Viva La Vida" at the top of my lungs and running a brush through my almost dry hair. And I was still in my underwear. Finally I cut the dryer off and walked back into the main room to grab Slen's jacket to assess the damage - if any - done to the silky black suit jacket. If it had survived, I figured the least I could do was have it dry cleaned before I gave it back to him.

Surprisingly, it seemed to be almost dry already when I picked it up. 'Hm, that's strange,' I thought while I checked it over for anything that I might have to take care of. Besides being a little wrinkled, I found nothing wrong with it. I moved to replaced it and then stopped, a sly thought crossing my mind. He would never know...

I slipped my arms into the jacket sleeves and left it unbutton. It was huge on me - coming down to just above my knees. The arms completely hid all but the very tips of my fingers. I pushed up the sleeves so that I had use of my hands once again and walked over to crank up the stereo as my favorite Coldplay song, "Paradise," started playing. I resumed my singing and dancing around my home in my underwear... and Slen's jacket... 

__________________________ 

The Slender Man

The rain fell on my blank face, but I barely noticed it. I stood hidden among the trees, watching the girl through her window.

After I had dropped the Corvette off at the paper mill (and grabbed another one of my many suit jackets), I slender walked back to the cabin. I easily could have sent one of the proxies to watch her tonight - I usually did when the weather was like this - but for some reason I could not explain, I decided to do it myself.

And now I stood here, both shocked and amused by what I was seeing.

Danielle - Danny, I corrected myself - seemed to be in high spirits tonight. Her stereo could be heard even from where I stood off in the woods. I could see by the way her mouth moved that she was singing, but between the cabin walls and the distance, I couldn't hear her.

And she was dancing - twirling around the main room as if she hadn't a care in the world, and in perfect time to the music. She was quite good, I recognized, and very graceful when she danced. She seemed more sure of herself, just like when she played the piano... Maybe it was the effect music had on her?

A strange feeling of unease was plaguing me as I watched her, however. When I'd first peered through the rain and spotted her through the window, I was momentarily shocked to realize that she was clad only in lacy pink undergarments and an over large, black suit jacket - MY suit jacket.

It surprised me that this made me so uneasy. When you watched humans for extended periods of times as I did, it wasn't uncommon for you to catch them in a state of undress. It had never bothered me before, due to my lack of attraction to or care for their physical appearance, and yet this time, for some reason unbeknownst to me, it did. I felt like I should look away.

A thought occurred to me and suddenly I was very relieved that I hadn't sent one of my proxies. I didn't want them seeing her like this, though I had no idea why. It just felt like a violation of her... innocence.

I scoffed. Since when had I cared about a victim's innocence? I killed children without a problem after all. 'Taking a break from watching her for one night wouldn't harm anything though...' I thought to myself slowly. Should I really let her be? Give her one night of peace? It was very unlike me, but then again, I'd been doing a lot of things that were oddly out of character today.

I warred with myself for a moment and then finally made my decision. The wet forest air bent around me as I step forward and was suddenly gone.

Young Danny never even knew I was there.