Falling In Love With Slender Man

Chapter 38

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

Sage woke as the moon rose. Ellie was still slumbering peacefully beside her, and for the millionth time she contemplated how to end her and return home. She knew she wasn't anywhere near as strong as Ellie, especially as the need for her blood weakened Sage. She had no weapons. It seemed her demise would not be the way out of this situation.

As if she could sense her thoughts, Ellie stirred and stretched. With a yawn she said,"Good morning, hon." Her eyes were still closed and a contented smile was on her face. Sage was disgusted. "Ready for another day of planning your loves death?" she asked cheerily.

Sage scowled, but didn't respond.

Ellie lifted her delicate shoulders in a shrug and rose, stretching again with her arms high above her head, resembling a lioness. "Well, we best me movin' along. Lots of ground to cover."

Sage lifted her eyes to meet the blonde bitch's. "Where are we going exactly?" she questioned.

The other girls eyes twinkled with excitement. "We're meeting a friend of mine," she stated matter of factly. "Supposedly she knows the whereabouts of a certain curse breaking witch." Her voice was perky as she spoke.

Ellie noticed the forlorn expression marring Sage's face. "Oh, come on, stop being such a baby," she said with a mock frown. "How is this even that heart breaking to you? You barely know Ancelin, for christ's sake! Not to mention the destruction and death he caused. Are you certifiably insane or something?"

Sage blinked and her eyes widened a smidge. "I love him," she said simply.

"But why? What specifically do you love about him?" the other girl retorted.

Sage lifted her head, indignant. "He's kind to me," was all she had to say. She wasn't going to be baited by this crazy woman.

Ellie chuckled without humor. "Killing your family and nearly everyone you know sure is kind," she hissed. She crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. "Come on, lets go." She headed towards the door and reluctantly Sage got up to follow her, having no other choice.

******

As they ran through the night, supposedly to meet this friend of Ellie's, she couldn't keep her mind from the conversation in the motel room. Was Ellie right? Was something wrong with Sage? How had she forgiven a monster so easily? He had taken everything from her, and then taken her and kept her as a plaything. The thought made her stomach turn.

Did Ash even really love her? Was he capable of such a thing, or was his humanity too far lost? Was she just a naive victim of Stockholm syndrome? Her world was spinning, as it had seemed to never stop doing since the night of the fire, since the night everything changed.

She tried to tell herself Ellie was just trying to mess with her head, that her words meant nothing, but some small part of Sage feared she was right.

But then she thought of Ash, of the way his eyes lit up at the sight of her, the way they softened. She thought of the barely contained joy and relief when he realized she could forgive him, would continue to be with him despite everything she had learned. The tenderness with which he held her, his soothing caresses and playful kisses.

No, Sage thought, Ellie was wrong. She loved him, and he loved her.

She had been so lost in her thoughts she hadn't noticed Ellie slow down, and nearly ran right into her. Sage skidded to a stop and looked around to see why the other girl had halted.

A few yards in front of them was a small, dimly lit cottage made of an assortment of neutral colored bricks. A curved black door was at its center and wrought iron light posts were on either side of it. Ivy and other plant life crawled up the small house and the grass was unkempt. If it weren't for the light illuminating it Sage would have guessed it was abandoned.