Eliminating Slayers

Chapter 10: Grace

Grace

The words were impossible to believe, yet I stood there like a statue, stunned, just like everybody else in the room. I just couldn't believe that she was gone. Pear coundn't be dead! She was fucking Pear!

That's what I kept telling myself, but despite how much I believed in the words I kept telling myself, tears still fell from my eyes, proving that on some level, I knew it was possible.

Pear, my best friend, is dead?

"Yeah. Can I go home now?" I heard distantly as I continued to stand frozen.

"Yeah." said another voice, but it sounded even more distant to my ears than the first voice.

I was still looking forward, in one spot across the room as Vanessa stood and walked out of the mansion as fast as she could without another word. It was then though, that her earlier words truely set in, and not only a few tears fell, but my knees collapsed under me, and I began to sob.

Dylan rushed over to me, grabbing my shoulders and pulled me close to him. I clung to him, mentally thanking him for being here for me yet again. That's one of the reasons I love him.

Even through my blurry eyes, I didn't miss Ares and Dylan wiping at their eyes, and Blaze storm off angrily to his room. Allen and Lilly left the room to distract themselves with work, and Jack looked like he wanted to say something, but didn't know what to say, so he also left the room sadly.

I don't know how long Dylan and I sat there, on the floor of the family room, bunt the entire time, I just cried, and held onto Dylan as if I would die if I let go.

I sniffed and hiccuped. Finally finishing my crying and wailing that I knew must have been killing Ares' ears and Pear would have slapped me for, I pulled myself up, kissed Dylan on the cheek, and dragged myself to my in-suite bathroom.

As my bathtub filled with steaming water, I looked at myself in the mirror. My cheeks were stained with my millions of shed tears that had come from my bloodshot eyes. My straight hair was now a tangled mess, and the violet streaks I've had for the last three years were beginning to fade and grow out again, allowing my natural redish-brown roots to show again.

I took a deep breathe and stripped my clothes, and dipped into the warm bath. It helped unnerve me, but I still felt like a rag doll that was coming apart at the seams.

I tried to think of what the team will be like now, how everything will change. The first thing that came to mind was Blaze. He would be even more closed off, mad, and focused on slaying only, much like Ares would. All life he once had would fade away. He wouldn't call me Princess anymore, and he probably won't tell the kids stories anymore.

Ares would either make us go out right away, only letting us think about the silver pools of Slenderman blood under the morphed children turned monster, or completely forget about slaying altogether, locking himself in his room, mourning. I had a very strong feeling that it would be the first.

I could just tell I would be more quiet and depressed, as will Dylan. We still have each other, and that will keep happiness in the group, plus I don't want to bring down the children. They shouldn't be around anger and sadness from now on.

The kids wouldn't be so depressed though. They didn't have time to even try to get close enough to Pear to remember her well. However, they would be affected by the behavior of the rest of us.

As I washed my hair, I thought about replacing the violet with a strawberry red in memory of Pear. At least one streak. I promised myself I would do it tomorrow. One strawberry red streak, right in front, surrounded by newly dyed violet streaks.

With a heavy sigh, I drained the water, wrapped myself in a warm robe, and went to lie down. As I threw myself against the mattress, a familiar bump was felt near my stomach. My journal.

I collected the book from under my mattress and leafed through the pages. I stopped when I passed a poem I wrote two years ago. A poem about my friends, and the team that brought me to where I belong. The poem Pear had found and turned into a beautiful song that even today I play every so often in the music room. The Souls That Saved Me.

I continued flipping through the pages until I landed on the page after my last entry. I would have grabbed the pencil from my nightstand to document the days awful news, but I was stopped. The page that had been blank hours earlier, now had words scribbled across the paper.

"It was stupid for Vanessa to lie. I'm not dead. -Persephone."

Short, sweet, and to the point. That's all it read, but it took up the page.

Stupidly, I looked around the room as if Pear was hiding, and just waiting for the perfect moment to come out of the shadows and say "Hey Grace, long time no see." That was stupid though, I knew it wouldn't happen.

I looked back at the page and swept my thumb over each word carefully. Before I got too excited, I stood up and snuck my way through the house to Blaze's room. Luckily he was dead asleep.

Sneaking over to where I knew he kept the letter that Pear had left, I compared the handwriting to the letters in my journal. Before I screamed and woke up the house, I rushed back to my room, throwing my face into a pillow and letting out an overly excited wail.

They matched!

Pear was alive! Vanessa lied! Pear was still alive! And not only was she not dead, but she was close by! Vanessa had lied!

My act of happiness paused as I replayed my last thought.

Why would she lie? Actually, now that I think about it, at the celebratory dance, didn't she tell me my friend was probably closer than I thought? She knew the friend we were all looking for was Pear, so why would she say that, then days later tell me the person we have been looking for has been dead for a year? It doesn't make sense.

Vanessa was hiding something. Does she know where Pear is? Have they been communicating? I didn't know, but I sure as hell was going to find out.

I knew she wouldn't tell me if I asked her a straight question, so I'll have to be sneaky about it. I can't even tell the team. They would march right up to Vanessa and demand answers. No, she can't know that I know the truth. I was doing this on my own.

For the rest of the night, I thought up a plan. Oh, Persephone, for two years, you've been hiding, but you can't hide from me forever.

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So, we havent updated this for like, 2 weeks...so here are the 2 weeks we missed, and what should be tomorrows update in advance as apology.

In case you havent seen on our profile, Nicki is having internet problems. Not even I have talked to her for days because of it. Anyways, because of the internet problems, our updates might stall. Luckily, we have chapters written, just not published so we should be fine.

Other than that we hope you like the story! Dont be a ghost reader! Comment, Vote, and Fan!

-Pixie