Falling In Love With Slender Man

Chapter 23

--CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE--

“Ancelin!” Estrella called out, gathering up her dress as she jogged, trying to keep up with Ash. “What’s gotten into you?”

            He continued to walk away, his shoulders set with tension. His long-legged strides were impossible to math for Estrella, but she did have the advantage of vampire strength.

            As Ash hopped over an old, weathered stone fence, she jumped on it. Using her strength to the best of her abilities, she pushed off with her little feet and launched into the air. She landed squarely on her feet, right in front of him.

            He glared murderously at her. “What do you want?” he spit through his teeth.

            Her crimson eyes squinted angrily at him. “I want to know what happened back there.”

            He turned away, not wanting to face Estrella. “It’s not something I want to talk about.”

            She sighed, throwing her hands up in the air. “I know about you and Sage.”

            He whirled back around. Now her arms were crossed over her chest, her left hip jutting out as she balanced her weight on her right leg. She wore a bored expression that said she didn’t much care for the direction the conversation had gone in as she stared off into the distance.

            “What?” he hissed at her, his hands balling into tight fists at his sides.

            She flicked her eyes to his face, a hardness growing in them, but that soon went away. “I told you it took awhile to find you,” she said simply.

            “Elaborate.”

            She shrugged. “I found a pack of Hunter’s living here. I figured I might as well try and fit in with them. They would get me closer to you, anyways.” She studied her nails for a second, letting her story have a dramatic pause. “I found the teenage girl Hunter’s, and Sage was one of them. Of course, she didn’t know it. I’m pretty sure she just found out actually.” She waved a hand dismissively. “Oh well, anyways, in order to fit in, I had to pretend to be one of those stupid Hunter scum. It got me where I needed to go. I’m almost positive they think I died when you burned down the town. Speaking of which, why did you burn down that particular town?” she asked curiously.

            He stared at her in shock. “You were pretending to be her friend?” he asked incredulously.

            “See, I thought you would be more surprised I was pretending to be a Hunter.”

            “Why would you do something like that to her? You were always so sweet and caring.”

            She smirked at him. “Darling, becoming a vampire takes away those things. It burns away your humanity.”

            Ash was right in front of her in seconds, his right hand clamping around her throat. “Why are you really here, Estrella?” he asked in a rough voice.

            Giggles peeled out of her small, perfect mouth. “Wouldn’t you like to know, Ancelin?” she whispered in a seductive voice.

            He gritted his teeth and tightened his hold. Just as he did this, Estrella brought her knee up between his legs. He muttered in pain, crouching down on himself.

            “Don’t you see, Ancelin? We’re so much alike now. You and I are no longer star crossed due to fatal humanity.”