What Is Love?

Chapter Seventeen

A/N: Hey guys! I'm sorry its taken me so long to update. Things have been kinda hectic lately with school and work and everything. It's been hard to find time to write :P

Anyway, this chapter here has a special dedication to MeshaChaan! She's a great friend, and guess what? Today's her birthday!! Happy Birthday Mesha! :D This update's for you :)

She also has done some amazing fan art for this story, which I'm going to paste the URL for below for you to look at. GO CHECK IT OUT!!

And while I'm on the subject of talking about how awesome she is, make sure and check out her stories too! She's a great writer :)

http://tkdoegirl.deviantart.com/art/Sunset-414181232?ga_submit_new=10%253A1384708685

http://tkdoegirl.deviantart.com/art/Slen-413572290

http://tkdoegirl.deviantart.com/art/Don-t-Look-at-Me-413570215
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Danny Dare


The sun was warm on my face as I lay out on the hood of my car in my driveway. Wild Magic by Tamora Pierce was hanging in my grip loosely, and gradually slipped further and further as the lazy atmosphere slowly put me to sleep. As my mind became progressively less focused, my thoughts slipped from the written adventures of the wildmage to thoughts of Mr. Tall Dark and Handsome.

I was deeply curious about this man, and not just because of this stupid, almost hormonally-crazed teenage girl like attraction either. Really, when I stopped and thought about it, it was quite strange the way I felt about him. I barely knew the man for Christ's sake and yet I couldn't help but trip over my own feet and stumble through each sentence when he was around. It was irrational, plain and simple.

It was quite clear that the feelings weren't mutual, which made my situation even more pitiful. He was friendly towards me, yes, but there was always a look in his eyes that warned me not to come any closer. Something about him generated a cold vibe that despite his crooked half smile told me this was nothing more than a friendship. There were times, of course, when I would image him stare at me when he thought I wasn't looking, or half start to say something before he thought better of it, but I was sure it was all in my head. It was just ordinary body language that I was reading into too much. Besides, I knew I wasn't his type, let alone in his league. Just by the way he dressed and carried himself, Slen could easily be a millionaire, if not more. As if being rich and confident wasn't enough to squash my chances, he was also unfairly gorgeous. Me? I was the scraggly, awkward orphan girl who got by living pay check to pay check. There was no chance in hell he would ever go for that when he could have the world if he went for it.

Getting to know Slen was proving to be difficult on so many levels. He was obviously a cynic - although he tried to hide it some what - and he didn't seem to trust other people much. Every word that left his lips had the air to it that it had been carefully considered before he'd dared to breathe it. Half the things he said seemed to be some sort of riddle or inside joke that I wasn't privy too, and by now I was quite used to his knowing smirk during our conversations as if he was hiding something big.

Which he probably was.

I mean, he was practically a stranger in the sense that his personal life was a complete mystery to me! There were probably a great many things he was hiding, considering his trust issues and cynicism. I really was one to talk though - I was hiding my own secrets.

Slen and I hadn't spoken or seen each other since the interrupted car ride a week ago, but I had a gut feeling that that wasn't the last I would see of him. Admittedly though, I was still kicking myself for at least not suggesting we exchange numbers. Then I wouldn't be left here constantly wondering when - or if - he was going to show up.

I had to sigh at myself at that. 'Look at you Danny, getting all mushy over this guy, expecting him just to show up at some random moment like prince charming.'

I must have fallen asleep sometime during my wonderings because I was startled into awareness when my phone buzzed in my pocket. Confused, I pulled it out. I hardly ever got text messages - no one to text with really - so who in the world was texting me now? I opened the message and froze at the sight of its contents. It was a picture of me... laying on my car.... in the same position I had been just moments ago. A strange symbol like two intersecting eyes was etched over the image, and a simple word message accompanied the picture.

'I see you.'

I sat up so fast my head spun a little and frantically scanned the woods around me. Judging by the angle of the picture, my stalker would have been behind one of the trees over to my left...

"Who's there?" I called in a slightly shaking voice; unsurprisingly there was no answer. A cold sweat broke out on my forehead that had nothing to do with the humid heat of the Florida air. Fear rolled in my stomach like a bowling ball and I realized in a sudden flash of clarity that who ever was there easily could have harmed me if they'd wanted to. I was asleep - the perfect target - and they chose to text me? They were just fucking with me. Fucking with my mind.

But who was 'they'? That Slender bastard and his little follower proxy things I was sure. Who else could pull off this level of creepy?

My phone buzzed again and warily I checked the screen. It was the same blocked number as before. Gritting my teeth, I opened the message and stared at the text.

'You have a visitor.'

"No shit Sherlock," I said aloud, meaning for the creeper - wherever he or she was - to hear me. They had to be talking about themself, right?

"Hey, um, excuse me, miss?" The unexpected voice nearly scared the living daylights out of me. I spun around towards the road so fast I actually slipped off my car and hit the gravel with a muffled thud. The source of the voice was a young man leaning out his car window with dark wavy hair and circles under his eyes like he hadn't had a good night's sleep in months.

Clumsily -and feeling a good bit embarrassed to boot - I picked myself off the ground as the stranger climbed out of the vehicle and came towards me, looking like he intended to help me up. "I'm good," I mumbled meekly, eyes down cast and feeling my cheeks flaming bright red.

"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you. I just wanted to ask you a couple questions," he said apologetically.

I looked up with raised brows. 'A couple questions?' I'd dealt with enough crap recently to be instantly suspicious. This stranger hadn't come from the direction my little stalker's picture indicated they would be, but that didn't mean these two couldn't be connected somehow. "Who's asking?" I inquired, not really meaning to be rude but not having the patience to be overly friendly at the moment.

"Oh sorry. I'm Noah," he said.

I nodded in acknowledgment. "Hi Noah, I'm Danny."

"Danny," he repeated with a small smile. "Uh, you wouldn't happen to know anything about this would you?" He thrust a piece of paper towards me and I took it feeling no small amount of confusion which quickly turned to horror. It was an index card with my address scribbled on one side and the intersecting eyes from my text on the other. What the fuck?

"Where did you get this?" I asked in a dead voice.

"This fucker I've been having some... issues with left it at my house. I live down in Cape Coral so I decide I may as well check it out," he shrugged.

"Cape Coral's quite a drive," I commented vaguely, still shocked by the index card. "Do you know what the eyes mean?" I asked.

Noah grimaced. "It's the symbol of this guy who calls himself the Observer. Have you seen it before?" I nodded somberly and pulled out my phone. He swore when I showed him the picture and then the texts. "So he's after you too then, huh?" he whispered. My eyes went wide and I felt a shiver run down my spine. No, the Slender man couldn't be stalking him too...

"Who?" I asked, knowing the answer already but hoping for his sake that I was wrong.

He looked around nervously and licked his lips before croaking his hushed reply, "Mr. Slim... The Slender man."

I closed my eyes briefly, feeling my heart sink to the bottom of my chest. "Yes." I replied simply, not needing or wanting to say anything else.

"Fuck," Noah swore again and I nodded.

"So this Observer guy, why do you think he would give you my address?" I wondered aloud.

Noah shrugged, "Maybe he's trying to tell us something. Whatever it is though, it won't be anything good. He... he's not a good guy."

"Is it... safe to be discussing all this out in the open?" I asked, glancing around uneasily. This Observer could still be out there watching...

He shrugged again. "Nowhere is really safe for us anymore," he sighed, "but maybe it would be better not too. Do you mind if we go inside?"

I shook my head. "Yeah sure, no problem. Come on," I agreed and lead him into the house.

Several hours later, dusk found us still sitting at my kitchen table talking, swapping information. Damn, I thought I'd been having a tough time? I'd only been dealing with this for a few weeks - Noah'd been struggling with these freaks since 2010. He told about his cousin and about how all this had started for him when Milo died. He told of how he posted videos on online to let people know what was happening to him, seeking help through a YouTube channel called TribeTwelve. Then he told me about the Collective, a group of Slendy's proxies that Noah had several theories about - some of which he refused to tell me. Most frighteningly though, was his tales of getting taken...

And apparently we weren't the only ones this was happening to either.

It was well into the night by the time we'd finished talking and I glanced out the window guiltily. "You're not driving home tonight are you?" I asked.

Noah frowned at the darkness. "I probably should try and see if I can't find a motel or something. It's pretty late," he thought aloud.

"Well, you're welcome to crash on my couch if you wanna get out of paying for a room," I offered.

"That would actually be great, if you don't mind," he said as he turned back to face me.

"Just don't become too much of a moocher," I joked, sticking my tongue out at him and he chuckled.

"Oh, it's totally gonna happen Danny. Better get used to it now," he laughed. After our earlier conversation and all that we had had to go through, it felt to smile.

Lord only knows how many more chances we'd have to laugh.