Slender

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-One

“Lucas, wake up.” I told him as I nudged him awake in the gym. He shook his head and sat up with tired lifeless eyes.

“Yes?” he asked me gravely. I tensed at his tone a bit

“We have to talk.” I told him through clenched teeth. His eyes turned to me. 

“If you want to break up or whatever, than I was thinking the same thing.” He murmured tiredly. My jaw clenched and I felt a chill run through my body.

“No… That’s not what I was going to say, but okay…” I trailed off trying to keep my jaw firm. I wanted to cry. Lucas was so important to me, and it sounded like I was not as important to him as he was to me.

“Well carry on.” He said sitting up a little straighter and rubbing his eyes.

“We can’t talk about it anymore. The more you talk about it, the more you try to dig into it, the more it torments you. You can’t rid it, but you can prevent it. And if you can, move away. I know that’s pretty farfetched, but that’s really it. Just be oblivious to all things Slenderman.” I whispered to him trying to cover my sadness. I choked it down with a deep breath and blinked a few times.

“I’m trying, but I know I’m close. I’m close to the place he lurks. The heart. I know if I keep looking I’ll find it, and I can kill it!” He told me with a slightly deranged smile on his face.

“You can’t kill it. It’s not one of us. It’s not even human. It’s not even fully here. It’s like the cross product of this dimension and another and a living quantum.” I rambled as I massaged my temples.

“What?” He asked me annoyed by rambling.

“Nothing, but if you want to live you have to stop.” I told him reaching for his hands and looking in his eyes. I saw Jimmy looking over at us and gave me a flirty look, but he had no idea what was going on really. Talia was busy with her new clique and I was over here trying to save my ex boyfriend/best friend’s life.

“How? How can I pretend it’s not there when it watches me sleep? How can I get it out of my head when I dream of it?” He whispered with fear trembling in his voice. Was he far too gone?

“Run.” I told him. “Run away.” I added. He looked around. He’d never done something so insane; I didn’t know how desperate he was right now.

“Where?” He asked.

“Anywhere.” I replied.

“I can’t just go.” He told me.

“Then you’re dead.” I bluntly stated.

“If I stop searching for information and stop looking around will it go away?” He asked me hopeful. But of course, I was the one who had to drop the hammer on that.

“No.” I told him shaking my head slowly. He bit his lip and nodded as he nervously fidgeted with his stained up blue jeans. Had he been lured outside again last night? I didn’t want to ask. I wanted to never discuss Slenderman again with him. I wanted him to be safe and cared for and happy again. It doesn’t matter if it was with me or anyone else. I just wanted his genuine safety. The bell rang and I quickly pushed past him and made my way downstairs to yearbook.

I didn’t say anything to Micah when I sat down. He didn’t say anything to me. He finished math last minute like usual for about ten minutes as I worked on my pages tiresomely. This was an unmitigated disaster on my part. I felt so…out of it. I wanted to just curl up and sleep. Well, I wanted to do that before my best friend/boyfriend broke up with me, but now I wanted it even more. I had always dreamed of getting with Lucas, and it lasted barely enough. I should be grateful though. At least it happened right? That’s what I’d been waiting around for, for like ever it seemed. I replayed the images of the Halloween party in my mind over and over again until Masky entered them and the mysterious savior in the ski mask.  I jolted out of my train of thought and realized I had already wasted thirty minutes of class just staring at my computer with my hand on the mouse in a train of thought. I glanced over at Micah who was watching ASDF videos and giggling. He glanced over and then back at the screen and back to me as if he didn’t realize I was looking at him the first time. He took his ear buds out. “Are you okay?” He asked me with his careful gaze skimming my eyes. I swallowed and diverted my eyes to my computer screen and twitched a smile in the corner of my mouth.