Mine (Unedited) (Discontinued?)

Chapter 18

Kendra couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched. They had found the campsite, but she couldn’t relax. Even when she was hidden in the tent with Jeff coming back before sunset, she still felt unsettled. During the day when she was alone the feeling of eyes on her grew to the point of being unbearable. Eventually she would start waiting until she knew for sure Jeff was gone before going out to explore the area and try to find what the hell was watching her.

Currently she was trying to figure out what she had seen about a week and a half ago. It seemed small, but she knew that once the actual event passed her memory wouldn't be very reliable. She was already trying to fill in the blanks. It had been fast, inhumanly fast, so she doubted it could've been that big, but the thing that had chased her basically made her scrap that idea.

She knew it was called the Rake, she just had a hard time calling it by any kind of name, it had been that freakish to her. A shudder interrupted her thoughts and she looked around frantically. Whatever had been stalking her was close now, she just couldn't find it and it scared her. Taking a deep breath, she started to listen to her surroundings, trying to pick up something that didn't belong in the environment.

A moment later, Kendra spotted a flash of red to her left and she turned rapidly to see a Husky staring at her. It's colors were all wrong though, with the majority of its fur being a vibrant red. She tilted her head, resisting a smile when the dog copied the action, and examined the strip of black fur along the spine of the dog, taking a moment before she realized that it seemed to be an actual type of mane for the dog, as if it was growing hair.

Kendra crouched slowly, paying close attention to the dog to watch for threatening signs. The dog flicked it's ears forward, watching her actions with interest. When she was on her knees and stretching her hand out, palm up, the fog walked forward. He sniffed her hand, licking it a few times before he nudged it as a sign of wanting pets.

The redhead giggled, scratching the dog behind its ears affectionately. “So cute, oh goodness,” she said, nuzzling the dog's neck. After a few minutes, Kendra switched to sitting cross-legged on the ground while she played with the dog, talking to him with a high pitched voice and attacking his stomach with affectionate scratch's. The dog was wagging his tail vehemently, barking a few times whenever she would stop talking.

“Oh my gosh, you are precious and I love you,” she said, laughing when the dog stood and licked her cheek. Kendra beamed, scratching his ears again.

“I see you've met Smile,” said a voice behind her and Kendra jumped, turning to see Jeff.

She didn't respond at first, watching as the dog rushed over to Jeff with all the excitement of a child on Christmas.

“You named him Smile?” she asked incredulously, raising an eyebrow as she shifted her seated position to face her friend.

Jeff nodded, crouching to give his dog so attention.

“Yeah, when I found him he was in really bad shape and he snarled a lot, made it look like he was smiling all the time so that's what I named him. Now he prefers to look like this, but sometimes he'll go back to how he was when we first met and go out to help me on assignments.”

Kendra listened, her heart aching for the poor pup in front of her. She remained silent, getting lost in her thoughts while Jeff loved on Smile with a grin on his face.  It seemed like Jeff and really anyone else at Slender Mansion had a troubled past and as a result they were all family. They were a family she didn’t belong in. The only reason she was even alive was because Slender had decided to use her as a punishment for Jeff disobeying him. Literally the only reason she was even living with everyone was because Jeff had killed her parents and kidnapped her.

“Woah, hey, what’s wrong?” Jeff asked, suddenly in front of her and holding her face. He was wiping away tears she hadn’t realized she’d been crying.

“I’m fine, just… I’m fine, sorry.”

Jeff frowned when she brushed his hands off of her face, knowing very well that she was not fine. Kendra didn’t cry often, not since they made up nearly three months ago. He brought her into a hug, Smile nudging himself between them so he could settle in her lip. This pulled a laugh out of her and she wrapped her arms around Jeff to return his hug.

“Whatever is bothering you Kendra, I’m here to listen. I may be relatively new to this whole compassion thing, but that doesn’t mean I can’t be here for you. Please tell me what’s wrong?” he asked again, pulling back but keeping his hands on her shoulders.

“I-I…” Kendra hesitated, biting her lip before sighing, “I was just thinking about how I don’t really belong anywhere anymore. You and the others at the mansion are a family, and I’m literally just a punishment for you-”

Before she could finish Jeff pushed his lips to hers, effectively silencing her. She didn’t react, and he broke the kiss a few seconds later, afraid of making her mad at him again.

“You are a part of this family, Kendra. You stopped being a punishment as soon as we became friends. You stopped being an outsider when you started dating BEN,” he said softly, resting his forehead against hers.

Smile growling at something behind Jeff made him turn to see a furious BEN standing there. He radiated anger, his fists clenched and his body tense. Getting up, Jeff got in a defensive position in front of Kendra. He watched the elf wearily, grabbing his knife out of his hoodie pocket.

“You just kissed my girlfriend,” BEN snarled, flexing his fingers, “you shouldn't have done that.”