Mine (Unedited) (Discontinued?)

Chapter 42

Althea paced the basement of her borrowed home, her irritation with herself growing with every thought that raced through her mind. Why the hell had she panicked so badly? She was just as strong, if not stronger, than that damned tentacle bastard, so why on Earth had she been so gripped with... with...

What had she been feeling when Slenderman showed up? Now that she looked back on it, Althea couldn't really identify it as one emotion or another. It wasn't solid fear or anxiety, though both were certainly a big influence on her hesitation, and there was something else too. Something that had sparked the other two into existence, but she couldn't name it for the life of her.

A whimper from the captive closest to her brought Althea's attention to the present. She looked at the human, the mother of the family of five that lived here before Althea moved in, and raised a brow in question. The woman was the quietest of the bunch, so her sudden willingness to bring attention to her while Althea was so visibly distressed was strange.

"What's the problem, dear?" she asked, moving into a crouch just in front of the woman.

The mother hesitated, glancing at her husband--who was barely conscious from Althea's torture the night before--before licking her lips and attempting to speak.

"Y-You just... s-seemed upset about something? I c-could listen if you w-wanted, I m-might be able to help."

Althea tilted her head, grabbing the woman's chin so she could look her over. She seemed genuine enough, but Althea wasn't stupid enough to think that the human was doing this because of her motherly instinct, or the desire to truly help the blonde with what was troubling her, but she could definitely use a second opinion on what was going on.

"You seem smart enough, what do you want in return for helping me?" Althea inquired, rolling her eyes when the woman gave her a look of surprise.

"I-I don't--"

"Oh, come off it. I've been torturing you and your family for months, do you really think me so foolish to believe you wouldn't have an ulterior motive in offering your help?"

Althea's captive withered, pulling her chin from the blonde's grip in order to look at the concrete floor of the basement.

There was silence, and then the mother looked at Althea with a fire of conviction in her eyes. Althea couldn't help but admire the woman's resolve, idiotic as it was.

"I want you to let my children go," she ordered, only small traces of the terror that had been so prominent before sneaking their way into the captive's steeled voice.

Althea hummed at that, looking over her victim's face as she considered her demand. Letting the three little runts leave the house was out of the question, she couldn't risk one of them giving her away, but perhaps she could relocate them to one of the rooms upstairs? Give the mother an illusion of relief, let her believe that her kids were out of danger.

Or she could compromise, because she quite liked tormenting the eldest with the pain of their parents--his guilt ridden cries for her to please stop and leave his parents alone, were absolutely delicious.

Coming to a decision, Althea gave the woman an apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry, dear, but I can't allow that. However, I can give you a compromise. Instead of letting them go, I promise I will not hurt them while you are alive. How does that sound?" she questioned, gently fixing a loose strand of the woman's brown hair behind her ear.

The mother was shaking, fear and hope warring in her eyes as she recognized Althea's carefully worded proposition as a way for the blonde to do as she wished while still 'appeasing' her prisoner but still wanting to hold on to that one spark of a chance for her children to survive the whole ordeal.