Thorns (An Offenderman Fanfic) Book #2

Chapter 20

Ruby's Pov.

My eyes flew open and I gasped as I sat up. My hand flew to my chest. I was breathing hard. Too hard.

From a distance, I could see a tall, blurry figure running towards me. Was that..?

I rubbed my blurry eyes. I was either in another torturous nightmare.. or maybe..

Was I.. Was I awake?

"Ruby."

My heart began racing wildly as I heard my name. Offenderman, I immediately thought. How was I supposed to react? Should I hug him? Kiss him? I didn't even know wh-

"Thank goodness you're awake, Ruby."

I stopped rubbing my eyes and looked up to find it was only Slenderman. My heartbeat slowed, and I tried not to show any feelings of disappointment.

When I tried to speak, my throat began to hurt, and I choked on dry air instead. Upon noticing this, Slenderman disappeared and reappeared in an instant, this time holding a glass of water in one of his tentacles.

"Here, take this."

I took the glass and put it against my lips, gulping down the water that helped fix my dry throat.

Once my throat felt well enough, the first question that got out of my mouth was, "Is this real?"

Slenderman nodded. "This is very much the real life, Ruby. You are no longer stuck in a coma. You're here."

I didn't believe it. Not for one second.

"How do I know that this is real?" I asked, feeling sure that this was all a trick.

"Stand on the floor."

I did as I was told, and I was immediately hit with the sensation of the floor. It felt cold. Hard.

I could feel again. Not emotionally. But physically feel. In my terrible dreams, it felt like I was just floating. Not really touching anything. Just being. Now that I could touch the floor with my bare feet, it felt.. amazing.

"How long..?"

"Almost five months."

Five months? I was gone for nearly half a year. All those days, wasted, all because I was in that state.

There was one question, though, that made me nervous. I was afraid to ask, purely because I didn't know what to expect of an answer.

"And.. And Offenderman..?"

Slenderman remained silent for a moment, as if debating whether to tell me or not.

"He's not here," he finally said.

I looked at Slenderman, a wave of mixed feelings washing over me. I thought he would stay here with me. Had I been foolish enough to fantasize him being here with me, staying at my side, taking care of me? I had expected to wake up to him sitting in a chair, waiting anxiously for me to wake up.

But I was wrong. Wrong and pathetic to even think that he would be by my side.

I knew who he was. What he was like. He hooked up with girls and then threw them away like old pairs of shoes. Once he got what he wanted out of a girl, he left them.

But..

I closed my eyes, remembering the last night we were together.

"You have no idea how much I love you, Ruby. Even after we both defeat Emerald, I'm never leaving your side. Somehow, we'll live together like how we are now. And... I want to know if... You'd like to be my mine."

Had he lied to me? Had he only wanted me for sex? Was I really even his to begin with?

"Where is he?" I asked, trying to mask my sadness.

"He's.. on a mission."

My heart fluttered with hope. So he hadn't really abandoned me.

"Does it.. involve a girl?"

I heard him sigh softly. "Yes, it does."

And just like that, my hope was ripped away. By now, he's probably already wooed her, and used her up, just like he did with me. He probably does this everytime he goes on a mission that involves a girl. Good to know.

"I must mention this as well.. My brother won't be back until some time."

"How long?" I asked weakly.

"I cannot say. That depends on him, and how long he desires to take on the trip."

I nodded my head and sat back down on the bed, feeling weak and drained from receiving this information.

He wasn't coming back. Not at least until a while. What was I to do now?

"You are most-likely asking yourself what you are to do next," Slenderman said, speaking my very thoughts out loud, "and that is precisely what I've come to tell you."

I lifted my head up and looked at him. "Go on."

"I do not know if you will remember this, but a while back, when we had both met for the first time, I was discussing certain things with you. Right before we were interrupted, there was something important I had to tell you.

"Now, I am not certain if you will be able to handle this information, as you've just gotten out of a coma. So I will give you a choice. I can either tell you right now, or give you some time to get better."

"I'm pretty sure I can handle it. I dont think there's anything I can't handle."

Slenderman nodded once.

"Very well. Ruby, your parents are alive."

------------------

I bet you all hate me for not updating for a long while. I can explain lmao. I will only need one word to explain though.

Highschool. Whew. High school really screwed me over and got me busy. But I'm going to try really hard to update now. Maybe every Sunday is when I'll update, but it really just depends on when I'm able to.

I'm really sorry for this delayed update. I really cant express how sorry i am, but i can try to make up for my absence. I'll try to do better!

-Lily ~StayBeautiful (;