Mistakes (Jeff the Killer X OC)

Reunions, Reunions

~~~Astrid's POV~~~

Jeff did not speak at all for the rest of the walk.  And with my mouth gagged there wasn't much speaking I could do.  Plus, I was tied up, and Jeff had a knife.  I wasn't stupid enough to provoke him, so I just stayed still and silent.

Finally, we arrived at...  Well it seemed like the middle of nowhere.  It was a clearing in the forest.  He unceremoniously dumped me on the ground, which sent pain spiking through every pore of my body. 

"I brought the girl.  I kept my end of the bargain.  Are you going to keep yours?"  He said, speaking to no one in particular.  I looked at him, and then at the trees.  I didn't even bother getting up.

"What happened to her?"  The voice u recognized all too well.  It was one of the men who had kidnapped us.  I froze with fear.

"She fell."  Jeff said carelessly, his eyes meeting mine for a moment.  There was a flicker of uncertainty, but then it was replaced by fury.  Maybe I had imagined it.

"Into your knife?  She was supposed to be unharmed!"  Another voice said, I recognized him as the leader.  Who had once spared my life.

"You never specified that last part."  Jeff said, wagging his knife and shaking his head. 

"Did anyone else help you?"  The leader asked.

"Yeah."  Jeff replied, not bothering for details.  There was a moment of tense silence.  And then, the leader nodded.

"Very well, let us never see your face again."  He said, and with that, Jeff was gone.  Leaving me alone with those three men.

The leader ordered one of them to carry me to their car.  I tried to fight, to tell them anything, to just do something in general.  But then I felt a prick on my neck, and everything faded into...  Nothing.

~~~

"Do you see now why you need to embrace the spirit of the Protector?  Your mother pushed me back into your mind, I am but a prisoner here.  But with your help, we can save them.  Please, Astrid...  I chose you for a reason.  Embrace it.  Embrace me."

~~~ 

I lurched awake at the sound of a door opening.  Immediately, I leapt to my feet and launched myself at whoever was walking into the room.  Considering that I hadn't really been thinking straight, and that I was still weak from...  Everything, he was able to grab onto my wrist before I could punch him.

"Calm down, you're safe here."  Even though I hadn't seen his face before, I recognized his voice.  He had been the leader of those men.  He had agreed to spare me if I didn't talk about them.  But before I could dwell on wherever my thoughts took me, I paused. 

Safe?

It was with a start that I realized that my wounds were now neatly bandaged.  I was in an actual room, resting on an actual bed.  I hadn't been tied down or shackled.  I was free, I was safe.

And then, he let go of my wrist and stepped aside to reveal... 

"Mom!?"  My voice betrayed all the relief I felt.  Immediately I limped forward and wrapped my arms around her.  She held me tight, whispering soothing words.  "I thoughts you were in a business trip, I called you, I tried to....  Are you- Wait, what's going on?"  I pulled back, looking at her.  "Are we prisoners here?"

"Not at all, Astrid.  Come on.  I'll explain everything."  She then beckoned me over to the bed and sat me down.  The man left the room, closing the door behind him with a faint click.  "You first.  What happened?"

"You know what happened.  I went with Jeff to the house and then they took him and they tried to kill me.  And I went to stay with Skylar, and then Jeff-"  I choked up on my words.  "They killed him, mum."  I whispered, imagining the horrors BEN could have put Skylar through.  He had helped me, kept me safe, and in exchange, I let them kill him.  "It was my fault."  I whispered, but my mother shook her head.

"No it wasn't."  She said firmly.  "Look, I haven't been completely straightforward with you.  The reason I left you at the mansion...  The real reason, was so you could keep me updated.  Work as a...  Sort of spy."  She admitted.  I shook my head, silently letting her know that I wasn't following.  "I was never on their side, Astrid.  The reason I saved them was to earn their trust, because if that attack had gotten through, they would have suffered tremendous losses...  But not all of them would have died.  My goal...  Our goal is to obliterate them.  Rid this world of freaks like them."

"What?"  I asked in a horrified whisper.  I understood exactly what she was telling me, but I didn't want to.  After all this time...  The person who was right...  Skylar had told me from the beginning.  He had said that my mother was behind this and now...  Now he was dead, and she didn't care.

"I needed to make sure Jeff got you out of the mansion, so I got him to make a deal.  He would bring you here to safety, and these men, my pawns, would leave him and the others be.  But you don't understand.  Tonight is the annual meeting of all those freaks.  They're all going to be in the same place.  One misplaced bomb and they're all dead.  A bomb made specifically to target them.  Isn't it amazing?  A plan worthy of the most strategic minds."

I stared at her for the longest time.  She was being serious.

How...  How could she?

There was a moment of silence before she sighed.  "I was afraid you wouldn't understand.  But then again, I don't need you to.  You will be staying here until I finish.  Once they're all dead, I will let you out.  In the meantime just..."  She waved around the room.  "Look, you can use my laptop if you want."  She said pointing at the nightstand.  Her laptop was there.  "Now stay.  It's only understandable that you've grown attached to them.  A pity."

I didn't even have words to convey how I felt.  Turns out I didn't have to, because then, she was gone. 

"Do you understand!?  We need to save them, we need to go now.  Astrid!"

The voice wasn't in my head.  It was all around me.  I sighed and raised my hands. 

"What do I do?"  I whispered.

"Give me control.  Sacrifice your body to me, and I'll handle it from there."

Sacrifice my body?  Would I no longer have control over my actions?  Would I become a puppet to the spirit of the Protector?

"There must be another way...  I'll...  I'll find another way."  I said, and shut the voice out so I could think.  There had to be another way to...

To what?

To save them?

Why would I save them?  Jeff betrayed me, BEN killed Skylar and the others I never got around to know much. 

Slenderman...  Took me in.  EJ took care of my wounds.  Jeff had agreed to escort me home so I could grab my stuff.  BEN and I gamed for a while, we became...  Unlikely friends.  And I did know them.  Maybe not well, maybe not enough.  But something in me told me that letting them die wasn't an option.

They might not have been my friends...

But they were my family.

And I was their Protector.