A Slender Chance

Chapter Twenty

CHAPTER TWENTY

Jackson's lips left me in an instant and I gasped aloud. He stared behind me with a look of pure fear. "The fuck-" he started to exclaim but was cut off as a black tentacle wrapped around his neck and slammed him against the wall. The Slender man was suddenly there, standing between me and my friend. Jackson dangled in his grip, his back against the wall and almost five feet off the ground.

Slender leaned towards him, his face right in front of Jackson's. I could feel the power - that bad aura - emanating from the Tall One. He was positively livid. He hissed, low and long, still staring Jackson in the eye.

Jackson was slowly growing still as his body was beginning to miss the air and blood that was restricted by Slendy's tentacle. His eyes were round in horror.

"Stop!" I screamed, tears burning at my eyes. He ignored me. "Slendy, please stop it!" I begged. Warmth soaked my cheeks as the tears started to fall rapidly.

I reached up and grabbed his arm - really the only part of him I could reach to grab, considering he was almost fifteen feet tall - and yanked with all my strength, trying with all my might to get his attention. The longer he continued to ignore me, the less life that was left in Jackson's body.

"SLENDER!" I screeched.

His head jerked to the side and he glowered down at me. Okay, progress. At least he was acknowledging me. I withered under is burning gaze.

"Please," I sobbed, "please don't kill him."

"Why?" His voice was harsh and cold and laced with malice and anger. I was scared. The last time I'd heard him use that tone, he'd massacred a basement full of teenage boys. It was a killer's voice.

"Because he's my friend!" I cried.

"Do your friends normally try to shove their tongues down your throat after trying to get you drunk?" he sneered vehemently. He was speaking so fast that I had to really focus through the haze to hear what he was saying.

I was shivering, though whether from the cold or the fear I couldn't tell. "He's drunk too. He wouldn't have done that otherwise," I tried to reason. Jackson hung in Slendy's grip, unconscious. I only had a matter of seconds. I was panicking. I had to get him to let go! The alcohol was clouding my thoughts, keeping the inspiration I so desperately needed at bay. 'Fuck!' Suddenly, without even think about the enormity of the words I was about to say, I blurted out the only solution I could think of.

"If you kill him, I'll leave you."

Slender froze. So did I. Did I really just threaten the Slender man? 'Oh shit.'

Besides, would I - could I really make myself leave him? I thought about leaving him and a pain shot through my chest, striking me in my heart. I realized in that instant that I needed him more than I'd ever known. 'BUT HE'S KILLING JACKSON!' my subconscious screeched at me. Would I be able to forgive him if he murdered my friend right before my eyes?

'I don't think so, but...' my hesitation scared me. Was I really so selfish? I valued my relationship more than this boy's life? 'Of course not... I think.'

What would I do without him? Whatever I had done before him I guess. Somehow, I didn't think I could go back to that though. These past several weeks - they'd altered my life so much. Everything we'd been through together had opened my eyes to the world.

It was like looking at the stars. They were pretty to look at, interesting to think about, and always there, but you take them for granted. Then one night a meteor streaks across the sky, trailing purple and green and blue light behind it. It's so beautiful. You widen your eyes to take it in - it's illuminated the night word around you, bathing everything in its unearthly glow. Just as quickly as its appeared, suddenly it's gone. You stand there staring up at the sky, but the light of the meteor has blinded you to the night. Its image is burned in your retina. You know the stars are still there, but you can't see them anymore. Those stars that were always there before are lost to you now. Now you wished you had never taken them for granted.