SLENDER MAN (Slender Man Fan Fiction)

Chapter 24: Grief

Catalina swiftly paced into Slender Forest. At a split second, she heard a pitched wail, which was strange. The forest didn't seem so treacherous at this time. Catalina's steps were growing faster as she made her way closer to the noise. She halted to a stop when the wails sounded as if they were completely surrounding her. Catalina jerked her head this way and that way, only to face tons of trees soaring high to nudge the sky. She panted and glanced up for a moment, freezing in her spot. Is that Braison? Catalina thought, her eyes in slits as she spotted a girl on a tree branch, who was on her knees. The girl was lanky with untidy and fallow hair. It was Braison. Her head was in her filthy hands, which were covered in blotches of dirt and blood. Catalina grimaced when she eyed the thing beside Braison. 

"Braison, what are you doing up there?!" Catalina demanded to know. "What's wrong?" Braison tried to see normally, but everything was a blur with tears that stung her eyes. It was difficult to speak. Braison only let out wails and gulps. She was breathing hard and didn't know what to do now. Was this actually really happening? Why was life so confusing? Braison took one last look at the body, then her own body went limp. She shook her head, burying her head into her hands again. The last words her brother had heard from her weren't loving, but straight out harsh and cruel. Braison regretted yelling at him.

"Braison, is that a dead body?" Catalina asked, clutching at her stomach. "That's gross!" Braison shivered when Catalina said the word 'dead'. 

"Oh..." Braison sniffled loudly. "...Catalina! He's dead...oh, gosh, he's really dead!!" Catalina could hear pain in Braison's voice. This was a different type of pain in her voice though. Not the pain in her voice when she tripped and hurt herself. Not the pain in her voice when she argued with her parents. But the pain in her voice as if something had taken away someone so important to her...someone that she loved.

"Who's dead? Who's dead?!" Catalina questioned, her voice rough and noisy. She was dying to hear Braison's answer, but Braison was silent for a while.

"GUNNER! Gunner's dead!" Braison sobbed, as more tears swam out of her eyes. She didn't even want to say his name anymore. When someone you love has died, it feels different. Now Braison knew how that really felt. Everyday of your life would be changed without that person. And then the grief would start building up more and more each day. And your heart would feel empty like your house without that one person. It hurt. It truly hurt. Catalina's heart stopped beating for a second at Braison's words.

"Please tell me you're joking. You're joking...right?" Catalina insisted, hoping Braison was joking. Unfortunately, Braison kept crying even more when Catalina said that. This definitely wasn't a joke. Catalina urged Braison to come down, but Braison wouldn't budge. Finally, Catalina took out her phone and called for the FBI. Soon enough, tons of people and noise surrounded Braison, Catalina, and dead Gunner. Braison couldn't speak when Ken was questioning her. No words came out of her mouth. Apparently, Braison had to slowly whisper into Catalina's ear about every single thing that happened. The arguement, the letter, and finding Gunner in the morning. Catalina then loudly and clearly told Ken everything Braison whispered to her. Ken nodded as he wrote all of that down. Braison's parents rushed through the crowd of people. Braison was so relieved to see them. She ran into their arms and began to weep. 

"We're so sorry about everything," Mrs. Hacheen said, sniffling as tears of joy filled her eyes. She and her husband couldn't let their daughter go. They hadn't seen her in so long. But Braison weakly pushed them away after a moment. Mrs. and Mr. Hacheen grew confused. 

"Maybe...maybe you should go tell them what happened.." Braison lamented, turning her head to Catalina. Catalina bit her lip and gave a firm nod.

"Mrs. and Mr. Hacheen...I'm so sorry," Catalina said to Braison's parents. "I really am." How could she do this? Braison's parents had gotten good news that Braison was found, but how could she give such bad news? How could she tell someone's parents that one of their children had died? Braison's parents didn't move. Their eyes were wide and they were quiet. 

"Gunner..."Catalina began.

"What?! What happened to him?" Mr. Hacheen asked, his voice shaking with anger even though Catalina hadn't told him anything yet.

"He's dead," Catalina whispered, shutting her eyes. It was pretty painful to say that out loud. Neither parent asked anything else. All they could do was shiver for a second then cry. Cry like they've never cried before. Braison squeezed her parents tightly, crying too. As the minutes passed by, they could only cry. Cry over a loved one's death, and only feel one emotion. Grief. Their arms were wrapped around each other and their faces were smeared with tears. The FBI sadly watched the Hacheen family. 

"Wait, where's he being taken?" Catalina sniffled, looking at the FBI and two people carrying Gunner away. 

"To the medical examiners. We know his death is similiar to everyone else's who got murdered in Slender Forest, but we want to check a few more things very closely. We only got to look at him for a brief moment," Jack answered. "And after the examiners have checked him, then your friend's family can have a funeral for him."

"You aren't gonna try to find out who killed him, right?" Catalina asked hopefully. 

"We are gonna find out who killed him. We're gonna find out who killed all of these people in Slender Forest," Jack responded gravely. 

"But Slender Man killed him! I know you don't believe me, but he really did! Please believe me! All of those people who died in here were stalked. Their whole family was stalked, then Slender Man tried to kill the whole family!" Catalina explained, her voice loud. "He targets his victims for a certain reason, but I don't know why. He just does! But I know that he wants to see every family suffer, and enjoys it. Just like any regular murderer enjoys seeing their victims suffer." Jack sighed. 

"I don't believe what you're saying, and I definitely don't believe in Slender Man. I'll look closer into things," Jack told Catalina. "And if we still can't catch the murderer, we're giving up on this case and moving on to another one." Catalina frowned, but said 'Okay' and shook hands with Jack. The FBI left after that. Catalina's family hugged the Hacheen family, apologizing with mournful looks on their faces.

Braison felt tired of crying. But she knew she was gonna have to cry at least once a day. Nothing would ever be the same again.