The Slender Man (a Hetalia fanfiction - Book 2)

Chapter 10 - Revealed

Rosalie's P.O.V

"Veeeeee!"
We all turned around when we heard that familiar shout to see Italy running over to us, a relieved smile on his face. Germany, Prussia, and Japan aren't that far behind him.
"Yo! There you are!" America shouted, but then Italy ran straight for Romano.
"Veneziano!?" Romano exclaimed in shock, but I saw his expression soften into relief.
"Fratellooooo!" Italy called and then pounced onto his brother.
Romano didn't struggle, not right away. He held his brother for a moment, taking a deep breath, and then he sighed. "Alright, Vene, you can let me go now."
"Prussia, mi amigo!"
"Mon ami!"
"No need to fear! The Awesome Prussia is here!"
"Ah, hell." England mumbled. "Now we have to deal with these idiots."
I felt extremely relieved to see them, but also horrified, knowing that they're in the same danger we are. But then I looked around, realizing that not everyone is here...
I gasped. "Wait, Russia! China! Have any of you guys seen them?"
Japan shook his head. "No, I haven't."
"Ve, me neither," Italy said, finally letting his brother go, who huffed and crossed his arms.
Germany shook his head. "Nein. I haven't."
"Oi, potato bastard." Romano glared at Germany, keeping his arms crossed. "Do you have something you need to explain to us about?"
Germany didn't say anything, he only looked away, his fists clenched.
"West, come on." Prussia said, turning towards his brother. "We can't keep this from them!"
"Dude, we need to know what's going on," America insisted, crossing his arms.
"Hai, I'm curious to know more about this...man," Japan said.
I bit my lip before speaking up. "Germany....do you know that thing?"
He made a long, slow exhale. "Alright. I'll tell you all what that thing is..."
We waited for him to go on.
"My country would call him Der Großmann," Germany began. "It goes that he would abduct children, and sometimes, teenagers and even adults. Especially those who have seen him before, or believe in him. Anyone he takes were never seen again, but sometimes, bodies were found in a forest or a large group of trees."
"What would those bodies look like?" England asked, and I looked at him to see his ashen expression as he looked at the ground. I realized that he's probably thinking of the little girl we found, and probably trying to make connections.
Germany scratched the back of his head uncomfortably. "The bodies were usually impaled by branches, with their organs removed, placed in plastics bags, and stuffed back into their bodies..."
I swallowed hard, remembering my dreams as everyone paled at the description. I wonder if Slender Man could kill countries...their life force is connected to their lands.
Could Slender Man be powerful enough to do that? He'd have to have God-like power to be successful doing something like that.
But me...I'm just a human. The countries may be safe, but Slender Man has the power to kill me.
Then I thought about the little girl. Her organs weren't removed, but her eyeballs were. They didn't just rot away; we saw the scrapes around the sockets. They were removed forcibly. And she wasn't impaled to a tree, she was impaled to the wall. She couldn't have been one of Slender Man's victims, right?
"We never knew the reason why Der Großmann does these things," Germany continued, breaking me from my thoughts. "Some say he does it for his own amusement, some say he was cursed to do it, no one knows for sure...but all we know is that we're not safe right now." Germany shook his head.
"But...why didn't he kill us already?" England asked. "Yes, he's following us around, but he hadn't killed any of us. I don't exactly feel like my life's in peril at this moment,"
"He's giving us a chance to escape," I found myself muttering, and they looked at me. "I-I don't know why, but how else can we explain the situation we're in? We find eight notes and get out of here and rid of him instead. He's not taking our lives instantaneously."
"That could be what's happening," Germany said. "I don't know what happens if we get caught, but I'm sure it's no different from what happens to everyone else who encounters him."
"Has there ever been any survivors?" America asked, his eyebrows furrowing. His face is pale and his eyes revealed his fear and confusion.
"I don't know," Germany answered, his gaze averting away. "If there were, their stories were never told."
"I don't think we're the first ones who've been in this situation," I muttered.
"How do you know?" Romano asked me.
"It's just...a feeling I have," I said with a shrug.
"We need to find China and Russia," Prussia said, turning his head away. "He might have not gotten one of us yet, but he could've got one of them."
It was silent for a bit until England spoke up. "But why did we wake up in the woods?"
"I'm not sure, but you should know that Der Großmann prefers the trees and the night, where he can blend in the most without being seen. But, of course, he likes to reveal himself to us to scare us. He enjoys our fear." Germany said, looking down.
"Well, shit." I muttered. So, Slender Man is actually a creepy, sadistic asshole.
"He wanted us separated and lost so he can catch us, one at a time," Germany murmured.
"Good thing we found almost everyone," Romano muttered.
"Hai, but now we need to find Russia and China," Japan said.
"Ve, I hope they're okay," Italy said softly, putting his hands behind his back as he looked down.
"Well, let's go look for them, dudes!" America exclaimed, a brave grin on his face.
  England stared at him. "When the hell did you get so courageous?"
  "Well, we can't be pussies!" Prussia said with a smirk. "We need to man up, because we are not pussies!"
"You all know I hate to agree with you, but I say let's find those idiots and get those bloody notes," England said, now looking more determined. I guess the courage and determination is contagious, because now everyone's expressions revealed those emotions, and they suddenly looked braver than ever. I can't help but to feel a little more hopeful, too.
Yeah, we can do this! We just need to find China and Russia. And we already have two notes, there's only six more to go!
Just six more...
"Wait, is there a way to stop the bastard?" Romano asked, looking at Germany. "Can we kill him?"
Germany was hesitant for a moment, but then he shook his head. "Nein, he's immortal."
"Immortal!?" Canada exclaimed, his eyes widening. "Like...Like us?"
Germany shook his head again. "Not necessarily. He's not connected to anything, like we are to our countries. Nothing can kill him."
"That leads to another question," France said, crossing his arms. "What is he?"
Germany opened his mouth to answer, but then a heavy chill flew up my spine and I shivered. I felt a presence of someone standing behind me and my eyes widened.
Spain looked at me, then his eyes shifted to something above me, and his eyes widened, too.
"G-Guys," he whispered shakily. "I think we need to run now..."
They looked at him, then, following his gaze, they looked at me, and widened their eyes also.
I was so scared I couldn't move.
"Rosalie!" Romano shouted, grabbing my arm and pulling me towards him. Then I turned around to see who's behind me and ended up looking at what looked like the chest of a figure. I looked up and my gaze met a featureless face.
I screamed and then I was pulled again, so I turned to see everyone running and Romano is pulling me with him, so I struggled to run with him.
"Why can't that thing leave us alone for five fucking minutes!?" Romano shouted as we ran.
Then I made a bad choice; I looked behind us.
Slender Man is definitely there, and right as I looked at him, those black tendril things grew from his back, and in inhuman speed, began to fly straight towards me.
I bit my tongue to keep from shrieking and I looked straight ahead as I kept running.
Never look back again, I scolded myself.