Candor And Curiosity (A Slenderman Romance)

Chapter 25

Savannah and I entered the office to find the others deeply absorbed in their work— so much so that they hadn't even noticed our presence at first.

"Well, we missed you too!" Savannah yelled sarcastically, and they all flinched in surprise. Natalie and Jake immediately climbed to their feet, while Blanche stared at us blankly.

"Where have you two been?" Natalie asked worriedly, walking over to us. "Vladlena came looking for you two about an hour ago!"

"Yeah, she was super pissed off when she couldn't find you," Jake said with a lopsided grin. "We told her you probably went out to lunch but when an hour went by and you two didn't come back, she completely lost it."

"Yeah well we've already had the pleasure of facing her unholy wrath." Savannah informed them, slumping down into her chair. "We would've been up here thirty minutes earlier but she held us hostage. "

"Yeah. Lucky for us Matt was there or we would've been stuck down there." I exhaled heavily, sitting down as well. "Though it would've probably helped if he had just put his foot down sooner. . ."

Jake and Natalie shook their heads sympathetically, and I looked over at Blanche to find a displeased frown on her lips. 

"Oh, please. Don't you think it's time to stop the chivalry?" She sighed, tilting her head slightly. "You see, what they're really  interested in knowing. . . is what happened with the police."

At first I thought that Blanche was just being cynical, but the guilt was written all over Jake and Natalie's faces as they grinned at us nervously. 

"Don't act like you're not curious too, princess." Savannah smirked at Blanche, and she turned her head away in disgust. "But I was just getting to that."

Savannah quickly recounted the heart-wrenching tale of our interview with the police and what had happened to Mr and Mrs. Belkin. I couldn't help but noticed that she had deliberately left out many details— ones that would somehow tie the whole thing back to her again, and expose her guilt. 

"That's terrible." Natalie breathed, placing a hand over her mouth. "I can't imagine how you two must feel."

"I feel bad about the whole thing, I really do. They were such a sweet old couple and I can't help but feel that we could've done more to help them," Savannah told her regretfully.

"You couldn't have. As journalists, we just don't  have that sort of power. It's not your fault." Jake comforted her by placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Jake is  right." I piped in. "It was out of our hands to begin with. I think we need to just forget about it for now and focus on our work. You and I are already behind-"

"Zyu two really are something else," a familiar voice came from the doorway, and Savannah and I flinched. Vladlena's tall frame filled the doorway as she stood there with two folders tucked between her arm and her chest. 

"I'm sorry. We were just talking-"

"As you two have vightfully said, enough time has been vasted. Miss Calhoun, here is zyur folder." Vladlena pulled out one of the folders and offered it to Savannah. "And Miss Black, I vould like to speak to you in my office." 

My eyes widened and I fidgeted uncomfortably under her expectant gaze. Reluctantly, I followed her out of the room and down the hallway to an unpredictable fate.

*************

The loud 'thwap' of the folder hitting the desk caused my heart to jump slightly and I looked from the folder to her uncomfortably. I clasped the handles of the chair I was seated on, then drummed my fingers nervously as Vladlena sat across from me in her chair, her hard expression never leaving her face.