Falling In Love With Slender Man

Chapter 8

--CHAPTER EIGHT--

“So what are we going to do?” Sage asked him impatiently. They’d passed several doors and not once had they stopped.

Ash looked sideways at her. “That depends. What do you want to do?”

Her eyebrows came together in confusion. “Me? You’re letting me pick something?”

He nodded slowly, as though considering this. “Yes, I suppose so. Though, you haven’t many options. You can retire to your own room, perhaps with a book. The other option is we both go to the same room and do… what is it you humans do whenever you ‘hang out’?”

Sage squinted her green eyes at him. “You’ve referred to me as human, and made it obvious you aren’t human. So what is it you are exactly?” she questioned.

A slow smile curled at the edges of his nearly white lips. “Do not ask question for which you aren’t prepared for the answer, little dove,” he stated simply.

She gave an indigent look and crossed her arms. “I can handle the answer.”

He shook silently with laughter. “No, I don’t believe you could. When the time is right, you will be informed of what I am.”

“Fine,” she said crossly.

Just then he stopped in front of an old wooden door, worn out from years of exposure to the dank underground corridors. He turned the heavy brass knob and threw the door open. He motioned for Sage to go inside.

She peeked curiously into the room. The walls were made of ancient stone, much like in the hallway. The floor appeared to be dirt, and on top of it sat a plain brown rug. There was a small mattress resting on the floor, a single blanket laid across it. A chandelier hung shakily from the ceiling. Other than that the room was entirely empty.

Ash cleared his throat and she turned to face him. She raised an eyebrow questioningly. “Should I come in, or do you wish me away?” he asked her coolly.

Sage thought about this, considering the pros and cons. “You may come in,” she informed him, mimicking his proper tone.

He swiftly and gracefully came into the tiny bedroom, shutting the door quietly behind him. Sage took a seat on the mattress. Ash continued to stand in the middle of the room.

“You never told me what people do when they hang out,” he commented. His dark eyes watched her as she stretched out on the bed.

“Well,” she said, “typically they talk.” She stared up at the small diamonds the chandelier created on the ceiling.

“And what do they talk about?” Ash asked, his voice quitter than before.

She considered this. She had faint memories of talk with friends, laughing. “Anything they want, I suppose,” she replied. She turned her head, glancing over at him. He stood there, still watching her. His expression made her wonder what he was thinking so intently about. “You can sit down, you know.”

He slowly walked over and sat on the edge of the bed. He didn’t look at her now and she took this opportunity to study his face. His skin was paler than anyone else’s she’d ever seen. His cheekbones were high, not showing even a slight hint of a blush. His deep black eyes were fringed with long lashes that no guy would ever appreciate they had. She was acutely aware that he was incredibly attractive.

“So what she would talk about?” he asked.

Sage shrugged. “Pick a topic,” she suggested.

He considered this. “You.”

She let out a bark of a laugh. “No, seriously. Pick something,” she told him.

He stared down at her, not looking at all like he’d been joking. “I am being serious. I’m curious about you.”

Sage sighed. “What do you want to know then?”

“What’s something you love?” His voice was gentle; more kind than she’d ever heard it in her short amount of time with him.

She thought about his question. What was something she loved? After a moments pause she said, “The winter.”

He raised his eyebrows quizzically at her. “The winter? Most people don’t seem to like the coldness. Why do you?”

“I like the clothes, all the warm sweaters and scarves. And the holidays. Christmas…” she mused. A memory tugged at her mind. Wrapping paper littering the wooden floors of a large living room, a tree glowing brightly in the corner. It faded away nearly as fast as it had come.

“I enjoy the winter to,” he told her. “I like the snow the most.”

“Why?” she wondered out loud.

He shrugged. “It’s beautiful. It may seem odd, but I like to appreciate beautiful things.”

She nodded. “It is beautiful.”

She had closed her eyes, and they flicked open as his weight on the bed shifted, making her roll closer to him. He was leaning over her, his gorgeous face hovering a few inches from her own.

“Do you miss your life?” he asked quietly.

She looked away from his hard gaze, glancing down at her thin wrists that lay at her sides. Her eyes stung with unshed tears. “I don’t know,” she answered truthfully. “I have some memories, but they aren’t very clear. I knew I loved them and that I should miss them, but I cant remember anything to miss.”

Ash reach his hand out quickly, a flash of white, and brushed his thumb over her cheek, wiping away a tear she hadn’t realized had escaped. He let it linger there, looking into her eyes.

She let out a shaky breath. He hadn’t touched her before, and as cliché as it sounded; it felt like an electric shock running over the places their skin touched.

“I’m sorry about your family,” he whispered, sounding sincere. He leaned in even closer. She could feel his arm breath tickling her cheek; smell the woodsy scent of him.

A pained look crossed his face. His eyes seemed to hold a battle in them, though she couldn’t guess what about.

Then, before she had any idea what was going on, his mouth crushed down on hers. His lips were softer than she had expected and they moved with certain urgency. He parted them, forcing her to open her mouth.

She felt dizzy and warm. She wasn’t sure she should be doing this, but she couldn’t seem to help herself. She moved her hands up his shoulders and slowly wrapped them around his neck. He had gotten fully on the bed now and his whole body was flush with her own.

As if coming out of a dream Ash flung himself off of her and swiftly backed away. Sage sat up, dazed. He was standing on the opposite side of the room, his hands braced on the wall behind him. His hair obscured his face, everything but his mouth, which was turned down in a grimace.

Sage felt her cheeks flush with embarrassment. She shouldn’t have done that. It was obvious by Ash’s reaction that he hadn’t found that pleasurable at all. Maybe he had just wanted to see what kissing was like. She should have stopped him.

“I’m sorry,” he panted. “I need to leave.” And with that he stormed out the door, shutting it tightly on his way out.