~~Your pov~~
"Slender? Slender is that you?" You call out nervously as you make your way through the dark forest. Where are you? "Slender!"
"Awww how sweet. You seek him out now? Pathetic. Do you really think a creature like Slender could ever love you?" Zalgo's voice echoes around you. "He'll never love you."
"I don't care! Even if he never loves me I don't care. I love him and I love the creepypastas. I'm not going to let you hurt them!" You spit, crying out when a sharp pain goes through your head.
"Humans are so ridiculous with their damn righteousness. Just give up already. Aren't you hurting enough? How much more of this can you take?" Zalgo snarls appearing in front of you.
You stumble back with wide eyes but catch yourself, your heart pounding as you glare at the demon.
"You can haunt my dreams and torture me all you want. I'm not giving in!" You spit at him.
Zalgo barks with laughter, black smoke suddenly blinding you as it explodes. You cough in the smoke, clenching your eyes shut as it burns them.
"Y/N?! Y/N, where are you?!" You hear Slender's voice in the fog. "Please. Please, I need your help!"
"Slender?!" You cry out, stumbling around blindly as you try to follow his voice. "I'm coming! Where are you?!"
"S-Sally! It's Sally!" His voice chokes in a sob and you're even more desperate to find him.
You don't recognize this as a dream. Right now this feels so real you're having a hard time waking up.
"Slender?! Sally?!" You yell, crying out when something grabs your ankle and jerks so hard you're sent slamming onto the ground.
This makes the smoke disappear, Zalgo standing above a crying Slender. Sally is in his arms, covered in blood. Slender snaps his head up when you call out to him again. He sets down Sally's body and rises to his feet, Zalgo whispering something to him. You're still stuck by whatever has you as Slender slowly walks towards you.
"Please. Please help," You beg of him, looking up with teary eyes as he stands above you.
A choked gasp leaves you when he grabs you by the throat and lifts you into the air. You clutch at his wrist and struggle as his hand slowly cuts off your oxygen. He looks angry, his teeth bared as he stares down at you.
"This is all your fault. She's dead because of you," Slender hisses, your eyes going wide at his words.
"N-No! Please! I would never! Please Slender, It wasn't me!" You gasp out as tears flow hot and heavy down your cheeks.
"You left us. Just when we thought it couldn't get any worse you left. You left and now she's dead. They're all dead Y/N. All of them," Slender hisses, a gasp leaving you as all of the smoke clears to reveal the pastas covered in blood and not breathing.
"No! No I swear! I won't leave!" You sob, not even feeling pain when you're dropped but Slender. "No. Please."
"This is your fault," Slender spits, your eyes wide when he gasps and is suddenly stabbed through the chest.
His heart is being held by Zalgo's black hand, your eyes wide as you watch it beat in his hold. Zalgo jerks his hand back through Slender's chest, sending Skender crashing to the ground. Zalgo opens his mouth and swallows the heart in one gulp before appearing in front of you.
"This is what will happen if you don't tell me how to find the mansion. I will kill every last one of them and it'll be all your fault. Tell me where it is and I won't harm them. I simply need them by my side. Is that too much to ask?" Zalgo growls as he kneels in front of your crying form. "What do you choose?"
"I can't. I don't even know. I don't know the forest. It's magic! Even if I told you the forest would keep you out. Please. Please stop," You sob out.
"You pathetic piece of trash!" Zalgo screeches, his clawed hands grabbing you by the throat and lifting you into the air. "Then come to the edge of the forest between the border and wait for me there. I can take things from there."
"I would rather die," You hiss, spitting in his face.
Zalgo narrows his eyes and his anger is palpable in the air. His hand tightens around your throat and you suddenly feel like you're on fire. You can't even cry out as the rest of your oxygen is cut off. Your lungs scream for air and your body shudders under the burning feeling. You claw desperately at Zalgo's hand in hopes of relieving the pain.
"I may only be able to kill you in your dream but it won't be long until I get a hold of you. I'm going to torture you to death when I finally have you," Zalgo hisses in your ear as you feel yourself grow light headed. "I'm going to enjoy every second of it."
Zalgo roars with laughter that chills you to the bone, your struggling slowly ceasing as darkness overwhelms you.
~~~~
You jerk awake with a gasp, hard coughs racking your body as it desperately inhales oxygen. Your entire body throbs and your neck hurts like hell. You push out of bed, making sure you're steady before going to the bathroom. You look at yourself in the mirror and your eyes widen when you find bruises on your neck. You press a finger to them gently, hissing when you find it aches and throbs. He can hurt you for real now?! You grab a turtle neck from your closet and put it on along with your shawl before heading to Slender's room. What time even is it? You pause at the realization that it must be early morning because the mansion is dead silent. You hesitate but you continue to Slender's room, quietly knocking on the door.
You're not even sure it's loud enough as you wait a few moments. Your heart pounds in your chest as the panic you've been trying to shove down suddenly rises. You cover your mouth as you sink to your knees, not even registering Slender opening his door as you struggle to hold back a sob. When his hand rests gently on your shoulder you finally let out your sob. Slender is quick to scoop you into his arms and take you into his room. You try to calm yourself but all of your built up feelings overwhelm you. You're completely exhausted when Slender finally gets you to calm down.
"What's wrong?" He asks gently, holding you in his lap.
"Zalgo touched me," You breathe out softly. "He touched me while I slept."
"What do you mean?" He asks you. "He can't touch you in dreams."
"Then tell me how I got this." You spit a little harshly, pulling down the collar of your turtle neck to reveal the hand bruises around your throat.
Slender's breath hitches in shock, reaching out a hand and gently analyzing your bruises.
"I'm calling Lucifer," He says, still holding you in his lap as a tendril grabs his phone.
"What am I doing to do?" You whimper, his strong arms still holding you in his lap.
"It's okay. It'll be okay," He promises you. "I can fix this."
What if you can't be fixed? If Zalgo gets to you before you could break the bond you're as good as dead. You honestly feel as good as dead right now. How can he physically touch you in your dreams? Could he have somehow gotten out and into the mansion?! Can he move through dreams?! Your entire body trembles at the idea and it horrifies you. He's getting closer and you have no way of stopping him. You have no way to defeat him and you're running out of hope. You don't mean to but what else can you do? You're fighting for your life and you feel like you're losing the battle hard.
You don't even register Slender talking to Lucifer until the demon is suddenly in front of you, resting a gentle hand on your shoulder that startles you out of your thoughts.
"Let me see? I need you to take off your shirt," He tells you.
"Okay," You agree, thankful you put on a tank top beneath your turtleneck as you take off the turtleneck.
Lucifer is gentle as he examines your neck, taking your hand and examining your nails. You're all quiet as you wait for him to finish his examination of you.
"It's not good," He finally tells you and Slender. "It's almost a Freddy Krueger situation but don't stress Y/N. He can't access the mansion through your dreams. He may be able to hurt you physically but he doesn't have the power to travel through dreams. I'm sorry."
"Maybe I should just go to him? Just end all of this. You can give me a drug that'll kill me. You know those ones people can hold in their mouth? I'll bite down as soon as he has me and then that's it. It'll keep everyone safe that way."
"What?! No!" Slender barks, catching you by surprise. "I can fix this."
"Slender, I don't think there is a fix that doesn't involve me dying," You breathe as tears fill your eyes all over again. "We don't have any way out of this."
"I can figure it out. Please. We can't lose you," Slender breathes. "You're family."
You smile at his words, his hand coming to gently hold yours. It wasn't a love confession but it's enough to give you a spark of absolute joy. Slender has finally accepted you as a part of the mansion and you had no idea something like this could ever bring you so much joy. You can't let Zalgo hurt anyone else even if it does mean you're going to die.
"Is there anything we can do?" Slender asks, looking over at Lucifer. "Something that doesn't involve her dying?"
"You know the price she has to pay," Lucifer explains gently. "It's going to be up to her what happens next."
What does he mean by what happens next? Is he meaning you'll be in contact with Zalgo again or something else? The price you have to pay? You know it's to find romantic love but there's no one you can be with. Every fiber of your being knows who you want to be in a relationship with but there's no way it's going to happen and you know it. Should you admit your feelings to Slender? Not that it's going to do much good. He'd never date a human like you and you know it. You frown at these thoughts as you give Lucifer a desperate look.
He returns if with a sympathetic smile and you're pretty sure he's read you like a book. You want to be with Slender. You've gotten to know him on a deeper level and you want to know more about him. You want him to hold you and kiss you. You want to feel protected in his arms. He helps everything. The nausea and the nightmares seem to be almost gone when you're around him. He makes you feel safe and it hurts to know it's never going to happen. Slender is never going to love you, and you're going to die. What do you even do now?