My brothers stare at the camera in the upper corner of the room as a small cloud of smoke rises from the broken lens and sparks fall to the floor. After a moment Trenderman sighs in exasperation and looks in my direction as if to scold me. "Was that really necessary?"
"Entirely," I say lowly and then return to studying my hands. It has been over a century since I was last in human form so seeing the pinkish tone on my skin is too unusual for words. Not just that, but my reflection in the mirror across the room as well. I have to keep a constant reminder that it's me because my mind doesn't want to be convinced. Overall this feels like a foreign body, and I will be lucky if I can stand it for the next hour. Realizing the camera was there and recording had automatically added to the unsettlement. Also, I just hate being watched. Ironic I know.
"Stop being so paranoid," he mumbles. "It's unbecoming."
'MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS!' Trenderman flinches as I project my angry thoughts into his head. He immediately responds by glaring at me. Usually I don't use telepathy of any kind on my brothers, so when I do it catches them off guard.
'How dare you?' He fumes back at me, knowing I'm reading his mind. Unlike me, he and the others can't use telepathy. At least not well and almost never. We can communicate on some level, however, it doesn't always seem like a legitimate conversation to them and it usually starts out of my personal anger. Similar to when I punish humans for trespassing. My brothers hate it when I treat them like a victim, but then I hate being criticized.
I don't reply and dismiss him, withdrawing my thoughts and closing him out. Splendorman speaks up, completely unaware of what passed between Trenderman and I. "I hear someone coming guys," he says brightly. "Let's get our acts in gear!"
Offenderman rolls his eyes. "Sure. 'Acts'. And speaking of yours, quit acting so damn happy. It's annoying!" Reaching over, he pulls Splendorman's bandana down over his eyes. Almost instantly they were thrown into an argument of their very own. At the same moment...
"How rude."
That voice... I look toward the door and recognize the red haired human. Something is different though. Her expression is flat and the air about her has an aggression behind it that I cannot name. Needless to say I haven't seen her like this before -not even when she completely lost control of her temper- so I'm rather confused. And it sets me on edge. "Quit your fighting this instant," she says coldly as she walks up to the table. "If you disturb the other customers, I will literally kick you all out."
That manages to catch Offenderman's attention. He stops teasing Splendorman and looks at her just as she stops at the corner of the table between him and myself. "Well, hey there, gorgeous" he says in his flirtatious tone.
Completely ignoring him, she seems to be going 'business-as-usual'. Though I can tell she's trying to keep her nerves under control and her guard is incredibly high. "I'm Rowan and I'll be your waitress today. What can I do for you?" As she says that she glances toward me with a dagger-like glare, and the intensity hits me sideways. Something is wrong here....
"I got an idea," Offenderman says slyly. "How about you skip the job thing and I take you on a date, sweetheart~?"
If looks could kill alone he would be dead. The level of hatred in her glare could give a demon reason enough to be nervous. I think she's going to hit him at first, but instead she takes her pen and uses it to flip his fedora off his head and it lands upside down on the table. "Hats off in the building," she states flatly.
We're all stunned. Offenderman also looks like he is about to rip her head off, as his temper is almost as short as mine. Almost. He manages to do no more than clench his fist and scowl at Rowan before abruptly turning away and running a hand through his dark blonde hair. He knows better than to go wild in a public area like this especially when we're all together. The danger level is too great.
"Oh, sorry about that!" Splendorman speaks up and reaches to untie his bandanna. Being the most affiliated with humans other than Trenderman he has an odd habit of being far more polite and kind to them than the rest of us. I certainly don't care for it, but it catches the girl's attention.
Her eyes narrow slightly as if she's trying to process something and think it over. Then almost immediately she waves her hand in dismissal. "You know what, don't worry about it. Our cook wears a bandanna, so I'll allow it this once." Offenderman protests but she continues to ignore him.
Trenderman seems fairly amused now and, while Splendorman thanks her for letting him keep the bandanna, he taps his finger on the table to get my attention. His smirk prompts me to read his mind again. 'I like this girl,' he states. 'She's the one you were talking about, right?' I nod slightly. 'So what is her story?'
'I am not sure,' I tell him honestly. 'That's why I asked all of you to come. To help me figure this out.' What I don't tell him is that my biggest concern is the fact she doesn't seem to be afraid of me. Not in the sense other humans are. The very idea could mean trouble.
He chuckles under his breath. 'The great Slenderman needing help? Surely not you of all people!' Though I know he only means that in jest, I don't take it well. The air begins to static and he has to speak quickly before I do anything rash. 'Calm down, there is no need for that. Of course we will.'
By the time I withdraw from Trenderman's mind Rowan started writing down orders, still taking her job as seriously as if she were dealing with actual humans. As far as I know, that is exactly what she thinks. However, every time she glances at me I feel my nerves flinch due to the sheer hostility behind her eyes. It's like she wants me to know something but is waiting for the right moment. Without the availability to read her mind I feel left in the dark. I don't like it, and my severe aggravation is proof of that.
When she leaves the room and closes the door behind her, Trenderman gets the others up to speed on the situation. In the meantime I try to track her mind through the café. Needless to say I loose trace because of all the other chattering minds. You would think I could keep track of the only quite mind in the area, but instead it's akin to searching for a needle in a haystack. The second my brothers' needless talking is thrown into the mix I give up, forcing myself to wait patiently for the girl to return.
Roughly ten minutes go by, possibly fifteen, before she comes back with the drinks my brothers ordered. I didn't order anything, but I am somewhat surprised to see her set a glass of water in front of me. I thank her regardless, following Splendorman's example, and she just shrugs her shoulders in response.
"Okay, so here's the deal," she addresses all of us after a moment. "I have to leave, so Nana should be in shortly to tend to you guys. Before I go though..." Rowan takes a small video tape out of her apron pocket and sets it on the table. "That is a copy from the camera you oh-so-cleverly destroyed. Schlankwald."
---
What?! The shock of realization paralyzes me and the stunning silence in the room shows my brothers can sense it too. Locking onto the fact that we're in public is all I can do to keep myself from shifting out of this human form and attacking her. Normally I would have dismissed the mention of my alias, but the way she said it proved she knew exactly who I was and wasn't afraid to admit it by any sense of the imagination.
How much did the tape record? What had she seen from it? Subconsciously I attempt to read her mind once more to find out. It's finally unguarded, but only for a moment. Before I'm closed out again I catch the one thought she was willing to let me read. 'Nice try. Too bad I'm controlling the situation now.' Then I'm put in the dark.
I avoid eye contact, but I can feel her eyes boring into me with burning anger. "And in case you were wondering, I have the original. I may or may not do anything with it, but after this little charade of yours...well, who knows." She turned and started walking out. All I can do is watch her leave. Before she opens the door she pauses. "Consider this a warning: You and your brothers....stay the hell away from me." Then she opens the door and leaves, closing it behind her on the way out.
"Wow that was different," Splendorman exclaims.
I hardly hear him. My mind is solely focused on Rowan. The scariest part of her voice was that it was so calm yet completely serious, unforgiving, and saturated with anger. Even the air around her seemed as if it was from a totally different person, like her personality had taken a sharp left turn since the last time I saw her. Wherever that dark energy was coming from, I have to find out. Not only that... "The situation has changed," I say glaring at my fists on the tabletop. I don't have to tell my brothers she knows who we are and what we were here for. They already know.
"Indeed," Trenderman says after taking a drink of the coffee he ordered. "So what do we do?" The edge in his voice tells me he's just as nerve-wrecked as I am about this. If she saw the tape then she potentially has information that puts us all in danger in more ways than one. Now that I think about it, I should have known things might turn out like this due to how intelligent she appeared to be to begin with. That being said, I never should have brought my brothers into this. Now they are at risk too and I can only blame myself.
I have to think of something; a plan that will solve this...dilemma. Of course, we can't leave the café immediately to follow the girl. Blending in with humans is an intricate task that requires careful planning on our part, including the time intervals of which we come and go from certain areas. In hindsight, that means teleporting into the building was not the best idea and likely what set her off. Once again, it's my fault for being anxious. I have literally made more mistakes today than I have in a lifetime... What's worse is I cannot account the specific reason for any of them. My frustration and anger begin to spike, making me come to a decision faster than anticipated. "Find out what's on the tape." Her words seemed to echo in my ears. 'I may or may not do anything with it....who knows.' If there is one thing I'm not, it's fool enough to ignore a threat when I hear one.
"After that," I continue, "...hunt her down."
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So if you remember the last chapter, you'll remember that the Slender-bros are all in human form ;) And how Rowan found out about their little ruse.
Now that she's shown what she knows and BLATENTLY THREATENED them, what's gonna happen next? Will this tyrade get worse, or can Rowan control herself?
More importantly....does anyone else smell trouble?
FIND OUT IN THE NEXT CHAPTER!! (when it's posted of course ;P )
Thanks for reading!
~MGPD