Renegade

- Chapter VI -

- Chapter VI -

Nothing was spoken except for when I pointed out that we had left Masky at the school.

"I know." Dad replied in a clipped voice. That was the voice he used when he was trying to keep control of his temper.

Mom pulled the car into the driveway a few minutes later and we went inside. I decided I had nothing to lose at this point, so I might as well pretend that nothing had happened.

"Well, thanks for taking me home. I'll just be going..." I said as nonchalantly as possible.

"Not so fast." I was surprised to hear Mom say, her voice sharp and tinged with anger, "Sit."

Finally the guilt set in at the very pit of my stomach as I sank into a kitchen chair. I could see a look of satisfaction on my father's face now blank face, so I straightened my posture and held my head higher.

"I know I'm not usually the one who gets mad, but what in the hell were you thinking!" Mom's voice boomed, shaking the light hanging over the table. Involuntarily I flinched at her anger.

"I-" I began, but was cut off by another onslaught.

"If you had faltered, if anyone had seen the slightest ripple of normality, you would have single handedly ruined this entire family!" She boomed, her anger spiking four black tentacles to sprout from her back. They moved uncontrollably, like a spider stuck on it's back as it desperately tries to right itself.

"Technically it wouldn't have been single handedly if I had Masky..." I muttered quietly. I bowed my head and my hair fell in my face.

"Junior!" She boomed, flailing her arms out, "Or should I call you 'Jason'?"

"Look!" I shouted, getting up and slamming a fist into the table in anger. Something else that had been inherited my my father: my temper, "You two can't keep me caged here forever!" I shouted, glancing back and forth between the two, "I have no friends, barely any family, and no life outside of these walls. And the life that I do have outside consists of sneaking around the forest avoiding him." I said, pointing a finger accusingly at Dad. His head turned slightly to the right at my gesture, a sign that he was thinking hard about something. I continued, "I'm going back, and there's nothing that you, Slenderman or any other entity on Earth can do about it." With that the air around me bent and snapped and I was in the woods, alone.

A roar of frustration ripped from my throat as my human form shed away without my say so. When I was angry staying human was a challenge I had yet to overcome.

As my skin paled and my height grew drastically I trudged through the woods, not bothering to teleport, until I came across an old fallen oak that acted as a makeshift hammock. I flopped onto the tree trunk and the rotting wood creaked under my weight.

I didn't realize I had begun dozing off to sleep until the sound of crinkling leaves under feet jarred me from my peace. The sound caught me off guard and as I sat up quickly I slipped off of the oak trunk, landing on the ground with a groan.

I stood up and dusted off my clothes, turning my head to the direction of the noise and listening. Crunch... Crunch... Someone was walking slowly, as if on guard from something. I was just about to discard the noise as an animal when movement caught my attention from the corner of my eye.

I knew the intruder wouldn't be able to see me as they passed by, but for some reason a sense of uneasiness lingered in the air. It was like the entire forest had stopped to watch sometging happen.

The idea of Slenderwalking back home crossed my mind, but the human side of me that contained my curiosity and the fact that I didn't feel like dealing with my father kept me in place.

The sound of feet padding the forest floor grew closer and closer until finally a human dressed in camo broke a tree line across from me.

As I took in the human's appearance my stomach lurched forward. The world seemed to slow down to watch as the hunter entered the field.