Reconnected Roads [Slenderman X Reader]

Chapter 14

"[Y/N], it's time to wake up."

The woman woke to someone tenderly shaking her shoulder and whispering soothing words. The hand on her shoulder was bony yet their grip held a certain gentleness. Warm sunshine slipped through the cracks of the Venetian blinds and danced hopefulness on the woman's face.

She was lying down on a sofa, her head nestled on a pillow. A faint smell of lavender wafted through the room.

With sleepy eyes, the young woman blinked a few times until her vision became clearer. She looked around the place she was in, taking in the familiar spring green walls and the several windows framed with white curtains.

Taking in a slow inhale, the woman let herself sink into the peaceful ambiance. It welcomed her. Comforted her. Let her know that everything was okay without even saying a word. She was no longer in the alleyway; no longer in the world filled with unfixable problems. She scanned her surroundings, not wanting to forget what it felt like until her eyes landed on her mother who was standing over her, hands on her hips.

The 24-year-old jumped up into a sitting position.

It couldn't be.

"Mamá? Is that really you?"

"Of course! Who else could I be?"

"You.... don't have cancer?"

"Cancer?!" Izabella cried out, incredulous, as if she couldn't believe her daughter could say such a thing. She lightly smacked her upside the head, eliciting an abrupt 'Má!' from her daughter. "You don't say those kinds of things. You never know what might happen." Izabella briefly knocked two times on the wooden dresser beside the bed. She then quickly did the sign of the cross and kissed her thumb. "Now, come on. Fold the clothes while I cook breakfast."

Before Izabella could leave for the kitchen, her daughter sprang for her and wrapped her arms tightly around her torso as if Izabella would vanish if she let her go. The young woman buried her face into Izabella's chest, her forehead resting against her mother's neck. She started sobbing into her mother's shirt, shaking in relief. She couldn't believe it. Her mom was here.

Healthy and cancer-free.

"Mija? Are you sick? What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing," the woman murmured into her mother's cotton shirt, her tears dampening the piece of clothing. "I just miss you."

"Ay, mija." The older woman wrapped an arm around her daughter's back and stroked it up and down. "Whatever you saw when you were sleeping was only a nightmare."

Izabella was spreading chunks of chorizo around on the metal pan using a wooden spoon. She patted it down occasionally and found herself satisfied with the 'pops' and 'crackles' that came from the sizzling red meat.

"You know, your tío was a hard-headed man." She continued stirring the chorizo as she chatted with her daughter. "His skull was as thick and as empty as his favorite football. I remember he came home looking like he just got jumped. He had so many bruises, mija, I'm not lying to you when I say that that man looked like a blueberry. And you know what he did? Instead of getting help? He had sat me down at the table, looked me in the eye, and told me to not get caught up with the wrong people. And then he smirked and told me not to tell anyone unless I wanted him to tell tu abuela, your grandmother, bless her soul, about what I did that one time he caught me.... Ah, nevermind, I won't tell you. But, can you believe it? That cabrón—mija, never copy me when I say that word—had the nerve to tell me to shut up when he looked like a smurf." Izabela laughed then grew solemn. "It's a shame he couldn't follow his own advice."