Chapter 1
~March 19th, 2016...~
Marie's POV
I smiled at the sight in front of me. Another bully gone from this world. I placed Felencio's new hat on his burnt head and left the scene, walking to the forest. I adjusted my black and red hat on my head and stared at the sky. The crescent moon hung by a thread, stars dotting the darkness. Trees blocked most of the beautiful view, but I sigh in relaxation, nonetheless. The trees twisted around the path, the branches reaching toward me as if it wants my attention. What a beautiful night, I thought happily, biting into an apple I brought to my picnic. The table was already gone, along with myself.
Suddenly, a crunching sound rang in my ears. I stopped and stood still, smirking. "Hey, Jeffery," I greeted, earning an angry grunt in return.
Jeff came out from behind a tree, frowning as much as he could. "Don't call me Jeffery!" he complained. I turned to look at him and smiled. He changed a little over the year I returned to the mansion. His hair was longer than before, his voice slightly deeper, and his height increased, but, other than that, he's the same old Jeff.
I smirked and put my hands on my hips. "I can call you whatever I want, Jeffery," I sassed back, earning an eye roll from the smiling friend. He muttered a small "whatever" and we continued walking in silence back to the mansion. I tossed my apple core to a near by tree and tossed Jeff one, too. And when I mean tossed, I mean I accidentally hit him in the face. He stared at me and I gulped. Shit, I thought, running to the portal. I heard his footsteps behind me as I jumped into the portal. I landed on my feet and ran to the mansion, screaming like the maniac I am.
"COME BACK HERE!" I heard Jeff yell loudly as I ran inside. I ran down the hall and went to the roof, bumping into someone on the way. I heard an "oof" from them and I looked up. Toby was there, looking down at me. I hate being short. His hair was messy, probably from me running into him, and he was smiling because his mouthguard was lifted up.
"Hey Marie," he greeted, his voice deep, "What's up?" Before I could answer, I heard footsteps running upstairs. I let go of Toby and yelled, "Gotta run!" I jumped onto the window ledge and waved at Toby, with Jeff right behind him. I jumped up and grabbed onto the gutter, climbing up to the roof. When I reached the top, I hid behind the chimney. It was silent for a second before I heard the shingles crunch. I held my breath as it got closer, covering my mouth. When I didn't hear anything else, I tiptoed to the top of the chimney. Thank God no one made a fire today. I looked around until I saw a blank face on the ground.
"Hey, Daddy!" I greeted, covering my mouth in regret. I heard footsteps run to me quickly. I turned only to move quickly out of the way as Jeff tried to tackle me. I laughed at his face and ran to the window, going back inside. I bolted to the front door and opened it, hugging Slenderman right away. He chuckled at my childish ways and hugged back.
"Hello, Marie," he said back, letting go of me and heading to the office, "I need to speak with you in my office. Can you come in?"
I nodded, waved at Jeff, who ran downstairs, and went to the office. I sat down on the chair in front of Slenderman's desk and smiled. "What's up?" I asked, curiosity filled in my voice. Dad say down and took something out of his drawer. He placed a medium size red box with black ribbons tied on it in front of me. He answered back, "Happy sixteenth birthday, Marie!"
My eyes widened at this. I forgot today's my birthday! After all the stuff that's been going on, I forgot I even had a birthday. I smiled broadly and opened the box carefully. It was a black, leatherback journal, the weight heavy. I opened it and gasped a little. Inside was pictures of everyone, having a little bit of writing next to it. It all said something like "Happy Birthday!" or something like that. I looked through them all until I got to the last picture. It was a woman with brown hair and beautiful brown eyes. She wore a white blouse, black work jacket, a black knee length skirt, and black high heels. She was smiling and holding a baby, Slenderman's arms around her waist.
"That's your mother," Dad explained, ruffling my hair, "You look exactly like her." I smiled at this and hugged the journal.
"Thank you so much!" I thanked, smiling happily. "I should thank everyone else."
Right when I said this, the door busted open to show everyone wearing party hats and throwing confetti. Everyone but Jeff was singing "Happy Birthday" to me, Offenderman putting the cake in front of me and Sally putting a hat on my head. "Make a wish, Marie!" Sally said happily, making me laugh. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath in. I wish that we live happily as a family.. I blew out the candles, everyone cheering behind me.
We all stayed inside the office, laughing and and talking. I was talking to Lost Silver, who was in the corner, when I heard the doorbell ring. "I'll get it!" I shouted, pushing my way through the crowd. I made it out of the office and walked to the door. I opened it, seeing someone different there. They had on a long sleeved jacket, the hood covering their face, black jeans, and black boots. "May I help you?" I asked politely, putting my hand over my switch knife, which was behind my back.
"Is this the Slenderman mansion?" a woman's voice asked, her voice kind, but demanding.
I gripped tightly onto the knife. "Who's asking?" Suddenly, she pushed her way in, grabbing onto my neck. I gasped for air, kicking her in the shin. She loosened her grip, making me able to pull my knife out. I kicked at her, but she caught it and held onto my leg. She tripped me and grabbed at my knife. I kicked her off of me, making her stumble back into a table. She knocked the table over and fell. I sat on her and held the knife to her throat. She can sure put up a fight, I thought, out of breath.
"Who the hell is this?" Masky's voice asked. I guess we made a lot of noise because everyone was in the hallway. I glanced at the hood and yanked it off. Brown hair came into view first, then lightly tanned skin, then beautiful brown eyes. I gasped at what I saw. She may be older, but I can tell by those brown eyes who this is. "M-Mom?"