Disappearances

Part 12

(A/N: I hope that people still read. I may be talking to no one but anyway I hope you enjoy because it's gonna get good!)

"You remember when I found you?" The freezing air whipped my hair and made my cheeks cold.
"No. I was unconscious and bleeding to death. Now can you please tell me why we are sitting outside in the freezing cold?" The forest was nice at most times but today a storm was closing in. It was barely tolerable weather.
"We're outside because this is where I took you when I first found you. This log." He smiled up at me. I had forgotten how bad he was at romantic gestures.
    "Well thank you Sam for taking me to the exact log that I almost bled to death on. I am very grateful." The sarcasm in my voice didn't bother him at all.
"What do you remember about those first few months?" He was trying to make me remember. I didn't like to remember.
"I remember you whining a lot!" I snapped but I was met with pleading eyes instead of glaring ones. I sighed.
"I remember not being able to walk. I remember you carrying me through the woods for days and I remember searching the woods for weeks. I remember finding the cabin but not my friends. I remember you making sure that my stitches didn't open up. I remember it being bad for a while. I remember when I stopped wondering if they would ever come back for me. And I remember when I stopped caring that I wouldn't see them again." I looked up at him.
"How about you? What do you remember?" He smiled and proceeded with, "I remember..." his voice was cut off by a snapping twig in the woods.
"Stay here. I'll go see what's happening." I kept my hand fastened around his wrist. I looked up at him and nodded. I let his fingertips slip out of my grip. He marched into the thick woods and I stayed rooted to the log.
I squinted to try and spot him in the dark. Then a cold hand covered my mouth. I looked up and immediately recognized the face that I once playfully hated. The carved smile, the constantly open eyes, the pasty white skin. My heart filled with dread.
I snapped out of my frozen state. I started to struggle but Jeff slipped thick cloth between my teeth to stop my screams. He fastened the fabric behind me head and threw me over his shoulder. I kicked my legs which he stupidly angled towards his face.
I smirked when my foot came into contact with his face. He dropped me and groaned in pain. I fell on my stomach and felt the pain of many cuts all over my face. Jeff had bound my hands so it was hard to get up. I struggled with the binds until I heard a familiar voice.
    "Don't try to struggle. We just want to help." Toby. The boy who left me. You can say that I was frozen again, but it wasn't fear. I was frozen in shock that my past was coming back to haunt me. Toby seemed just as shocked as I was. Then I realized that I could use his shock. I continued to saw at the ropes around my wrist with my glass nails.
    He stepped forward as if he was walking on thin ice. He reached for my arm in an attempt to pull me off the ground. Then I acted. My hands were freed and filled with a years worth of burning hatred. I closed my fists and brought my fists down to Toby's face.
    I was so angry that he had left me. I was angry that he didn't search for me. I was angry that he didn't wait for me at the cabin. I was angry that he wasn't trying to fight back. I was never good at inflicting pain through punches but pain was evident in Toby's face.
    I was so angry that I didn't notice Jeff sneaking up behind me. I didn't notice until it was too late and I was knocked out cold.
    I woke up the way I did that first day. I was in the dark room. I wasn't shackled but I was caged. The door was locked and probably bolted if they were smart. I heard footsteps coming down the hallway and the door being unlocked. I laid back down and turned over on my side, pretending to be unconscious.
    I heard a heavy sigh when the door was opened. The door was gently closed, giving me the signal that I was in fact a prisoner but on better terms with my captors than I would have suspected. A chair was then dragged to the bed.
Wait! Had the mattress been replaced since the last time I was held prisoner?
    "What happened to you out there?" Toby whispered. I felt a bit of my heart break as he whispered the question. Then I remembered how he had left me there to bleed out. I couldn't forgive him!
    "I almost died. You know what that does to a person." I whipped back around and jumped up. I gasped as I the moonlight illuminated his face. Bruises and blood covered his face.
Had I done this!?
I only paused for a moment before I resumed my armored stance. I rushed up to him and held one of my nails up to his throat.
    "I want to know why you left me. I want to know how you made the decision to leave a friend behind to bleed to death on the floor. I want to know how you felt after condemning me to die alone." He stared into my eyes. He opened his mouth and tried to come up with an explanation. After beginning a few sentences and then trailing off and muttering incoherently he looked down.
    "I can't explain myself." Was that it? Was that what I had been waiting for since that night? Is that what would spark my forgiveness for the year of pain and not understanding and feeling utterly lost in the world? Is that all I would ever get? I let my finger fall from his throat.
    "Don't come near me ever again." I understood that I was ruthless with my words. His eyes gave me the satisfaction that I needed at the time. It stood in the place of an explanation. He made it to the door and then looked back at me. I continued to glare at him and that was enough to scare him away.
You can't blame him for what you've become.
"Slender." The staticky voice was strange to hear after so long.
It's not his fault.
"Really? Tell me how it isn't his fault that he left me to die and never even searched for me. It's his fault that I am what I am today." I stared into the blank face that belonged to the "master."
It's not his fault that you snapped. He didn't want you to lose that innocent part of yourself. You made that decision. We had nothing to do with it.
"You're right! What happens to me and what I become stopped being your business the day you gave up on me!" I didn't care that I owed my life to a few of these people. I had repaid that debt with my sanity.
"You need to let me go Slender. I'm not you're problem and this place isn't home anymore. I have no reason to stay."
Oh Poison. Who ever gave you the impression that you were free to leave us?