Chapter Twenty

I feel myself waking up, but I don't wanna open my eyes. I want to bask in this peace that I get to have right now before I have to get up and reality sets in on what my life is really life. Right now, I feel normal. Like a normal teenage girl. In a normal bed. On a normal day... Who is way too warm for no normal reason. 

No seriously, why is it so hot in this room?

I groan and try to roll over, then I realize that something heavy and warm in over me. I feel with my hand. Skin. My eyes bolt open and I realize very quickly that, no, I'm not waking up on a normal day. Today, my head is resting on a serial killer's chest while his arm is wrapped around me. My heart races in this uncomfortable situation and I try to lift his arm up off me. So heavy. I try and squirm to slip underneath it. No use. I sigh and realize what I have to do if I ever want to get up. 

"Jeff," I whisper. Snores are my response. "Psssssttt." Snores. I sigh again and poke him. "Jeff," I say louder this time. I hear him slightly grown. 

"No." I'm sweating so much. 

"Jeff!" I say again. He sighs. 

"Misty. Stop." He grumbles and starts to go limps again. I groan. 

"JEFF!" I yell and poke his almost nonexistent eyelids. He grunts loudly and throws his arms up, squishing my face more.

"Jesus Christ. What the FUCK do you want so early in the morning?!" Jeff yells. I clear my throat and he finally looks down. 

"Oh." He says awkwardly, lifting up his arm that was nearly crushing my windpipe. I let out a deep breath. We look at each other awkwardly for a second.... until I realize that I'm still laying on his chest. I feel my face go bright red and I jump off the bed. The cool air feels nice. I face away from him and lean,  putting my hands on my knees. 

"Jesus you give off a lot of body heat," I say, still trying to cool down. I hear him start laughing from behind me. 

"What's so funny?" I say, still bent over trying to cool down.

"So, are you 'Bootylicious', or are those just the panties you stole?" Jeff says, dying of laughter in the bed. I'm confused. Until I remember. I'm not wearing Pajama pants with this shirt... And I'm bending over right now.

I yelp and stand up straight, now facing him. I feel my face flush. I throw a pillow at him that was on the ground. 

"IM GETTING IN THE SHOWER," I say as I run out of the room, embarrassed. I hear him still laughing in bed. 

~~~~

I don't want to alk out of the bathroom to face him after what happened before my shower. How can I be such an idiot?  At least I stole one of the girls more modest underwear, unlike the giant pile of lace thongs I COULD have chosen from. I sigh and finally open the door. 

Jeff is coming out of the kitchen and looks up at me and chuckles slightly, which results in a glare from me. He is fully showered and dressed and is just putting on his hoodie now. I see him slightly make a face. 

"We should get going. This place is starting to reek." He says, more serious now. I nod. " We have to walk to one of the portals, it's around the midway point from here to Seattle, so we have to walk back a bit." Jeff finishes. I nod again silently. He nods back silently. 

We walk about 7 miles back towards Seattle, in the trees but not too far from the highway. Close enough that I can still hear cars Passing. That is until Jeff makes a sharp Left and starts walking deeper into the woods. 

"Should be about a mile in," Jeff says, bored. I look at him confused. "What is it?" He says, sounding annoyed. I snap my head back and shrug. 

"I was just wondering, how do you know? Like where exactly the portal is." I ask. "This seems like just a huge forest, no landmarks either. So I was just wondering how you know." I finish. He furrows his brows. 

"You ask a lot of questions." Is all he says. I look down, and he notices. "No I mean it's fine. I'm just not used to it. This is like the most I've talked in a while." Jeff says and lightly laughs. He silent for a few more minutes. "Our portals are all over the country. We even have a few in other countries, but not really. In specific locations that only we can see and go through. They are usually located in midway points between highly populated areas. Well, areas that also have large forests surrounding them that is. So you might guess that we don't really have portals in places like Nevada where the majority of the state is desert. Trees make a good cover, which is why if we DO need to go to places like Nevada, we have things like Slender's disguises." Jeff explains. I nod along and then he glances at me from the corner of his eye. "Which reminds me. Like I said, only the unnatural can see and go through them, so your gonna have to hold onto my hoodie when we go through." He glances away now. 

"Oh okay..." I say slowly. "What should I expect?" I ask. I hear him take a deep breath. 

"You won't be expecting any of it. So just stay behind me when we cross over. As soon as they see me they are going to try and kill me... Again." Jeff says, rolling his eyes. We walk only about 5 more minutes and then Jeff stops. "Here," Jeff says. 

I look around confused. It looks like just a random part of the forest, except for two trees that twist around each other. They make a slight arch shape. I point at it and he nods. It definitely looks like it could be just a random area in the woods. I go and walk through the archway back and forth. It doesn't even feel different. He slightly laughs. 

"I told you. It won't do anything to you." He says. "Now grab the back of my hoodie. It might feel like a weird vacuum feeling, but u eventually get used to it. But whatever you do, do not let go. I mean it Misty." He finishes. I nod quickly. I feel my heart in my throat. It's beating so fast. 

Jeff walks forward, I follow, holding tightly to his hoodie. As we walk through, it feels normal at first. But then there is that vacuum feel Jeff warned me about. It feels like my whole body is just being suctioned. Everything around me is an odd pink and blue color, but I can't focus on it because everything keeps blurring in and out. But then, just like that, the vacuum feeling fades, all the colors faded, and I'm hit with an intense feeling of nausea. 

"You can let go now," Jeff says quietly, he looks at me and laughs. "Sorry, I forgot about nausea, its there for the first few times." He says. I nod. 

I see Jeff look around confused. 

"I guess slender really has been watching us. He knew we were coming and that's why no one is there trying to kill me right now as we speak." Jeff shrugs. "That makes my life easier I guess." And he nods for me to follow him.  

We walk down a visible path that leads straight from the Portal. This forest has thicker trees than the ones from before did. We walk a few more feet and that's when a white, rot iron fence comes in to view. Followed by a giant yeard... And then the BIGGEST house I've ever seen in my life. Jeff wasn't kidding when he said mansion. It looks to be maybe 6 stories, with possibly even an attic, and there is probably even a basement. The house is completely white, with black trim and a double door painted red as the front door. There is bay windows scattered throughout the front of the house, and I can see some of the sides too. I wouldn't doubt if they go all around the house. 

I'm so busy admiring the house, that I don't notice the fast movement in the yard. When I finally notice, I see flashes of red and black moving across the yard, coming at abnormal speeds towards us. As it gets closer, I hear growls.

"What the hell IS THAT?!" I say as I quickly run behind Jeff. But I notice jeff isn't scared, or defensive. He's smiling and is now lower to the ground, but not by much. The big red thing is close enough for me to see that it's a dog. A red and black dog. 

It jumps towards me and looks as if it's about to maul me when Jeff catches the dog by the collar and pulls it back. That's when I see it. The dog has teeth. Like. HUMAN teeth. It bears its fangs looking at me with a human-like smile. I back away slightly. Jeff is standing straight up now, holding the dog back, which is now standing on its hind legs and it taller than jeff, who is about 6 feet tall. Jeff laughs. 

"She's with me Smile! Calm down!" Jeff laughs and the dog instantly calms itself, but still glares at me. The dog... Smile? Is now back on four legs and is rubbing his head on Jeff. Jeff laughs and pets him before looking back at me. I give him a terrified look. 

"I told you it's nothing you would expect," Jeff says, shrugging. He waves for me to follow. 

We walk through the remainder of the yard and up to the front door. Jeff pauses before opening it and walking in.

"HEY IM BACK YOU ASSHOLES," Jeff yells, it echos off the walls. 

You walk into the living room first, which has a massive TV on the far right wall, along with a few bookshelves and long fluffy couches that surround it. I also notice a few gaming systems. Looking straight ahead there is a giant stairway that goes up to the second floor, which has a railing and looks down into the living room. I notice a few doors underneath the staircase. To the left of us is a giant archway that leads into a dining room, and then a giant kitchen on the other side of the table. The kitchen is big enough that 10 people could all be cooking. The dining table alone looks like it could hold at least 20 people. 

My mouth is agape as I'm admiring the house, well, the parts that I can see, when something appears in front of us. A tall man and I mean TALL, at least 10 feet, is now standing in front of us. His face is completely white, no features lay on it either. No mouth. No nose. No eyes. Just a face with structure as if there were other features. He is wearing a black suit and black shoes. Very formal. His presence makes me feel uneasy. I slightly drift behind Jeff. 

"Jeff. I've been waiting." The Tall man's voice seems to be radiating from him. It's not exactly a sound or a voice, but more as if he is talking to us mentally, and not actually making any sound at all. My uneasiness grows. The tall man then turns around and then vanishes. Jeff sighs. 

"Look. I gotta go discuss a few things with Slender." Jeff says, looking uncomfortable. "I'll be around again in a while... so until then, I guess make yourself at home?" Jeff finishes and starts walking away towards the stairs. I watch him disappear to one of the many other floors. Then it's completely quiet. It's just me in this huge room, this new place. New world. I'm alone. 

At least I thought.