"He exists, right? He... he was the cause of my dad going rouge!" "If you mean Slenderman, then yes." Choked laughter escaped myself. It sounded like it came from someone who lost their mind. I brought my hands up to my head. It was as if they were the only thing keeping my head from shattering. Oh my god. It all made so much sense now. Those drawings, the destroyed living room, the murders; My father had seen him. That was what made him snap.

Michael interrupted my thoughts. "I'm sure it feels good to know what really happened." I nodded. It indeed did. Just then my thoughts travelled to the rest of my family. "But what about those guys?" He sighed. "They are called "Red Eye" and look for a way to make the human immune to supernatural forces." This only caused more question to pop up in my head. "Then, why did they try to abduct me?" Michael took a deep breath and clasped his hands together. This news would knock the air out my lungs, I already knew that. "Because you have the same ability as your mother."

My eyes narrowed and a frown crept on my lips. He scanned over me. "Seems like you don't like her much." I hissed before telling him, what this woman had done. She just left in the middle of the night. Not a phone call, no message or email. It was like she vanished from the face of the earth. "Understandable. But have you ever thought about why she left?"

This caught me off-guard. At first, I wanted to yell at him, that my mother had abandoned us because she didn't want us anymore. But the more I thought about this, the more I started to realize, I'd never wasted a minute to consider what really happened. I shared the opinion of my father because he told me this. I'd never questioned his words since he was the only one, I had left, and I was a child at the time.

I shook my head. "No matter what your father told you, it isn't true at all. Claire and I knew each other. She was part of this organization after all. But as she cared more and more about her family, she grew weary. So, she contacted me for a meeting. She never came." The dots connected. Those people who wanted to kidnap me, they were after my mother because of an ability. "Does that mean, they abducted her?" Michael nodded and went on to explain, even though there wasn't a solid evidence, he and the others of this organization assumed this was the most likely possibility.

The hatred of her still remained in my brain, though it lost some of its intensity. A question popped up in my head. "Why didn't she tell dad about this?" "Would you tell this your partner? Do you think they'd believe you?" This reminded me of the conversation I had had with Ray and Eliza. We didn't believe her. Then I recalled the incident from last month. Those girls were deemed insane because they had almost killed their friend to appease HIM. No one considered the possibility that he could exist.

"No. They would think I'm crazy."

Michael nodded. "Exactly. And you share that ability with her, making you a target too." I blinked and furrowed my brows. Then I asked him why they'd do that if they got my mum. "She probably didn't survive the experiments that were conducted on her." Now I stared at Michael with big eyes. Those people had done human experiments. How fucked up was that? But as I wondered about it, it made sense. After all, every product which was for humans had to go through tests to deem them safe.

Another question wriggled its way into my head. "What exactly is this ability?" Michael huffed and threaded his fingers through his hair. He seemed to think about how he should tell me. It couldn't be that complicated, right? "Well, you know how some people are immune to certain diseases?" "Yeah." Why did he ask me this? Of course, I knew this. My father had taught me this. From what he had told me, this was why I almost never got sick.

"It's like that. The only difference being you are immune to the powers of supernatural beings."

This made me pause. I was immune? "Really?" Michael hummed in response. "And not only that. It stretches out to the people around you." Once again, I brought my hands up to my head. Massaging my temples, I thought about the implications of that. This ability not only saved me but others around me as well. "We don't know how far-reaching the radius of your ability is."

I closed my eyes and took deep breaths. I needed to sort out my thoughts and feelings. Images of today's events flashed in front of my inner eyes. Memories of the news appeared in my head. This was so much to take in. "So, to put it short, I have an immunity to the powers of supernatural beings and other are affected too. My mother had the same, but my father didn't know. He saw Slenderman when I was gone and slowly went insane, killing and injuring people before committing suicide. Then those guys wanted to kidnap and perform tests on me to reach their goal. You saved me and brought me here."

A nod was the only answer to that.

"Does that mean, I should join you?" "I wondered when you would ask this question", he replied. This didn't answer anything. Well, now that I thought about it, it kinda did. "The answer is yes. With us you'd be safe."

I evaluated my possibilities. Joining this organization would ensure my own safety. But it also separated any relation I had to others. My friends, my cousin, the teachers and other students. It would also force me to work with a group I had no clue about. Yet, if I went back home, I wouldn't only endanger myself but also others. The thought of those people killing Alice, Ray or Eliza hurt me. It would be selfish. I couldn't lose any more people. Even if I had to stay alone, it meant keeping others safe.

"Yes. I'll join you."

Immediately after I said those words, a yawn escaped my lips. I looked up at the clock. It was 11pm.

"Seems like you need some rest." I hummed as a reply. "Then let me escort you to your room." Even though I wanted to question this, my exhausted mind didn't let me. So, I stood up and followed him. The stairs creaked as we stepped on them. Another long hallway greeted me. There were a few doors, three on each side to be exact. He stopped in front of the last door on the left side. I opened the door. Inside was a bed and a closet. Not much, but for the time being, it was enough.

Michael wished me a good night and told me that I'd meet some of my future colleagues tomorrow. So, the other rooms had inhabitants too. Not that I cared much about it anyway.

I didn't answer him and just entered my room. The bed creaked under the sudden impact, but I didn't mind. My eyes closed as soon as I hit the pillow. This day would forever be imbedded in my head. Yet, in this moment, I didn't care. All I wanted was to get some sleep.

There was enough time to think about it tomorrow.