Chapter 1

I made my way to Ian's apartment where Rin and Ren were staying. It felt like only yesterday was the day we'd met in the hall. He caught the box that held my computer equipment, my dad accidentally scaring him off and time we were stuck in Slender for those few days. Now it's almost been three weeks since anyone has heard or seen from him. My concern and fear grew as each day passed, even though our goal was not to panic. Questions swam through my mind which made me worry even more. Was he hurt? Was he even alive? Would we ever see him again...? I shook my head to clear my thoughts and tears that I could feel gathering in my eyes threatening to spill. Rin and Ren were already worried enough, seeing me in tears could make them worse, as they both already had their own sense of guilt about what happened. Rin blames himself because he was the one who brought us to Slender, I kept telling him that he was desperate for help so he couldn't be blamed, it's what any sane person in that hellhole would've done. That cheered him up, but not all the way. Ren on the other hand blamed himself for not being strong enough to realize what he was doing, that he'd hurt his only family. I told him that he couldn't of helped being brainwashed by Slender but he always just shrugged it off or stopped responding after that. His guilt was definitely hitting him harder. Lately they've both been doing a lot better though, I'd been taking them on daily walks through the neighborhood and sometimes even downtown, which they both really enjoyed. Granted if you lived in a horror game for most of your life where it was alway dark I could only imagine that the sunshine in our world felt amazing. I reached the door and gently knocked. The door cracked open and Rin poked his head out.

"Hi Mia." He greeted with a smile, his dark blue eyes shining, black scruffy hair falling in his face.

"Hey Rin, you and Ren ready for a walk?" I asked.

"Let me check. Ren took a... What's it called again? A shower! He took a shower this morning." I giggled and Rin poked his head back into the apartment. "Ren! Are you ready for our walk?!"

"Almost! Just putting on my shoes!" Ren called back.

Rin gave a thumbs up through the crack in the door and opened it fully to let me in. A few minutes later Ren came out from the hall and walked over to us. He gave us a nod saying he was ready and we all headed out into the main hallway. Ren shutting the door behind him. We headed down the back stairs and out the back door so there was a greater chance that my parents wouldn't see us. Today was one of those days where no one really felt like chatting. It was so cloudy that you wouldn't even be able to tell if the sun was out and it was humid, which is pretty rare for California, so it wasn't the most cheerful weather. I think the news even said it was supposed to thunderstorm later tonight too. It's been awhile since I've watched a good thunderstorm.

We walked in silence for awhile when I felt my phone buzz in my pocket. I slowed to a stop as I took it out to see who it was from. It was from Jason, he'd made a group chat with all the guys and me. Maybe there was news! I quickly swiped and punched in my passcode, unlocking it and sending it to the messages app. I read the message quietly to myself.

Ja: Hey, we're all going out for lunch at Subway later. Wanna come?

I gave a small sigh, it wasn't the news I was hoping for, but hanging out with the guys would be nice.

Me: Sure, Rin Ren and I are on a walk so we'll meet you there.

Ja: OK cool, see you soon.

I switched my messages over to my mom, should tell her where I'm going incase she needs me for something.

Me: I'm going out to Subway for lunch with some friends.

Mom: K, have fun. Be home around supper time.

I turned my phone off and slid it back into my pocket. Rin and Ren were looking at me, their faces both concerned and curious. I guess they thought it was about Ian too.

"What's going on?" Ren asked.

"We're going out to lunch with the guys." I replied.

"Yay!" Rin cheered. I smiled, Rin really liked all the different food we had here, so he always got really excited when we went out to eat. Since him and Ren were so dang malnourished all this food was good for them. Subway also had really good food in general so they were gonna love this.

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The walk from my place to Subway was a long enough walk away that we headed straight there. We got there a little later than expected but sluggish weather equals sluggish walking so that was my excuse. Our walk was quiet, as we all kinda remained in our own thoughts, before we even realized it we were there. We walked inside to see Adam and the rest of the guys sitting at the biggest table waiting for us. Adam saw us right away. "Hey!" He called happily waving us over.

"Hi!" Rin greeted back before stopping to get a wiff of the smell that is Subway. There was a mix of waves and hellos and Rin, Ren and I sat down.

"You guys hungry?" Mitch asked with a grin.

Ren gave a slight nod, Rin just grinned his goofy grin and I just shrugged. I was hungry but not hungry enough for a full sub. I'll just get Sunchips, those are good.

"Come on, let's go order, everything is on me." Adam said standing up. Adam always seemed to be smiling, and let me say, it is contagious as I found myself smiling as well. The rest of the guys stood up and followed.

"You want anything Mia?" Jason asked.

"Some Sunchips and a fruit punch please. Garden salsa flavored Sunchips if they have them." I replied. Jason nodded and they all headed over to the counter to order. After about ten minutes, yes it took that long, they all came and sat back down with their food. They all ordered combos so they got the sub, the drink and the chips. Jason handed me the drink and chips I ordered, Jerome gave me a fourth of his sub which was black forest ham and Adam gave everyone a cookie. "Okay, hold on." I said with a laugh. "I ordered Sunchips and fruit punch, not a whole kids meal."

"Subway has good food so we're forcing you to enjoy some." Jerome said with a grin.

I roll my eyes jokingly and laugh before I start to eat the kids meal that has been given to me. The guys all smiled as I finished the sub, I listened to the guys talk and laugh as I ate my Sunchips and cookie and every so often I'd join in with a horrible pun or a funny story that related to the topic they were joking about. For the first time in awhile it felt as though a weight had been lifted off my shoulders and I could relax. Of course in the back of my mind I was still thinking about Ian, I mean I'm sure we all were, he was our friend, we were still gonna worry about him. But I feel like this was Adam's idea, get us all together to laugh and have a little fun. It was a great idea because it worked, everyone was smiling and laughing. Adam had that thing about him, he didn't like seeing his friends sad so he took it upon himself to find a way to cheer everyone up, that was a good trait in a friend. They're always there for you when you're down. I smiled and munched on my chips as everyone told stories and jokes.

Suddenly, I felt my phone buzz in my pocket. I fished it out and read the text on screen. It was from my dad.

Dad: Hi honey, hope you're having fun. We have a surprise for you when you get home! Just wanted to let you know! love you! <3

A surprise? I wonder what it could be? I'll worry about that when I get home. I put my phone away and continued munching.

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A/N: okay, so in my prologue I said that I was gonna keep up with chapters for you all. Trust me I still intend to do so, the only issue is the device I normally update on broke, and I had a bunch of chapters on there and it is unable to be fixed so I had to get a new one. How ever, all of my stuff was lost so I have to try and remember and rewrite what I had. So if the next update takes a little while I apologize.

Also, I've been very stressed out with some stuff going on in life like hard classes and school, I play basketball and we practice every night, I'm quitting a job that is making my life slightly more difficult, I'm currently in the process of moving and just a bunch of other stuff that is filling up my plate and stressing me out, so please understand that I'm trying to get updates for you guys it's just hard right now, so when that all starts to level out, I will update more often, so like next week I have Thanksgiving break, that'll give me a little time to write some stuff for you.

I'm also still looking for a cover :) all you artists out there, comment if you wish to submit one to me. But that is all the announcements I have for you guys right now, I'll start writing the next chapter for y'all when I can. Lots of love :3 byyyyyye

Mo