Title- Guardian Angel

Author- OroKabuLover

Disclaimer- I don't own Slenderman, Rose is a random character that I made up.

Artisan's Chronicle- I thought of this while in school and immediately began to scribble down notes, this is what it turned out to be!

Slenderman sighed as He walked along in His forest, His black shoes snapping twigs beneath them. The sun was starting to vanish in the horizon, casting long shadows along the ground.

He stopped when He thought He heard something. No. Someone. His head jerked up as He listened for any other sounds. He turned and changed routes, instead of heading home, He walked in the direction of the sound.

The being watched from behind a tree as a little girl danced in a clearing, spinning in circles.

He had already eaten that day, and didn't exactly want to have a snack, mainly since the family of campers satisfied Him.

He stepped out from behind the tree, approaching her. She stopped dancing immediately and looked up at Him.

"It's late child, I'm sure your parents are worried," He said, looking down at her.

"They're not home," she said.

"How old are you?" She held up five fingers. "You're five and you were left home alone?" He asked, slightly doubting her claim.

"I'm always alone."

"That won't do at all. I'll take you home," He held His hand out for her.

"Thanks Mister!" She smiled and took His hand. He held her hand gently, noting how small it was compared to His.

He had always paid attention to details and to the little things. He instantly noticed the dirt caked under her nails, the mud that clung to her clothes, and her hair was a mess and obviously hadn't been washed in days.

He let her lead Him to her house. She pushed open the back door and held it open for Him. He quickly shrunk Himself so He stood at only seven foot tall. She closed the door behind Him.

"Is it always this cold in here?" He asked, noticing it wasn't any warmer inside than outside.

"Ya, mom says we don't need heat," she said as He looked around.

The home was much different than any of the other human's houses He had been in before. Usually there was a couch or two and a television, but the living room was bare except for a folding chair. The kitchen was the same way. He walked into the kitchen, the child following Him.

She watched as He opened a cupboard, finding bottles of liquor. He went around, looking in each cupboard and cabinet, finding it either empty or stocked with alcohol.

"Why isn't there any food?" He asked, getting down on His knees to get a better look at her.

Her eyes were completely gray, dark bags hung under her eyes. Her yellow shirt was stained, torn, and fraying. The clothes hung loosely on her and her tennis shoes were brown with mud, duct tape was wrapped around the toes of the shoes to keep the rubber sole on. Her small breastbones jutted out. He instantly knew she wasn't very healthy.

"Mom says it costs too much," she said.

"Where are your parents?" He asked, not understanding why such a young child would be left alone, in a cold house, without food.

"Daddy left in an airplane for work. I don't know where Mom is."

"I'll stay with you until one of them returns so you aren't alone this evening." Her face lit up. "Now, when was the last time you had a bath?" She shrugged her shoulders. "Too long ago if you cannot remember," He said as He stood back up. She nodded and led Him up the stairs to the bathroom. He flipped the light switch, but no lights came on.

"We don't have power either," she said. He sighed and grabbed the pack of matches fro the counter and began lighting the candles in the bathroom. Even He had electricity.

"Do you have another change of clothes that you can put on after your bath?" She shook her head.

"I bathe with them on, that way they get washed too," she smiled happily.

He then began to put two and two together, her mother didn't mean that they didn't need heat, they didn't have it at all without electricity. No lights, no heat, no food.

"Do you even have running water?" He asked.

"It's not warm," she said, "it's always a cold bath. But it's better to drink cold water than warm water," she nodded and pointed to the small paper cup by the sink.

There wasn't even any hot water for her to bathe in.

She turned on the water and quickly grabbed a towel.

How had she not gotten ill yet? A cold bath, being in cold, wet clothes, then walking around in a cold house.

He watched as she took off her shoes carefully, handling them as if she'd rip them or break them. She whimpered as she stepped into the tub, which was already halfway full with cold water.

"Here," He said as He removed His jacket. "Take those clothes off and bathe, you can put this on once you're done." She looked at Him, standing in the water.

"Okay," she smiled as she stepped back out of the tub and began to remove her clothes, tossing them onto the floor.

It wasn't the first time He had seen humans without clothes on, they often did it down by the river. She stood there shivering from the cold air of the house.

"Wait here," He said as He went back into the kitchen, finding the electrical box. The door swung open with a creak as He checked the switches to be sure the electricity wasn't turned off on purpose.

He was able to turn electricity off, so why not turn it on?

He sighed and watched as the lights flickered on. He made His way to the thermostat, knowing He couldn't keep the power on for long, it would drain His energy quickly. He turned the heat on before going back up to the bathroom.

"You got the lights on!" She smiled as He pulled the sleeve of His dress shirt up and reached into the water, pulling the plug to drain the frigid water.

"Now, let's get some warm water for you," He said as He dried His hand off using the small hand towel on the counter. She smiled and began to fill the tub up with warm water.

"Wow! It' feels good!" She said as she got into the tub, splashing in the warm water, turning it off once the tub was halfway full. He pulled the sleeves of his shirt up more.

"Let's wash your hair first," she nodded as He turned the water on once again and rinsed her hair under the faucet carefully, being sure to not get any in her eyes. He quickly began to lather the shampoo into her hair. She sat there contently not even worrying about getting soap in her eyes, which she always did when she bathed herself.

He rinsed the soap from her blonde hair, washing away the dirt and grease. "All done," He said as He dried His hands off once again.

"Thank you Mister," she smiled as He nodded.

"You never told me your name," He pointed out.

"Oh? I'm Rose?" she said, "And you?"

"You can just continue calling me 'Mister'." she nodded as she began to wash herself with a small bar of soap. She drained the tub and grabbed the towel, drying herself off quickly, noticing that the room was warmer than before. "There, all clean," He said as she looked up at Him. He got on His knees and took the towel from her before draping the jacket over her shoulders, quickly buttoning them up. He grabbed a new towel and tossed it over her head and began to dry her hair as she giggled underneath it. He dropped the towel to the floor before lifting her up and sitting her on the counter.

Rose watched as He went through the cabinet, grabbing a few things. "Let me see your hand," He said as He held His hand out to her. She nodded and put hers onto His.

She watched as He cut her fingernails for her, being careful not to clip them too close. He set the nail clippers down on the counter before gently running the comb through her hair, attempting to remove all the knots.

After about ten minutes, her hair was free of tangles. He put the items back in the cabinet before lifting her off of the counter, setting her down on the floor once again.

She looked up at Him and grabbed the towels, hanging them over the edge of the tub before walking out of the bathroom and leading Him to her bedroom.

He looked around the bare room, a mattress lied on the floor in a corner, no frame or boxspring beneath it. The carpet was dull and stained. It was highly unlike any other child's bedroom He had seen before.

Instead of drawings taped up on the walls, the white walls were bare. Normally toys such as stuffed animals and building blocks would litter the floor but He saw no toys in sight.

The mattress had no sheet on it, just a thin blanket and a small pillow.

"Will you color with me?" She asked, looking up at Him.

"I'll watch," He said as she nodded and pulled a few sheets of paper off of the ground as she grabbed a box of crayons, quickly dumping them out. Slenderman watched as the small chunks of crayon fell from the box and onto the floor, all of them broken. "Why are they all broken?"

"They're old. I got them from the trash in art class," He nodded as He walked over to her, leaning over to see what she was going to draw. "I don't know what to draw," she said, staring down at the blank paper.

"It's late child, why don't you get some rest?" He asked, watching as she nodded and began to put the remnants of the crayons away.

"Will you come to school with me tomorrow?" She asked, looking up at Him once again, sadness shining in her eyes.

"Do you want me to?" Rose nodded quickly. "Then I will. But for now, sleep." He said, running a pale hand through her almost dry hair. "And as I told you before, I will stay here with you until someone returns," she yawned and lied down, pulling the thin blanket over her.

"Good night Mister," she smiled before closing her eyes.

"Good night child," He said in a hushed voice, the lights turning off as the house lost power, the heat shutting off with it.

He stood there, watching as she slept peacefully before vanishing into thin air.