Slender

Today

I wake up in the middle of the night, sweat beading down my forehead, my body shaking. I was unable to recall what happened inside my dreams, but it wasn't pleasant. Slowly, I get up off the couch where I had fallen asleep and move into the quaint apartment kitchen. I pour a bowl of corn flakes and eat it dry, washing the last of it down with milk straight from the jug. I make my way to my room and change my clothes into ones that weren't damp with sweat, then, I go back to the couch and get comfortable again. Suddenly, my phone rings and I jump about five feet in the air and carefully pick up my ringing phone, then slide and wait for the familiar voice to come over the receiver. The voice I used to hear clearly everyday, but it doesn't come. It will never come again because she was gone. A heavy breathing comes through instead and then words muffled through hissing.

"Come finish what you've started." The line goes dead and I drop my phone, stumble back over to the couch and collapse onto the plaid cushions with a feeling of nausea and dizziness.

It was him.

Yesterday

I woke up with crisp golden sun shining on my eyes and the smell of hot coffee drifting into my bedroom. I get up, slip on some clothes, and went into my kitchen. Scarlet stood at the counter in a gray tank top and fluffy pajama pants dotted with hearts, her glossy black hair clipped up off her neck. She turns around, flashes me a smile, and hands me a full mug of steamy hot coffee. We took a seat across from each other at the island counter and drank our coffee in silence.

"Did you hear about the girl who went missing last week?" she says, breaking the sweet peacefulness that lingered amongst us.

"Yeah, it happened in Dan's territory didn't it?"

"Yeah, I bet he did it. He's a freak"

"Scarlet, maybe he's just..." I couldn't think of anything decent to explain what I thought. He was a freak. Dan lived in the woods behind the park and nobody ever saw him. Those who had, were scared for life, they changed. Most people in town had taken a liking to calling him Slender Dan because of his resemblance in behavior to slender man.

"I think," she starts, "we should check it out. go see was really back there." I stare at her in disbelief.

"Scarlet, you are insane!" I say loudly.

"You, me, and Kyle tonight. We'll meet at the park."

"No Scarlet!"

"Well, you say he's not a freak so let's do it. Kyle's obsessed with danger and the unknown, so he's already in." I sigh nervously. "Please?" she bags and slides over to me, A pleading look on her face.

"Fine," I agree reluctantly.

"Thank you!" she says joyfully and gives me a quick kiss on the cheek.

Later that night

Darkness came over the town fast and soon enough, I was making my way to the park, where Scarlet and Kyle be waiting. They were there, waiting on the swings, going back and forth slowly.

"Hey, Mitchell!" Kyle says gleefully, flagging me down to the swings. A few of his friends I recognized as Lindsey and Jullian were standing beside Scarlet, looking nervous.

"Hey, guys," my voice was shaky and flat of expression, but they ignored my visible nervousness and got tho their feet eagerly.

"Let's go!" Scarlet yells, grabbing at my wrist and dragging me along with them to the woods, as if I would desert them half way there. Like I would do that. Maybe to Kyle and his friends, but never to Scarlet. I loved Scarlet, cared to much about her to leave her side in Slender Dan's woods.

"You sure about this, Scar?" Lidsey says, questioning Scarlet's judgement.

"Course she's not!" Jullian answers for her. "But that's the beauty of it!"

"Oh, joy! Uncertainty!" I mumble sarcastically, but no one seems to notice.

We approach the edge of the trees and stare into the dark silent woods before us. Jullian reaches into a black duffle bag stowed in the bushes behind a large stone. I watch as he pulls out five florescent vests, a few flashlights, and some pocket knives for each of us.

"Just to be safe," he states with a nod. I slip the vest over my black t- shirt and place the knife in my vest pocket. Lidsey tosses me a flashlight in which I flick on immediately.

"Turn that thing off! You're gonna get people's attention that we're out here!" Kyle scolds. I flick it off again as Scarlet walks up to Jullian.

"I've got a better idea," she says and pulls out five pairs of night vision googles from her drawstring bag.

"Night vision googles! How'd you get so many?" Kyle asks in awe.

"My dad works at a dooms day prep shop. He gets 50% discounts on everything. I also got us a night vision camera. Gonna need some proof to show the fuzz."

"Sweet!" Lindsey exclaims, overjoyed. I was begging to feel like I was the only one left with a nervous feeling.

"That's cool," I say, trying to sound interested, but Scarlet didn't buy it. She turned around, hands on her hips, and said, "Relax, Mitchell. Have some fun." Have fun, yeah. Let's all go into a crazy man's woods and have a field day.

We start off as soon as we fixate our goggles and the world turned into an even worse, eerie green color. We still held onto our flashlights, but kept them at our sides. Scarlet, who had taken the camera, turned it towards her and said with confidence, "Okay, we are going into Slender Dan's forest to find out the truth about this monster," Scarlet says and turns the camera back around to the woods.

What seems like hours goes by wandering in the woods until we come up to a large wrought iron fence, the gate swaying back and fourth on its hinges. We all abruptly stop and wait for a moment, unsure of our next move.

"C'mon guys. It's just a gate," Jullian states, though the confidence in his voice wavered. He took a step forward up to a large tree.

"AHHHHHHHHH!" he yells and bats at something in front of him. I direct my attention to him and notice he was hitting a long rope dangling from the branch above him. A noose. I take a few steps back and swallow.

Jullian raced back to us, a look of horror splayed upon his face. "A NOOSE! THERE IS A NOOSE HANGING FROM THAT TREE!" he yells.

"We got that Jullian," Lindsey says, placing her hand on his shoulder. Then, a blood curdling scream pierces the air and Scarlet points over to the gate. A lanky man in a suit with no face stood there watching us. Or maybe not, he had no eyes, but I didn't rely on that theory. I turn and sprint the other way, as does everyone else.

We come to a halt at an old torn down building. "Guys, look at this," I say as I lean against the building, trying hard to catch my breath.

"You're next," Scarlet reads off a large poster taped to the side off the house.

"Looks like it's written in blood!" Kyle s creams.

"Oh, Kyle, don't be silly." Scarlet pulls it down off the side of the building.

"Yeah, Kyle. It's probably ketchup," Jullian jokes and Scarlet sends him a threatening stare.

"It is only to scare us, you two." She snaps. She turns the camera onto herself and holds up the note. "First note. 'You're next,"' she reads. feeling proud.

"Let's keep going, you guys. I don't want to hang around much longer," Kyle states, whimpering.

"Fine," Scarlet says, disappointed.

We come up to a large brick wall with yet another sign posted to it. "Second note!" Lindsey says nervously. "i know where you're at."

We walk through the opening in the wall and into what seemed to be a maze, other than the fact that tombstones lined each side. Suddenly, Slender Dan appears in front of us and hisses loudly. I let out a scream along with Kyle and we all dart back the other way. Pretty soon, as we come back up to the fence and on the hanging tree, as we have come to call it, was another note. I walk up to it, pull it down, and read it for the camera.

"Third note! 'You can run but you can't hide." I swallow hard and Scarlet stashes the horrid letter in her bag. A loud hiss comes from behind us, this time, we all scream and turn to see Dan standing behind us, multiple tentacle-like arms reaching out from behind him.

"Split up!" Jullian yells and we all disappear from the scene in different directions. I run into the trees without looking back. Somewhere behind me came a scream and I stop dead in my tracks. Scarlet.

"Please don't be Scarlet. Let it be Lindsey. Let it be Lindsey," I mutter repeatedly to myself and turn around. Behind me stood a tall girl with freckles splayed out across her face. Her hair was blonde and blowing wildly in the wind. She was the last person I wanted to see behind me. Lindsey. Another scream from Scarlet pierces the harsh silence of the cold night and Lindsey crashes to her knees.

"Scarlet!" I yell and begin to sprint back to the hanging tree, but Lindsey trips me with her hand and I fall onto my face.

"You got to leave her, Mitch. We need to go or we'll all die." Lindsey picks me up off the ground and I run hesitantly with her out of the woods, leaving Scarlet behind me.

Later Today

I go in alone this time. I know exactly what I'm going to do. I waste no time getting to my destination. The iron fence now looms before me and I stand next to the hanging tree. The camera lay on the ground still on and recording. I pick it up, stop it, and replay the footage. I stop it on a picture of Scarlet smiling, take one last glance, and direct my attention to the figure behind the noose. Slender Dan stood there hissing and arms flailing around behind his back. Five more notes, that's all I needed. I turn away and run in the opposite direction towards the graveyard. I go through the two brick walls and see a new headstone against the wall. Scarlet's. Above it was the fourth note. I open the cameras and speak to it, continuing the recording.

"It is now the next day. Slender got Scarlet and the other's are not here. I'm going to continue this. Fourth note. 'She has paid--Now it's your turn." I keep moving. Only four more notes.

I turn out of the graveyard maze and run up to the house where we had found our first note, but nothing was there, so I hopelessly dash into the forest. After all, I had to finish the game somehow. Then, there it was, plastered to a tree. I go up to it and flip open the recorder.

"Note five. 'I always win.'" I made it quick, wanting badly to hurry up and get this all over with. From there, I take an untraveled path up to a fenced in area. Slender Dan greeted me at the top and I turn and run in a split second. Again, he appeared in front of me, so I turned and made my way back to the house.

On the window was note six. "Fear is your worst enemy," it read.

I keep going, knowing Slender is on my tail. I detour into the graveyard and come up to the dead end near the entrance. Stuck to the tree, yet another note. "One wrong step," it read as if to threaten me. I now had seven notes. I only need one more.

Another hiss came from behind me and I turn and run to the hanging tree. There, posted on the trunk, was note eight. Then, I hear a low hiss in my ear and turn around. Slender Dan stood behind me, all eight arms extended, ready to kill me. I knew this was it, I couldn't reach note eight, his arms already had me by the arm so I couldn't run. I take a step up on the soapbox behind me and swallow with fear.

I pull out the camcorder and take one final video. "Note eight. 'The end."' I position the camera so the note is visible from where I'm at.

"At the hanging tree is where you will find two stolen souls of her's and mine. Slender Dan stole them, a man so disdain, that he only did it after you've felt enough pain. For those of you watching, I hope you've not won, if only you'd be smart enough to just run. I no longer have that option, Slender has already got me, but I am not letting him have the joy of my death."

I do the most unthinkable thing. I grab the noose and slip it over my head.

"Goodbye and the end."