Chapter 1: Not Just Stories

The night was silent, strange for the suburban area at this time. The usual rush of cars coming in and out of the noisy chat of friendly neighbors were nowhere to be heard. It was unsettling, the absence of sound. It made people in the cul-de-sac feel uneasy. Still they rested in their beds knowing that something was wrong.

It was only ten at night before something woke Raven up. She couldn't make out what it was, only that it was loud. Her eyes glanced at the clock, surprised to see how early it was.

Raven sat up, her legs dangling off the bed. It wasn't very dark, the sun was still on the horizon given it was summer. Sweat began to build up on her brow and she went to turn on a fan. It was in that short distance that a scream was heard.

The scream was high-pitched and shrill, origination from downstairs. Raven recognized the shriek as her mother's and hurried to reach the woman.

Her body was fluid, and her stride's like a gazelle's. She reached the bottom of the stairs in a matter of seconds. Raven was stopped when she reached her parents' room.

Their bodies were covered in blood. Their faces were ripped and manipulated. Their organs spilled out of them. The scene cause Raven to go into shock, turn into stone. She was about to call out before another scream was heard.

"HELP! AHHHH! Somebody please…HELP!"

The sound came from her brother, only a couple years younger. Raven's body become fluid once more.

Instead of running up the stairs, Raven went to the kitchen. She searched through the drawers until finding a giant butcher knife. Pointing it away from herself, Raven ran upstairs.

It was night by then, making her wonder how long she was actually standing in her parents' room. Raven faced the dark hallway in front of her. Speed had left her and she was stuck with her thoughts. Calculating, Raven went further into the hallway, her brother's room just at the end of it. To her horror she realized the door was wide open and faint mumblings of a mad man drifted from it.

Time was slowed to an unbearable pace. It came to a point where Raven couldn't take it anymore. Instead of being smart, she stupidly ran into the room, knife put into the offensive position.

The man in the room was somehow prepared for her attack. He grabbed Raven's arm and shoved her to the ground. From there she got a good look at his face.

That face, Raven had seen it before. It had pale leathery skin, eyes ringed with black, and a smile permanently scarred on his face. His hair was dead and black. He wore a white hoodie and dark dress pants. It was Jeff the Killer.

Raven knew it was impossible, he wasn't real like other Creepypastas. She jumped to the conclusion that it was some crazy fan that had decided to take his idol's persona. She kept fighting.

Their knives clinked together, almost like sword play. He had a lot more experience than her, but Raven was more level-headed. All-in-all she did well. It was a shame that she lost.

Raven was pushed to the ground, right next to her dead brother. She saw his face, the smile scratched in it. Race almost cried, but refused, she wasn't going to give him that pleasure.

In a last ditch effort to save her skin, Raven kicked out and hit Jeff's knee. He tumbled, forward, and fell on to her. She felt a searing pain in her stomach. The knife had penetrated her abdomen.

Blood was gushing out of her wound. The world started blurring and she couldn't think straight. Raven tried to get up, but was held down. Jeff took the knife, from her body, and started to make a cut from her cheekbone to the tip of her mouth.

Suddenly, there was sirens.

The man got up from Raven reluctantly. He wanted to kill her, but she hadn't given him what he needed, fear. Jeff opened up the window and jumped. Raven heard the loud thud he made when landing.

Raven looked out the window wanting the moon to be the last thing she saw. Her adrenaline numbed the pain, but made her panicky. The darkness edged into her vision. Raven was afraid to die, but she embraced it anyways.

Her eyes closed. Loud steps approached.

When Raven opened her eyes again she was in a hospital. The slightest movement caused tremendous pain.

"Fuck," she whispered underneath her breath after an attempt to sit up.

Raven had a look around the room. Her memory was at best shaky on how she had gotten there. Some tubes were attached to her arms, one leading to a blood bag. How many hours hade she've been out?

Raven took out one of the tubes. A loud beeping pursued which caused a nurse to enter the room. All the nursed did was plug the thing back in and leave. Raven sat there for hours before anything happened.

On hour four, she had, had enough. Raven was just going to make a run for it and worry about the details later. When she had just about worked up the nerve to do it, a man in well-tailored suit walked in.

He looked at her with no emotion. The man huffed as if outraged.

"What?" Raven asked, knowing that it had something to do with her.

"Your bandages," he said in slight annoyance, "they need to be replaced, blood is seeping through."

Raven already knew that of course, but still she looked down to the growing stain.

"Yeah…?" she spoke in a confused tone.

"As a hospital that accepts bribes, lower quality is to be expected, but this poor of service? I'm tempted to ask for my money back."

The stranger walked around the room, rubbing his hand through his graying hair. It seemed to be as if the man had forgotten that Raven was there. Raven, sighed playing his game was the only way to get information out of him.

"What bribe?" she asked, trying not to sound annoyed.

"Your family is dead yes?" he asked rhetorically. "You have no other family members that would miss you, or serious friends that would doubt the news of your death. Your family kept away from the neighbors… Right now you are a ghost, right now you have nothing. This gives me the opportunity, to take advantage of the poor state you're in. I want you to work for me, I want to give you the chance to avenge your loved ones. The bribe you may ask, is for the hospital to keep quiet about your existence. It is more of an investment per-say."

The man finished his speech. Raven almost felt like clapping because of how theatrical and practiced it was. She kept a straight face and asked him another question.

"So what do you want me to do?"

The man tilted his head in response.

"I just told you your family is dead and that's what you ask me?"

Raven tried to block the memories, but some seeped through. She kept strong and fought through the emotional pain. The shock from the trauma must have protected her from this pain, but now there was no way to avoid it.

"So what do you want me to do?" she said in a deeper voice, masking the hurt.

"The monster that killed your family was a man named Jeff Pallock, better known as 'Jeff the Killer'. You may think that he isn't real, but he is, so are the others. The creatures…well…they're not just stories. I would like you to help me fight them."

Raven's head felt like slosh. The thought of other monsters out there sickened her. The thought of other victims made her feel even worse.

She was left with two options: live like a ghost or live like a soldier.

"I'll join you," she said with great sincerity.

The man smiled, showing a new set of wrinkles, and shook her hand.

"I'm glad to have you. My name is President Burrows, leader of the Organization."