"Now you know where the emergency numbers are, right?"

"Yes, Mrs. Pond."

"Joey has to be in bed by eight, but his sister can be awake for about 30 minutes longer."

"Okay, Mrs. Pond."

"I don't want you giving them any of the candy in the house yet, there are still a few more days until Halloween."

"Alright Mrs. Pond."

"If you could let the dog out every couple of hours, that would be great. He usually sits under the couch."

"I'll do that, Mrs. Pond."

The woman smiled, ruffling Alice's hair. "Cute." She started to the door. "We'll be back around midnight, and we'll be calling every now and then, so keep the house in one piece, alright?"

"Okay." Alice waved as the woman walked out the door, closing it behind her. She smiled, falling down onto the couch. Alice was a pretty girl, about 17 years old. She had short, black hair and large green eyes. She wore a white tee-shirt, a light blue skirt, and blue and white striped socks.

The children ran up to Alice, the boy, Joey, taking the television remote from her. The girl, Jenny, handing Alice a little blonde doll with a blue dress. "She's beautiful, Jenny. What's her name?"

"Alice. I named her after the girl in my picture book."

Alice smiled. "Really? That's where my name came from, too." She giggled to herself as she pretended to let the doll walk across the table. "My parents always joked I would get lost down the rabbit hole and never come back."

"Did you ever?"

Alice shook her head. "I got lost once, but never down a rabbit hole." There was a loud crash. Alice spun her head to Joey. "What is that you're watching?"

Joey turned to Alice. "It's The Simpsons," he said, pointing at the screen.

Alice walked up to the boy, taking the remote from him. "Now I know your mother wouldn't like you watching this." Alice changed the channel.

"-what we are now suspecting to be another of the slender murders."

She cursed under her breath. "How about you two wait upstairs, and I'll read you a story in a second, okay?"

The children ran upstairs. "I bet I'll beat you up there!"

"No you won't!"

They both had smiles on their faces.

Alice turned back to the television, recoiling at the man on the screen. "The suspect is still the infamous 'Slender Man', who we still don't know much about." The man was at least seven feet tall, wearing a black suit and tie, and didn't seem to have a face, save for two golden-yellow eyes cut out of the mask. "His mask conceals his identity, making him the most elusive criminal in years." Alice turned the television off, sighing as she collapsed onto the couch again. As her hand slipped to the side of the couch, she felt the dog lick it, calming her down.

She walked up to the kid's room, grabbing a book off of their shelf. She sat down at the edge of Joey's bed, all while admiring the pictures in the book.

"What are you reading us, Alice?"

Alice smiled. "Alice in Wonderland."

Jenny smiled. "That's my favorite!"

Alice giggled, turning to Jenny. "I kind of figured." She opened the book to where the bookmark was. "Chapter Seven. A Mad Tea Party..."

"...'That's very curious!' she thought. 'But everything's curious to-day.'" Alice looked up from the book, seeing the kids both asleep. She smiled, closed the book, and walked back downstairs. As she neared the bottom of the steps, she felt a cold air pass her. She reluctantly looked toward the front door, and felt her heart stop as she saw it wide open. "Oh my God." She quickly darted to the door, shutting it and locking it. "Oh my God, oh my God, someone's in the house..." She took some deep breaths. "No... no one is in the house... Mrs. Pond didn't lock it, maybe the wind blew it open..." She realized what she just said. "Mrs. Pond didn't lock it."

Alice shivered. She walked to the bathroom, feeling as if she was about to throw up. As she turned on the light, she screamed. On the faucet of the sink was the head of the family's dog, dripping blood into the sink. And on the mirror, Alice read, in blood, 'humans can lick, too.'

Alice ran out of the bathroom, too afraid to think straight. She picked up the phone, dialing 911. It took a few seconds before someone picked up. "Hello?" There was a man on the other end of the phone.

"Sir, please, help me! There's someone in the house, I don't know what to do!"

The man tried to calm her down. "It's okay, miss, just stay calm. I'm sending a car to your house right now. In the meantime, hide out in a closet or something. We'll be there in a few minutes."

Alice sighed with relief. "Oh thank you, thank you so much."

"You're welcome. Have a safe night, ma'am." Alice hung up the phone. She immediately ran to the hallway closet and hid behind the kid's coats. She started to breath easier, calming down. A few minutes later, she heard the phone ring. She was almost afraid to leave the closet, but quickly ran to the phone.

"Hello?"

"Lady, we just talked a second ago, listen, it was a double-pickup. Get out of there right now."

Alice dropped the phone. She heard something breathing. Loud breathing. Deep breathing. She faintly heard the man on the other end of the phone. There was a feeling on her shoulder. As she looked at it, she saw a pale white hand placed on it. She slowly turned around, too afraid to do anything else.

"Alice?"

She felt her heart start to beat again. "Mr. Pond! Oh my God, you have no idea how glad I am to see you here!" She felt tears start to run down her cheeks. "I was so afraid. And I saw the dog, and, I mean..." she couldn't hold back her tears anymore. "I was so scared!" Her eyes shut as she continued to cry.

"Oh, Alice, it's fine. You don't have to be scared anymore."

She opened her eyes, looking up at Mr. Pond. "Thank you... I just..." As she finally got a good look at Mr. Pond's eyes, she suddenly felt faint.

"What is it?"

"Your eyes... they're... gold..."

Mr. Pond smiled. He stood up fully, revealing his unusually tall stature. "I guess I put on the wrong contacts this morning." Mr. Pond reached across his face, and started to pull it off.

Alice choked in fear. "Your face was the mask..." Alice felt a hand wrap around her throat. And then she really started to choke.

Joey woke up at about midnight. He smiled at the figure in the room. "Daddy, you're home! Where did Alice go?"

The Slender Man smiled. "Back to Wonderland."