The sun had already set and the only source of light in the park's forestry was of a small fire that a group of five campers in their late teens had constructed themselves. The tallest man who was commonly known as the leader snapped a stick in half and tossed into crackling fire pit, using the wood as fuel to keep the gas burning. "It got dark fast," one of the others commented, looking up at the inky sky.

"Hey, you sure we're allowed to be here?" another asked, an apprehensive expression on his face. "I mean, camping in this park is okay, right?"

"Why?" the leader snorted, "You scared?"

"No! I'm just worried it might be illegal, and you know they say things about this place..."

This caught the youngest boy's attention, "What kinds of things?" Never in his sixteen years of life had he heard the urban legend of the park.

"Y'mean you don't know?" the leader glanced over, a mischievous glint in his eye.

"Oh man." The second boy facepalmed. "Dude, please don't get into this..."

"No, he should know! After all, it was around here that it happened..." The leader gestured around the woods, his grin widening.

"What was?!" the youngest demanded, trying to hide the little amount of fear he had.

"Well..." the tallest drawled as he reached for a flashlight. He flickered the light source on and shined it in his face, "It all began back in 1956 when he was first spotted."

"Who?!"

The flashlight flickered. "Slenderman."

The other boys in the group shuddered.

"Is that the best you can come up with?" The boy was amused. To think he was worried about nothing.

"No you don't get it." The leader chuckled darkly. "The Slenderman is something else entirely."

"Uh-huh, whatever. You're just making this up." the sixteen-year-old wouldn't hear it.

"You need to listen up." The boy sitting next to him smacked the back of his head, "This is some serious stuff, man."

"Alright. Spill it, then."

"I thought you'd never ask." The group laughed. "Right, so back in 1956, there was apparently this big mass murder in this forest. Six college guys were found pinned to a tree, their guts removed."

"That could've been anyone!" the boy argued, "We live in freaking Oregon. This is like serial killer central!"

"Serial killer central?" One of the boys rolled his eyes.

"Nope." The leader shook his head. "Just Slendy-central."

"Slendy?!" the boy repeated, eyebrows raised.

"Yeah, that's what we call him." The second boy shrugged.

"Back to the story, guys." the leader wanted the attention back on himself, "okay... so after the gruesome deaths in 1956, more deadly murders have been happening by the Slenderman."

The group fell silent as they listened.

"It seems like, every time someone wanders into this very section of woods, they never come back out. Their bodies are found later, disemboweled and completely gutless."

"Then how do they know it's the 'Slenderman' who did it?" The youngest was still skeptical.

"Some jumped the fence," the leader shrugged. "He creeps up behind you, slowly driving you crazy before you die. Even those people who made it out safe aren't the same."

"...Okay, if this is real, why the hell are we camping out here?" the youngest stared at the leader, regretting going on this trip.

"Ha! You're scared, aren't you?"

"N-No!"

"Chiiicken!"

"Shut up!"

The leader imitated a chicken's clucks, mocking the boy.

"I told you to shut up!"

"Wait!" One of the other boys held up his hands, eyes wide. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" the youngest glanced nervously over at the other boy.

"It sounds weird..." he murmured, "Like a pounding; listen!"

"You're making it up," the sixteen year old scoffed, rolling his eyes. "This is just like you guys, staging a prank to freak me out."

"Dude, I'm serious!"

The leader frowned, confused, "I thought we were trying to scare 'im. You really hear something?"

"Yeah, listen!"

The group fell silent, listening hard to the sounds of the forest. It was very faint, but there was a distinct thrumming sound deep in the woods.

"I-I'm going to... Oh god, I am not dying young!" one of the boys stood up in a hurry, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. His voice fell to a whisper, "You think that's him? Slenderman?"

"No, because Slenderman isn't real," the kid said, looking irritated. "Come on guys, knock it off!"

"W-we should pack it up and leave." one of them suggested, slowly getting to his feet.

"This isn't funny!"

"Will you shut up?!" the leader snapped, looking terrified. "This isn't a joke!"

Around the group, the drumming got louder.

"Where's the fence?" the leader demanded.

"This way! We need to go now!"

The boys lurched to their feet and bolted in the direction of the fence, with the horrible feeling that they were being followed. The youngest trailed behind; still thinking this was part of their prank and not feeling any urgency to hurry. The leader was first to make it to the fence, gesturing wildly for everyone to jump the fence first. One jumped up and scaled over, frantically gesturing for the others to follow. The leader and a few others managed to get over, leaving the youngest and a seventeen-year-old left.

"What the hell are you two doing?!"

"Yeah, come on, hurry it up!"

The seventeen year old reached his hand up to get pulled onto the fence. The hand slipped out of the other's grasp and the seventeen year old fell backwards onto the ground, in time to hear the pounding sound come from only a few feet away. He turned his back resolutely, refusing to look behind him, and when the youngest let out a shrill screech, he had to let out one of his own.

"Get your ass over the fence now!" The leader was near hysterics.

"I don't think I can make it! Shit!"

"Where's the kid?!"

"I don't know! He was just right behind me!"

"DO NOT LOOK BEHIND YOU. JUST CLIMB," One of the others yelled, pale as a ghost.

The teen was just about to hop over when he felt something or someone grab his shoulder. Immediately, a chill ran up his spine, feeling numb with fear. He froze in place, shaking violently. Slowly, the boy turned his head to see what was behind him.

The blank facial features and tentacles were the first things the boy saw, his heart stopping from fright before the creature could do anything to him.

"Sl-Sle...!"

And with those last words, the men took off down the road, screaming bloody murder.