I am ancient. I have been alive for nearly four-hundred years. Most of my long life has been a mess of evil, promises, deaths, and kin. I am a mark of fear and evil. I am THE mark of evil. My story has gone unheard for centuries, and I grow impatient. You are here, so will you sit and listen? Live a little longer before I tear you limb from limb? Excellent. I should introduce myself better, but you probably already know. I am the pale mask of despair and evil. I am Slenderman, and this is my story.

Dead leaves crunched under my boots as I walked through the dense forest, the cold wind blowing through my ruffled brown hair. It was my birthday, and the Master Blacksmith had allowed me to take a few days off to see my family. Four years ago, I had been apprenticed to the grumpy man by my father's will, forced to leave my secluded childhood home in the woods and my twin, Avis.

Two hours of dense forest later, I arrived my home. A large clearing had been opened up in the forest, the bright blue sky finally visible after my long trek through the woods. Glancing around the clearing, I noticed a few differences. The barn had disappeared, the only thing left was a charred area of dirt where grass refused to grow. The large garden had expanded, and huge stacks of preserved corn and wheat were stacked up against the wall. Where was everybody?

I turned to the house, a little worried. Had they gone to town? On a nice autumn day like this, Da should've been working to rebuild the barn, or tending to the crops! The house itself looked well kept, the dark wooden boards in good repair, the windows washed, and an oil lamp burning in the window. Why were they wasting the oil? Mom had always been very frugal with our supplies, mostly because we were twenty leagues from any other people, and fifty from a town.

I heard a rustling behind me and whipped around, thinking a boar or bear might have walked up behind me, but there was nothing. I heard a soft laugh from above. Above? I looked up just in time to see somebody jump down from a tree and barrel into me. "What the hell?!" I managed to squeak, my brother squeezing the life from me. "Aris!" He cried happily, his hug surprisingly strong for such a skinny boy. "How are you?" I grinned. "I'm doing great, Avis! How are you?" His smile disappeared quickly. "I'm alright." he replied reluctantly.

I frowned at him. "What's wrong?" He looked at his feet, his eye boring a hole into the dirt. "I'm fine, like I said. Da and mom aren't, though." I looked around worriedly, hoping desperately that the worst hadn't happened. "Are they... sick?" Avis shook his head. "They died." he said simply. "Da was in the barn when it caught fire, and mom ran in to save him. Neither of them escaped. When the barn burned out , I searched for their bodies and found something weird. There were no full corpses, just charred chunks of flesh scattered here and there, and with all of the cows and goats having being in the barn, it was impossible to tell if all of the body parts were together when I buried them."

I stared at Avis in shock. "Dead?" How long ago? I whispered. "Seven months." He replied solemnly, his one eye tearing up. I hugged him hard, ruffling his hair. "Avis, how did you survive?" When we were kids, Avis had an accident that resulted in him losing an eye. He had tripped over a root onto a sharp pole, which had speared into his eye, just barely missing. He had been lucky to live. Ever since that day, I had promised to protect my twin, and I had been furious when Da had forced me to become a blacksmith's apprentice, leaving Avis behind. I had been the one to leave the pole outside.

Despite being identical twins, I was much larger. We were of similar height, but I was much more muscular from my apprenticeship. Avis was still wiry and thin, good at climbing trees and exploring forests. None of those skills explained how Avis had survived alone, having to grow a large amount of corn and wheat. Surviving this long must've been difficult for my smaller half-blind twin.

Avis looked at me, hurt. "You think I'm weak." It wasn't a question, but a statement. "No!" I protested. "I ju-" He slapped a hand over my mouth. "Don't deny it! You think I'm weak, and you're right. I'm not as strong as you, but I have other abilities. I may not be able to lift an anvil like you, but I can use one muscle better than many people. My brain. I figured out an underground irrigation system from the nearby river, I planted Red Clover to keep pests away, and pulling weeds is easy. I gathered as many acorns as I could store for acorn flour, and gather berries."

I quietly removed his hand from my mouth. "Avis? I'm sorry for offending you. I never meant to, I was just in shock from hearing about Da and mom. You're incredible, I never would have even thought about some of the stuff you devised! Will you please forgive me?" His eyes softened. "Of course, and I'm sorry for being so defensive. I just..." His voice faltered, "I just missed you!" I smiled and pulled him into another hug. "Don't worry Avis, I'm here now. The blacksmith let me visit!"

His face crumpled again. "You're visiting. I forgot for a few minutes, I'm sorry." I frowned, a battle raging in my mind. What should I do? Da made the blacksmith apprentice me, and I was already almost finished with the apprenticeship, but I couldn't leave my smaller twin alone! Surely Da would forgive me under the circumstances! "Avis, I'm not going back." He frowned. "What?" I grinned at him, his deep green eyes narrowed in confusion and his mid-length brown hair mussed. "I'm not leaving you, Avis! I could never forgive myself if I let my little brother sit here alone for two years! How do you feel about going on an adventure?" He frowned. "I was born a minute before you. Who are you calling little?"

I frowned, and was about to speak when he broke into laughter, and I was so relieved that I nearly cried. I was so worried that he had lost his old, sweet, kind, funny personality, but it seemed like it had never left, just been in hiding. He grinned, pulling me into the house. "An adventure sounds perfect, but only after our birthday dinner! I'm so happy that I don't have to be alone! I need to make more, I only made enough for one person!"

I watched him frown in concentration, making a large dinner akin to what mom had used to make. "Need any help?" I inquired. He looked at me, grinning. "Yeah! Soak the bitter out of the acorn flour, will you?" I frowned, confused. He rolled his eyes with a sigh, walking over and explaining it to me. "Pour the acorn mash into the cloth, soak it, wring it out, repeat until no longer bitter. Understand?" I nodded sheepishly and began to work.

A few hours later, a large completed meal was sitting on the large oak table. Avis and I sat down and began eating the rabbit I'd caught, acorn bread, goat butter, corn, and carrots. It was the best meal I'd eaten in a very long time, and I ate ravenously. "So, Aris?" Avis asked, eating calmly, "How is your blacksmith's apprenticeship going?" I thought for a moment. "It's alright," I replied, "Just a little boring. It's very repetitive, and the customers are self-righteous nobles with too much money and not enough brains." Avis broke into a smile, laughing. "That sounds worse than what I've been doing here! At least this is interesting!" I fell quiet.

"Avis?" I asked softly, "This adventure I was talking about... How do you feel about leaving tomorrow?" He frowned and set his fork down, his green eyes locked on mine. "Why?" He questioned. "I just think it'd be a good idea." I said lamely. "It feels wrong to be here with Da and Mom gone. I know it's very rude of me to appear out of nowhere and ask you to run off with me, but I can't leave you alone, and now it simply seems wrong to live in a home with so many painful memories." He frowned, buttering a slice of bread. "I see what you mean."

I waited patiently, knowing he was thinking hard. I felt bad for asking, but I knew it was the best choice. I hadn't told Avis, but ever since I stepped into the clearing, I felt someone watching me, a malicious force. "Alright." He said suddenly, startling me out of my thoughts. "Let's go tomorrow." I smiled at him, slightly surprised. "Thank you, Avis."

We washed the dishes and packed two bags full of food, waterskins, a flint and steel, a few private possessions, most of our money, and a bedroll. "Let's get some sleep!" Avis said cheerfully, flopping onto Da and Mom's old bed. I smiled, wincing inwardly at the sight of Da's knife. I slid it into my bag and laid onto my old bed, falling asleep more quickly than in years.