AN: I hope you guys like the new story! This is technically, the first one I've ever written (minus school projects) and it has had MANY touch-ups done on it since last year. Constructive criticism is ALWAYS welcome and feel free to tell me what you think! I have written out a large portion of this already, so it will be updated again soon...just don't know when yet...I'm seriously too lazy to set a date for myself to follow. But don't worry, it will be done!

ENJOY!

WARNING: Gore

EDIT: This has been recently updated. Nothing much, just some grammar/spelling, stuff like that :)


Retreating Shadows: Part 1-Chapter 1

"Why are you so tall? Where has your face gone?" The man looked at the little girl, clutching the sleeves of her shirt with a goofy smile on her face. He looked around him, unsure where she had appeared from. He couldn't see anyone else nearby. He felt a mixture of curiosity and an acute sense of wariness as he assessed her. She looks safe enough, he thought, just like any other kid.

He was surprised to see that she didn't look frightened in the least, in fact, she seemed quite inquisitive. This intrigued him because every person that he came across was absolutely terrified of him, although he did suppose it was because he enjoyed making them feel that way. It was his face he delighted in scaring them with the most, with no eyes, mouth, nose or any facial markings, he was quite a sight. A sharp set of cheekbones that hollowed out and milk white skin was all his face had. He looked rather charming in his opinion. He pointed to his face with an extremely long, pale finger and the little girl made a strange noise between a gasp and a giggle before saying hurriedly:

"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you!" the man bent down and patted her head with a massive, pale, spidery hand that had long thin fingers that were too sharp on the ends to touch. He caressed her head with his palm she tilted her head, humming at the contact.

He stood back up again, a staggering seven feet in height and surveyed the children's park they were in, looking for the little girl's parents. He wasn't worried that people might see him; he was well concealed in the trees that surrounded the park. It also happened to be right next to his forest that surrounded the small town of Westlington.

"What is your name? How can you see without any eyes? Do you trip when you walk?" asked the girl again with more urgency. He noticed the stick in her small, delicate hand she held up to him. He smiled in his special featureless way. His shoulders shook slightly with his quiet laughter and the girl joined in too. (Even though he would never admit it to anyone in a thousand years, it was nice to have someone who didn't have a vendetta against him take an interest)

It was considerably comical with the girl reaching as high as she could, holding a stick about half a meter long. She didn't even reach halfway up his thighs (this is a particularly small specimen, thought the man, perplexed). He knelt down again and took the stick from her gently. His movements were calm and discreet, but with purpose - none of his efforts were wasted. He wrote in the dirt:

My name is Der Ritter, though some others call me; Der Groββman or The Operator. But most call me Slenderman.

"I don't need a mouth to talk to you either."The girl gasped as she heard a voice inside her head. It seemed to have come from the tall man, but he didn't have a mouth. So how was he talking to her?

"Hmm." the girl mused, her arms folded. After a moment she let out an exasperated sigh and let her arms fall to her side loosely.

"I can't read some of those words," She whined, pointing to the ground, "but I'll call you Slendy!" He snorted his obvious disapproval.

"Hey! It's just a nickname!" she yelled, crossing her arms stubbornly. It was clear to Slenderman that she was upset because of his reaction, so he placated her.

"I'm sorry," the girl who had been looking out into the forest resolutely, glanced up at him before turning her back to him again, "I shouldn't have said that, thank you. I like that name."He was already growing bored; he had hoped she would be a bit more interesting.

"You're very welcome Slendy!" the little girl exclaimed cheerily, accepting his apology. Slenderman noticed that she looked confused for a while before resuming her normal expression of what appeared to be curiosity (Although Slenderman wasn't quite sure of that yet).

Turning away from the girl, Slenderman looked around the park again, trying to spot a pair of adults who were likely to be the girl's parents. She jumped around him, shouting joyfully and laughing wildly. Getting annoyed with her carry on, he turned around angrily and searched for the cause of her exuberance. He couldn't find one; she appeared to be laughing at nothing. This could be a long day, thought Slenderman to himself gloomily. He reached down and held her arms by her side, and covered her mouth with his hand. She stopped moving immediately, her giggles muffled.

He let go of her after a bit and looked around the park again, trying to find any adults without children next to them. After a while he said:

"Are you going to stay with me all day, or do you have a family to go to? I'm very busy you know." He was hoping she would point out where her parents were, but she just squealed and clapped her hands. He assumed this meant she would be staying around a while longer.

Slenderman stood up again and scoured the park once more for likely candidates. Concluding that he would have to go out and look for them himself and just about to grab her arm, he noticed she had a strange expression on her face. She looked like she was in a mix between deep thought and pain. Her face was screwed up in what looked like a rather uncomfortable position and her hand was on her forehead, little fingers splayed out across her brow. It was a rather strange look for her plump, youthful face.

"I'm bored!" the little girl suddenly whined in annoyance, then, in a unexpected mood change, her whole demeanour went from irritated with her arms crossed to happy and clapping her hands in excitement. Slenderman found this quite amusing, recounting the last time he had laughed at a child. That was quite a different context though. "I know! We can go for a walk together! You can tell me what you're like on the way," Slenderman thought about this uncertainly, "Ooh, you can carry me!" He didn't like this part of her idea at all.

She may be simple and annoying, but not completely boring. I think I can handle one day with her around, Slenderman thought. He was starting to grow an interest in her, watching her clap and dance around in glee. He still thought she was too noisy, but he decided to keep looking for the child's parents as they walked together. He might be able to learn something from her. There were many things about human children that still confused him.

He shook his head when she asked him to carry her again and she stamped her feet angrily. She sat down in the dirt and made a strange snuffling noise that confused him greatly. Is she swallowing her tongue? He thought. Then she began crying loudly, and he nervously looked around him, being sure that no one in the busy park heard her. Seeing some parents glance their way, he bent down so his knees were resting in the dry soil. He was slightly upset that his pants were dirty now, but at least he was average human height, should anyone look their way.

She stopped whimpering and looked up at him, wiping the tears off her face. (He sighed, exasperated by the girl)She saw him kneeling down and hopped up, springing onto his back like a tiger. She giggled wetly and Slenderman swore he felt droplets run down his neck. The parents, not seeing anything, turned away from them and Slenderman breathed a sigh of relief.

As he stood up again with ease, he placed the little girl on his shoulders; and then looked around cautiously for anyone facing their direction. He knew it would create a large stir if he was seen.

He didn't want another Germany 1792 situation. The father got way too close for comfort, he thought unpleasantly.

As the little girl shrieked and laughed at being up so high (Is this what Slendy sees? She thought, this isn't so scary, it's fun!) Slenderman mused over whether he should leave her in the park or take her to his cabin in the woods. Slenderman was sure she would offer a lot of information to him, but he didn't want to busy himself and overdo it.

He had already taken two children in the past year and attacked a woman in the street last month. He didn't want to the public getting too paranoid and locking up their kids. After a while of feverish thinking, he realised he was making mumbling sounds in his throat and turned his head to check she hadn't heard.

She seemed preoccupied with looking down at the ground, his long and thin (but by no means frail) legs taking large steps. Slenderman continued to debate with himself over what to do with her, the temptation growing stronger and stronger to just change direction and walk into the woods with her still on his back. But he kept walking around the edge of the park, just behind the first line of trees.

It was as he was winding in between all the trees surrounding the park and still talking to himself when he realized the girl was looking straight down, staring at his chest. He craned his neck and watched her, as her eyes trailed down lower to his long, pointed black shoes and then back up again to gaze at where his face would be. She wore a puzzled expression and Slenderman pondered what she was thinking about. She asked suddenly;

"Why are you wearing a suit? You're not going to a funeral are you? Why is it black? You look so smart! Or do you work in an office like Daddy used to? He did work in an office, but now he builds stuff. Does your daddy build stuff?"

Slenderman wasn't sure how to respond. She's asking so many questions! But then again, he pondered; all the clever ones do.

He stopped walking and looked down at himself, observing the clothes he was wearing. It was a simple, yet smart, jet black suit with a white shirt and a black tie. His shiny black dress shoes were pointy at the end and had laces which were tied in neat bows. He stayed still too long for the girl's liking and she huffed loudly. Slenderman turned around and saw her face, thinking she looked amusing when frustrated. He would have to remember that for later.

"Well,"he said, continuing his stride again, "I guess I just like these clothes the most."Truth be told, it was the only set he had. It was his father's, passed down from generation to generation. He was the only one of his three brothers to get the suit. One had decided to pick their own attire to wear for life, and the other chose to make his own clothes out of earth fabrics. A tedious task, as Shadow beings didn't stop growing until they were at least two thousand years old, but his brother seemed to enjoy it nonetheless. Slenderman realised while he had been thinking, he was getting closer and closer to the forest edge. He withdrew further into the trees. He could have made himself invisible to everyone, but it would have limited the chances of him meeting children. The girl on his back was evidence of it.

The girl wriggled on his back and asked to be put down which he did, still caught up in his thoughts. As he busied himself with obscuring themselves from the view of the people, he saw the girl getting closer to the edge of the trees, dancing and twirling happily. He sprouted a long, thin, black appendage from in-between his shoulder blades and it slithered silently through the air over to her. It wrapped itself around the child's surprisingly small waist. She squeaked in surprise as a black, shiny tentacle wrapped itself around her and swiftly heaved her backwards, Slenderman being careful as to not hit any tree branches.

He realised far too late that the girl's cry of surprise would have carried to the adults and they would be sure to come and investigate. He gazed through the trees out into the clearing and could see a group of women walking closer, all chatting happily still. The girl looked up at Slenderman with her arms crossed and a furious scowl on her face.

"Why did you do that?" she asked angrily, "You could have hurt me!" Slenderman shrugged his shoulders as a crude apology.

"Stay quiet."He said gruffly, thinking quickly about what to do next, all the while listening intently for sounds of people approaching. He realised that if the women found him, there would be a lot of panic, especially if he was seen with a small child, he did look rather sinister after all. He had been seen before with children and he knew there were people looking for him. He enjoyed teasing the younger ones stupid enough to venture in his forest, but there were others who already knew too much about his existence. He didn't want to endanger his whole species after all.

He knew it would make things extremely simple if he wasn't seen by the women, so he thought of ways to be avoided. I could wipe their memories, he thought, but the women could be left with side effects and people who know what they are looking for could recognise them. I don't want to have to kill the women, but it would make things so much simpler! And I really don't want to get all bloody! But I need to get rid of them…and...Well, I guess I don't want the girl to see such violence.

Deciding a course of action, he said in one long breath,

"I am going to pick you up and put you in that tree,"he pointed to a very high up branch and continued hurriedly,"donotlook at down at me and donotmake a noise. I'm going to play a game with the people coming; it's called Who Can Scream the Loudest?"

He knew the name was cheesy but it was the best he could come up with under the tense conditions. The girl looked up at Slenderman's smooth head and nodded saying quietly: "Okay, I'll be quiet. But why can't I look down? I want to play the game too!" Slenderman groaned in frustration. This was taking too long; he could hear the hushed voices of women approaching where they were huddled together. They had stopped chatting and were moving through the foliage, listening for the sounds of anything.

He didn't give a reply, instead he just picked her up and stretched himself, a huge twenty feet tall and placed her on a thick branch close to the trunk. After making sure that she was secure and had her eyes closed, he brought himself back down to eight feet and prepared himself for the worst.

He spotted the women walking in a single file line after a tense thirty seconds. He took one last glance up to make sure the girl was still holding onto the tree. What will I do with her when this is all over? He thought as the woman in the front of the line saw him and screamed. He made the first blow to an older woman's abdomen with a tentacle, savouring with sick pleasure the feel of warm blood all over his hands. Oh, how I enjoy this! Slenderman opened up a split in his face, full of jagged, sharp teeth and laughed in elation. It echoed for miles around and the little girl in the trees' eyes shot open staring wildly into the forest.

He realised that the young girl above him was screaming along with the women down in front of him. He wasn't sure whether she was playing the game or not.


AN: You guys liked it? Don't forget to review!