Hey guys! Yeah, first Slender story. Anyway, just like to tell you that I wrote a lot of this at around midnight so every few seconds I look behind me fully expecting good ol' Slenderman to be there to kill me or whatever he does to people who look at him too long.

Chapter 1

Time-0700

"Happy birthday Gregory!" Everyone was smiling, and the knife was descending on the cake, a large pile of presents lay within eyesight. Gregory smiled, this was the best day ever...

It was a boring day on the bus to work for Jerome once again. Today more memos would be written, boring meetings would be attended, and he would sit in his boring chair in front of his boring computer that was probably made back in the 90s. Oh, well, at least he got paid for it. Jerome checked his watch.

"Great, still another hour left till I get there" he sighed to himself. He looked around to see if there was anyone worth talking to to help pass the time. There was an old lady across from him but there was no way he was going to get talked to death by some old grandma talking about her grand-kids. Looking on his other side he saw a man slumped down in his seat, obviously asleep. He looked as if he'd been in a few fights. Probably some kind of thug. It's probably best to let sleeping dogs lie. Sighing again, Jerome decided to do what the man next to him was doing and attempted to fall asleep. However, just when he was about to doze off the man beside him jerked awake and startled Jerome. The man's eyes widened to an unbelievable size and he looked at him and said softly,

"Where am I?" Jerome smiled, this fellow had probably gotten drunk earlier.

"You're on a bus on the way to Kansas City"

"Kansas City? Where's that?

"It's in Kansas" Jerome said rolling his eyes. Clearly this man had been drinking way more than was healthy

"Where the hell is Kansas?" Jerome frowned, getting impatient with this man. "It's right smack in the middle of the United States of America." Suddenly the man's eyes widened so much that it looked as if they would pop if they got any bigger.

"How the hell did I get to the USA?" said with a look of utter disbelief.

"I don't know, where are you from" Jerome asked questioningly

"I'm from London, England" the stranger said, still dazed by the knowledge that he was in Kansas. Jerome started laughing. "What the hell do you think is so funny" the man screamed. Jerome, barely managing to contain his laughter said "that must have been one hell-of-a-party."

"THIS ISN'T A JOKE" the man screamed.

"Hey, keep it quiet back there" the bus driver yelled."Or I'll kick you out!"

"Sorry, sorry, I need to compose myself" the man started whistling a faint haunting tune.

"What's that song?" Jerome asked questioningly. He'd never heard of anything that sounded so strangely familiar and yet so distinctly alien.

"I don't know, my mother sang it to me when I was young. At least, I think it was my mother" Jerome suddenly felt his heart melt for this stranger, he wanted to help him somehow.

"Alright, let's walk through this. What's the last thing you remember doing. Did you go to a bar or a party or something" Jerome inquired.

"No, nothing like that. The last thing I remember" the man pause and then hesitantly said "The last thing I remember was my 6th birthday."

"No kidding" Jerome said questioningly.

"Yeah, why don't I remember anything else. Why is everything else a blur. I can't remember anything. It's like one minute I'm 6 years old, and the next I'm... hell, I don't even know how old I am, but I feel like an adult too. I feel like I've lived a life. I just... don't remember any of it." Jerome was shocked, at first he thought the man was putting him on, but if he was he was a hell of a good actor.

"Well, do you remember your name" Jerome inquired.

"My name is Gregory Truman" he said. "I knew what my name was when I was 6 years old Jerome." Suddenly, he stiffened as the bus pulled to a stop. "This is where I get off" he said instinctively.

"How do you know?" Jerome asked. Suddenly Gregory looked at Jerome with a luck of utter loathing and contempt

"Everyone knows when they get off, it's just that not all of them like it." Then he walked down the aisle and got off the bus. The door closed and the bus kept driving, leaving Jerome to wonder about just what had happened. At first he thought it was real and Gregory was telling the truth. Then he realized that Gregory had said his name. He thought back, he didn't think he had told him, so someone else had to have told him his name and meant this whole thing as a prank. He nodded, and even laughed at himself for believing such a tale. It was just a prank, that was the only logical explanation.

Time-1900

News report

"Police are investigating what appears to be a homicide that occurred at the Lighthouse apartments. According to the police a man named Jerome Craft was murdered in his apartment. Police were first alerted to the crime scene when the woman in the apartment next to him heard agonized screams of pain and fear."

"Ah was jist getting' home from my grocery shoppin' when I hear all kindsa screams n' squeals comin' from the next room over. Now I knows I don't live in the best o' neighbahoods so I goes to my phone and I call the police thinkin' it might be a feller in trouble."

"When the police arrived at the scene they found Mr. Craft sprawled on his bed. He had been skinned alive. Police say he was still screaming when they came into the apartment. They said that as soon as he heard them; he was unable to see them as his eyes had been plucked out; he told them that it was the devil himself. The devil in a suit."