Slender Man
It was a rainy night, just like this one, when he found me. The cold heavy rain drops pelting against my window, making it shudder in its place. The deep booming noise of the thunder roaring in the sky and sending a slight chill to my spine. And the quick bright flashes of lightning peeking through the curtain of my room. It was a sleepless night, I found. Not a wink of sleep to drift on as I lay there, curled up in the blankets, staring blankly at my ceiling. Then again, since that night, I could never sleep anyway. Too spurred on by fear, I could have likely developed insomnia. It would be the likely reason for my lack to sleep. But tonight, this felt different. It wasn't fear and insomnia that kept me awake. No, it was that dark feeling in my stomach, coiling around deep in my gut. It was HIM.
A sudden, earth shaking boom erupted from the sky as lightening flashed dangerously. I flinched and held on to my blankets tightly. His outline filled my room and I cringed at his crude figure. This was too much like that night before... Too detailed and with that same heavy atmosphere. It was just too much like that one night.
It was a week and a half ago. The rain just a light drizzle during the night. Nothing really to worry about. After a day of lessons in my plain old school, a few friends had asked me if I wanted to join them through a night crusade in the forest at 12. I agreed and went home down my usual short cut. I knew then that I shouldn't have taken the offer, being as school would be the very next day and exams would be kicking up. But it was too good of an offer to refuse. I had gotten home and danced in my room, to hyper about the upcoming events to sit down and go through assignments given by my teachers.
Slowly, the clock ticked by and my excitement grew too big to contain. When 11:47 rolled by, I had dressed quickly, unlocked my window and clambered onto the roof. The drizzle was slowly turning into a down pour and it was difficult to walk across the roof without slipping. But I had managed to get to the far side of the roof and dangle myself on the ledge, hopping off and making a mad sprint down the stormy road. It never crossed my mind to think of the consequences of sneaking out on a dangerous night. My excitement kept the serious, kill joy side of me locked up in a forgotten cell within my mind. Maybe if I had, I would have never gotten into this mess.
When we had met up by the forest, it was a full blown storm raging around us. Maryah, a small dark skinned girl was shaking in her boots, chirping in that we should probably go home before the storm could get any worse. We should have listened to her. Maybe they would still be alive today. One of the three boys in our group, Frank, her boyfriend, held her in his arms and said that everything would be alright and nothing would happen. It was a very obvious lie, but it put her mind at ease. We made a plan to go to an old abandoned barn on the other side, used for rather illegal thing. Why we wanted to go there was still a painfully confusing question in my mind. Another girl, a slightly chubby short person with limp hair, Vivian, said that we should go now before the storm made it worse. Flash lights, maps and mace were passed around us, ensuring a safe trip through the thick forest. We split into groups, Maryah and I, Vivian and a few other girls and then the boys. We said our good lucks and wandered onto different paths.
Oh how we should have listen to Maryah.
The thunder was booming around us, a few minutes into the game, making the trees quiver. I was calm and determined not to let a little thunder ruin my night. But Maryah was a withering, shaking, sobbing mess beside me. Maryah was always the weak hearted and poor with horror. A storm was ten times as worse than a calm night to her. A loud clap of thunder boomed loudly and Maryah screamed in utter terror. She stopped in her tracks and buried her face into her hands, trembling in fear. I could see tears forming at the corners of her eyes. She shook her head slowly as she fell to her knees in the mud. "No. No no no no no. I refuse to continue this... This suicide trip anymore! I'm going home!" Maryah cried. I looked over her in surprise before grabbing her hand and holding it in mine. She looked up at me with teas dripping from her lashes. I smiled fondly. "Don't worry Maryah. There's nothing to be scared of except thunder and rain. And I'm here with you. So you'll be A-Okay." I assured her. She only shook her head. "That's easy for you to say, Autumn! You love horror! And you don't feel fear at all." Maryah complained.
It was half true. I, Autumn Veterio, was known as the Horror Priestess. I loved scary things and horror and often preached it to my companions. But that never meant I didn't know fear. I just smiled and pulled her up. She was reluctant but she allowed me to proceed with my actions. "How about this. If you just follow me to the barn, I promise we'll take an immediate U turn and I'll take you home. Is that a deal?" I asked. She looked up at me with hopeful eyes. "P-p-promise?" She whispered. I smiled and held her hand tight. I nodded. "Promise." I replied. She tackled me into a hug and whispered endless thank you's . I patted her back before pulling away and holding her hand. We walked together in silence, just listening to the endless down pour around us.
Maryah suddenly stopped and looked sharply behind her, her eyes widening in fright. I followed her gaze but saw nothing to worry about. But she continued to stare off into the distance. I snapped my fingers near her face and she lightly flinched and looked at me with dazed eyes. "Yeah?" She asked. I gave her a concerned frown. "You ok? You looked like you just saw someone get hit by a bus." I replied. She, in turn, gave me a weak smile and nodded. "Yeah. Yeah I'm fine. "Maryah muttered. She gave the area one last glance before tugging on my hand, chirping that we should go now, and very quickly. I turned to look at the area and saw a slight movement from the trees before it stopped and disappeared. I allowed myself to be dragged along, but wondered what had scared her.
The barn was old. Its red paint was either almost entirely gone, peeling or brown with age. The wood was damp and rotting, making it highly dangerous to have a very large amount of weight on it. The inside smelled heavily of marijuana and smoke. Maryah and I were on the second level, sitting at the edge of the opening and looking for our friends in the dense fog. "Autumn... What if they got lost... Or killed... Or even kidnapped!" Maryah rambled, her voice getting higher with the possibilities. I just shook my head. "We would have heard screaming or someone would have called us." I replied, hoping to calm her somehow. It wasn't working though. "We should go down and check." Maryah whispered, standing up and walking toward the ladder. "Well this is a change." I replied, following her as she climbed down. "What do you mean?" She asked. I smirked and jumped off halfway down. "You wanted to get out as soon as possible and now you're willing to get killed yourself." I answered.
She turned to me and frowned. "But they're our friends! Vivian, Frank, Hunt, Moxie, Dalay and Cor. We can't just not help them!" She exclaimed. I held up my hands. "I didn't say we shouldn't. I'm just making note of your sudden change in emotions. You're a very weird person Rya. That's all." I surrendered. Maryah just looked at me before sighing and wandering off into the outside. She turned to me, rain pelting her. "You coming?" She asked. I opened my mouth to reply but a high pitched scream erupted from the forest and ended just as suddenly. We had both turned to it in shock.
There was the sign. Maryah turned to me, her bottom lip quivering in fear as she realized who that scream belonged to.
"Vivian."
We had made a mad dash toward the scream, slipping down the side of the hill, with adrenaline surging through every bit of our bodies. It was too foggy to see correctly but we were lucky enough to dodge the trees and bushes and boulders in our way. We found our way to where we heard the scream. It was a small clearing, shrouded heavily by fog and we were being pelted endlessly by bullets of rain. Long ago we were wet to the bone. Now this was just ridiculous. With our backs together, we looked around the shrouded clearing. "Viv!" Maryah called, her voice dripping in fear.
No answer.
Maryah's breathing became fast as she fell to her knees. "I knew it... I KNEW IT! We should have never come here! I knew it was trouble. But no! No one ever listens to me!" Maryah yelled. She gripped her hair and shook her head. "Maryah! Get a hold of yourself! We'll find everyone and get out ok. And maybe Viv got scared by an owl or so-" I was cut off. We were both stuck in horror, gazing at the thick tree in the center of the clearing. The fog and slowly disappeared and gave us a terrifying scene. One that was bound to stay with me until my dying day. Maybe even beyond that.
The front of the tree was stained in a horrific amount of blood, still fresh. We followed the stain, our hearts in our throats as we saw the black boots that Vivian had worn with her uniform when we met up. The legs were held apart by bloody black barbed wire. They dug tightly into her pale skin and broke through the skin, small beads of dark red sliding down into her boots. The dark navy blue skirt was shredded and splashed with a line of blood. More barbed wires were tied around her hips. Her yellowish white button up had a deep red stain going in a vertical line down her chest. Her head was bowed, an occasional drop of blood falling from her hidden face. Her hands were outward, tied to two branches, blood dripping from the wire at her wrists. Vivian...
Maryah got up from the ground and shook her head slowly, chanting 'no' repeatedly before suddenly letting out a loud, blood curdling scream. I was snapped out of my shock from seeing Vivian like that and turned quickly to Maryah. I grabbed ahold of her and dragged her away from the tree as she continued to scream and cry. It died down when we got far enough. The small teen clung to my side with tears flowing in a river down her face. "I don't want to be here anymore. No more no more! Let's get out! Please please please!" She begged, tugging violently at my uniform. Truth be told, I didn't want to be here myself. There was something here, something looking around for someone to kill. I shook my head quickly and pulled on her up. "What about everyone else!" I questioned, trying to keep my voice at a low level.
5 different screams echoed around us. 3 male and 2 female. Both our hearts, I bet, had leapt into our throats as we hugged each other tightly. This was bad. This was really bad. "We have to look for them. We have to make sure they don't end up like Viv." I whispered to her. Maryah nodded slowly. "As much as I hate too, I know we should," She whispered back. "But they're in two different locations. How will we get to both of them?" I looked down at her and it took her a few seconds to look up at me and give me the angriest look ever. "No. Hell no. We are not going to be the stupid ones in some cheesy horror movie where they split up and the killer takes us out when we least expect it." Maryah said strictly. I returned her an apologetic look. "Sorry." I replied. Maryah gave me a suffering look before signing and looking away. "Alright. Fine." She muttered. I nodded and started done the path where I heard Moxie and Dalay's screams. "I'll go after the girls and you go after the boys. If you find them and they're OK, they should be able to protect you. Alright?" I asked. She hesitated but nodded slowly. I gave her a weak kind smile. "Good luck."
When I returned to the tree Viv had been tied to, the wires had been cut and she was resting to the side on the tree, her legs tucked under her and her hands curled together in her lap. Vivian's face was still hidden by her hair and blood still stained her skin. If it were not for the blood, it would have seemed like she had fallen asleep. I kneeled in front of her and placed my hand on her cheek, feeling the dried blood beneath my skin. I felt a single tear gather at the corner of my eye. I tilted her head up to get one look at her face... And I cried out. I backed away in fright and fell to the ground after tripping over a hidden root. Her eyes... They weren't... There They were just two dark sockets with a stream of blood like she had been crying blood tears. Her head yanked downward and she once again looked peaceful. I, on the other hand, was too freaked out to really get up. I just continued staring at her until I finally found my sense and slowly stood up.
Poor Vivian.
Another echo of girlish screams caught my attention and I looked up to the rain clouds before looking back at Vivian. I bowed my head before turning to the left and running toward the screams. Please let them be alive! Please let them be alive! I begged as I ran through the forest, dodging the trees, boulders and bushes through the thick fog. Both Moxie's and Dalay's screams kept echoing around me, torturing me with the feeling of helplessness. I turned the corner just as they suddenly stopped and I froze in my tracks, purely disgusted and horrified.
A single tree was in the middle, its thick branches without leaves but sprayed with blood. One branch sank a little bit. It had bloody barbed wire curled around it. Two girls hung below the branch, the wire tied tightly around their bodies. Blood dripped off the edges of their clothing, fingers and hair. Their backs were together and their lifeless form shifted in the slight breeze.
Below them, a figure was shadowed under their feet. I backed up quickly as it stood up and backed away itself a little. He was... HUGE! He was slender really but the man looked like he was 8 or 9 feet tall. He wore a dark suit and something very white was over his head. It cocked its head to the side and turned quickly. His face was only a blank surface with bones. He 'starred' at me as I backed away slowly. A ripping sound filled the silence and a jagged mouth had ripped into his blank features. The sharp tongue and sharp teeth with saliva stringing through. He smiled and suddenly disappeared. A static like sound, like when a TV loses cable, roared in my ears and I closed my eyes as his 'face' kept appearing. I quickly lodged my fingers into my ears and screamed loudly, just as he appeared behind me and a rope like substance curl around my stomach. I felt my heart leap into my throat as the ground below me disappeared and I was tossed into the air. I screamed loudly and kicked wildly, but all to no avail. I suddenly stopped, a dark empty feeling blooming in my stomach. I felt sick and dead. This wasn't right, this was all wrong, nothing here was OK. I opened my eyes and froze in place, my blood chilling and my eyes widening in fright. He was close to me, his faceless features staring blankly at me. My vision began to blur and a static sound erupted in my ears. I opened my mouth to yell but my shout was cut off and blood trickled past my lips. He cocked his head to the side, like he was smiling, and drew me closer.
"AUTUMN!"
The man's head snapped toward Maryah's voice and a demonic growl rang in my ears. The rope like substance disappeared and I fell to the ground and collapsed, spiraling in and out of consciousness quickly.
Maryah stood by the trees, yelling angrily and glaring sourly at the man. I blinked and saw that Maryah was suspended into the air. An aura coursing through her small body. I blinked again and her scream echoed, as well as a wet explosion. I opened my eyes and saw that the area that Maryah had been in, was dowsed in blood, completely covered. But there was no body though. All this blood yet no body to connect it to.
What is going on here?
I laid there in complete stillness till I found my sense of feeling. I slowly got onto my feet and placed a hand on my head as a terrible pain thundered around my head. I shook it away and stumbled across the blood soaked field and into the trees, going nowhere in particular. I was just... Going. It felt like an eternity, with me being in the pain I was and just what the night brought. I reached another small clearing. There was a body in the middle of it, wrapped tightly in barred wire and its guts spilling out on either side. It was gruesome sight, yet it didn't faze me like it did with Vivian. I've seen 3 dead bodies and my friends blood coating a large portion of a clearing. This compared to nothing. Upon further inspection, I saw that it was Frank. His eyes were gone and he had wire stuffed into his mouth. He looked awful. I looked over his side and saw his phone suddenly go off. I reached for it and tapped the screen, and I was graced with the image of 911 17:21. At least he had time to call the police. I placed it to my ear and spoke in a raspy whisper. "Hello?" "I GOT SOMEONE! Ma'am are you ok? Is the man on the other line anywhere near by or alright?" The girl on the other line asked. "He's dead. And no I'm not. I just witnessed my best friend get killed and the remains of 3 other people tied to trees." I answered. There was silence on the other end before she spoke up. "Where are you?"
The call ended. A hand touched my shoulder and I slowly looked up. Maryah smiled at me demonically. So did everyone else. Only a blue glow was in their eyes. Vivian, Maryah, Moxie and Dalay were all covered in blood. Frank was still covered in a huge amount of wires. Hunt and Cor, twin brothers with sandy blonde hair and bright orange eyes, were soaking wet with wire tied around their shoes. The man was behind them, a smile ripping across his face. "Join us Autumn Veterio. We can all be friends." His voice was frightening and demonic, yet soothing as ever. Maryah cupped my face and smiled at me. "C'mon Autumn. Join us." She pulled on my arm and dragged me closer to them. I was frozen at first from seeing my dead friends. I lashed out violently with my nails after. Maryah growled as the cut bled and she launched at me. I dodged easily and ran out of the clearing. It was a chase. They were all too fast and close. I was weary and weak. They were going to catch me and kill me. And the man didn't help either. He appeared at randomly, spawning behind trees and attempting to snatch me up with branch like arms and rope tentacles. But I just dodged him and kept running. Running until I saw the break of trees. Running until they all went away. Running until I was home. It didn't take long. I broke from the forest, tripped over my own clumsy feet and face planted onto the gravel. Their footsteps, laughs and voices echoed around in my head, becoming a pounding pain. I turned onto my back and saw them all kneeling on the ground, the man behind them, his hands behind his back and his tentacles in the air. They smiled at me with black toothed mouthes and nonexistent eyes.
And just like they were gone. A light flashed behind me and arms were around my waist, pulling me up. I let out a blood curdling screech and writhed violently against the man. He struggled and got me to look at him, to recognize he was a police officer and there were officers, police cars, the chief and parents all around us. The press was pooling at the caution tape, hoping to get a look at me. He led me away to the parents, as I walked by, the press leaned closer in and screeched questions at me and took bright photos. The police tried their best to keep them at bay. But they kept yelling for answers to stupid questions. Leave me alone. I just want to be alone.
I was put in a hospital after that and forced into therapy. I dropped out of school because students, even teachers, hassled me for answers to what happened that night. The only thing they knew was that Vivian, Moxie and Dalay were tied to trees. Frank was tied in wire and had wire stuffed in his mouth. Hunt and Cor were by the lakes edge, their feet tied with barbed wire to a large rock, they had been drowned and then brought up. Maryah was found in the barn, a noose around her throat, a fallen chair beneath her feet. All their eyes were gone. I was the only who made it. And I had press at my door every day, looking for answers and police asking for statements. My parents refused and slammed the door in their faces, unwilling to let their child relive that night. They cared for me in advance. They looked after me closely and invited me more often to little family activity. But tonight was different.
A loud tapping came from the window, mixing with the rain coming down heavily. His figure was still framed in my wall, along with my friends shadows laughing around him. He beckoned me to the window and I followed. I knew who he was now. And I knew he would never let me go. Because that Is just how Slender Man works. He'll just keep hunting you and hunting you and will never go away. I opened the blinds and saw him standing on my roof, his face the only thing in my window. I opened the laches and opened the window. We just looked at each other. "So you came. After a week and a half, you've finally come for me. Just like I knew you would." I muttered. He nodded slowly and his arms came through, wrapping around my waist. I put my hands on his face and cupped his cheeks. My vision blurred and the hearing got static. I smiled and hugged his head. "Lead the way."
Sunset Island Times
December 12, 2011
Witch Forest Murders Survivor Gone.
16 year old Autumn Veterio went missing on December 11, 2011 during a rainy night. The window was left open and a few things were missing. No struggle or force entry was noticed. If anyone has any tips on Veterio's disappearance, notify police immediately.
Sunset Island Times
December 19, 2011
Witch Forest Murders Survivor Found Dead.
16 year old Autumn Veterio was found dead in the old barn in Witch Forest. The bodies of Maryah Latch, Frank Dosile, Hunter and Cordio Barracks, Moxadia Doylent, Dalay Breech and Vivian Links were laid in a row in between the door and Veterio. Veterio was found hanging from the same noose used in Maryah's hanging. The same chair beneath her feet. Funeral to be held on December 21st from 12:00pm to 4:00pm at Brookside Cemetery.