Hello! I have decided to take a break from writing Cause of Death fanfiction and turn my hand to good ole' Slenderman. Apologies or any errors there might be, as I'm writing this on my iPad, and the keyboard is CRAZY fiddly. I'm sorta flying by the seat of my literary pants with this, as I'm not sure how many chapters there'll be. Anyways, enough from me. Enjoy!

Chapter One

Article taken from the Stannington Observer, originally published Friday September 17th, 1999:

FEARS GROW FOR MISSING WOMAN ONE WEEK ON FROM SUDDEN DISAPPEARANCE

Fears are growing for the safety of a Stannington woman who went missing exactly a week ago. Erica Starkey, 29, was last seen on September 10th at around 3:30pm. She was reported missing on September 11th by her husband, Adam. Mr Starkey alleges that his wife went down to the local shop to buy some bread and never returned home.

Mrs Starkey is of slim build, with shoulder length brown hair. She was last seen wearing a white knitted sweater, blue jeans and black slip on shoes. Anyone with any information regarding Mrs Starkey's disappearance should contact the Stannington Police Department.

Article taken from the Stannington Observer, originally published Monday September 20th, 1999:

WORRYING NEW DETAILS EMERGE IN CASE OF MISSING WOMAN

New details have emerged in the case of Erica Starkey, a Stannington wife and mother of a young boy, who vanished without trace ten days ago.

Adam Starkey, Erica's husband of seven years, has told police that his wife was 'behaving strangely' in the days preceding her disappearance.

"She wasn't herself," Mr Starkey, 32, allegedly told police "she got angry so easily, which isn't like her at all. She also seemed... I don't know, scared somehow. She always seemed to be looking over her shoulder. At what, I have no idea. If I asked her what was wrong, she would just look at me blankly. It was very strange."

When asked if he thought his wife was in any danger, Mr Starkey replied: "I didn't myself, no, but she certainly seemed to think she was. It seemed as if she was really, really afraid."

September 10th, 1999

3:45PM

Erica Starkey was most certainly afraid. Her heart pounded a tattoo against her ribs, and sweat ran in rivulets down her temples, soaking her hair. Why were her feet moving? Why couldn't she stop them? She wanted... She... Her thoughts were groggy. She felt as if she was suspended in molten amber, making speech and any movement, save the languid shuffling of her feet, impossible. She knew not where she was headed, but she was sure certain death awaited her. The blocky shape of the store appeared in her peripheral vision, and she tried to angle towards it. The store was familiar, an anchor in the devilish sea in which she found herself afloat, and she wanted to reach out and touch it, but whatever force guiding her now would grant her no respite. Erica found she could not deviate from the path set before her. On she trudged, her heart continuing to pound with a ferocity born of pure, unadulterated FEAR.

Soon, the tidy houses of her hometown faded before her, and Erica found herself navigating a sprawling hill, dotted with pitted crags of rock. Upon reaching the crest, a dense pine forest unfurled before her. There were still several hours of daylight left, but between the trunks of the trees it was black as pitch.

The forest was far from inviting, but Erica felt the irresistible urge to plunge into the depths of the wood, as if the roots of the trees had reached out and ensnared her. An oval of white appeared within the trees, and Erica's eyes snapped to the shape, to capture it in her gaze. Yes, it was an oval. Bone white and smooth.

And attached to a body. But not a body like anything Erica had previously seen. Inhumanly thin and elongated, with similarly thin limbs. At a distance, one may mistake this figure for a very tall, very slim man, but Erica knew, somehow, that this creature was something far more sinister. She knew instantly that this was the creature that had been watching her these past few days, the creature that made goose pimples rise on her skin. The creature that haunted her dreams, stalked her and left her questioning her very sanity.

She also knew, with equal certainty, that this was the creature that would end her life.

White noise crackled within her skull, and her vision dipped and swayed. Time seemed to slow or stop completely, Erica wasn't sure which, but in reality, she only stood on the crest of the hill for mere seconds before the creature raised a long, thin hand the same colour as it's head and beckoned her to it.

A distant part of Erica screamed at her to resist, shrieked and hollered until it was red in the face, but that part of her was drowned out by the harsh screech of static and the eerie, wailing siren song of the suited creature. As she made her way closer, the arms of the entity elongated even further, stretching until they reached the ground, and then continuing along the grass until the spindly fingers brushed Erica's foot before encircling her ankle in a grip terrifyingly strong.

Strangely, Erica felt no alarm at the creature's touch. She felt blank, like a sheet of fresh white paper. As blank as the 'face' that loomed before and above her. The oval remained unmoving, and Erica's eyes seemed to focus upon it of their own accord, and continued to gaze unwavering until a limb wrapped around her throat. Even when her vision faded, it seemed as if she could still 'see' the pure white beacon, floating in the darkness. From the depths of the unfathomable gloom, Erica was sure she heard a small voice, one she could of recognised anywhere, ring forth:

"Bye-bye Mama..."

Well, that's it for chapter one. This was more of a prologue, just giving the background of the story. The next chapter will be set in the present day and will feature the main protagonist, Erica and Adam's son Isaac, who is now, of course, grown up. Thank you for reading! I felt that this wasn't my best in terms of writing, but hey, why not review anyway? ;)

Thank you once again for reading! :D x

Hannah (CobaltRose96)