Hello, I've long wanted to try a Merlin horror-type story, and as I'm rather fond of the idea of Slenderman, I thought it might be interesting to combine the two. I did a little research to hopefully make the story more realistic, so some things are an amalgamation of both real places/sources and fictional. However, due to my lack of familiarity with British geography and crime dramas, it will be set in the United States.

As a warning, I'm kind of just writing whenever I get the urge to do so in my free time, so I can't guarantee regular updates or that I'll even finish the story, though of course I'll do my best to not leave people hanging. But if you get frustrated by infrequent updates, you may want to back out now. Read at your own risk.

Prologue

Richmond Times-Dispatch

Sunday, June 8, 2014

Fourth kidnapping has locals distraught

Residents of Burke have been shaken by the news of the disappearance of seven-year-old Scott Stilinski. The young boy was discovered missing from his bed the morning of June 3 by his parents, John and Cara Stilinski, who called the police after being unable to find him in their home. "We weren't too scared at first," John Stilinski shared with us, "since he sometimes sleepwalks, and we usually find him sleeping somewhere in another room. But this time, we just couldn't find him anywhere, even outside." Police reports say that there were no signs of forced entry or exit, and a search of the surrounding area was conducted with no results.

This is the fourth incident of a missing child in 2014, and police suspect that the incidents are not unrelated. However, no clues have been found regarding either the identity of the perpetrator or the location of the missing children, and residents of Fairfax County continue to grow frightened and upset by these incidents.

For all the strange things Arthur had ever seen during his work with the FBI, he was not a superstitious man. He did not believe in spirits or bigfoot or that breaking a mirror would cause anything other than perhaps a few minor injuries and some broken glass to sweep up. There were no aliens hiding at Area 51, and no secret government agency overseeing it all. So of course, he didn't even dream that while investigating a supposedly straight-forward case of child abduction he'd come face to face with the paranormal.

It all started one morning in June.

He was in his office, pen scribbling hastily over the paperwork, with little regard for legibility. It was quite silent, aside from the scratching of pen on paper and the near-silent ticking of the clock. A knock sounded at the door, effectively disrupting the quiet.

The door opened before Arthur could respond and his superior sauntered in. "Pendragon," grunted Kil in brusque greeting. The older man dropped a file folder onto his desk. It landed with a heavy smacking sound, disturbing the other papers lying about. "Your new case," he announced. "I need you to go to Virginia."

Arthur frowned slightly. He had just finished tracking down a man charged with multiple cases of identity theft, so it seemed a bit soon to receive another case. He opened up the case folder to flip through the pages. The photos from several missing person reports stared up at him, all of them children, and all of them from around different parts of Fairfax County.

"Kidnapping? Shouldn't that be left to the local police?"

"It would be, if they were actually getting anything done. The fourth child has been abducted in the last five months, and the local authorities still don't have any leads." Kil leaned down over Arthur's desk, close enough that Arthur could smell the tobacco on his breath from his near-constant smoking. "Listen Pendragon, I know you're not the cuddly, kid-loving type, but you're a good agent and people are starting to get upset by this. I want the perpetrator caught as soon as possible, and I know you're the man for the job. I'm counting on you."

There was no getting out of it. Arthur nodded.

"Good man. It's close enough to drive, so you can take one of our cars if you like. Report back as soon as you find anything."

Having said what he came to say, Kil left as quickly as he came. He was not a man to waste any time.

Having received his orders, Arthur sighed and gathered up his things and, case file in hand, headed home to pack for his trip as well as he could, considering he never knew how long he'd be away. A few hours later, he was checking into a shabby little Virginia motel right off the freeway. While it wouldn't merit even a two-star rating, it had all the basics, and that was more than enough for him. He went out to grab a burger and a coffee from the diner across the street, then settled down to read through the pile of reports.

"Time to get to work," he muttered.