Night fell like a blanket of darkness over the entire town. It was small, somewhere between a city and the suburbs, surrounded on three sides by and expansive forest. Ophelia wouldn't have chosen to live here, but it really wasn't her choice.

At this point in time, she had been working for the foundation for over a year. They moved her around every so often to follow rumours and urban legends, internet horror stories that may or may not be real. The type of things you tell around a campfire or send to your friends to freak them out. Her job was to investigate such things, determine if it really is an abnormal occurrence, and, if so, figure out how to contain it. The job was usually easy. Many things were proven fake within the first week. But not this one.

PSCP-0X266 Codename: The Slenderman. The tall figure had plagued her life, both in the physical plane and the world of dreams, for as long as she could remembered. And if she could find it, maybe she could finally start to figure everything out.

The night was cold. Marie had reminded Lia to wear a coat about a billion times that day, and now her housemate was locked up in her room, working on some great scientific discovery. Ophelia didn't even bother telling them that they were going out that night. They both had built up some sort of weird routine since they moved in. The day passed normally enough. Filled with paperwork, research, and large amounts of caffeine. Every night Marie would hole herself up in her room. She SWORE she was on to some huge scientific breakthrough. It was something new every month, sometimes every week, but her enthusiasm never diminished no matter how futile the research seemed. A smile tugged at the corners of Lia's lips as she thought of this. In a way she could understand. When she got into a case, she met each challenge with the same enthusiasm.

While her housemate was doing whatever it is the scientists do in their bedroom, Lia would prepare herself for that night's outing. Backpack on, boots tied tightly, flash light, camera, and radio all attached to various belt loops. It had taken her a while to figure out the best setup for 'Slender hunting', as she dubbed it. The learning process had cost her many a lost cameras and major blackouts.

The awaiting darkness of the forest was not at all what one would call inviting. But being only a few yards away from her back door, Lia did not exactly have time to register fear. Anxiety, maybe, but this setting had become strangely familiar to her. Woods are easy. Structurally sound, if a little maze like. Crumbling buildings were something that scared the young woman. Never know how many bones you can break when you fall through molded rafters. The most Lia usually had to worry about from the woods was tripping.

Before entering the pitch darkness of the woods, Lia flipped on her camera and attached the flashlight. After making sure she was recording, she began walking and talking.

"Agent Ophelia Asphodel investigating PSCP-0X266, The Slenderman. No sightings yet. Local rumors place him in and around these woods. Further investigation needed." Almost as if punctuating this, her radio sprang to life. Static filled her ears, and she silently cursed and turned it down a bit. Something was close. Before the move she had assessed the area and made sure there were no electrical interferences that would affect her research.

Most people would run if their brand new radio spit static at them. Ophelia trekked forward, attempting to pinpoint where the interference was emanating from. It moved. She would begin walking in one direction, before the radio would quiet and she was forced to turn and start in the other direction. Each change in location made the girl curse to herself.

"It can never be easy, can it?"

Her question was met with another bout of static, and she was thrown backwards. Her back and head collided with the trunk of a large tree that stretched into the inky blackness above. She recovered her camera from the ground after getting herself to the feet and assessed it for damage. Everything appeared to be in working order. She cast the light around the area before her eyes finally fall on the tree she had been thrown into.

"Son of a..." She trailed off, not even thinking of a curse creative enough for this situation. Pinned in the bark of a tree was a crumbled, hastily drawn note depicting a tall figure and four simple words.

'Always watches, no eyes.'

She carefully removed the note from the tree and shrugged her bag onto the ground. She fiddled around with the contents for a while before withdrawing a rather large evidence bag, slipping the note inside, and then sealing it again and wedging it within the pages of a rather large binder.

The static started again. Louder. Closer. She could hear her own blood pound through her body. How had it gotten so close? Lia shouldered her bag hastily and whipped her camera around, searching for the familiar figure that had stalked her so many times before. The light of the flashlight caught on something between the trees, but when she returned it there the figure had already left.

Another bought of static, screeching unholy sounds at the tense girl. And then he was behind her. Tentacles encircled her limbs. She struggled in vain against the creature. Within seconds she was lightheaded and close to unconsciousness. Before she blacked out completely she heard a voice.

"It is not your time yet."

The sun beat down on a limp form at the outskirts of the forest. Ophelia groaned as her body slowly started returning back to itself, the weight of sleep still making her limbs feel heavy. Within seconds she had realized she was on the ground, with her camera placed beside her, entirely unharmed. The girl sat up quickly, becoming lightheaded and upsetting various papers that had been covering her body like a makeshift blanket. Each note book page bore the same word.

"Run."

The notion earned the nonpresent writer a sneer. "As fucking if." She collected the pages in her arms before finally getting up. Behind her was the forest, in front of her the house. Nothing to do but go wake up Marie and look over the tape from last night.

From the woods the tall man watched as the girl made it into the house. Then he was gone.