Lauren had almost reached Kate's mansion when something came in between them. A tree. There was a tree that had fallen right across the long pathway leading down to the mansion. Lauren sighed in irritation and she grabbed her phone to call Kate and say that she'd be late to their designated meet-up time. Hmm, that was odd. No signal. Normally, Lauren got great signal! There was a radio tower in the nearby woods that gave off the best reception! It seemed that the day Lauren really needed a signal would be the day she wouldn't get one. Of course!
"Kate will just have to be ok with me being a bit late," Lauren cursed as she put her phone back into her pocket and got out of her car, climbing over the fallen tree and continuing down the path to Kate's house, this time on foot. At least it was warm and sunny out.
Lauren didn't reach Kate's house until the evening because of how long the walk took. The storm clouds that rolled in didn't help lighten the mood either. Instead, they made things look darker and drearier. Lauren shuddered. At least she'd be at Kate's soon. She hoped Kate wouldn't be too mad at being kept waiting for so long.
At last, the mansion came into view. Lauren picked up her pace, partly because she wanted to get to Kate faster and partly because all of her sweet childhood memories about this place had just come flooding back. Lauren felt like she was coming home. So many years and so many stories were contained within that house. She would miss it, and she almost wanted Kate to keep it. At the same time, though, she understood that it was Kate's choice alone. Lauren might've held a deep fondness for this old house, but it was clear that Kate did not, and since Kate was the mansion's true owner, hers was the only opinion that mattered. But still, Lauren decided, it was nice just to get to see the old place again!
But Lauren's excitement and sense of nostalgia did not last long. Lauren had just passed the brick wall protecting Kate's house and she had just walked by the swing set she and Kate used to play on all the time when she realized that something was very, very wrong here. All the doors and windows to the house were wide open.
"What the heck?" Lauren whispered, and she suddenly felt as though she were being watched...
She treaded into the house softly, not even bothering to knock because she somehow already knew she would not get an answer. What met her eyes when she opened up the door and stepped inside was something that she'd never forget. The whole place was a mess! It looked like a war had gone on inside the house for all the chaos that Lauren found inside! There was furniture everywhere, and it was all overturned. Half the power was out while the other half was on, and there seemed to be no rhyme or reason in regard to which lights worked and which did not. Most frightening of all, however, were the drawings. Lining the walls and floors were countless crazed scribbles. Drawings of trees, and a tall thin man hiding within them lined the walls and covered the floors. It really did look like a warzone! But there didn't appear to be any sign of a physical struggle, that is, Lauren found no body, nor any blood.
As Lauren continued to quietly explore the empty house, hoping that Kate's corpse wouldn't be something she found during her quest, she passed a note on Kate's kitchen table. It was one of the few pieces of furniture that wasn't overturned or broken. That note was an invitation to her mother's funeral. Just for a moment, Lauren's fear changed to grief. Beth's death had been a tragic blow to all who knew her, and she was sorely missed by everyone, including Lauren herself. She could still remember that day when she got the news...
Lauren had just gotten back to her dorm once the last of her classes was let out when she ran into Kate, sitting outside their dorm room building and crying her eyes out. Lauren had been so stunned to her see her, especially while she was so distraught, that it didn't even occur to her to ask Kate how on earth she'd been able to sneak back into campus, let alone why. Instead, she only helped Kate to her feet and led her back to her dorm room at once. It was there that Lauren had gotten the horrible news. Kate stayed with her for the whole rest of that day, clinging to her like she was some sort of lifeline.
But then, after that day, when Kate was finally forced to go back home, Lauren did not see her again for quite a long time more. Instead, the very next day, when Lauren tried to call Kate to ask if Kate wanted her to come by and visit, she had received a very sharp refusal. Kate had insisted that she did not wish to see Lauren, and she had hung up the phone before Lauren could try and suggest some date further along in the future. It had been a very harsh rebuke from the girl who had literally come crying to her just 24 hours ago, but Lauren had been too shocked by the news about Beth's death to do more than acquiesce to Kate's angry, and confusing, demands.
"Poor Beth," Lauren sighed, returning to the present as she looked at the funeral plans. Beth really had been such a kind and joyful soul. Her death had not only hurt Kate, though Kate had definitely suffered the worst from it.
"Poor Kate," Lauren continued, but the moment Lauren said Kate's name, it was like receiving a little electric shock. She suddenly remembered that she had yet to see even an inch of Kate, and as she also remembered what a warzone the house appeared to be, she began to fret again. She could only hope that Kate was hiding, and not dead or kidnapped. Lauren had to find her, and ASAP!
At last, Lauren's explorations led her upstairs. Kate's bedroom door was the only one that had been closed in the entire house. Lauren felt something twist within her heart and she suddenly did not want to open that door, but knowing that she couldn't just leave without at least giving a cursory look around, Lauren steeled her nerves and opened the door. Another horrific sight. The room was just as chaotic and disorderly as the rest of the house, but what really disturbed Lauren was to see Kate's bedroom window. It was broken, and there were blood stains around the edges of the cracks. Had Kate jumped out? Or was she pushed? Terrified that she might find her friend's lifeless body lying underneath the sill, Lauren swallowed loudly before creeping over to the window. That was when she heard an agonized scream that lasted for a whole five seconds.
"Kate!" Lauren cried on reflex as the horrific sound echoed across the forest. Before Lauren knew it, she was out the door with a flashlight and camcorder in her hands. She had no idea what she was doing, but hearing Kate's scream was the only incentive she needed. She had no clue what she might be getting into, but she did know that Kate was in deep trouble, and that was all she needed to know in order to go flying out the door and into the forest. She knew it was dumb and dangerous to be that reckless, but Kate was in trouble, and since all the phone lines in Kate's house were dead, the cops were out of the question. If Kate wanted any chance of survival, Lauren would have to take matters into her own hands and act right now. Neither of them could afford to wait, or find some cops to report the incident to. If Kate wanted any chance at survival, Lauren was going to have to start looking for her right now. So she did.
A few minutes later, Lauren was inside the forest. There was an old house just a little bit further in. It was charred and falling apart, only a few old timbers holding the place up. Behind the blackened "house" was an equally ancient and decrepit barn and chapel. Curious, Lauren poked her head inside the charred house. She nearly had heart attack when she saw, waiting right inside the doorway, what looked like a zombie. Strange and impossible as it sounded, Lauren was sure it was a zombie that she saw. It was a tiny, scrawny, ugly little thing, distinctly humanoid in shape, but very hunched over and emaciated. Its skin, which was stretched thin over pointy bones, was a blueish color, and its hair was a long, shaggy, greasy black, a literal rat's nest. From the doorway, Lauren could see it twitching and moaning softly to itself. Terrified and disgusted, Lauren had the good sense to take a step back and leave the house at once. She wasn't going to engage with whatever that thing was. Instead, she removed herself from the premises quite quickly and she did not look back, not even once.
A few minutes later, Lauren had reached the gateway into Oakside Park. She shined her flashlight up on the sign that told her as much and she took a deep breath in before proceeding forward, into the endless darkness of the park's forest.
Lauren continued to explore the entryway to the park, not quite sure what she was doing, but feeling as though she were on the right track. During this little search of hers, Lauren's flashlight managed to shine upon something attached to one of the trees within the park. It was a page, covered in demonic scribbles. It looked just like the drawings in Kate's house. Had Kate been here? Was this one of hers? Curious, confused, scared and hopeful all at once, Lauren removed the page from the tree. The second she did, a distant drumming began in her ears and a disgusting, horrific, hissing voice cooed out to her: One out of eight.
Lauren whipped around, waving her flashlight wildly as the voice hissed into her mind, sinking straight into her brain. She saw no one. But, she could hear a distant and rumbling laugh that seemed to shake the forest at its very core. It was a nightmarish sound that made Lauren's teeth chatter. But then, the laughter ceased, and all Lauren could hear was that steady and distant drum. Even the other creatures of the night, like crickets and birds, had fallen silent. It was only her, and that drum, and its endless, steady beat. Lauren could only tremble, shaking her head and trying to figure out who it was that had spoken to her. And what did that mean? One out of eight? Were there more pages she needed to find? Would finding all eight help her find Kate? That didn't make much sense...
As Lauren continued to stand there, alone and afraid in the darkened forest, she felt the strong desire just to turn around right now and run home, never to come back here ever again. But she admonished herself the moment such a selfish thought entered her mind. She couldn't just leave! Not when Kate still needed her! And these eight pages, although they seemed arbitrary, seemed to hold some value in regard to Kate. So, figuring that it was the best lead she might ever get for tonight, Lauren decided to trust that ghostly and mysterious voice and continue on in her hunt for the other seven pages. It might've been a suicidal idea, but she had nothing else to do, and turning around was definitely out of the question. So all she could do was move forward, and hope that by finding the other seven pages, she would find the one who had instructed her to search for them in the first place. Then, maybe he could help her find Kate...
One hour, five heart attacks, and seven pages later, Lauren had won this awful game. She had all eight pages in her hand and she was ready to collect upon whatever the implied prize was, even if it was as simple as the strange voice returning the forest to normal. Every time she had found another page, another eerie and unnatural noise had filled the night air. She had nearly gone mad by page six, when she could hear buzzing, beeping, an eerie wind, and that relentless drum, all playing in her ears all at once. Now, with eight pages in her hand, Lauren was hoping that this fever-dream of a game would be over, and whoever was responsible for her suffering would-
A chord crashed in her ears and, suddenly, all she could see or feel was static, buzzing around her like a swarm of angry bees. Through that flickering gray-white haze of static, Lauren saw a sight that made her blood run cold and her heart stop dead in her chest. It was a man, but it wasn't. He was incredibly tall and thin, taller than the tallest tree and thinner than the thinnest vine. He wore a black suit and tie, which contrasted sharply with his long, skeletal white hands. Most horrific, haunting and mysterious of all, however, was his face. Or lack thereof. It was totally white and smooth, pure and unmarked by any sort of scar or facial feature. It was like looking at a full moon, except looking at it made Lauren feel deathly ill and disoriented. She thought she could see long black tentacles extending out from his suit-clad back, but she wasn't totally sure.
What she was sure of, however, was that she had seen him before. This faceless demon standing before her now was the very same one that had filled Kate's feverish sketches and scribbles. And Lauren was also sure, now, that this creature was the one who had hung up all of these pages on the trees. And it had been him, watching Lauren's every move and telling her how many pages she had left to find. It was him who had stalked her for the last hour, watching over her and driving her mad with paranoia.
Now that she thought about it, it was this inhuman monster that had always been there, flickering in and out of reality and hiding right in the corners of her vision. He was always there, just out of reach and a step away from disbelief. Oh yes, he, this monster, was responsible for all of this. Lauren needed no further cues or clues. The longer as she looked up at him, the sicker she felt physically, head spinning, vision fading and nose bleeding without her even realizing how or why. A static began to distort her camcorder and she could hear it screaming through her skull. Seeing him appear so suddenly so close scared Lauren into running again, triumph lost as she pounded wildly away from her assailant.
Running did no good though. This monster could teleport. He chased Lauren all through the wood like a cat and mouse, only this time, Lauren knew the cat would win. He was just messing with her, and it was working. Lauren tore through the forest like the madwoman she was, not caring how stupid she looked or how tired she was growing. All that mattered was escaping this strange monster that tormented her so. Even if escape was impossible, she kept running, crashing through trees and cutting herself on bushes. Sadly, Lauren did not make it out of the forest in time. The beast finally chased her right off a cliff and the last thing Lauren saw before blacking out was his tentacles snaking out at her as she fell.
"Kate, I'm sorry," she whispered. The screaming static grew louder, then she felt a sharp pain in her back, and it was all over...
When Lauren woke again, it was morning. She sat up slowly, confused as to why she was in the woods, but then it hit her. She jumped to her feet in terror at once, eyes wide as she searched for the creature that had tormented her so much the previous night. But he was nowhere to be seen. And the haunting aura that surrounded him no longer hung in the air like a funeral shroud. Instead, it just felt like a normal morning in Oakside Park, the sun peeking up over the horizon while the wildlife slowly began to set about their morning routine. Once more, Lauren could hear the sweet sounds of nature. She heard wind rustling through trees, rivers flowing over rocks, birds and bugs clicking and chirping, tiny rodents scampering around the forest in search of nuts and berries.
All of the unnatural horrors of the previous night had been erased, and all that remained now was the normal, peaceful serenity of nature. It was all so bright and beautiful that Lauren could hardly believe that the nightmare she'd escaped from last night had been real. But the mere thought of that awful game for the eight pages cast a shadow on Lauren's cheer, and the warm air chilled, ever so slightly. Why wasn't she dead yet? The monster had caught her. He had chased her right off a cliff! He'd beaten her fair and square! So why did he let her go? The implications were too scary to think about, so Lauren forced herself to focus to her main goal once again. Find Kate.
As Lauren took inventory of herself, she noticed that the eight pages were missing.
"I worked so hard to get those!" she muttered despite herself, but as she lamented over the loss of those hard-won tokens, she finally realized that she had a name for the creature who was responsible for all of it. Slenderman. She had heard Kate say it to her once before a few years back, during the time in which she had been hospitalized due to mental instability. Back then, Lauren thought that this Slenderman had only been a manifestation of Kate's paranoia and grief, but after last night, Lauren realized that maybe this walking horror wasn't just some psychological symbol for depression. Maybe, like Kate had said, Slenderman was real after all.
Just thinking about the monster, Slenderman, made Lauren feel afraid. Not wanting to lose her nerve so early, she forced herself to continue her little self-inventory. Luckily, she still had a flashlight and camcorder and most of her clothes. She meant "most" because some of it had been torn off in her mad dash through the woods last night. She was bloody and bruised, but it was nothing much. She decided to keep moving. All things considered, she was doing pretty well, still in one piece and able to move quickly without any help. This was an achievement after last night's blind panic. At least she was still alive. Trying to look on the bright side, Lauren got to her feet and continued to explore the park.
Several minutes later, Lauren stumbled upon the Kullman Mines. She could tell that it was a company long out of business just because of how old, empty and dirty the entrance to the mine was, but as she drew closer, she could see white arrows drawn all across the walls and floor. They all pointed inward and they had all been drawn recently. She needed no clearer sign than that. Of course, the idea of going into such an openly hostile place was a crazy idea, especially given that the arrows implied that it could all be a trap, but Lauren had no other choice. Not if she wanted to find Kate. She would have to swallow her fear and her natural instinct to run.
"Fine," she decided at last, trying to quell her fears. "I'll go in… For Kate!"
Once inside, Lauren was disturbed to see more insane drawings. Kate must've been here. This meant that she had drawn the arrows too.
"Well, if she can survive this place and if she decided to trust it enough to mark it with those arrows, then so can I," Lauren tried to reason with herself as she moved through the dark underground. It wasn't a very comforting thought, but it was all she had, so Lauren clung to it fiercely.
Once Lauren reached the lower bowels of the abandoned mine shaft, she realized that the entire place was out of power. The only way for Lauren to escape now, aside from just turning around, was to activate six emergency generators scattered around the mine. Once they were on, it would send enough power through this old, empty mine in order to activate a lift, which was Lauren's tool to escape. She hated to think that this might turn out to be another Eight Pages type of a game, but just like with the eight pages, she really had no other choice than to start searching.
Lauren had been halfway through her quest when she was attacked for the first time. A high-pitched and feral snarling echoed the darkened hallway in which Lauren stood and she turned around just in time to see a horrific creature charging at her. It was a human-sized figure in a white, blood-stained hoody, and it wore a creepy white mask stained with black marks. It had wild black hair and it looked eyeless. Its mouth was open in a permanent snarl, razor teeth frighteningly visible past the white lips of the mask. Lauren really had no idea what the heck it was, but she did know that it was no friend of hers, and that was all the information she needed to start running.
But as fast as Lauren was, this unknown, unnamed creature was even faster. Lauren had been halfway down the hall when the creature tackled her. It lunged and grabbed her around the waist, sending them both to the cold, hard ground. Lauren cried out in pain and terror as she felt the monster begin to claw and bite at her. It rolled her over so that she was looking up at it, and it glowered down at her as it straddled her. Clawing and punching mercilessly, it drew blood from Lauren. It continued to snarl as it delivered blow after blow to the vulnerable girl. Lauren fought like the devil to escape, trying to wriggle her way out from underneath her attacker, but her attacker's grip was strong. She didn't move an inch. She could only lie there and take it as she was punched over and over and over again.
At last, though, during the struggle, Lauren managed to free an arm and grab her flashlight from her pocket. Not even thinking, she turned on the flashlight to its brightest setting and aimed it right at her attacker's eyes. The thing gave an unholy, animalistic screech of pain before jumping off of Lauren and turning tail, sprinting back down the hallway with a terrifying and inhuman speed. Lauren managed to sit up just in time to see it rounding a corner, still running far too fast to be human. Its animalistic growls and yelps continued to echo through the air for a few more seconds until only silence reigned once more.
Lauren was breathing hard, blood oozing out of several wounds that the monster had given her. Suddenly, then, she heard Slenderman's voice in her head. That sound was even more horrific than her attacker's animalistic snarls and growls.
"Chaser," he hissed softly and slowly. Lauren shivered as she felt his voice wrapping around her brain like a snake. She knew that he was trying to tell her what the name of that monster was, but the realization that Slenderman was down here in the mines as well scared Lauren badly enough that she hardly registered this new piece of information. Instead, ignoring the shooting pain in her body, she hopped to her feet and continued to run through the mines, searching frantically for the last three generators.
By some miracle, Lauren managed accomplish her goal. As she hit the sixth and final generator, the mine seemed to come to life. The once-dead shaft came to life, lights turning on and machinery starting to whirl, slow and steady. But Lauren ignored all of this in favor of trying to find the lift again so that she could get out of these accursed mines. Maybe they had been shut down for good reason. Was the Chaser some sort of employee who had gotten stuck down here? Or was it some sort of monster that Slenderman had conjured up out of pure nightmare fuel alone?
Lauren managed to reach the lift while only sustaining one more attack from the Chaser. Just like before, it punched and clawed at Lauren several times before jumping off of her and fleeing. This time, though, Lauren hadn't needed to intervene with the flashlight. But why? Why had the Chaser randomly stopped attacking her? She was grateful for it, but at the same time, the suddenness of it all was a little suspect. But of course, Lauren didn't exactly have time to dawdle and wonder. Instead, she took the opportunity the Chaser gave to her and sprinted those last few paces to the lift, slamming the button to take her upward. Her heart sang in relief as the rusty old platform creaked to life and began to rise. Her last sight of the mines was of the Chaser, glaring up at her with its master just a few feet away. Lauren looked away as the fear and repulsion returned to her.
After the lift had stopped moving, Lauren got off to see that she was back in the forest, and it was still daytime. Good. She wasn't going to have to run around in the dark again for at least a few hours more. Hopefully, she would find Kate before then... Kate! Lauren had hardly given her missing friend a single thought since she ran into those mines that morning. Now she couldn't help but worry that the blood on the Chaser's hoody might've been hers. The thought came like a blow to Lauren's hope for a reunion with Kate, but then she reminded herself that she had not found a corpse while down there in the mines. Maybe Kate had managed to outrun the Chaser as well? It was all Lauren could hope for at the moment.
Lauren returned to the forest with a relieved sigh. Despite all the trauma and trouble this park had caused her, it still sure looked beautiful! The gorgeous and serene scenery surrounding her eased some of Lauren's anxieties and, despite herself, she was able to relax. Unfortunately, her willingness to relax meant that her little adrenaline rush wore off faster than it should have. Once the last bit of that adrenaline was gone, Lauren began to feel just how badly she'd been injured during her escapades down in the mines. Nothing was too serious, she was not in mortal danger, but some the injuries were still deeper or more severe than she'd originally thought. What's more, her body was sore in general. She'd been on the go for nearly an entire day, and she hadn't had the chance to eat or rest! Of course she was going to be sore, and tired. Everything hurt. A lot more than it did before she had made her descent into those nightmarish mines.
Lauren finally sank down into the soft grass, inspecting her wounds. There were many, and some were pretty nasty, but it didn't seem that any were fatal. They ranged from bruises to cuts, to slashes and claw marks, all of varying length, width and depth. Some hurt pretty badly, stinging and burning, while others only left a dull ache in their wake. Lauren wanted dearly to take a nap right then and there, on that soft, warm grass, but she knew that she had no time to waste. Instead, she forced herself up with a moan of pain and kept moving on, ignoring the stinging and the blood. She hoped that Kate was ok.
Some time later, Lauren found herself standing in a tiny building hidden behind a long tunnel. In that little old building, she found a TV with two videotapes lying close by. One was marked "Homestead". It was a recording of CR's adventure to the Matheson family farm ruins. He had gone in attempt to figure out what had happened to their little son, Charlie Jr. Because no body had ever been found, there were rumors that Charlie was somehow still alive, and living on the estate, or living as a Tarzan-like creature within the park itself. Either way, CR had gone in attempt to uncover the truth, and this videotape documented the experience.
As the tape went on, Lauren learned two things. The first was that CR had known about Slenderman, just like Kate had. Even though CR and Kate had been very close, Lauren, herself, had never really known CR. Of course, she had met him a few times and she knew how much he meant to Kate, but she hadn't realized that he had been dragged into this nightmare as well. Watching the tape unfold made this fact all too clear.
The second thing that Lauren learned from watching the tapes was that the zombie-like creature that she had seen in the charred house was Charlie. It was a horrific thought, but the evidence for this theory was strong. Not only was CR exploring that very same house that Lauren had been in about a day ago, but he ended up running into the same ugly little creature that she had. The bluish monster ran him off of the property. Second off, CR had found several Missing Persons posters scattered across the homestead, and all of them were for Charlie Jr. Lauren, herself, had found several of these posters throughout her own journey into Oakside.
"Oh, that poor kid," Lauren moaned as she thought of that happy, sweet little boy being turned into a demonic monster, physically unable to die and stuck in a literal Hell for all eternity. She shook her head in disgust and pity. Her hatred for the monster responsible for this increased a thousand-fold. Slenderman had some gall, tormenting an innocent kid like that!
But once that tape was over, Lauren moved onto the second one. It was titled "Memories", and it starred another person that Lauren had very deep ties with. It was Kate. Lauren could only gasp when that familiar face flickered onto the TV's screen... Kate was in her room, drawing more of those sinister pictures. All at once, though, a thunder clap shook the house and Kate looked around with wild eyes. This was not the girl that Lauren knew. This was someone far more broken, and battered. And to think that Lauren hadn't even realized that any of this was going on!
"He's here!" Kate whispered, jumping up and running from her room. "I've got to close all the windows and doors!" she said softly.
What followed was about five minutes of Lauren watching Kate run from room to room, sprinting past all of her demonic drawings and overturned furniture. She closed and locked every single window and door, just like she said that she would. But then, just as Kate locked the very last door in her whole entire house, all of them blasted wide open once again. Then, Slenderman himself appeared. Right there, right in front of Kate, he appeared. The screen was suddenly drowned in static, but Lauren could hear Kate scream in terror. As Kate fled away from Slenderman and back upstairs, running past all the doors and windows which were now wide open once more, the static decreased a little. Lauren managed to make out an image of Kate running into her room. Slenderman teleported right on in, standing inches behind Kate once again. Kate screamed again, then Lauren heard what sounded like glass shattering. Then the tape cut off.
"Oh, Kate!" Lauren gasped in horror as she finally realized just how much hell this monster had put Kate through. Now, the memory of that bloody and broken window was all the more painful to Lauren, and she couldn't help but cry in despair. She was sure that Kate was still alive, but she was also sure that finding Kate was going to be far harder than she could ever imagine. And who even knew what Kate might be like once Lauren found her again? After seeing just what the Slenderman could, and did, do to her, Lauren had the sinking feeling that even if she were to find Kate right now, the girl she would find would not be the one she lost...
"Oh, Kate!" Lauren repeated as she began to shake with sobs. Lauren almost wondered if she should just give up and go home, or lie down and die right here. But no. As much as she wanted to, Lauren loved Kate far too much to just quit, especially after she'd come so far already. It would be stupid to just surrender after she'd fought so hard already. Besides, even Kate was not the same girl that she used to be, she was still Lauren's best friend, and she still deserved to have someone try and help her back home. Lauren owed her that, at least.
"So let me find her, or die trying," Lauren tried to sound resolute in her statement as she brushed the last of her tears from her eyes. She could cry later. Right now, she had a quest she needed to complete, and it would require all of her attention. She had nothing to spare for grief. Instead, she sat up, ignoring the pain in her body, and she made her way back out of that little building and into Oakside forest once again.
Lauren almost regretted leaving that little safe haven, however, when she saw what new challenge was waiting for her on the other side of that little tunnel. The whole freaking forest was on fire. Lauren knew that it was over for her then. Where else could she go that was safe? To go forward was to run right into the flames. To go left or right was pointless, for the flames would catch up with her eventually. To go back was to be forced to return to the Kullman Mines. She didn't exactly want to risk fighting the Chaser again. Frantic, but trying her best to stay calm, Lauren quickly scanned the horizon, trying to figure out her options. Then suddenly, she saw it. The radio tower!
Standing like a literal beacon of hope over the inferno of the forest was the radio tower. It was the very one that she had been thinking of when she first arrived at Kate's house about a day and a half ago. It was the very same one she had seen on one of Kate's psychotic drawings. It was the very same one that CR had referenced in a few of his letters to Kate. So, it had all come down to this. That radio tower. Even though it didn't look too special on the outside, clearly, there was something important about it. Why else would it keep popping up in Lauren's quest unless it had some significance in this whole dark, twisted plot? So, clearly, there was something big going on with that radio tower. Lauren was about to find out what that something was!
The next few minutes were pure torture on Lauren. The whole place was on fire, so it was hot and smoggy, and branches were falling like giant pieces of burning hailstones. A few of them nearly hit Lauren as she ran along. As if trying to see, or even to breathe, wasn't hard enough, she also had to hope that she didn't get crushed to death on the way to the radio tower! And she was running on an incline, which only made it that much harder to breathe and move with any sort of strength or speed. It was unbearably hot, and Lauren's skin began to burn just because of how close she was getting to the source of the fire. All around her, more and more trees splintered into firewood, increasing the height and power of the preexisting flames. The sky was red and black at the same time and Lauren's eyes were stinging and watering like mad. The fire was getting hotter, the hill was getting steeper, and Lauren had to run in a zig-zag pattern to avoid the burning branches that were falling all around her. A more difficult path through the fire could not possibly have been imagined, and of course it was the path Lauren had to take.
But the worst thing of all, by far, was the Slenderman. He was chasing after her. The screaming static in her mind and the wooziness she got every time she started to slow down told her so. She could see him, teleporting all around and crawling up the hill after her like a giant spider. Every tentacle Slenderman had was out and flying. Some of them whipped through the flames to grab Lauren and drag her backwards. Some acted like secondary limbs and propelled Slenderman up and forward. Lauren was sure that if the flames didn't kill her, the sheer terror she felt whenever she caught sight of Slenderman running after her would. It took all her strength just to keep looking forward. The ash clogged her lungs. The fire blinded her. The static was getting shriller and shriller. Was she going to make it? The radio tower still felt so far away!
Finally, though, Lauren did it. She got into the radio tower at the last second and slammed the door shut in weary triumph, sweating and panting like a dog. Her throat was lava and her lungs were fire, but she was alive! By some miracle, she had won another around and managed to close the door right as one of Slenderman's tentacles had brushed out to grab her. The door closed with a satisfying slam and everything on the outside world fell silent at once. She couldn't hear static, she couldn't hear fire, she couldn't hear Slenderman. She couldn't hear anything but her own pounding heartbeat. It was the best sound she'd ever heard! She wobbled wearily through the rusty old building, ignoring the burning scars that crisscrossed with the claw marks and bruises that the Chaser gave her. It made no sense that being in here would hinder Slenderman, but she was all for it at this point. Just as long as she could stop running. She was so tired and so hurt.
Finally, Lauren reached a dead-end room. Once again, a horrific sight met her bleary eyes. There was a small fire burning casually at the heart of the room, and it illuminated the walls to reveal more psychotic drawings and messages.
"No! No! No!", "Run!", "I failed you", "I'm sorry" and "Why did you come here?" were just some of the disturbing messages scrawled on the wall amidst drawings of trees and Slenderman. What scared Lauren more than any of this, though, was what lay behind the small, gently-burning fire. A charred corpse. Lauren didn't want to move closer to it in case it moved, or turned out to be Kate, but at the same time, Lauren knew she'd have to be brave. She stepped up to the black, smoking body and saw a small camcorder at its side. She pressed the glowing "play button".
"Kate please!" the recording began. Lauren recognized this voice as belonging to CR.
"I can't," Kate replied, sounding hurt, afraid, and regretful.
"It's the only way," CR insisted. Lauren wished she could see what was happening.
"I CAN'T!" Kate screamed now, scaring Lauren. "I can't!" she repeated, sounding close to madness.
"Kate," CR tried one last time but Kate had fallen silent. Had she run away?
"I'm sorry," CR cried and Lauren heard what sounded like fire crackling through the camcorders crappy speakers. "I'm so sorry! Forgive me…" he continued to weep and then he said no more as he screamed his life away in harmony with what sounded like banging on a metal door.
Mid-scream, the recording cut off, leaving an eerie silence in its wake.
"Oh, Kate, CR," Lauren gasped, trembling in terror as tears slid down her face. She turned to the slumped-over, charred corpse. "I'm so sorry," she whimpered, kneeling to caress poor old CR's charred remains. But just as she stood up again, the little fire in the heart of the room went out. Lauren was thrust into total darkness again, even her flashlight having finally died. The only light she had left was the small one on her own camcorder. It, along with its owner, had somehow survived this far. The flashlight had not. Suddenly, Lauren heard what sounded like banging on a metal door... Charlie Jr. flew in. Lauren didn't even have time to scream before he'd lunged. The world got even darker for Lauren after that.
When Lauren woke up again, she was back at the burnt house. She woke up woozily, coming to her feet in a slow, shaky manner. She was terrified to see that the little monster, Charlie, was crouching at the stairs, his dark and demonic eyes unblinking as they bored into Lauren.
"Can I get past?" she asked, voice raspy and sore from all the fire and screaming. She tried to approach the stairs that he guarded, but just when she got too close, Charlie snarled and hit her, sending her reeling back to the ground. He continued to glare at her with that horrific, mutilated face.
Lauren stood up again, still shaking from fear, pain and exhaustion. She clutched at the place where Charlie had struck her and she eyed the monster-boy warily, but he made no other move against her. For some reason, there was still something in this house that she needed to see before he would let her go up those stairs. Unsure of what else to do, Lauren began to explore the remains of the downstairs of Charlie's old house. She eyed him warily the whole time and she could see him doing the same, beady little eyes never leaving her even for a second. It was really disturbing and unnerving.
As Lauren continued to explore the first floor of Charlie's ruined house, Lauren found several messages between Kate and CR, which detailed some of the ghost hunts they used to go on as kids. Lauren could tell from the tone of these letters that this had been before the Slenderman incident and reading them was bittersweet. It was funny because it felt like a lifetime ago, but Lauren did remember this time in their lives. It had been the closest Lauren ever got to meeting CR properly. They were only halfway through their first year of middle school with Kate had asked Lauren to join her and CR on a ghost hunt.
"Who is CR?" little Lauren had asked her eager best friend with an amused smile.
"Carl Ross," Kate explained. "He's in my English class and he likes ghost stories as much as I do. He even invited me to go ghost hunting with him this weekend! Do you want to come?" her gray eyes were pleading.
"I'd rather not," Lauren confessed.
"Awww, please?" Kate tried to use her best puppy eyes but Lauren only laughed and shook her head.
"You know those aren't my thing," she said.
"Coward," Kate replied and Lauren only laughed again.
Ah, those had been the days… Those were the days when that letter was written, when the three of them were still happy, and were still friends. Those had been the days… Even though Lauren never did attend any of these Kate/CR Ghost Hunting thingies, she loved to hear Kate tell her all about them the next day, scaring herself silly just by recounting all of the spooks that they did or didn't find that particular night.
Lauren finally set aside that letter and found one more. This one wasn't anywhere near as happy. Instead, it appeared to be the suicide note by Charlie's father, Charles Sr. It told of how the Slenderman was slowly haunting him to insanity, and how he intended to put it all to rest the same way CR had tried to do… That was why this house was in charred shambles. Lauren set the suicide note down with a horrified expression. She turned to the stairs in order to look at Charlie again, but he was gone. Lauren blinked. But her eyes were not lying. Charlie was gone. The stairs were open. Lauren shook her head, but before she could even think, a new sound echoed the filthy old house. It was crying. A girl's crying.
"Kate!" Lauren cried in relief and fear, recognizing the crier. Suddenly, she had a burst of strength. She didn't care how sore or ugly her voice sounded. She just wanted to find her old friend again!
"It's Lauren! I'm coming!" Lauren cried again, tripping up the stairs from all her wounds. She hardly felt them now though. Despite all the pain she was in, hearing Kate's sobs had acted like an anesthetic, and suddenly, all Lauren could think about was Kate. She hardly even felt her wounds as she continued to chase after the source of the crying. She couldn't believe it! She'd actually succeeded in finding Kate and Kate was alive! Lauren felt triumphant! Like a god! With Kate at her side, Lauren felt brave enough to fight 1000 Slendermen to escape this stupid forest!
"Kate!" Lauren rasped in relief as she walked up the last step. She saw her old friend curled up in a corner, crying. The poor girl was covered in scars, most of them burn marks, and she looked terrified, but it was clearly Kate. It felt so good to see her again.
"Kate!" Lauren repeated, wheezing. "Thank goodness you're ok! Come on, let's get out-" but before Lauren could finish, something happened. She had just reached out to touch Kate's arm when Kate lunged at her. Mid-jump, Kate turned into the Chaser, and before Lauren knew it, she was on the ground and pinned beneath the Chaser again. It was the Kullman Mines all over again, only this time, the Chaser was aiming to kill...
It attacked viciously, punching and clawing Lauren so hard that she was slipping out of consciousness in only seconds as her wounds were reopened and doubled. Slowly, then, the world got darker and colder for poor Lauren, and her last sight was of the Slenderman hovering over her gloatingly, with Charlie and the Chaser at his side.
AN: This was just to write out the game as I believed it to happen time-wise and thought-wise (since we never hear Lauren's thoughts). I already know there are some inaccuracies, so you don't need to point them out. In addition, it was my headcanon that Kate met Lauren at age five and CR at age 12, but despite her being close with both of them, they never really knew each other. As improbable as that sounds, I got it from the "Don't tell Lauren about me" note from CR. That, and it adds to the drama, with the concept that Lauren and Kate are having relationship issues because of Kate's withdrawing herself from everything and everyone. Little does Lauren know that it's for her own good…
Update as of 3/3/19: I was rereading this fic and I realized how... poorly written, it was, so here is me reediting it. I hope this time around, it isn't quite as cringey or immature.