A Slender Friend

Chapter 3

I knew I was in a dream, unless I was sleep-walking. I felt the cool, night breeze past my bare arms and I shivered. I glanced down and saw that I was wearing a knee-length black dress with spaghetti straps.

"What the fuck?!" I swore and tried to use my arms to cover myself. "Seriously, why do all of my dreams involve wearing a seductive dress? Fucking perverts…" I grumbled and looked around. I saw that I was in a dark forest, but I could see the moonlight casting down on me and the stairs sparkling in the sky.

I huffed quietly to myself and began walking through the forest. "Seriously, why do I always have to walk in dark woods also…?"

I suddenly heard what sounded like footsteps behind me and I stopped. I mentally screamed at myself not to look behind me, knowing he would be there. But the sensation to look was overwhelming and I swallowed the lump in my throat and slowly glanced over my shoulder.

Nothing was there.

I sighed and took only one step forwards before I saw a semi-large pale hand come around and before I could scream, it covered my mouth. To my horror, more hands connected to their arms came around. One placed itself on my stomach and two more held my wrists.

My eyes widened as I was pulled to an insanely warm, but tall and thin body. I only about reached the stomach-area and I could feel the sleek suit that brushed against my shoulders. All of a sudden, the featureless face that belonged to tall being was suddenly in front of me and out of fear; I pressed myself against the stomach behind my head.

The thin line appeared and stretched into a smile that sent shivers down my spine. He can also cause nightmares. I thought, remembering what Amber and Michelle had said. This is just a dream Shell, just a dream.

The hand covering my mouth trailed down to my neck, fingertips barely brushing my skin and I shivered from the touch. I had no way out; I was trapped. A small whimper escaped from the back of my throat and I felt a rumble come from the Slenderman's chest. "Hush child. There is no need to fear." He murmured, the hand on my neck going to hold my chin.

A single tear slipped down my cheek and a finger brushed it away. I wanted to curl up into a fetal position and cry. A defense mechanism of mine was crying, which I used to do a lot to get myself out of trouble. All of a sudden, the hands holding me suddenly released me and he vanished.

I gasped and began to run. My bare feet slammed down on the forest floor as I ran, trying to find some way out of the woods. I got cuts from branches as I ran, one on my cheek, arm and thigh. I glanced behind to see if I was being followed and right when I looked back in front, I slammed into a solid, but thin body. I tried to run, but long arms went around me and I was picked up by the being, almost like how a child would be carried.

He began walking, his arms tightly secured around me. Another small whimper escaped my mouth and I tightened my hold on the shoulders covered by sleek, black cotton. I felt like a child being carried by their father. Tears trickled down my face as I found no strength to fight. I just let myself give in and touched my cheek to the shoulder, feeling so much like a child.

He walked for a bit longer until we came to a large, intimidating tree that had branches wildly sticking out from all directions, like how his tendrils would do that. I sniffled and lifted my head when he turned and sat down against the tree, his long legs folded Indian-style. I was then set down in his lamp, my head against his chest. His arms were still around me, but they were warm and they felt like a sense of comfort and security.

Maybe Amber was right…maybe all he needed….was a friend. I sniffed, my cheeks glistening with tears and glanced up into the faceless face, seeing a thin black line. He seemed to be looking down at me with invisible eyes and that's when I found my voice. "W…what are you going to do with me…?"

One hand stayed around me while the other went to my head, affectionately stroking my hair. When I realized he wasn't going to answer me, I just leaned back against his chest and closed my eyes.

When I opened them, I was staring at the ceiling of the bunk bed I was lying in. "Shit….." I swore quietly to myself and glanced at the alarm clock near Jessica's bunk. It was 3 in the morning. "Damnit….." I sighed and then eventually lay back down and went to sleep.

The next morning I woke up and put on my bathing suit, plus a pair of purple cotton shorts and a black tank top. Reminder, self-conscious.

"Shell, you have such a pretty body, but where did you get the scratches?" Jessica questioned, poking my scratched cheek. I realized they were from the branches in the dream.

"I must've scratched myself in my sleep." I replied, but Jess knew it was something else. We girls headed out to the lake and I wasn't very comfortable with lakes, because the water was always too deep. To tell the truth, I was terrified of drowning and I was an okay swimmer.

Today was more of less a laid-back day; kids could do what they wanted. I sat on the edge of the wooden dock, kicking my legs back and forth.

"Shell, why aren't you getting in?" Michelle questioned, pulling her long black hair into a ponytail.

I shrugged. "I'm not really up for it."

All three girls frowned and exchanged glances, then looked back at me. "Did you have a nightmare about him?" Amber asked.

I looked down. "It wasn't really a nightmare, just a dream." I told them what happened and Amber agreed that maybe Slenderman was just lonely and wanted a friend. I sighed and grabbed the edge of the dock, lowering myself into the water. It was cold at first, but it became warm in a few seconds.

We ended up staying in the water for a good few hours and even went out pretty far. By that time, my arms were killing me and the counselors signaled everyone to come in for lunch.

I was pretty far behind, catching up with Jessica, Amber and Michelle. They were already on the dock. "Come on slowpoke!" Jess joked as she dried off.

"I'm…coming…" I breathed, stopping for a moment to catch my breath. All of a sudden, I felt something brush by my leg. I frantically glanced around and below in the water, but I didn't see anything. "What…?" I muttered to myself and that's when something wrapped around my ankle and pulled me under.

Water burned my eyes as I struggled underneath the surface of the lake, trying to get my head above the water. I kept my lips closed and looked frantically around for whatever had pulled me under. Suddenly, Slenderman's white, faceless face was right in front of mine and I almost opened my mouth, but remembered I was surrounded by water in every direction.

The same smile was on his face and his long arms wrapped around me and pulled me to his overly tall form. I struggled in his hold and could feel my chest tightening with each passing second and my vision was starting to go black.

Nothing to fear….but fear itself. A deep chuckle echoed in my mind and with that, my eyes closed and when my mouth opened up everything went blank.

…..

"Come on!"

One last push to my chest and I heaved, my eyes popping open widely as water erupted from my mouth. I coughed violently and rolled onto my side, aware of kids and adults around me.

"Are you alright?" one of the counselors asked.

I coughed a bit more, but nodded and Jessica, Amber and Michelle all helped me up and get back to our cabin. "Shell, what happened?" Jess asked me once we got back into the cabin.

"H…..he pulled me under…." I replied with a scratchy voice.

"Slenderman?"

I nodded. "He said….nothing to fear…but fear itself…" I sighed shakily and climbed up to my bunk, lying down. I eventually dozed off and woke up around 9, right when everyone had just fallen asleep. I sighed once more and got into more comfortable clothes before going out for a walk in the woods.

I had my hood up, so I wouldn't get anything in my hair from the trees. My footsteps made crunching and snapping noises as I walked through the woods. They weren't thick, but pretty good size. All of a sudden, I heard some sort of whizzing noise and something sharp, very sharp, plunged into my right shoulder.

I screamed out in pain and fell to the forest floor, groaning and beginning to cry. I reached around to grab whatever had plunged into my shoulder, but it was grabbed and yanked out. I cried out and then I was rolled onto my back by someone's foot. I glanced up with teary eyes and saw a male, about my age or a little older, wearing dark jeans, a jacket and a shirt underneath and glasses.

Wait…..he looked familiar…..

My eyes widened when I realized who it was.

"A…Alex Kralie..?"