It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas everywhere you go. Yes, even this place has been invaded by the Christmas Spirit, something that I am none too thrilled about. I blame it on humanity, so in a sense I blame it on you, Human. You best watch yourself, for I am always following. Let me catch you, and you will suffer the consequences of making my home filled with the holiday season.
Thinking that she had made a note that one certain Ritter would approve of, Ellaina entered the note into the program. Yes, she had included Slendy decorating a tree, but if the player stumbled upon the scene, it led to an instant death that was quite frightening. And speaking of trees, her own tree was nearly finished. All that was left was to add the tinsel. Sadly, though, this was the part that she enjoyed the least, for it was so boring. Putting the ornaments on required at least some form of creativity so everything would look nice. The job she had now only involved randomly placing the stuff onto any branches she liked.
Having fun? a voice suddenly asked in her head.
Ellaina jumped back, the tinsel flying from her hands and effectively covering the guest who had shown up. She laughed at the sight it created. "Well, don't you look pretty?"
Handsome, my Little One, he corrected, removing the offending material from his person and handing it back to the woman. He looked to her tree. It looks nice.
"I guess so," she replied, as she began to put the shining stuff all over the tree. She stepped up onto a stool to reach the top most branches. "So, what brings you here? I would expect you to be off in the woods hunting some small child or moody teenager."
Not today, he replied. Watching her lose her balance and fall to her butt was rather entertaining for him. She openly glared at him as she went to once again pick up the tinsel. Why glare at me, Human? I did not cause you to fall.
Ellaina was about to retort when her cell phone started going off, signaling that someone was calling her. The ringtone was set to a Christmas song, of course. Even her cell had to be in the holiday spirit. Answering, she heard one of her friend's voices, Anne, on the other end. Anne explained that she and the others weren't going to make it to the little get-together that had been planned. Apparently, the three had decided that they wanted to go boating. They knew that Ellaina hated to be out in the open ocean, so it seemed like they had simply not wanted her involved at all. With a defeated sigh, Ellaina hung up the phone and threw it across the room, only for it to land at Slendy's feet.
You are upset, Human, he stated blandly.
"They aren't coming. I'll be alone once again for the holiday season. They do this every year. Why didn't I see this coming?" Ellaina replied, not caring if her guest actually gave two hoots about what she was saying or not. He likely didn't, considering that he simply planned to kill her once the holiday was over and done with. She glared at the Christmas tree, pulling out a lighter, intending on setting the thing ablaze.
The lighter was pulled from her hand before she had the chance to so much as take two steps towards her tree, though she did manage to burn him as he ripped it away from her. Ellaina glared at her guest, seeing the lighter being held in one of his tendrils, just out of her reach. Growling, she jumped for it over and over again, only for him to always pull it just out of her reach.
"Give it back, you-you-" she shouted, trying to find some sort of insult to throw at him. She couldn't come up with anything, so she simply gave up and sat down on the couch. Looking at the discarded tinsel on the ground, she kicked the lump of the stuff, only for it to land in the tree.
Beautiful, Slendy commented, while taking a seat next to her. Now this tree of yours looks wonderful. Since when did he try to cheer humans up? He had no answer for this question. Clearly this human was becoming a problem. He'd have to deal with her soon. Still, he had promised to allow her to have her Christmas.
"It looks like the tinsel fairy pooped on it with that big glob of tinsel," Ellaina replied, not even bothering to look at der Ritter or the tree. She had really thought that her friends would come this year. So many bad things had happened this year, so she thought that having someone for the holiday season was the least she deserved. Apparently, she was wrong. It was no wonder that the Slenderman had sought her out for observance and eventual kill.
Here, look at it now, she heard that voice in her head once again. Ellaina really didn't care what it looked like. She wouldn't care if the thing suddenly turned into a living being and started tap-dancing to Singing in the Rain. She truly just didn't care, but the suddenly violent voice in her head demanding her to look at it changed her mind.
Ellaina looked to the tree to find that the glob of tinsel had been removed and had been spread evenly over the remainder of the tree. It looked rather nice. She smiled slightly, wondering how exactly Slendy had managed to decorate the tree without moving. Her thoughts were answered when he added one last strand of the shining stuff to the tree using one of the inky, black tendrils.
"You didn't have to do that," she muttered, looking away from him and the tree again. The thing would only serve as a constant reminder that she would be alone for the holiday again. When she had left home, she had known that she would be alone, but she had been okay with it for a time. But as the years passed, she began to miss waking up and opening presents with people. Not to mention, not knowing what she was going to get had become a novel idea to her. Had her friends shown up, it would have been the first time in years that she had received an unknown gift. Sure, her students would buy her things, but they were usually predictable-a gift card, a movie, a coffee mug. As she turned back to actually say something to her guest and try to come out of the downward spiral that was her thoughts, Ellaina found that he had gone.
"So, you decided to leave me to my own as well?" she asked, not knowing if he could hear her or not. She glared around the room. "Well, fine. Go off and murder Santa and ruin the holidays for some small children. Why shouldn't everyone be upset? It sure isn't the most wonderful time of the year!"
Ellaina picked up the gifts she had wrapped for her friends and threw them into the fireplace, quickly setting the thing ablaze soon after using her lighter. Realization hit her. He had returned the thing. All that was left of him on the thing was a small note:
Don't destroy the tree. It looks nice.
Ellaina considered doing that, if only to annoy him, but decided against it. Annoying a nearly all powerful being that planned to kill you in the near future probably wasn't the best choice. So, she simply threw the lighter outside. It managed to bounce off the back end of the fence, bounce off a few tree limbs, and finally land in some dry leaves. When the lighter gave a small spark, it didn't take long for the trees to go up in flames. Ellaina didn't notice any of this, though, for she had gone to her room to try and sleep away some of the depression she was having over looking unhappily towards another Christmas spent alone.
The smell of burning trees quickly filled the air. At first, the Slenderman ignored it, thinking that perhaps his senses were going awry. But the sounds of animals fleeing the forest quickly told him otherwise. He came out of his hidden home only in time for a burning tree limb to land on him, momentarily stunning him and pinning him to the ground, burning him.
With a growl he forced the burning thing off of himself and made to get away from the flames. If only there was an escape. Everywhere he looked there were only flames. Traveling by the tree branches seemed to be the only logical choice. He went up in them, using the burned tendrils to pull him up there. The injuries had subdued his powers-he couldn't simply teleport away. When he found the idiot who had started this fire, that man would beg for death long before it would come.
Moving to another branch seemed to be a good idea, but upon landing on it, the branch snapped, sending him falling into a burning ring of fire. There was no escape as the flames grew higher.