Day Unknown

Lights. Nothing but light was around her as she awoke in a bed. She looked around with her still glazed over eyes and could barely see. Things were almost nothing but shadows and light. She sat up and before she could adjust herself she heard a voice and a light touch. "No sweetie you have to lay down. Just relax we've got you hooked up to quite a few wires here. You took quite a spill." It was a nurse, and Cassie was at a hospital. Reluctantly Cassie asked, "What happened?"

"Well according to one of your friends you weren't looking so good. They brought you here and we tried to wake you but you wouldn't. Seems like you were in some sort of coma. You feeling okay now?"

"Not really. Why can't I see?"

"Can you see much or is it complete darkness?"

"I can see shapes and a lot of light."

"That's probably normal. You were asleep for about two weeks now." Cassie immediately shook in fear. "My friends! Where are they?" Cassie demanded.

"They went back to the mountain, said they were looking for a friend of theirs." The nurse said. Cassie tried to get up but felt pain as she tried taking out the wires. "No don't do that! You have to rest!"

"Do you realize what you've done? You sent my friends to a graveyard!" Cassie yelled. She started to walk down the halls of the hospital and she could feel her head pounding. She growled and moaned as she was looking for a familiar face if she could. "Haley? Where are you?" She asked. "Haley?" She began to cry. "Jeana? Jesse? Micah? Emma? Anybody?" She began to cry more. She could see a little better now. She could see faces and the hallways better instead of just light and dark. She started to make out colors and more defined tones. "Haley? Don't die!" She yelled. A doctor caught a hold of her.

"Take it easy, you're going to be fine." He said calmly. "Get out of my way!" She pushed him aside and kept walking. She finally got to the outside of the hospital as she regained all sight and the mountain was in full focus a short driving distance away. She started to run out into the pouring rain to find some sort of transportation. She realized she was in a hospital gown as the water dripping down her back was very cold. She found a man waiting outside of his car and he looked straight at her. He seemed to have expected this to happen as she reached the man he grabbed her and held her close. He whispered in her ear, "Get in." As the man got her inside the car and they drove away before the orderly's could get to her. They started to drive on the freeway.

"Who are you?" Cassie asked. "Detective Anderson, I've been waiting for you. I need to ask you a few questions regarding your stay at Cooper's mountain. From what I've been told you are the only one who knows about the murderer."

"But my friends, are they alright?"

"I hate to break it to you but… We haven't found a single soul on that mountain. When we searched we found nothing but broken rope, an empty weapon, rusty blade, and this camcorder." He handed Cassie her camcorder. "If you must, you may watch the video. It could help if you could give us information." He said. Cassie flipped open the camcorder's screen which had been cracked and pressed play. She watched the video that was recorded on it and she saw her friends walking through the forest. "What if this idiot gets us?" She could hear Ben say. "Shut up Ben. If you weren't so loud maybe we would have a chance at survival." Haley said. "Haley!" Cassie said.

She then started to hear a loud sound on the camcorder. It was a banging noise. "What was that?" Jeana asked. "Where is Micah?" Jesse asked. The banging grew louder as she heard a loud but distant scream. It was Micah. "Oh my god! We're going to die!" Ben yelled. The bang grew closer to where the group was and the camera was now on Jesse who had a terrified look on his face. "It stopped. Is that goo…" Jesse was taken out of focus as the camera was swung away from him as they started to run. The camera was being swung back and forth as the group ran. At some point Jeana could be heard screaming, as she must have been taken by Slender. Ben was on screen now as he breathed heavily.

"You think he's gone?" He asked. Some sort of music started to play. "Is that your mp3 Ben?" Emma asked. "Yeah but it was off. Plus I don't even have this crappy song on it." He said. It was the song "Lullaby" by the Cure. "Emma take the camera for a second."

"Yeah." Emma took the camera out of Haley's hands. "You think Cassie's okay in the hospital?" Emma asked. "Wouldn't count on it. She was dead when I saw her." Haley said. "What do you mean?" Ben asked. "You mean like the dead kind of dead?"

"No. She just looked terrible. She looked like she had seen a ghost; she looked like when she lost her mom, that kind of dead. Now her dad can't even manage to mend her heart, she's been so lost without her mom. She barely knew her but it seems like she knows her almost every night. She used to talk about her so highly until we got into high school. Then she just trailed off on her own after a while. I just don't know what's wrong with her; I wish I could help her become in a way normal. Or at least be able to detach from her dad and the past. I love that girl to death but she's been making me as depressed as her. If she is dead, I can only say this, she's already been dead for years." Haley finished.

Cassie looked down in shame and could feel the detectives eyes stare at her as if he knew that pain. "What was that?" Ben asked. Trees then started to collapse on top of them as the camera was knocked down and shut off. Cassie screamed and jumped in her seat as she then started to bawl. "Listen Cassie I assume. Cassie. You need to tell me what you know about the killer. Is this some sort of human we're dealing with, or are we possibly dealing with Satan himself?" He asked. Cassie held up two fingers to indicate Satan himself. The detective nodded. "We may need a priest then. May whatever exists out there save us. If there is something out there." He stated.

"You're an atheist detective?" Cassie asked. Detective Anderson was silent. He sniffled as his thick gray mustache lifted. "My daughter. She went on a trip like this. You kind of remind me of her a little bit. She was beautiful, short, primp and proper. I raised her right, I taught her to be a good little girl. It was the summer of her last year in high school before she steps into the real world. She took a trip to this mountain with her newly wedded husband and I gave him the blessing to marry her. The boy was nice, he knew how to treat a lady and become friends with her father. So they took a trip to that same mountain your staying at. Before she left I remember exactly what she said after I joked about some freak accidents supposedly happened there. 'Don't worry dad, I know you'll always be there for me. I love you.' And she blew me a kiss goodbye. Little did I know it would be the last time I would see that little hand blowing a kiss goodbye. She went to the mountain, with her husband Daniel. That was the end of that story. So I thought what was the point in believing in a higher power if they do this to you? She was perfect. A few months later my wife passed away while taking care of our new child. With me being a nearly unfit parent and husband losing both my wife and my firstborn, I had to give up the little one to adoption. A man took her who happened to have known my wife for a long time; took the little one and renamed her. Amazing how it works huh? Lose two, someone is fortunate enough to gain one." Detective Anderson gave a short chuckle.

"Do you mind me asking what her name was?" Cassie asked. "My daughters name was Jillian. My wife, her name was Tara." He said. Cassie looked at detective Anderson in shock. "Was Tara a psychic of some kind?"

"Yeah… How do you know?"

"My mother died when I was young. Her name was Tara, I see her in my dreams almost every night." Cassie explained. Detective Anderson stopped the car. He looked at Cassie in amazement as he looked her over. "Megan. You've grown so much. I can't believe it really is you." He brushed Cassie, who was formerly known to detective Anderson as Megan, hair over. "No wonder you remind me of Jillian, you are her sister." Detective Anderson said. "I'm your father Meg… I mean Cassie. I am Thomas, your father." He said. Cassie was unsure if she could trust his judgment but she heard a voice in her head that was saying this was her first trial she would have to come to terms with. Support. She needed her birth father's support in this battle against Slender.

"Well… If you really are my father, you're going to have to help me take this guy down. I barely know you, but it feels like I should. For some reason I may have formed a very distant connection with you through my dreams. Tara gave me specific instructions from beyond the grave the other night; whenever that was. She told me to be prepared to face several things along the way, things I have to accept and come to terms with. The little voice inside my head told me I need some kind of support. Which in this case happens to be you. So I need to know… Are you with me?" Cassie finished explaining.

"If I didn't want to support you, we wouldn't already be at the mountain." Detective Anderson said as he pointed at Coopers Mountain. Cassie looked at the mountain and back at her birth father and nodded. Thomas started to drive up the mountain, as they were about to face the devil himself.

Hour 1

Leadership. That was Cassie's next task was to lead her birth father through the forest and up the mountain. She knew that she had to find the cabin at the top of the mountain; little did she know she would have to face tests she had never had the pleasure of knowing in her life. Thomas and Cassie rode up the mountain and saw many different things along the way. The security building had no power and broken windows, cabins were burned halfway, blood everywhere. It was complete mayhem that they did not expect to see as they first rode up. "Let's check with the station, maybe they know what went on here. Station this is car 72 checking in, we may need assistance up at Cooper's mountain. Anyone know what went on down here?" Thomas said.

"Car 72 this is base we have several reports up at the location, we have had zero response from units that have entered. I'd recommend making that mountain a restricted area from the public until we can handle the situation. There have been reports of several unsolved murders, kidnappings, and riots going on in that zone. It is a no compliance zone and the military is on its way, I repeat the military is on its way. We have several Amber and Adam alerts in the area from concerned parents. Three Ambers and one Adam over."

"Copy that, identify."

"First Amber is a girl named Haley Valentine; about 5'4, 130 pounds, medium hair, 18 years of age, and was lost on the 15th. Along with her a boy named Benjamin Dillinger, about 5'11, 205 pounds, short hair, last seen on the 15th. Another girl Emma Harrelson, about 5'2, 125 pounds, long hair, last seen or contacted to on the 17th. The last Amber alert is a girl named Cassie S. Dernel…"

"I have Cassie! We are trying to figure out what's going on and I think she knows."

"Could you repeat that last transmission…Lose…Over…" Suddenly the radio crackled and whined as it finally blew up. "Damn thing! I knew I should have fixed it a month ago." Detective Anderson yelled. Something strange started to go on in Cassie's head. She started to get a headache, then her eyes felt like they were on fire, she then felt something strange come into her head. She was then on the mountain with Detective Anderson by her side. The only problem was fire and the bodies of her friends surrounded her. She could hear a broken radio in the distance whining over the intercom. She ran to try and locate it but she realized her ankle was twisted and she could only limp. Cassie looked around her and there was the bodies of the military, jets, convoys, and even tanks destroyed all around her. She tried to look for the radio and located it on a severed military head. She heard a general trying to get into contact with the fleet around her.

"This is Cassie. I'm the only one here. Please help me!" She yelled. "Cassie, I want you to get out of there as quick as you can, locate the nearest exit, and leave the area ASAP. We are going to be leveling the entire mountain. I repeat the entire mountain area will be wiped out. I would recommend a safe distance of approximately 10 miles out of range. Find transportation Cassie, and just get out of there…" All of a sudden Cassie was back in the car with Anderson and she could not even explain what had just happened. "Cassie. You okay?" He asked. She shook her head and looked at him with fear in her eyes. "We can't let the army in. I can't explain to you what just happened, all I know is, we have to do this ourselves, and we can't let the military in at all. Can you hold them back?" She asked.

Anderson nodded his head. He knew exactly what had happened to Cassie. He had seen it all before with Tara. The Extrasensory powers Cassie has is what she needs now to locate her friends, Slender's bones, and to get her out safe and sound. She got out of the car and looked back at her birth father as he nodded and drove away. She then turned to the chaos surrounding her and started to scour the area for offensive and defensive weapons. She came across a few lamps, but none of them worked. She saw many flashlights but there were only two that worked. She took the two flashlights since they were so small. She found a backpack to store all of her equipment. Once she had finished scouring the area for equipment, she came out with two working flashlights, a Shotgun with 16 shells, 5 Lighters, 15 Essential vitamin bars, 6 Nutritional pills, 7 Deadly hunting knives, 6 small Emergency kits, and a Revolver with 20 shells. She was more than prepared at this point; she could have held back an entire fleet of Slend Cooper's.

She started to trek through the area and into the woods where she found it was soon going to be dark. She came to a river and started to drink from it as the searching and running around left her thirsty. She also took some clothes from the site and she changed out of her gown and put on a red ripped tank-top, black jacket, black short shorts, dark combat boots, and fingerless gloves. She saw a pack of cigarettes on the ground close to her. She picked it up, opened the pack, and saw one cigarette in it and she took it and lit it with one of the lighters. She took a drag and blew it out. She then left it in her mouth as she carried the shotgun in her hands into the woods. It seemed as though she had been birthed into a new life after meeting her real father.

It was Nativity; a birth into a new life like Jesus was born here on a new earth. This was the birth of her vengeful side and she knew what to do. It was no surprise that this new Cassie that had been birthed by evil and revenge was going to be the start of a surprising new life for her. Her adoptive father would have no way of recognizing her now. Not even Tara would recognize the new Cassie. Or would she?

Hour 2

Cassie wondered through what seemed like an endless forest on the search for her friends. Her newly discovered power would bring her to her friends and the permanent death of Slender. She had high hopes of finding them and discovering more secrets of her past along the way. She came to the forest clearing from what she had seen in the recording on the camcorder. She looked down and felt the ground as she tried to track their movement. She smelled the leaves and realized something… "Haley's perfume." She said to herself. "She must have dropped it here, but where's the bottle?" She asked herself. She felt her eyes burning once again and this time she didn't see a vision. Instead she saw a red aura leading around the trees and beyond. She felt the need to follow it and she did. She tracked it until she had come to a river again and saw the trail of the aura leading to a small cabin on the other side.

Her vision went back to normal, as she knew something would be in that cabin. Her only challenge was to cross the river for it was flowing in both directions. It changed at times which way the river flowed because she figured it was a sort of trap. She held up the shotgun as she trekked carefully through the first part of the river. She walked carefully on the rocks at the bottom of the river as she hoped not to slip. If she stepped in the sand it would sink and she came with it. She walked through and tested the next rock and the next. Of course after she was finished with the first rapid, she had to move to the next. This one was slower flowing than the last, as she seemed to find it easier to cross. She felt something swim past her leg and she looked down and realized it was an alligator and it bit at her left leg. She let out a cry of pain as she tried to swim quickly to the shore. Just as she felt the water flow faster than it should, she also noticed the alligator charged at her and come out with her.

She rolled through the ground with the alligator firmly in her grip. It snapped its large jaw at Cassie as she tried to shoot it with the gun. She was successful but it only shot the snout off. It was enough for the alligator to retreat back into the water and come back later to finish her off. She backed away from the water as she let the gator go back into the river and she got up and limped away gun in hand. She got close to the cabin and let herself to the ground and sat against the wall of the cabin. She put the gun down beside her and she sat there against the wall. She looked around and felt the sting of the gators bite and she looked at it. It was bleeding profusely and she searched her bag for the medical kit. She heard a gun cocking and heard a gruff voice say: "What are you doing here?" as she tried to look up.

"I'm looking for friends. What are you doing here?" She asked. "Come on. Let's get you inside." He said. She got up as the man went inside the cabin already. She followed him in and she looked around the cabin. It didn't seem like much. It just looked like your average cabin; it had a bearskin rug, animal heads on the wall, fireplace, bed, dressers, and a rocking chair. The man went to sit in the rocking chair and as he sat, Cassie got a better look at him. He had a large white beard, short grey hair, pale blue eyes, light skin, light blue jeans, flannel shirt, black hiking boots, and he was also very large. He looked up at Cassie and he took a quick look over her. "You don't look like your supposed to be here. Why are you so crazy looking for?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing, assuming we are from different cultures it would be a very shallow thing to say. So lets skip how we look and say we want the same thing."

"Doubt it. Lost what I wanted years ago. I'd give up too if I were you. Not very smart to stay on this mountain, even if you found your friends you wouldn't make it off this mountain alive." He explained. "Name's Leonard. Drink?" He asked. "What do you have?" Cassie asked. "Got some whiskey. Also some water from the river in case you want it."

"I'll have whiskey." She demanded. "Well, no point in you drinking alone. Guess I should pour myself one as well. So where you from?"

"Further south. By the way my name is Cassie. Also can you patch me up?"

"Nice to meet you, yeah I can get you all fixed. Let me see the wound. Oh yeah. That's going to need some fixing. Lie on the bed but don't put your leg on there." She walked over to the bed and sat down stretching her wounded leg out. She swung her bag around and took a medical kit out. "This might help Mr. Leonard." She said. "Hmm…" He opened the kit and took the equipment out of it. "It'll have to do for now. It's got all we need I supposed. Course this here gauze will do us lots of good. Alright this might sting a bit." He warned. He then poured the whiskey on the injury and Cassie yelled out in pain.

"Told yah. All right now we got to clean the blood up. Let me grab this towel." He started to clean the blood off of Cassie's leg and he put the towel down as he went to the cabinet. "Your too young to drink alcohol as I have noticed. So here's some fresh water. It will do you more well drinking a relaxing drink than anything else. The injury doesn't look as bad as most but still need to sew it. I got it." He said as he went to get the needle and thread. He started to sew up the injury and got it closed and finished. "Nice and clean. You should rest for the next hour or so before going anywhere. Either way you go back the way you came you're more than likely dead at the mouth of the gator. You go further the opposite way… Well I hope you know what you're getting yourself into."

"You know about Slender?"

"Course I do. Everybody knows before this mountain became a sideshow attraction that this thing did damage. Slender's a one of a kind beast that will leave you begging for God almighty to help you. He puts the evil in Devil. I'd be better off getting eaten by the gator."

"So how are you still alive?" Cassie asked. Leonard remained silent and finally spoke. "I was like you once, young, fresh, full of life. Then the incident happened. The first accident on this mountain had occurred. I'm older than the world now and people don't even know I am still here. Waiting. Waiting for the thing I desired most. The fall of Slend Cooper, he took my family, friends, my life away from me. He is practically the servant of the devil himself. Sometimes you have to let him have his power just to keep him away from you. I've been able to run and hide and evade him on his mountain. Funny, he takes your friends, he took mine, and everything is in Hell right now. Your better off finding your way back home, as a matter of fact I'd love to take you. He doesn't even know I am here. Hopefully it can stay that way."

"What happened to you?"

"I'm scarred for life. It was just we. And people showed up for the funerals. I hid in the forest for the longest time switching sides on every part of the mountain. Switching and waiting for revenge. He took her from me. Now I want to destroy him but I can't. I'm not ready yet. I'm not worthy of being able to destroy the Devil's work. See this mark here on my wrist. That's what that demon did to me. Gave me the number of the unholy one. She went to Hell, and I will too. A forbidden love and is now trapped inside the one place you don't want to be. I started seeing more deaths after ours. The one that struck a cord with me the most was a young couple that had just gotten married not a few hours earlier in the night. I was trekking through the forest when it happened and I saw the car getting destroyed. She was scared and alone. Then he took her out of the car and ate her. He hadn't eaten the man yet but the man limped away before Slend even noticed him. He went searching for that man. I doubt he ever found him, even if he did the guy was long dead and spat out before Slend even got to him. Not likely he survived. The police found a dead body that was believed to be the husband that looked similar in every way. They had no way of tracking him though. They found the woman's remains days later." Leonard remained silent for a moment. He went to sit down and face Cassie.

"I actually know the father of that girl. I just met him when I came from the hospital, turns out his daughter was the one you were explaining."

"What's the man's name?" Leonard asked. "Thomas. He's a detective… I kind of need him for support, I can't explain why but I just need him, morally." Cassie explained. "Morally? Strange support for a time like this, you need physical support. Besides if you just came from a hospital what makes you think you're right in the head to fight this demon?" Leonard asked raising his voice a bit. "I'm not… That's my advantage over him." Cassie said. This took Leonard back, as he sat back in his chair. "I don't know if this will make sense to you… But I see things, and I believe them. I see my mother from beyond the grave at night, I saw a red trail leading me to this cabin, and I saw something that hasn't happened yet… It will." Cassie confessed.

"I hate to tell you this Cassie, but you definitely aren't right in the head. It could be the mountain messing with you, but if you're me, you're already used to it. This mountain gets to your head, however it seems like it got to you quicker than me. Mine didn't start until a couple of years after staying on this mountain. You weren't even here for a few days and it happened. Get some rest, I'll keep watch." Leonard said. Cassie lay back in the bed and stretched out. She tried to close her eyes but couldn't, she wanted to get the job done, but after all she had been through, she at least wanted to rest for a few minutes after trekking up a mountain, getting bit by a strange gator, and seeing things. She finally closed her eyes and rested.