Chapter 5:

Always watches; No eyes.

They both stared at the note, left on what looked to be an abandoned truck. They'd both been wondering what it had been doing out here, but now... well, other things were on their minds.

"Gee," Rin started sarcastically, "If only I could think of something that was always watching, but had no eyes."

Gakupo tugged on her arm harshly, causing her to grit her teeth. This man was as stubborn as she was. "Left by a teenager who probably has nothing better to do but play pranks," he tried to rationalize. But Rin knew better. She'd known better for two years.

Though, as Gakupo led her away, she had to wonder who was actually leaving these around. In her mind's eye, she pictured Len, hopelessly stuck and lost, running around leaving warnings to those who came here in the future. She knew that couldn't be it, though. She'd been splattered with his blood, had no doubt in her mind that he was dead.

She sniffed, turning away from Gakupo so he wouldn't see her eyes water at the thought.

–

This was getting ridiculous.

Gakupo was surely going insane.

When he'd allowed himself to doze off with his charge, he had a... dream. In which a thing—Slenderman, if his studies were correct—had been following him. Every time he turned around, it would be there, only getting closer and closer with every step he took. And then, strangely enough, he'd been terrified. His fear had been so real, it was like this was happening in life rather than in his subconsciousness. Which was, as he said before, utterly ridiculous. Rin was getting to him, that was all. When he was rid of her, so would this itching feeling be gone.

But he couldn't help like feeling that they were being watched.

By something with no eyes.

Gakupo hardly resisted the urge to slap himself, because that was so stupid to think. Nothing was here but them and the animals. No Slenderman was going to get them.

He was sure that if he kept telling himself that, he'd start to believe it.

But his mind wandered to the crash. What had been in the road? A tall silhouette of something humanoid, but the limbs had been too long. And though its back had been facing them, he could tell it was bald. With skin like porcelain.

Something that met the description of—

A rustling in the woods caught Gakupo's attention and derailed his train of thought. It was getting dark, so he had long ago taken out his flashlight. He swung the beam over to some bushes and waited for some sort of small animal to come out, but nothing did.

Rin stopped walking, and both of them stared in the direction of the noise, Rin with abject horror and Gakupo with curiosity.

And that's when they saw it.

–

My time has come.

Her luck had run out.

Rin was doomed.

Standing there, as if everything was normal and okay—which for it, it probably was—was it. The Slenderman. Its faceless head looked upon her and Gakupo with what had to be interest, but with no eyes, it was hard to tell. Its long arms hung limply to its sides, sharp nails touching the ground. Seeing those claws had Rin remembering her dream. Wondering if it were about to become a reality.

Gakupo's grip on her loosened, and Rin realized she could run—leave the bastard here to face what he didn't believe. But Rin wasn't a killer, no matter what he thought, so she shoved him with her shoulder. "Don't look or it takes you!" she shouted. "Close your eyes, grab onto me, and run!"

For once, the older man listened with no hesitation. When his strong grip returned to her arm, she let her lids slide closed and began to bolt. De ja vu took hold of her as she crashed into everything around her, Gakupo at one point sandwiching her between himself and a tree. But she never was deterred for long, constantly running because her life depended on it.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, they came to a stop.

Out of breath, she turned on Gakupo, who was staring wide-eyed behind him. "Do you fucking believe me now?" she barked, voice an octave higher than it should have been.

"There's no way... there's no way..."

"There is a way, and now we're stuck with it because I know we're lost."

"There can't be... there can't be..."

The detective was shaking from head to toe, and Rin numbly wondered if this had broken him. His eyes were darting and he was sweating profusely, face blank. Pursing her lips, she approached him, wanting to put a comforting hand on his shoulder or something, but she was unable to. Instead, she nudged him with her shoulder. "Hey," she said softly, "I'm not gonna say it'll be okay, because I don't know if it will be." She did know—it wasn't. "But you can't freak out, alright? I need you to be level-headed, and I need you to be now."

He stared through her for a few tense moments, and then sighed, running a hand through his long hair. "Right," he murmured. "Sorry about that." He sounded sheepish, but she didn't call him out on it. They needed to work together now.

"Don't worry about it," she said briskly. Then she turned, giving him her back and wiggling her fingers. "Do you think you can uncuff me now?"

He didn't respond, but she heard him move, and then her hands were free. She stretched her arms out in front of her, turning her wrists in circles. It felt good to be able to move freely.

"What are we going to do?" Gakupo asked her, and Rin belatedly noticed she was in charge. She was solely responsible for this man's life from here on out. And she needed a plan fast.

The blonde crossed her arms. "First, you need to tell me everything you learned about the Slenderman." He nodded. "And then we need to... find a way out of here." That was obvious, but she felt like everything was necessary to say. "Beyond that... I don't know what we should do. Oh, maybe we should find shelter for a bit. Somewhere to hide out until we get our energy back." Another nod.

In her mind, Rin made up her own plan.

She'd get Gakupo out of here, but she'd stay. She'd learn everything she could about Slenderman, and she'd destroy it so it would never take somebody's brother—somebody's anything—away again. She knew she'd go down, too, but there was no way in hell she was going alone.

It'd be the last thing she'd ever do, but she'd do it.

The hunt was on.