Anne hugged Alice close to her, making sure no stuffing fell out of the tear. She threaded a single hair through the material and quickly tied the tear up, she wanted Alice to be alright. Alice was her best and only friend. Anne hesitated as she stood before the exit that led to the peak. Sucking in a breath and her courage, she stepped out into the dawn's light. Her gaze, cold and unwavering, landed on the trio of Rake, Jeff and Slenderman surrounding the poor girl as she curled up on the ground, clutching her head. She took another step forward and the girl looked up at her.
"Wh…What's going on?" she whispered as Anne stroked Alice's head, digging her fingers deep into her white fur "Why am I here? What do you want from me?!"
Anne didn't like this. That girl reminded her of when she herself had been a young human. But Anne didn't recall much from her teenage years, those years were Slenderman's years.
"Shut up!" Jeff hissed and kicked the poor girl in the back.
The girl winced but when Jeff lifted his knife, Slenderman snatched his arm.
"…Let Anne take care of this one," he said and looked down at Anne expectantly.
"Oh! Oh! Her first kill!" Jeff cackled and clapped his hands "I'm excited! Go on then!"
Anne wanted to step back but she knew that if she did, she would lose Slenderman's trust and Jeff would kill the poor girl straight away. Rake raked his claws along the ground next to the whimpering girl, gazing up at Anne expectantly. With a nervous gulp, Anne stepped forward and crouched down, looking the girl in her frightened eyes. She whimpered and flinched when Anne lifted up a tendril of white hair and carefully felt around her face. A surge of power urged the tendril closer to the girl's temple and Anne had to close her eyes as a rush of energy flowed through her tendril and into her head. Anne felt herself shiver as she realised that she was looking into the girl's memory. How many powers and abilities did Slenderman give her? Anne saw the girl's memory from the beginning of the day, when she was so excited to go camping, to when the Rake attacked the campsite, her fear and horror as her legs brought her up the mountain.
"Please…"
Anne's eyes fluttered open as she looked down at the girl with a sympathetic look. She looked up at the three killers, catching their expectant glares. Anne suddenly felt something tighten in her chest. She was one of them. She wasn't human at all. She was just a mere child compared to them and they were eager to see her first kill. It reminded Anne of the time when she was learning to speak, the expectant looks they held in their eyes as her mouth formed words for the first time. Anne looked down at the girl again. She had to kill her. The girl flinched as Anne lifted multiple tendrils and pointed them at her. Anne's tendrils quivered, against the wind or out of fear, Anne wasn't sure. But as she buried her nose back into Alice's fur, she realised. There had to be a different way. She just needed the courage. Anne leaned forward and pressed her forehead against the girl's sweaty one. Her lips formed the one word she had always said to the victims that met her.
"Run."
And suddenly, her tendrils changed their course and attacked the three creatures surrounding them. Anne snatched the girl's wrist, hauled her to her feet and pushed her behind her. She watched as Jeff flew off and hit a rocky wall and Rake nearly skidded off the edge, his claws digging into the ledge to try not to fall off. Slenderman snatched the tendrils that charged after him with his tentacles, shaking his head in disappointment.
"You foolish girl," he said as Anne strained to yank her hair out of his grip "Do you really think you can fool me?"
Anne stepped back in an attempt to get free from his grip as the girl fled back into the cave. Slenderman pulled her forward, making the girl stumble and gripped her chin.
"I created you," he hissed "Without me, you'd be nothing. You would be dead. How dare you go against me!"
He swiped at her to claw his fingers into her cheek but Anne ducked and used a free tendril to push him away. Slenderman hissed again and turned his head to Jeff who had gotten back to his feet.
"Cut her hair," he ordered and Jeff grinned with glee as he raised his knife.
Anne's eyes widened. She didn't want him to cut her hair! It was so painful! She didn't want to have that pain again!
"No!" she screeched in the most inhumane fashion she had heard herself.
In a desperate attempt, she yanked her hair out successfully out of Slenderman's grip, ripping off a tentacle by the sheer force of her strength. Slenderman shrieked and Anne swung the tentacle at Jeff which constricted itself around his neck the moment it touched him. Jeff choked and fell to his knees, trying to rip the tentacle off him. Anne looked at Rake as he successfully scrambled back up the ledge and she pushed him fully off this time, listening to the shrieks he made as he fell.
"Anne!"
Anne gasped and raised a hand to her head as Slenderman tried to snatch her mind.
"No…" she whispered "I…I don't want to be controlled anymore! I'm not your puppet!"
She glared at Slenderman as she stepped back away from him. He was on his knees, gripping the hole to where the tentacle had been ripped out. His face was trained on her and she didn't know if she succeeded in pushing him out or not until he flinched and shrunk away from her. Anne took another step back and froze when she heard gravel fall down the ledge behind her. She turned and looked at the sheer drop and her heart raced.
"Of course," she whispered "There's only one way to escape Slenderman."
"Anne, don't."
Anne turned to Slenderman then looked back at the drop. She hugged Alice tighter and took a deep breath.
"Anne!"
Anne jumped.
