Author's Note: I apologize for my absence! I have not forgotten this story, as I have chapter seven almost finished. I had a family emergency.

NOW. Onto chapter six, and I hope you enjoy it. It's a bit random, but it's REALLY important that this stuff happened.

Please read and review, lovelies :)

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Chapter Six

A Thief in the Night

The website Alice had found certainly contained tons of information, ranging from what the Slender Man did to his victims (things she already knew, but some new information was quite disturbing to her), and the effects he had on humans when he was near. More than once, the facts had bothered her enough to make her want to stop reading, but her curiousity got the better of her. Curiosity killed the cat, thought Alice with a shiver. She clicked on another link – she still had more to read. Glancing at the time at the bottom of the screen, she noticed that almost two hours had passed since she had atarted her research; the clock said it was twenty minutes past twelve in the morning. She blinked tiredly as she read another paragraph. This one explained how the Slender Man got around. The term given to His means of transportation had been called "Slender Walking." Only, it had nothing to do with walking at all. She read:

Slenderwalking is the ability of the slender man to appear and disappear at will, apparently to teleport from one point to another, instantly and often without any physical indication of the teleportation. While it's not clearly defined as to what the parameters and limitations of the teleportation are, it is often considered to be the basis for time travel as well. Most agree that Slenderman's ability to teleport derives from some sort of ability to occupy space time at any point.

So that's how he moves around so fast, she thought. A shiver crawled up Alice's spine, causing her to shudder. She glanced around her darkened room, looking for any shadows that might be Him. When there was nothing, she relaxed a little and scrolled down the page and continued to read, becoming strangely more intrigued rather than afraid. She read things at explained little details (such as the Tulpa Effect, which was similar to that of manifestation from thought-forms) and how the Slender Man had changed over time. His many names reflected previous appearances from many centuries ago (Alice was startled to find that he had in fact existed that far back in time). Some referred to him as The Knight or The White King. Alice wondered if, like the names suggested, people had once thought of him as a God of sorts and worshiped him. She read on.

The ability of the Slenderman to disguise itself is one of its more important traits. The most well known camouflage is that of the contemporary suit-wearing Slenderman. The most supported theory is that the Slenderman takes the appearance of a member of higher class or notable social position (a knight, a warrior, a suited man), in order to gain trust or acceptance from a person, or at the very least to blend in at a distance. A variation of this theory is that the Slenderman's appearance varies from person to person slightly, appearing how the individual's mind comprehends it.

The alternative theory deals with the tulpa effect, which describes the appearance of the Slenderman not as camouflage, but rather as the interpretation of the viewer. Similar to the above, the thoughts or the individual or groups of individuals determines the appearance of the Slenderman, often in a high-status outfit, based on their comprehension or their pre-held conceptions. This differs from the previous theory in that it is neither a choice or a physical/natural adaptation of the Slenderman, but a mental creation based on the viewer.

Alice considered this new information. If she had seen the Slender Man from a distance, then yes, she supposed it would make sense that he appeared as trust-worthy. The suit he wore definitely gave him the look of a business man or someone of high intelligence. She bit her lip and she thought of the many victims (children, mainly) that had fallen into his trap. What a terrible fate they must have suffered….

The more Alice read, the more on edge she felt, though she couldn't stop. She was full of nerves and excitement at this strange research she was conducting. It made her feel like she had a purpose – like she had to figure this out to save others and possibly herself. She constantly felt the mark on her chest from Him and felt the excitement grow within her – was he near? Would he pay her a visit that night? She reached over and grabbed his suit jacket and breathed in his earthy scent as she threaded her arms through the sleeves of the jacket. It was still warm, and it sent a strange buzz through her being and she pushed the long sleeves up (they reached well past her hands). Alice read on through the night, and though her eyes grew tired, her body was alert. She felt frightened, though safe at the same time in his jacket. She learned that there were people helping the Slender Man, and these people were called Proxies, the term given to anyone that was under the influence of him. He could influence humans in many different ways, and the one that made Alice the most nervous was mind control. Based on what she read, the Slender Man could easily break into one's thoughts, speak to them, and control them. Alice froze as she read this, her finger pausing above her laptop's mouse pad. He had spoken to her though her mind earlier that day! Did that mean he was listening to her thoughts at that very second? Did he know she was researching him? A chill ran up Alice's spine as she looked above her laptop's screen, peering into the shadows of her dark room, the look of shock illuminated on her face from the glow of the monitor. She jumped when her eyes found a tall, elongated shadow in the corner by her window. The light from the faded streetlamps outside melted in through the spaces between her blinds. Her heart skipped, and the sting of fear coursed through her veins, paralyzing her momentarily. Slowly, she was able to move again, though she did so very carefully and tried to not to make a sound. As she stood, she prepared herself to see him when she snapped on the light and-

There was nothing. When she whirled around, she saw, instead, her wardrobe, standing still in the corner and very un-Slender-like. Alice mentally chastised herself for being stupid and returned to her bed, trying to convince herself that she was braver than she really was; her heart pounded in her ears and she felt jumpy. She sunk back down onto her bed, the black void of jacket enveloping her small frame. She reopened her laptop and waited patiently for the black screen to turn into the webpage again. That, however, never came. Frowning, Alice wiggled her finger on the mouse pad. The screen flickered white for a moment before turning black again. A sudden rush of panic came over Alice as she remembered something she had read about the Slender Man being able to manipulate technology. She tapped the mouse pad, and felt relief as the web page decided to show itself this time. Though she calmed down, the feeling of shock still lingered within her.

She continued reading, though her laptop seemed to be lagging somewhat. It took longer to scroll down the pages – things kept getting stuck. Alice ignored it and passed it off as her laptop getting tired from being on so long. The low hum of its fan let her know it needed to cool off.

Time ticked on, Alice's eyes beginning to droop ever so slightly as sleep tried to claim her. But she forced herself to focus on the words even though they blurred in and out of focus.

Suddenly, without warning, her bedroom light shut off. Her eyes snapped open, and her senses became more aware of her surroundings. In front of her, the deep blue website flickered to a white page. Alice looked at the message displayed there.

Error 404 –this website cannot be displayed at this time.

"What the hell?" muttered Alice, snapping her laptop shut. She looked around the room, frozen on her bed.

"Hello?" she whispered.

Sleep, a voice whispered. Alice's body tensed. She knew that voice – it was His voice.

"Where are you?" Alice whispered back.

I am where you are. Alice squeaked in fear and shook her head.

"Stop it," she said, a little louder than a whisper. She heard a knock at her winder. Tap, tap, tap.

Sleep now, Alisss.

Before she knew it, the little light from the moon faded into blackness, and Alice was asleep.

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Alice felt Him grab something – her blanket? – and the warmth that engulfed her immediately disappeared. The coldness of her room replaced it and her skin turned to goose flesh. Alice felt something cool cover her mouth and she gasped, struggling beneath Him. She could feel him moving, and as his hand left her mouth, she opened her eyes. She could see Him, looming above her, as he shrugged on his suit jacket. Alice's lips parted into an "O" shape as she realized what he was doing. She blinked, and she saw that it was already buttoned up.

"Oh," she whispered stupidly as he stretched out his long, slim arms, showing her his jacket had been the reason he had come to her. Then, he rasied a long, elegant finger to place where his lips should have been. Alice nodded quickly and took the gesture as a "be quiet" warning. What was he going to do?

The Slender Man rose to his full, spindly height and stared down at Alice with his blank face. She watched his fluent movements: he looked at the lamp on her bedside table, leaving Alice to watch in awe as it turned on for him. He glided through her room gently, his pale skin glowing in the dim light. Alice tried to shake the thought that she had; he did indeed seem handsome. The Slender Man picked up a few things, observing them before putting them down. He moved to a row of shelves on her wall where a few books sat, collecting dust. He trailed his finger alone their spines until he chose one. The book was a large, thick tome with a black cover. The gold embossed title on the spine read, "Magyk". He turned his head to Alice, cocking it to one side.

"'Magyk'?" he inquired, his voice slipping through the room like silk. Alice nodded and he spoke again. "What does a mere mortal like yourself have a book about magic for?"

Feeling a little insulted, Alice shrugged, hoping that he would replace the book and move onto something else, like her curtains or something. Why didn't he pull something really creepy, like smelling her clothes and memorize her scent? Alice shuddered at the thought. But what interested him so much about her books? Surely there was a motive behind that.

"You may speak to me, Alice." He appeared suddenly beside her, sitting on the side of her bed. He held the book in his elegant hands, gently tracing the design on the from cover with his index finger. Alice watched, almost hypnotized by the movement and a strange feeling came over her. She felt dazed, like she was floating in midair, as light as a feather. Was he doing this on purpose? She watched, transfixed, as his tracing switched directions now; he traced a circle and an X – His symbol – onto her book. The golden design seemed to blur in front of Alice's eyes and blend with his tracing, as though he was painting his symbol onto her book.

"Alice?" he whispered in his oddly gentle yet demand voice. She looked at him, her eyes wide and slightly glazed.

"Yes?" she whispered back.

"Answer me," he purred.

"Oh," breathed Alice, blinking as she looked up at him. The gently glow of light shone on his pale face. Alice could again make out the barely-visible indents of features on his otherwise vacant face. The scar-like line where she should have seen a mouth looked like it was turned upward in a smirk.

"'Oh'?" he repeated, crossing his long legs. The light gleamed off of his polished black dress shoes. They ended in a squared toe, that was bent slightly upwards. "'Oh' does not seem like a very good reason for you to have such a book as this, my dear Alice." The hiss he added to the possessive way he uttered her name send a strangely thrilling chill through Alice's body. Why she reacted this way perplexed her; it should have sent her running into her granparents' room. She should have been screaming, "There's a strange man in my room!" at the top of her lungs. Her grandfather should have been bursting into her room with his hunting gun in his hand that very second. But Alice didn't yell; she knew nothing would come of it, and she didn't think her grandfather's hunting gun could take out the fifteen feet-tall Slender Man.

"I find the subject interesting," said Alice. It was the truth. She had never even read the whole book (maybe about three chapters) and she definitely didn't practice magic.

"Do you dare lie to me?" He placed the book on her bedside table and motioned for her to sit up. Alice obeyed and answered his question again.

"No," she said. "That is the truth."

"I have not come here to harm you, Alice," said the Slender Man. "Do not give me reason to."

"Of course not," said Alice, sounding braver than she felt.

A silence fell between them. He continued to stare at Alice. She begun to feel unnerved and looked at her hands in her lap.

"Then why are you here?" she asked. There was obviously his suit jacket, which he had retrieved, so why then had he stayed? There was a part of Alice that wished he could leave already and let her sleep, but her other half told her she would not be sleeping much again that night and wanted him to stay because she thought he was kind of interesting. She glanced at her bedside clock; 5:47 AM it read.

"It is the morning," he replied simply. The morning? It's the middle of the night, thought Alice.

"But it is still dark," Alice said, trying to keep the whine out of her voice.

"Are you complaining that I woke you, Alice?" he whispered and – oh! Was that a threat in his voice?

"No," amended Alice quickly, shaking her head. "But I had just fallen asleep." He tilted his chin up, appraising her.

"You fell asleep around midnight, my sweet." His whisper was like velvet as it slipped over her smoothly as a snake could move across ice.

"How do you-?" Alice's question got lost as he crooked her chin up towards him with a single, soft finger.

"How do I know?" he finished for her. "I am always watching, Alice. Even when you do not see me, I am there." Alice flinched at his words. She tried to shake her head from his grasp, but she did not win. He held her firmly in place as he continued to speak. "You are never free of me, Alice. Do you forget that you are mine? I do not let what is mine out of my sight." Alice nodded. She that there was no way out; He was her fate, and He determined what exactly her fate was. There was no point in trying not to give in – not anymore.

"I read about you tonight," Alice whispered suddenly. He chuckled at her.

"Yes," he drawled, "And what did you find?"

Alice thought back to the website she had read. There had been so much information; where did she begin?

"A lot of the things," she whispered as he freed her chin, "I already knew – from stories I heard many times when I was smaller. I read that you don't walk – that your legs are too long." Here he nodded, and when he didn't say anything, Alice spoke again.

"The authors of – of the site…. They called it 'Slender Walking'. You called yourself Der Ritter that night in the woods…. Did you know you had other names?"

"I am aware. Humour me, however," he said. "What do the other humans call me?"

Alice paused, thought, and then spoke slowly, afraid that the names might insult him.

"There's a few," she said,deciding to get the worst out of the way. "Some call you The Pale One, because your skin is very light." Alice stopped and waited for his reaction, but he continued to look at her, seemingly unimpressed and unamused. Swallowing, she carried on.

"Some refer to you as just simply Him," she said, "while others call you The White King." At this, he chuckled. Alice allowed herself a wry smile at his otherwise pleased reaction. He seemed to like things that made him seem dominant. "There's also Slendy, which is a silly nickname for your most popular reference as … the Slender Man."

"The Slender Man," he mused. "Yes, how fitting, though Alice… you forgot my most favourite," he whispering, using a delicate finger to gently pusher onto her back. Alice gasped as he leaned over her, his large hands placed on either side of her small figure.

"Which one is that?" whispered Alice. When he spoke, his voice was right at her eat, low and fierce.

"The Operator."

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Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed! I will get back to my weekly Sunday or Monday updates, so stay tuned. I will hopefully have chapter seven up this Sunday, but if not, I will have it up sometime this coming Wednesday :)

Please read and review and thanks for reading! :) You guys mean a lot! I'm really excited to be continuing this story so thanks. I will update soon. :)

P.S. All information on the Slender Man in italics was taken From www. theslenderman . wikia wiki/The_Slender_Man_Wiki - The Slender Man Wiki :)