Part 8

Lucy looked up from her legs and stared off silently as she listened for the creature in case it would come back in search for her. The seconds dragged on for what seemed like hours as she waited in anticipation. She shuddered at the thought of those Boogieman-like creatures catching her and the strange flashes of the man that encountered the same being as her.

'What's going on? Who are those two guys and what are these monsters?' Lucy shivered and turned her head away from the small opening of the hole she rested in.

Cocking a brow, she saw that this small hole was actually a tunnel that traveled on further. Glancing between them, Lucy decided what to do in her head.

'Crawl out and maybe see the monster, or see where the tunnel goes?' She thought for a brief moment before quickly grabbing her things and crawling off into the small tunnel. 'No thanks Mr. Monster…'

After crawling around the small, dank tunnel for a minute or so, she saw a dim light up ahead. Lucy smiled and sighed in relief as she quickly crawled towards the light faster. 'An exit!' She cheered in her head as she slowly peeked outside it.

Lucy frowned in disappointment as she saw that the tunnel just led to a different part of the same cave. Letting out a sigh and shaking her head, she scanned the area and listened for any signs of people or monsters around before crawling out fully. She wiped the dust and grim from her knees on her dress and frowned down at the now stained material. 'My dress… Maybe Marissa will wash it for me.'

Glancing around between the two paths to her left and right, Lucy tried to decide which one to take. Before she could decide, she heard strange voices off to her right. She froze for a moment when she thought she triggered another monster attack before realizing the voices sounded…different. Slowly, she turned to her right and stayed close to the wall to better hide herself in case it would be something dangerous or scary. Clutching her notebook for slight reassurance as she followed the wall, lightly touching it for guidance in the dark cavern. She saw a flickering, glowing light up ahead that seemed to lead to another entrance or exit to something or someplace.

Her walk slowed to short steps as she started to see what this new light was illuminating, an entirely different cavern room altogether. She furrowed her brows in curiosity as she stopped and stood on the edge of the drop-off to this large room. Looking around the sphere-shaped room, she saw that the walls and figures were illuminated by a large fire in the center of the room, but that wasn't what made Lucy gasp in horror, it was what said figures were using the fire for.

'Those monsters…' She thought in horror as she watched a plethora of similar looking monsters to the one she saw before dragging things towards the fire. 'They…' The monsters groaned as a few of them dragged a large object along the ground. 'They're burning that man!' She felt her eyes water in fear and her stomach sicken as the monsters dragged along the mangled body, whether it was unconscious or dead, Lucy didn't know until they threw the body into the flames.

Lucy flinched when she heard the ear-splitting screaming of the man as he was burned alive in the flames. All he could do was lay there and scream in pain since his limbs were broken and twisted around similar to a puppet's. The creatures groaned and roared as they listened to the man beg for mercy and try to struggle around in the fire pit while a strange chanting began to murmur in the background. Lucy felt her head grow light and her body become weak. She fell to the side and was barely able to balance her body against the wall.

'Oh-oh no… That man…' She thought in sadness as she covered her ears, unable to listen to him anymore.

She was about to close her eyes when she felt a strange yet not foreign sensation. A bright light flashed before her eyes as another vision appeared in the similar brown-scale like coloring…

The man that had encountered the same creature Lucy did was walking through the tunnels. He held up a hand to his mouth and appeared to be shouting, but Lucy could not hear anything he was saying as it was still muted. After walking for a while, the man stopped and turned around, looking into the darkness. He stared off and opened his mouth, apparently calling for someone. He waited for a while before gasping when a trio of monsters were running at him. He quickly darted off ahead while the monsters pursued him relentlessly.

Lucy watched as the man came darting at her, still in the vision. The man looked from the monsters to the path ahead, seeing the same room that Lucy was standing outside of. The vision seemed to slow down in almost snail paced speed as the man ran. He slowly lifted his foot. The monsters chased after him, gaining. He slowly turned his head, looking from the monsters to stare at the room straight before him. His foot reached out in half step. The monsters reached out their gnarly hands towards him. He looked around the room quickly, seeing groups of more of the same monsters walking around the fire while a silhouetted figure stood behind the flames. His foot slowly lowered to the ground. The monsters bared their sharp teeth as they were a footstep behind him. The man stared down at the group of monsters around the fire, seeing a single figure writhing in pain within the flames.

Step. His foot lands on the edge of the drop-off, breaking off the rocks and causing him to jerk forward. The monsters swiped at him, barely missing his body as the man fell. His eyes widened as he stared into the flames, seeing the man struggle in the fire while the monsters and silhouette stood around. Smile. The silhouette smirked at him widely when the man glanced over, his body falling back. Lucy's and the man's eyes both widened when he spun around so he was facing the vision's monsters and herself. Stare. They locked eyes for a brief moment, Lucy's widening in horror and sadness as she watched the man fall to his death. Snap. Lucy flinched when she saw the man's body hit the jagged side of the rock face, cutting his clothes and skin before landing on a large stalagmite, cracking open the right side of his skull. Steady. The man's body rolled around on the floor, blood and gore spilling out from the large injury to his cranium and from the many wounds and bruised parts of his body from the rough fall. Stop. His body finally lost momentum as it laid on the cold, rocky floor, right beside the fire. It bleed out from all the cuts and blood that leaked out from his broken corpse.

The vision soon faded and ended as that was the last thing Lucy saw: the man's corpse now engraved into her irises. She heard a quiet step come from behind her. Shuddering, she slowly turned around to see a tall figure standing behind her.

"Y-You…" She murmured out, flinching as she saw the tall man staring at her from behind. She stared at him, locking gazes as she dissected his appearance. "You're…him."

….

Marissa's eyes shot open as she woke up from her sleep in bed. She glanced over at Jeff who slept beside her before sitting up. 'Lucy… We need to talk to Lucy.' She nodded and carefully crawled out of bed.

Tiptoeing to the door, Marissa snuck out of their bedroom and made her way down to the end of the hall.

'We need to make things better with Lucy. We need to help her.' She told her other forms inside her head as she stood in front of the door.

Slowly raising her hand, she knocked on the door and spoke up. "Lucy? It's me, Marissa. Can I speak with you for a moment? I promise you're not in trouble."

When she didn't receive a response, she frowned and slowly opened the door. "Lucy? Don't be scared or mad. I just want to talk…" She murmured before gasping when she didn't see Lucy in bed.

She turned on the lights and sped over to the bed, looking underneath the covers and frame before opening the closet. "Lucy!?" She called when she didn't find her.

Suddenly, she felt a cool breeze touch the back of her arm and neck and a strange feeling on her ankle. She glanced back and saw the window open, the breeze blowing through before looking down and seeing a page fluttering at her feet. She reached down and picked it up, furrowing her brows in confusion as she saw a roughly drawn picture of a cave within a forest. "Lucy…" She murmured before rushing off to wake the others.

….

Lucy and the man stared at each other silently. Neither of them moving or breaking their stares. The man then, looked away.

"You-You're the man!" Lucy declared again, noticing the large gash on the right side of his head just like before, noticing the cuts and scrapes on his body as he dripped blood from them, noticing his tattered clothes. Most of the wounds seemed to look less gory than the night he appeared in her room, but still recognizable. "You died here…" She added, shuddering as she watched him carefully.

The man looked up at her silently. After a minute or so, he spoke up.

"I am."

…..

"I-I came into her room and she wasn't here! All I found was her window open and this!" Marissa held out the piece of paper to Slender as Jeff and some of the others watched from the doorframe. "Do you know what this means?!"

Slender stared at the picture for a while before nodding. "Indeed I do. I have a similar looking cave in my woods, but how would the child know about it if she hasn't been there before?"

Marissa shrugged and held her head, trying to calm down and figure out what was happening. "I-I don't know! Maybe she wandered off and she saw it, but I don't care about that! Maybe that's where she went off to! Can you take me there? She needs me!" Marissa begged, staring at him with a mix of determination and fear in her eyes.

Slender stared at her before shaking his head. "I'm not sure that's a-"

"She needs her mother now more than ever! Let me help her! PLEASE!" Marissa begged, her eyes flashing a quick shade of red before changing back again.

Slender noticed this and nodded. "I shall take you to the location."

Marissa nodded, wiping away her tears as she followed Slender out towards the door. "Thank you…" She murmured.

When she saw everyone else standing outside the door, she shook her head. "I need to go alone. Lucy only trusts me." She explained but Jeff stepped forward, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Go help her. She needs you."

Marissa smiled at him with teary eyes but nodded. "I will!" She said before speeding off after Slender, heading towards the quiet woods in the dark night.

…..

Lucy stared at the man, backing up towards the wall to get some distance. He watched her back up and took a couple steps towards her until he stood right before her. Lucy shuddered and swallowed heavily, a bead of sweat sliding down her face as she watched the man cautiously. They stared off silently for a short moment before he glanced over at the monsters torturing the now dead man's corpse, before glancing back to her.

"…And I need your help."

(A.N. Woulda look at that! I actually lived up to my suggestion! XD Wow I'm so proud of myself for writing this and remembering what actually happened in the story and trying to connect my links. Hope you enjoy~)