Chapter 14
Dr. Mann visits after I finish eating.
"All of the tests are complete," He informs me, "we didn't find anything to keep you here. You can go home this afternoon."
"Thank you," I smile, "I'll call my parents."
After a brief conversation with my father, I settle down to wait out the hours until 5:00.
Diana brings in my clothes. Freshly washed, if you don't mind, and not a tear on them. I smile grimly, examining the skirt.
At noon exactly, there's a knock on my door.
"Come in," I call.
The Inspector and James walk in.
"Inspector," I say courteously.
He nods, "Lea."
I stand up, turning in a circle, "I always liked this outfit."
James looks puzzled, but impressed, "It looks good on you," He replies honestly.
"Thank you," I smile at him, "I never thought it would come back in such good condition." I pause, looking straight at The Inspector, "Not so much as a dirt stain."
He smiles, nodding in acknowledgement. James now looks completely mystified.
I sit on the bed again, "So maybe you'd like to tell me how you really knew I wasn't in the same alley as Max's body."
The inspector sits in the chair by my bedside, "A guess, based on several factors, but none of them concrete. The alley we found the body in was practically inaccessible, a maze just to find it. The state of the body suggested it had been thrown from a great height with considerable force, beyond that of a human. Also, we found a few drops of blood in the next alley over."
"Clever," I amended.
"I could say the same for you, very good."
"I'm surprised you didn't do a DNA check."
"Useless in such a filthy environment. We would end up with a sample contaminated with cat piss."
"Lovely,"
"Exactly,"
James, having apparently given up on following the conversation, notices a chair in the corner of the room, and carries it over. He sits beside the inspector.
"Now, let me talk this out," I begin, "You wouldn't have come back without a reason. Your boss wouldn't like it, not someone like him with such a large covert operation to run, so you came back for a number of reasons. One, you're here because yesterday's numbers were a little high, so you're going to take another scan, and ensure I don't go and die on you. Two, You're boss liked the look of the tapes, and thinks I might have 'potential' so you're here to keep an eye on me. And three, you brought the file you promised me, with permission from your boss, of course."
"Sounds about right,"
"Ok, you might as well scan me."
James produces the strange device from his pocket.
"Just out of curiosity," I ask, "how high do the numbers on that thing go?"
James answers me, a little proud to know something, "Supposedly, up to 9000. Ariel scans. 9000 means the monster is within a two mile radius. The creators say that if it's within a mile, the machine will sound an alarm." He swallows, "The highest number ever recorded was 11,000, the device apparently malfunctioned and started screaming, literally. It was later recovered, along with the body of its owner."
I shiver involuntarily, "And now?"
He hits a button, and the machine beeps, "250. A little higher than normal. The count never fals below 100."
"Fantastic," Sarcasm, even in the most dire straits.
"Right, close your eyes."
I obey, and feel the red light run along my body.
"All done,"
I open my eyes.
James consults the screen, "300. It's gone down."
"Good," Says The Inspector, "Lea, your reading will never be normal again, this is about as close as it will get."
I nod, "The number going down means I haven't had any more close contact since the other day?"
"Correct."
I resist the urge to smile. Not a very sensitive device. Luckily, for him and me. Instead, I look at The Inspector.
He raises his eyebrows, sighs, and reaches into his jacket.
I hold out my hand. A thick file-folder lands in it.
I weigh the object in my hand, "I thought this was a mysterious monster,"
"Nope," The Inspector taps the file, "we even have photographs."
I open the folder. Sure enough, on the top of the rest of the papers is a paper-clipped bundle odf photos.
They're hazy with distortion and taken in low-light, but I can still make out the featureless face, the tall figure, and abnormally long arms.
"The cameramen are dead," I say calmly.
"Correct again."
I look up at The Inspector, "So, start talking, I learn better by hearing information explained."
"The creature has been around for hundreds of years. The first record of its appearances are in Germany, 1400's. Since then, it's been around the world sightings 24/7. Fairy-tales and campfire stories, though they never mention a specific monster, all have its qualities."
"And what are its qualities exactly?" I ask.
The Inspector removes one sheet of paper from the file, handing it to me.
I scan the page, "Stalking, sometimes for decades, puncture wounds, removing organs." I whistle softly, "Targeted children in the past, but recently adults are the primary victims. All the adults killed…have had a tragedy in their lives…" I look up, "And this is all one entity? It seems a bit much."
The inspector sighs, "The creature is a phenomenon. It defies nature. It goes all the way to teleportation, and not a single chink in its armor we can use al leverage." He rubs the back of his neck, "To make matters worse, apparently it has humans that do its bidding, they even go so far as to start websites. However, there has never been a sighting of one of these Proxies, that's what they call themselves, in action."
I contain my emotions with some effort, halfway between laughing, and mentally whacking my… "friend" then bursting into tears. Shivers run along my spine. This is seriously freaking me out.
"I somehow doubt those rumors are true," I say, "this creature seems like the type that would rather work alone to me."
"Well… that implies singular, one existence," The Inspector drops the bombshell, "we think there might be more than one."
My brain kicks into overdrive. The stalking means some kind of intelligence, check. Alive for hundreds of years, check. Human servants, definite possibility, Hello! Multiple entities… could it be possible? It might. If it is true, I need to be cool.
"I doubt it," I say.
The Inspector frowns, "What?"
"It's incredible one of them exists, a whole race would tear the world apart. Plus, I have a feeling that there would be a lot more casualties, unless only one is hostile. That, in itself, isn't likely."
After a pause he nods, "Agreed. Maybe there are only a few, and one has the ability and intelligence to form human organizations. That's a possibility."
I nod, "It's the most likely option, assuming these human servants even exist."
He glances at the clock, then stands up. "We'd better leave. The file is yours."
"Thank you," I reply.
We'll be in touch."
"Pardon me for asking, but, does this monster have a name?" I blurt.
The Inspector pauses, one hand on the doorknob, "We call it, Slender Man." He leaves, James close behind him.
AN: I'm glad everyone likes my story so much, I wasn't expecting such a good response. I'd like to announce I've started a tumlr blog under the same name as my fanfiction account. I'll be posting poems, quotes, maybe even chapters of stories there. I'll also be answering questions, if anyone wants to ask something, so check it out! I'll see you all next chapter!