Chapter 13 – Radio Tower: Part 2

On the rooftop outside, Kate was on the lookout, searching for the enemy. She was positive that they would meet with the demon tonight, and if Slenderman arrived before CR was finished with his own business, then they would either have to abandon their mission or engage in battle. She had a knife ready – a gun too; there were probably other loose objects lying around that could be used as weapons, so she made a note to grab something nearby just in case.

For two hours, the forest was relatively calm. A slight wind gust came in and rustled the tops of the pine and spruce, and the sound soothed her; however, the chilled air caused her to stiffen. Avoiding thoughts of the cold weather, she walked around and stayed focused on the task in order to stop herself from falling asleep or going back inside the warmer shelter and never coming out. She had to help her comrade while he was working at saving their lives. Guess you could say that she was presently trying to save his. As she patiently waited for CR to bring her good news, she started daydreaming.

It's been a while; she'd forgotten the entity that approached her days ago, that saved her from the wrath of a different demon and granted her wish to bring CR back to life. The woman in white…what happened to her? Like Kate, did CR ever encounter her? Who was she, and what did she really want with Kate? Why did she grant her wish? What could she possibly gain? From the very beginning, she must've followed Kate around the forest. She said that she granted wishes for fun or for reasons unknown. Was the woman still out there watching her now?

"Kaaaaaaate," a voice hissed, "Kaaaaaaaate."

Briefly, Kate's heart fell into the pit of her stomach. She knew exactly who was trying to contact her through her mind and meddle with her thoughts. "My proxy, listen to me." She tried to ignore Slender's comments, but he was persistent in catching her attention. "You cannot run…you cannot hide. I am with you…forever." In a flash, Kate ran to the west side of the roof and peered over the concrete edge with her eyes glued to a small telescope she'd found earlier. She searched for the monster in the trees, but he could not be seen. Finding Slenderman in the darkness, amidst the big trees was like finding a needle in a haystack, but she couldn't give up – she had to find him."Forever…" She was getting desperate now. If she couldn't find him, she'd have to retreat back to CR and prepare for a fight; however – this time – there was nowhere else to run.

"Kate…stop running. Come home with me. I'll take care of you. You know I do. You don't know how much you mean to me." Kate wanted to vomit. She wouldn't be swayed by his words this time. Because she retaliated, he'd probably eat her before she'd resume her position as his proxy. He continued, "You're a clever proxy…always loyal…so why don't you make yourself useful, ditch your friend, and do this alone. Or better yet…kill him. You have a gun in your hand, right? And he's unarmed. Now is your chance!"

Kate said to him aloud, "I don't understand you one bit. I brought back CR to escape you. I'm not killing him, and I'm no longer your proxy."

Slender continued, "I want him. I want to eat him. How about this? Kill him when your mission is complete. Then, you'll never have to see him again. You will be free. I know you…I know that you'll do my bidding…just to get me off your tail."

The voice was determined, trying to persuade her into killing her friend again, but she was firm to avoid that situation. She was still searching for Slenderman; she had to find him soon – AHA! He was there on the eastern side, slowly sliding out of the forest – like a ghost – with his long, black tentacles in all sorts of directions. There wasn't much time. He would disappear soon. They needed to act now.

In a matter of seconds, static flashed before her eyes. After the quick flash, Kate saw that Slenderman was out of sight. He was on the prowl now, hungry for her and CR. Kate ran back inside the tower to warn CR of their impending doom. She wondered if he'd contacted some sort of life form or establishment in her absence; she hoped, but doubted. When she approached CR in the larger room on the seventh floor, she noticed that CR was talking to somebody through a dusty microphone. One end was at his mouth while the other was pressed against his ear. He didn't hear Kate come in.

"There are two of us. We need a place of refuge. We need someone to meet us and get us out of this forest. Yes, we shouldn't have come this route but we got lost. No, my friend and I refuse to wait at the tower. We are in immediate danger here. My friend and I are injured. Well, is there another location in this forest that we could go to? There's a main road? Okay – main traffic on highway 31 and you'll meet us there in a jeep. Yes, if we are still in danger, we'll ask someone else to take us to town."

"CR," she shouted.

CR jumped. He took a peek over his shoulder, and took a quick glance at Kate; he placed one finger against his lips to silence her. Kate huffed. There was no time for this. She continued, "CR, we have to go! Slender is on his way. I saw him. If we don't hurry, he'll trap us here. Hell, he could already be in the building."

CR ignored her. "M-kay , you'll be looking for a thirty year old man and a teenage girl. I'm wearing a brown jacket, sweater, black pants and steel toed boots. I'm limping, and I might leave a trail of blood. My friend has black hair and is wearing a white pullover and blue jeans. We should be with each other, but if not, find the girl first and get her out of here. Do not wait for me." He hung up and turned to Kate. He said, fixing his jacket, "Okay – I contacted a ranger. He's going to be waiting for us in a green Jeep on a main highway approximately one kilometer away from this spot."

Kate said, "We don't have a compass. How will we get out? How will we know where the main road is?"

CR said, "We don't have a compass, but we have a path. Trucks used to come here with workers all the time when this radio tower was still in service, so we'll follow the dirt path and get out of the forest alive once and for all. The ranger will pick us up and take us to a town where we can get a bus and go far away from here."

Kate gave CR a confused stare. She said, "CR, your injury on your head…it had scabbed earlier and now it is completely gone. That's very weird."

CR touched his forehead again. Indeed, his injury was not present. It was as if the gash never existed." He then examined Kate, also giving her a confused stare, but he said nothing. Something changed him, so maybe something changed for her judging by the odd looks he was giving her. "Alright, there's no time to waste, we have to get out of here!"

With no time to lose, they fled the room, entering the dreary halls of the radio tower. Everything was dirty and rusted. Items were tossed all over the place and obviously hadn't been touched for years. They ran to the nearest staircase and made their way to the bottom, but just when they reached the sixth floor, they stopped in their tracks and observed Slenderman waiting for them on the fifth.

CR cursed. "Fuck! Go back up, up, up!"

The monster's tentacles quickly soared through the air, aiming towards CR's bad ankle as they climbed back to where they first started. He avoided it – just. This would be tricky; his ankle had starting bleeding again, sending waves of fire up his leg as he limped. Once they reached the seventh floor, they ran to the opposite side of the hall, and descended down another set of stairs. Kate jumped down the steps. Her days as a proxy made her faster and more agile; she was already headed to the fifth floor. CR yelled after her, telling her to wait up, but then he remembered that his main priority was to help Kate escape Slender's wrath for good. He might not be able to stop the nightmares, but he would be able to stop her from catching death. Although almost a floor behind, CR continued until he witnessed his friend running back up the stairs with three tentacles following behind her. Slenderman was relentless.

Kate screamed, "Run! Get back up to the sixth! Oh – how're we going to get out of here? I don't want it to end up like last time!"

Chapter 14 is next. Part 3 is going to be the fun chapter.