"When is a monster not a monster?"

Caitlin Siehl

The answer as to who was behind the crack in Amelia's wall wasn't easy to find. But why the crack was there in the first place was even harder to figure out. It would baffle him for ages. Perhaps there would never be a clear cut answer to this question. All he knew was that it was time for him to return to the girl and let her be rid of the 'monster' who resided in the crack in the wall.

Slenderman returned to the garden only to have memories of that night come flooding back. Amelia Pond, the girl who was not afraid of him. The girl who tried to feed him odd human food like fish fingers and custard. The girl who had no parents present in her life. The girl who he almost forgot about but was always there in the back of his mind, waiting...

As he walked through the garden, there were noticeable changes but he ignored them. The shed had been fixed and the fallen tree was no longer there. There were more flowers growing, more tulips and sunflowers. The swingset that looked brand new was now old and rusting. The house Amelia lived in still looked far too big for a little girl and her aunt to reside in.

When he entered the house, there was no sound. He expected a television or a radio to be on but there was nothing. Just complete silence. Perhaps little Amelia was still asleep and her Aunt was out yet again. He passed through the kitchen only to be reminded of the mess he had made. He shook his head at the memory and continued his tour. He arrived at the stairs, remembering when Amelia had asked him if he was scared when that was clearly a question he should have been asking her.

After he ascended the staircase, Slenderman made a beeline for Amelia's room. He couldn't shake the feeling that there was someone else there with him when clearly the Aunt was out and Amelia was still in her room. Right when he was about to turn around and scare the creature or person away, an unknown object hit him over the head. It barely fazed him and left little damage. It almost made him laugh.

He came face to face with the person behind the attack and was about to unleash his tentacles and raise his height by a few feet until he saw who it was. He wasn't quite sure what to think when he saw this person...

She was tall. Incredibly tall. An inch away from being 6 ft, to be exact. She was wearing a police uniform, red hair hidden underneath a black hat with a checkered lining. The police uniform explained the baton she held tightly in her hands. Her face was carefully blank, almost devoid of emotion. He was no expert in the many displays of human emotions. He was only familiar with one emotion: fear. And he saw no fear on her face. This made him stop in his tracks. Could this be Amelia's aunt...?

"Who are you?" The question was asked at the same time by the two. The unknown woman answered first, if albeit hesitant.

"Amy." The policewoman lowered her baton and placed it back on her belt. "Amy...Williams."

There was no way to tell if she was lying or not. Her face was giving away nothing except for the occasional flicker of unknown emotion.

"I'm the Slender Man." He wanted to get straight to the point as quickly as possible. If his answer to the crack in the wall was correct, he needed to tell Amelia right away and this policewoman was getting in the way between him and her room. "Does an Amelia live here?"

"Amelia Pond?" There was a cricket bat sitting against the wall nearby and her eyes flickered towards it every so often. When it looked like she was going to be of no help to him, Slenderman tried to go around her but was stopped short. In one move, Amy had grabbed the cricket bat and pointed it towards him. "Oy! You. No moving. You're breaking and entering."

The cricket bat was barely a threat to him and was a bit amused at the attempt made by the policewoman to stop him. He tilted his head at her and was about to teleport behind her in an effort to perhaps scare her but if she wasn't afraid of him at this point, then there was no point in trying further.

"Where's Amelia?" He was only going to ask once and if she tried to stop him again, he was no longer going to bother with this Amy.

"Amelia..." The way the policewoman said her name peaked his interest. "Amelia Pond hasn't lived here in a long time."

"...how long?"

"Six months." Right at that instant, Slenderman realized just how long he had been gone for. Years meant almost nothing to him. Years could feel like minutes, hours, mere days...he was a creature that has lived for centuries. Five minutes would feel like five hours to a human being, depending on how impatient they are. This is something he learned from his human proxies, Masky and Hoodie. So six months must've felt like forever while to him...it was nothing.

"No. Impossible..." He thought back to the garden and on how different it looked. "What happened to her?" There was no immediate answer from her so he asked again, "What happened to Amelia Pond?"

"She's gone. This is my house now."

"How many rooms?"

"I'm sorry, what?"

"If this is your house, then how many rooms on this floor?"

"Five," Amy replied, confusion now replacing her blank face.

"No. Six." When Slenderman saw that she didn't understand, he explained, "Look."

"Look where?"

"The corner of your eye. Look behind you." The air had gotten cold and there was still silence in the house. Amy followed his directions and very carefully shifted her gaze from Slender's face to the hidden door. There was no room behind that door, she was sure of this fact. In fact, that door was never there to begin with.

"I don't understand..." Amy whispered to herself. She started to head for the door, not heeding Slender Man's warning to stop as she stepped into the room. And what she saw in the room next would change her life – indefinitely.