A/N: Hey there everybody and welcome back to chapter three of 'The Arrival', now that we got the prologue which dealt with the affects that Dick had from the events of 'Slender' and the second chapter that dealt with the event that lead to Dick coming to Oakside Park out of the way, it's now time for the story to really begin.
So time to see if Dick has what it takes to fight for the survival of a lifetime, let us all wish him luck because he is going to need it.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything what so ever in this story, they all belong to their respective owners.
(Oakside Park 6:45 pm)
"So this is the place, I have to admit that it's pretty nice." Nightwing said to himself as he got off of his motorcycle and placed his helmet on top of it.
After he left Wayne Manor he headed back home to his apartment in Bludhaven to gather a few things for his trip, things that he knew that would come in handy later on. He spent most of the night driving almost none stop and the only time that he did stop was to rest at a motel for a good night sleep since he knew that he was going to have to be in top form for the dangers that lay ahead of him.
Once he learned that he was almost at Oakside Park he pulled over at the side of the road to change into his Nightwing outfit, he wasn't too worried about anybody driving by and catching him because the road was completely abandoned, and for some reason he haven't seen a single car on his way here and that sent up a few red flags in his mind.
"Alright Dick as nice as this place is we still have a job to do, and it's time to get to it." He said to himself as he began to walk towards a path that would take him up a tall hill.
As he was approaching the top he spotted a small blue car whose path was being blocked by a fallen tree, he also noticed an old wooden with a couple of it's boards just hanging loose. He figured that someone must live here and that the car either belongs to the owner of the property or that the owner was expecting a visitor.
He walked over to the car to get a closer look at it, he peeked inside to if there were any signs of foul play but everything looked completely normal with nothing out of the ordinary; so with that he decided to leave the car alone for now.
Afterwards he turned his attention towards a billboard that read 'Land for Sale please contact Hate' that was a pretty weird name for a person and Dick has heard a lot of weird names before, but that was besides the point though he wasn't hear for a real estate deal.
Nightwing soon started to walk down the path and along the way he took in the scenery a bit, like how all of the leaves were turning brown and falling off of the trees, or some of the magnificent rock formations that he passed by. Then there was the gentle breeze that was blowing his way that felt kind of nice, along with the birds singing without a single care in the world.
Just for that one moment he felt a little relaxed but he knew that couldn't afford to let his guard down for long because of the fact that Slender Man could pop up at any moment and attack him. With that in mind he continued on until he saw a house in the distance that was being nestled behind a brick wall.
"Looks like I was right about somebody living here, I wonder if anybody's home." He said to himself as he headed towards the house.
The closer he got to the house the weirdest thing started to happen, the sky was suddenly getting darker. He knew that the days were shorter around this time of year but this was just ridiculous though, then as soon as he got close to the house his body just froze for some strange reason, but like a second later he was able to move again.
"That was just weird, the lights are on so chances are someone's home. I better be careful though, who knows what or who could be in there." Nightwing said to himself as he walked passed a 'For Sale' sign that had 'Sold' attached too it and made his way through the entrance.
As he walked into what he assumed to be the front yard he noticed a swing set and approached it, he tried to move one of the swings but it wouldn't budge one bit, the thing was completely stiffed.
He then walked towards the house and saw that it was a white two story house with it's garage door open, the porch light still on, and the front door seemed to be ajar.
"Hello, is anybody home?" He asked out loud as he let himself in while closing the door behind him.
When he stepped inside of the house he noticed a few paintings were hanging crooked on the wall, he also noticed a purple backpack just setting at the bottom of the stairs. Nightwing then walked into the next room which seemed to be the dining room, he noticed that there were a few broken chairs in there which was starting to give him a sinking feeling about the owner.
He then looked over to a small wrecked shelf and saw a note on it with the number one it, but when he opened it up it wasn't what he was expecting.
Hey Kate.
It's been awhile since we last spoke, hasn't it? Hope you haven't forgotten about me! I know writing a letter is a little old fashioned but sometimes I like to just sit down and write something out, you know? So, I can't remember what I was doing at the time, but all this stuff we used to do when we were kids just came rushing back to me all of a sudden the other day. Remember when I'd sneak over at night so we could both go out on our adventures? Ghost hunting, we called it. We'd shine the flashlight through the trees and jump at ever little insignificant noise.
Our imginations were always working in overdrive. I wish I could rewind back to then. Seems like everything after that time just hasn't been good for both of us. Sorry, ignor all of that, I started ranting too much. Anyway, please let me hear from you soon I know things have been less than normal for you lately, so I just wanted to check in. –CR
"I'm guessing whoever this Kate must be the owner of this house, maybe I should hold on to this for the time being." Nightwing said as he placed the letter into his belt.
The next place he entered was the kitchen, in there he discovered some overturned chairs and a few of the dishes were just laying on the floor. He then walked over to the counter and found a flashlight, even though he already has one on him he knew it would be best to have a backup just incase.
So he picked it up and turned it on to see if it would work and to his luck it did, next he picked up the phone to see if it would work but sadly the line was dead though. Before he walked out of the kitchen he noticed another note stuck to one of the doors, but this one had the number two two on it, so he opned up it up and read what was on it, but unlike the last one it looked like it was typed on a computer.
Thanks for calling last night. It probably sounds dumb, but it was good to hear your voice again. Good to hear that Lauren's been doing really well too. But, yeah, aobut what all we said; I'm not sure what to think of it yet. What are the odds of two people having the exact same hallucination? Could it really just be a coincidence? I have to go to my doctor today for some routine stuff so I'm going to try and casually ring this up and see what he says about it, I'll let you know how it goes.
-CR
He placed this letter into his belt with the other one and left. Once he left the kitchen he found himself in a room with a few books on the floor and a piano in the corner, he walked over to it to see if it would work and to his surprise it did work.
Once he got done playing a few keys he walked into the living room next and saw that a lamp was overturned, some books were laying on the ground, and the flat screen TV was leaning against the wall. He then looked over at the shelf and noticed a photo of two women, both of them had brunette hair and they were both wearing brown jackets, one of them had a red scarf around her neck.
"I'm guessing that one of them must be the owner of this place and the other must be owner of that car I saw earlier, I hope they're alright." Nightwing said to himself as he started to walk away from the photo.
He then went through a door that sent him right back to where he came in, he shined the light on a few bags and boxes that were behind the stairs and figured that whoever was here was planning on leaving, but something or someone had other plans for them and judging from the way that the house looks they were not going to let them go so easily.
As he walked up the steps he noticed some drawings on the wall and that was when the fear started to find it's way into him. On the wall were drawings of trees, but they were done in the same way as those pages he had to collect when was in those woods a year ago. The thing that really got to him was the drawing of a tall bald man in a suit, he knew full well who that man was and he had a sinking feeling that he was somehow behind this.
"If anybody is still here I just want you to know that I'm not here to hurt you, it's safe for you to come out now." He said out loud hoping to get a response but sadly it didn't come.
The first room he entered upstairs was filled with nothing but packed boxes and bags ready to be moved, the next room he entered appeared to be the bathroom, he slowly made his way in there and noticed a few more books on the flow but he just ignored those and walked on over to the window.
When he shined the light out of the window his heart sunk to the bottom of his chest, the hair on his back started to stand up on edge, and suddenly found himself at a loss of breath, yes standing right outside of the house was the Slender Man.
The shock caused Dick to drop the flashlight and in a split second he picked it back up and shined it outside again, but when he did there was no one there, the spot that had been occupied by Slender Man was now vacant. He ran towards the front door to see if it were still closed and to his relief it was.
He knew that he couldn't waste anymore time and continued his search for answers, so he went back up stairs and as he walked down the hallway he came across a door that was locked. So he deiced to just pick the lock and went on inside the room and to his shock he discovered that it was covered from head to tow with notes and drawings of Slender Man.
As he inspected the room he saw something written on the wall that was in red, he was praying that it wasn't blood.
'Can you see it?'
It read and then he turned his attention to the other side of the room and noticed a large drawing of Slender Man on the wall, he inspected some of the drawings and realized that they were same ones he found in those woods. If he had to guess the owner of this place must've went through the same thing that he went through.
He then walked over to the desk and picked up a note and on it was a drawing of a house in some woods, if he had to guess it must've have be referring to the house he was currently in.
'In the Woods'
It said and as soon as he picked it up he heard a woman's screaming and it sounded like it came from the woods, so without wasting anytime he ran out of the house trying to see where the scream came from.
Running across the yard Nightwing came upon a jungle gym and typed to it was a note that had the number three on it, but when Nightwing opened it up it didn't have any of the weird drawings on it like the prvious ones he came across in the past.
Hey Kate
Both my computer and phone have been acting weird lately so I figured I'd do it the old fashioned way again. Glad we could meet up to the talk things through I agree with what the doctor said, too. There's an explanation for this stuff. The shared tramatic event sounds the most logical to me. That night out there in the woods is probably what caused it. I had almost completely blaocked that out, but now it's kind of coming back to me. But like I said before, it's still really foggy. I think the best course of action right now is to just ignore it. Whenever you think you might be seeing things again, I'll try to do the same. That'll probably do the trick.
-Cr
PS: You should call Lauren some time. I bet some company would help out.
"Something tells me that I'm not the only one whose probably going through this, whoever this Kate is I bet that's who that scream belonged too, I hope I'm not too late though." Dick said as he ran out of the open gate and right into the woods.
Unkown to him though was that he was being watched by the Slender Man who was watching as the former boy wonder run into woods where the fun is about to begin.
A/N: Well there you go guys chapter three, now the next two chapters is where Dick will have his first encounter with the Slender Man in over a year.
Well read and review and I will see you guys later.