I'm just wanting to say, thank you to whoever it was that promoted me on tumblr! I don't even use that site and it was rather flattering to know someone likes me so much to go out of their way to do so! Again, thank you, dearest. A lot.
Now, on with the story! Side note, because I've had a hard time thinking (mainly about how everyone's going to explain to Russia that they're being stalked by Slenderman), this is going to be one chapter longer than I had planned. Yay~!
Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia nor anything involved with the Slenderman myth.
"You know him?!" came the resounding voices of the surrounding nations in the still destroyed living room.
A bit taken aback, Ivan looked between the group, "Da. Your book did say he was in Russia as well, did it not?"
"Well," hummed the Brit as he crossed his arms in thought, "now that you mention it, it did."
"So, I do indeed know of this 'Slender man'. I always have. I've just never seen him," the other shrugged, a bit nonchalantly.
"Anyway, dudes, we still gotta go into the woods and find those damned poems."
"Poems?"
"Ja, apparently that's our way of stopping him this time," the younger Germanic nation huffed out.
"This time?"
"Yeah, he was stalking Artie a year or so ago," replied the American.
"Oh? Sounds like quite fun! I'll be joining you then!"
"J-joining...? But you were suppose to watch Mat-"
"Artie...don't fight with him..."
The leaves crunched under the groups feet subtly as they walked between trees in the woods that surrounded Ludwig's home. Flashlights in hand, they each went their separate ways in order to discover whatever it was that Slender had hidden in these woods. Upon Ivan's arrival, the group had agreed that it would be safer to travel with a giant, scary Russian who was hardly afraid of anything and decided to let Dylan and Francis stay with Matthew. Ludwig and Gilbert had decided that covering more ground was necessary and told the rest of them to split into groups. Ivan, Ludwig, Feliciano, and Gilbert would cover the west, Allistor, Conner, and Lovino would cover the east and Alfred, Antonio, and himself chose to stick north. Looking up into the sky, Arthur noticed that the moon hovered just above his head. Was it already that late? Of course, they had wasted quite a bit of time arguing in the house earlier so it didn't particularly surprise him. The wind start to blow lightly, playing with his hair as it made subtle whistling noises around him. But the whistling wasn't the only noise he was hearing.
A fluttering sound, like paper floating in the wind, could be heard if he listened closer. Turning slightly to the right, Arthur followed the noise carefully. If this were a trick and Slender was waiting for him then he'd be damned if he didn't turn this flashlight of his into a temporary weapon!
"Find anything, amigo?"
Jumping nearly ten feet in the air, Arthur whirled around and gave Antonio the hardest of glares the shorter blonde could muster, "You bloody git! You scared the hell out of me!"
"That's what I was going for! But, really, find anything?"
Muttering 'asswipe' under his breath, Arthur turned back around and started on his track towards the sound again, "I was on the verge of finding something until you rudely popped out of thin air!"
"Rudely? I consider it a graceful entrance!"
"As graceful as a penguin..."
As Arthur veered his flashlight towards the left, he noticed the light bounced off of something and gave whatever the object was a faint glow. Antonio walked up towards the tree and pulled off a piece of paper that was tacked there. Both looked over the paper carefully as Antonio held it in his hands. Was this what Slender had wanted them to find? There had to be more, this didn't nearly answer all of the questions the two still had.
"Yo dudes! Ya get anything yet?"
Looking up, the Spanish nation held up the small page for Alfred to see, "Just this."
"Huh... I got two of those!"
"Two?" the Brit questioned, stepping forward.
"Yeah. For a ghost, this Slender ninja sure comes up with the best games!" Alfred joked, pulling two folded pieces of white from his pocket.
Eyes scanning them, Arthur looked between his two companions before folding them together and putting them in his own pocket. After discussing what he assumed the papers meant, they each walked towards the west in hopes of finding one of the others. The woods were deathly silent. Normally one would hear the faint chirping of crickets. Or an animal, such as a deer, walking across the leaves on the ground. But the group heard nothing. No walking, no chirping, not even the trickling of a nearby stream. It were as if all wild life vacated the area in fear of something.
"What are you guys doing here? It would be so unawesome if you three said you didn't find shit..."
Rolling his eyes, Arthur looked around for a second before making eye contact with the albino in front of them, "Where's Ludwig?"
"I dunno. Off searching for shit like you three should be doing more than likely."
"Oh, haha," the British nation retorted, "I'm serious. We found some papers and I-"
"You did too?"
Blinking, Antonio tilted his head lightly, "How many did you find?"
"Just one," the other shrugged.
"Then that would make four..." muttered the short blonde, "We need to find the others."
Walking for some time, the four searched for the rest of their group. The overwhelming feeling that Slender could be hiding anywhere had dissipated hours ago and each of them started to feel extremely tired. Gilbert often joked that he could sleep forever once this was over with. Neither of them had seen any sign of the others and were starting to get worried. And cold. Not to mention tired. Finally meeting up with both of the Italians, who had some how found each other and had stopped looking to hide behind a tree, they had eventually found the two other halves of the UK, though Conner objected and announced he'd like to be known as just Ireland for he had gained independence a long time ago, and eventually found Ludwig and Ivan. Comparing their searches on the way home, together the group had complied six pieces of paper. Getting back to the house, Francis made sure to be apart of their little gathering in order to figure out what was going on as Dylan was content with staying out of it and watching over Matthew.
"So, mon cher, did you find anything?" the French nation asked as he looked Arthur over.
Handing them over, said blonde nodded, "Yes. But I'm not entirely sure what they could mean."
Opening the first, France's eyes scanned the paper carefully.
'I see you've arrived,
To the place of your coming demise.
Look around and you will see,
That you're not the only ones amongst the trees.'
"Creepy.. And there's six of these?"
"Yes. They start getting scarier as you read on."
He laid the first on the table nearby and opened up the next two, reading them aloud for the rest of the group to hear.
'Here we are again at last,
So now let's see just how fast.
Can you save yourselves at all?
Or will this forest be your fall?'
'Death, death is all I bring,
Soon you'll be begging me from upon your knees.
Make hast little ones, for you see,
This little game has just begun,
And my little trap as already been sprung.'
"I'm honestly surprised we got out of those woods alive.." Ludwig muttered, more to himself.
Nodding, Gilbert looked over at his long time friend before encouraging him to carry on.
'You lot are so close, but yet so far,
How could you have forgotten that one little star?
Will they stay hidden in the mist?
Or will you realize what you've missed?'
'Hidden in dreams is where I dwell.
Hiding in the shadows is what I do so well.
Do you understand now what I'm trying to say?
You've let me guide you and lead your faith astray.'
"Dreams? Dude, this is so confusing...!"
Arthur looked up at Francis, "Isn't there one more...?"
"Oui, but it's short. All it says is 'Your logic is twisted. Your logic is cruel. He's now in my clutches, And soon you will be too."
The room lapsed into silence. Each of them attempting to figure out what this could mean. What could Slender be up to? Why wasn't he in the woods waiting for them?
"I know.." Conner finally mumbled.
Awaiting for everyone's full attention to be on him, he cleared his throat, "Clearly the first few were meant to lead us off his real target. But if we think about it, who do we always forget?"
"Matthew.." the group answered back.
"And who's asleep right now?"
"...Matthew."
"Exactly. So, who's dreaming right now?"
"Bloody hell..."
And this is where I'll stop it for now! One more chapter and we'll be done! My Slender fics will be completed! On another note, my computer came back from the shop! I can now update quicker! So expect more things from me! I'm planing on also doing a prequel to my 'Scratches' fic, so if anyone is interested in some AusHun action and drama, look there! But don't forget to read the first one! Anyway, I hope everyone who read this enjoyed it! Stay tuned for the next chapter! Reviews make me happy!
Love, ShuChan