Guest Reviews:

FishCustard: It's fine, in fact, I should call him Martin, it suits him I guess. Woah, you kinda make me feel old now cuz I turned 6 ten years ago :/ Aw, I'm sure you'd look awesome in a trench coat! WOW that dialogue was pretty nice :) it makes an awesome side-plot. About Jeff, I think about it that way too. Sure, he's probably swift and strong to evade the cops for this long, but he's still human.

Nekoni: DON'T WORRY IT'S OK :) I've heard of Homestuck but haven't gotten into it. Yay a Poptart! Thanks!

I don't own the guy in the tie (saw that rhyme there?) aka Slenderman.

Thanks for the reviews! It's so close to 200! WOAH. They're all read and I try to answer all of them, so feel free to comment whatever you like, even if it's just a random ramble :)

Chapter 28

My fingers held on to the windowsill with a tight clutch as I felt my throat clench. I shut my eyes and get ready to scream until I feel whatever it is swoop into the room and clasp a gloved hand around my mouth. I open my eyes and struggle to get out of the firm grip, but it's too strong. I feel the person lean into my ear while I squirm some more.

"Stop moving."

I pick up a deep masculine voice whispering, trying to calm me down. I widen my eyes, annoyed that he was telling me to stay still. I was able to get my arm free, about to turn around and punch this guy until he managed to grab my arm again, not letting me turn around.

"Listen," he uttered, "I'm not going to hurt you."

"Are you sure?" I asked harshly, "You just broke into my house, you know!"

"Shh, be quiet," he mumbled, "I need to drop off the message."

"Well I don't have all night—"

"Neither do I," he interrupted, "You need to take this now."

"Take what?"

"The message."

"Do you have it written down? I'm not going to remember—"

"Not that kind of message."

He loosened his grip and forcefully turned me around to face him. I could barely see any distinguishable features in the darkness, but even if the room was illuminated, I couldn't tell anyways. The guy was slim, though I could tell he was fit. He had on dark colored clothing, whether black or a really dark hue. He had a hoodie on, but whatever of his face that would have been seen was instead covered by long strands of raven hair. That is what it looked like; he could've had brown hair for all I know. He dug something out of his pocket and put it in my palm. It was unexpected to say the least.

"The message. Don't lose it."

"It's a rock."

"It's more than that. It's the message. Take it."

"But I don't understand what it's telling me."

"It's not for you."

"Then why are you giving it to me?"

"It's for someone you know."

"Who—"

"I need to go. Now."

He sat on the window ledge, ready to jump off. I went up and grasped his arm, wanting to know more. He easily slipped out of my grip, but he turned around to tell me one last thing.

"His feeding time is almost up. Bye."

And with that, he jumped. I looked down, wondering if he really did jump. I hear a thump and I make out his figure on the ground. Wow, he really did jump, didn't he? Unfazed, he ran off down the street. I watched him until he was out of sight. That's when I recalled his words. 'His feeding time is almost up'. Could he be talking about Slenderman? If he knows about Slenderman, then he isn't any ordinary guy… who happened to break into my room, thanks to my foolishness. I still don't get what just happened, but I feel like this won't be the last time I see this mysterious guy.

I jump when I hear mumbling behind me. Turning around, I see it's none other than Heather, who's still deep asleep. I smile softly; it's just like her to sleep through whatever happens. I look at the rock again, observing its features. I don't see what's so special about it, not to mention anything that would serve as a message. I would expect some sort of inscription on it, but there's nothing. I roll it around in my palm over and over again, intrigued by the item. It's smooth and cold to the touch, as if it were made of glass.

I have the sudden idea of going to the woods right away to show Slenderman, but then I realize how stupid that is. If my interpretation of what the hooded guy said were correct, then now wouldn't be the best time to interrupt Slenderman. Besides, this could wait until morning, right? I still have the urge to tell someone. The guy, who I'll call the Messenger for now, was in a rush to get out of here. He wanted to get out before Slenderman finished feeding, I assume. I look out the window where he jumped out, leaving no trace. He's quite mysterious, isn't he?

"Where are the blueberries?"

I poked around in my pancakes, searching for any blue dots, but they were all plain. My dad ran a hand through his graying hair, nervously chuckling.

"Oh no, looks like you caught me!"

"Dad, don't you see? Blueberry pancakes are made of two things. Blueberries and pancakes."

"That's an interesting fact, dear."

"Did we run out of blueberries? It's fine if you forgot, Dad."

"Actually, I wanted to try something new."

"By taking out the blueberries?!"

"Don't raise your voice, Heather is still asleep."

"Where did the blueberries go?"

"You see, there was a recipe I saw online, and I wanted to try it out."

"What was it?"

"Blueberry sauce! Like what IHOP puts on their pancakes."

"…that actually doesn't sound too bad."

"You'll love it! Here, I'll get it out."

My father opened the fridge and pulled out a jar with the blueberry sauce. Unscrewing the lid, he poured some of the contents on his own pancakes. He handed it to me afterwards, smiling as he did so. I poured a little bit, sampling a small portion. Immediately I grabbed the jar and gave myself a generous helping. This was so good! My father laughed at my excitement as I gorged myself on the pancakes.

"Be careful, remember to breathe!"

"This is delicious! You made this?"

"Yes, I'll let you make some if you like."

"Or are you saying you'd rather want me to help than Heather?"

"She's learning, it's just…"

"She sucks, doesn't she?"

"Yes."

"Hey, that's really rude!"

We both turn our heads at the new voice. Heather is dressed in her pajamas and her hair could be mistaken for a bird's nest. She playfully scowls at us while she takes a seat at the table, helping herself to a few pancakes. Like me, she stares at them in confusion. I place the jar of blueberry sauce next to her plate, getting her attention. She wordlessly peeks inside and instantly heaps the sauce onto her pancakes. She certainly had no doubts on the flavor.

I gulp down a glass of milk to wash down the pancakes, wiping my mouth with my arm. I pile the dirty dishes in the sink and then head up to the room, my mind set on a specific object. I go up the stairs at a fast pace and enter the room, centering on my bed. I reach under the pillow and grab the rock, examining it features now that the daylight allows me to see much more.

I don't recognize the type of rock. I relate it to obsidian at first, but after noticing the slight transparency, I decided that it must be something different. It's one complete piece with no cracks or anything. My best guess is that it's a rock from the riverbed, eroded away from the constantly flowing water. It's small enough to fit snugly inside a pocket.

"What's that?"

I jump at Heather's intruding voice, surprised at her appearance. I figure it's too late to hide it from her; it's best to show it to her anyways. I hold up the stone that the Messenger gave me, letting Heather's eyes roam over the object.

"It's a rock." I state simply.

She reaches her hands out to me, silently asking for the rock. I place it in her palm, still looking at it to see if it did anything. She loses interest rapidly, handing it back.

"It's a rock." She decides.

"That's what I said."

"Where did you get this?"

I hesitate, but I tell her.

"It's from the Messenger."

"Who's that?"

"That's what I called the guy who gave this to me."

"Ooh, a guy gave this to you, Andrea?"

"It's not like that. He said it was a message for someone else."

"When did he give it to you?"

"Last night."

"Wow, I didn't expect to be hearing this from you. Did you really sneak out?"

"No! Of course not!"

"Then what? He came to throw rocks at your window and to sing you romantic songs with his guitar?"

"I told you it's not like that, Heather! And it didn't go quite like that."

"Aw, you're blushing! Hold on, then how did it go?"

"He kind of… broke in."

"What?! I thought the window was closed."

"It was. I opened it."

"Andrea, you're not supposed to open the window to strangers, you idiot."

"Okay, I get it. Besides, I didn't even know he was out there because he was on the gutter right above the window!"

"Holy sh- crap, how did he get there?"

"Don't ask me. When he left, he just jumped out the window and ran off."

"Did you follow him?"

"No, I'm not that stupid."

"Good. So he gave you a rock and left?"

"Pretty much. He said it was a message."

"Well, is this supposed to be a riddle? I'm always bad at those."

"It could be, but I don't get it."

"Does it have any bumps or cracks?"

"I don't see any. It's smooth."

This went on for almost an hour, yet in the end our attempts proved futile. It's black, unbreakable, smooth, and cold. That's all we can tell. If it is enchanted, then it shows no sign of any spell. At this point, we were just sitting on the floor staring at it. Maybe this whole thing is a prank. The Messenger would be cracking up right now, seeing how we're desperately trying to find out what it's supposed to mean. I said this to Heather, only getting a shrug from her. Glancing at the time, I see it's almost noon. We could go to the woods and ask Slenderman. Wasn't that my original plan?

"Heather, we should go to the woods."

"You wanna bother Slenderman about this?"

"Well, um—"

"If that's the case, count me in!"

"It can be a message for him. The Messenger mentioned him."

"Wait, what?! Why didn't you tell me in the first place?"

"He didn't mention Slenderman directly though. He just said something about his feeding time almost being over."

"We should've gone directly to Slendy! Let's-a-go!"

"Alright."

Heather speedily told my father that we were going to the woods, to which he nodded. I can tell he isn't comfortable with the idea, but he smiles in spite of his anxiety. We run off to the woods, and I hold the rock tightly in my pocket. My hand should be warming it up with the force that I'm gripping it, but it remains cold.

When we enter the woods, that's when something feels off. What's the rock doing? I take it out and almost drop it out of surprise. It has warmed up, which shouldn't shock me as much as it did. Heather takes it and raises her eyebrows in interest. It hasn't changed in appearance, but it wasn't as cold as it was before, and I know that wasn't because of my body heat.

"Hey Slendy! You there?"

"He won't always respond to that."

"That won't stop me from trying. Slendy! Where could that ray of sunshine be?"

"Slenderman, we need to ask you something!"

What is it?

He teleports in front of us, bending slightly to look down at us.

"Oh, so he answers to you now. Geez, thanks a lot, Slendy."

What did you want to ask?

"There's a weird rock that someone gave me, and I thought you might know what it is. Me and Heather couldn't figure out what it means."

I hold out the rock, which got increasingly hotter. There's a slight increase in static when he saw it. He holds out his own hand for me to give it to him. My small hand is dwarfed by his larger one as I pass it to him. I hiss when the rock suddenly burns me as I get close. I drop it quickly, mystified by the foreign object.

Heather looks briefly at my hand before looking up at Slenderman, who has straightened up. He then holds it out not for us to take, but to show us something. We stare in awe as the black stone morphs and liquefies, squirming around as if it had a life of its own. It hardens once again, so I presume Slenderman has control over this stone, which I don't think is a stone anymore.

Do you know what this is?

"Nope, me and Andrea thought it was a rock."

Maybe this will help you understand.

A tentacle emerges from his back, squirming just like the stone. Is he saying that it is enchanted to act like a tentacle? If that even makes sense.

You're somewhat correct, Andrea.

"So what is it exactly?"

It's a piece of what you call a tentacle. But to obtain a piece, it must be forcibly ripped out. Whoever this belonged to must have been involved in a fight.

"So there's more like you?" I ask, "I'm pretty sure that doesn't belong to you."

Yes.

"I thought you said you didn't know any others like you."

I did say that. I wanted to protect you from that knowledge, but I should have known you would find out eventually.

"Do you know who that is from, Slendy?"

Where did you get this?

Heather mumbled something about being ignored as Slenderman stared at us, waiting for an answer. She pointed at me after a moment of awkward silence.

"Andrea's boyfriend gave it to her."

"I said it wasn't like that! Just because he gave it to me doesn't mean it's… like that."

Who gave it to you?

"A guy who broke in our room because Andrea opened the window for him."

"I can answer for myself. I didn't even know he was outside!"

Was he human?

"Yes. I think so. I could hardly make out anything but he looked human. He was able to somehow get on our roof and jump out the window on the second floor without getting hurt, though."

The static rose, alarming me. Was that bad?

Did he say anything to you?

"He said that it was a message. Oh, and that it wasn't for me, it was for someone else."

For me.

"Do you know what it's saying?"

It's a symbolic message. It may be a threat.

"…what?"

That isn't my main concern. The person who gave this to you knows that not only do you know me, but that I wouldn't harm you if you came here into the woods. That is concerning.

"Does the same go for Heather?"

Most likely.

I glance over at Heather, who is leaning against a tree. She's humming a tune, only paying attention to our conversation to a certain extent. I don't think she heard that last part, so I shake her shoulder to tell her. She just nods slowly, taking in the information in a stride. I wish I could have her bravery, because this whole thing is honestly making me panic.

I will have to keep a closer eye on you; so do not fret too much.

"There was something at the end that he said too. He said that your feeding time was almost over and that he had to go. I don't know if that's relevant."

Oh.

"Is that bad?"

Slenderman didn't answer me, but I had the feeling that it was definitely something bad. I don't receive any thoughts from him, so I can't be sure. I awkwardly stood there until I actually heard his voice in my mind.

That filthy proxy dares to enter my domain.

I'm pretty sure he didn't mean to send that thought, so I don't say anything back at first. I don't know what he meant by "proxy", but it sounded like he called the Messenger that. I guess it's a term he uses. I cross my arms, but wince when I feel a twinge of pain. I look at my arm, and there on my wrist is a greenish bruise. The Messenger gripped my arm a little too hard, didn't he?

Did he say anything else?

"Uh… I don't think so. He kept on repeating that that item was a message and to take it."

Were you able to see a few features of his appearance?

"Not that much. He wore a hoodie, I remember that."

Most of them wear hoodies. How about facial features?

"His hair covered his face. That's another thing, his hair was kind of long."

How long was it?

"Down to his neck… do you know him?"

I thought he was someone else.

"Sorry I couldn't see anything else."

Don't apologize, I will find him soon enough.

I feel a little bad for the Messenger, but he knew what he was getting himself into.

"Is that what you felt in the woods yesterday?"

Either him or his master. If it was the former, I should have been able to detect the specific location of his aura, unless he hid himself through other means.

"I'm not catching on. Proxy? Master? I'm confused."

Heather perked up, swiftly making her way to where I was.

"I can explain it to you! Unless if Slendy doesn't want me to."

The human who went into your room is a proxy, meaning he works for another Slender being. The message was from his master to me. That's all you need to know.

"I could've said that," Heather complained, "is there a problem with me saying it?"

You would have said more than was needed.

"How could you be so sure?" she inquired, "it's not like you read my mind or anything, right?"

I have been around you long enough to know you would do such a thing.

"Whatever."

We were all quiet after that, indulging in the peaceful calm of the forest. The "message" was still in Slenderman's hand, yet he didn't do anything with it. Would it be bad if I kept it?

I'd rather you not have it.

I guess not.

After returning home in the late afternoon when Slenderman said it was best for us to go back, we saw my father typing away at his laptop. It seemed to be something urgent, so I decided to leave him alone. Heather was suspicious as she is most of the time, but she left as well. As soon as we entered our bedroom, she put on a sneaky grin.

"Andrea, are you sure that's all you saw of him?"

"Oh my God, can't you drop the subject?"

"Why didn't you wake me up?"

"It's not like I could've just walked up to you, he didn't let me go."

"Oh really? He didn't let you go?"

"You know what I mean, Heather."

"Actually, I'd appreciate if you would explain what you mean."

"Well apparently you're the experts on proxies or whatever they're called, so you should know more than me."

"Andrea, do you really not know what proxies are?"

"Not until Slenderman explained it to me."

"I'll explain it to you!"

"But he already—"

"He left a lot of stuff out."

"If he did, then I'm not sure if I want to know more."

But I do. I'm really curious, even if this is a subject Slenderman wants me to avoid.

"Come on Andrea, what's the harm of knowing?"

"I don't know. How about if the Messenger comes again, I'll ask him and see what he says."

"That's a pretty good plan. Of course he would go back to you…"

"You're not going to shut up about this, aren't you?"

"Nope."

Heather asked me later if I could draw him in an old sketchbook I had. Hoping this will calm her down about her little fantasy; I agreed to do it and started to create a rough image of him with a pencil. There's the torso, the head, the arms and the legs. I outlined his clothing and shaded in once I was done with that part. I had to be careful not to shade in too much. Even though he had dark clothing, I don't want the drawing to end up like a black blob. When I was finished, I had smudges all over my hands. I showed the final product to Heather. She took it gently as if it were an ancient artifact, hazel eyes darting all over the paper.

"You need to teach me how to draw, Andrea."

"Thanks. That's what he looks like. Well, what I saw of him."

"I can't see his face."

"I couldn't either. His hair was in the way."

"I wish I was awake to see him, too bad I was sleeping. That was a good dream though."

"Should I even ask?"

"It had zombies with two heads and banana milkshakes and man-eating flowers and— okay, let's not get off topic. Back to the dude."

"I don't know anything else about him."

"Oh well. He seems pretty interesting."

"Yeah."

I was tempted to take a look at the laptop to see what my father was doing, so I went downstairs to supposedly get a glass of water. On my way to the kitchen, I snuck a glance at the screen, only to see a document with a font too small to read from where I was. It looks like work though; I don't even know why I was so curious. After some thought, I went to the high cabinet in the kitchen to grab two granola bars, and then made my way up. I quickly looked once again, getting the same result. A crazy thought crept in my mind to check his history later. Great, now I'm turning into Heather.

I went back upstairs to see Heather lying on the ground, doodling in that notebook of hers. I tossed the granola bars on my bed and then peeked over her shoulder to see what she was drawing. I laughed out loud, getting a smirk from Heather. She was drawing Slenderman, and no offense to her, but she isn't the best artist in the world. She put eyebrows on him, scrunched together in what would be a scowl. He was a stick figure, which actually isn't too different from his appearance, and she hastily put a tie to imply his formal attire. She paused, and then drew squiggly lines out from his back, which I guessed were his tentacles. She outlined a speech bubble and wrote inside: "Stupid humans".

"Nice drawing."

"You're making fun of me in your mind, aren't you Andrea?"

"Maybe."

"I knew it. That's why you have to teach me! I'll teach you how to cook and you'll teach me how to draw!"

"I'm not sure if I want to learn cooking from you, Heather."

"You turn down my expertise! How horrible!"

"Seriously, what are you really good at? Do you have a talent or a hobby or something?"

"I don't know, I guess it would be climbing trees. Climbing stuff in general."

"So you would ace a climbing wall?"

"Totally! I scaled those all the time like nobody's business! My dad promised me we would go to a mountain one day as a vacation, but I guess that day never came."

"Wow. Is that why you always want to climb the trees in the forest?"

"I guess. It's like having the opposite of a fear of heights."

Heather asked me later if I could draw her. I did so, and she fawned over it as if it were a masterpiece. Her gratitude was genuine; I could see it in her smile. We laughed and drew some more before getting called downstairs to eat dinner. My father made pasta for us, which I gobbled up rapidly. I didn't realize how hungry I was until I smelled it. I forgot the granola bars on my bed, so I haven't eaten anything in a while now that I think about it.

I put my dishes in the sink and was about to go upstairs until my father stopped me to say that he had to go to the supermarket to get some groceries. I was about to get ready but he told me to stay in the house with Heather and that he'd go alone. I shrugged, seeing nothing wrong with it. When he went out the door, I spotted his closed black laptop on the couch. The temptation to see that document was too strong, and besides, there's no harm in looking.

I opened the laptop and pressed a key. Lucky for me, he hadn't logged off, only put it to sleep. I looked at recent files downloaded into the laptop to find that there weren't any documents there for today. I opened a window to look at his browser history, finding my answer right there. He went to his email account, but it was logged out when I clicked the link. The previous searches stood out as well. Looks like he has been doing some research. I read the pages, consuming the information presented to me. One question remains in my mind as I absorb all of this bizarre material.

What exactly is the SCP?

AN: Thanks to Dest123G for editing this! I put this up kinda late because of school (but that ended last week) and I was on a trip over the weekend. Went to New York and Pennsylvania, so that was pretty cool. I actually had a dream about Slenderman. I went in the woods with my friends and saw several Operator's Symbols carved on the trees. I knew Slenderman was nearby but continued anyways. Then I saw him (he looked like the one in the popular Slender game) and I thought that he wouldn't move so I was okay. He started chasing me, and my friends ditched me so I ran, but got killed. So the moral is: don't mess with him! Just wanted to share that.