Chapter 2
The Slenderman found himself lingering in the small town, his journey to the far end of the woods put on hiatus by curiosity. He followed the human's scent across town to a modest, but well-kept home. Watching in the windows he found an elderly man, and crawling upward he found the boy's bedroom. It was simple and uncluttered, giving little away about his personal interests. There did seem to be an excess of books, and from the looks of many of the cover designs, he seemed to like being put on edge.
Days passed and he followed him, always careful to step out of his line of sight before he was seen. Stalking a human was a profitable method of collecting fear, keeping them paranoid and allowing them to see once in a while. But the Slenderman felt more inclined to watch Conall, as he now knew him, in a natural and comfortable state. Conall went to the library daily, took the bus on some days, and spent enough hours inside that the creature suspected he worked there. One day he crept to a high window and watched him restocking the shelves. He watched closely even when nothing significant happened, and continued to watch until the boy's break. He sat with his lunch and an open book, something romantic from the look of it.
That afternoon the Slenderman found a place to sit on a bus bench, along the road that Conall took to get home. He stayed there, cloaking his appearance as he waited for him.
The days passed normally after the unsettling adventure out in the forest. Conall didn't tell anyone about what he'd seen, no one believed him before, and they'd probably have him locked up now, so he kept his mouth shut. Sleeping had been difficult for the first couple of nights after seeing the faceless being, but his sleeping schedule was beginning to get back to normal. "I'll see you tomorrow." He waved goodbye to the librarian before he walked out of the library, down the few stairs leading up to the building, and off towards the bus stop.
Conall glanced up at the cloudy sky with a wide frown, 'Looks like it's going to rain...I should probably just take the bus.' He sighed, looking down to stare at the side walk as he walked, stopping at the bus stop a few feet before the bench. He shoved his hands into his pockets after a few seconds of standing there, glancing over towards the bus bench to see who was sitting there.
The Slenderman looked up, watching the human approach. He looked around him, at the sky and the ground, oblivious. And then those eyes took hold of him and he stopped in his tracks. The Slenderman watched him, his own posture straight with his thin fingers laced together on his lap.
He had no plan from here, nor was he ever one to calculate things carefully. Plans were meant to go wrong, and he wouldn't assume they were solid if they could never really be so. So he watched the human, with the only simple intent of being seen until, perhaps, Conall might become accustomed to it. If not, then that was the way of things.
He unlaced his fingers and gestured to the other end of the bench, closest to where Conall was standing.
Conall stared at the being in silence for what felt like forever, his heart beating quickly in his chest. Why was this happening to him? What had he done in this life, or even a previous life, to deserve this being attention? And now the thing wanted him to sit with him? He blinked slowly, silently hoping the being would be gone when he opened them once more, but still it sat on the bench.
The young man took a step back and away from the bench and bus stop, mouth opening as he sucked in a breath to possibly scream. "What…Why..? I..." He couldn't get his thoughts together enough to have something intelligent come out of his mouth, but he was trying. "Who...Ah..You-I don't.."
The Slenderman lowered his head slightly. The human's pulse was racing, tantalizing him. He fought back the urge to further terrify him, knowing it was counterproductive to his curiosity.
He was afraid, yes, but he was talking and asking questions. That was good. The Slenderman had no intention of answering him but it was good to know he was curious. All he wanted now was for the human to manage being in his presence for more than a few seconds. He turned his wrist and pointed to the space on the bench, tapping it firmly. 'If you can talk,' he thought to himself, 'you can sit.'
He glanced over his shoulder to take a look at the library, considering whether he should book it back into the building, or run for it. If this thing wanted to kill him, then it would have a long time ago, right? Conall looked back in the direction of the bench, eyeing the spot the being wanted him to sit in, and then hesitantly approached him. "…" He sucked in a deep breath and slowly approached the bench, taking a seat right on the edge of it, as far away from the faceless being as possible.
'Calm down.' He thought to himself, struggling to slow his pounding heart. 'Breathe.' Conall closed his eyes and focused on his breathing.
The Slenderman watched him, listening to the almost imperceptible slowing of his heart. All other times it would be a loss, but there was something magnificent about a human willingly remaining in his presence. He could indulge in it now that his eyes were closed, same dark lashes lining his eyes that the Slenderman had remembered from years ago. He looked over the curve of his nose and the small movements of his lips as he took each breath. He studied the coloration of his skin, patches of pale and tan that reminded him of the sun shining through leaves. He looked at the collar of his grey scarf, wondering how far down his unusual complexion extended.
Conall's eyes flashed over to him and he turned away, realizing that perhaps staring wasn't the best method to make a human more comfortable. But he didn't blame himself; he'd never desired to make someone comfortable before. He waited until the human had closed his eyes again to continue studying him.
He heard the far away sound of the approaching bus and stood, deciding it would be best to leave him be for now. He took silent steps off the sidewalk and into the woods, heading off toward Conall's home.
His eyes opened again in time to see the slender being stand and then disappear off into the woods. "…Whew." His body went slack on the bench and he blew out a relieved sigh, the bus pulling to a stop to let Conall get on.
The rain started up right after Conall got on bus, which made him thankful that he decided not to walk. He couldn't help but think about the being on the ride home, he had so many questions regarding it, but he was in no hurry to ask. He shook his head and forced the thoughts to the back of his mind for the time being, he needed to figure out what to make for dinner tonight.
Conall said his goodbyes to the bus driver, pulled his hood up over his head, and then stepped out into the rain to run down the road to his house. He stopped on the sidewalk and took a weary look around, expecting the being to pop out any second, but quickly jogged up onto the front porch when nothing happened. He unlocked the door and entered the house quickly, "I'm home!" He called out as he walked down the hallway, pausing when he got sight of his grandpa sitting in the kitchen with a sandwich in his mouth. "Couldn't even wait for me to get home?" He asked, but held his hand up to stop the old man from even answering. "Never mind."
The Slenderman stood in the rain outside the young man's house, looking in the kitchen window as he made himself dinner. He seemed a little on edge, and he wondered if it had something to do with the bus stop. Of course it did, he concluded. No one simply forgot about being afraid, and not within the hour. What a shame.
He walked around to the front porch and climbed the pillar to the roof, slipping through the glass and into Conall's room. Two of the walls slanted up to the center with bare wooden beams, the opposite walls painted white. He looked around, at the neatly made bed with a blue comforter, and a desk by the window stacked with books. He made his way across the pale, oriental carpet to his open closet, shifting casually through Conall's clothes. In the far end he saw a black suit, perhaps for funerals or religious congregations, and found himself picturing Conall in it. He took the suit out of the closet and draped it over the desk chair.
Downstairs he could hear the human washing dishes, and headed back to the desk to pick out one of the books. He made himself comfortable sitting up on the boy's bed, flipping through the horror. The scene he opened up to told of a young child looking out their window and seeing the reaper standing beneath a lamp post in the night. The child ran to the door and the reaper stood there, his shadow crawling across the floor toward the child's bare feet. The Slenderman continued to read as he listened to footsteps coming up the stairs. Despite his curiosity, he didn't look up as the door began to open.
Conall looked up from the mail he had in his hand and stopped dead in his tracks when he spotted the familiar figure sitting on his bed. "I'll come back later." He nodded to himself and back tracked right out of his room, closing the door as quietly as he could. 'Okay, okay, okay.' He thought, stepping back away from the door to stare at it. "Okay." He lifted his free hand up to rub his forehead, 'I'll just go in and act like it's not even there.'
"Yeah, that's a good idea." He spoke aloud to reassure himself before he entered the room once more, eyes once more on the mail he held. It was from his mother, who lived in the city, but he wasn't all that eager to open the letter up, it was probably bad news about something. Conall tossed it on his desk and cocked his head to the side at the sight of his suit draped over the chair, glancing in the direction of the being on his bed. "..Okay then.." He murmured and simply let it be.
He turned and went over to his dresser to take out some clothes to sleep in, though he doubted he'd be able to get to sleep with Mr. Faceless sitting on his bed. Maybe if he went to take a shower the thing would be gone by the time he returned, though he had a feeling it wouldn't be.
The Slenderman continued to read for a few minutes after Conall had left the room with clothes and a towel. At the end of a chapter he closed the book and headed to the bathroom, walking through the door since it had been locked. The heat and the humidity in the room were something he was unaccustomed to, rarely travelling to the southern portions of the continent, and he felt himself enjoying it. He looked around the small, steamy room, at the foggy mirror and the pile of clothes on the counter, and at the dark shower curtain. Having existed without rules or interest in propriety for so long, it was very, very difficult for him to resist opening the curtain. Conall would be wet and slippery and appealing, and he would get to look at the extent of the patterns on his skin.
But he decided against it, instead taking the old clothes and new clothes, as well as the boy's towel. He brought everything back into the bedroom and dumped it on the floor, returning to the bathroom with the suit. He hooked the suit on the empty towel rack and went back to start the next chapter of 'Premium Shadow'.
The shower was pleasant enough when Conall managed to stop picturing himself being murdered in the bathroom. 'I need to cut back on the horror stories.' He chuckled lightly and turned off the shower water before he stepped out, "…" He stared at the suit on the towel rack with a disbelieving look on his face, "That fucker." Conall let out a low groan and let his head hang while face palming, standing there in the nude for about 30 seconds before he got moving.
The young man took the suit in arms and stepped out into the cool air, shivering as he scurried to a closet at the end of the hall that held towels. He slipped into his grandfather's room to dry off, then wrapped the towel around his waist, and hesitantly made his way back up to his bedroom. He stopped outside the door and ran his fingers through his wet hair to brush it out of his face, other arm was holding his semi wet suit against his side. Conall entered his room carefully, ready to bolt right back out the room in case the being tried to do anything. "Did you seriously take my clothes?"
The Slenderman had been curious as to how Conall would look in his suit, but forgot it the instant he looked up and saw him. The book in his hands dropped to the bed as he teleported, appearing behind him, shutting the door and effectively blocking his exit.
Conall turned around quickly and the Slenderman took the suit from him, tossing it aside as he approached.
Conall found himself backing right up until he bumped against his desk chair, which he promptly grabbed, and pulled it in front of him as he bumped against the edge of the desk next. He held the chair with one hand and held the towel around his waist with the other, so it didn't fall off of him. "Whoa there tall guy, back it the hell up. Ever heard of personal space? How about you get out of my room entirely?" he laughed nervously, glancing in the direction of his dresser. Maybe he could try to get to his hunting knife? Would that even be a good idea? "Stay away or I swear I will scream."
The Slenderman paused at the threat and finally contemplated what he'd said. No, he'd never cared much about personal space. And no, he didn't feel like going anywhere either. Never had he felt so inclined to stay. He tilted his head, following Conall's momentary interest in his dresser, and took a sideways step over to it to look. Inside were a few things, but predominantly a striking hunting knife. He knew just what a knife would and wouldn't do to him, but Conall didn't. Not that it mattered. He picked it up by the blade, lifting it and showing it to the tense human. Carefully he came closer, holding it out for him to take.
Conall reached out and took the blade, and as soon as he had it the Slenderman took the chair out from between them and took another step closer, vision trailing over the markings on him, which mostly stopped below his throat, and reappeared on the ends of his limbs. He looked back up and watched the water streak down his face from his damp hair, and settled on a fierce pair of eyes.
He kept still once he had a hold of his hunting knife, though the fact that the being was the one that had given it to him did not make him feel any safer. "…It's a skin condition called vitiligo…" He explained in a calmer, but shaky voice. He was more than uncomfortable in this situation, but he wasn't going to try anything, not yet at least. This thing had given him his blade; maybe he could get it to give him his clothes as well? No, that probably wouldn't work and he really didn't want to put on his suit. Conall noticed the beings held tilt back up and guessed that it was again looking at his face, but he couldn't quite tell.
He scooted off to the right slowly, hoping to circle slowly around the being and back to the door of his room to hopefully leave.
The Slenderman could once again taste his fear, but it tasted bitter now. He knew this kind of fear and had a strong aversion to it, stepping back to give Conall space. He began to feel sick from the taste and quickly teleported out of the room and into the yard.
He headed back to the woods, staying close enough to see the light in Conall's bedroom window. Satisfied with the distance, he crawled into a bare tree and stayed there to rest for a while.
To be continued.