A/N: I've been getting a steady amount of views and reviews lately...
Could it be...? People actually like my story? :O
But seriously though, thank you guys so much for taking time out of your day to read :] It makes me more motivated to write for you knowing that I make you guys happy. I practically feed off of other people's reviews.

Also, do you have any tips on how to write longer chapters? I'm still struggling with it :T

On a side note: I'm somewhat running into this story blindly. I know how the middle part goes, but I have no idea how to get there or how to end it off after it. This explains why the story so far seems to be getting nowhere. And I apologize for that! Sincerely, sorry.

Apart from being stared at by people during every class, Tyler had a rather normal college day. He arrived home, tired but glad that the day was over, and plopped down on his bed. Breathing slowly, he cherished the comforting silence of his empty room. He then took out his phone from his pocket and scanned through the text messages. There were only two; one was spam and the other was from Desmond. He smiled, and read the following:

eyyo
i'm doing this thing for my team and it's hella fun
won't be able to see you any time soon
miss you bby xoxoxoxoxoxoxo
lol

The last part was a joke, of course. Desmond always made "advances" towards Tyler, but all in good fun. He never meant it seriously.

Since for some reason there was no school the next day (nobody cared why; they were just happy to have a 1-day vacation) Tyler could relax, even for a while. He decided to go through his social networking accounts, which he didn't use very often, simply because catching up with people was too much work (except for Craig, of course). Finding nothing of interest, Tyler went through his blog, which he could still visit but not post to via phone. Numerous of his fans and fellow bloggers had been posting things about where he had gone and if he was caught in the recent bombings. It was sweet, knowing that they cared, but at the same time painful, because he couldn't reach beyond the pixels and tell them, "No, I'm not dead. I'm just busy." But alas, he could not.

As the teen scanned through more and more of the posts, a recurring topic was mentioned. Something about a Slenderman-like figure recently seen by Creepypasta fanatics. Pictures of it were attached to the posts talking about it, but they weren't really striking or peculiar. Most of them only had blurry photographs of what seemed to be a shadow lurking by some trees similar to the infamous Slender game. Tyler brushed it off as hoaxes. He wouldn't believe them until there was solid proof of it.

Sighing, he undressed himself and donned some black-and-white comfortable nightwear. Just as he was about to force himself to sleep, his phone rang, startling him.

"Hello?"

"Hey, man. Mind if I rant to you a bit?"

Ah, Craig. He was a little vain and inconsiderate of others at times, but at least he was a good enough guy to care about his friends. "...Alright."

"Cool. So, like, after college today, when I got home, my laptop was missing. I don't even bring it to school anymore because of its battery life. Not only that, but I think somebody is legit stealing my stuff."

"'Stuff' meaning...?"

"Important stuff. Folders, documents, even a chair went messing. I think someone's fucking with me."

"Perhaps it's a prank?"

"Well, if it is, then it's not funny. Just today, Amy texted me that she found a skeleton in her dorm!" Amy was Craig's girlfriend, and if anything happened to her, he would lose his shit. "Why would these people mess around with us? My shampoo's gone, too. Guess I'll have to buy again."

"I'm really sorry to hear that," replied Tyler in a tired tone. He yawned sleepily. "We'll just have to deal with it. Half my social life is gone because of my faulty laptop."

"You mean your blog?" inquired the vocalist. Tyler confirmed. "Dang. Well, sorry for ranting so much. I just needed to get stuff off my chest."

"No worries. Goodbye, then."

"Bye-o."

Tyler sighed heavily. Why were his and his friends' lives going downhill? Why were there so many strange occurrences and disastrous news reports? What had the world come to? Thinking about it only filled his head with nonsensical theories and conspiracies. The more he thought about it, the less sense it made. He ended up with more questions than answers. Maybe the couple gossiping about Minecraft at Elan café wasn't so crazy after all.

No matter. Sleep was more inviting than his thoughts anyway.

The dream was dark with an atmosphere similar to a fog. He stood amid the misty clouds and looked around. Nothing but fog in every direction.

All of a sudden, hands grabbed him from behind, gnarly hands that gripped onto his legs, arms, neck, anything they could reach. The teen, tried as he might, failed to resist the hands. They scratched his skin and tore his flesh; blood was starting to seep from the wounds. He could not even scream; it was as if his voice was lost. The fog turned a deep red color and a faint chorus of screams echoed in the distance. Sharp teeth gnawed on the struggling teen's arms and legs, chewing them down to the bone. It made resisting the assailants even more difficult, now that he was sure he couldn't move his limbs.

The agony was great and even more amplified by the smell of rotting flesh in the air. He was sobbing violently now; the pain was simply unbearable. He could barely feel his limbs; perhaps they had already been chewed off. What made the experience strange is how he could not even see his attackers. Were they invisible? Or was it just that dark?

The more Tyler gasped for air, the more he tasted the blood mist on his tongue. More teeth locked around his throat, and blood gushed forth in torrents. He was losing oxygen quickly. His death would surely be quick, but not painless. What would it take for his suffering to end?

The life in his eyes faded slowly. This was it. This was his end.

Tyler jolted awake, gasping for air like he'd just drowned. He grabbed his glasses from the nightstand, wore them, and looked around the room. It was yet another bright and sunny morning. No sign of anything weird so far. He breathed a sigh of relief, glad that it was just a nightmare. A bad way to start a morning, but whatever.

Oh, right! Tyler had almost forgot that there was no school that day! He would surely not let a bad dream ruin his wonderful day. Smiling, he pulled the covers off him and swung his legs to the side of the bed. But he noticed something when he glanced down at the bed sheets. What he saw shocked him.

Fresh black blood. Everywhere.

A/N: *drops plot/cliffhanger bomb

Reviews of all sorts are always appreciated!