The Slender Man (15 page)

I come to my senses and find that I’m on the ground by the
tree. Blood flows back into my head and I feel nauseous, but the static grip on
me weakens. I open my eyes, but close them immediately.
He
is right
there. Head tingling and eyes closed, I do my best to propel myself back and
crawl out of the way. I feel him grab me again, and at his touch a wave of the
burning numbness courses through my body. I open my eyes again and see him
there. One of his limbs is attached to me, but I close my eyes once more to
stop that pain in my eyes. Jolts of pain come from my torso and arms as well.
They are quick, but frequent.

I hear a scream coming from my left. I open my eyes and look
to see Shana lying on the ground. She's writhing as if trying to crawl. Where
did she come from? Is this really her, or more of a nightmare? More flashes of
pain shoot through me and I look down and notice that they are coming from the
distortions in my body. Every time my body moves like static I feel pain, as if
that part of my body is being torn off.

I scream as the ripping pains become even more frequent. I
see that the black shadowy limb that's touching me doesn't appear to be an arm.
It's like a black vortex that's attached to the monster, somehow appearing
solid at the same time. Every time it distorts with static, so do I, and then I
get hit with a flash of pain. It's like it's sucking the life right out of me.
I roll onto my stomach and crawl away, toward Shana. I stop screaming, although
I can't tell if that's my willpower, or if I'm just getting weaker.

I reach Shana and put a hand on her, trying to pull her up
with me as I try to stand. She doesn't seem to realize what's going on, but
with one look at me, recognition lights her face, and she leans forward on me.
She isn't necessarily helping me up but with the shift of balance I find it
easier to rise. I feel another jolt of pain, and cringe, but the painful
flashes are less intense now.

I'm ten feet or so away from the fiend, ten feet away from
the tree. I can't tell which one is hurting me. Maybe it's both, or maybe
they're the same thing. I limp away with Shana at my side. I feel pain again,
and although it's even weaker than before, with it being the only thing I can
feel through the numbness I cry out. What's he doing to me? I'm not bleeding,
but it feels like I should be.

“Shana,” I say weakly. She doesn't answer, but keeps walking
forward with me, leaning on my shoulder. I notice she isn't distorting like she
was in the nightmare, like I am now. I think I see why though.

I see another appendage lash out and attach to her, and in
response her whole body distorts and she lets out a loud scream. I take a look
back at the monster and notice that the limbs attached to us seem to be coming
from the upper half of the thing, like- like branches. Is that it then? Is that
why the tree kept spawning more branches? Does this mean that his tree gains a
new branch for each child he kidnaps? If so, then what happens to us when he
takes us in? I'm not sure if that's an answer I want to find out.

With Shana's sudden lack of cooperation we both fall forward
onto our knees. I have to get her farther away from the tree. I climb to a
semi-standing position as quickly as I can and haul Shana with me. She looks
like she wants to help, but has lost sense of what she's supposed to be doing.

I look around while pulling her forward. We are still in the
forest, but now it's definitely the shadow dimension version of the forest, and
the only source of light is... is me. Another tearing pain, and I fall back to
my knees, and the light grows dimmer in response. What does this mean? The
light coming from me… is that what he’s trying to get rid of before it can- I
hear a loud screeching sound. It mimics the sound I heard when the fiend first
charged. He’s here.

I feel- or at least think I feel a sudden rush of adrenaline
and I haul both Shana and myself up in one quick pull. I balance her weight
with my shoulder and practically drag her away. I don't know which direction
I'm heading, only that it's away from the tree. The shrieking gets louder and
begins pulsing. It's pulsing with a distinct rhythm, and seems to be coming
from multiple directions. The rhythm- I've heard it before, it's... it's
laughter. He’s laughing at us. He must be sure we can't escape. I only hope
he’s wrong. His laugh grows louder and echoes from all directions-from very
close to very far and in a variety of volumes and pitches.

I begin screaming at him out of both anger and fear. I feel
tears rolling down my face.

“What do you want from us!?” I scream, but my voice cracks.
I can feel the numbness growing stronger. Each note of laughter sends a pulse
in my direction. My heart is racing and I can't think. I can't move. Shana
falls to the ground on my side and causes me to stumble again.

 I scream as loudly as I can, trying to block out the
ominous laughter that torments me. Covering my ears doesn't seem to work,
because even though the laughing sounds quiet, I can
feel
it pulsing
through my bones. Each vibration sends another shock of terror and all I want
is to get out of here. I’m in agony; he’s on me again. I feel myself being
pulled back toward the tree.
No!
I didn't come here in vain.

I fight him, throwing punches and kicks, squirming and wriggling.
I don't feel myself hitting anything, except for a few trees in my path, and I
can feel myself being dragged back to the clearing at a sprinter's pace.

“No!” I scream and continue fighting. I find myself on my
stomach and manage to wrap my arms around the trunk of one of the trees. Using
it for leverage against the pull of the monster, I pull myself forward, away
from the fiend as hard and fast as I can, pain coursing through my body,
crying. I'm trying to get back to Shana. I came here for her, and I won't just
leave her here.

I crawl forward, and every time I progress to another tree I
wrap onto it to keep from the sudden backward tugs, but even though I'm so
close to Shana that I can see her through the dark, the light grows dimmer with
every pull. He doesn't need me to go to the tree. He just needs to put out the
light. He only does it faster if I'm closer to it; if I'm weakened, but now
it's too late. I can't find the strength or balance to stand, and even though
Shana is standing only a yard from me, the blackness will take me before I can
get to her.

Wait… she's standing!
I feel a hand on mine. Shana's
reaching for me and soon I feel her hand on mine. I feel myself being pulled up
to my feet, but at the same time I feel like I've reached the end of my
strength. I have an overwhelming sense of dizziness. I can’t stand on my own, I
can't walk, I can hardly think. I can sense the fiend around me, and vertigo
consumes me.

Humans aren't meant to feel this way. Humans aren't even
meant to be here. I become lost in my thoughts, answering my own questions.
Why
am I here?
I came to free Shana.
How did I plan to do that?
I tried
to cut down the tree, but what now? I feel my body convulse, and although I
can't see it, I know I've vomited. I feel another tug, and hear a voice, but
the voice is muffled by the shrieks of static. “I can't...”

“Alyssa...”

“He’s calling my name.”

“Alyssa... Lyss!” I feel another pull. I realize I've been
dragged a few feet since Shana helped me to my feet and I fell over.

“Alyssa... we have to go,” says Shana.

“Don't let him claim you. You'll never get out.” I look up
and see Shana still pulling me through the woods. She's not looking at me.
Instead her gaze is a blank stare. I think she's talking to herself as well as
me.

We can't give up. That's what she's trying to say, but what
do we do? I have no strength. My only incentive to move is the thought of
escaping with Shana?
But how?
The question repeats in my mind. I escaped
last time didn't I? Yeah, I ran. I ran out of his grasp and he couldn't hold
me. If I can put enough distance between us and the monster, then we should
make it out okay. I have to keep fighting though. I have to fight through the
numbness, dizziness, pain, and shrieking.

I gather my last bit of strength together and pull back on
Shana's weight, rising to my feet.

“We have to go,” she repeats. There’s almost no light, and
all I can see is her face, less than an arm’s length away.

“Let’s go,” I say feebly. Her hand in mine, we run. I run
with my free hand forward, pushing myself out of the way of trees that appear
in my path. I can only hope I’m moving forward in one direction, and not in
circles, but there are trees, slopes, and hills every few feet that we have to
dodge. This involves many turns and twists, and with no light I have no sense
of direction, and with my many stumbles I’m sure I’ve gotten turned around a
few times.

I feel a rushing wave of howling static. It’s pushing from
behind us.

“He’s coming,” mutters Shana.

“He’s coming!” she shrieks. Another wave hits me. It’s the
same thing that happened when I was on my way to the tree with the axe. Except
now, he’s faster. He’s not stalking. He’s pursuing, and I feel him getting
closer. Shana does too. I can tell through her sobs. She’s losing hope. I wish
I could get a good look at her face, but it’s hard enough getting her to keep
up with me.

I feel another pulse. This one weakens me and causes my
knees to almost buckle, but I keep moving. The wave must have affected her more
than it did me because I feel her slipping. She’s lagging behind, failing to
keep up. I can’t tell if she’s just too tired to run any faster or losing
consciousness, but I think it’s the latter. I have to keep her talking. I cut
her off from him and then she pulled me away from him when he had me. Now it’s
a game of keep-away. I can’t tell who he’s targeting.

He wants both of us, but I think he can only take one of us
at a time. He came after me while I was panicking, and now I can only feel him
following us. This must mean he’s after Shana. She needs a voice to listen to.
She needs to remember that it’s my hand she’s holding and not his.

“Shana, we’re gonna be okay. Just keep running!” I say,
trying to shout, but I’m already breathless. He reinforces his laughter, as if
emphasizing it in response to me, and I feel a static wave that almost forces
me forward, but at the same time I feel Shana’s grip weaken as if she’s being
pulled back. She needs to talk to me. I need to know she’ll make it.

She screams. I look, but I can’t see what has her. I can’t
see what he’s doing. I run into a tree, and am glad that the numbness works to
distance the pain. Otherwise I wouldn’t be able to stay on my toes.

I wrap around the tree, jerking Shana. I feel a lot of
resistance and hope I didn’t just dislocate her shoulder or anything. She’s
fallen to her knees, and is still screaming. It’s that same scream she gave me
in my original nightmare.

“No, I won’t let you take her away from me again. You’re not
going to hurt her anymore,” I say aloud. We’re not going to escape him with me
dragging her like this.  I turn around and pick her up. It’s nearly impossible,
because I already had a hard to time getting used to running while almost
completely numb, but without the numbness I probably wouldn’t be able to lift
Shana at all.

I can tell my speed isn’t that of a sprinter, it barely
would pass for a brisk walk, but I came here for her, and I’m not leaving
without her. Her screaming fades into cries and I can tell she’s slipping.
She’s close enough now that I can see her face. It looks like she’s dying right
in my arms. “Shana!” I scream.

“We’re almost there! Shana, hold on! Almost!” but I’m not
sure how true that even is.

In the nightmare I only ran a few dozen meters from the tree
line where his presence was the strongest, and we haven’t even left the woods
yet, but we’re going in another direction I’m sure. Does he have control over
the whole forest, or just a certain distance? I hope that whatever the truth
is, I can make it out with Shana.

I push one of the trees with my shoulder to work around it,
and then that sense of vertigo hits me. The tree grabs me, but it’s not just a
tree. It’s him, it’s his static hand. I scream loudly as he touches me. My body
distorts with that meat-grinding pain at the contact point. I bite my tongue,
so hard that I taste blood.

“You’re not going to take me now…” I have to keep going. I
march forward and away at a snail’s pace. My body feels like I’m being eaten
alive from the inside out but I do my best not to scream. I won’t give him
power. I won’t give up.

His grip won’t relent though and I can hear his static
screeching all around me again. He’s fighting hard now, there’s no way I can-
he’s
fighting this hard
! He must be panicking. That can only mean that I’m very
near.

“We’re almost there Shana! Stay with me, it’s just a little
longer,” I cheer. I have some feeling return, telling me that I’m almost out of
this world. I sprint, all or nothing now. I can only hope I don’t run headfirst
into tree.

My arms are burning from the pressure of Shana’s weight.
Suddenly, I feel my balance return and can run more steadily. My legs are
burning hot lead, and my feet feel like they’re about to shatter. My clothes
are covered in sweat, constricting me, slowing me down. It’s nearly impossible
to get enough oxygen, but as all of these feelings return to me, so does light.
Light!
I can see.

It’s a little past dawn now and the sun has risen. I can see
the edge of the woods, only a few yards away. I move with unrelenting speed. I
can still sense him here. He’s going to try and pull Shana and me back. I
remember the sudden anxiety I had of being pulled back into the woods the first
time I ran from the tree. That seems more likely to happen this time, but I’m
not about to let it. It’s only twenty paces away...nineteen... fifteen... ten.
I’m holding my breath, but I’m almost there.