Fear

Burg Hohenzollern

My vision was blurry when I woke up, and when it came into focus, I blinked the sleep out of my eyes and observed my surroundings. I was lying in a bed, the dark violet comforter smoothed down around me. It was clear that whoever-Slender?-had put me in the bed had tucked me in.

Smiling awkwardly to myself, I shivered at the slight chill in the room. Upon further examination, I discovered that the bed was probably queen-sized, and had a canopy. On top of this, the bed was nestled in a crook of the room so there were walls surrounding three sides of it.

The rest of the room was done in greens, purples, and silvers. There was a wardrobe with a mirror, a nightstand, a small writing desk, and a set of armchairs near the fire place, which seemed to have been untouched for a rather long time. In fact, it appeared that the entire room was from a step back in time-or several steps. It was almost medieval; I recognized the style from those silly Bubonic Plague documentaries we’d watched in World History.

On the bedside table was a note, neatly folded so it stood up like a tent, reading my name in spidery script. Adelina, it read. Good morning! Welcome to Castle Burg Hohenzollern, of Stuttgart, Germany. I hope you slept well. Enclosed with this letter is a floor plan of the castle to help you navigate to the breakfast room. Unfortunately, I have been called away on business today by one of my associates. However, I shall return in time for the evening meal. You are welcome to all rooms in the castle except those that are locked. Hopefully, your explorations can amuse you for the day. Sincerest, and best wishes, Slender.

I smiled again, giggling at his old-fashioned style of cheerful writing. Although I was confused, I shrugged it off and re-folded the note, leaving it on the nightstand until I was ready to leave the room. I was born and raised in the Piedmont area of North Carolina, in the United States of America. If Slender was correct-and I had no reason to believe he wasn’t-then we were in Germany. In a castle, nonetheless!

The most excited I’d been in years, I sprang from bed, throwing the neat covers off of me. I was clad in a simple, long, white nightgown that was trimmed with lace. I figured Slender had changed me himself or gotten one of his unknown ‘associates’ to do it. Unperturbed, I padded over to the wardrobe, the cool stone floor against my bare feet sending shivers through my body.

Opening the heavy, cherry doors was more of a task than I’d anticipated, and it took me a good few minutes before I managed to wrestle them open. I coughed into my fist at the cloud of dust that flew into my face and waved my other hand around in a feeble attempt to clean the air from the irritating particles.

When the air cleared and I was able to breathe, I began inspecting the contents of the wardrobe. I breathed out a soft whistle of surprise as I found that the clothing within was all in medieval or renaissance styles. I had always been a history buff, and this was almost too much. With a little excited noise, I searched through the articles of clothing-mostly dresses-until I found a pair of evergreen breaches and a tight, pale-tan blouse to go with it.

I stripped and quickly put on my new clothes. I then inspected myself in the mirror, striking a silly heroic pose before trying my hair up into a ponytail with the hairband permanently around my wrist. This movement drew my attention down to my left arm- the arm that I had killed myself with, apparently.

Having not given much thought to the subject, I was pleasantly surprised. The many scars that had littered my arm were gone. Jaw going slack with delight, I felt tears of bittersweet confusion pool behind my eyes. It was if the scars had just flown away like a bird or melted into my skin. Either way, however it had happened, I was happy about it.

Finally, it seemed that I was free of my monsters. Slender had said I was. “You are free of the pain inside.” He’d told me. I nearly began to cry with confused, elated…okay-ness. I wasn’t feeling miserable. And that was all I’d ever wished for.

My urges to self-harm were also gone, seemingly vanished. I smiled. Suicide, it appeared, had been the answer after all. Now that I was dead, though, I wondered how everyone was doing without me. My dad had left me and my mom a long time ago-he clearly wouldn’t care. I hadn’t had contact with him since, anyways. The asshole. My mom, on the other hand, was a coddling psycho who refused to let me grow up. She was always all up in my business, which, I supposed, was her job.

She might just be doing it too well. My friends…well, friend, actually, would be horrified, but she would get over it, eventually. They all would. Time would pass, and they would heal. I was happier here with Slender than I’d ever been in my life…well, that I could remember, even though I’d only been…dead for less than forty-eight hours.

Pulling out of my reverie, I pulled on a pair of leather boots that fit my feet perfectly, than headed back over to the bedside table. I grabbed Slender’s note, neatly put it into one of my breeches pockets, and unfolded the floor plan of the castle. There was a red symbol, written in the same crimson ink that reminded me of blood the Slender had written the note with. The symbol was a circle with an X drawn threw it. I recognized the symbol from the weeks before I’d died. Apparently it was Slender’s thing.

The little (X) figure marked where I was, in a room entitled Chambers of the Lady Celeste. Celeste, as in the stars. I looked up, and sure enough, the ceiling was painted as if it were the night sky, constellations and all. Smiling at the beautiful mural, I opened the door and stepped out into the hallway, which was surprisingly well-lit for a medieval castle.

Following the floor plan, I made my way to the grand staircase, looking out over the great room of the castle in awe. Everything was done in majestic crimsons and golds in this room, creating the aura of strength and grandeur. Using the railing, I walked down the staircase, wishing that I had a cloak to sweep behind me to complete my image.

The stairs creaked slightly under my weight as I stepped off of them and onto the floor. I strolled out across the intricate carpet, curiously gaping around me. “Do you like it?” A raspy voice inquired from behind me.

I spun to face the intruder, eyes narrowed. “Wh-Who are you?” I stammered nervously, realizing just how vulnerable I was currently.

The creature smiled, it’s fangs gleaming in the light of the room. “They call me the Rake.” It announced proudly, taking a step towards me.

“Oh. I’m Adelina.” I replied, hesitantly, offering my hand to it.

It appeared to be a sort of naked, ugly dog/man creature. “I know.” It sung, ignoring my hand and dancing around me with a click of claws. “The White King told me.”

“The White King?” I asked, confused, as I tried to follow the ugly grey creature with my gaze.

“Slendy!” The Rake cried, looking at me as if I were stupid.

“You mean Mr. Slender?” I corrected, slightly amused by the nick-name.

Rake smiled wickedly. “Slendy.” He responded, clacking his claws on the tiled floor before doing a little dance and skittering away. “Come!” He called, dropping to all fours and galloping out across the floor.

Reluctantly, I glanced around me one more time, than ran after him.