Numinous
[adj] being both fearful and awed by what is before you
𝑩𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝑪𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝑪𝒓𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒔: 𝑴𝒆 :)
𝑨𝒓𝒕 𝑪𝒓𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒕: 𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒔 (𝑶𝒏 𝑫𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒕𝑨𝒓𝒕) 𝑩𝒂𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆 𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒄�...
"That's the first." You thought, referring to the gentle shove.
"salutations and greetings." An eerie voice spoke.
"What is this? Shakespeare? English class all over again..." You internally joked in an attempt to suppress the fact you were stricken with terror.
"This is far from an English class, child."
"Telepathy? Invasion of privacy much?"
"Your privacy is not a concern to me," the chair slowly turned to reveal a sight you physically shivered at. A paranormal being. Paler than snow. Slender as branches and twigs on a tree. And oddly, tentacles that branched out like vines. Its face was deprived of facial features. It was just a blank white canvas.
The being turned to the hefty guy next to you, "and you, I'd appreciate you don't compare your physique to mine."
"Eh? How'd you-"
"Telepathy." You said.
"Fascinating..." The lanky dude gleamed.
Suddenly, you were all struck with intense ringing once again. Your arms went straight to cover your ears.
Once it was put to a halt, your hands relaxed at your sides seemingly on your own.
"Now let's get straight to the point." The being's slender hands folded in with one another, resting on the desk. "Every 6 years, three individuals are selected to endure a series of tests to work under me, The Slenderman."
"What benefits do we get working from a supernatural being? What do we even do? Is it even worth it? Can I just leave?"
"This will be the only time I'll permit you to question me," he turned his attention to you momentarily, "because you all have already witnessed who we are, what we can do, and where we're located, we absolutely can not allow you to return to your normal lives. You wanna leave? We'll have to kill you."
"Kill? Holy shit what the hell did I get myself into?"
"Unfortunately, you didn't really have a choice, so I can assure you, you mustn't blame yourself," he spoke reassuring you of your worry. "Now, any attempt to leave results in harsh punishment. Even death if I see fit."
At this point, you tried your best to suppress any intrusive thoughts in fear of possibly getting lectured or questioned.
"I'll now go on to explain what your 'job' entails," he said. "As you may have already noticed, I am the head of this place. Directly under my rank, proxies. They take on the most difficult of tasks head-on. They earn the right to make the commands when I'm unable to. Right-hand-men, if you will. In fact, you are in the presence of two of them, Masky and Toby."
You weren't away Toby was in the same room as you until your head was turned towards the two.
"He can fucking control our movements too!?"
Toby and Masky stood tall. Feet shoulder-width apart, hands folded behind their backs, and heads pointed straight ahead.
"Permission to speak, sir," Masky questioned with a firm tone.
"You may."
"I'll have you know if any of you actually pass, it's not all fun and games. And don't get the illusion that any of us will be friends." Masky spoke, directing his attention to the three of you.
"Wasn't even gonna try dude..." y/n
The Slenderman spoke again, "then we have our specialists. They're still trained in general combat; however, they focus more on the crucial roles that play in the background. Our healers for example. We have a specialist with the gift of creating toxins. If you're exemplary in a specific skill, you'll most likely be assigned to this role."
"I only know basic first aid..."
"Lastly, there are The Pastas. They go out and do the dirty work. Killing off those who I deem even a little of a threat. Or do simple tasks such as fetching cargo. Most individuals fall under this category," he finished.
"And how have we benefited from any of this? Also, interesting term. Pasta..." You inquired inside your head.
"Well, upon successfully passing the test and being assigned a role, you won't have anything to lose. You'll be stripped from the entirety of your past life. You'll basically have nowhere else to go. You'll be provided shelter, essentially everything you need. Just as long as you follow orders. And as long as you do so, you're granted to live for eternity for as long as you're not killed."
"Is that really a good deal?"
"It's certainly better than being tortured to death."
