Slenderman's Daughter (Remake)

Eye Contact

Silence.

Although, I can hear my mind suddenly screaming several things at once. Get out of there! Scream and run away! Hug him! Hug yourself! Smash the table into a million pieces! Say #blessed as a joke! Throw a knife at him! Throw a knife at yourself! Cry! Cry of sadness! Cry of happiness! Feel relieved! Feel dread!

But my body does nothing, and I suddenly feel like I'm going to be ripped into thousands of pieces because of all of the different places that myself wants to move. It's like the forces all somehow cancel out and I'm left in an unmoved position.

Only, after a moment, I can feel my body trembling. Like, a lot. This is not really happening. This is not real- it's just a dream...

I dig my nail into the flesh of my finger. Harder and harder until it feels numb. When I let go, it stings, and I notice a small red indent where I pressed into my finger tip of my index finger.

Shit. This is real. This is totally real.

I look up at Slenderman for the first time in a minute. My vision feels blurry. Am I crying? I can't tell. My faces feels dry... We make eye contact. Well, if he had eyes, at least. His head is probably about 3 feet higher than mine, just because we are both sitting down.

"Ok," I say.

WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL? HOW DID THOSE WORDS JUST COME OUT OF MY MOUTH? THIS IS NOT OK.

I can't will myself to say anymore. It's like some sort of AI version of myself said that- an AI that just responds to everything it is being told. But even the AI really had no clue what to say to that.

I mean, what DO you say to that? Something that could AND WILL change your life forever? This doesn't make sense. Something in me feels like Slenderman just made one huge mistake. Like maybe he's just lying or something... just trying to make me feel safe?

But even after a minute, his answer remains unchanged. He stares at me. I can feel his powerful gaze practically pushing against me.

It takes a while to regain my senses- or at least it feels like it does. Once I know, I realize what I should ask. It sounds so stupid, though.

"H... how'd yo... how did you kn... how did you come to that con...clusion?"

He shakes his head, as if debating it with himself. "I... there's many reasons why I believe what I believe."

I raise an eyebrow silently. It's the first time I've heard Slenderman stutter. I didn't know that he could have real emotions... let alone actually feel the need to stutter, or at least hesitate.

"It's just... I've been watching you. You've had several tests... but I've been testing on you even when you didn't know."

I nod slowly. Wow. So sort of just as I suspected? That he's always watching me?

Before I can respond, he continues. "When you were outside, we sort of have... these security cameras. Or I guess you can call them security sensors. If someone- anyone who is not one of us or related to one of us, would cause the sensor to beep. We would all be alerted, and get them off the property immediately."

"And when I walked by..." I started. I guess that I was sort of starting to understand, or at least put a couple of the puzzle pieces together.

"When you walked by, the sensor did not go off. Which means that there's something inside you. I can't know for sure what it is just yet, but there's something inside you that didn't make that sensor go off."

"And... the other times?" I asked.

"Ah. Well, the first time we had met- you remember the ringing don't you? Of course, you ended up fainting at some point. But it was not because of the ringing. Most of the time, the people who I test on pass out immediately because of the ringing. At that point, I already know that they don't belong to me. But you didn't faint. Oh. You also didn't faint completely after I teleported you to the library. And that certainly says something-" he pauses, and it looks like he is thinking very deeply for a second. He then sighs and continues. "Of course, there were some other times. But one of the main things..."

I look back up at him. I realize that I've been looking anywhere but his face.

"One of the main things is that you look like... you look similar to how I looked when I was alive. It just immediately made... sense."

"Oh- o... ok," I say.

We make eye contact once again. It feels unnatural, yet familiar at the same time.

And then I feel something brushing against me. Not a thing, but a thought. Get out of there.

And so I do.

My mind had gone blank when he started talking- what he said meant many different things, and I guess my mind just couldn't support all of those thoughts. So the one thought I had made all of the difference.

I race out of there faster than I have ever raced in anything before. I can hear Slenderman say something, but it doesn't make a distance. I run and run and run until I'm at Jeff's room- I've become accustomed to all of the knives and guns and whiteness. I immediately slam the door as if it's my room. I don't even notice Jeff on the bed until I back up and he pushes against me.

"CRAP!" I yell, falling to the floor.

Jeff laughs, his awful, terrifying laugh. "You know, it's no use running away from him. You might as well just get it over with. He's going to find you somewhere anyway. And if he doesn't end up killing you, then I probably will."

My eyes go wide as I turn to him. He's smiling, of course.

"What'd he even say? I never get to hear it. Was he just like: 'oh, you're not my daughter, so I'm gonna kill you now-' or was he like, secretive about it? Like- 'there's something I need to tell you... it's important... but wait a minute while I think about it."

I can barely get to the point of speaking. Jeff raises an eyebrow. I back up against his wall and sink into the ground.

"Wow... ok," he says. "So you're just giving up now?"

I turn to him. He's clearly curious. Maybe I should tell him...

Suddenly there's a pile of black fog. I don't need to think twice to know what it is. He's found me.