Black and White: The Untold Story of the Last Slenderman

Present~Part 14

They started with the evidence against me. 

I tapped one long, spidery finger of mine on the podium I was standing behind. The jury had been passed out sheets and a small, ghost girl was giving Dracula a large file of what was labeled "Evidence". He opened it and took out a few large photographs. He held them up for the courtroom to see, and a cry almost escaped from my throat. 

They were photographs of Ally and I. She was young, and I recognized her red flushed cheeks from the days following when we first met. The angle was from up high, but I could see her completely.  Her large, curious eyes that were so heartwarming and that childish smile. Nostalgia had begun to pour over me, but I didn't have time to bathe in it. I listened as a few people gasped, but many were quiet.

I looked like a monster in the photos. My shadowy figure looked a bit like a smudge that had ruined the photo when it was taken. My long arm reached to her side and she had a small hand grasped against mine. She was looking up at me and I could tell she was speaking. My sheet-white face, head, whatever you want to call it, was facing her and not the camera lens. 

"These were taken a few days after the defendant met the girl, Ally. If you look closely, you can see their hands are interlocked and he is giving her all of her attention." Dracula explained. "She seems very fond of him, very happy and very content, which shouldn't have been allowed by the defendant." 

He gave me a piercing look. "Does the defendant have any words?" 

"I didn't know of the court's existence until a few days ago," I replied coolly, remembering Elaina's words of keeping the debate tranquil and smooth. "I was lonely, as was she. She only wanted a friend, so I felt as though I could be there for her." 

"Your intentions are very human," A voice cackled from the chairs on the wall. All eyes landed on one of the hooded figures who had spoke. "Very human for a Slenderman." 

After a few hesitant seconds, Dracula chose to ignore the hooded woman and continued. "And so, against our rules, you were there for her." 

I didn't respond.

He strode over to the file that was being held open to him by Jane the Killer, and plucked out a few more photos. They were blurry but you could distinctly make out Ally and I walking in the forest instead of the path. Then there was one of her playing around the pond I had brough her to, and another of the day I cried in front of her. It was a lot to handle. 

One caught my attention and my heart began to race. Ally had had her arms wrapped around me, the willowy figure, and she was laughing. I wondered what I was thinking in that moment for I didn't remember the memory clear enough.  I shut out the courtroom and tried to put myself back into that moment. There was the sound of her angelic laughter, the feel of her tight hug, and her scent that I had known so well. Oh, how I wished I could go back there. 

"Can you explain?" Dracula asked with an ugly sneer. 

I didn't respond, and Dracula placed the photos back into the pile. This time he pulled out a video cassette, and nodded a head towards Jack. The killer crawled onto the wall like a lizard, and pressed a red button I hadn't spotted before. A large television unfolded from the wall, and as Jack made his way back down Dracula stuck the cassette into a player under his seat. 

The video was very blurry at first and it made a dreadful noise as it began. Whoever was filming was somewhere up in the trees, and they did not have a steady hand. I watched as Ally stood in front of me with a determined look. My figure was looking down, but suddenly looked back up to her. I remembered the words like it was yesterday. 

"Let's give it a try," My voice said, sounding scratchy and boy-like on the recording. 

Silence washed over the room once more as we continued to watch Ally hug me and then proceed into leading me toward the park. I knew it was the park, unlike the rest of the room. I remembered that day for it had been the last day Ally shared with me. As if hearing a poem I had memorized, I stared at the television screen.