Random Stuff (Nerd Edition)

Slender (Short Story)

~Mark

"C'mon, I dare you!" I challenged Jack as he neared closer to a large dark forest that was thick with seemingly endless rows of trees. We had just gotten done at Pax Prime in Seattle, we we had decided to go for a short walk around just to sight see. We had ended up at Seward Park and it was almost pitch black. Jack and I were using the flashlights on our phones. "We still need to get back to the hotel." Jack reminded me. "C'mon, you scared?" I started making clucking noises like a chicken in his ear to annoy him. "Alright alright," He sighed as he stepped into the forest and dissaperared from view. "Probably didn't want to go 'cause he's scared of Slender. I'm not afraid of him." I scoffed. "Mark!" I heard Jack yell from deep within the overgrown forest. "He's just messing with me." I muttered, not entirely certain. His yell sounded real and terrified. "Please!" He shouted, his voice sounds g farther away than last time. "He better not be messing with me." I grumbled as I walked into the forest. Immediately, I was engulfed in blackness. "What the-" I began. Before I could finish my sentence, the blackness dissipated. In my hand, I was glad to see that I still had my phone. The only problem though was that I had twenty-five percent battery left and it was going down fast. "Jack!" I called out to the open air. No reply. Now I was beginning to panic as I ran through the woods. "Wait a minute." I skidded to a stop at the base of a large tree. Taped on it was a piece of paper. On it was scribbled a drawing of Slender and the word run in black crayon. "Seriously Jack, trying to scare me with Slenderman? It's not working!" I shouted. Still no answer. I rolled my eyes as I started heading in what I hoped was the right way to get out of here. Instead, I ran into gray static. I ignored it and continued walking. Suddenly, Slender appeared in front of me, his tie fluttering in the gentle breeze. He blocked off the only way I knew out of the woods. I turned on my heel and began sprinting as fast as I could towards where I last heard Jack. "Jack, where are you?" I cried desperately. I could see a flash of neon green in the distance behind a tree. I darted towards him, but I was out of breath and was only able to move at a fast walk. "Jack," I panted as I got closer to him. "Get away from me Slender or whatever the hell you are," He mumbled weakly. His right foot was twisted at an angle and stuck under a cluster of roots. In his fist, he held four pages, each adorned with messily drawn crayon doodles. His back was leaning against the tree to help him stand. "Jack, let me help you." I offered as I bent down to examine the hole. "It hurts." Jack groaned as he tried tugging on it as hard as he could. His foot wiggled some, cascading bits of dirt onto his shoes, but other than that, there was no change. "Hold still." I ordered him quietly in case Slender was near. I was surprised that he wasn't showing up much, even though we had five pages between the two of us. Jack's foot went slack as he did as I told him. Gently, I twisted his foot more to get it out from between the two roots that held him. Jack inhaled sharply in pain as I lifted his foot out. "Sorry." I apologized. "It's all good, thank you." Jack grimaced as he rubbed his foot. "Can you walk?" I inquired. Jack took a step forward. I could see pain flash in his sky blue eyes. "Not very fast." He informed me. Jack's eyes stared at something behind me. "What?" I turned around and was faced with gray static. "Lets go." I picked Jack up bridal style as I jogged forward. Arubptly, my phone shut down, turning off the flashlight. I felt like the trees were closing in on me in the darkness. I moved slower to avoid tripping over rocks or roots. "Page!" I exclaimed excitedly as I snatched it off of the tree beside me. "That's six." I announced. Then that was whenever Slender popped up in front of me. I tried to retreat back, but ended up stumbling over some overturned rocks and falling flat on my butt, sending Jack sprawling in front of Slender. "Go!" Jack ordered me as he shoved me away from him, causing me to fall again, this time on my face, sending my glasses flying. "No!" I yelled as I hurriedly scrambled to reach him Jack. I was too late. Slender had used one of his black tentacle arms and stabbed it through Jack before disappearing. I retrieved my glasses from where they were strewn across a bed of moss, thankfully unbroken. "Slender you son of a bitch!" I roared in pure fury at the air as I cradled Jack's body in my arms. "I'll finish what you've started." I promised Jack as I gingerly laid his body back down onto the ground. "Bring it on!" I taunted Slender. "I will stop you." I threatened him, tears gathering in my eyes, clouding my vision. No Slenderman and no static appeared. I finally collapsed onto the ground and let the tears fall freely. Jack was gone and I only had six of eight pages. "Mark?" I heard a voice say behind me. I whirled around and wiped the tears off of my face the best I could with my arm. Jack was standing in front of me, his foot healed and no sign of where Slender had impaled him. I flung myself into his arms and sobbed into his chest. "Shhh," Jack quieted me as he wrapped his arms around me in a comforting hug. With a sniff, I retracted from his embrace. "H-how are you still alive?" I stammered. "I dunno." Jack shrugged. "All I remember is that everything was pitch black, then I woke up here." "We should keep moving." He nudged me in the ribs and started walking to the east. I followed after him as I finished wiping away all of the tears in my eyes. "Found one!" Jack ripped a page off of a nearby boulder. "There's only one left." I reminded him. From the corner of my eye, I saw Slender lurking in the back towards Jack, who was holding all of the pages. "Go!" I commanded him as I took off in a sprint. Without hesitation, he chased after him, tightening his grip on the pages to keep them in his grasp. "Last one up ahead!" I declared. Sure enough, stuck against an old uprooted tree blanketed in moss was the last page. "I'll distract Slender, give me the pages and go!" I took the pages from Jack as he bolted towards the tree. "Hey Slender come at me!" I narrowly ducked as one of his tentacle arms shot out towards me. "Hurry up!" I huffed impatiently as I spun in a low circle and kicked Slender in the leg. I felt it give out underneath my foot, making Slender fall onto one knee. "I'm working on it!" Jack shot back. "Got it!" Jack cried triumphantly.

"Mark, get up!" I heard Jack shout from the other side of my hotel room door. "Huh?" I grunted as I scanned my surroundings. I was back in my hotel room on the beige carpeted floor. The light brown table beside my bed had one leg broken and was lying in its side on the floor, spilling my glasses and phone onto the floor. I gently probed the back of Mt head and felt a medium sized lump on my scalp. I winced as I used the edge of the bed to support my weight as I pushed myself up off of the floor. With a sight, I grabbed my glasses and phone, then went over to the door and opened it. Jack was in front of my face, concern shining in his eyes. "You okay? I heard a loud crash and I think you shouted something about Slender." Jack informed me. I felt my face heat up in embarrassment as I explained what had happened. At the end of my story, I was surprised that he didn't laugh at me. "I had the same dream too." He admitted. "Weird coincidence." I snorted. Jack opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by his phone beeping. "Got to go get ready for Pax. See ya!" He excused himself and hurried back into his room. With a nonchalant shrug, I closed the door. Was it a dream? I wondered as I got dressed. I could've swore that I saw a flash of black in the corner of my eye as I finished getting ready and left the room.