The Slender Man (a Hetalia fanfiction - Book 2)

Chapter 5 - Awakening

Rosalie's P.O.V

My head was throbbing painfully as I woke up and I groaned, not wanting to get up.
But...wait...
I'm just getting focused on what I'm laying on. It's prickly, and makes a rustling sound when I move slightly. Wait, is that a twig I feel under my hand?
I opened my eyes and my vision is spinning, but as it did, I could make out trees above my head, and the sky seemed dim, almost sunset.
Wait, what!?
I sat up abruptly, causing my head to throb harder, but I didn't pay attention to it as I was trying to process the fact that I am in the middle of the woods.
"What the heck!? When did I get here!?" I exclaimed aloud to myself as I struggled to stand, then took in my surroundings.
I'm near an old cabin, and in the distance, I can hear the ocean. But other than that, the trees around me are thick, like a natural wall.
Where's everyone else? Are they still at the hotel? Why am I here? Wasn't I in my hotel room just a second ago?
I patted my pockets for my cellphone, but I don't have it. It must still be at the hotel.
Pushing aside my confusion and fear, I took a deep breath and brushed the stray leaves off my clothes, then walked up to the cabin. It looks pretty inhabited, but I have to try, right? Maybe if anyone is here, they could help me find my way back to the hotel.
I walked around it until I found the front porch, along with the front door. I walked up the creaky steps, but before I knocked, I looked through the windows. I pressed my face and hands against the glass and tried to get a good view of the inside, ignoring the reflections of the outdoors.
The window is dusty, but I'm able to see through it. The furniture is covered in old, yellowed sheets and dust. This place must be abandoned, then.
I can see a grandfather clock against a wall, but it seemed to no longer work. I ignored the upcoming shivers I had by seeing that clock, or any clock. I can't think about that right now.
I stepped away from the window and went to the door. I knocked, and waited a little bit. I heard no sound of someone coming to the door, so I knocked again, louder this time. Nothing. Maybe no one lives here.
I grabbed the cold doorknob, then turned it. It clicked and the door slid open with a loud creek. I'm surprised it's not locked.
Then I stepped in, cautious in case someone does live here, but I don't see how that's possible.
"Hello?" I called softly. "Does anyone live here? I'm coming in, please don't call the police!"
I didn't get a response, so I closed the door behind me. Maybe I can find a working phone or something, but that's doubtful in an abandoned cabin.
This place is very old fashioned; it's not like the kind of cabins I would see nowadays. It doesn't have modern furniture or style, it's old. It's all covered in dust and cobwebs too, so that tells me no one has been here for a long time.
I walked through the living room and into a hallway that's next to a staircase, leading to the second floor. I'll look up there later.
The first doorway to the left is a kitchen. There are old, unwashed dishes in the sink and there's little tracks of what I think might be vermin in the dust on the table and counters. Other than what they left behind, I'm not seeing any mice or rats.
But then I noticed something. If I'm quiet enough, I can hear faint sounds of...movement?
I glanced at the fridge where the sounds are coming from. Is something in the fridge?
I hesitantly walked towards the old and repugnant fridge, the sounds getting louder as I grew closer.
The sounds became more detailed, sounds of crawling...something slimy is moving in there.
I swallowed hard and then pulled on the handle door, and then I was filled with horror and my stomach churned.
There's completely indescribable rotting on a large plate on the top shelf in the fridge, and the dark juices dripped down the sides of the inside of the fridge. The worst part was that it was covered in maggots. Crawling all over, squeezing into the food as some dropped off the shelf, some crawling up the walls. And then there's the fetid smell. It was the most horrible thing I've ever smelled and it made me sick as hell.
I gasped and slammed the fridge door shut, stumbling away from it, doing my best not to puke. Some of the crawling maggots had fallen out of the fridge and onto the floor, and they squirmed and wriggled as they slithered along the dirty tiles.
I coughed, my eyes watering, and then I quickly exited the kitchen that is now filled with the smell.
I leaned against the hallway wall, swallowing hard and wishing that awful smell would go away.
"That was disgusting," I whispered to myself.
I took a few deep breaths, then quickly walked past the kitchen and farther down the hallway to the last door. I turned the knob, but the door is locked. Below the knob is a rusty keyhole. Only if I had something that I could picklock it with.
I sighed in slight disappointment and turned around go back to the living room, then turned to climb up the stairs.
Again, I was cautious about walking up the stairs, each step creaking under my weight. I made it to the top to find two doors, one on each side of the small hallway.
I rubbed my shoulder nervously, then I went to the left door first and opened it. Good thing it's not locked. I really need to find a phone or something and get outta here.
It looks a child's bedroom, but it definitely creeped me out. There are toys scattered around the room, and the blankets on the bed are covered with cartoons. However, all over the floor are miscellaneous papers, and written on them in a child's handwriting are phrases that send chills down my spine.
HE'S COMING
CAN'T HIDE
IT CAME FROM THE FOREST
NEVER SAFE
HELP ME
Then there's the drawings. One of them was a picture of a very tall stick man, one with no face, surrounded by trees.
I knew instantly that was a picture of that thing, the Slender Man, drawn by a small child. I swallowed the hard lump that formed in my throat.
Then I noticed the walls. They're covered in drawings of that symbol. The one with the circle and the X that goes through it.
The symbol I've seen in my nightmares.
There are stuffed animal parts in random places, like whoever owned them tore them apart and threw them around carelessly.
Shivers shook my body and gave me goosebumps. I don't like this place.
Then my eyes caught sight onto a little toy box, the only toy in this room that isn't broken or torn apart. It's dusty, but I can see its pale colors and the little turning lever on the side.
My hands were shaking when I reached out to pick it up. It was light, like there's nothing in there, but it's cold. I'm not even sure why I wanted to hold it.
Then I grabbed the lever and began twisting it around. And as I did, a familiar melody began to play, distorted with time.
My eyes widened, but I can't stop spinning the lever. It's like I'm not in control of my hand. I can almost hear the children's singing again.
"Oh, you'll never, ever know
How far into your head
He reaches inside..."
The music fell slower and slower, into one tune at a time, like it's running out of juice or battery.
"Hurry and try to find your way home,
Before he takes you alive."
I threw the toy down and stumbled away from it, then turned and ran from the room, slamming the old door shut behind me.
I really really don't want to be here any longer, but I need to find a phone or something!
I took a few shaky breaths, hoping to settle my heartbeat. Then, before I could surrender into complete panic, I headed to the room across the hall.
It's another bedroom, but not a child's, and it didn't have a bunch of creepy papers, symbols, or torn toys, to my relief.
But it did have a large bed, and on it lay someone familiar.