Living In Fear

Chapter 10: Sleep Walkers

Annie sat at her desk with the computer in front of her, holding a bloody tissue up to her nose. The trash can was half full of crinkled up little bloody tissues at this point, she had a lest ten already this morning and a few the night before. Some times they'd get so bad that she'd start shacking and Brook would try to soothe her-to no existent. But she was use to them now, and would just stuff another tissue in her nose as it bleed so she could continue her reaserch.

She had cycled the camping day on her calendar, it seemed so close. She almost dreaded the thought of going. She thought that Maddy was crazy for dragging them out to the woods, but she promised to camp in the center of the campground where they would be safer; however after the day she unknowingly walked off into the woods, she wasn't sure if this was a good idea at all.

Annie had mostly been doing research the past few days to try and find out anything she could. She sighed and lied back in the chair as she stuffed the tissue up to her nose as it continued to bleed slowly. Everything looked the same; articles and stories, even videos that all basicly ended badly for the victims.

Suddenly her mind sparked at what she had been missing, this whole time she had been looking up stories and background on this 'slender man'. But what she hadn't been searching for we're the smaller things. Annie quickly sprung forward and begin typing as she stuffed the red patched tissue up the one nostril so she could type with both hands.

"Symptoms of sicknesses" she typed into the Google search bar. Results came up for just about every illness possible, she sighed and went back to the search bar. "Head ack, nose bleed, nassiua" she clicked enter and scrolled though the results, it was a long shot but must of them added up to one main outcome.

"High magnetic electronic energy fields" in other words, it was when there's a lot of high voltage electricity in the air or area-kinda like around a power box. Annie had seen it described on some ghost shows a wail back, the guys would always tell people about it and that it could make them dizzy and it really wasn't the ghost.

She sat back again and adjusted the blood soaked tissue, when she search "slender man" these were the same kind of symptoms that came up on the Wiki page that she had neglected to really look at-along with paranormal activity being a cause of these symptoms too. She read on longer about this stuff, "this high occurrence of magnetic energy can cause head acks, nose bleeds, nasiua, dizziness, blurred vision, and even cause a person to faint if the magnitude is great enough."

Annie took it all in; so this "slender man" was basically just creating and filtering its own bubble or wall of high magnetic energy-which it seemed to be able to stand, but humans can't. It made more sense then just the old "it's some kind of sinister magic" excuse.

She took in a deep breath and grabbed another tissue, tossing the other one into the trash bin. Brook walked by her room and they're eyes cought as she slowly pasted by. "Hey I thought you were taking a nap." Annie said yelling out her bed room door. But Brooke didn't responded and Annie was starting to get worried, "oh god no... Not again." She mumbled to herself before jumping out of the spinning chair and whisped into the hall.

She reached Brooke just in time as she was opening the front door. The warm afternoon light poored in as she started to walk out, "Brook no!" Annie yelled running over and pulling her back in. She made some kind of a squeak or growling noise as Annie slammed the door. Brooke glared at her, her eyes with a thin waxy cover drawn over them. Annie then took a deep breath, she peered out the window and noticed the slender man watching from the trees in the distant forest.

"What the hell are you doing Brooke?!" She yelled turning around-but Brooke was gone. She rushed to the back door, Brooke was somehow already out side walking through the grass. Annie noticed her starting to turn towards the forest and she quickly bolted out after her.

"No!" Annie yelled proceeding to tackle her sister to the ground. Brooke screamed Annie held her down-glancing up only once she noticed him still watching. she held Brooke down as her sister screamed and squirmed for her freedom.

Brooke slowly stopped squirming and starting breathing heavily. Annie sat up and gave her some room as Brooke rubbed her eyes and the waxy cover vanished, "wh-what's going on?" She asked brushed the grass stains from her arms.

Slowly she regained her self and looked around, "what's going on Annie?!" She yelled as she realized they were sitting in the back yard. Annie helped her up, fresh drops of blood ran down her lips as she pulled Brooke back up to her feet.

"You were-you were sleep walking." Annie said softly walking with Brooke back to the house. "What do you mean? I've never done that before." She said looking all defensive. "Brooke" Annie said closing the back door behind them-"I think we need to talk." She said walking her over to a chair in the kitchen. Brooke seemed puzzled as she sat down. "What is it?"

Annie grabbed her hand and squeezed it, "that night, the night that we both past out in the door way and how we told you we couldn't wake you up the next day-" Brooke looked at her oddly, sitting down at the kitchen table. "Well-we actually didn't know where you were that night." Annie said looking away feeling guilty as if she had been keeping it from her sister. Brooke raised brow, "what do you mean-you didn't know where I was?"

Annie swallowed hard, "I woke up and you were gone, I searched every where but I couldn't find you-that's when I panicked and called Maddy and Callie to come and help me. You came walking out of the forest mumbling something hours later." Annie said studing her sister's face for a reaction, but she didn't seem to have one for this moment.

"Where was I?" Brooke finally asked. "We don't know, we think you were sleep walking and woundered off into the woods. I honestly didnt think id ever see you again" Annie said with tearing eyes. Brooke hugged her tightly as tears flowed along the side of her cheeks. "Annie, I'm scarred." She said pulling tighter. "I know, I'm scarred too." She said holding Brooke in her arms, scared of things getting any worse then they already were and losing her little sister.