What Is Love?

Chapter Three

The Slender Man

My gaze followed the lone human as she walked down the street, and I had to fight to keep a smirk from my splitting my blank face. 'Hm. A girl like her should know better than to go out on her own,' I thought quietly to myself, almost chuckling in dark humor - I may have found my newest plaything.

She glanced towards me and then away briefly, her brain not really registering the figure in the woods. A fraction of a second later her inferior processing skills caught up and she did a double take. I didn't even move, but rather blended in with my surroundings, becoming invisible to the human eye - she'd never see me. The girl looked around with eyes so wide I could see the shock in them from here and then quickly set off again. Even from this distance I could smell the confusion and unease she was feeling.

Oh yes, I'd definitely found my new toy.

Amused, I stalked her all the way back to her house. Her dwellings weren't very large, but they also weren't near any others and she seemed to be the only one residing there. Perfect.

I looked on through her window, knowing full well that she could see me if she just glanced up, but like most of her oblivious, imbecilic species she never did. She was a peculiar little human, I found, after watching her from a distance the rest of the night. Something about her was different from all my other victims, but I couldn't quite say what it was or why - that intrigued me further.

The next day I decided to show myself to her, briefly - just long enough for her to start getting paranoid about everything she did, saw, and heard. There was a fine art to stalking, and my methods were infallible. I repressed an evil chuckle at the thought. Not to mention said methods were fun too.

I stood, just inside the line of trees about fifty feet away from her. The little human was leaning against the wall behind the building where she worked and was playing with her cellphone. When the device turned to static in my presence, she looked up, straight at me in confusion, which quickly turned to horror.

And that's when I froze.

Bright green eyes were locked on my face - bright green eyes that were like polished emeralds shone with fear and disbelief. They were entrancing to look at, and I found myself, much to my displeasure, unable to move. No, no, it couldn't be...

Fear was rolling off of the human in waves - I could smell the salty, electric sickness of it. It was a smell I normal enjoyed... but not now. Not under these circumstances. The human drew a deep breath, getting ready to scream and she closed those damned eyes for a moment. Finally I was free.

So I fled.

"Fool," I growled at myself as I ran through the woods, my long legs carrying me at speeds the humans I stalked would never be able to imagine. Trees and briers sped past me in a green and tan blur as I ran faster still, enraged at my own idiocy. That was a stupid thing to do - stupid bordering on dangerous in fact. I shouldn't have stood there so long - she had only needed a quick glance to be justly terrified, and yet I had stood there for almost half a minute. It was those curst eyes.

It had been a long time since a human had been able to trap me with just their gaze. Centuries in fact. But that puny human's gaze - those sparkling green eyes...

They were just like her eyes.

'No,' I growled to myself vehemently, pushing back down the memories I'd spent centuries trying to forget. I would not think of her anymore.

Now I was even more intent on torturing this little human. It was her fault - she had brought these memories to the surface again.

She had her eyes.

And she would pay.