Heart pounding...
Feet stomping...
Twigs snapped like bones as they splintered into a thousand pieces while the wind pierced the air. It howled through dead tree branches like a starving wolf crying for a feast. There was no sound of pursuit in the air over the gale like winds, but she dare not stop. Dare not look back to see the disturbed smile or the way its arms swung lazily at its sides. Even as the darkness continued to grow despite the full moon overhead, casting gnarled shadows across the ground, she continued on...
Even as the night and forest clawed at her sweat covered skin.
Blood mingled with salty water, making the numerous cuts sting like a whip across her flesh. Pain kept the adrenalin pumping strong through her veins. But fatigue caught up to her like a rubber band when her lungs started burning and her muscles cried for rest.
Trees passed in a blur as she made one last effort to get away. Leaping and hurdling over fallen trees and jagged rocks, she stumbled at the sight of white as she passed a break in the trees. With a panicked shriek, she slammed into the rough soil infront of her, pebbles flying in all directions and slamming against her battered body in her struggle to stay as upright as possible.
The shadows clawed at her...
The wind died...
Only her breathing, uneven and shallow, rent the air as she spun on her knees, legs digging painfully into the harsh terrain. But despite the sharp sting, she paid it no heed. Not even a second thought passed as a defeated sigh left her lips while her head hung in despair.
‘Snap!’
She spun around. Fear clutching her heart in a vice as she whipped her head from side to side. She squinted in an effort to see through the unrelenting darkness and menacing shadows of the forest around her, but to no avail. It was hopeless even as the full moon sat high in the sky above her... The silvery light a menacing yellow in the night.
A spike of fear, a small thrill as if she’d been dunked in icy water, suddenly took hold and she shuddered. Every muscle tensed, like a coil spun too tight when a cool breeze washed over the back of her neck. The fine hairs raised and goose bumps rose in a wave across her body. Eyes as wide as dinner plates, curiosity took control and she turned, rigid from fright and throat constricted against the air that threatened to rush out in a wave of sound, she turned...
And screamed...
~X-x-X~
“Hello! Welcome to SPR. How can we help you?” Osamu Yasuhara, office worker for SPR, asked. His grey suit rumpled while papers fluttered to the floor.
“Um... Yes. I’m Nadoru Yumi. I have an appointment?” A young woman, no older than twenty-four, with deep chocolate eyes and brunette hair questioned, unnerved by Yasu’s young appearance. The pair was saved from the typical affirmation when the office door slammed open.
“Morning Boss! Little Boss! Lin!” Silence greeted the cheerful greeting until ‘Little Boss’ stopped.
“Not fair! I’m not that short anymore! You’re just being mean, Yasu!”
“Sorry Mai. But you’re still shorter than me, which makes you short.” Yasu joked, stepping up beside the brunette; a brunette that barely reached his chin.
In the year since Eugene had been found and Oliver and Lin had taken him to be buried, Mai had filled out and even grew her hair. Instead of short and choppy, it was longer, to her shoulder blades, and wavy. She’d even toned her muscles through her work with SPR. Skinny jeans and singlets gave her a more mature look compared to her skirts and jumpers of her high school days.
Enough embarrassing incidents had taught her the benefits of pants.
A cough tore the two apart and turned their attention to their dark haired boss.
“If you two are done being children, may we proceed?” He left the question hanging before he turned to the client, a fake smile plastered to his pale face. “Ms Nadoru. I’m Kazuya Shibuya, owner of Shibuya Psychic Research. Take a seat and let us hear your case.”
Will suddenly pale features, Yumi took a seat, tears gathering quickly in her eyes while Mai handed out tea the others hadn’t seen the brunette retrieve. “It’s horrible. At first... at first we thought someone was playing a prank on us. But then... then it kept happening. Every day. The complaints and sightings just kept getting worse-“
“Ms Nadoru. We do not deal in pranks. We suggest you go to the police-“
“Naru!” Mai hissed, a plea of urgency barely concealed within the urgency of her tone. Oliver blinked for a moment before he turned back to the client, nodding his head for her to continue.
“Ah. Thank you. Well, we started getting complaints about a man lurking in the woods around campers. You see, my family and I have run a facility an hour out of Tokyo for those that want to get away. We have a large lake, so we generally get a lot of business. But lately, people have stopped coming and those that have come said their children have gone missing. For days, we had police and volunteers down on the site but we haven’t found a single clue as to where the children went... Now, I know, it sounds crazy, but... I wouldn’t have believed it to be something unnatural until...”
‘I wondered through the main camp lodge with a bundle of blankets nestled in her arms, dodging the pillows that were strewn across the ground. The sound of crying filled the air once she entered the lobby, radio chatter crackled quietly in one corner of the log room while a fire whispered in another. The centre of the room was filled with mismatched seats, wires trailed the ground in giant heaps leading towards large computers. White boards with missing children plastered across them lined the walls and anxious couples cried on each others’ shoulder as they waited for news on their children.
“Now then. Please, tell us the events leading up to your child’s kidnap.” I heard one of the officers say, and I couldn’t help but listen to what another couple had to say.
“Well. We woke up and our daughter Saki was nowhere to be found. We ran around for hours until we found her at the lake. She said... the oddest thing.”
“And what would that be?”
“She said, ‘Mommy, Daddy. Don’t be sad. The tall man said he’d take care of me.’ And that was it. She was quiet the whole afternoon, and that night after we put her to bed, we decided to check on her. And she was gone! There’s no way anyone could have gotten into the cabin! It’s impossible. The windows were locked and we’d watched her door all night.” The mother burst into tears as the conversation went on, the missing child having been gone nearly seventy-two hours.
There were other couples; A total of eight families with missing children.
Each with a similar story.
Straight down to the ‘Tall man’. Some of the more mature children had stated before their disappearance that the man had worn a formal of suit, something out of place to wear in a forest so far from the city. It was only when I looked out the window did I see a semblance to what the children must have seen.
I screamed.
Standing just outside the lodge, just behind the darkest trees steeped in the most menacing shadows of the search lights, was a man, taller than I had thought possible in a suit. His face was stark white and stood out in the night, but the most frightening thing... was that he was hunched, even at his height, with his arms hanging by his sides as if he didn’t actually need or use them. There was something evil to him. The police ran out to chase him, but he was gone the next second. Only this time... two officers didn’t return...’
“So you see. This is why I came. This can’t go on! For the sake of future children and hopefully with the chance of saving those already taken, please take my case!” Silence met Yumi’s tearful plea, her desperation falling on deaf ears while Naru contemplated taking the case.
“Naru. May I have a word with you?” Mai asked suddenly, removing her hand from the clients shoulder as if she’d been burnt. With a faint nod, Naru followed his assistant into the kitchenette, leaning against the counter while Mai busied herself with making more tea.
“What is it Mai? This is the fourth case like this in a week. You can’t expect me to take this one seriously too?” He chided, rolling his eyes.
“I know!” She snapped, glaring at him for a second before looking away, down trodden and shaken. “I know, Naru. I do. Really. But... I just have this feeling. Like this case and the ones we’ve heard before match up somehow. For example, the ‘tall man’ was mentioned by the couple just yesterday. And they even said they’d gone camping when the kid went missing. You can just ignore that Naru!”
“Do you remember the case locations of the last 4 potential clients Mai?” Naru asked, raising an eye brow at how Mai had pieced the cases together.
“Uh... Yeah, Nado Park Camping Grounds... That’s Yumi’s camping grounds!” The epiphany was not lost on her when a faint chuckle left Naru’s lips.
“Good job Mai. Now, what did you feel when you touched her?” He asked, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. Ever since he and Lin had returned to Japan after burying Eugene, they had discovered Mai’s abilities extended even to subconscious psychometry. Something he planned on developing over time.
“It’s not a poltergeist... I know that much. It feels... darker. Old even. But it doesn’t feel like a demon, it’s similar but different too. But please Naru, you have to take this case.”
A small smirk pulled on his lips as he watched Mai’s face transform from scared and thoughtful to fierce and serious. Innocent Mai had grown up. “Don’t worry Mai. I’ll take it. So gather the notes on the other four clients and give them a call to meet us at the site in two days time. Also, call the others.”He walked out after that, leaving a puzzled but ecstatic Mai behind to fuss over the screaming kettle. “Yasu, call Madoka and tell her to find everything she can on the male described by Ms Nadoru.”
“Does that mean you’ll take my case?” Yumi asked, hope shining in her eyes.
“Yes Ms Nadoru, expect us in two days. We’ll need a base and preferably two bedrooms set up for our investigation.” He told the brunette while picking up his notebook and motioning for Lin to get Yumi’s details before retreating to his ‘cave.’
With the goodbyes dealt with, the youngest of the office employees set about contacting the required individuals for the case.
Masako, John, Ayako and Takigawa all made it down to the office within the hour to hear the briefing, in which time Yasu and Madoka had worked together to gather as much information about the ‘tall man’ as possible.
“So, Naru, what’s up?” Monk asked, reclining against the back of the couch while sipping his coffee.
“Shut up you old man! He was about to say something!” Ayako yelled, slamming her bag into the bassists’ shoulder.
“Hey! What was that for? He’s not even paying attention!”
“Of course he was! HE’s not you!” The red head screeched, attacking the man beside her until Mai entered with a tray full of tea. Once the drinks were handed out to the others, Naru cleared his throat to gain everyone’s attention.
“I appreciate the fact that you all arrived so quickly, however, I find it a must to remind you that my office is not a coffee shop.” Naru emphasised, glaring specifically at Monk as the blonde was halfway through a sip of his coffee. A sip on which he choked on under the younger mans gaze.
“Naru~” Mai insisted, placing his tea down infront of him, urging him silently to get on with the briefing.
“Anyway, the reason I called you all here (Yasu: Technically, it was Mai- *glare*), is because we’ve received several clients reporting the same case in the same location the past week and after some negotiation, have taken the case.” Naru stated, casting a brief look towards Mai before continuing. “Have any of you heard of Nado Park Camping Grounds?”
Silence permeated the air until Monk clicked his fingers, drawing everyone’s attention. “I know that place. It was on TV the other night. Something about kids going missing or something! Is that what we’re investigating?”
“Not the children... But the cause. Every client that has come in, including the owner of the camp, has claimed to have seen or heard of a ‘tall man’ in a suit.” Naru explained, glancing at Lin to continue.
“The children each spoke of a man that would ‘keep them safe’ and that the very same night of hearing from the tall man, they went missing. Our main client, Yumi Nadoru, claims to have seen this man, an event in which caused two of the officers investigating the children’s’ disappearances to, also, vanish.”
“They haven’t found a clue about those that went missing, which is why Boss asked me to gather some information with Madoka.” Yasu intervened, standing from his seat to grab a stack of papers from his desk. “The ‘Tall man’ is thought to be a being that may have been created by mass thought, or the Tulpa effect. The thoughtform, or being created from a collective of thoughts, known as the ‘Tall Man’ is also known by names like Slender Man, Him and even Der Ritter; Which means this thoughtform had been around for a really long time.”
“Why do you say that?” Masako asked, sleeve covering her mouth. It was John who answered.
“I know why. You see Der Ritter is seen in wood cuts made by a German artist Hans Freckenberg in the 16th century, 1540. Hans has many wood cuts in reference to Der Ritter. They say most stories, and even the origin of the thoughtform comes from Germany, mainly in the region of the Black Forest in south-west Germany. I’ve heard stories of Slenderman. But mates, I never thought they could be real.” John said, face drawn at the thought of such a horrible myth being real.
“Well, what’s so bad about him then?” Ayako asked, confusion clear in her eyes at what she thought was a situation blown out of proportion.
“You really wanna’ know Ayako?” Yasu questioned, popping up behind the red heads seats and causing her to scream.
“Stop joking around Yasu. This is serious.” Mai reprimanded the dark haired college student, grabbing a paper of the stack he had left of the coffee table and reading out the contents. “The Slender Man, known by many names, has been known mainly for the abduction of young children, but for others, like adults, he sometimes torments them for years until they disappear without a trace of cause. Some of the adults that went missing became sick, an illness known as the ‘Slender sickness’. At which point the person would venture near wooded areas. After that, they aren’t heard from again.”
A chill swept through the room at the new information, even Lin and Naru were disturbed by the facts that had been presented.
“Well then... that’s just peachy.” Monk laughed, a shaky sound that didn’t sound right at all despite the given situation.
“You mean... We have to investigate this thing? You’ve got to be kidding me!” Ayako yelled, standing up and crossing her arms. “I’m not sticking my neck out just because some people got a bit scared.”
“Then that is your choice Miss Matsuzaki. If anyone else declines the case, you’re free to leave. Know that in two days time, we’ll wait here for an hour. No more, no less, should any of you change your mind. That will be all for now.”
Silence once again took control of the room. Until Mai’s head shot up, a single, breathless phrase repeating over and over in her head.
‘Help us... Please help us...’