Short Story #2.

Note: The following story is based on the video game Slender. Images courtesy of deviantART user Jailboticus.

It was dark, very dark. It made no difference to Josh whether his eyes were opened or not, as he could see nothing. He had no idea where he was, or how he had gotten there. He knew even less about why he seemed to be lying on his back.

Josh tried to make sense of his surroundings. He felt a slight breeze on his skin.  His fingers touched grass and earth. The scent of chlorophyll crept into his nostrils. Then, the moon came out from behind a cloud and illuminated the area, confirming his suspicions that he was in some kind of forest. One he had never seen before.

The moon then vanished just as suddenly as it had first appeared. It was then that Josh first noticed that he had some sort of flashlight in his pocket. He took it out and turned it on. It was long, black and thin – somewhat resembling the ones used by police officers. If only it were as bright.

In its dim light, Josh noticed a piece of paper attached to the side of the flashlight by some transparent tape. He removed and unfolded it to reveal instructions crudely written in black ink: Find all eight pages.

He had no idea what this meant, but he had a hunch that following the instructions would somehow provide him with answers. Josh started walking and prayed that the batteries in his flashlight wouldn’t go out.

As he walked along the forest path, Josh noticed how quiet the forest was. He could hear nothing but his own footsteps trudging along the grass and dirt. Where was all the wildlife? The frogs, the crickets, the birds – they were strangely quiet. That is, if they were even there. The silence was unnerving, and Josh felt a tingle up his spine. Even a wolf’s howl would have been welcome at this point.

Josh soon came across a clearing, and in its middle was an old, rust-colored silo. It looked as if it had been abandoned for years. As baffling as it was that there was an old, abandoned silo in the middle of a forest that did not appear to have any inhabitants, Josh found the strangest part of all to be that there weren’t any creeper plants growing all over it. Perhaps it wasn't as old and abandoned as he'd thought?

He went over to take a closer look at the unusually smooth surface. Perhaps there was some sort of chemical on the walls that prevented new life from forming on them? He walked around the cylindrical structure, occasionally swiping its surface with his finger to check for foreign substances.

His finger found nothing but rust. However, his eyes spotted something else in the faint light – a piece of paper stuck to the silo wall, which upon closer inspection appeared to be some form of Sticky Note. It was one of the eight pages, Josh realized. He shone his flashlight over it to make out what was written on it. To his horror, written in black ink and in the same crude fashion as the note on his flashlight were the words, “HELP ME”.

Josh nearly dropped the page in shock. His heart pounded against his chest, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. There was something out there. And someone had been running from it.

He quickened his pace now. He needed to find those pages, and fast. He kept looking over his shoulder, as he now had the dreadful feeling that he was being followed.

Josh came across more clearings with strange landmarks - large rocks the size of houses, an old truck, and an abandoned shack among others. At each of these locations he found a single page, each containing messages like “FOLLOWS” and “LEAVE ME ALONE”. And every time he found a page, he could feel the temperature drop, as if to show that whatever was chasing him was getting closer.

Only one page remained, as Josh came to a collection of large oil tanks. His breathing was heavy now from running. He pushed himself on, and soon found the final page on the side of a tank. It read “DON'T LOOK...OR IT TAKES YOU”. Josh gulped.

He had finally done it. He had collected all eight pages. But now what?

Then Josh saw it – a tall, slender figure with white skin and abnormally long arms. It also appeared to be wearing a black suit – the kind people wear at funerals.

Without thinking, Josh ran. Or at least he tried to. His feet seemed to be glued to the floor. He could only stand there, horrified, as the figure moved ever closer – seemingly gliding across the forest floor. Josh realized that it had no face on its smooth, oval-shaped head.

Tentacles sprang out from the figure’s back and wrapped themselves around Josh. They pulled him towards their master, slowly, as if to amplify the terror that Josh felt at that moment. And the silence of the forest was finally broken – by a chilling, piercing scream.