Dexter Morgenstern - The Slender Man

After I get a few, I decide any more would be too redundant and take a look at the ones I have. They’re coming out pretty well. I should be a photographer. Conveniently, it is decided that Lionel has run out of turns (at a count of well over thirty) and it’s one of the other kids’ turns. The other kids are only Adam and some other girl that looks like she may be related to Rita’s friend, the scene girl I almost got in a fight with. They decide to let the girl go first, and I catch some photos of her, and then they let Adam go. Adam is at a disadvantage with a broken left arm, but at least he’s right handed. When he’s ready, he takes a powerful full width swing that causes spectators to back up. The swing knocks the piñata back and forth, causing Adam to miss his next few tries, but when he does hit it, it comes to the ground. Wow, only two swings. I’m not sure if it was because the piñata was weakened or if he really is that strong with one arm.

I suddenly realize that I forgot to take any photos of Adam swinging the piñata. I shake my head a bit. It’s no big deal. I’ll just get one now while Adam is still standing there with a hint of triumph over his mournful demeanor. I point the camera and shoot. When the shutter opens again, I see something in the distance. It’s not too far away, maybe fifty feet or so. I zoom in and recognize it. I see him .

Is he moving at all? Is he getting closer to us? I instinctively snap a picture. I move the camera away from my face and look with my eyes. I can definitely see a shadowy figure but my eyes get fuzzy and start to sting when I stare at him. Would he just approach us at the party like this? I walk forward to get a better look, but the stinging comes up again, forcing me to close my eyes.

It doesn’t look like he is moving though. It’s as if he’s just standing there, just before the tree line; watching. I point the camera and zoom in again. Through the camera I can see pretty okay but my eyes still sting. It’s good that he’s not approaching us. Maybe he’s worried that he’ll get caught if he tries to snatch someone with this many people in the area.

That being said, I’m still getting pretty shaken looking at him. He’s not just some shadow that moves like static. It’s more like he’s an outline made of shadow or something; a silhouette. I want a good look at him but that strange discomforting feeling burns my eyes whenever I try to look.

Well, the closest I can come to describing the sensation is that it feels exactly like the time Shana and I read online that you can simulate being high by forcing your eyes to stay wide open while rolling them up into your head as hard as you can and keeping them that way for as long as you can. Try it and you will know just how horrible it feels to try to look at this creature.

His body doesn’t appear to have a definite shape and it’s even more difficult to it make out because of the pain in my eyes, but I think I can make out- a humanoid figure? He can’t be human can he? He is actually a man? No, he seems way too tall for that. He doesn’t exactly rival the trees, but this thing’s shape, appearance, and movements look like something out of a Marilyn Manson video.

I zoom in closer, causing my eyes to sting again. I force just one to open to look. He’s one hundred percent black and what appear to be his arms come down almost to the ground. It looks like he’s just standing there and is perfectly still aside from the violent static-shaking. I can’t make out any features, but one distinct thing I notice about him is that something appears to be protruding from his back. I think they’re tendrils of some sort. I try to look closer but the stinging becomes unbearable. I can’t tell what this entity is supposed to be, but if anything, he isn’t natural. I snap a photo.

This isn’t right. I never doubted anything paranormal was in play here. Whether he’s a ghost or a specter or something like that, I always knew I was really seeing something. I take another. Now that I’m seeing him though, now that I’m watching him… watch us, I feel a drop in morale. Is this what took Shana, Jason, and the others? Is this… thing… coming for me too? I can’t let just let him stand there. I have the urge to yell and send the others rushing over to attack him. The Willows have a gun right? Who in this town doesn’t? Even my Dad keeps a twelve-gauge that I’m only supposed to touch if there’s someone breaking in.

No, I know the game. If I panic, he goes poof, and people will think I’m crazy. I won’t be the crazy one. I do my best to seem like I am taking pictures of the children, so he won’t see me noticing him. I think of a better idea.

“Hey!” I call in no particular direction, but I look around to find the perfect person. I catch the eye of one of the men. It’s Jamie Willow, Lionel’s father. I think he’s a postal worker, or no, maybe a teacher for the elementary school. I think I’ve seen him once when I picked Adam up at school before, but I’m not sure. All I know is that he’s trying too hard to look like he’s still in his twenties.

“Hey you’re the Redwood kid right?” he asks.

“Um, yeah, hey listen. This may be nothing, but I think I saw someone in the woods over there watching the kids,” I say, keeping an eye on the shadow-figure to make sure he’s still looming around over there.

“You sure?” he asks. Wow, this guy is pretty dumb for a teacher, maybe he is just a postal worker, or maybe he doesn’t feel like looking.

“Well, I’m not a hundred percent positive it’s a person, but I saw something over there. Will you check it out? Again it’s probably nothing, but with all of the missing kids and this being a kid’s birthday party and all,” I say.

He nods a bit, following my gaze to the trees. “Yeah okay,” he says reluctantly. I guess his chivalry trumped his need to linger around the highlight event of a dying party.

“What’s going on Lyss?” Mom asks from behind.

“Oh I just asked Jamie over there to check something out for me,” I say.

Mom gets that look on her face she gets when she hears what I say but it doesn’t really make sense to her, you know, with her brows knitted and one corner of her mouth raised in a subconscious shadow of a sneer.

“Huh, well hey have you gotten any good photos yet?” she asks. The photos! Of course. She will be able to see the static-creature too! I eagerly yank the camera off my neck and hand it to her, but not before pressing the review button.

She looks at the photo and doesn’t just flip through it like I half expected her to. I look over toward Jamie and see that the entity is still there, and he’s getting closer. Wait a second, what if that fiend attacks him? Will I have just sent a man to his untimely death? Then again, shouldn’t he see that dark fiend by now? I’m seeing him from over here, does that mean- “What’s wrong with the camera?” she asks.

I look back over. “What do you mean? It’s fine,” I answer.

“No, these photos are all distorted…oh no these ones are fine,” she says. I snatch the camera from her.

“Hey, what is the matter with you?” I look at the monitor. She’s on the photo I took of Lionel before the piñata; it looks fine. I flip through, looking at all the photos I’ve already seen until I get to it, the one of the monster. It’s been blurred and blackened, as if someone damaged the screen. I’m beginning to feel like I am stuck in a cheesy, overdone psychological thriller movie.

I feel a push against my shoulder. “Answer me! What is with your attitude? I’ve been nothing but nice to you,” she continues.

“Oh, I’m sorry- I didn’t mean to. I didn’t break the camera,” I finally say.