Dexter Morgenstern - The Slender Man

“I came here,” I start, surprised that my voice is coming through clearly despite my proximity to the entity that’s caused all of this. “…like you told me to. Now I want Adam,” I finish. He doesn’t move, but Adam’s movements catch my eye and I look down at him. His left arm hangs limp by his side, but with his posture you wouldn’t even tell that it’s broken. He distorts to face-less Adam, and then to the angry-faced version. He changes back and forth, but not once do I see the crying, weakened, real version of Adam.

He backs up, as if seeking Slender for comfort. My heart skips a beat. I didn’t come here for Adam to run from me. Was this Slender’s plan all along? I close my eyes to hold back from crying. I won’t let his victory be so easy.

“Adam it’s me. It’s Alyssa,” I say. Adam doesn’t seem convinced. Slender bends over and I feel that resonating screech. He’s laughing at my attempt. I shake my head.

“Adam! Get over here now!” I shout. Adam backs into Slender, and it’s as if he is being absorbed into his form.

I watch in horror as Adam practically disappears as Slender contorts in response. After Adam has fully disappeared, a long tendril sticks out from Slender’s back. As the tendril unfurls, I can hear Adam screaming, and then more tendrils emerge, each one accompanied by a new scream. I refuse to look away. I have to show him that I’m strong enough to handle him. I’ve heard enough screams. He’ll have to show me something new.

My eyes burn, but I do my best to glare at him, show him my anger through it. “Give me my brother back!” I demand. He laughs again. He shape-shifts and shrinks to about seven feet, but it’s not his size that matters, it’s the face that appears. I’m looking at Adam, but a black, full shadow version of Adam. Slender is mocking me. He must be enjoying his thought of triumph.

I think about what Bubbe and Mr. Mario said. I have to use joy and life to bring him back, and I bring that with music, but I dropped my guitar back there. Then Bubbe’s words ring in my ears, and I begin singing. I sing the song I came here with, Adam’s favorite song. I sing Adon Olam. I look Slender right in his imitation of Adam’s face as I sing it. I sing it through his laughter and distortions, through his static and the cracks in my voice. I ignore him. I’m singing to Adam. He’s the one I want. He’s the one I came here for.

I reach the second verse and Slender begins contorting again, and I can hear Adam’s sobs. He’s not screaming now, he’s just crying. I ignore him and sing louder. I’m getting more off-key, but I think it’s working. Adam stifles his sobs as if he’s listening to me. I realize I closed my eyes during my song. I open them and see Adam, the real Adam, peeking out through Slender.

He’s crawling forward, distorting sometimes, but he’s not marked by one of Slender’s tendrils anymore. I’ve brought out the real Adam! I crack a smile when I see him. It’s a smile of temporary relief, but I know the fight isn’t over, not yet at least. I don’t stop singing though, and I hold my hand out for Adam to grab. He doesn’t take it though, he can’t. He needs his good hand to balance.

I reach forward and take him in my arms. I immediately feel that Adam is draining my life on contact, but I ignore it. I feel as if I’m slipping through him, but with me being absorbed into him, his body follows me as I rise into an upright position. I let go as he’s standing, and look up at Slender. He’s waiting, as if pondering his next move, and then he makes it. He shakes wildly and I see his tendrils leave him in the form of his Slender Children. Besides Adam, he has twelve of them, four of them I know: Lindsay, Jason, Leanne, and Lionel. He doesn’t have Shana to sic on me, but that’s a victory on my part.

“Adam, we have to run,” I say, but Adam looks hesitant. Slender hits me with that vortex and I feel my life being drained.

“Adam now!” I take off, dragging Adam behind me. My life-force is draining quickly, but with me pulling Adam along and running away from Slender, I’m hoping that whatever I lose is now actually going into Adam and not to Slender. We can’t move quickly, but I don’t stop.

The Slender Children keep warping right in front of me, and each time I pass one it lashes at me, stealing an ounce here or there. I keep going. My field of vision is blurry, especially with maintaining contact with Adam, and every minute my light grows dimmer. I stick my right hand out and each time it hits a tree I work my way around it. Adam sometimes lets go and when he does I have a moment of respite, but my vision doesn’t clear and I’m more worried about losing track of him than not being able to see. Luckily he’s glowing more brightly than I am so it makes him easy to find. My hands and feet are guiding me in the shadow world now.

We’re going uphill now, and I dry-heave from the effort. I do it on the move though; I have to keep moving, because every few seconds another one of the Slender Children, or maybe Slender himself is striking out at me. I am using what little light I have left, no the light I’ve given to Adam, to help guide me.

We keep running with the screams and laughs of the children all around us. The vertigo is overwhelming and I find that Adam’s hand is now guiding me forward. Adam is leading me now, like I did with Shana, only now I’m the one Slender is feeding on. My feet slip and I’m down on my knees doing the best I can to crawl forward. I don’t have much energy left. “Adam, keep running,” I say weakly. He let’s go.

“I can’t. Alyssa, I can’t,” he cries.

“Leave me, just run,” I say, trying to rise back up. I anticipate a mass of hands feeding on me, draining my last legs as I struggle to move forward. What if they feed on Adam too? “Adam, you have to run!” I shout as loudly as I can, which is barely above a whisper.

“I can’t, Alyssa. They’re everywhere,” he says. With no physical contact with Adam, my vision has begun to return. I climb up, and with the few meters of light radiating from his aura, I see where we are. A helpless cry escapes when I see that the Slender Children have us surrounded and are closing in slowly, circling their prey. I walk forward a few paces trying to find an out, but hopelessness consumes me as my knees buckle once more. I sit here one knee on the ground and one leg trying to push me back up, waiting to be consumed. It’s over. I’ve lost. There’s no- there’s a gap. It’s only a couple meters wide, but—I feel a meager bit of hope hit me. If I can make it through I might be able to leave them behind, at least until they warp again. It’s time to make a last stand.

“Let’s go,” I say.

“We have to run past them,” I continue. It’s a last ditch resort, but it’s the only way I have left.

“They’ll catch us,” Adam protests, but I laugh.

“Guess this is where I die,” I say, although I’m not even sure if Adam will make it even if I get him through. I rise quickly, my body being powered by a final surge of energy. It’s just enough, just enough to get by them. I lift Adam onto my back ignoring the pain as his body drains me. My last bit of strength- my last will is to keep my brother safe. I put a foot forward and take off. The Slender Children go from their slow prowling to trained sprinters inside of a- distortion. I feel hands on me, hands that are not Adams, but I ignore them. The only way to get them off is to move. I run right through one of them. I can’t see anything, and the painful experience of such a collision nearly stops me right there, but I give myself every mental reassurance that I can win this. Just ten more paces… ten more seconds. We’re almost there, I tell myself.