Chapter Text
"Ahem, ahem…" Jake cleared his throat, pressing record and holding up the camera.
"Ghost stories. Vengeful spirits. Evil creatures. Cryptids and freaks of nature! We've all heard of them before. But how many of us have actually lived through one of these creepy events, let alone lived to tell the tale? Well, you don't have to worry anymore. Tonight, Jonah, Jayden, and yours truly will capture as many horrifying sights as humanly possible. Here, on the JJJ Tales of Horror Sh—"
Jayden sighed. Jake turned to look at his friend in the driver's seat.
"What?"
"Do you have to do the dramatic intro every time?" Jayden said, keeping his eyes on the road.
Jake replied quickly. "Yeah, I do. You need excitement, Jay, that's how this stuff works."
Jayden nodded, pretending like he agreed. "Right."
"So…" Jonah interrupted, "How long until we're there?"
"Actually…"
Jayden turned a corner, and suddenly stopped the car. "We're here."
"That's right!" Jake spoke towards his camera again. Jayden sighed, stepping out of the car, and Jonah following behind him. "We are here, in Stirling, California, about to enter the famed Slender Man Woods!!" Jake quickly stepped out of the car and followed behind his friends, walking into the forest.
"Now, we are not novices. We've been to many haunted spots here and there, but this? Oh, this is something else. Jonah? Any comment?"
"Uh…if I get killed, someone tell my mother I love her."
"Oh, come on, dude! We're gonna be fine. Jayden?"
"Just stay quiet. There could be anything inside these woods."
The three of them walked through the woods, speaking quietly whenever they had to make a comment for the video. Although, that was mostly Jake.
"Some say he's been around for hundreds of years. Some say since the beginning of time!" Jake said, whisper-yelling. "What do you guys think?"
"Probably at least a few hundred years," Jayden whispered.
"Way more, dude," Jonah responded, "remember those cave paintings he shows up in?"
"Right.."
"And apparently," Jake continued, "the U.S. government did black-ops in these woods, like back in the 80s."
"Did anything ever come out of it?" Jayden asked.
"Not as far as the public knows. But they definitively got something, I'm sure."
They continued walking, further and further into the woods.
"What could they even have gotten out of it?" Jonah asked.
"Well…" Jayden thought for a moment, then spoke again. "If the Slender Man is real, maybe they want to siphon his power, or energy, or whatever it is."
"Ohhh…and use it for their nefarious purposes," Jake added.
"Pretty much, yeah. That's my guess, anyway."
Stepping deeper into the forest, Jonah swore he stepped on something other than the usual dirt. They looked down at his feet.
"What the fuck is that?!"
"Yo, Jake, get this! What is that?!"
Jake pointed the camera at Jonah's feet. He was stepping on what seemed like a tentacle, colored pure black. It was long and appeared never-ending, leading into a deeper part of the woods.
They all froze. Jonah was too afraid to remove his foot.
Jake was the first to speak, breathing heavily. "Okay…okay…just…take your foot off of it. It's fine."
Jonah shook his head 'no'.
"Fuck…well, we can't do anything if we don't get him off that thing."
"Okay…yeah. We just pull him off, and it's fine."
Jake and Jayden stepped behind Jonah, holding onto him from behind. They braced themselves, and pulled him backwards with all their force, all of them falling onto the ground, screaming.
"AH! AH! AH—"
"AH! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!"
"SHHH…BE— BE QUIET!"
They all breathed heavily, eventually picking themselves up. Shining at light at where Jonah was previously standing, they realized the black tentacle was still there—it hadn't moved at all. In its direction, pure darkness awaited.
"Shit…" Jayden muttered. "Do we…do we go?"
"I think we have to, now…" Jake replied.
Jonah sighed, eventually nodding. "Yeah…okay. Fine."
The trio followed the tentacle's path, slowly making their way through the tall trees and the blinding fog.
Jake put his ear up to the camera. "What the…"
"What is it?" Jonah asked.
"It's making some weird buzzing sound. I think it's dying…"
"Dude, didn't you charge it?" Jayden interrupted, an annoyed tone in his voice.
"No, I did, that's why it's so weird…"
"Whatever," Jonah concluded, "we got a little bit. Someone record on their phone, or something."
As they continued walking, the tentacle running along the dirt beneath their feet grew thicker. And the buzzing grew louder and louder.
"Do you…do you guys hear that?" Jake asked.
"Hear what? Don't scare me, dude…" Jayden replied.
"No, no, it's…"
Jonah crouched down, putting his ear to the tentacle, before flinching and recoiling back in pain. "Argh!-"
Jayden and Jake rushed to help him back up. "Jonah! What was that?!"
"The noise…it's coming from there."
The three of them took a step back, and paused for a minute. They almost thought about turning back and heading home—but for some strange reason none of them could quite put their finger on, they continued walking. Deeper inside the forest.
And eventually, they made it. The inside of the forest. The beginning, and its end. The Woods.
Inside, He stood completely still. Dozens, no—hundreds of tentacles extending from His back, all motionless. He had no face. No mouth. And somehow, it was almost as if He could see right through them.
The trio froze. They all stared.
Jayden was the first to whisper, "it's Him."
"Slender Man…" Jake replied, breathless.
Jonah's breathing was quick, and heavy. "Dude, are…you guys…are you getting this?!"
"I'm not," said Jake, in a quick, monotone voice.
Jayden snapped out of the trance. "What?!" He hadn't realized Jake wasn't even holding his phone. In fact, it was on the floor, buzzing.
"It was dead, anyway…"
And after he said that, Jake took a step forward.
He took another step forward.
And another step.
And another.
And another.
And another, until…
He was face to face with Him. Jake looked up, silent tears streaming down his face. He finally broke the silence.
"Slender—"
Before he could even finish whatever it was he planned to say, a sharp tentacle pierced through Jake's stomach. He coughed up blood. He continued coughing, until his blood became a strange black color, and he could not cough any more, ever again.
Jayden grabbed Jonah's arm and pulled him along into a dash, a dash for an exit, a way out, anything—far away from Him.
But no matter how fast they ran, they could feel His presence following. They could feel the noise growing louder, and louder, and louder…
"Ngh—!" Jonah paused, the momentum causing him to nearly trip over.
"What?! What is it?!"
Jonah grabbed his head in his hands, shaking. He was crying.
Jayden stepped closer, but Jonah pushed him away.
"Jonah, what's happening?!"
"Jake was too weak, He's…He's here…so much…pain…so much…evil…"
Jayden tried coming closer again, but Jonah pushed him off again, harder this time.
"Jay, you've gotta get out of here…"
"Huh?"
"Jay, you've gotta get out…" Jonah's skin was turning a ghostly pale. Jayden's eyes widened.
"JONAH! WHAT IS—"
"JAY, YOU'VE GOTTA GET OUT! GET OUT!"
Jonah screamed, clawing at his own face. His skin was tearing off like paper. Jayden screamed.
"GET OUT OF THE FOREST! GET OUT OF THE FOREST…" Jonah cried, horribly. Jayden ran. Ran as fast as he could.
"So let me get this straight…" The police officer said. He looked at his notes, then at Jayden, then back at his notes. "You and your friends wanted to go 'ghost hunting'".
Jayden nodded.
"So…you decided to go to the 'Slender Man Forest'."
He nodded again.
"Then, you say you found this…Slender Man, and your two friends go missing, and you come back to us telling us this."
The cop turned to his partner, sitting next to him.
"Schizo?" His partner mouthed to him.
"Probably," the cop replied.
"I'm not lying." Jayden said sternly. He looked downwards, refusing to make eye contact.
"Oh, kid, we never said you were—"
"You think I'm lying. I'm not. I saw Jake get murdered, by Him. And I think He was in Jonah's head, because he started ripping his face off, and I saw it, and you think—"
Jayden calmed himself down, or at least tried to. The officers just looked at him blankly.
"Okay…yeah, yeah, we'll see what we can do, man. Just…go back to your parents, or something. Try to reintegrate into your life, and uh…leave this to us."
Jayden looked at both of them. "That's it?"
The officers looked at each other, then back at him.
Jayden nodded, and scoffed. "Yeah. That's it.."
He walked out. He didn't know where he was going, or where he wanted to go. But it didn't matter. Nothing would even matter again. No matter where he went, He would be there. No matter what he did, He could take him apart all the same. Just like he did Jake and Jonah. Jayden would never feel safe again. Never again.
After all, He was always watching.
The Slender Man was always watching.