Eyes Open

The first part of the journey was slow, and probably more unpleasant for Troy than it was for Nate. Nate was driving, and all of his concentration went towards navigating the car through the tiny gaps and uneven surface of the forest, trying to find a way out. He didn’t know if the direction he was going in was leading him out of the forest, or even deeper into it, and as night fell he knew he was going to have to find some way out quickly.

Troy was in the passenger seat, holding the little black notebook carefully in his hands and trying to read it in the failing light and the unsteady progress of the journey. He opened it up to the first page, and saw that on the inside of the cover, a name was scrawled.

Jeffrey Murray.

"His surname was Murray, Nate," Troy said softly. "We didn’t even know his surname."

Nate glanced briefly at Troy before turning back to the road.

"We do now," he said to his friend, quietly. "Remember what you said, Troy. We can’t think like that. We didn’t know him for long, remember?"

"I know," Troy replied. "But we knew him long enough to know that he meant well. He saved my life, Nate. And the only reason we ever got to know him at all was because he wanted to help us."

"So we’ve got to keep it together for him," Nate replied. "All right? We have even more of a reason to work this out now. We need to do it so Jeff didn’t die in vain. Every single thing we work out will make sure of that. We need to keep a clear head."

Troy nodded.

"I just didn’t expect this to happen," he said quietly. "I mean, I knew the Slender Man was dangerous. I knew his intentions were far from innocent. I even knew he was malicious. But I never thought he would do something like that. Even after hearing the stories, seeing those bodies ... I thought he did it almost privately. Like, no one had ever seen him kill before. I just didn’t expect to see him kill so openly. I know he was angered, but still ..."

"What actually happened?" Nate asked, after a brief pause.

"Slender Man cornered me," Troy said. "And Jeff came out of nowhere and rammed a knife right into its leg. Just went straight for it, no hesitation or anything. The Slender Man just dropped me and picked him up and threw him against the tree. I guess that’s when ... you know. It happened. Then the thing just stared at me for a brief second and vanished. Just like that – disappeared. I didn’t blink or anything. He just left. And he made noises, too, Nate. I thought he was silent all the time, but he hisses. He hissed at me in the house, when I got his tentacle or whatever with the knife. And he practically screeched at Jeff when he got him with the knife. It was a horrible sound. It just cut right through me."

Troy shuddered as he remembered the shrill, angered sound of the creature, heard seconds before it had fatally injured Jeff. Nate was silent as well, and Troy got the feeling that he was also imagining what it must have sounded like.

For another long while, both men were silent. The car continued to slowly lurch and judder across the uneven surface, as the light failed more and more. Troy sat hunched over the little notebook, reading all of the disjointed pieces of information scattered across the pages.

Saw it again today, one of the notes read. It was written scruffily, as though Jeff had been in a rush. He probably had been. It still didn’t do anything. Just stood there watching me. It makes me even more uneasy than when it makes a move. I don’t know what it wants when it just watches. I don’t know why it just observes. Is it to make a plan? Is it to get to know me better, so it knows what gets to me? Or how I’ll react? I don’t know. It’s just like he’s playing some game. A stupid, fucked up game.

Troy sighed to himself. He knew how that felt all too well. He turned the page. It was one of the more empty pages – this time just two words spread out across both pages.

SEES ME.

Troy stared at this simple message for longer than he had stared at the text on the other side. There was something about the simple, blunt statement that summed up absolutely everything that made Troy so terrified. He did see him. He saw everyone, seemingly whenever he wanted to. He didn’t seem bound by the normal rules of travel, and Troy was aware that the creature could easily just appear directly in front of their car, right now. The words of the little girl suddenly popped into his head.

You’re only still here because he permits you to be here!

If that was right, then what was the point in running? Troy suddenly felt disheartened. If the Slender Man could get rid of him whenever it wanted, why was he demeaning himself and playing this stupid little game? He slowly turned the page, wondering if the next message would be as depressing. It wasn’t.

Keep him guessing, it read. You’ve escaped before, Jeff. Just keep him guessing. He might be quick, but he’s not that quick. You can keep him guessing. I know he’s out there right now, but remember that doesn’t mean he knows exactly where you are. Sure he knows I’m in this motel but he’s not sure what room, and I see that as a victory. But I have to get out of here.

"Jeff says you can keep him guessing," Troy said to Nate. "Apparently, anyway. From what I get from this, he can only get your general location, and not your exact one. Like, perhaps he could find me so easily in the town because he knew the places I would be? Your house, or my house, or my parents’ house, or the roads in between. But now I’m out in the middle of nowhere he’s finding it harder. We can get away, Nate."

A tiny little flicker of hope was rising in Troy’s chest at the thought. It made sense – they would have to move a lot, very, very often. They would probably never stop. But it meant that they could at least think away from the stress of constantly being watched by the creature.

"You mean he can’t just appear?" Nate asked.

"Well, he probably could now," Troy sighed. "It wouldn’t be hard – I doubt many cars come through here. But in other towns I doubt it would be as easy for him. I just wish we could get out of this damn forest."

"Tell me about it," Nate muttered. "It’s getting darker and I don’t want to put the headlights on in case I attract him. I mean I know we’re making enough noise to wake the whole forest but I guess it’s psychological. But it’s becoming impossible, and I’m not sure if it’s just me or if it’s getting denser in this place."

Troy looked out of the window. The trees certainly did seem to be pressing themselves together against the car, as though they were inviting them in, grabbing them, dragging them. It was an unnerving thought, one which couldn’t be shaken by the fact that the trees were so close together that even without their leaves; the place was already much too dark. In the end, Nate had to give in and put the headlights on. Even though they were only on their lowest setting, Troy knew it would be immediately obvious to anyone around.

"Shit!" Nate suddenly yelled, and Troy felt the familiar unpleasant feeling of his stomach dropping as he looked out of the front to see a huge pair of glowing eyes staring right back at him. It took him a few seconds to register it was just a deer, startled by the strange metal creature she had probably never seen before.

Troy and Nate looked at each other and then laughed out of relief, as the doe herded her baby past them, keeping her huge, intelligent eyes on the car at all times. Nate kept the car still, letting them pass. They walked slowly, and as soon as they were out of the light, Troy and Nate heard them break out into a quicker pace.

"I nearly shat myself because of Bambi," Nate muttered, and Troy managed another laugh
.
"Shit, that was scary," he said, relief still washing over him. "Careful, there might be more of them."

They continued through at a even slower pace, the trees still bearing down on them. They opened out slightly for a few minutes, before the forest became denser than ever. Nate had to slow the car to almost a crawl, the engine whining in protest as it tried to move the car over the increasingly steepening ground.

"I don’t think we should push this much longer," Nate said. "I don’t want the car giving out."

The car juddered forward a few more metres, and then, mercifully, the ground seemed to even out. The trees were still thick around them, but at least the ground was flat for the foreseeable distance. The engine had started to sound as though it were getting annoyed.

Just as they were about to move forward again, a flickering light seemed to pass through the trees, almost looking like a strange, floating ball of white. Nate and Troy glanced at each other as it got larger – there was no doubt that it was coming towards them.

"What the –" Nate muttered, as the ball of light started to slow from its previously quick pace. As it got closer, the two men noticed it had distinctly separated into two balls of light.

"I think ..." Troy said, not wondering if he should dare be so hopeful. Suddenly, he couldn’t deny it anymore. "It is! Nate, they’re headlights! There’s a road there!"

The two lights suddenly stopped, and sure enough they could hear the hum of an engine. Suddenly someone was jogging over to them, no doubt confused as to why there was a car parked in the middle of some trees.

"You all right?" someone shouted over, and Nate and Troy got out of the car to see what was going on.

"Yeah, we’re fine," Nate replied. "No worries, man."

"Saw your lights off of the road," the man replied. "I was worried there’d been an accident."

"Nah, we’re fine," Nate said. "Just came off the road a bit, that’s all. Car’s fine though, she’s still running."

"You guys be careful, yeah?" the other man said. "There’s a lot of ice on the roads around here at the moment. Could have been a lot worse."

"Yeah, we were damn lucky," Nate replied. "We’re fine, though, we’ll be on our way."

"Hang on, I’ll turn my car to face you so you can get back on the road. There’s a whole load of bumps and things here that your car probably won’t appreciate if she’s just been off the road."

Within a couple more minutes, Troy and Nate were back on a normal road surface, which was a relief for them, as the uneasy surface had started to take its toll on all of their cuts and bruises. Judging by how much healthier the engine sounded once they got going again, the car was pleased to have a normal surface to drive on as well.

"So, anything coming up in that notebook yet?" Nate asked Troy, after a few minutes of relived driving. Being able to go a little faster made it seem like they were doing something – like they had a direction or a purpose, or that they were getting away.

"Not yet," Troy said. "There’s a lot of place names, I’m trying to see if any of them come up more than once or if any dates are the same – Jeff’s been really specific. He’s got names of towns, dates, exact times when he’s remembered them. I’m hoping it’ll all come together, though it could take a lot of reading. We’d probably need a map, too. Just in case the Slender Man actually has a pattern, or if he’s just zigzagging across the country."

"That’s probably what he’s doing," Nate muttered. "I mean, the thing can appear wherever he wants. I imagine he just goes wherever takes his fancy."

"But Jeff said that there were a lot of Runners," Troy replied. "Slender Man seems to have some sort of sixth sense when it comes to them. I just want to know what attracts him to a certain person. I mean, we’re Runners now, but he’s not around."

Briefly, Troy scanned the landscape outside the car for any sign of the tall, suited figure. There was, thankfully, nothing.