The Pale One

Slipping through the fences was easy. Navigating through the woods was the tricky part. Jason wanted to prove to everyone that the myth was wrong. Holding his video camera in one hand and a flashlight in the other, he walked through the dark woods, his heart racing. He never believed the legends himself, but he still found the woods creepy as hell. He started up the video camera, walking onwards.

Jason took a look at the battery power of the camera, and that’s when he noticed it. It was too quick to draw any conclusions, but he saw something flash across the screen. He saw bits of white before it went back to the normal forest setting. He swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat and just kept walking. Something was definitely out here, and he didn’t like visitors. That’s when he saw it.

Taped to a tree was a note. Almost immediately, Jason began running towards the tree to take a better look at the note. “No way,” he breathed out, his heart racing. He could feel goose bumps forming on his skin as he read the note.

Don’t Look, or it Takes You

He slowly backed away from the note as he dropped the video camera. Without thinking, he turned around and started running from the tree. Then he came across another note.

Always Watches… No Eyes

What’s happening? Who’s leaving these notes? This must be some sort of sick, sick joke. Jason began thinking of all of these before he turned to run again. Only now, he couldn’t run. He couldn’t move. He couldn’t breathe. He looked directly in front of him, and his heart sank.
In front of him was… well, he didn’t know what it was. It certainly wasn’t a man. Was it a monster? As he thought of this, he felt a sharp pain in his stomach. He looked down, and he saw a branch-like thing jabbed through him. He looked back up at the being and knew that it would be the last thing he saw.

The being had no facial features. It was as pale as a ghost, if not paler. It blended in so well with the trees. Jason said, “Y-you… you’re real,” right as he drew his last breath.

Hush, my child, do not stray far from the path
Or The Pale One shall steal you away to Fairieland
He preys on the bold and meek, and lurks within the woods
He has hands of ebony branches, and touch as soft as silk
Fear the Slenderman my child, for he shall take you to a dark place
And what shall become of you? No one knows,
So beware my little one for He is here to take you away

{Chapter One Begins Right Here}

“Hey, Heather, it’s Liz!” It was winter of 2013, and all Heather wanted to do was sleep in. Instead, her friend Elizabeth (Liz, she prefers to be called) is coming over. She did say that she would be coming over, but she never said when. And she did love randomly dropping in. Heather woke up and went to the front door, letting Liz and a fair amount of cold into the otherwise warm house.

“Jesus, Liz, I know you’re cold-blooded, but this is just ridiculous!” Heather joked. Liz rolled her eyes as she took off her jacket.

“Hey, I hate the cold! It’s too cold for anything these days!” Liz ran a hand through her hair. “Besides, another storm’s supposed to come in, and there’s no way I’m staying cooped up with my family!” Heather laughed and walked into the kitchen.

“Do you want anything to drink?” she called to Liz.

“Tea, if you have any!”

“Yeah, we have some, come get it!” Liz walked into the kitchen and got a glass of tea, drinking the sweetness of it.

“God, I could live off of this stuff!” Liz commented. Heather rolled her eyes.

“You’re not British, Liz. I don’t think even they could live off of it!” Liz laughed as she sat at the table, with Heather taking the seat across from her.

“Have you heard from your husband any?” Liz asked. Heather nodded her head.

“He called just the other day. It’s kind of hard, having a husband in Iraq, you know?”

“No, I wouldn’t know. Still single, remember?” Heather and Liz both laughed when Liz’s phone buzzed. She rolled her eyes, and Heather knew what that meant. “An ex?”

“Nope,” Liz said, surprising Heather. “An Amber Alert. Someone went missing not too long ago.” Heather looked down at her hands.

“A lot of people have been disappearing,” she thought out loud. “What do you think of it?”

“Personally?” Liz asked, to which Heather nodded. “I think that it’s people running away from their problems. Then again, there is the old legend…” Liz’s voice trailed off. Heather’s interest was piqued.

“Legend?” she asked. “What legend?” Liz smiled as she turned and faced Heather.

“You’ve never heard the legend of the Slenderman?” Heather shook her head. “Well, you’re in for a treat. I know the legend by heart.”

“Why do I get the feeling you’ve been waiting for this moment for a while?” Heather asked, slightly annoyed. Liz shrugged her shoulders, and she began to tell the legend.

“From what I’ve read, the Slenderman centuries ago was originally a normal man, just like every other man in this world, without the douchebag attitude. Every woman and even a few men wanted to be with him, he was so handsome. He fell in love with a blonde woman with the prettiest blue eyes. Little did he know, though, was that she was practicing the dark arts.” Heather looked at her friend weirdly, and Liz rolled her eyes. “A witch?” Heather nodded her head understandingly, and Liz continued.

“Anyways, the chick was a witch and he found that out the hard way. He was caught sleeping with another woman, and the witch, for lack of better words, lost her freaking mind. So, she cursed him.”

“Cursed?” Heather repeated the word, and Liz nodded. “How did she curse him?”

“She took the one thing that made him who he was; she took his face. She made him as pale as a ghost, took his face, and made him into a monster. And now, that same monster has a game that he loves playing. He hides in the woods in this very town.

“His game is simple, but if you lose, it’s your life. You go into the woods, preferably at night, and there are eight notes scattered about the trees. If you collect every single one of them, then you survive. If he gets you, well, nobody has ever lived to tell the tale, you know?”

Heather felt cold, as if the blood just drained from her face. “Wh-what do the notes say?” she asked. Liz looked at her, her eyes clouded with what seemed like fear.

“Don’t look… or it takes you.

“Help me.

“Can’t run.

“Follows.

“Leave me alone!

“No, no, no, no…

“Always watches… No eyes.

“And the last note is of trees, with the Slenderman among them, blending in.” Liz took a drink of her tea and noticed the look of horror on her friend’s face. “Dude, don’t worry! It’s just a legend used to scare little kids and keep idiot boys out of the woods.” Liz stood up to take her glass to the kitchen, and at that moment, Heather’s mom came into the room.

“Heather, can I talk to you in private?” she asked. Heather and Liz both noticed that her mother had this look of seriousness and terror on her face. Heather stood up, her eyes still on her mother.

“Yeah, sure,” she said before turning to Liz. “I’ll be back, okay?” Liz nodded her head, her eyes full of worry and curiosity.