Slenderverse One-shots

Decline ⊗ MH

A few chapters I stitched together from another fanfic I probably won't finish. It was meant to be somewhat of an AU to Masks. I liked parts of it but in the end kept writing myself into a corner so have a rather... traumatizing section from it, with a few edits to make it work as a one-shot.

WARNINGS: description of a panic/anxiety attack, inferred suicide (over the phone and unconfirmed) 

"Go stand over there by the fire, I need to see how the shot looks at this angle." Alex stared into his camera, adjusting it as Ash walked over to the burning logs for the campfire scene.

It was a few minutes before he seemed to find the right position to set up the camera. Satisfied, he walked away and pulled out his phone, impatiently barking questions at whoever was on the other end while shifting and looking around at their dark surroundings. Ash hadn't been needed at any film sets for a few weeks—thankfully given Ethan's strange decline in health kept her busy—but even she could clearly tell Alex was acting weird.

"He was pretty friendly the first few times I met him." She looked away from him and focused on the flickering glow of the flame on the grass. "Ethan's getting better, though... he was giving Emma strange looks... Wonder if everything's okay between them."

"There's Sarah." Alex sighed and waved her over, the firelight giving his irritated expression a dark look. "Now if Brian could hurry up."

"Jay and Seth aren't coming?" She immediately regretted asking after seeing his look.

"That's why I asked you to come."

"Right..."

Ash got up and walked over to Sarah as she got closer and they greeted each other. "Hey, it's been a while!"

"Yeah." Ash agreed before looking back over at Alex. "So, how long has there been a stick up his ass?"

"Oh great, he's still acting like that?" Sarah followed her gaze.

In the distance a car door slammed shut and a mental sigh of relief escaped upon seeing Brian walking over. At least now the scene could get started. Maybe Alex would lighten up after getting this finished, though something told her that wouldn't happen. She gave a quick greeting once Brian made it over and dismissed herself from the group before Alex could 'ask'.

"Wonder why the others couldn't make it out..." She thought back to the few times they'd met. None of them acted odd but there was that one time that Thing had shown up and lingered unnoticed in the background. "Is it following them already? Would explain the sudden change in temperament for Alex—and perhaps why the other two couldn't show up."

Ash made sure to keep well out of range of the camera and leaned against the nearest tree to watch as they began filming. Minutes ticked by before her phone unexpectedly began vibrating, signaling an incoming call. Ash's heart rate felt like it spiked. Ethan's name was on the screen, which lately wasn't the best sign. Glancing over at the others she made sure they hadn't been disturbed before stepping into the forest, moving far enough away to avoid getting her voice on tape.

"Ethan? Is something—"

"Ash... I-I don't have much time." Ethan interrupted, his breathing rapid and tone frantic. "Look I should've... I know I should've listened—stayed away... I thought I could h-handle this... He warned me it would happen... I just—just thought I could do it."

"Ethan, you're kind of scaring me..." Her voice wavered as she dug her keys out of her pocket, already heading towards the parking lot. "I'm coming over."