Sullen [Slenderverse]

Untitled #7

Matt set the tape to the side, he and the girls still unnerved by its contents. He'd try to decipher the warning later, but now he had to review the footage he got at the cemetery.

He set the camera up and uploaded it to his laptop, which took several minutes. Ashley and Dusk didn't talk, feeling uncomfortable with the tape. They gazed at the floor, finding them more interesting.

Matt coughed into his arm, eyes on his computer screen. He cleared his throat a few times, clicking the mouse as the video continued uploading.

When it finally finished, Matt got the girl's attention and they all huddled together to see what was captured.

• Video •

Footsteps could be heard as the trio walked through the cemetery pathway. Soft wind made the audio distort, muffling the trio's footsteps.

They passed the tombstones, a willow tree being their target location. It's branches swayed softly in the breeze, creating a soothing atmosphere in the cemetery.

As they moved closer, light static could be heard in the audio, a visual tear forming, then it stopped, the video cutting to black briefly before it came back on, showing the trio now under the tree.

Dusk sighed, running her fingers along the tree's bark lightly, her other hand on her hip. "I don't see him." She looked up at the branches, frowning.

The camera panned around the tree, more audio distortion heard for several seconds before fading.

Ashley giggled in the background. "Remember when Ethan had climbed up because he didn't want to leave?"

A snort was heard from Dusk, causing Matt to focus the camera on her as she explained how they got Ethan to come down, then moved the camera back up, and again the audio distorted, but much more loudly and lots of visual glitching formed as it focused on a small object hanging from one of the branches: Ethan's necklace.

Matt's voice was muffled, his hand in view as he pointed at the necklace, then the video cut to black again.

The trio looked at each other at the second cut. Something was messing with the camera. Matt furrowed his brows, his curiosity eating away at his mind. He cleared his throat, sniffling lightly.

Dusk looked at him, her face laced with concern. "Matt, are you sure you're okay? You've been coughing a lot today."

"Yeah. Just a tickle in my throat," replies Matt, rubbing his throat lightly.

When it came back on, Matt was climbing the tree to grab the necklace. From the angle, he looked like he would fall just from nervousness alone.

One branch crunched in an unsettling manner, prompting Matt to move his foot to a different branch. He was visibly shaking from nerves as he reached for the necklace.

The video distorted with static in the audio, visual tearing on the bottom as the video feed glitched. Matt was visibly grabbing the necklace in the video, though heavily distorted by the glitches.

It stops once Matt has the necklace in hand, dropping it to Dusk and climbing back down.

"I never want to do that again." He takes the camera back, focusing it on the girls.

"So Ethan was here at some point," said Dusk, leaning back against the tree. They discuss briefly over the necklace's appearance with Ethan's disappearance.

"Something is not right about this girls. I'm getting red flags just knowing Ethan is missing, but for his necklace to appear here, a place that he enjoyed hanging at, is not sitting with me well," said Matt behind the camera, the device focus moving to the gazebo.

Small rocks and twigs crunched under Matt's shoes as he walked towards the gazebo, panning the camera around the area surrounding the area.

A buzzing sound filled the audio feed, something in the distance flashing on screen as Matt began to cough harshly, his voice glitched like static as the thing on screen tilted its head to its left before disappearing, the buzzing ended as Matt's coughing fit ended.

Matt paused the video, rewinding the footage to get a better view of the thing on screen. It took a few attempts to get a good visual due to the glitching video feed, but once clear, Matt sat back in shock.

Ashley let out a gasp of fear, jumping back slightly. It was the same figure from their last video. It had the same featureless face and black suit.

"Oh god, it's that thing from the video!" Ashley squeaks, her voice caught in her throat.

Dusk took a closer look, more concerned than scared. "This is the second time it had appeared in the videos you filmed, Matt," she points out, leaning back and folding her arms.

Matt puffed out his cheeks in a loud sigh, resting his hand on his forehead. "Yeah," he says with discomfort clear in his voice.

He clicks through the rest of the video, but it's completely distorted and cuts out, leaving them with nothing else.

"Well, I guess it's time to plan another search."