Not A Creepypasta: The Story of Blake Hartman

Chapter Three: the chapter where ben exists but i never actually say it's him

"Huh? Hey! Dude, where are you going?" Blake called after him, trying to chase him now the same way he chased her, but it was like he'd just disappeared into thin air. Blake couldn't find him anywhere. "Jackass, trying to kill me then leaving without even telling me his name," she mumbled to herself, kicking a rock. So far, this trip had been a waste of time and supplies. There was absolutely nothing out here except for some deranged, deformed killer and– oh, wait! Slenderman, that's right! She'd almost forgotten about her encounter during the chaos of running for her life and talking back to some weirdo. Still, she needed to find her bag, and fast. She was already woefully underprepared for a Slenderman attack even with her supplies, let alone without them.

"Looking for this?" A voice came from behind her. Blake turned around, and someone was holding her bag, letting its strap hang from one finger. He had a smug grin on his face. His hair was blond and his ears were pointed, but most strangely of all, he was wearing what appeared to be Link's outfit from the Legend of Zelda. Blake, of course, was not remotely familiar with the franchise and only knew Link's appearance and the name "Zelda," so she mistakenly believed that the name of the protagonist was the name of the titular character.

"What's a Zelda cosplayer doing all the way out here?" Blake asked. The "cosplayer" looked at Blake like she was stupid for a moment, eyes narrowed. Then he began to laugh. He laughed so hard he started to cry, and suddenly, his sclerae were totally black, his irises red, and deep red, blood-like tears streamed from his eyes.

"...Okay, so definitely not a human being. Can I have my bag back now... please?" She added the "please" at the end simply because she'd read somewhere that being polite to ghosts was a huge deal. To this, the creature abruptly stopped laughing and stared Blake directly in the eyes. He spoke, his voice sounding some strange mix of ghostly and robotic.

"No."

"Yeah, well, I've had a long morning today, I woke up in some part of the woods where I wasn't before, I think I saw a legendary creature before passing out last night, and so it would really do me a favor if you would just–" Blake didn't finish her own sentence and instead lunged for the bag. The entity didn't even bother to dodge– he didn't have to. At once, Blake fell through the entity and the bag, flat onto her face.

"What the hell?! Damn ghosts, always being incorporeal..." She immediately got up, then realized something was off... very off. She couldn't see past 6 feet in all directions, although the stuff she could see was perfectly illuminated. She was stuck in a big black void, where the only physical objects left were her, the creature, part of a tree trunk, and the leaves under her feet.

"You shouldn't have done that," the ghostly entity said in a mischievous and ominous tone. Blake raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, okay, well, I have a few questions," she said, sounding thoroughly unaffected. The being, while now a little confused at Blake's apparent lack of fear, was not deterred.

"I don't have to say anything. I don't answer to you," he hissed. Blake was not deterred either.

"Fine. Don't answer my questions. I'll just stand here and stare at your stupid face until the end of time if I have to. Neither of us has anything better to do. Oh, that reminds me... I should document this. Where's my– oh, come on!" Her polaroid camera, which usually hung from her neck, was also gone. At this point, the creature was both confused and a little irritated with Blake.

"What is this? You putting on a brave face? Please, we both know you're terrified," he taunted. Blake stared at him with a blank expression.

"...You might wanna fact-check that one." Blake stared down at the entity's feet and was about to lose herself in thought when she noticed something strange. There was something on the ground beside the being. A tiny circuit board, about the size of the tip of Blake's thumb.

"Hey... what's this? It doesn't look like my camcorder's memory card..." She knelt down to pick it up, and the creature's expression changed to one of panic.

"You weren't supposed to find that!" He shouted. Blake stared at the circuit board for a moment, then giggled. It was the circuit board that was able to project his hologram and allowed him to manipulate the environment's appearance, but of course, Blake had no way of knowing that. What she did know is that he seemed to be quite scared of the fact that she knew of its existence and was holding it in her hand.

"What, this? This little thing? What do you think I'll do? Hm, I might smash it into a million pieces. You know what, I think I'll do just that–"

"Enough." The environment returned to normal to reveal a tall, paper-white, faceless man in a suit.