Sincerely Me (A Jeff the Killer Story)

Chapter Twenty Two~*

1- Jamie

I frantically look around, only to find I'm at the edge of a park with no way of knowing how I got here. Gone is the crowd, the fireworks, even EJ and Sally. The afternoon sun was just starting to dip below the tops of the surrounding trees, casting everything in a golden glow. But there was something dark about the entire area, as if the feeling of dread I feel in my chest has manifested itself into real life.

"Sally?" I shout, my gaze flitting everywhere. "Jack?"

No response.

As I move to investigate the area, I'm able to just barely pick up the sound of a struggle. Curious, I follow the noise towards the trees. The closer I get, the more I'm able to pick out what's going on. There's a soft whimper that could only come from the soft vocal range of a child and man, making sounds I don't recognize at first but that make my mouth drop open in embarrassment when I'm able to pin down the one time I've ever heard a man make those noises. Then, my eyebrows furrow in confusion.

The noises get louder. I round a tree and my heart stops in my chest. Sally's brown hair catches my attention first and I feel like I've been punched in the stomach. Her eyes are squeezed shut and tears trail down her face. The man on top of her doesn't seem to notice my presence as he continues molest and do unspeakable things to Sally.

"Get off of her!" I scream, my mind going blank.

In a rage, I throw myself at the man in an attempt to get him off of her and make him stop, but I never connect. I go straight through him and land on my face on the other side of the two. From here, I'm able to better see the violent contortions on her face and look of sick pleasure on his. My breathing comes fast, with my chest rising and falling so hard that I worry my heart is going to jump out of my chest. Not able to take anymore, I squeeze my eyes shut and throw up. The bile stings my throat but it's not enough to distract me from the horrifying sounds going on behind me.

Then, everything goes quiet. My entire body is shaking as I look back at with wide, fearful eyes. Sally's body is still, her eyes staring emptily at the sky. Her dress is covered in blood and a trail of still fresh blood drips down her face, over her eye. She doesn't move.

A scream takes my attention away from Sally. A distance away, the man who had been with Sally not too long ago is on his knees, looking up in horror at a tall, grotesque figure. My heart stops in my chest at the sight of the Slenderman. He has always been tall before but now he towered over the man, a being of immense power and deadly intentions. He stands still before the man, even his tentacles have seized in their movements. I wait to see what he does.

His first move is too fast for my eyes to track. One moment, his is still, with the man still kneeling before him. Then suddenly the man is flung through the air to connect painfully with a tree. A terrible aura radiates off Slender, making me shake in fear. The familiar mental waves are violent and threaten to drag me down into a deeper insanity than anything I had ever seen or experienced before. His screams are cut short by the Slender coming up and slamming him into the ground. Slender continues to attack, torture and throw the man around the forest. Several times I hear bones snap. His blood seems to go everywhere, covering the leaves in their scarlet color. When the man is dead, Slender picks him up and flings him far into the forest, over the tops of the trees to land who knows where.

It's still for a moment. Blood drips off of Slender's face and his tentacles. He shakes his head, causing the drops to splatter and spill onto the already soiled ground. The sun finally sinks below the horizon as he makes his way over to the small, still body of little Sally. He kneels down as close to her as he can get and stares at her for several long moments. His hand reaches out and gently touches her face, avoiding the blood. A sudden surge of power seems to go through the area at his touch, almost knocking me on my back.

Something changes in his mental waves. It's not his voice just yet but it's a feeling reminiscent of sound. I didn't understand it but my entire body suddenly felt rejuvenated, as if I had woken from a long sleep. On the ground, Sally's entire body shudders and, after a moment, her eyes blink slowly. Slender doesn't move as the girl slowly comes to, her eyes opening and closing slowly while her chest draws in huge gasps of air. Her eyes eventually focus on him and his mental waves shift once more, this time for longer. I'm not able to understand him but Sally seems to as she nods once, slowly.

With confirmation from her, he picks her up, holding her carefully to him as they head off further into the trees. I watch them go, more confused than ever before. Slender walks a good distance away from the area before blinking out. But something odd happens this time. His body doesn't disappear the way it normally does, there one moment then gone the next. This time he seems to draw the growing shadows into him, swirling them around his body and walking into them, teleporting from the area.

The shadows doesn't stop collecting though. Dark strands reach to me, clouding my vision. I scream once as I'm taken under.

2- Jamie

My eyes fly open and I'm blinded by bright lights. My hands go up to protect my eyes as they adjust to the sudden light.

"She's awake!"

I sit up slowly, rubbing my eyes to wipe the sleep from them. Cold arms wrap around my waist and familiar body presses against me. I'm only able to see the back of their clothes and immediately I'm able to recognize the Pokemon uniform. Gold's body shakes slightly against me and I hesitantly hug him back.

Slender steps into my line of vision and I flinch at the sight of him. He steps back and I'm able to make out the soft pink of Sally's dress in the bed behind him. My heart clenches at the sight of her and I involuntarily grab onto Gold tighter than before.

"You're such an idiot," A voice dead of emotion says and EJ steps forward, watching me.

"What happened?" I ask, my voice sounding odd in my ears.

Gold pulls back and looks at me, his eyes wide. "Do you remember anything?"

A little girl, lying still on the ground. A man's screaming as he is flung by a being too powerful to even think of fighting back. I squeeze my eyes shut. "Yes. I remember everything."

"Those were Sally's memories." Slender's voice sounds soothing, even though it's anything but. It's just a much more welcoming and familiar sound than what I had heard before. "When she touched you, she dragged you into the past."

My eyes open wide in shock. "How did she do that? It shouldn't be possible."

"Well, it's not. Not really. When I say the past, I meant her past memories. She is so young and the memories of what happened that day still haunt her and hold very strongly to her. When she loses control over her emotions, it is easy for her to drag others into her thoughts and show them what happened."

I start shaking and Gold grabs my hand, holding it tightly. "Did that really happen to her?"

Slender turns away. "Yes. It did."

I bring my knees to my chest. "That's so horrible. I can't believe someone would. . ."

"That's exactly what I was telling you, Jamie," I look up at EJ. "Men are disgusting. You can't trust those you don't know."

I nod and look down.

"Jamie, we shall talk about you saw another time. For now, rest."

I nod again. They go quiet but Gold's touch on my hand never leaves.

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