Slenderman, Slenderman, Take this Child

by McGeorge, Lee

  Jemima snapped out of her trance in Highgate Wood. “What the… Oh, no!” she whispered. What had she been doing? She checked her watch to see it was three in the afternoon. She should be in school but she was here, in the park, sitting on a bench. She should be in lessons. “Oh, no. I’m in so much trouble.”

  “No, you aren’t,” came the voice.

  It was stronger this time. Thicker. No longer a whispered breath but something much darker and growled. A man’s voice with a gravelled and sinister edge.

  “Are you here? Are you close to me?” she asked.

  “Yes. Look across the open ground.”

  Jemima complied. The pathways were strewn with autumn leaves and a cold breeze was blowing. She felt in tune with the surroundings, she felt the leaves rustling around her feet as much as she heard it. She felt the bite of the cold against her legs.

  The park was deserted.

  She stood by the edge of the open ground, looking across where cricket was played on summer days. “Where are you?” she whispered.

  “I am here… Let me guide your eyes.”

  Jemima relaxed herself, dropping her school bag to the floor. She closed her eyes for a second and willed the Slenderman to help her. Then when she opened her eyes, she saw him far across the open space. He was standing still between trees, his body as thin as his name suggested and wearing tight fitting black clothes. He was very tall, like the stickman from Germany, only now made flesh… no, not flesh…

  “What are you?” Jemima whispered.

  In her head the Slenderman spoke back. “Jemima. I thank you for bringing me this far, but I am not yet whole. Soon we can be together.”

  “What can I do?” Jemima asked.

  “You can only wait. I will vanish from your world now,” then with an unexpected menace the Slenderman added, “but in a few days I will return... for you!”

  Far across the open ground she saw movement around the figure. Waves of black mist, waved and swirled behind him as though black tentacles surrounded him… then he vanished.

  “Wait… what do you mean you’ll vanish from my world? Vanish to where?”

  Nothing.

  The Slenderman was gone.

  ----- X -----

  Jemima opened the refrigerator and closed it. She opened the cupboard, looked in without really looking and closed it. She was looking for food out of boredom and she’d done it every half hour since she’d arrived home.

  “Hi, Jay,” her father said sadly when he arrived. He took one look at her. “Honey, what’s wrong?”

  She shrugged. “I had a difficult day… and I feel very tired. I think I’m going to go to bed.”

  Steven looked at his watch. “It’s barely gone eight.”

  She nodded. “I know, but I feel like I need to sleep. I need some space to clear my head.” She walked to the doorway dragging her feet, feeling heavier and heavier. The Slenderman had said he would go from her world but with those words he had taken a part of her. It was like a hole in her heart that left her feeling helpless.

  She changed into pyjamas and looked at herself in the mirror. Something was wrong. She shouldn’t wear pyjamas. She undressed to be completely nude then opened her wardrobe to search, unsure what she was looking for. Her eyes were drawn to a white summer dress of light and breezy fabric. She slipped it on without underwear and looked at herself in the mirror. It wasn’t quite right. She pulled on knee high socks and slipped on her black shoes.

  Better.

  The white dress, white socks and black shoes looked right but her hair was wrong. She let out her ponytail and brushed her hair straight. She brushed it more across her face, leaving only a small gap to see through. In the mirror the gap in her hair showed the scar over her eye.

  “Better,” she whispered. “That’s how I need to be.”

  She turned off her bedroom light to look at her reflection by moonlight. Her scar showed up as a fierce gash with the shadow. “I’m ready,” she whispered. “I’m ready now.”

  There was a tugging sensation in her stomach leading her towards the bed. She followed the feeling and lay down.

  This was it. This was the final moment… for what she couldn’t determine but with the clearest recognition she was being placed and positioned to begin the work. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and whispered the words, “Slenderman, Slenderman, take this child.”

  ...and like that, she fell asleep.

  ----- X -----

  She was in the garden.

  The spider was digging its way through the hardened crust of salted fungus. It must have struggled for days, but in those days it had grown to almost the size of a football.

  In the moonlight the garden looked deep with rich colours that went beyond her normal perception. In moonlight, the grass looked almost black but had begun to vanish beneath a layer of fine mist. Jemima turned her back on the struggling and sickly spider and walked to the rabbit hutch. Her rabbits, Kit Kat and Snowy. She took Kit Kat in her arms. When she turned back the spider had grown even larger.

  This was a strange dream…

  The spider was growing and growing and was now almost the size of a dog.

  “I know you’re hungry,” she said as she stroked the rabbit in her arms.

  The spider made a clicking noise and reared up, raising its front legs to display two, dagger-like fangs.

  The rabbit stirred in her arms, twitching. “Are you hungry? Spider?”

  The spider clicked and reared higher.

  Jemima tossed the rabbit forward and the spider slammed it’s fangs onto the creature, puncturing the fur. The chocolate coloured rabbit tried to kick and squirm, making a shrill cry but it was eviscerated in a split second. Its cries persisted as it tried to run and its guts and entrails pulled out of its chest like a deformed string of sausages. The spider yanked at the innards with its mandibles and pinned the rabbit on its side.

  “I’m sorry, Kit Kat,” Jemima said. “But the spider is hungry.”

  Examining closer she saw the hazelnut sized heart was still beating despite hanging outside of the body. Kit Kat’s eyes were wide open in terror, her little nose was still twitching and faint squeaking cries came from her as the spider chewed at her flesh.

  ----- X -----

  Jemima awoke to sunlight streaming through her window. “I’m late,” she mumbled as she climbed out of bed. She was wearing her white dress… strange?

  She remembered putting the dress on, but didn’t remember going to bed wearing it. She rushed to change into her school uniform and made it just as Danesha rang the doorbell. “Hi. How are you feeling today?”

  Jemima smiled broadly. “Amazing… Really amazing.” She held her arms wide to hug her friend and Danesha stepped into the embrace. They held it for a length of time, feeling every ounce of friendship that Danesha could give. At the same time she slipped the letter into her pocket and whispered the phrase, “Slenderman, Slenderman, take this child.”

  “Oh I’ve got so many things to ask you,” Danesha said. “Like, oh, my God, you kissed William Warwick yesterday like a total bad-ass. Everybody in school was talking about it. And then you disappeared, where did you go?”

  Jemima grinned at her.

  The Slenderman letters were all delivered.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  In my studies I have found that demons are hard to locate as they remain in our realm for only minutes at a time. However this new creature is somehow joined to our world.

  I watched as the demon became flesh and tried to abduct a child. I believe it feeds on the souls of children to somehow remain in our realm and I am now certain it is the same creature I encountered on the road to Berlin in 1945. This creature frightens me because it has an agenda. This demon has desires.

  The Diary of Tomaz Karner

  Second encounter with Jacob

  January 8th, 1951

  ---- CHAPTER FOUR ----

  Helen Mayhew felt groggy. It was the sort of morning where her eyes wouldn�
��t open and the burn from last night’s bottle of red wine weighed her down like an anchor. She contemplated calling in sick. She could do it. Her caseload was handled, the big jobs finished; a good time to bunk off work. She was giving it serious consideration as she spiked her hair and was still considering it as she drove in. Even as she climbed the steps to the police station she was thinking about telling the desk sergeant she was feeling sick so she could go home and back to bed.

  “Miss Mayhew,” the clerk called. “I was asked to give you this as a priority. A missing girl.”

  Helen took the document and looked over it briefly. It was too late now. She had taken the folder. There would be no bunking off work. There was a photo of a pretty blonde girl, taken from a family photo that had been cropped to show only the missing, but you could still see the Christmas tree in the background. A phrase was underlined and printed in bold text. Type 1 Diabetes. Requires insulin medication and monitoring.

  Helen groaned under her breath. “And so it begins,” she mumbled.

  ----- X -----

  “Thank you for coming so quickly,” the mother said. She had a paper handkerchief in her hand that was soaked and bitty from repeatedly wiping her eyes. The home was opulent, with a Porsche on the driveway beside a more family friendly BMW.

  “When did you notice Sabina missing?” Helen asked.

  “Around seven this morning,” her father said. “We normally have to tell her to get up many times. Like most teenagers, she’s lazy… but today her bed was empty.”

  “Hmmm,” Helen said, writing it down. “And there was no indication that she had any plans to go somewhere?”

  “To what? Vanish in the night?” The father had a touch of anger in his voice.

  “She’s diabetic,” her mother said. “She won’t go more than twelve hours before she starts to fall ill and her testing kit is here. As is her phone. Her shoes. Her coat. Everything is here…”

  “...except our daughter,” the father added.

  “There is something you need to see,” the mother said. She handed over a piece of lilac coloured writing paper. Badly written, in a dark blue ink, were the words, ‘Slenderman, Slenderman, Take this child.’

  “What is this?” Helen asked.

  “It was on her pillow. When I went to wake her up this morning, she was missing and this note was on her pillow.”

  ----- X -----

  Kerry Powell was wide eyed. She sat in Miss Hoxton’s office as Helen Mayhew quizzed her. “You’re Sabina’s best friend, yes?”

  “Yes?”

  “Did she have a boyfriend? Or any older friends?”

  “No. Not at all… but she wouldn’t go anywhere without her insulin. Never. Like, in the past we were at the cinema watching a movie and she thought she’d lost her testing kit, so she made us leave in the middle of the film so she could go home for a replacement. She didn’t need it right then, but she wouldn’t be without it. Then when we left the film she found it in her bag… Like… She would never go anywhere without it.”

  “So there was nothing strange in her life?”

  There was a moment of silence in the room. Kerry Powell was caught in a pregnant pause, words ready to come out. “There was something strange yesterday.” Kerry looked to Hoxton. “Miss, do you know Jemima Collins?”

  “Oh, yes.” Hoxton hissed.

  “Yesterday, when we were having sports practice, Jemima Collins came out onto the field and was pointing at Sabina and Miss Nelstrop brought her back inside.”

  “Yes, I know about this,” Hoxton said.

  “But then, after that, during lunch, Jemima Collins was acting weird and she said to Sabina that she would be gone by morning. She said, ‘You’re vanished’. I didn’t know what it meant. I didn’t think it meant anything; but it was just weird.”

  Helen wrote the details into her notebook. “Is Jemima Collins a pupil here?”

  Hoxton and Kerry simultaneously said, “Yes.”

  “Are you sure of the words? You’re sure she said, ‘you will be gone by morning’ those were her words?”

  Kerry nodded. “William Warwick was there too and Danesha Pierce and I think Nicole Webster. You can ask them about it too... She has been acting very weird.”

  Hoxton let out a sanctimonious, “Huh!” that drew Helen’s attention. “She has been acting abominably.” The headmistress spoke to the policewoman directly. “Jemima Collins recently lost her mother to a car accident and has been behaving poorly in the face of bereavement.”

  “Is she here now, today? I would like to speak with her.”

  ----- X -----

  Geography class was dull. All Jemima wanted to do was watch the clock until she could go home and change into her white dress. As the bell rang for the end of lesson she was putting on her coat when Hoxton appeared at the door. “Jemima Collins, come with me.”

  They walked the corridor together, Jemima skipping to keep up. “There is a policewoman here to speak with you,” Hoxton said. “It is very serious.”

  A policewoman?

  Oh, God… her father. Something had happened to him too. First her mother, now her father. That’s why the police came. Oh, God... Oh, God, no!

  They made it to her office.

  There was a woman there with short blonde spiky hair wearing a blue suit.

  “This is Collins,” Hoxton said as she went to her seat. Jemima remained standing. Her father. Oh God, not her father.

  “Hello, Jemima. My name is Detective Helen Mayhew. I need to speak with you about Sabina King.”

  Jemima’s faced suddenly dropped. “Huh? About Sabina? This is not about my father?”

  “Your father?”

  “I thought you had come to tell me my father was dead,” Jemima replied with palpable relief. She even laughed a little at herself for getting so worked up.

  Hoxton coughed to seize attention. “Miss Collins, this is not a laughing matter.”

  Jemima nodded but held a smirk across her face, “Oh, sure… I’m sorry, I don’t know, my mind went to the worst thing… You were saying about Sabina?”

  “As I was saying, my name is Detective Helen Mayhew. I’m a police officer and I specialise in matters of child protection.”

  “Okay?” Jemima looked the woman over. She spoke softly but with a firmness to her voice.

  “Sabina King went missing from her home overnight; and I would like to hear your explanation.”

  Jemima touched her scar and grimaced slightly. “My explanation of what?”

  “Do you know where she is?”

  “No.”

  “Are you friends?”

  “Definitely not.”

  “Why not?” Mayhew asked.

  “Because she’s a bully. She’s not my friend. She’s never been my friend.”

  “I’ve been told that you had an argument with her yesterday in the dining hall were you threatened her.” Mayhew got out a notepad. “You threatened her by saying, ‘You’ll be gone by morning’ and then ‘you’re vanished’. This morning she has vanished, we need you to explain exactly what you meant by the words you used.”

  Jemima stared back blankly. “I don’t know what you want me to say. I know nothing.”

  “Did you say those words? Did you say to Sabina King that she would be gone by morning?”

  Jemima said, “No,” but her mouth was curling into a smile. She had to fight it down. The bully girl Sabina King had messed with her, hurt her, tormented her and now Slenderman had taken her. It’s hard not to smile when a man capable of such things loves you.

  ----- X -----

  Jemima spent the day contemplating that her imaginary ghost man had actually come into the world and taken Sabina away. Could that really have happened? She didn’t talk about it until walking home with Danesha.

  “I thought they had to wait twenty four hours before someone is officially missing.” Danesha said as they walked home.

  “That might be just in the movies. Maybe it’s different if you’re
under sixteen. But this woman was a serious cow. She seriously thought I had something to do with it. Like I would know where Sabina is.”

  They were heading along the Parkland Walk towards home, close to where Sabina had pushed the slug in her mouth. “I bet now she wishes she hadn’t done that to me,” Jemima said. “I’m glad Slenderman has her now.”

  “Who has her?”

  Jemima shrugged. “Nothing. Just a crazy dream I had.”

  They walked in silence for a moment then a woman’s voice hissed at them. “Whores,” it called. Jemima and Danesha both jumped as Crazy Mary stepped from within one of the railway arches. “You are whores. Touched by Satan,” she said pointing her finger.

  The girls ran out of sudden shock rather than fear… then burst into laughter. Crazy Mary really was crazy.

  ----- X -----

  That night Jemima undressed and slipped into her white dress again. She wore the white socks up to her knees and black shoes. She was brushing her hair forward when she remembered the rabbits.

  A crazy dream of a spider the size of a dog who had eaten Kit Kat.

  She went downstairs and passed through the kitchen. Her father was sitting at the table with a bottle of whisky. “Hey, Jay,” he said quietly. “Are you going out? You look different dressed like that.”

  “I was trying on old clothes, seeing if there was anything to throw away… I’m just going to feed the rabbits.”

  She stepped out into the garden and opened the rabbit hutch. Snowy was there and she took the white rabbit in her arms to stroke. “Where’s Kit Kat, huh?” she asked. “I know I dreamed of feeding her to the spider, but maybe it really happened.” She stroked the rabbit to soothe it. “If it comes back, Snowy. I’ll have to feed you to it. I’m sorry, but you’re spider food now.”