Slenderman Investigation 6

Something happened…something that is enough to drive anyone in my position to madness. Most of the things I've experienced so far have been physical…But this…This is the edge of madness. I mean, how am I supposed to write this without coming off like a nutcase? I know it happened, but it's so far beyond the voice of reason that I hesitate to send this message…but somehow…I know that this is hardly madness to what's in store for the future. There is no easy way to say this, but I made a commitment. I hold my commitments.

The day started as normally as these days do. My head was killing me, the normal way it does before I take the medication to stave off the "Slender Sickness". The edges of my vision…no the room itself faded into a black and white photograph of a forest. I thought it was a dream…but no matter how much I blinked, it did not go away. Soon, I was standing in a black and white version of a dead forest. The trees were bare, but they were overgrown with weeds. The silence…The silence itself was quieter than I'd ever experienced before. Not even the air moved. No factories were heard, no automobiles in the distance, no animals, no rustling of scared animals in the distance. It was as dead as a photograph. I looked down at myself to find I was dressed in a 1920s detective outfit, complete with the pipe. I tried to move, but found myself stuck to the ground as if I was still in a dream. I looked at the trees…my eyes lingered for a moment. I spotted slender legs. As my eyes traveled up, I saw the bottom of a neat suit coat…then the white tie…then what should have been the face. My vision actually crackled with television static. I could not see the Slender Man. Faster than its usual manor, it stuck its arm out, blocking its face. The fingers grew like vines, twisting like vines; almost becoming vines. My vision went black, but the outline of the hand stayed. The fingers continued to grow towards me. Then, in a child's voice, I heard it utter: "Stay with me." Then it faded just before I apparently regained consciousness.

It happened…Sometimes people will dream while they are awake in their beds…but those clothes stayed on me. I don't own any clothes like this. What am I dealing with here? Nothing man made can do this. After laughing hysterically and passing off shock, I pulled myself together and drove to the woman's house. I'd forgotten that she was in school. The parents gave me a nervous look. Normally they give me a slightly disgusted look, so they knew something was up. I wish I hid it better. But after I booked a meeting with her in school, I asked what had happened last night. The damn guidance councilor wouldn't leave. She asked how I knew, and then I shooed the councilor out of the room. He was stubborn. She had been physically visited last night. It had done pretty much the same…but this time her parents had seen it. This isn't a normal occurrence. It doesn't fit with the rest of the cases. They saw it.
At that point, I pulled out my cell phone and called up the FBI, giving them my piece. I told them I wanted to know what the hell I was dealing with, and I wouldn't take no for an answer. Of course, I had to agree with a "pledge of silence", so I can't exactly tell you the entire history of Slender Man. But I can tell everyone what it is. It is simply part of this world. It can't be controlled, it can't be measured, it can't be destroyed. It is what it is. It has had various "spin-offs" throughout history. The first known encounter was with the medieval "skeleton". Each culture has its own ancient recording of the monster, but the most recent incarnation is a malformed man in a suit. What it does is not certain. What it is is unknown. It…Its hard to explain. In fact this was probably the inspiration for "It", a novel by Stephen King. I can't be sure, but the overall pattern follows suit. The reason the FBI did not want involvement in my case is that the death rate has, and always will be 100%. There is no surviving this, not for me, not for the woman. I told her everything. She took it well. Even after I checked her for shock, she took it well. But I have to try…The town may be the abomination's dominion, but that room below the camp is special for some reason. The wells…I need to know what is in them. The wells symbolize something. Or they are some kind of catalyst. Whatever they are, they are more than mere wells. They are devices of some kind. The first one I saw appeared from nothing and began bubbling after a while. Should I destroy them? What is in them? After thinking this over, I gained mayoral permission to use diving equipment to search the well beneath the campsite. I went there with a force of police officers and my own Hazmat suit. Of course, they were skeptical, but once they entered the vicinity, they felt it. I know because they blanched. We all stopped after we heard whispering. The voices came from every direction. The men pulled out their guns. No shots were fired, but the police dogs escaped with their leashes trailing behind them. They ran back to the town. But the rest of us stayed. I was used to it, but they weren't. It took harsh coaxing to have them stay. We entered the cafeteria building, still covered in the Slenderman memorabilia. I showed them the room and we went down. I stripped down and put the suit on. With my heart pounding, I allowed myself to be lowered on a line. We had enough rope to go 1,000 feet. At a depth of 60 feet, they asked me how I was doing. I had an hour of oxygen on me, so I was doing fine. The edges were smooth and slick, covered with algae. But what came next was completely unexpected. As I was lowered, my legs came out of the water! I flipped myself around and pulled myself out…I can't explain this. I was upside down, yet the world was too. I stood upside down on what should have been the ceiling.  Even the water that dripped from me went back to the well. I gave them a signal in Morse code on the line. If I wasn't back in ten minute, yank the line. I went so far as to take the helmet off. There was even air down there. I took the line with me. But even before I took the first step, I realized I hadn't come down with something-something fatal that cripples hundreds, if not thousands of divers every year. The Bends. Caused by gas being compressed inside of the body under high pressure, this gas will form bubbles in the joints, the organs, and the bloodstream, effectively killing the victim if he does not receive some kind of treatment. But as I wondered this, I took out a light. Wherever I was, the room went on for eternity. I walked to the end of the line to find nothing. But it was damn cold in there. In the distance, however, I saw something. There was light. An orange light not unlike that of the rising sun. But the line yanked me. Hard. I think they had a winch. I barely got my helmet on before going back to the well, now bright with light. I hadn't been gone for more than five minutes, but their watches showed I had been gone for fifteen minutes. They had a friggin search light pointed down in the well. The men seemed to be the same shade as the white light they had pointed down into that well. Their faces were white. They weren't taking anymore of this place, I could tell. But then again, I do have pills to protect me from the Slender Madness. Without any real reason, we vacated the site with all due haste, like the devil was chasing us.  After we reached the house, the sheriff pulled me aside, and I quote:
Sheriff [Name whithheld], grabbing my collar: "Just what the hell have you been investigating?! What was that place?!"
Me:"I don't know, but I needed a closer look."
Sheriff:"I know when something bad has happened some place. A cold feeling crawls up my spine. But what I felt there went beyond that. People have died there, and its like I can feel every one of them. It's like I was being watched by three hundred dead kids."
Me:"Interesting way to put it."
Sheriff:"We searched some of those tunnels. The one with the steel blast door went on forever, we found out, after we cut the locks. The wide one went into a black void. The last one dumps into the city sewer. And the others have yet to be explored."
Me:"Yes, I know."
Sheriff:"Those chains…What is their purpose? You're the one investigating this. Tell me."
Me:"I wish I had an answer, but I don't."
Sheriff:"Don't give me that! What's going on in my city?!"
Me:"I'm trying to find that out. Now, if you'll excuse me, there's an entire town to be explored behind this place."
Sheriff:"A town?!"
Me:"Yes."
Sheriff:"Where's the damn FBI when you need them!"
Me:"I actually got an answer out of them. What I found was…disturbing."
Sheriff:"How disturbing?"
Me:"You'll have two more victims soon."
Sheriff:"Who?!"
Me:"Me. Me and her."
The conversation pretty much died after that. And I'm pretty much beat with writing for now. Goodbye, and I hope not for good.