It was a cold night when Emily decided to take a walk. If she had known about the thing in the woods she certainly wouldn’t have gone. She wasn’t fortunate though, and did go; so this will be the story of Emily.
The door creaked as Emily slowly slid through. She winced hoping that her parents didn’t hear it. As quiet as possible she tiptoed about twenty feet away so she was safe from getting caught. “I don’t get what the big deal is,” Emily said to herself, “They’re just a bunch of stupid woods. I should be allowed to go wherever I please. I am certainly not scared of woods!” She quickly lodged her right foot into the fence, and began climbing. When she had finally reached the top, she swung her leg over and jumped down. Whispers started to fill the woods but she just shook it off and continued her journey. “What’s that?” She screamed as a tree seemed to jump in front of her, “Just a tree. Just a tree.”
Wandering alone in the woods was bad enough in the daytime, but at night it was dangerous. Emily started to think aloud, “Why is it that I came here in the first place? What am I trying to prove?” As regret lingered throughout the woods, Emily tripped over a tree root and landed flat on her face. She heard a voice, almost like a mocking laugh. Now she was determined to make it to the other side of the woods where an old playground lay.
“Hey what’s this?” A note fluttered down and landed on Emily’s lap. She read the note aloud,
‘“You can’t run. You can’t hide.’ What is this all about?”
“Go back while you still can!” A voice that resembled her grandmother’s shouted out.
“It can’t be,” Emily thought to herself, “My grandmother died eight years ago.”
What Emily didn’t know though, is how her grandmother died. She died one night when she got lured into the woods. It was a cold night, and she went out to check on the dogs. The dogs ran into the woods and so did her grandmother. She was never seen again.
“Gram, is that you?” Emily questioned the voice.
“Go back while you still can!” The voice repeated, “Don’t take my fate!”
Emily turned around and started to head back, but it was too late. The pounding started up all around her, just like it had eight years ago. It came from the fence next to her house, so again she changed her mind and turned her back to the fence. Sprinting as fast as she could, Emily tried to pace herself. Off in the distance she could see the old abandoned playground. A breath, a heavy breath from running, breathed down the back of her neck. Now, terror wrapped around Emily like a snake with its prey. Sprinting now, Emily slowly starts to turn around.
“Don't turn around! Don't look or it takes you!” her grandmother's voice seemed to wake her up.
She had been running for five minutes when the drums suddenly stopped. Now as the worry left her body she could begin to walk again. Twenty feet away from the playground five papers lay, ready to be picked up. The papers have waited there for eight years so they could feel the warmth of a person again. Slowly, she reached down and grabbed them. These had been notes from the previous victims of the thing in the forest, including her grandmother. Holding the notes close to her chest she jogged the rest of the way to the playground.
Sitting down on the nearest bench she uses the starlight to make out the words on the paper. The first one Emily picks up she reads aloud, ' “Don't look or it takes you.' Hey isn't that what gram yelled to me?” The next note frightened her a little more, ' “Always watches, no eyes.”’ Emily didn't have any time to read the rest of the notes, because the drumming had started up again. Knowing what this meant, she quickly stood up and started running again. This time she didn't know where she was going.
Running blindly through the dark forest, Emily spotted a faint path leading up to an old bathhouse. Quickly she ran into the bathhouse, and hid in a corner. Hugging her knees up to her face she tried to hide her tears. Rocking back and forth on the cold tile floor she heard something crinkle behind her. Lifting her head up cautiously she turned around and to her surprise a note was taped to the wall behind her. As soon as she grabbed the note, thunder pounded in her ears.
In a slow whisper she reads the note, ‘“Help me.”’ She turns the note around and recognizes her grandmother’s signature. All of the tears that Emily had held inside of her for so long came rushing out at once. Reaching inside of her pocket for a crumpled up piece of paper, Emily decided to write her own note. She looks around on the tile floor for something to write with. Writing as neat as she can she reads it at the same time, “Beware the woods, Slenderman is waiting.” Emily crumpled up the paper once more and looked around for a place to hide it. Slowly lifting one of the tiles she tucks her note underneath. Another note lies under the tile. Making sure not to pick up the note she reads it, ‘“Leave me alone.”’ Terrified Emily grabs the note, the eighth note, and begins to run. Stubbing her toe on multiple tree roots she continues to run ignoring the pain.
“Run! Run! There is not much time left now! He is coming for you; he is going to take you away!”
Lightning crashes across the sky and thunder booms all around. A static sound starts to fill her ears. Two stiff, bony hands grab Emily’s shoulders and turn her around slowly. A blank white face stares at Emily. Slowly she falls to the ground, dead.
