What Is Love?

Chapter Five

The Slender man


I sent Masky to watch the human female that night, seeing as how I had other obligations - every new victim meant there was quite a bit of research to do - not that I minded particularly. It was all part of the game.

My dwellings at the moment were quite comfortable. Currently, I was residing in an abandoned paper mill between Mexico Beach and Port Saint Joe. It was a rather large complex and few people ventured on the property, so I had a fairly decent amount of privacy. It had only been shut down for five years and thankfully it hadn't yet become any teenage gang's "hangout" spot. However, because it was so recently closed there were humans that returned on occasion to remove some sort of equipment or what not and haul it away with them. They were easy enough to avoid, however, so it was of little importance.

The former company president's office had been taken over as my own, and that office is where I now sat, shuffling through papers and reading school, health, and work records on a certain young woman. I needed to know everything I could about her.

The woman's name was Danielle Victoria Dare and she was a twenty-two year old only child and orphan. Her parents had died when she was twelve - apparently they were murdered. The news article about their deaths was brief and not very descriptive unfortunately, so it was difficult for me to glean much information about the incident.

Moving on, her school records were riddled with accounts of skipping, fighting, and disrespecting teachers after her parents' deaths. Before that point she'd been a straight A student with a clean slate. Seemingly, about the time she'd started college her demeanor seemed to improve drastically for some reason unknown to the documents. Her grades improved and there were no more fights... but then she dropped out her sophomore year and never returned.

I was still there going over documents about one the next morning when there was a hesitant knock on my door. I looked up, surprised. "Who is it?"

"Masky, sir."

"Why aren't you watching the human?" I demanded angrily and the only reply from the other side of the door was a small whimper. Running a hand over my blank face, I growled. "Come in." My proxy opened the door and nervously stepped inside. Instantly I noticed the scuff on the forehead of his mask and the small trickle of blood running down his hair line, highlighted by the starkness of the white mask and his darker brown hair. "What happened?" I asked, rising to my feet.

Masky cowered before me. "She- she - the girl - she saw me an-and she threw a rock at me," he stuttered, looking both terrified and embarrassed.

"And you ran?" I asked, slightly surprised by my own reaction. My face didn't show it, but I was amused. So little Danielle still had some of that grade school fight in her after all?

"Ye-yes, M-master," Masky replied quivering. I could smell his fear of angering me and his fear of punishment... Luckily for him I was in a good mood.

"Go clean up. I'll see to the girl," I dismissed him. The proxy didn't have to be told twice; he scrambled out the door and was gone in a second all but for the echo of feet running down the hallway. I chuckled to myself as he fled, shaking my head at the little fool.

Turning back to the desk and the nearly exhausted piles of papers, I decided I'd just about gotten all I could from them... but still I needed more. So many pieces of this girl's story was missing. Slowly, I began to contemplate an idea - it was a little unorthodox, I had to admit, but nonetheless I decided to do it.

It occurred to me briefly that I didn't usually go this in depth when stalking my other victims, but I pushed that thought aside. This wasn't a normal victim.

She had her eyes.