NEMOPHILIST || ej.

【 XI 】

“Always watches, no eyes.”

—

Y/N jolted awake, her heart racing as fragments of her nightmare clung to her mind. Stray bits of cotton from the torn mattress stuck to her shirt, a reminder of the rundown place she was trapped in. The darkness in the room was broken only by the faint silver light filtering through the window, casting eerie shadows across the walls. The moon hung high in the sky—it was the middle of the night.

Her breath came out in shaky puffs, her teeth chattering against the cold that seemed to seep from every corner of the cabin. She tried to pull the thin sheet tighter around herself, but it did little to ward off the chill. Her fingers were numb, and she rubbed her hands together, trying to get some feeling back into them.

There was no way she could go back to sleep—not after the nightmare. The looming presence of Slenderman in her dreams had only grown stronger, more menacing. The suffocating dread lingered, even in the waking world.

Y/N’s gaze drifted toward the door. She wasn’t foolish enough to think she could escape—she knew better than that by now. But the thought of doing nothing, just lying there with her thoughts and the lingering terror, felt unbearable. Maybe Jack had something—anything—to distract her. A book, a magazine, anything to occupy her mind.

Slowly, she swung her legs over the side of the bed, wincing as the floorboards groaned beneath her weight. She moved cautiously, every sound amplified in the stillness of the night. Y/N stood there for a moment, the cold air biting at her exposed skin, debating whether to venture out into the cabin. The silence pressed in around her, but staying in this room, alone with her thoughts, felt even more oppressive.

Y/N stood in the middle of the small, cold room, her feet tingling as they adjusted to the icy floor. The air was so still it felt like the entire cabin was holding its breath, waiting for something to happen. She glanced again at the door, the faint glow of moonlight spilling from the crack at the bottom. Her mind raced, the remnants of her nightmare still gnawing at her nerves. Staying here felt unbearable, but stepping out into the unknown wasn't exactly comforting either.

After a moment of hesitation, she tiptoed toward the door, each step deliberate and slow to avoid making too much noise. She paused with her hand hovering over the doorknob, her pulse quickening. Would Jack be out there? Would he even care if she was wandering around in the middle of the night? Probably not, she thought bitterly. He barely acknowledged her existence as it was.

Still, she had to try. The silence in her room was suffocating, and the cold only amplified the sense of isolation. She needed to do something—anything to distract herself from the creeping dread that had followed her out of her dreams.

Y/N gently turned the doorknob, flinching at the faint click it made as it unlocked. She opened the door just enough to peek through the gap, scanning the dimly lit cabin for any sign of Jack. The main room was empty, bathed in soft shadows cast by the dying embers in the fireplace. She let out a breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding.

Stepping out into the main room, she moved quietly, her eyes adjusting to the low light. The air was slightly warmer here, a small comfort in the otherwise bleak environment. Her gaze swept the room, searching for something to occupy her time. There were no bookshelves, no scattered magazines—not that she expected anything so normal in a place like this.