Nightmares and Reality

title of your story

Chapter 2- Regret

Tom’s grip on your hand tightens as you stand at the entrance to the forest. (Turn back. Take him home.) But you just can’t bring yourself to do so. Dark is coming fast. Thankfully, you remembered to bring flashlights for you both. “Stay with me and don’t leave my side.” You hiss as you hand him his flashlight. “We should just use one right now. Saves the batteries.”

“Okay.” He says to you, before giving you a look of worry.

“Tom. Are you sure you want to do this?”

“Y-Yes.” He nods, trying to be assertive.

You ignore the consequences of what could happen and without haste, enter the forest. You can see your breath in the air. Tom shivers. “So... How long does it take... Him... To come?”

“Not long. Not long at all.”

“How will I know if it’s him?”

“You just will. All of your hairs on your body will rise, your head will spin and your heart will physically hurt. The first time you see him, your body will have this crazy urge to be sick.”

“How many times have you seen him?”

“I can’t remember... More than enough.” You grunt.

“What does he do to you?”

“I... I’ve heard he takes you somewhere... Somewhere horrific where people die because they are driven to madness due to tricks of the mind. The twilight zone. A place where reality and fantasy are intertwined. I have never gotten close enough to him to be caught. When he is near, it is the sign to run. It’s all a game. His little game.” You have the images of him in your head. They frighten you. The first time you had ever seen him, he was up on the hill. Watching you. You could feel his non- existent eyes bore into yours. You felt sick, lightheaded.. A feeling of nausea crept into you. You couldn’t move. It was as though your body was glued to the spot. You felt like you heard him calling your name. He took a step towards you. You could see him a bit more clearly now. You stared at his suit. It was the perfect fit for his lanky, tall, slender figure. Others who have laid eyes upon this creature call him the Slender Man. Your vision started to blur as he got even closer, so then all you wanted to do was run.  That night, you never told anyone. You were too scared to. But the second time you saw him, you knew that was when you had to tell someone. You told Tom, but he thought it was a joke. You mentioned it to your parents, they just thought you were mad. As you continued to see him, you spoke up about it, but the more you said, the more complications there were in your relationships with the people you told. Your mother wanted you to go into a psychiatric unit, but you begged her not to and resorted to not saying anything when you did see this creature. As time passed, Tom grew worried about you as you never used to tell him anything. You grew so far apart. Your relationship with Tom continued to crumble and he never acted like he cared about you anymore and wanted the same as your mother did- To go into a mental hospital. Your father somehow believed you, but never said anything to your mother about it. But then the day he did, there was a massive amount of conflict between your parents and eventually your father got up one day and left. He couldn’t stand to see what your mother wanted to do to you. He knew there was nothing he could do. Two weeks after your father had left; your arms were covered in scratches, deep gashes and bruises. Your mother thought at first you were self-harming, but she didn’t know. She never did. She wouldn’t listen. You didn’t know what was happening to yourself. Was the cutting really you? This was driving you crazy and eventually, you got so depressed that- consciously- you started cutting yourself. You were confused and didn’t know what to do. You were trapped and the decision you have just made today may be the worst decision you have made in your entire life.

“Amy? Amy? Are you alright?” Tom waves his hand in front of your face. You break out of your train of thought, snapping to attention.

“Yeah...”

He pulls you into a hug. “Are you sure YOU want to do this?”

“Tom, I’m not backing out. I want to prove this one thing to you.”

 He leans down to you and presses his lips, softly onto yours.

“Okay.” He caresses your cheek.

Your heart rate increases as you get deeper into the forest. You take a quick glance at Tom. His face is a sickly white. You feel your hands trembling. Tom gives one of them a reassuring squeeze. You smile, remembering he’s with you.

Dark has fallen and still there is no sign of ‘him’. You flick on your flashlight, turning to the left.

“Amy, come on. It’s dark. I think we should just go home.”

You turn behind you, wishing you hadn’t... it’s there. HE’S there. You feel a pang of nausea; you’re frozen to the spot.

“Amy Wh-“ Tom falls silent. He sees him too. Your heart thumps against your ribcage. You feel like it’s going explode. You are completely silent, holding your breath, while taking in the complexities of this thing. You steal a glance at tom before shouting, “RUN!” Tom does not hesitate and neither do you. You both run. All you can say now to tom is four words, “I told you so.” Your breath is caught in your throat; you have to remind yourself to keep breathing.

“I’m sorry!” He shouts to you. You look at him and say nothing. You then curse as your flashlight slides from your grasp and hits the forests floor. You turn to look at tom again, but see he isn’t there. You panic. You stop and turn round expecting the creature to be chasing you, but instead you turn round to find nothing. You are left alone, cold and vulnerable all in the dark.