Game on

Prologue

Deep in a forest, in the middle of the night, a small light bobs along a makeshift trail. Sticks snap, branches are pushed aside by small, cut hands. Ragged breathing comes out as leaves tear at the face of a terrified 8-year old boy. "Come on, come on!" He mutters. "It's supposed to be by the big oak tree. Where's the big oak tree!?" A quiet breeze fills the forest, sounding like a council of bark-clad elders,discussing whether to answer the child. The boy freezes, like a deer in headlights, fearing his pursuer had caught up to him. The breeze slowly dies down, causing the forest to go quiet. For a moment, the boy remains like where he stands, a pale ghost in a sea of grey and black. Then, the words "Move it Shawn. It's probably right behind you." comes out of the small throat of the child. With that, Shawn took 10 steps forward then stopped, frowning. Something wasn't right. Why was there a path up ahead? He decided not to question it, and ran down the path. He followed the narrow dirt path until he reached a massive oak. Shawn gazed at the hulking figure in the darkness. "I guess I better get started." As he circled the oaks large trunk, Shawn noticed that there was a piece of paper attached to it a few steps ahead. As he reached the paper, he noticed something on it. On it was a crudely made figure drawn on the paper and the words don't turn around was on the paper. Naturally, Shawn turned around. Suddenly, Shawn was lifted up off his feet, by his throat. A voice said clear out of the darkness,"well, well, well. So it ends at the tree after all." As Shawn looks up, he notices the thing that caught him has no face, and where the face usually is, it was snow white. "You see, Shawn. I figured you would save the tree for last. Almost everyone else does. So I had my friend wait for you here." The owner of the voice walked over next to the pale-faced creature and looked up at Shawn,the moonlight catching the holes in his face, the way his eye seemed almost white. Shawn gasped seeing this. "N-no!" He choked out. "You can't be real. Y-you d-d-died years ago!" "Better believe it Shawny boy. The Video game Killer is back, and this time, nobody and I mean Nobody is going to stop me from what I started." The man turned his back to Shawn and growled to the blank faced being,"He's all yours, slenderman. Enjoy." As the world slowly turns black, the last thing Shawn hears before the darkness envelopes him is,"Game over, Shawn. Game over."

Later, on a hill in the forest, the man sits on a rock, gazing out at the landscape with Shawn's flashlight in his disfigured hand. Slenderman appears in front of the man and kneels. "All I need, my friend, is two more players to 'play' our games. Then we and the rest of us can show the world the true meaning of 'Immersive entertainment." A breeze causes the forest to break out in whispers over this new development. The man drops the flashlight, causing the light to go out.