Game on

Level 4: Incentive.

As we trudged through the forest, Ivan tried to cheer me up. "Hey, it's not real. The games messing with your head." Whipping around on Ivan,I threw him against a tree and pointed above us, where another body, this one of a 12-year old girl with her bottom jaw ripped off. "Is this someone we know? No. Let me get something in that head of yours: SLENDERMAN WILL NOT STOP! He will hunt us down, and kill us because we are to him little kids who disobeyed their parents!  There is no reset button, Ivan! WE ARE GOING TO FUCKING DIE, AND ITS ALL BECAUSE OF THAT ASS FROM EARLIER!" Ivan silenced me with a strong  slap to my face. The crack of the slap echoed for a while before dying out. "I know your scared." Ivan said softly. "I am too. But that doesn't mean we are going to lie down and die. We've beaten this game before. Granted, it was out there, in safety, but now it's time to show this game how we roll." Staring at Ivan,I realized that he was right. A slow clapping filled the forest. Simultaneously looking up, we saw the man again, clapping almost mockingly. "Well. That was certainly a heartfelt speech." "Alright, who the hell are you, and what the hell do you want?!" I asked. "My, my. That isn't very nice... Anyways, my name is... Well known among the living... And the gamers." "Phillipé Martinez Jose Gonzales?" Ivan cracked, getting a smile out of me. "No." Said the man, stepping into our flashlight beam, giving us a nice view of his face. "I was known to the living as John Cable, The video game killer. I am now known simply as Glitch." I couldn't take my eyes away from the holes that riddled his face, his mouth perpetually twisted into a leer by a large scar that ran all the way to his left eye. Every time he blinked, I could see the muscles convulsing and twitching in his face. " I came here to speed things up a bit. Here." He hands me a page, his face not giving any hint of mischief. " I took the liberty of getting the seventh page. All you have to do... Is go to the rocks." I took the page, then looked down at the page. It read I have Tyson. If you want him, then keep playing.  My knees buckled as I read and reread the paper, trying to make sense of it. "You... You bastard!" I said, looking up at him through teary eyes. " I'll kill you!" I swung a big right hook at Glitch and connected. CRACK! I sent him flying into a tree. As he recovered, I saw a flash of fear dart across his face, before his Cheshire Cat grin returned to his face. " not bad, Q. But don't let your temper get the best of you. Especially for Tyson's sake." I froze mid step. How could I have been so stupid? "Now, that your calm. I would recommend you head to the rocks. I want a good show. Bye bye!" With that, Glitch disappeared into a gust of leaves. I immediately tore down the path to where the rocks would be, Ivan lagging behind,despite the fact that he can out run me in.000003 milliseconds. By the time we got to the clearing, Ivan was dragging behind me from hanging on to my shirt. "Quinton, Chill! It's a trick! How could this Glitch guy have Tyson?"  I stopped in my tracks and silently pointed at the rocks, where a piece of shiny cloth flapped in the night air. "That's part of his shirt. He loves freaking athletic shirts." The breeze dislodged the cloth and it floated to my feet, where I picked it up and put in my pocket. The cold drilling feeling slowly returned. "Ivan. Slender's on his way. Get the page. I'll take care of this." "Quin.." "Just go!" I shoved him towards the rocks. Just as I did,  Slenderman popped out of nowhere, and he had his famous tentacles coming from his back. Ivan took off for the rocks, with Slenderman close behind. "Good God, I must be stupid." I muttered as a picked up a good sized rock and took aim. "Hey, you skeleton in a cheap suit! over here!" I chucked the rock at It's head, nailing it pretty hard with a loud Crack.  I got his attention away from Ivan, but now I had a 8 foot tall,very pissed off German monster coming straight for me. dodging and dipping between the rocks that poked out of the ground, I unintentionally caught one of his "limbs" between two rocks. "This is for Shawn, you freak of nature." I said as I grabbed hold of the cold, sticky appendage, stretched it out, and brought my elbow sharply down on it. A ear-piercing scream came out of where the face was on Slender, and the tentacle was sharply retracted, but not before I saw that the retreating appendage was at a odd angle. "He can be hurt." I said shocked. "Ivan! Slender can be hurt!" I got a glimpse of Ivan's grey hoodie flash by before I was yanked off my feet and slammed into a large, flat rock. The world seemed to go quiet and I heard a faint static, as if someone forgot to tune a car radio. Looking down, I saw the white hand of Slender, holding me by my throat. "Quinton!" Ivan's voice echoed, as if he was down a tunnel. I looked up to see Slender holding up one tentacle, aimed directly at my heart like a blackened arrow. I closed my eyes and got ready. "Quinton! I got it!" Ivan said, seemingly closer. My eyes fluttered open as I saw Ivan leap over Slenderman's head, and grab my jacket sleeve."Quin.We beat the game!"and with that, we both seemed to fall into the rock, into the darkness, and I knew no more.