The Slender Man (a Hetalia fanfiction - Book 2)

Chapter 8 - Dying Hopes

"Geez, how big are these woods?" America groaned.
"It'll take forever to find them!" Romano scowled, brushing his hand through his already messy hair.
"Maybe we can split so it'll be easier to-"
"No!" I exclaimed, cutting Spain off and everyone turned to look at me, shocked at my sudden disagreement and looking confused.
"I mean...like you said, Spain, it'll be dangerous, especially if we split up. We'll just get even more lost if we're separated." I tried to explain, averting my gaze away.
England sighed. "She's right. It's best to stick together for now."
I nodded, relieved that he agrees. I'm afraid that, in fewer numbers, we'll be in more danger. The last thing I want to see is someone I care about ending up like that young girl.
"Let's just keep walking. We'll find the hotel sooner or later, right?" America said with a courageous grin.
"Oui," France nodded.
My exhale was long, but silent. We continued to walk and as we did, my head spun around as new thoughts formed.
Even if we do find the hotel, this game won't be over. The only way it'll end is if we find all the notes, or if he gets us all.
He'll keep hunting us, always following, always watching, until we find the notes. And if we don't...
I swallowed hard. I can't think about what would happen to us if we were caught by Slender Man.
I won't let what happened in my dreams happen to them. I can't let that happen.
So we need to find all eight notes...or he will continue to haunt us.
Even if I have to find the notes by myself. From what it seems, they have no clue what's going on, or what to do...even though I told America and England. I'm on my own in this one. Well, unless we can find Italy. He seemed to understand what was happening even before we woke up here. If he knows what to do, then I'm sure we could all make it out of here alright.
"Hey, guys, do you see that?"
I looked over at Canada, who is now pointing ahead of us.
I looked also, and then saw what I thought I would never see. An opening within the trees in the distance.
My eyes widened. Can we really get out of the woods?
I looked at the others. They don't seem to have heard the poor Canadian, who's shoulders are now slumped.
"Do you guys see that?" I repeated what Canada said, pointing ahead of us.
They looked up also, most of their eyes widening.
"Is that what I think it is?" America squinted his eyes, then widened them, a huge smile forming on his face. "Holy shit, it is!"
"Finally!" England exclaimed.
"About fucking time," Romano muttered, and then we began to run towards that opening.
I noticed as we got closer, I can see the beach, and then the ocean. A soft, orange glow lingered at the horizon from the sun that had recently set.
We burst from the trees and several of us sighed in relief.
"Yessss!" America threw his arms up, breathing in the ocean air.
In the sky, I can see a few clouds here and there, the crescent moon is almost in the middle of the sky now, and the stars! There's so many, and it's so beautiful! It's like I'm looking into the galaxy itself.
"It's beautiful out here...!" I breathed in a tone of wonder and awe.
"Good thing we got out of there, finally." Canada said, smiling softly.
"Hey, dudes, let's walk along the beach!" America suggested with his usual grin. "We're on an island, so we're bound to find the hotel, right?"
"Si!" Spain nodded. "I can't wait to finally get back, and then we can all have some churros!"
"Hell yeah, dude!" America agreed with his trademark, or, as he would call it, his heroic, laugh.
So then we began to walk along this beach. The fine sand is soft under our shoes, and the sound of waves, the small breeze...it all should be soothing. The stars are beautiful, but it doesn't comfort me.
I looked to my right, and on the other side of the beach is the woods we've just escaped from.
That woods would have looked beautiful if I didn't know that something dangerous is lurking in there.
I turned away from the trees and looked straight ahead. I soon realized I'm trailing behind everyone else. I bit my lip and looked down at my feet. I didn't notice until now that they are aching.
We walked for a while, but then I felt an uneasiness. As if...the air is heavier. The atmosphere is darker. Well, I know that the light from the sunset is now almost completely gone, but it's just that the air feels...not right. Empty, even.
"Rosalie? Are you alright?"
I looked up to see Romano looking at me, an eyebrow raised.
I pressed my lips together before I answered. "Yeah, I guess I'm just...confused and tired."
I tried to give him my best reassuring grin, which is most likely not very reassuring. He studied me for a moment.
I know he knows me pretty well, so he could probably see right through me, but, thankfully, he didn't say anything. He doesn't want to pressure me further, and I know how unconfident he is about his words when it comes to assurance. As much as I'd love him to assure me, we both know that assurance isn't what we need to do.
We continued to walk in silence, and it's not a pleasant silence. The sounds of the waves are the only things I can hear and it's just so...dead. I noticed the air getting heavier and I took a deep, and a bit shaky, breath.
I glanced at a group of jagged, dark rocks not far from us. It has a strange...alluring feeling to it. Like something is calling me to those rocks.
The rocks are illuminated by the moonlight that is now above us, which allowed me to notice something small and white.
My breath caught as I studied it in panic, but then I realized that it's not Slender Man.
It's another note.

Russia's P.O.V

How much farther do I need to go to reach the edge of these woods? I've been here for quite a while now.
Have I been walking in circles?
"Hmm..." I rubbed my chin as I looked around. And lately, I have seen a strange, and very tall and thin figure, it's even taller than me. It's shaped into a person, but it's obvious it isn't human.
My head would hurt whenever it's nearby or if I look at it. Another unusual thing I've noticed about it is that it has no face. It seems to have arms and legs and a head, but no facial features or any real detail to it.
Not long ago, I've felt a strange breeze and heard whispers, telling me to run away from the odd figure. Ever since, I've felt like I was being watched, even now.
It doesn't scare me, of course. Actually, it's more irritating than anything.
And now, I'm walking aimlessly through these trees in hopes of finding something that can tell me where to go. It's very strange that I no longer have any sense of time or direction. I had used the sun for directions, but that's set now, and the moon can't help right now since it's in the middle of the sky.
Then, not far from me, I heard a snap of a twig breaking.
I paused in my walk, listening immensely on what sounds like footsteps. Sounds like just one person. But then I heard the person murmuring.
"How long will it take to get out of here? My feet are killing me, aru..."
I blinked in surprise. "China? Is that you?"
I heard the footsteps pause. "Russia? Where are you, aru?"
I squinted so I can see better, and I found him, not that far from me.
Then I walked over to him, my footsteps silent, and I am now standing behind him.
"Russia?" He called out, not seeming to notice my presence.
"I'm right here."
China let out a yelp as he spun around to face me, his expression frightened, but once he realized it's me, his face flattened into a pout.
"Don't do that, aru! You scared me!"
I smiled. "I'm sorry, but you wanted to know where I was, da?"
His shoulder slumped. "Yes, but don't sneak up on me like that, aru."
"How did you get here?" I tilted my head as I asked.
He shrugged. "I don't know, aru. I just woke up and found myself here..."
"Da, me, too. We should get out of these woods together, da?"
He nodded, and then we continued to walk through the trees.
As we did, that same dark feeling was at my back.
Why can't that strange figure leave me alone?

Italy's P.O.V

"Ve, it's dark out now..." I whimpered, keeping close to Japan, who nodded.
"Hai, it is."
"I wonder if the others are looking for us right now?"
"They might be, since they would have noticed our disappearance by now."
I bit my lip softly as worry had my eyebrows furrowing.
"How much longer will it take to get out of here?" I asked in a trembling voice.
Japan hesitated this time before answering. "I...I wish I knew, Italy. These woods seems unlike any other. It shouldn't be this big, since we're on an island and most of the island is taken up by the properties of the airport and the hotel...we should have found clearing by now."
No one said it out loud, but I know we are both thinking it. Something strange is going on.
I know about that scary man following us, but then there's these woods...it's endless. The only light we really have now is the moon, and it's not much since there's trees above us. We walked through several beams of the soft light.
It actually makes the woods look even more scary. Every once in a while, I see that man at the corner of my eye, but when I look, he's not there. Sometimes he's in a beam of light, sometimes he's just within the shadows. I don't know what is worse: not seeing him and not knowing he's there, or seeing him and knowing he's there.
Either way, he's always here, there, somewhere, watching us, and it just makes me so terrified.
I realized I'm whimpering again once I felt my bottom lip quivering.
I wish Germany was here...he's always so brave, and sometimes he even calms me down when I'm this scared. He would know what to do in this kind of situation.
Of course, I'm glad Japan is here, but it's never the same without Germany.
We walked for a bit longer until Japan abruptly stopped walking, so I stopped, too. I noticed how focused his expression is now and he tilted his head to the side a bit, as if he was listening to something.
"What is it, Japan?" I whispered, but he kept silent, so I did too. I swallowed hard in fear. The man is nearby again, isn't he?
Then I heard it, the sound of voices, just in the distance.
They're too far away for us to tell who the voices belong to, and we can't understand what they're saying, but we can hear them.
"Italy, follow me." Japan whispered, then began to silently walk towards where we hear the voices, so I followed, being as quiet as I could.
As we got closer to the sources of the voices, they became more clear.
"...where...hell...ing?"
"I...know...confusing..."
We got closer, then the voices are ever more clear.
"West, what are we going to do?"
"I don't know, Preußen. If I did, I wouldn't be lost in these damn woods!"
My eyes widened when I realized who those voices belonged to, and I think Japan realized, too.
I took another step, but then a twig broke under my weight and I jumped a bit.
"Who's there!?"