Slender Horror

Chapter 5

Astral was jolted awake by a clanging sound. He got up, rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, and looked around. He saw the Swede waiting at the edge of the platform. Pewdie looked over and smiled.

"Come on, let's keep going on this game," he said.

Astral got up and grabbed the pack. He put it on and went over. "Okay..."

They went on in the woods as early as possible. They were fidgety and kept looking back behind them. They were never certain if Slender was right behind them or not. He was like a night crawler. Despite their game illusion, Astral was still terrified of Slender.

"Where do we need to go?" Astral asked nervously. "Yuma and I have not finished the game. If this is anything like the game, you should know."

Felix thought for a while. "Well, first we have to trek along a mountain. Then, we go into a cave, which sets on fire. After that, the person in the game dies because of Slender."

Astral's eyes widened, and he started trembling. "D-d-dies!? Wh-what do y-you mean!?"

Pewdie caught the distressed look in his eyes. "N-no, I don't mean that we'll die! All I said was that the person in the game died."

Astral calmed down a little. "How long will it take?"

"Dunno. In the game, it took until evening. I think that since this is real life, it might take longer."

Astral sighed. "More scares. It's too much."

"I know." Pewds looked ahead. "We have to go as fast as possible."

Just then, a wooden something was seen. Pewds glared at it as they approached cautiously. When they got closer, Pewdie's glare intensified.

"Fucking Barrels!" he muttered as they inched past.

Astral was frightened by the barrel's appearance there. "H-how did it g-get here?" he asked. "I-I thought b-barrels didn't move."

"I told you to watch out for Barrels, didn't I?"

Just as he said that, Slender appeared randomly, making Pewds and Astral jump. The turned and ran in the opposite direction, unprepared for his random arrival.

"Fucking Slender, man," Pewdie gasped when they stopped. "If Stephano were here, he would have slaughtered that Barrel!"

"If Stephano were here, we would be in Amnesia," Astral added. "But, I would rather face the Bro than face a faceless man who can kill you at first glance of his faceless face."

"Nah, I think the Bro is worse."

Astral turned to see if anyone was following them. To his surprise, a man with a brown jacked with whitish fur covering the collar walked toward them. He had brown hair, kind of tanned skin, black pants, black shoes, and sunglasses on. Upon closer inspection, he also had a small necklace with a barrel on it.

"P-Pewdie," Astral whispered, tapping Pewdie's shoulder. "Who's that? He has a small barrel on his necklace."

Felix looked over and strained his eyes. "Looks like..." He looked closer. "Is that Barrel? That son of a bitch!?"

"B-Barrel? That barrel we saw earlier can turn into a human?"

"Ah, Felix," Barrel called. "It's a surprise to see you here. I didn't think you were willing to face Slender again. Who's your ghost friend?"

Astral yelped and hid behind Pewdie. Pewds ignored Barrel.

"Let's keep going. We gotta get there as soon as possible."

Barrel grabbed at Felix's shoulder before they got past. "You won't ignore me. I came here to warn you that Slender and the others will keep your little friend away for a while. Don't expect to get him back for quite a while."

Astral froze. He grew serious for the first time since all this started. "What do you mean by that, Barrel?"

"I mean what I said, and I said what I meant." There was an amused tone in his voice. "I also have a few more friends in those places where you fear. We thought it would be a fun game."

"Ignore him," Pewdie insisted, shrugging off Barrel's hand. "Let's keep going."

"Fine. Ignore me all you want. It still won't change the fact that we took your friend hostage. Keep looking if you want. He won't be here for much longer." With that, Barrel left.

Pewds and Astral kept walking and walking. It seemed like they were getting nowhere. The signal tower at the top seemed miles away. Soon, it was night once more. Unfortunately, there was no shelter, and they were running out of food.

"Where do we sleep?" Astral asked nervously. "Wh-what if S-Slender f-finds us?"

"I don't know," Pewds answered, equally nervous. "I guess we camp somewhere somewhat hidden. Like a bush or something."

For the next few hours, they looked for a place that was considerably hidden. They found a hollow tree with a hole big enough for the two, and they set up the blankets. Pewds ate a little, and he fell asleep. Astral wrote a little.

"April 2, 2014

Pewdie and I have encountered a strange man named 'Barrel.' Such a strange name. Then again, he was a real barrel before he turned human and talked to us. He told us that Yuma was being kept somewhere we wouldn't find. That they would keep him from us for as long as possible. I hope we do not enter a place like Amnesia. As much as I would like to meet Stephano, Piggeh, and Mr. Chair, the Bro scares me too much. There is also the fact of the Untrustable Statues. Also the teleporting naked guys.

Wondering if there will be more scares,

Chibi Astral"

************

The next day, they woke up early. Astral poked his head out, and he yepled in astonishment at a barrel just sitting there. He stared at it for a while, eyes wide with fear and surprised. He quickly withdrew back into the hollow tree.

"A b-barrel is out there!" Astral hissed, wondering how it moved. "How d-did it get here!?"

"The Barrels have their ways," Pewds replied. He got up after eating a little more. "Come on. We have yo get to that tower."

So, on they trekked. They climbed the mountain as fast as they could before night.