Survive him, Thrive with him.

Chapter eighteen

The call I got was weird, but the way her mother described her freaked me out enough to call up my friends and dash to her house.

She described her as hysterical, talking to herself and making symbols on the wall with black paint. The Slender Man was breaking her, turning her insane.

I wasn't going to let him.

Claire's mom leads me up the stairs, her hands trembling and tightly gripping a crucifix. She believed that demons were possessing her, but she actually wasn't far off.

When we pass the bathroom she stops, gesturing me forward.

"I d-didn't know what to do. I didn't know how to contact Dislen, so I called you. Please." She stammers.

"Wait. Who's Dislen?" I ask.

"Y-you don't know? You haven't been fighting someone over Claire?" She asks, tilting her head in confusion.

"Full name?" I ask.

"Dislen Dermen." Her mom replies.

"Dislen Dermen? I don't know a Dislen Der..."

Wait.

I stop speaking when the words slur together a bit, the new one sounding familiar.

"Di Slender men. The Slender Man!" I exclaim, turning to Claire's door and twisting the knob carefully. Whispers were heard from beyond it, and I brace myself as I slip inside carefully.

"I know it is, it-" she stops speaking as her head snaps to me, eyes glassy and appearance terrifying. She was pale, deathly pale, and seemed to be getting paler the more I looked at her. Her skin, red sports bra, and shorts were stained and blotted with some sort of black substance, not to mention how her hands, covered with it, were tracing on the wall she was kneeling in front of. She had the proxy symbol on her stomach, her belly button missing from it's place in the center of the crossed out circle.

Anger flares in my chest and I feel my jaw tighten.

"Claire?" I ask carefully.

"Claire? Honey?" Her mom repeats, walking in as well, crucifix in hand. Claire turns back to the circle she had on the wall and slashes it with her hands, giggling to herself then shivering.

"What?" She snaps, annoyance clear in her voice.

"What did she say about this Dislen?" I whisper ask her mother as she presses against the door in fear.

"Dislen? Oh, Dislen. Why, he's right here!" Claire exclaims, standing up and walking to the side of her bed, placing a hand on something invisible.

Wait! He's here!?

I press myself against the door as well, my eyes wide.

"What does she mean?" Her mom asks.

"It can't be right." I mumble, hoping they got here faster to help.

"In the name of Jesus, I command you demon to leave my daughter alone!" Her mother shouts, holding the crucifix out in front of her. Claire starts to walk towards us, but is stopped like something was holding her, then she raises a few feet into the air.

Her mother moans in terror and the crucifix drops to the ground.

"No. They won't be taking me away. You don't need to worry." Claire mutters, staring at us with narrowed eyes.

"Jacob?" Her mother whines. I gulp and step away from the door carefully, putting my hands up in surrender.

"You won't kill him. I still care." Claire keeps mumbling.