The Slender Sickness

Chapter 9: The Arrival

Helping Matthew onto the couch, James let out a deep breath of relief, now just glad that his best friend is alright now. Matthew looked like he was deep in thought. Silence filling the room now. James thought back to what just happened. That weird cult, that creature... That doesn't mean that "The Operator" is gone, however.

People are still dying from what they think is a disease, yet it's something way more than that, clearly. James is unsure of whether or not he and his friend will make it, and that made him scared... But James knew he had to stay strong, and Matthew, too. He decided to break the silence between them by asking, "...Do you want a glass of water, maybe? Uh..."

Matthew looked up at him and silently nodded, still a bit traumatized over that whole... cult thing. James nodded back and quickly headed over to his kitchen to fetch him a drink. Reaching into his cabinet, he got the cup. He filled it with cold water from the faucet and stood there a few seconds, before turning around and heading out into his silent living room.

But... Something wasn't right, as he walked in. Matthew was completely missing again. James was worried once more. 'Did something happen?' He placed the cup of water on the coffee table and looked around. He noticed that his bedroom door was open, so he decided to check over there.

James walked in and saw it... Matthew was standing right in front of the window looking out into the desolate streets, like a mannequin. He was standing so still, it was almost as if he wasn't real... James cautiously walked up to Matthew. He called out his name, but Matthew didn't turn around, he just kept staring out the window.

James walked up behind Matthew and tapped his shoulder. "Matthew. Hey, buddy. You alright?"

...That was when Matthew finally turned around to face his friend.

Matthew looked almost... dead. His skin was a greyish color and his eyes looked soulless, no pupils or anything. Just whiteness... James jumped back, surprised, to which 'Matthew' made an empty smile...

JAMES: M-Matthew?!

MATTHEW: Matthew is dead...

He spoke not in Matthew's voice. But something more sinister. Something that caused James to shiver, caused his skin to crawl. The voice was not his... It wasn't Matthew, it was just wearing his skin.

JAMES: What the hell... Who are you!?

MATTHEW: You know who I am. You met me not long ago, James. Back at Matthew's home, remember?

JAMES: You... You're The Operator...

MATTHEW: Exactly. Though that is just a name given to me by my followers.

JAMES: You mean that little cult back in that forest?

THE OPERATOR: Haha, not just that small group. I have followers all over the world. Germany, France, the UK. I am everywhere.

JAMES: Why are you doing this?!

THE OPERATOR: I am the bringer of the end, the one that shall bring death to this small planet. And the one who will kill you, as well. You will join Matthew in the afterlife, reunited to suffer together in Hell.

JAMES: FUCK YOU!

THE OPERATOR: Right back at you...

Suddenly, James was thrown by an invisible force all the way across the room, hitting the ground painfully. The possessed Matthew chuckled sinisterly, a twisted smile spreading across his dead face. Matthew really is dead... And this... thing is the reason... I can see the thing now, lying on the cold, wooden floor as the silhouette of a tall man approaches me.

The Operator himself. In the flesh. A suited 10-foot tall man with no facial features to speak of, and 4 dark tentacles protruding from the demon's back slowly. If that monster did have a mouth, it would be smiling right now... This thing killed my best friend, my only friend. This monster is destroying the whole world in a wave of madness.

I have to do something. If I'm dying, then I'll die fighting...

When the thing got close enough, it bent down at an attempt to grab me, but I was able to sock the creature in its chin and roll out of the way. I got up with an aching back and sprinted toward the door. But abruptly grabbed by the creature's extra tendrils, pulling me back toward the thing. I can't let this happen. I need to fight.

I practically pried the creature's disgusting tentacles off me and ran back toward the kitchen. In the kitchen, I knew exactly what to do. It was obviously, pretty much being pointed out to me by the sunlight shining through the window. The oven...

I could hear the demonic creature and see its large shadow on the wall as it got ever-so-closer to the kitchen. I quickly ran toward my oven and turned the gas on with haste. After the gas turned on, I opened the door and pulled my lighter out of my pocket.

This is the way out. This is how I will destroy that fucking thing. I just know it! I tossed the lighter into the oven, the fire ignited, and the second the lighter fell into the oven, I could feel a sharp pain in my torso.

To my horror, The Operator looked down at me with no eyes. Its tendrils like claws reached down to grab me, but just that second, the monster noticed the oven. It noticed what was happening, and I could tell... that if it had eyes, they would be wide as hell right now. Just then, the sound erupted in my ears. The explosion, to be specific.

The whole room was ablaze as both I and the monster were destroyed by the extreme blast. My vision went black as I heard the creature let out a pathetic wail. This is that creature's end, as the monster's entire body was ignited by the flames, and the pale skin burned off, and the flesh was cooked in the room.

The kitchen was like a bigger oven, painfully killing both me and the monster, but it was all worth it. The creature is dead, and I will soon be at peace. No more innocent lives will be taken, and that monster will finally be gone, and everyone will be at peace knowing they're finally safe after so long.

And that's what happened. Everyone was confused. No one was getting hunted by the creature anymore. All who were under The Operator's control were free. And this whole event was just history within a year. No one was really scared of it anymore. No one would fall victim to the thing anymore. It's all over...

And that whole 'illness' thing just went down as one of the strangest events in all of history.

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The end.

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Author's Note:

I'm sorry for the long wait, but I was just handling personal stuff. But now I finally got this chapter out and done. So I'm happy about that. :)