“Uh, I think I need… ugh,” I start. I see his flashlight light, but I can’t tell what direction he pulled it out from.
“Follow the light for me.” I try to, but my vision blurs.
“Were you attacked or…?”
“I was running and- I fell…” I answer.
“Running? From…”
“I’ll explain later, but… but yeah,” I say. I can’t seem to form full length sentences.
“I think you might have a small concussion, here come with me. We’ll get you to some medical attention,” he instructs. He puts Adam and me in the back seat. I’m on the driver’s side and I lean against the window. I notice I’ve tracked a lot of mud into the car, and the rainwater is ebbing into the seats. I feel a little sorry because Deputy Yew will probably be the one to clean it up. I hold Adam’s shoulder since his left arm is broken. He’s holding his left arm, wincing.
“I hurt my arm,” he says.
“Adam that’s been, that’s… you’ll be fine,” I say.
“What about Denise and the others? They’re still at the bus?” he asks.
“Adam, that accident…” I try, but I give up. It’s not worth the energy to speak. I lean against the headrest and let out a little laugh. We both made it! We both escaped, for now at least. I thought he wanted me to stay in exchange for Adam though. I thought he wanted me for certain.
Deputy Yew is on his radio. “…Yes that’s correct. I have both of the Redwood children. Alyssa found the boy,” he explains. I look through the front window but my vision blurs again, damn concussion.
As my vision returns I see something far ahead in the road. It looks like a person and I brace myself for Deputy Yew to slam the brakes and slam my already weakened body forward. Even with a seatbelt I’m not- he’s not slowing down, and I get a closer look. It’s him! It’s The Slender Man in the middle of the road! As the car speeds closer I see him raise one of his hands out as if reaching for me. There’s an immense wave of static.
“Look out!” I scream, but it’s too late, the car crashes into the Slender Man and I watch his hand reach right through Deputy Yew and right into my face. The only thing I hear over my own scream is Slender’s laughter.
Epilogue:
Deputy Terrence Yew abruptly lost radio contact with the sheriff’s station while reporting that he had recovered Alyssa and Adam Redwood. A squad car was sent immediately to the deputy’s last known location. The responding officer/deputy reported that the deputy was dead, but Adam Redwood was alive and in the car. He had crashed into an unknown object that was at first speculated to be a hit-and-run, but collision reports indicate that the front of the car was deeply dented into a V-shape by an object that was something too slender to be any type of automobile.
The damage from the crash doesn’t appear to have been what killed the deputy. There was a large wound through the deputy’s chest that ran all the way through his seat that suggests that he was impaled. When Adam Redwood was questioned, he didn’t seem to recall anything that happened after a recent bus accident that claimed the lives of several children.
A search party was sent into the forest to find more information about the crash and to search for Alyssa Redwood. Her guitar was found muddied but intact in a pile of leaves. A small distance away from the guitar, a few members of the search party noted that one of an odd tree’s lower branches had a large amount of blood on it and around that branch was a large copper Star of David necklace that the Redwood family confirmed had been in the possession of Alyssa Redwood the last time she’d been seen…
DNA analysis of the blood sample taken from the branch revealed that it belonged to Deputy Yew. The bark on the trunk of the tree was severely gouged, and had paint marks that matched the paint of Deputy Yew’s patrol car, and microscopic bits of glass taken from the tree branch matched the glass from the windshield. The diameter and shape of the tree exactly matched the indention in the front of the car, indicating that the tree was what the patrol car had collided with, however the vehicle was found more than two miles from the tree and there were no tire marks in the leaves and mud, damage to trees between the damaged tree and the road, or other evidence that the vehicle had veered into the forest. No other signs of Alyssa Redwood were ever found.
Concept Art Section:
About the Author:
Dexter Morgenstern was born in North Carolina and has been home-schooled most of his life in part due to being diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome at an early age, which led to being somewhat socially outcast. Over time, Dexter developed a vivid imagination and love for chemistry and biology. This led him to delve into the world of science fiction and begin writing at the age of fifteen.Dexter combined his imagination with his appreciation for science, and competed in the NaNoWriMo contest in 2011 at the age of 17. He successfully finished the contest and finally drafted his first novel, “Felix Faust” as part of the Arcane Insurrection series.
Visit him at http://dextermorgenstern.com
About the Artist:
Anna is a Swedish artist and art teacher who recently moved to Washington State. She has a background within the art and media field from several art schools and universities and received her MA in 2010. Anna’s artwork mainly contains mixed media where graphical drawings and sculpture are the two main elements. She has a great interest in fantasy worlds and gathers her inspiration from the deep forests of nature, old folklore stories and things unexplained.
Copyright
Copyright © 2012 by Dexter Morgenstern
Artwork Copyright © 2012 Anna Stockbring
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission.
Kindle: October 2012