For the time being, until I decide whether or not I'm committed or not to doing this, I decided to give writing horror stories a shot. I think it'll be continuing. Maybe not. I've just always loved a good creepy pasta, so it just seems right to give the horror genre a shot.

I'll continue to post these in blogs for the amusement of others until I think the stories I write are really....I dunno. Good enough, I suppose.

     The day was almost excruciatingly normal.

     Get up.

     Go to school.

     Goof off until class started, and then be studious until lunch. Last period after that was never very productive for me. On Tuesdays and Fridays, I shared the same class (as well as adjacent seats) with my boyfriend, and we hardly ever got anything done. We'd talk about everything from our own emotions to a round of multiplayer online on the PS3. The teachers, toward the beginning of the year, attempted to try and make us shut up, but we just resorted to passing notes. He and I were both artists, his style more based around cartoons and the logos you'd see for that band 'Disturbed.' Mine ranged from anime to realism, with a bit of obscure horror and zombies to satisy the darker kid inside of me. We always enjoyed ourselves. Even when my day was bad, he managed to make things better. We shared a common love for Kpop, which only fueled our relationship further. I genuinely loved him, and I knew that he felt the same way. I was content with my life, even if it was horribly predictable. My boyfriend, we'll call him Del, always managed to make things better by saying something totally outrageous that just made my day.

     So, with Halloween approaching along with my best friend's birthday, Dell and I had to make costumes. And cool ones. It was my firm belief that Halloween was meant to be scary, so I was going to be a zombie-fied eleventh doctor (Matt Smith had become an obsession of mine). Dell had planned to be Dante from Devil May Cry. The Sunday of my friend's birthday party, I found myself in his family's condo, fixing my bowtie that I took so much pride in. Dell was complaining to his mother about how short he'd cut his own hair (a decision that he made. Honestly, he could be such a crybaby...), whilst she was explaining that she wasn't going to go buy the wig he needed until Halloween was actually close (this would be two weeks from that Sunday). I left the bathroom and met to two of them in the kitchen, patting him on the back and assuring him that Sulia didn't care what his costume looked like.

     His mother, Miss Xang, drove us to Sulia's and told us that she'd be back for us in the morning, since I had arranged for us to spend the night there. We waved her off and headed inside. Nearly everyone was there already, dancing, namely because Sulia had banned video games- much to the guys' and my dismay. We quickly scoped out the food and Sulia, handed her her present, and then joined everyone in their merrymaking. The night was normal. Well...until Sulia's mother went to sleep, and all the goody-two-shoes that needed to go home left. Then it was just me, Sulia, Dell, Kenn, and Lia. None of us were especially 'bad' per say. We were all a bunch of nerds that met at a school for nerds. The only thing 'bad' about us was that I liked to take risks and do stupid , and Dell was spontaneous and would do anything. Kenn and I shared the same 'don't give a ' attitude, and Sulia was always up for an adventure. Lia was the only one who was remotely 'good,' but that was starting to change with her growing hatred toward her stereotypically hard asian parents.

     So crazy things that happened that night all sprouted from one thing; Sulia and I loved creepy pastas. Slender Man, Jeff the Killer, Smile Dog...all of it was like a drug to us. We loved the feeling of fear we got every time we read a truly convincing one. Feeling the need to hide under our comforter...I don't know. There was just something so cool about looking back on those emotions the morning after, when the reassuring sunlight was in your room, telling you that it wasn't real. It was a thrill. I got my particular thrill from Slender Man. He just seemed like a likely accurance. As a kid, my father would tell me der großmann stories in Deutsche. It was his special, dark little way of teaching his half German daughter how to speak her native tongue. I loved it, and I remembered the stories when I later found "Slender Man" on a creepy pasta forum. From that day forward, I'd been wanting to learn everything about him/it, and even watched all of the Marble Hornets' videos.

     Everyone shared the fascination on different levels, so when I brought it up to them, the idea of hunting for the infamous Slender Man, they all jumped on the idea. Ever so quiety, we snuck out of the house, making sure to keep the door unlocked. Everyone acted like giggling idiots as we turned the flashlights on. I lead the group, being the most fearless, along with Kenn.  All we really did was walk around the neighborhood, teasing each other and trying to spook one another. We were being teenagers. No surprise there. It was fun, and I wasn't particularly worried about anything.

     That is...until that feeling came. The same feeling I'd get when I was walking home alone at night from the train station. The feeling that I was being watched...followed...

     Apparently I was the only one with this feeling, because everyone continued to talk as if nothing was happening. As if nothing could go wrong. I was the only one who stayed silent and persisted in listening to things other than the voices of my companions, trying to find some source of my fear. But that was just it. No matter how much I listened, even for the sound of a car in the distance, there was nothing. Absolutely nothing. We were the only source of noise in that neighborhood, and considering we were in Ashburn, Chicago, that's highly improbable. I began looking around, checking the trees, the end of the street, but nothing was there. This only added fuel to the mental fire I had going. Dell noticed I was getting frantic and touched my shoulder, making me nearly jump out of my own skin.

     "Stevie, are you okay?" he asked, his voice in a low whisper. "We can head back. No one will blame you; just say that you're tired."

     "No..." I muttered softly. "It's fine. I'm just a little out of it, ya know? It is pretty late."

     I continued to walk in front, and began to disregard my friends behind me. I was too concerned with the silence. But that lack of worry for them soon dissipated when I heard Kenn say, "Yo, guys. Where's Lia?"

     My heart sank to my stomach. Lia would never stray from the group. Not even to jump out at us for fun. She wasn't that daring. Sulia and I had the same idea, but Dell and Kenn didn't really understand. I tried to explain it to them, but they kept insisting that Lia was just trying to scare us. Sulia sighed, apparently giving up on them. "I'm going to go look for her," she said sternly. "If you guys need me, just call my cell phone. You have yours, right Kenn?" He nodded, and she walked away.

     If there was one thing I regretted, it was letting her go. Or at least, letting her go alone. Dell, Kenn, and I decided to check in the opposite direction that Sulia went it, intent on finding our friend. Lia could be whiney sometimes, and hold grudges, but she was still important to us. Dell really started to notice me getting worked up now. Even the sound of our own footsteps was enough to make me freak out when the rhythm or pace changed. The silence magnified any sound that was made. We didn't talk. All we did was hear each others breathing and footsteps. It was enough, though. It at least told me I wasn't alone. We didn't call out for Lia. We were convinced that she would see us.

     Crack!

     I screamed, dropping the flashlight and jumping back. It was the sound of a tree branch...right? My breathing was heavy and I stumbled for the flashlight, freaking out at the flash of color in my eyes. My own hair. But nonetheless, it made me fall over. I grabbed on to the flashlight, panting and curled up on the sidewalk. I clutched onto the light like a little kid would hold on to their teddy bear or a pillow when watching a scary movie. Slowly, I started to calm down, and my breathing was normal and only slightly audible.

     But what happened to Dell and Kenn? I looked up, not using the flashlight, but cleary able to tell that they were not there.

     "Suli?" I called out, finding that she was my only hope. I was responded to with silence, and then the low blowing sound of a gust of wind. I was alone. Horribly, completely alone.

     Gaining some courage (or maybe just continually fueled by fear), I got up, holding the flashlight tight in my right hand. My left was balled into a fist in my pocket. The feeling was still there. I was still being watched. But by who? I began to walk back in the direction of Sulia's house, my walk slowly but surely breaking into a run. It seemed as if the blocks were just getting longer and longer...

    A scream. I tripped, realizing it was my own. I got up, looking around. Where did the flashlight go? It didn't matter. The streetlights were on, as eerie as they were. I began to walk now. I don't know what compelled me to go slower. I suddenly just felt as if getting to Sulia's was something I did NOT want to do. Yet...it was something that needed to be done. I walked painfully slow. No longer was I being followed, but I was still being watched.

   From a distance...

   Far away...

   By him... and them...maybe.

   When I finally reached Sulia's house, the door remained unlocked, but not unused. Everyone made it inside? I opened the door, feeling a familiar nausiating sensation at the sight before me. My friends, dismembered, covered in blood. Their eyes wide open, looking at me in their deceased state. I was unable to fight it off. I vomitted on the carpet, coughing it all up. Coughing, coughing until... blood. Blood was coming out of my mouth now. I forced myself to stop and hold it back, then looked around the living room, trying my best not to look at the ground where my friends were. The killer...Slender Man...he had to be in here, right? But why was I looking for him? I think... I think I wanted to die.

   But why? It wasn't my fault, right? I searched around the entire bottom floor of the house, trying to find him. I found nothing. The bathroom was clean, and Sulia's mother had been strangled to death. There were black markings around her neck. The marks of Slender, no? I knew I'd seen those somewhere in a story before...him leaving marks...

   Finally, I went upstairs, checking the guest room. Nothing. The only thing left was Sulia's room, which I genuinely didn't want to enter. I slowly approached the door, my hand shaking as it grabbed the handle, my breathing quickening as I turned the doorknob. My heart was pounding. It was here! It was here! It was...

   Nothing. Nothing in that room except a mirror, looking straight at me. I laughed. I laughed and laughed and laughed until my voice was hoarse and tired. I went back to the bathroom, washing the black paint off of my hands and borrowing some of Sulia's clothes. Mine were far too bloody now. I fixed my hair and brushed my teeth, sighing as I looked in the mirror.

   Oh yeah, Slender Man is real alright. I made him myself.

Was this alright? I feel like it could use some work...

Tell me what you think in the comments below~

Love,

Minnie