as i opened the door to the coffee house i was enveloped by the scent of fresh brewed coffee
pastries baking in the oven and the sound of joyous laughter in conversation then i heard a
familiar voice call out sarah over here i whipped my head around to see my oldest and best friend
kate sitting on the edge of her seat waving at me kate and i went back as far as i could remember
but we haven't seen each other since we left for separate colleges however with summer breaks
blessing we are finally meeting again kate my goodness look at you you look amazing how have
you been i exclaimed while quickly making my way over to her and throwing my arms around her
so great sarah i missed you big time it's so good to see you again she said pulling slightly out
of our embrace with a smile from ear to ear we talked and sipped our coffee for a while
talking about classes people we met and dishing out the gossip about our love lives after what
felt like hours of laughter there was a slight pause in conversation and i noticed that kate
had a sullen look on her face you okay i asked with a fringe of concern yeah hey do you remember
at all she asked after a moment of hesitation i saw her lips move but didn't hear any sound come
out sorry it's a little loud in here can you repeat that do you remember who used to live a
few houses down from us this time there was no mistaking it she was trying to see a name but
there was only silence i leaned back and then a flash of a memory came to me of kate and i
but also another girl whose name face and voice were just static other memories came back slowly
and in them there was a third girl wherever kate and i were but when i tried to focus on her
it's like she'd been cut out of a photograph sarah something weird happened to me before i left i was
at my apartment just playing around on my computer and i felt this overwhelming urge to look outside
i saw a man wearing a suit around a corner of the building across the street he was really tall like
well over seven feet i don't know why but seeing him really freaked me out all that night all i
could think about was you and me and that third girl who we used to play with but i can't remember
what she looked like and it's like my mouth knows her name but i can't speak it or even think about
it it's been creeping me out since and i was really hoping you'd know what i was talking about
since we're confessing about creepy things i guess i'll share something that happened to me too when
i got to my parents house last night my dad told me they had received a letter for me that morning
which is strange because only you and they knew i'd be coming back for the summer it was just
a piece of lined paper that said welcome home in scratchy black letters and below it was a circle
with an x going through it i thought it was some weird prank but i stopped dead in my tracks as
something suddenly popped into my head kate do you remember that scary monster character we made up
the slender man no sooner had the words left in my mouth i saw all the color leave kate's face
and her expression turned from vague anxiety to complete dread her eyes shot up and she erupted
out of her seat incoherently muttering as she pointed behind me i whipped my head around and
immediately saw what frightened her i saw a man peering at us from outside the window across the
darkened street his limbs were grotesqually long and exaggerated he wore a black suit with a black
tie and a white collared shirt and most horrifying of all his head was completely featureless
just smooth and pale white all over there was no mistaking it he was the slender man
i stood up quickly and looked around the coffee house for help but as i surveyed the room my blood
ran cold the building was completely empty what had just been vibrant with laughter and chatter is
now deadly silent save for the panicked breathing of kitten me i mustered a whimper kate we have
to get out of here right now i grabbed her hand and we made our way to the back of the building
she was completely silent and clearly in shock fortunately the rear exit was unlocked so we made
a mad dash away from the coffee house towards the wooded park area behind it as we ran i turned my
head back to see if he was behind us and through the quickly fading light of the doorway i saw his
long fingered hand wrap around the frame as his featureless head peered out towards us we can't
outrun him we have to hide i whispered through hurried breaths as we sprinted into the darkness
of the woods the park was not exceptionally large but big enough for us to escape
or so i hoped my legs were hurting so bad and finally i couldn't keep up with kate any longer
sarah i heard kid exclaim as my legs gave out and i collapsed to the ground exhausted sarah give me
your hand we have to hide right away she pulled me off to a small nook under an uprooted tree
and we held each other as long as possible to fit where we wouldn't be visible several excruciating
minutes passed without the slender man appearing and then kate broke the silence sarah i remember
everything now the girl we knew what happened to her everything she said in a hushed but calm voice
he's going to find us if you don't be quiet we need to focus on getting out here right now no
sarah you need to remember too kate murmured emotionlessly we'll talk about that all later
i hissed through clenched teeth her name was eliza we didn't make up the slender man he's
real and he stalked us as kids we ran and hid until he eventually caught us he said one of
us would be taken one would escape and forget everything and the other would become his agent
i looked at her in complete horror as she slowly turned her face back towards me and i saw on her
forehead that she had a circle with an x through it i tried to get away but she held fast and tight
let go of me i cried out with tears racing down my face as i struggled you know that i can't
she said in a solemn whisper as inky black tendril slowly crept out from behind her
with a final shove of desperation i burst from her grip and with the last of my strength i
darted away back towards the coffee house hoping that i could slip past and find help i looked back
towards the tree and saw kate slowly emerged with her tendrils dragging against the ground
with my head turned away i couldn't see as i ran headlong onto something solid tall and thin i lost
my balance and collided with the ground i looked up and saw the pale featureless face of slenderman
obscuring the moonlight through the trees i tried to scream but as my mouth opened i felt a cold
smooth tendril cover my mouth my eyes darted around until i saw kate standing over me too then
i was blinded by another of slender man's tendrils the last thing i heard before everything went
black was kate as she whispered just loud enough to be heard the runaway has been brought home
is