Slenderman pt3 (re-edited)

Tasha woke with a start, cursed herself for falling asleep on the couch when she should be out looking for something.  She supposed that Pete would be happy when he got home from work. He thought she was crazy for spending so much time wondering the streets wasting her time.  He thought it best that she just let the police get on with it. Although he never had an answer to the question about what on earth she should be doing while her baby daughter was out there, somewhere. He would be home in about half an hour, She mused on how funny it is that he has had to work late more in the last few months than he ever had before.



Right then though she had to find something to occupy her for those endless 30 minutes. She looked pensively at the gin bottle and pondered killing the empty, gaping , painful void at the pit of her stomach with a G&T or two. She felt guilty and almost apologised to the nagging constant pain that had become her constant companion since Sally had disappeared. The pain was like the last remaining part of her, something that had kind of replaced her in Tasha’s heart and stomach. If it went, would that mean that Sally would be gone too, never to return?



Maybe she could just squeeze in another trip round to the park and still get back in time for Pete to return home and think she had been home all day. She might even be able to persuade him that she had been doing something other than clutching at straws and wasting her time. Her other option was to tackle the dishes that have been piled up all day. She was sure that Pete would appreciate not having to come home and clean up again.



She grabbed her rain coat and mobile and headed out the door.



As she hurried down the street she realised that she was agitated and jumpy the darkness seemed to engulf her making her feel even more alone than she did already. ‘Just me and you Voidoid’ she smirked to herself. How do you get so attached to a draining emotion that you give it a name? And if you do name it, why the hell do you name it after that shitty punk band that your husband used to bang on about all the time. Blank Generation kind of says it all about him and that terrible punk music he thinks is so wonderful.



The bloody street lights were on the blink again. It was hard to walk on the uneven and broken pavements at the best of time, let alone on a dark cloudy night with no lights to guide her. She had wasted so much time sleeping this afternoon and evening but if she could just get round the park again maybe she could find something there,  it might be something small but it might just create another lead, something , anything to cling onto and make her feel less useless. Maybe Pete was right and all this was doing was keeping her occupied without actually doing any good.  As she turned the corner onto the open grass part of the park her heart gave out as she saw a father talking to his two children. This was always the problem with searching around the park; she has to watch one family after another going about their normal daily lives with no idea how lucky they are. Laughing, smiling, playing, screaming, crying and arguing their way through play dates and coffee and time outs for mum. This guy was a perfect example. He really doesn’t know how lucky he is. What on earth are they doing out so late at night, those kids should be tucked up in bed by now.



As she watched this slightly disturbing scene with confusion and anger she was amazed and startled as the dad ran straight at her, and face twisted wild eyes looking straight through her leaving the two children watching in horror after him, their eyes dark with confusion, fear and sorrow. Although it wasn’t horror on their faces it was………it was…….. She shook her head and rubbed her eyes not understanding what she saw. It must have been a trick of the dark. As they looked at her she felt in horror as Voidoid was rising in her stomach with a force that she hadn’t experienced since…….. since the first day of Sally’s disappearance when the pain had been its rawest and voidoid had just been the distant fear of the very worst case scenario . When the dad reached her she screamed with a force and passion that took her by surprised. She felt Voidoid rising and angry inside her, working its way to her mouth. She began screaming uncontrollably, simultaneously furious with the man and terrified by her reaction and the strength of raw emotion she felt inside herself.



The dad didn’t stop; he didn’t even look at her. He was concentrating on his own fear and all he could see was black; the black of his soul, the black of their eyes haunting him and the black of the dog running between his feet. His legs tangled round the barking dog as he ran, he flew into the darkness, weightless for a moment before landing hard cracking his cheek on the path.  Tasha continued shouting as he climbed back onto his feet blood sliding down his face. He looked back at her, eyes flicking from side to side. ‘Blood druggie parents’ she thought to herself without really processing what she had just witnessed and without the slightest sense of remorse for his fall, ‘can’t look after themselves let alone children, scum like that shouldn’t be allowed to breed. Not when decent parents like me……….’



She sniffed hard to pull back a tear. As she turned and hurried over to see if the children were okay she realised that they were nowhere to be seen. She searched frantically; surely they couldn’t have got far in that time. She turned and turned, spinning on the spot trying in vain to see where they had gone. Then she thought she saw something moving, just a shadow in the corner of her eye. She turned and faced full and there it was again. In amazement she watched as two childlike shadows danced and played across the darkness of the toilet block wall. Spinning again to try and see the children that were casting the shadows. Voidoid began to grow, silent screaming through her body, taking her over and consuming her body like Sally had once done. She was mesmerised by the shadows. Voidoid would not let her look away as they scurried mischievously round the toilet block and disappeared behind the trees. She followed the path of invisible movement across the trees and watched the shadows reappear in the darkest shadow of the trees.



They ran into what looked like a tall thin male figure whose arms and legs had no end, just seemed to fade into nothing. The figure enveloped the children with long thin arms, he squeezed them and the dark shadows seemed to swirl and twist like something between a whirlpool and a vortex as the whole scene melted into nothing. Tasha watched the empty space in horror as the shadows became nothing more than a confused memory in her mind.

********************************

Pete and Tasha sat and ate in silence once again, it was a long time since Tasha has listened to anything he had to say and it was a long time since he had bothered to offere anything useful.  As Tasha sipped her wine she wondered how many marriages fell apart after trauma like this. One partner flatly refusing to carry on as if nothing had happened while the other did their best to put one foot in front of the other and keep things ticking along. Both trying not to breakdown and  both doing what they need to do to get through the ordeal struggling to make it through one day at a time. Both strategies are diametrically opposed to each other, how can one  person do what they need to do without resenting the other for what they are doing.



The doorbell rang, they both looked up with a start, confusion and apathy mirrored on each face. During the first few weeks of Sally’s disappearance the doorbell was constantly ringing. The police, people joining the search, friends bringing food and gifts and all kinds of other visitors were constantly traipsing through their hallway. Due to their constant feeling of distance from the life they knew a few months ago they now hardly recognised the sound. Tasha tutted and looked angrily at Pete who clearly wasn’t moving. She got up, wondered distractedly to the door and opened it. To her astonishment she found two children, the same two children she has seen in the park earlier. They stood motionless in front of her looking down at the floor the only movement was the girl fidgeting anxiously with the cuff of her coat. The boy began to speak, a split second after the girl started too creating an eerie echoing monotone that set Voidoid on fire once again.



“My sister is scared, can we use your phone to call our mum. She needs the toilet, can we come in? Will you help us?”

Tasha was relieved that the kids from the park earlier that evening were okay and her heart screamed at her to help them. She smiled warmly, stepped out of the way and gestured for them to come in. The Children looked up at her staring through her eyes deep into her soul prodding and poking at the pain and letting it run through their fingers. Voidoid began to twist itself ever expanding and ever contorting into tightening pulsating knots, straining and suffocating like a boa around its prey. Tasha felt nauseous and unsteady on her feet as icy cold sweat ran through every pore onto her dry scaled skin as the girl followed the boy and slowly brushed passed her.



She watched the girl wondering absent mindedly up the hall towards the bathroom.



“It is down to the right.” Sally said instinctively



The girl stopped, turned and looked back at Tasha. Her eyes reconnecting with Voidoid and tugging at her heart, pulling her in, pleading with her to follow. Tasha felt it and couldn’t resist the pleading of the young girl. She took a step forward and held her hand out just like taking hold of Sally’s hand at the traffic lights she thought. But it wasn’t like that, this was different, this was more like…



“What is going on? Who was at the door?” Pete interrupted walked out of the dining room looking confused at the scene in the hall way “Who are these kids?



The girl looked away and the bond between her and Tasha broke. Tasha’s eyes welled up with tears and her hand remained raised for the girl as she slowly slipped into the bathroom.



Pete stared at Tasha still wating for his answer but he could see that she wasn’t there. She was hypnotised with tears rolling down her face staring at the door that concealed the girl. He heard the door down the corridor open and watched as this strange eerie boy slipped into Sally’s room.



“Wait!! You can’t go in there!” Pete yelled, his emotions swirling into one another. He started down the hall and opened Sally’s door.



The boy stood staring at him holding Sally’s droopy and grubby toy dog. Anger rose in the pit of Pete’s stomach and his voice quivered as he challenged her and told him to put the dog down. Fear and confusion ranged inside him as he felt the blood drain from his face and hands. As much as he tried he could not escape those eyes. He stared at them, mesmerised like staring at a star in a deep dark moonlit pool



“She needs her dog.” The boy spoke in an even tone that gave nothing else away.