Monday, August 23, 2010

Made it back, with enough food for a few weeks. I haven't seen him since the store. Going out into the world of the living again actually taught me a few things about what I'm facing. For one thing, he does NOT like it when you stop him from getting possible victims.

See, he stalked me all through the store. Never closer than about twenty feet, but he was always there. When I first saw him, I considered bolting for the door, and actually started to do so, until I realized he wouldn't get close to me. This strange "passive observer" personality he seems to have grown after our previous encounter is almost more chilling than when he's aggressive. At least when he's on the move, you can actively work against him. When all he's doing is watching from a distance, it leads to this constant fear of when the calm breaks.

Despite getting these constant tingles of fear, I decided to just go about my business. If he attacked me in public, maybe someone would at least notice the crazy guy fighting invisible monsters and wonder what the hell was going on. Things went perfectly, until I noticed he was gone. Shrugging it off as just another one of his disappearances, I breathed a sigh of relief and continued on my way.

It was a few minutes later that I saw him again. He was standing at the end of a long aisle, arms wide open. A glance over my shoulder to the other side froze me to the bone. Walking towards him, in a sort of stupefied state, was a young boy.

I don't want to place motives on this monster. I don't know what it's capable of, why it does what it does, how it even exists. Maybe he just found likely prey. Maybe he'd been after this kid awhile. Maybe things just happen, but some part of me saw this as an attempt by him to see how I'd react. And I wasn't going to let anyone else die because of me. If my "revenge" against him was simply giving an innocent child from being ravaged in the clutches of that demon, it'd be enough.

As the boy was about to pass me, I tripped him. Apparently, the faceplant was all he needed to be jolted out of his trance. The kid looked up from where he lay, and I can only presume he saw the horror he'd been walking towards. He got up, and bolted in the other direction, screaming for his mother. Finally, I knew I wasn't crazy. He'd seen him too. Grinning, I looked over at my stalker to see his reaction.

I found myself staring at the bottom half of a suit top that was far too close for my liking. Stumbling back, I tore at my backpack, fumbling with the zipper as the thing stepped slowly towards me, almost staggering as it walked, like it wasn't entirely certain of the motions needed to propel itself.

I got the damn bag open, and pulled out the bone. Totally prepared to die right there, I held it towards him, awaiting the monster's reaction and my fate. As you can tell from this writing, I lived. He did his chilling head tilt, and then vanished.

After that, I ran to the checkout, paid for everything, and drove as fast as I could back home. It's been about two hours since I last saw him. I can't decide if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Did this old artifact actually ward him off? Did I simply confuse it? Is this thing testing me?

And if he isn't here, where is he?

24 comments:

  1. Good work on saving the kid, man. You're thinking on your feet. Good to see!
    Re: The bone, I think even if it's just a psychological crutch that steels your resolve, there's no harm in it. It certainly stopped him from getting too close.
    And nobody in the store saw him? Except the kid, I mean.

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  2. As far as I could tell, just the kid. No one reacted at all to a nine foot tall, impossibly skinny, faceless man.

    I admit though, that I'm curious if the security cameras in the store caught anything, but I have no way of finding out.

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  3. More than likely the cameras would be fuzzed out anyways though.

    Also the bone seems interesting I wonder what TA knows about it.

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  4. I wasn't sure if you'd see this comment on the last entry, where Quite Insane Really posted, but the capitalized letters from his/her post are: ENONIALSEERFSUTES.

    Backwards, that reads, “SET US FREE SLAIN ONE.”

    I wonder if this “slain one” is you, or TheArsonist? The latter seems more likely, for some reason.

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  5. Damien, I found your blog just the other day and I can't tell you how much I'm rooting for you to beat this fecker to death with his own skull. Assuming he has one, that is. I'm no cryptology major or anything like that, but I'm a semi-decent hand with words and word puzzles, so I'll help where I can.

    TheArsonist, you are one crazy-arse son of a gun. But if you keep Damien alive, and kill "Mr. Happy" while you're at it, I guess I'll root for you, too. Feck, if you even just reduce Slendy to Sealed Evil in a Can, I'd call it a triumph.

    As for these Anonymous "trees", if you can be even a touch more clear in your hints and clues, that could be a huge help to all of us. Knowing the nature of clue-givers in Slendylore, though, I suppose that's not terribly likely.

    I'll be watching your exploits, "both" of you, and praying for you.
    ~The Quick

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  6. Nice job man! you saved a kid from being ripped into bacon. now if only that bone could kill him.

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  7. HoHoHo
    SuCH PoLiTeNeSS


    We aRe THe SMiLiNG TReeS
    We GoVeRN oVeR THeSe eVeNTS aS NeuTRaL oBSeRVeRS

    THaT DoeS NoT MeaN We CauSeD THe eVeNTS
    NoR THaT We CoNDoNe THeM
    SuCH iS NeuTRaLiTY
    We Do NoT JuDGe

    aS ReGuLaToRS
    We CaN SHieLD THoSe WHo HaVe PRoVeN THeMSeLVeS WoRTHY FRoM FuRTHeR aSSauLT aND HaRRaSSMeNT

    THe DReaMeR iS NeaRiNG THaT THReSHoLD
    iT SeeMS

    THe SCoWLiNG TReeS SeeK To CReaTe MoRe PaiN aND DeSTRuCTioN
    THeY aRe THe oNeS WaRNeD oF iN THe RuNNeR'S DReaM

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  8. Gonna give you credit for risking your own skin saving that kid man, that takes Balls.

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  9. Very good on saving the child. I fear it may have been in vain, though.

    If he isn't observing you, he may very well be going after that child...

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  10. I second JABgamer7, Anthony, and Alec on that one, Damien. Massive taking of levels in badassery is massive. Keep that bone thingie handy. Whether it actually wards off "Mr. Happy" or just perplexes him, it's something that's been proven to have an effect on him.


    Hmm. Interesting. I've known individuals like you "smiling trees", at least as far as neutral observers go. Every little bit helps, of course, so thank you for taking time to at least give us clues to help Damien.

    Is there anything more you can tell us about these scowling trees? Are they servants of "Mr. Happy"? Are they anything like totheark or the Masked Man?
    ~The Quick

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  11. Quite Insane ReallyAugust 24, 2010 at 3:20 AM

    Terror at gunpoint
    torturE aT lArGe
    Enemy combataNt
    LabeLed a threAt
    wiThOut trIal or chaRge

    repeTITIon of History
    mesSEngER, prophet, marTyr For gOd
    all for oNce and for all
    reclaiM your pOwer
    the Tyrant muSt fALl

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  12. That was such a nice poem. Who it? Whitman? Nice nonetheless.

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  13. Hmm. I'm going to need some help on this one, fellow posters. Looks like Quite Insane Really's comment yields some useful capital letters once you cull out the lower case ones:
    TETAGENLLATOIRTITIHSEERTFONMOTSAL
    But, when I chucked them into an anagram generator, it looked like it has the potential for thousands of possible combinations, and I can't take the time to either sort through them all or try and piece together a more solidly relevant anagram manually. I can tell you, though, there's some prominent possibilities using the words agent, figment, and even TheArsonist. Any assistance would be appreciated.
    ~The Quick

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  14. A quick google search reveals it to be "Free your hate" by KMFDM. Industrial, not bad.

    And in that warble by Quite Insane Really I can plainly see "Seer" and a "Traitor" would be easy to find.
    Also, according to Clockwork, his/her last message was backwards...does that yield anything?

    LASTOMNOFTREESHITITRIOTALLNEGATET
    This lets some words be made out:
    LAST OMNOF TREES HITIT RIOT ALLNEGATET

    That's all I can come up with and I hope it helps.

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  15. "One goal: fight until i can't."
    Bad idea.
    Better idea:
    Fight until you win.

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  16. Excellent, Maduin! Thanks for the assist! Maybe TheArsonist is just thrown into that mix to throw us off. *shrug*

    Ooo! I'm with K-OS on this one, Damien. Keep yourself psyched, but not psyched-out. You can do this, man. We're behind you 100%.
    ~The Quick

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  17. THe SCoWLiNG TReeS aRe a PoRTaL FoR THoSe WHo KNoW HoW To uSe THeM

    THeY aBaNDoNeD NeuTRaLiTY LoNG aGo



    To THe NoRMaL eYe
    aLL TReeS LooK aLiKe

    THeiR FaCeS aRe HiDDeN BeHiND a VeiL

    SoMe HuMaNS CaN See THRouGH THaT DiSGuiSe

    SoMe TReeS DiSCaRD THeIR VeiL oF THeIR oWN WiLL

    oNLy oNe TRee GReW TiReD oF BeiNG a TRee
    aND FouND a MaN TiReD oF BeiNG a MaN

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    Replies
    1. So Slenderman is a tree who got tired of being a tree who fused together with a man tired of being a man?

      I guess it makes sense sort of.

      Delete
  18. Mr happy huh? all of this stuff related to slender man.... im am sick of it. the mother fucker needs to die. Damian ive read your tweets. and i Have a bit of advice. if you are planing on using the bone to kill him. then make sure it day time. makes ya feel safer. second, make sure you dont take your eye off him. S therory is that he cant teleport if someone is watching him.if its through a windoe, I dont care if you have to break a window. DONT TAKE YOUR EYES OFF HIM! Finally, a question.... I dont recall you saying anything about ti but. do you remember if hes ever visited you when you were a child? he seems to do that, then comes back later. and remember, if you want to survive there the tutorel link I gave you.

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  19. Reading your twitters.

    It's good that you've had a chance to test the bone against Mr. Happy. Again, however, you shouldn't take it as being because of only the bone. It could have been the runes on it... or just a placebo.

    See, I think that Mr. Happy can't get you if you're not terrified. I just don't mean scared or startled. I mean friggen terrified. That may be why Mr. Happy stalks you and such. To 'break' you and make you lose all hope.

    That raises an interesting question. You might not be able to kill Mr. Happy. His existence seems to rely on knowing "him". His ability to kill you seems to rely on you being "broken". Terrified. While you might be able to beat him by not giving in to the madness that doesn't mean you can kill him.

    Of maybe you can? Worth a thought at least.

    You need to get out of the house. Do something fun. Mock Mr. Happy by not giving in. Jerk off to weird porn and let him watch while you have the time of your life. Play some DnD that has nothing to do with Eldritch Abominations... or better yet, play DnD where you kick there ass.

    Watch some Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. I will so mail you a fucking beer if you tell Mr. Happy "I will do the impossible and kick reason to to the curve!" That'd show 'em.

    Anyways, here's hoping you don't... die bro. Yeah, try to avoid that dude.

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  20. But when the Arsonist did that, it didn't work.
    However Damien was terrified.


    Hmm

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  21. What do you mean it didn't work? Mr. Happy charged him, yes, but that doesn't mean he would have been able to -do- anything to him. It could have very well had been a bluff.

    Scary thing is, the bluff -worked-. Damien cockblocked the arsonist and ran for it.

    Obviously this is all just conjecture. It seems to be the case but we can't be certain.

    Still, even if this isn't what's stopping Mr. Happy it's something you should still do. Being all scared and such just isn't good for ya. It's basically letting him win.

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  22. TheQuick is clearly a Troper. Sealed Evil in a Can indeed.

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    Replies
    1. Hell, I'd love to meet "The Quick" if I could. He/She seems pretty driven. Pretty smart.

      Ah well. Just another player in another ARG. Or maybe multiple ones.

      Delete