Thursday, August 19, 2010

Terror

I’m not entirely sure where to begin. I’ve experienced things that defy logic, and only an insane person could accept. I don’t expect anyone to believe what follows. I don’t expect any of it to make any sense at all. I feel I’ve come so far, though, that the story has to be told, no matter the consequences.

On Monday, I went back to the woods behind my family’s old home. I took some pictures and posted them to twitter so anyone reading this blog could remain updated. After thirty minutes of hiking through the overgrown forest, feeling watched, and glancing over my shoulder, I finally found that godforsaken building.

As soon as I could see the red brick through the tree line, I felt this vague sense of “wrong”. The only way I can describe it would be like an instinctive fear of being near the lair of a predator. I was able to ignore it at the start, shattering a window and climbing inside. The entirety was empty, except for a trapdoor in the back corner. With every step I took towards the door, the desire to flee increased. Instead, I opened it, turned on my flashlight, and began my descent.

The stairway was surprisingly short, leading into a single, dark corridor. Proceeding deeper, I found myself shivering as the temperature suddenly dropped to the point where I could see my own breath. It was a minute or two later that my light fell upon a body, blood splattered along the walls. I gave into instinct, and ran.

As I said before, the stairs had opened to a long, straight corridor. There weren’t any bends or forks or turns where I could have gotten lost. I ran straight back, and never found that set of stairs again. Instead, I found the floor slanting downwards, leading me further into the abyss. Now, more than ever, I find myself believing The Navidson Record could have actually taken place. Nothing about that dungeon’s geometry, structure, or design made sense. I panicked, and turned around again to run back the way I came. I don’t know why, I just did. I never encountered the body I’d previously seen, and the ground kept sloping down into the dark.

I think I ran straight down that corridor for at least an hour, maybe more. I don’t know. Even time seemed to bend back on itself in that place. At some point, the corridor finally leveled out and I found myself in the orgy room from my parent’s video tape. I took a glance around the room when this noise seemed to shake the very walls of hell. It was like... the sound of reality groaning and creaking to accommodate something that shouldn’t be there.

At this point, I’d accepted my fate. I realized I was likely to die there, underground, alone, if not at the hands of a monster then by dehydration, so I didn’t have to worry any more. All I could do was explore. The room had only one other way in or out, which meant that, logically, the other hallway lead to the sacrificial room. Logic was something that betrayed me long ago.

I walked down that new corridor for what felt like maybe ten minutes before it finally opened up into a room – the same one I was in before, except this time there was a third corridor available to me. Wondering if perhaps this wasn’t a case of repeated design, I attempted to return to the previous room. The walk was distinctly shorter, and I found myself in the three-corridor room again.

All I could do was chuckle futilely at the insanity of it all as I began down the new corridor. The walk was long, forcing me to recharge my flashlight several times along the way. Every so often, I’d hear noises. Some were like voices whispering right in my ear, others were low, almost static or distortion-like sounds from far off in the labyrinth. I honestly can’t explain it other than it makes me wonder how much of the noise in videos about him are distortion on the tape and how much are actual audible sounds being recorded.

After what felt like hours, I could see light ahead. Walking into it, I found myself in the sacrificial chamber, staring at the altar where who knows how many children were given to him by people like my parents. Chains still hung at three of the corners, all in what looked like nearly perfect condition. Looking up, I found myself staring at a full moon and a sky filled with stars. It didn’t make sense for a number of reasons. The first being that I’d been deep underground just moments before; the last being that the night before I’d stayed up looking at a crescent moon.

As I looked around the room, I realized the room smelled of sulfur. I took a few steps towards the altar, only to find myself sweating as the temperature rose drastically. I can only imagine that it was a heat similar to what firefighters feel as they enter an inferno. Sweat began to pour off of me as I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I knew he was behind me, lurking in the archway that lead into the only way in or out of the room I was in. I didn’t want it to be true, but I just knew it was. So I turned and faced the terror that has haunted my life all summer.

I found myself frozen in place as I gazed upon my tormentor. I felt like a mouse cornered by a cat. I stared at death itself – dressed in black, faceless, towering over me. And I found myself speaking words that are burned into my memory.

“Finally, we meet. You’ve certainly taken your time.”

I screamed, but I’d lost control of my body to TheArsonist. All I could do was shout inside my mind and watch as a madman got me killed by that horror.

“Can you speak, I wonder? Do you have a mind or do you act on instinct? Where does one like you even come from? You create so many questions and no one seems to have the answers,” Despite my internal protests, TheArsonist took a step towards the monster that blocked my only escape.

And that thing tilted its head. My cold, cruel laugh echoed through the room.

“Do I confuse you? I would presume so. You’re so used to your prey running, hiding, resisting, worshipping… I do believe I may be the first to meet you as your equal, or even your better.”

A quiet buzz began to fill the room, like the earthly equivalent of static on a video tape. The monster’s posture was changing. Where before it had held itself passively, quietly observing, it now gave off an air of malice. I can’t say for certain if it was a trick of the lighting or not, but I thought I saw it’s arms elongate, thought I saw shadows moving behind it. Sensing the oncoming storm, I wanted nothing more than to run the other way.

“Yes… I think you—“

I saw that thing, that tendril, snap towards me with all the speed of a whip, and TheArsonist’s control shattered as survival instinct took over. I dodged as fast as I could, feeling it rip through the sleeve of my shirt. The terror stepped into the room, seeming to grow even taller in the open room. I did all I could, and ran for corridor behind it. The tentacles struck out at me, but somehow, someway, I avoided them. I ran faster than I ever have before, down that dark hallway.

And he was in front of me. I can’t explain it. Panicking, I turned and found a branch in the path that wasn’t there before. With no alternative, I dived into it before that thing could reach out and grab me. I bolted down that passageway, only to find that thing before me once again, and another turn making itself available to me.
I don’t know how long that cat and mouse game lasted, him appearing and me dodging away using the illogic of that strange place, but, eventually, he stopped chasing me. Slumping against a wall, totally exhausted, I fell asleep.

I woke up to his facelessness filling my vision. I choked down a scream, heart pounding in my chest. He seemed to be doing nothing but studying me, and with my back to a wall, I could only let him. It felt like I was frozen there for hours, but I’m sure it was mere seconds before I felt that tug on my mind.

TheArsonist was taking over. I did all I could to resist, but it wasn’t enough. I felt a smirk cross my lips. I spit in the monster’s “face”. My ears popped from the screech that filled the entire room as tendrils struck out at me again and I fainted…

The next thing I knew, I was bolting through the woods. I can only presume TheArsonist somehow got us out. As I ran, it felt like he was everywhere. No matter which way I turned and pointed my light, he always seemed to fill it. Again, I blacked out as my alternate took control.

I woke up here a few hours ago. I found a note on my table: “Well done, we’re safe”. On top of it was a bone with markings and engravings on it. I can only presume this is what TheArsonist wanted from the dungeon, and that he found it after he spat in the face of death itself.

Yet, despite having this totem that will supposedly protect me, I feel like I’m living on borrowed time. I keep expecting for him to appear before me, and I won’t get lucky again.

My story is going to end soon.

22 comments:

  1. Holy crap, Damien!
    I was following your journey and when you stopped tweeting, I'd feared the worst. As much as I disliked The Arsonist, he's got some guts and apparently some resourcefulness to him. Any chance of seeing this "totem" he picked up from the "temple"?

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  2. Don't give up hope yet, Damien. You and TheArsonist have already accomplished far more than anyone else has ever before. You just may be able to beat this thing, or at least escape it.

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  3. Dont think of the arsonist as an enemy. Hes trying to kill The slender man, He gave you protection. More he intervenes the better.

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  4. Do you have any recollection of the Tweets you made last night, asking for help?

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  5. @Jonathan: I tried to take a photo of the bone to put up on twitter, but they all come out pitch black. I can describe it, though.

    It looks like a large animal bone, about as long as my arm and much thicker. All along it are what look like cave drawings. Most of them are seemingly random symbols. However, the symbol from the altar is repeated along it, and there are two drawings of him that I'll roughly sketch for you all later tonight.

    @Alec: I wouldn't say I'm giving up hope, so much as realizing that TheArsonist has seriously provoked this monster and the story of this stupid bone being of use better be true or I'm fucked.

    @JABgamer7: You don't live with TheArsonist. Even if he is trying to fight this thing, he's not doing it for me.

    @LSama: Yeah, those were me. I think that I only spent about twenty or thirty minutes in control in the woods, and used them begging for help, before I blacked out again.

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  6. Wait a minute, an animal bone as long as your arm. I get it know , the arsonist is not doing ot for you, but maybe that bone is the bone of the slender man? kinda like in tenacious D, with satan, he cant attack someone who has a piece of him, thus protection, This however is just a theory.

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  7. No offence, JABgamer7, but I don't think we can use The Pick of Destiny as canon mythology against this thing. I understand the logic you're using, but I think the power may be drawn from something different. Besides, I find it highly unlikely that SM even has bones.

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  8. @Johnathan Meh it was just a therory.

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  9. ok Enough of my theroies. Damien, I just started following, I looked over all the older entires. I dont know if anyone else suggested but, there is a survival to slender man. It written by someone called M, and its called the Tutorial. Heres a link

    http://getuphigh.blogspot.com/

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  10. Damien, I am glad you made it.
    It was reckless.
    Uncertain.
    Dangerous.
    I probably would have done the same in your place.
    I wish you luck on your further efforts.

    TheArsonist is quite arrogant.
    "Slenderman's better."
    I like that.
    Arsonist, he doesn't fear you.
    But he may begin to.
    Let Us render him powerless.
    Let Us rip him apart.
    Arsonist, did you yet choose a "real" name for yourself?

    @JABgamer7, Jonathan: Tenacious D reference aside, this may be something.
    He seems to not have a skeletal structure,
    If you judge by the way his body behaves.
    Maybe he used to have bones,
    Dut discarded them,
    Because they were limiting him.
    Finding as many of these bones as possible.
    This should be imperative to you all.

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    Replies
    1. Find as many of these bones as possible? is this a fetch quest now?

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  11. THeRe WaS aNoTHeR SHiFT iN THe FLoW
    oNe LiKe WHaT HaS DRaWN You aLL ToGeTHeR
    DiD You FeeL iT Too



    You'Re NeaRLY THeRe DReaMeR
    You'Ve NeaRLY MeT YouR GoaL

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  12. You had us all worried for a few days, there, Damien.
    We better know when it's over.

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  13. I think we need some science here. A little experimentation.

    Is it possible for you to sketch the symbols and such? It might be worth copying them all down some place. Try taking a picture of all of them in a group; see what the picture looks like. If it comes out allright try putting them on your arm, copying the bone pattern as best as possible. Who knows, maybe it's the symbols that ward off The SlenderMan, and not the bone itself.

    Also, The SlenderMan sounds too... ominous. Let's call him Mr. Happy.

    Also, I suggest you test that little ward out. If it works then you should be safe for a little while, at the very least. If not well... you be dead, bro. Might as well die happy.

    So... put a jacket. Grab a large handbag. Stuff the bone in it and go to a late night arcade. See if Mr. Happy follows you. Either way, have fun. If you die then, well... you're gonna die anyways. And if all he does is watch and nothing else? Then you're rubbing you're awesomeness in his face.

    But you gotta smile man. Do it for Mr. Happy D:

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  14. Btw, Damien, I can't keep your lonely insomniac ass company if you're not following me on Twitter. Lol. Good to know you're awake so late.

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  15. This got me confused as to whether you were inside a house of leaves type structure or Chzo itself.

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  16. I know you don't know me so you have no reason to trust me and from the date of the last comment it would apper you are still alive and that is good.
    Who I am is not important right now and your going to have take it on faith what i am fixing to tell you is the truth. Because this is all i can offer you in hopes you do not end up like the others.
    The Slenderman is a being of old. Where there is light there must be a dark. Life to Death. However the name Slederman is only a recent naming for the being as most people try to play down what they fear to make it a myth. You and I know better. The monster that is hunting you has hunted man since the beginning If you are reading this in hopes of a way to kill it. I fear you read this in vain because through out my research and studies not one case has the person escape this faceless hunter. Why he has no face is because he connects with his prey and see's what they see hear's what they hear its how it is able to apper where every you are at any givin time. I Give you this small information in hope you find that what i want to tell you is the truth and to help you keep you alive as i have helped others like you in past. if you wish for me to tell you more simplely respond to this comment and i will gladly share my information with you and others---- Simplely a Friend------

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  17. In light of reccecnt events if you need a name for me simple called me Saint but i do hope you reply i fear there may not be much time left

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  18. Even more so, I fear you are over half a year too late on your "helpful" comments, good sir. And why is it when people are all "Oh, I studied and researched and blahblahblah," all your English abilities fly out the window? Really, I give very little validity to anybody claiming they've even opened a book if they can't spell or use periods correctly. :/

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  19. I like the house of leaves reference

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