A Different Kind of Lesson

''I do not own Slender: Elementary, the Slenderman tale(s) or any other form of Slenderman media. This is my OC in honor of Slender: Elementary.''

A Different Kind of Lesson
You've heard the rumors.

You've seen the faces of parents when they receive the news that little Billy and Sally won't be home. Not tonight, or ever, for that matter.

But you don't believe rumors, do you?

You have to see it for yourself.

You have to make that call.

One rainy afternoon, when the children (whose parents aren't afraid) are let out of school, you decide on taking a trip to the local elementary school. When you round the brick wall, however, you wonder why the children's parents aren't afraid.

The school has seen better days; the windows are busted, the hedges needed desperately to be trimmed, and the bricks that constructed the school were black, grimy, and crumbling.

'Maybe it's not in the budget,' you think to yourself. 'I'm sure they want to clean up the school, but it's just not feasible right now.'

You're a stubborn thing, aren't you?

You begin to search for an entrance. It doesn't take long; you find a window with the glass busted completely out. You climb inside and look around.

Immediately, you feel queasy.

A body is hanging on a plaque with a hook through the chest. The body is disemboweled, and the head is laying on the teacher's desk. Upon inspection, you recognize the body as Mr. Freddricks, a happy math teacher. He was popular with the children, as he was firm but fair. Who would want to kill him?

Regardless as to how badly you want to know, you press on anyway. The dark and light grey clouds envelope the sky. Talk about setting the mood.

'It's so strange...' you think. 'Mr. Freddricks is dead, but the children haven't said anything about it. Maybe... maybe this happened shortly after the children left. Does that mean the murderer is still here?' You shake that last thought.

Good God, you're a fool.

You venture further into the school. In several rooms, you notice what looks like blood. You see small, bloody handprints on the walls, and at a few points, you can almost swear you hear a child singing.

A child's laughter.

You stop. A fluorescent light behind you flickers, then busts completely. The only sound...

...is that of your heartbeat.

At the end of the long hallway, you see a storage cabinet. Sighing with relief, you jog to the cabinet, throwing the doors open.

Cobwebs assault your face while a dank, musty smell stings your nose. On the shelf eye-level with you, you see a flashlight. Whispering your praises, you pick it up and flick it on.

A beam of light signals that it works.

Turning and heading back down the hallway, you start to wonder why you were still here. The police should be here, not you. You're not a cop.

You're just... you.

You turn into a classroom. An arm is laying in the floor in the corner of the room. A part of you wants to look at it, but you shake your head and look in other parts of the room.

As you shine your flashlight around the room, a small, furry, brown foot catches your eye. Pointing the light full on the foot, you see none other than...

...a teddy bear.

The teddy bear reminds you of the one you carried as a child. Its shiny black eyes, the soft, plushy fur. It was just like what your parents had given you on your 5th birthday.

Minus the fact that your teddy bear never had a hook through its chest.

You feel a shiver chill your spine as you continue to look at this grotesque display. Reaching up, you pluck the bear from its macabre display case and set it on the ground. You're not sure why you did that; it just makes you feel better.

You leave the classroom after setting the bear against the wall. Exiting through the second door, you find yourself in a new hallway. A chalkboard sits in the intersection of your hallway and another. It reads:

"Help me."

You feel your heart fall into the pit of your stomach. What was going on? The rumors... Was there really a teacher killing children in this very school?

The sound of a stapler brings you back to reality. You walk down the hallway connected to yours, passing the chalkboard. A single room is in front of you. With a deep breath, you slowly lean into the room.

A bald, slim man is sitting with his back to you at a teacher's desk. In intervals, you hear scribbling, then a stapler.

Scribbling.

Stapler.

Scribbling.

Stapler.

Scribbing.

Stapler.

"H-Hello? I was hoping I would find someone that might be able to explain what has been happening." You say with a sigh of relief. A teacher who kills students? How rediculous!

The slim man's scribbling stopped abruptly. You see his arm move in a way that signified laying his pen down.

Why did you suddenly get a feeling of impending doom?

` The man's chair rolls back and he stands. No... he...

Towers.

You feel sick. Your stomach flops and beads of sweat form on your temples. You know this figure somehow.

He slowly turns to look in your direction. You back out of the door frame, sweating bullets. All of the nightmares, the long nights of staying awake, the heartbeats that were skipped everytime he was mentioned...

They came flooding back.

The Slenderman.

You turn and sprint down the hall, tripping on the chalkboard. Scrabbling to your feet, you dash off and try to find a place to hide.

He was good. His prey was children. What better place than an elementary school? Another question pops into your head. How would he get around without being detected? As you continue to run, the answer hits you in the face.

Literally.

You realize that you had run into Mr. Freddricks' hand when turning the corner. You look at the disemboweled corpse before finally knowing the truth.

Slenderman killed Freddricks, then disemboweled the corpse and disguised himself as the mute, single, middle-aged man. It was a foolproof plan.

Then, you show up.

You try not to vomit as you stumble out of the room. Everything you had just witnessed was complete and utter taboo. You had always heard stories about this, and just like the rumors, you were skeptical.

You were always skeptical.

Look where it got you.

You see Slenderman creeping around the corner at the far end of the hall. Throwing caution to the wind, you dash away. You find a window big enough for you to crawl through. You bust out the glass with your flashlight, and begin to crawl out.

You throw your leg up and use it to pull yourself out. You are almost halfway out, when you look out into the courtyard and see him coming towards you.

Wait-- was he faster?

With a scream, you roll and fall back into the school. You land on the ground, littered with broken glass from the light fixture above.

'Got...to...get...up...' You hiss to yourself. Rolling off of the glass, you bring yourself to a standing position,

with Slenderman in front of you.

You take half a step back. Was this where your story ended? Was this hallway your final resting place? No. Not yet.

There was a small window of escape. You break into a full fleged run, your feet hitting the ground with force. As you round the corner and keep running, Slenderman materializes right in front of you. You can't stop. Now, you'll never be able to tell eveyone the truth; that Mr. Freddricks was dead, but didn't kill the students. Or that this entity was the reason that so many families would never be the same.

You brace yourself to meet your fate...

BEEP.

BEEP.

BEEP.

You slap the alarm clock and stumble into the kitchen to turn on the coffee pot. You walk to your bathroom to wash your face and brush your hair before throwing on some clothes.

You sit on your front porch and sip coffee, smiling and waving to the neighborhood children as they get on the bus to go to school. Lately, you've heard some strange rumors about the goings-on at the local elementary school.

But you don't believe rumors, do you?

~End~