Rosalyn hardly even dared to be alone anymore. She dreaded being alone, for she knew that although she may think she was, she was never truly alone; just with unwanted company.

As much as she could she tried to stay in close proximity to someone. This mainly concluded to her following her parents around while in the house. This was odd in itself for Rosalyn was usually a distant person who rarely sought after company for the sake of needing it. She was perfectly fine on her own. Her parents were a bit confused but ignored it in the long run.

So to find herself pushed out of the house, alone, and with the door closed behind her was a very troubling occurrence.

Her mother had asked her to go and get some groceries as she was occupied with other matters. Rosalyn helped her mother out with tasks such as this a lot so it wasn't anything unordinary. Things had changed now though. The look of confusion that her mother had bestowed upon her face when her daughter had practically thrown a fit begging not to be made to go on some errands was troubling. Her mother was baffled at the sudden outburst that Rosalyn declined to explain at all.

But with no explanation came no sympathy. Which was expected.

With no other real option, she began on her way, clutching the grocery bag by her side protectively. This bag was not just for groceries.

She had quickly snatched the old video camera before her mother threw her out. After the disappearance of the digital camera, she needed another option. Thus she had gone up into the attic and gotten out the old tape recorder video camera in hopes to this time get the creature in action and not just a picture. She wasn't sure how fool-proof this idea was considering how for some reason static always appeared in the tapes when she test recorded anything while prepping it for use.

She continued on her way. She couldn't concentrate. Her mind weary of everything and anyone around her. Her attention going from one thing that moved or made noise to another. She was incredibly jumpy. If she happened to come in passing contact with people walking by her on the sidewalk she would instantly flinch, recoiling from the touch from fear of an upcoming attack. They would look at her weirdly when they saw her reaction to the accidental contact. Most times she would mumble a quick apology before hurriedly going on her way. The awkwardness was too much for her.

Rosalyn sighed in relief when she made it to the local grocery store. Darting inside, she got out her shopping list and started shopping. Being able to do a normal activity helped her calm down a bit and preoccupy her mind with civil common things. She even managed a smile to the clerk at the checkout counter.

With her groceries in hand she made her way out the store. A pleasant warm feeling bubbling through her. This wasn't so bad. She was beginning to think that it was a good thing her mother made her go out. It certainly had seemed to calm her wracked mind down after a constant state of anxiety from the past week as she stayed huddled up inside as if that somehow would save her.

She was able to actually enjoy her surroundings now as she went back home. Passing by the businesses, she tried to remember the past memories she's had in most of them. It was sort of a way for her to feel safe by using nostalgia. As she passed by an old diner she was especially overcome with memories. She could practically see herself right now: a young girl with braided hair. She was giggling as her father kept on pouring maple syrup on her pancakes until it overflowed with the substance. And there was her mother,with a disappointed look on her face while she shook her head which slowly turned into a smile at the sight of all the mischief.

Those were good days.

She had a bittersweet smile on her face now as reality flooded back in. She quickened her pace, ready to continue on past the diner when a hand grasped her upon the arm, yanking her through the door to the place.

As any normal person, her first instinct was to get away. She tried yanking her arm out of the captor's grasp only to have it yanked forward again. A smarter person would have screamed but Rosalyn could not utter a sound. As she was pulled closer to her captive she found herself facing a man she'd never seen before. Seeing his face, her struggling stopped as she just stared at him. He seemed relatively young if the clean shaven face was anything to go by. But she wasn't so sure for the amount of scars lining both sides of his face seemed to make him appear older by the worn look of his skin where the blemishes were. She was reminded of her own scar on the side of her face and she couldn't help but wonder how he had got them. Above the scars lay his bright, still youthful eyes filled with a dark brown color. There was a spark of determination in them although the apparent tiredness which could be seen by the dark circles below his eyes from most likely many nights without sleep. To further that assumption, his dark brown hair was unkempt but not wildly so, as it seemed he had tried to put some effort in making it presentable. In fact, he had seemed to try his uttermost best to look as sophisticated with the detective like outfit he had on his tall, somewhat lanky form.

As she gazed upon his face, she noticed his mouth begin to move with identifiable patterns of speech. He seemed to have said something to her but she couldn't hear it. When he repeated himself again she finally seemed to register it.

"Miss Summers?"

The ability to reply seemed lost to her. She could hear him repeat her name a couple more times before finally releasing her from his grasp. Being released seemed to jump-start her again as she unconsciously backed-up a few steps.

"Y-yes?" She finally was able to mutter as she tried to regain her sense of balance from being snapped back into reality.

"Finally." The mystery man seemed to sigh in relief as he ran a hand through his already ruffled hair. "I'm sorry to have startled you so badly but I'm sure you'll understand once I explain everything you to."

Rosalyn looked at him quaintly, "What do you mean?" She had never met this man before. What would a complete stranger need to tell her?

He smiled as if he was in on some inside joke, "I told you we'd be in contact."

That vague summary was all Rosalyn needed. She knew exactly what he was talking about then. Her confusion changed to understanding as relief seemed to flood into the features of her face.

He seemed to take notice in the change of her demeanor and the understanding she must have come to.

"Here, let's get a table and I'll tell you everything you need to know." He offered as a way to set her at ease while he gestured towards the main part of the diner.

Rosalyn could only reply with a vigorous head shake in acceptance as she followed him further into the diner. Her mind was too focused on the fact that someone was actually here to help her.

They were lead to a table by a waitress. Rosalyn was relieved to sit down as her legs had become weak with all of this excitement. The casual setting was ironic compared to the relevance of what was going on but she was glad to have a sense of normalness to all of this as she looked around the place.

"Again, I must apologize," the man said as he slid into the booth across from her. "It was a necessary precaution to catch you off guard you see. We wouldn't want them to think it was planned meeting if they found out." He took no time in continuing the conversation as soon as the waitress had left.

Rosalyn nodded again in understanding still trying to take it all in while fidgeting with her hands under the table in anticipation.

"Hey, you don't look so good." He commented as he took in her sickly completion. Whether it was from all that had happened today or if it had been going on for a while he wasn't sure. "You want a drink?Here, I'll get you something." He was already signaling down another waitress before she could even answer him. Rosalyn wasn't sure if he was actually concerned or if he was trying to put her at ease with the apparent charisma he seemed to have.

After he the orders he had placed came, his attention went back onto his company. "Before I say anymore, here, let me give you this." He pulled something out of his pocket and slid it across the table towards her before eagerly starting on his newly acquired cup of coffee.

Rosalyn reached for the object and held it closer to her face for examination. It seemed to be a business card of sorts with the name James Adams printed in bold letters along with some contact information. She looked back at the man she now assumed was James for more clarification.

James, noticing she was done, placed his coffee down before intertwining his long thin fingers and leaned his arms out on the table in front of him. "So, as you know I work for a certain organization that specializes in these kinds of things. I've been sent to work on your case specifically because of my expertise with dealing with this creature we call "Slenderman". We were first notified of your case when you made an entry about this entity on a website, correct?" He paused, waiting for her response.

"Yes, that was me." She relied, happy at the fact that they were finally getting down to business. "It got deleted for some reason though, I'm not sure why." She continued.

"That would be because of us." He clarified. "We couldn't let anyone else come in contact with information like that, you understand? This is highly classified material we are dealing with. I want you to understand this. If I continue to enclose any more information to you I need your full compliance and secrecy. You cannot tell this to anyone." Gone was the pleasant charismatic side as a tone of seriousness took hold in his words.

"I understand." Rosalyn said slowly as if she was still giving it some thought. "You have my full compliance. Whatever you want me to do or whatever you want from me. Anything to get out of this nightmare." Rosalyn herself was extremely serious now to show her devotion.

"I'm glad to hear that." He sent her a charming smile, changing back into his normal charming demeanor. Rosalyn couldn't help but smile in return. It was then that James placed another item on the table. Eye contact was broken as she gazed down at the paper and pen that was slowly being pushed towards her.

"I hope you understand that we're going you need to also put your acceptance on paper. I know it sort of seems foolish considering the kind of business we are doing here but it's a precaution we must take." His voice had an edge of sympathy in it as he looked at her with a sort of sorrowful expression as if trying to express his condolences. So to say he was a bit shocked when Rosalyn immediately grabbed the pen and wrote her name would be an understatement.

Rosalyn seemed to notice his shock. "As I said, I'm willing to do anything." She clarified, giving him a determined look as if to prove her statement even more.

"A-alright." Was all he could manage to say as he took back the contract from her outstretched hand. He looked the contract over for a moment before finding something to say. "Well, let's get on to business then shall we?" He seemed to quickly regain his vigor as he sat straighter and quickly took a shot of his coffee before promptly setting the cup back down.

"So in the e-mail, we enclosed a lot of important information. You did read it, correct?"

"Of course."

"Good, good. Now, do you have any questions regarding any of the information therein?" He stopped and stared at her in anticipation.

She seemed to give the question thought before answering, "Just one," She paused getting herself situated in the booth before continuing, "Lots of the information on how he hunts and stalks his prey I already know from firsthand experience," Her voice dropped a bit in tone, as if she was disappointed at that realization."I guess I was just wondering if there was anything else I need to know? How do I fight back?" It came out sounding weaker than she wanted it to. She clenched her fist under the table. She needed to come off as strong to these people. She didn't want them doubting their choice to protect her. For what would she do without them and their valuable information? For the first time in a long time she had hope that maybe, just maybe she could get through this with her life. She couldn't let this opportunity go by.

If James had noticed the weakness in her voice he gave no recognition of it. If anything he seemed more thoughtful. He sighed and leaned forward towards her. "Well, to be completely honest here, fighting back would do you no good. Anything you would try and do to him wouldn't work. He's too aware. The best you can do is to always be watching your back just in case he appears again." James shrugged his shoulders seemingly not worried. He soon noticed how his answer had affected her as her face seemed to fall and her body slumped lower a bit as if realizing defeat.

Realizing his mistake, James quickly tried to think of something to reassure her with. "But there's no reason for you to worry! The organization will be watching and keeping surveillance of you. We will know exactly when he has returned and how to deal with him. We have weapons we can use against him." He paused his flurry of words as he saw her eyes light up a bit. Hopeful, he continued on, "Of course these weapons are just prototypes but I am positive they'll work this time. I've gone over the blueprints multiple times, there's no way it wouldn't work. I've calibrated everything precisely and-"

"But wait, if you know all of this and have this kind of technology, why has it taken years to capture this "Slenderman"?" Rosalyn interrupted. She didn't mean to sound ungrateful or unsure of this agency's capabilities but there had to be a good reason as to why they'd never been able to put an end to the deaths that the creature caused.

James seemed to think about her question for a moment. "There are…lots of reasons." He started. "Slenderman is different from any of the other monsters we have come in contact with. There is just something that makes him so elusive. Normally when it comes to his victims, we only find them afterwards. Luckily for you, we've got here in time. Now we have more time to end this once and for all." James' voice seemed more hollow, almost as if he was reliving a time from the past and wasn't actually in the present as he stared at nothing in particular.

"He is especially difficult to capture." He continued, more quiet then before, "Slenderman and his lackeys seem to always slip away from us at the last minute, but not this time. I won't let it happen again." James seemed to slip into deeper thought, his mouth pulled into a thoughtful frown and his brows furrowed.

"But how do you plan on capturing them?" Rosalyn couldn't help but ask, almost completely unobservant to what was going on with James. She didn't know if she liked the idea of capturing the creature better or worse than just killing it outright.

Her sudden outburst seemed to knock him back into the present. He took another drink of his coffee as if taking a dramatic pause before looking back at her sickly pale but hopeful face.

"We have our ways. We'll be keeping a close monitoring on you, we'll be sure to notice when they make a move." He stated as if it was obvious. He wasn't sure if that was enough to keep her content but she seemed to accept the answer as she stared at him, contemplating it over.

"Besides, you know," He continued on again before she could think of anything else to ask. "They're always around." His voice dropped a bit in tone as he said the last few words.

Rosalyn couldn't help but feel the blood rush from her face at his change in tone.

"H-how do you know that?" She'd always had her inklings about it being true but for someone else to actually state it as fact…

"Because," He paused, leaning in a bit closer. Their faces being closer now she could feel his breath on her face as he stared her directly in the eyes. "He always watches." He couldn't help the smirk that etched its way onto his face as he watched the fear fill into her now saucer wide eyes.

"They're probably watching us right now, debating on if they should be done with the whole thing right now or wait." He continued as he leaned back again in his booth and placed his arms behind his head in a relaxed manor. "I'll bet you they know exactly who I am and what I'm doing here. If I were you, I would pretend like this was just a normal get together between friends. Make it seem as non-confidential as possible." He advised.

"O-Okay." She wondered how on earth she'd actually be able to pull that off with how fast her heart was beating out of her chest now.

He looked her over knowing exactly how this was going to play out. Truthfully he knew she wasn't going to be able to keep her cool. That's why he didn't tell her about the fact they were probably under surveillance at the beginning of the meeting. But having her afraid was beneficial. At least this way she'd still be aware and not so dependent on the agency. He knew how this monster worked. He wanted fearful prey. To take that away from him meant that the game would be over. Rosalyn would be lying dead somewhere sometime soon. Her still being scared out of her mind would give them time.

He leaned forward taking his coffee mug in his hand and putting it to his mouth. After guzzling the rest of it down he turned his attention back to her.

"You should probably get going. Too much time together and things might start to get worse." He warned, albeit his mind not really being sure about if that was true or not. Anything to get her play up the fear.

At his words Rosalyn knew the meeting was over. She slid out from her side of the booth. She forced an awkward farewell to James, trying to be as discrete as possible as she left the booth acutely aware of her surroundings. She tried to keep her eyes focused instead of letting them wander to look for anyone or anything that shouldn't be around.

Heading out the door she didn't look back. She kept her eyes focused foreword and her fingers wrapped protectively around her bag.

…

Rosalyn opened her eyes slowly.

The area around her was blurry. She blinked her eyes a few times to make everything clearer.

The first thing she noticed when her sight retuned was how everything was at an odd angle. That revelation led to her to become aware of the rest of her body. Was she lying down?

Upon further examination she realized she was indeed lying down on her back. She got up slowly into a sitting position, scanning the surrounding area as she did so.

Around her were brick walls that arched high and then came in contact with their own individual buildings forming a sort of alleyway. Underneath her was a concrete floor. It seemed to be damp in certain places with what she assumed was water. Leaning against the brick walls was an assortment of things. It mainly seemed to be trash of some sort or another. That would rationalize the reason why there was a certain smell in the area.

Even with the awareness of her surroundings she was still confused. Where was she? And more importantly, how did she get here?

She remembered nothing that could help her conclude how she could have ended up here. At one point she was walking home, and the next thing she knew, she was here, in some unknown location.

The realization of this fact made her stomach tighten in sickly knots. There was no way she would have come here by herself. She knew that much. There left only one other option…

Rosalyn practically jumped off the ground, climbing to a standing position. She was hunched forward a bit in a sort of defensive manner, her hands pulled into fists. She looked all over. There was no sign of anyone. Had they just left her here or were they watching?

As she continued to look around she seemed to notice something out of place. Where was her bag? She scrambled to find it. There it was, lying in between a garbage can and some other trash piled on the floor. She leapt for it, crouching down with fumbling hands trying to pick it up to survey the contents. After a bit of rummaging she realized everything was intact, even the video camcorder. She wasn't sure if she was relieved by this revelation or more confused and worried.

A thought occurred to her then. The creature obviously had something to do with this, but why couldn't she remember anything about being in contact with it again? She always remembered the times when it happened, how could one not? Unless…

No, that couldn't be. If it were true she wouldn't be able to bear it. What if there had been more times like these where she had forgotten things or occurrences between her and the creature? Could she even trust her own mind to know what was going on? Something broke in her as the realization seemed to seep into her soul. The fear shown on her face turned to a blank stare. She turned towards where she assumed the exit to the alleyway was, ready to leave this place.

She looked around again for any signs of danger before calmly walking out of the place. Once out, she found herself back on a nearby street to the one she had been originally walking down. People still filled the streets. How in the world could they have taken her without anyone noticing?

There was no time to think of an answer. Rosalyn immediately started to run. There was no time left.