Author's Note: This is a series of one-shots that follow each other about my own character and the Slender Man. I find this entity strangely interesting and I just had to write something about him! Reviews are much appreciated. Enjoy :)

The Night of the Hunter

Ritter

The forest floor was cold beneath her bare feet, the ash-like snow crunching as she walked, creating the slightest noise in the dead silence, the dead of night. The moon shone through the canopy of bare tree branches, illuminating her face through tiny holes in the forest ceiling. Alice hugged herself tightly, her thin black sweater and black jeans not being enough to shield her from the cold. She had lost her way an hour ago, and so far the whole forest looked the same at every corner and she felt like she had been going in circles, despite the fact that she knew she had been going straight the whole time. Once, she had thought about calling out, but the eerie feeling the forest gave her claimed her voice for its own as it sucked her deeper into its depths. The cold seized her lungs, scratching them with ice-made claws every time she drew a breath. She coughed and the remaining burning, scratched feeling made her curse herself for leaving the cabin. If she made herself fall back into sleep, then she wouldn't have gotten lost in these woods in the first place. She had awoken after a strange nightmare, sweating and blood pounding, swearing it had been real. But everything had been too normal and quiet after for the dream to have been reality. How was it that she had felt a comfort in the idea of taking a walk in the woods when the dream had taken place in a similar area?

And the man. Oh, the man with the tentacle-like arms and the way they writhed and pointed at her from behind his back, beckoning her forward through pure curiosity. Just when his arms, blacker than night, and longer than anything she had seen before, were about to bring her into a strange and dangerous embrace, she would wake from the reoccurring dream that seemed more like a memory to her. Alice shuddered as she glanced around herself, checking her surroundings as if she expected the thing to jump out at her at any second.

But all was quiet – too quiet. There were no sounds apart from the cracking of frozen twigs under her feet or the soft, whisper of wind as snow began to gently fall. She listened carefully for a sign of an animal, like deer or elk. But there was nothing, and she realized that they must be taking cover before a winter storm hit. She hugged herself round her middle, willing her damp sweater to cling tighter to her and embrace her in warmth.

That was when she heard it.

Crack.

Somewhere behind her, a twig snapped. And another – crack – It echoed through the forest, sending a chill down her spine. Don't turn around, she told herself, you're just hearing things.

Crack.

Another twig snapped in half, followed by the rustling of bare branches. Everything seemed to suddenly grow darker around her, and Alice whimpered as fear took its hold of her, crushing her with a hand so strong she was forced to turn in spite of herself.

Her eyes met a sight that she had seen before, a sight so chilling that a terrified yelp escaped her lips.

The Man stood within the trees, hands clasped in front of him with his vacant face tilted slightly toward the ground. Unlike in her nightmare, he had only two arms, though they were still long, as were his legs. He towered high above her with the trees, fifteen feet to her mere five and three inches. The height of him caused fear to arise within Alice, and she felt as though she wouldn't be able to move when at last she adverted to her gaze and turned to run, the wind now whipping at her face as the quickly falling snow mixed with frightened tears blurred her vision. Her heart beat fast and hard within her chest, threatening to burst. But she ran anyway, pushing herself against her body's cries for her to stop. She ran until she couldn't feel her legs, her cheeks flushed bright pink from the cold; she had to run, to run anywhere to get away from-

"NO!" she screamed as she ran into him, the warmth from him stinging her frozen, frost-bitten skin.

"Alice," he hissed, the sound strangely soft though icy at the same time. She felt his long arms wrap around her, gently at first, though strong and bone-crushing in the next second.

"Let me go!" she screamed at the thing – the man with no face.

"You are lost," he said in that strange, velvet-like voice of his. "Let me help you find your way."

"I am not lost!" she yelled, and her voice echoed in her mind, reverberating off the caverns in her brain. Her mind was working much too fast, trying to figure out a way to release herself from his grip. "I know exactly where I am!"

"I have watched you," said the man and the words sent a chill through Alice's body, causing her to shiver. The movement made him grip her tighter and she began to cry with fear again, her sobs coming out as shaky breaths. "I have seen you," he continued, "lose your way within these trees."

"I – I come out here every day!" Alice announced, raising her head slightly and pushing back against him. His grip loosened and she was able to free herself, though she stayed in front of him, looking up into the sunken, shaded parts of his face where she should have seen his eyes. His skin was the purest of white, and though there was no moonlight, it emitted a bizarre, ethereal glow that kept Alice in her place.

"But not at night," he corrected her, stepped towards her again, the movement languid and graceful, as if he knew she would not run.

"I – couldn't … s-sleep," she stuttered and looked down at the ground again, afraid that she would get sucked into him if she continued to stare at his face. She watched his feet instead, staring at the polished black shoes he wore (they matched the black suit he stood clad in), as they began to walk around her, circling her like a predator might its prey.

"And you believe the woods were a safe place to come at night?" he whispered, ducking down to reach her ear. Alice shuddered and involuntarily fell back into his chest, feeling one of his arms wrap around her middle. Only, when she looked down, she saw it wasn't an arm at all, but one of the eerie appendages she had seen in her dream (or had it been a vision of sorts?). It was black and felt silky through her saturated shirt, wet with melted snow. She had expected to see a hand that matched his others, ending in long, elegant fingers, but there was none. It was just a long, black point as sharp as a knife and she wondered if it would cut her.

"Answer me, Alice," he whispered again, and she felt a cool burst of air by her ear. She shivered and shook her head.

"No," she whispered back, being careful not to move. She felt it might be the last thing she did if tried to get away again. She chose her next words carefully. "What – who are you?"

"I am Der Ritter," he said, louder now and taking on a forceful tone. His voice remained soft, however, and Alice felt herself relaxing into him, though she knew deep within herself it was the wrong thing to do. She knew of this name; she knew what it was – who He was.

"Don't go into the forest alone, Alice," her grandmother had always said, "for He will get you."

"Who?" was always Alice's reply.

"The Tall Man. Or Der … Ritter."

It was always that name that scared Alice. The sound of it had sent her crying to her grandmother. But she had always wanted to know more, and now perhaps that was exactly what she was getting.

"You know of me," he said. He was whispering again, sending that strange, chilling feeling through her again. It wasn't a question. No, he knew she knew and now he wanted her. He was going to take her like he did with all of his victims and she was letting him. His voice was alluring, seductive even, and Alice knew there would be no going back now. As he held her there, against himself, she was dead already.

"Yes," she whispered back to him, and another tentacle wrapped itself around her. "Please," she said, pinching her eyes shut as she waited for him to rip her apart, "don't – don't hurt me…." Her request hung in the air around them, and for a moment time went still as she stood in the monster's arms and awaited her demise patiently, trying to be as good as she could. Maybe if I just listen to him, he won't kill me … yet, she thought.

Der Ritter moved suddenly, startling Alice and as he let her go, she stumbled back to regain her balance. His warmth left her and the snow and cold attacked her once again. She trembled from cold, her blonde hair whipping her face like a puppet that the wind controlled. He stood in front of her, watching her as she glanced around herself and then up to him.

"Silly girl," he said so softly Alice strained to be sure that's what he said. "Listen to your grandmother next time," he added and with one long, white finger, beckoned her forward. Her body worked on its own as it moved toward him without her brain's permission. She could run – she could find her way back or hide from him until the morning. Surely he didn't come out during the day…. She had never seen him before this night.

Her feet, bare and stinging from the cold each time she stepped, carried her to him. She stood a mere inch from him now and he wrapped one of his smooth, black limbs around her wrist, holding there in an iron grip.

"Why harm you now?" he whispered, using a hand to brush her hair from her face, "when the chase … is all part of the fun?"

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Review please? :)