It was just a normal night, and Jake was in his car. At both sides of the road there was forest. He had been driving for hours and now he had decided to stop to smoke, he thought about all that had happened that day. It wasn´t something really exceptional, but for a salesman like him it was something to think about.
Then he saw something strange in a tree. There was a paper stuck right there, it was a torn-out page with the words: ALWAYS WATCHES, NO EYES and the drawing of something that resembled a faceless head. A strange chill crossed his back, but he just felt stupid for being scared and decided it wasn´t something important, probably just a childish prank from someone that passed by or an occult camera. So, just to feel powerful, he pushed the cigarette against the note and wrapped it with that, he then listened to the environment, and after some seconds that felt like hours he smiled. See? Nothing happened... he thought to himself, and after recovering his confidence he threw the paper ball at the floor, kicked it and turned to face the car.
Then he lost all the recovered confidence, along with the rest of it. Between him and the car there was something that resembled a very tall and slim man, but it couldn´t be human, it´s arms were too long, it was too pale and it had no face. Jake panicked instantly, but after screaming and babbling for a few moments he realized the tall thing wasn´t moving, not even a millimeter. And he couldn´t stop thinking about the paper note he just mistreated minutes ago. So he turned, grabbed the paper ball from the floor, unfolded it and tried to clean it with his jacket, and left it in the tree, it was half-burnt, partially black and broken, but at that moment he couldn´t think of that, he turned again, while saying "Don't worry, the note's perfect. See? Now just let me go," but there was nothing there, just his car, and the forest, the thing had just disappeared. He ran to his car, once he was inside, he stopped panicking. There he was secure, now all he had to do is turn the key and... nothing, it was like if the battery was suddenly empty, and he was stuck there. After a few tries he decided he´d better call for help, he got his phone, dialed 911 in a mechanical way and clicked the green symbol, he grabbed the phone to his ear and heard nothing, the phone was completely out of battery too, that had to be a bad joke. After some seconds meditating about fate, destiny, karma and religion he observed the obvious, he had to get out the car and push it.
So he grabbed all his last willpower and opened the door, he got out slowly and grabbed the door, he now had one hand in the key and most of his torso against the door, he started pushing the car... nothing... nothing... noting... just one more try, please, let this one be it... nothing. After a few meters he had exhausted himself and the car didn´t work, so he got inside, this time on the backseats and closed the doors, he laid there, he thought he could just sleep there and start anew with the light. Monsters are scared of light, Aren´t they? he started to relax, that was scary, but it was nothing, it was just a big scary mannequin that didn´t even move so it couldn´t be dangerous. Could it?
Then he opened his eyes, and there it was, the tall monster of the black suit was looking through the car´s window, and it was suddenly open. It just some centimeters away from his feet. He panicked anew, he opened the door behind his head, threw himself out of the car and started running directly into the forest. His whole body ached, but fear was more powerful than pain, and he kept running. From time to time he turned to see if it was following, and it was always there, always standing up watching. He also saw him peripherally, or after some trees, but he quickly discarded that as hallucinations. If that thing was so quick why would it stalk him without attacking him?
So he kept running until he suddenly got to a wooden house, he slammed the door with his body and all the inertia he carried broke the door and opened it, it wasn´t a very resistant one, that was clear, but even so he had the urge to put it back in place and look through the window. The thing wasn´t there, he breathed deeply and turned to see the rest of the house. Perhaps he was safe there, or at least he felt so. He saw a girl gently pushing the chimney´s fire, there were also two seats, a table, a back door, a door to another room and a staircase to the upper floor. "Hi," he said, his voice was trembling, just as his hands, but he had to introduce himself after all.
"Hi," replied the girl, and she stared at him smiling, with her head slightly tilted to the left and her eyes closed, like on those anime he watched when he was young. That left him some seconds to take a decision about her. She looked like 18-19, with short black hair and bright blue eyes (he saw them before she started smiling), she wore glasses, a hoodie and knee-length jeans, so he decided she couldn´t be really dangerous, at least not like the monster, and she looked calm and happy, not like the monster...
"What are you doing here?" he asked.
"Well, I could ask you that, but if you really want to know it, I´m here because it´s a very relaxing place, or at least it was while it had a door."
"Yeah, sorry for that, but there´s no time to explain things, we´ve got to go, and quickly!"
"Why? I like this place, if you want to go you can but I won´t follow"
"But it's dangerous here, there´s that tall thing and all is so aaagh! just come with me"
"'Tall thing'? Are you talking about Slendy? he might be annoying sometimes , but he´s not that dangerous..."
"Slendy? You know that monster? He has chased me all the way here!"
"Monster? be careful using that word, he´s no monster."
"He´s no monster?! How can you say that?! He has been trying to kill me since I grabbed that goddamn note! He´s clearly a monster!"
"Yes, you´re starting to understand, you´re talking about this note. Aren´t you?" The girl then put a paper on the table, Jake grabbed it carefully, it was the note, it had ashes all over it, was broken, ripped and shriveled. He looked at it, then at the girl, then at it, then at the girl...
"Yes, now you see, you´ve entered his home, broke his things, threw garbage and now broke his door, you´ve been extremely impolite and harmed him, but he is the monster. Isn´t him?"
"He IS a monster, he has no face!"
"Well, then what about the politics that condemn their people to poverty just to get richer? What about the businessman that treat humans as sheep? What about all our goddamn society?! He is no human! But that doesn´t make him a monster!"
"But... But..."
"You see this house? It was created by the people that tried to hunt him down time ago, and they weren´t the only one to mistreat him, this forest has been cut down, burnt, polished and destroyed lots of times over the ages, and it´s his home! If he´s a monster now that´s because we made him be so, he´s just what we deserve"
Jake was shocked by the words of the girl, his head ached with anger, terror, and confusion, then he saw a fragment of the door in the floor, it was just like a baseball bat, so without even thinking what he was doing he grabbed it and hit the girl in the head. She fell to the ground, quiet, she looked like... No, that couldn't be...
"Girl? Are you OK? Oh god. What have I done? I just wanted silence, I... I'm sorry..." Then, completely horrified by what he done, he left the log on the ground and walked to the door, he acted like a zombie, carrying his own body without knowing where was he, or where he was going, he pushed the door and it fell to the ground, he kept walking until he got to his car, he was surprised to find it, he then realized he hasn´t seen the thing during all it´s way back. Was it possible that the girl was the thing? And by killing her he had just...
Then he saw it, the thing, it was at the other side of the car, it looked really sad, Jake stared at it as if it was just a tree, he felt no fear, he felt nothing... then he heard a voice behind him "Who's the monster now?" It was the girl's voice, he turned and saw her, she was now wearing a welding mask, and she carried a chainsaw on her right hand, he fell to his knees and extended his arms to the sides, accepting his fate, he knew he was going to die, but in some way he was already dead.