Scared.

Heaven help me.

I've been moving around a lot. Been trying to only stay in one spot for a little while. I've camped some, I've slept in makeshift lean-tos some nights, sometimes I've found some structures to stay in. I never stay in one spot too long; I keep a careful watch. So how does It keep finding me?

I saw It again today, just as persistent as ever. Just as patient. But I think It's starting to get frustrated that I keep running, because this time I saw It moving. I managed to make it back to my cabin before It got too close, but It's still out there. It keeps patrolling around the perimeter like some sort of awkwardly thin soldier. Sometimes It seems to hover off the ground, gliding. Sometimes It walks on two stilt-like legs, sometimes on many more...

I'm sure It's trying to get in at me. I'm sure It knows I'm in here, and It's trying to find a way inside. I've been stealing quick looks at It from my second-floor window as It makes Its rounds around the building to see where It is. That thing doesn't move anything like any animal I've ever seen.

You know how earthworms move, how they curl up and squirm around? You know that long-legged, graceful gait deer have? Ever seen the way a bird's leg bends back at the knee joint, backwards from ours?

It moves like all three. At once.

God, knees shouldn't bend both forward and back like that. And arms shouldn't move like they're rubber bands.

Some of the articles I read on It, some of them called It "Slender Man". Fuck that, this thing isn't a man.

I'm sitting here curled up on the floor as I type this. It's close. Very, very close. I know It's nearby because every time It gets close I get terribly nauseous.

Been keeping low. Maybe if I keep curled up, maybe It won't see me. But the windows of this little cabin are pretty thin. If… if It only hit them hard enough…

No, Jeremy. Don't. Don't go there; just stay down and don't panic. It wants you to panic. Besides, even if you managed to get out in time there's no way you could run from something that insanely fast.

There's tapping on the windows now. Very softly, so softly you could mistake it for a tree branch scraping against the glass. But you know better than that, don't you, Jeremy? You know better.

Oh God, that sound…

Tap-tap. Tap-tap-tap. Tap.

Like that. Sounds almost like that, almost random. Almost playful.
Oh Jesus Christ, It's taunting me. That's gotta be why It's doing this. It's amused by my fear. And the sounds keep getting closer. Closer to where I am.

Oh God, does It already know?




Stay calm, jer, keep typing, stay calm, don't panic now. It doesn't matter if you feel like you're about to throw up. It doesn't matter if you feel like breaking down crying right now. Just. Stay. Fucking. Calm.

Wait, the sound… it just stopped. The scraping just stopped… And I don't feel so sick anymore…

Did… did It just leave? Is It really gone?

Oh Christ my pulse is pounding like crazy and I can't stop crying it's getting hard to type I'm shaking so bad

Calm. Down. Jeremy. Right now. Calm down. Breathe. Keep typing and breathe.

... I should check. I have to. I have to know if It's gone. I'll have to run again; I can't stay here anymore… what if It comes back? What if next time, It's not content with tapping on my windows? I need to at least check real quick. I need to see if

Oh God It's right fucking there staring at me oh God oh God

It's Still After Me.

God, I really can't shake this fucking thing, can I? I don't know how It keeps finding me, but it always, always does. It knows where I am at all times, and It's after me for God only knows what reason.

I've been running for about a week now, Hell if I know where to. I'm somewhere Up North, that's the only place I could think of to run to. Back where I first saw It.

Yeah, Jeremy, that's smart. Go back to Its home turf. See where that gets you.

For the first time in my life, I actually hate the forest now. But where else can I go? It'll follow me regardless! I'm at my wit's fucking end and I can't take being chased like an animal anymore. I've been flying blind and and getting nowhere. Nowhere.

Of course I tried to get help. That's why I started talking about that thing here, on this blog, to prove It's real. To prove I'm not really losing it. I swear to God I'm not! I asked the police up here for help, but every time I call, they don't find squat and I look like a mental case. So I did some online research instead, shacked up in a hotel with some free Wi-fi. And what I found out…

This thing… I'm not the only one being stalked by It. I'm... I'm not alone. That's the only good news.

The bad news is that nobody knows any way to stop It.

The even worse news is that the more you know about It, the harder It tries to catch you. I know more about It now than ever before, and just as I've feared, It's gotten more… aggressive. More persistent.

And... shit, now you know about It, too, don't you?

Oh God, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. But I have to tell someone. I have to prove I'm really being followed by this thing. Why are any of you even still reading this damn journal, anyway?

But you can't stop reading now. Please. I need to know I'm not alone out there. I need some support. Any support. Anything at all...

Dear God, please…

THIS IS NOT FUCKING STRESS

It was fucking waiting for me to get home.
It was standing behind my damn shed, where I keep my compound bow and arrows.

It knows where I keep my weapons. Whatever this thing is, It's smart, and it's after me.

I can't even begin to explain how panicked I was to see It just standing there like it was my damn next-door neighbor or something. I ran right the hell inside and bolted all the doors and windows shut. But that just made It more persistent.

I've spent the last three days locked inside my house, and every time I look outside I see It standing in the same damn spot. Day in. Day out.

It's waiting for me to come outside. Waiting for me to falter.

No. I am not fucking doing this, I'm not gonna sit here and do nothing until my damn food runs out. It can't see into my bedroom, not with the curtains closed and shut.

I'm packing a bag full of clothes, my spare string bow and arrows, and my damn laptop. Gonna try and sneak out to my car, I think I can make it to the garage if I'm quiet enough. I think I can make it out of here without alerting it if I'm careful. Surely It can't keep up with my car, can It?

Wish me luck.

Sick Leave

Sick leave? Are you fucking kidding me? I can't go on sick leave, I need the money!

This is all that... that thing's fault, the suit thing. I was sitting at my drill press on the assembly line, over by the window. Looking out of it, like I usually do. Looking out at the little cherry tree. I didn't do anything but glance up for a second.

It was back.

It was standing near the big ash by the parking lot, across the street. At first I thought it was one of the directors coming in for a meeting, so I payed no attention to it.

Then I started to feel nauseous. You know that queasiness you get when you wanna throw up, but you can't? It was like that, mixed with a little dizziness. I had to shut the drill press off so I didn't hurt myself, that's how bad I felt.

Then I stumbled over to the waste bin to spew, the murmurs of my coworkers expressing their concern humming around me like bumblebees. I didn't even realize why I was so sick until I looked up and out the window again.

Jesus H. Christ, It was standing right there at the window.

Watching.

Waiting.

I dunno what exactly happened, but I think I must have blacked out. All I remember is waking up and seeing the floor manager standing over me, looking concerned.

That's when he told me he didn't think I looked well, that maybe I should take sick leave. Something about me screaming about faceless guys in suits, then fainting. Said he thought it must have been stress, that I'd acting weird for the last couple of days.

Stress my ass. That wasn't stress. It was that thing, that thing in the suit. But hell, what do I know? It was just fucking stress and clearly I need to get laid off from my job over it!

Guess me seeing it again on the drive home and nearly ending up in a ditch was just stress too, huh, boss?

Oh Jesus Christ...

It got too close to the blind too fucking close to the blind.

It isn't a fucking mask.

It doesn't have a face.

And It's staring right at me.

How The Hell...

Did that guy follow me back to Ypsi? How did he even know where the Hell I live?

Who is this guy and what the Hell does he want? I went to go hunting this morning, not even two days after I got home, and there he was, standing in the damn undergrowth like some kind of pervert stalker.

Got a better look at him. Not sure what he's got over his face, but it makes him look totally faceless. And it looks pretty damn realistic, like skin...

Creepy fucker. He gets much closer I'm gonna shoot the bastard for making me so damn nervous.

Gonna Cut Short This Year

Dammit, I can't do this anymore. I'm having shit poor luck bagging anything, haven't seen a single deer for a week now. How am I having such awful luck?

One thing I have been seeing more of is that weird scarecrow guy, though. Yeah, pretty sure it's not a trick of the light anymore. He never does anything, just stands there watching. Watching me.

And another thing, It keeps edging closer to the blind. Bit by bit. Why's this guy so interested in me anyway? Hasn't he seen another bow-hunter before?

I don't like it. I don't like whatever that guy is up to, and I can't focus when he's around me. I get nervous, every single time, and it's throwing off my aim. Hell, it wasn't even worth it this year anyway, not for two does.

Maybe I'll have better luck back home...