Becky's hand shook as she held on to her cup. Her left eye had a twitching pulse and it bothered me so I turned toward my cup and studied the quilt like pattern instead. Ashley cleaned up her spit take and plopped the wet paper towel in the rubbish bin and sat back down at the table.

"Okay. Ready. Let it rip. We were at the point where you said you were dead. Let's start there."

Becky sucked in air and it whooshed out sending her coffee steam swirling. "I was 16 when it started. I had been to a friends for the evening and we had gotten into her parents liquor while they were out for the night. On my way home I felt the world spinning and wanted nothing more than to get into my bed and make it stop. I darted across the street and came face to face with headlights from an oncoming car. The night ended for me there."

There was a pause in the conversation and Ashley put some iced oatmeal cookies in the center of the table. I smiled at her perception and grabbed one to nibble while waiting for Becky to continue. Somehow this story felt dark and my skin chilled from the inside. My mind gave me a thousand reasons to get up and not wait for the rest, but I fought it and remain planted.  She continued after topping off her coffee and adding a dollop more cream.

"I Woke up in intensive care in traction. Prisoner to a bed and visions of a killer waiting by my bedside haunted me. Staff there grew concerned over my constant high heart rate and bouts of screaming kept me almost constantly sedated; which only increased the visions and fears. I saw him clearly, watching, waiting, covering my wounds with black shadows and causing me torture. He enjoyed it all and my being unable to move or run was like a playground to him."

Ashley smacked my hand as I jiggled my feet and bit my nails to the quick. I could feel waves of panic coming off Becky and my apprehension was through the roof. I covered her hand with mine and Ashley put hers atop my own making our small circle closer, pact like. Becky nodded and continued, This time sending a ribbon of anger in her words.

"When I finally started learning to walk again it increased. Without the meds and now up and mobile I continued seeing shadows. Constantly finding notes, feeling a fluttering behind me. Then the killings started. My best friend, my boy crush, and anyone I tried to reach out to. I was sure it was a curse. I went to church, prayed, met with a priest, and ended up staying in my house nonstop. My doctors called it traumatic stress disorder and started sending to to a psychiatrist."

Becky's hand trembled and the coffee tipped and sloshed to a side. Ashley placed a pile of napkins on the table and Becky seemed too off to notice.

"My sister thought I was crazy until Slenderman got tired of playing nice and waiting in the background. He showed up one night in our bedroom. My sister, Sarah screamed and he got even by climbing into her bed and choking her unconscious. She never mentioned it again. He ended up relentlessly tormenting me until I couldn't take it.

I planned on killing him, I told my parents I would go out on a family outing to my sisters favorite restaurant. Moments before it was time to go, I bailed. Crying and whining until they finally went without me.

Slenderman showed up quickly. He grabbed me, pulled my hair, threw me down the stairs and tried to climb on top of me. I stabbed him with a fork, in the face and he barely reacted. I got loose and lit hairspray from a can with a lighter and torched him. He flailed around and ran and I was so sure I killed him.

My parents found me downstairs and called our doctor who told them to take me to the hospital and have me committed. I fought against it, but it was no use."

"Whoa, Becky, that's terrible! Do you need to take a break?" Ashley rubbed Becky's back and waited for Becky to blow her nose and wipe the stream of tears flowing down her cheeks. Becky nodded fiercely and took a deep breath before continuing.

"The first night I was there he killed my parents and left my sister in a pool of her own blood chanting about the armed man. She was gone as my sister and even now, years later her mind is locked beyond my ability to reach her. She's never uttered a word about that night, or any word at all.

The doctor told me the next day. Said there had been a break in. I ended up in a rage, lunging, kicking, screaming. I was put into solitary and drugged heavily for a month. I didn't even get to go to the funeral.

Slenderman visited me in solitary regularly. He whispered in the ears of anyone I spoke with and they would end up killing themselves or turning on someone with unstoppable rage. I stopped trying to talk to others and willed myself to forget I had a sister to protect her from catching his attention.

I went into a shell. Nothing got in, nothing got out. It lasted for two years. When I finally believed he was gone I slowly healed. I assume he had played with me enough and moved on to someone else."

Ashley slammed her fist on the table and put on her game face. "It ends today. I don't know how, but enough is enough. I'm not letting another person end up with a story like that. Let's do some homework. Someone has been where we are, someone knows something."

We got out the computer and the iPad and started searching. Threads, chats, legends. The information was out there. Slenderman was looked at as an urban legend, and even made it into some weird creepy pasta stories. I thought about my initial attraction and how I felt when he was close, the surge of adrenalin, the sway he had over my feelings and I wondered how many girls had experienced this sensation. It was time to break up with this Boyfiend. And like any girl, I had a plan that would make it his own idea to get packing and leave me in the dust.

"Girls, I've got an idea. You won't like it, but neither will Slendy. Gather round kiddo's. It's time to break out the estrogen ammo."

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Sounds like Lemon has a plan. Maybe she's on to something.
Poor Becky, what a horrible story. These girls have a bond that's umbreakable, but it's definitely not a group I want to pledge into.

This chapter is dedicated to SylveonEX because she's awesome😀