Daigo and Rickson arrived in the living room at roughly the same time to find everyone in quite a state. Shu was trying to console Valt's unyielding screams even as his own eyes ran with tears. Silas was holding a shrieking Rantaro by his hand and using all the strength in his body to keep him from running towards the now dry and cold fireplace. Shasa was holding Honey tightly to keep her safe. Wakiya panted heavily and soaked in cold sweat. Kitt simply sat on the couch, unmoving, small streams of tears running from his wide eyes. Toko and Nika were still screaming and crying in horror.

All attention was on the fireplace.

"Now what's going on in here?" Rickson demanded.

Their heads snapped to him as one and Rickson found himself suddenly besieged by Toko, Nika, Kitt and Honey. They all talked at once, their words muffled by each other's voices and their own sniffles.

"One at a time!" Rickson shushed the lot as best he could, his eyes locking with those of Shasa. "Shasa; what happened? Why's everyone screaming?"

Before Shasa could say a word, Daigo finished his headcount. "And where did that Lui get to?"

Honey's resolve broke at the sound of Lui's name and he plunged her face into her big sister's chest to muffle her cries of horror. "Something took him!"

Rickson trailed off and muttered to himself in frustration, then looked back at her. "Who took him?!"

"We don't know!" Shasa had taken Honey's place in comforting her little sister, whose screams had now petered off into rapid, panting sobs. "This freakish thing came out of the chimney and just pulled him away!"

Daigo stopped in his comforting of Valt and Shu and froze. "You say a black tendrils took him?"

Shasa nodded slowly and wiped away the tears of Honey's eyes. "Something blew the fire out and then this tendrils just shot out and grabbed her."

Valt's eyes fell upon the fireplace and he made to run to it. "We have to save him! We have to..."

Shu pulled Valt against him and leaned to whisper to his ear. "He's gone, Valt. I'm sorry, but he's already gone."

Valt looked up at Shu in confusion. "Shu... How do you...?"

From upstairs came the sound of shattering glass and the rush of wind.

Daigo's eyes widened in fear. "The doggone wind blew in a window! I better go see if Cuza needs help."

Wakiya looked apprehensive but ultimately gave a nod. "Go check it out. But be quick. And keep away from the windows."

Daigo looked at Wakiya. "Why...?"

"Oh come on! My villa is not that scary you know!" Wakiya's voice was as harsh and severe as the crack of whip. Everyone jumped at his tone, even Shu. "Nevermind fixin' any broken windows you find. I take it you didn't find Ken?

Stunned at Wakiya's taking charge, Daigo just nodded.

"Then he's upstairs. Fetch him and Cuza and get back down here, got it?"

Again, Daigo nodded.

Shu watched as Daigo walked up the stairs. He turned attention back to his friends around him. He focused on Valt and Rantaro as the two who seemed to be most in control of themselves. "Now it's startin' to get mighty chilly in here already. You two take the others into the kitchen to get warm by the oven. I'll see to this fire."

Silas opened his mouth to protest Shu's going near the fireplace but found a crimson eyes blocking his words. "I'll be fine, I promise. I know how to keep safe." Without explaining any further, he patted on Valt's shoulder and smiled as Valt and Rantaro headed the kitchen door and made for the fireplace.

Silas was the last in line. He cast a paranoid eye at Shu as he set to work rebuilding the fire.

And he seemed to be... singing?

Silas shook his head and turned again towards the kitchen...

...but found himself gazing at the stairs instead.

XxX

Daigo shivered as he walked the landing of the second floor. The freezing wind gusted and blew down the hallway, pieces of paper on the floor every now and then. His teeth chattering, Daigo zipped his jacket and dig down his hands into his pocket, and looked around for a source of light. The wind had blown the hall's lanterns out. Gritting his teeth to stop their irritating dancing, he opened the door to Wakiya's bedroom and sighed in relief; a torch was still on the table. He carefully took the torch and pulled it into the hallway.

He very nearly dropped the candle in shock as the torch illuminated the hallway.

The hallway was completely freezing. The walls and the ceiling were cracked drawn in scribbles all over the place. All of the papers were writing on the hardwood floors, someone wrote 'CAN YOU SEE HIM?'. Most shocking of all were the tree stems that now stretched from the ceiling, reaching down like teeth that beckoned down the throat of a hallway.

Swallowing uneasily, Daigo began trudging his way down the hall.

As the floor crunched beneath his feet, Daigo did his hardest to figure out what was going on. The fog had been bad before, but now it was something unreal. Unnatural almost. Curious, he paused a moment to push against an tree log. It gave easily and broke away, burying itself in the pile of leaves.

As Daigo watched, the stems immediately moved apart into existence.

Even without the eerie fog, Daigo suddenly felt very cold.

He continued along towards the two rooms at the end of the hall; the guestrooms. All their doors were standing open. The broken window could be in either one.

Daigo's doorframe was curiously free of black rose petals.

The wind began to blow in earnest the closer he got to his destination. He felt his hair blow back down the hallway and closed his eyes against the onslaught. Each step took a huge effort, and he swore he could feel the fog forming on his body. Still he pushed on, as the feeling in his nose wasted to nothing. Deep down, he began to wonder if he would freeze to death right here, right at the threshold of his's bedroom. He took what she imagined must be the final step...

... And stumbled in his room as the wind suddenly stopped.

Daigo's eyes shot open and he looked around in the room, ready for anything.

Almost anything.

This time his jaw did drop, and this time the torch did fall to the ground and cracked against the hardwood floor.

The hardwood floor that was completely free of papers.

The room was untouched by the elements save for the obviously still freezing temperature. There were no icicles, no snow, and no glassy surfaces of frozen water. The room's main window had been thrown open with such a force that all the panes of glass had shattered. The tempest loomed outside, all howling wind and whirling fog.

But not a gust of wind blew in the bedroom itself.

A whimper came from his left.

Daigo spun to find a shivering lump in the blankets on Cuza's bed. He inched towards it and reached out with one unsteady hand. "Cuza?" He asked, unsure if it was lurking fear or cold that added the quake to his voice.

The trembling lump froze... and then lunged at him.

Daigo stifled a scream as Ken tackled him to the floor, his eyes wide and rimmed in red. He was beyond crying, beyond fear and screaming. He gaped at Daigo like a fish out of water, pounding at his chest with almost no real strength.

Daigo forced Ken off of him and forced him to focus on her. "Ken! What happened?"

Ken gulped and gestured at the window, his unblinking eyes not leaving Daigo's.

"Did Cuza go outside?"

Ken nodded.

"Did he fall?"

He shook his head.

Daigo grew irritated. "Come on! If he didn't fall then how did he go outside?"

"P-p-p-pulled."

The chill returned to Daigo's heart as he remembered what Shasa had said. "Pulled by what, Ken?"

Ken's reply was the tiniest of whimpered screams.

Daigo shook Ken slightly. "Ken, focus man; what pulled him out the window?"

Ken's eyes finally closed. One last tear ran down his face. "He did." He slumped to the floor in a dead faint.

Daigo was getting ready to shake Ken awake when she heard another sound behind him.

"So It's true."

Daigo turned to find Silas staring at the window with wide eyes. "Silas! What are you doing up here?! Get back downstairs right now!"

"It's all true! Don't you get it?!" Silas rushed frantically. "It's Slender! He's come for us, just like you said! He's gonna take us and eat us or hunt us down or..."

"Stop!" Daigo actually had to yell to be heard over Silas' continually rising voice. "That's just a story! Here, help me get Ken downstairs."

Silas was hyperventilating now. His mind was going numb as every nightmare and night terror began to coalesce into a new, singular form; that of a monstrous ram with a voracious appetite for flesh. "We have to get away! This might be our only chance! He's probably still eating Cuza! We have to go now, before he gets all of us like he did Lui!"

Too late, Daigo realized what Silas was planning. "Wait!"

"HE'S NOT GONNA EAT ME TOO!" Silas roared as he bolted to the open window. He ran as faster as he could and he took a giant leap into the air.

Daigo watched in horror as Silas' body vanished into the blowing white.

He left Ken's unconscious body and galloped toward the window. "SILAS!" He screamed into the void, but his voice was swallowed by the screaming wind.

For a moment, that shrieking was all he heard.

Then another sound made itself known. It was still shrieking, but in a much higher pitch.

Daigo threw himself backwards as Silas blasted through the fog and back through the window. His mouth was open in an unending scream of terror, his eyes wide and pleading for help. His legs were held captive against him by several long lengths of tendrils from which hung a number of static that seemed to be singing a lullaby with the his cries. Silas his free hand stretched out into the open air, desperately reaching toward Daigo.

His screaming stopped, and he peered at Daigo with the eyes, the eyes of trust, the eyes of knowing that some hero can always save the day.

That they can always chase away the nightmares.

"Help me." He whispered.

The black tendrils snapped tight and he was gone, yanked back out the window and into the nothingness of the night.

Daigo clutched his head and was not surprised in the least to find that he was crying.

The taking of Silas seemed to break some spell. The room was suddenly filled with freezing wind that whipped and snapped in the air. Fog began to spread against the walls and tree stems began to grow from the ceiling. Doing his best to pull himself together, Daigo put Ken's arms on his shoulder and dragged him out of the room. He pulled his dead-weight across the hall's ever deeper autumn leaves, pausing only to grab him hat before it was blown away forever.

He didn't look back when the wind slammed the door to his room. The sound it made was not unlike the sealing of a tomb.

XxX

Valt heads turned as one to see Daigo fall down the last few days and land in a heap, a slowly stirring Ken beside him.

"DAIGO!" Valt ran to Daigo's side and checked him for injuries. "Are you alright? Is Ken okay? What's going on up there? What was all that screaming we heard? Wh..." His rapid fire questions came to a sudden halt. He looked up the staircase. "Where's Cuza?"

Rantaro, who'd done a head count as soon as he'd gathered his wits by the warm stove, measured his next words carefully. "And... where's Silas?"

Daigo looked at each of his friends in turn, then closed his eyes and turned away.

"...no." Valt whispered. "No." He stared at Daigo, unbelieving, and gritted his teeth. "NO!" He began to punch the wall over and over again, punctuating each smash with another scream of "NO!"

Shu grabbed his best friend and held him close. He whispered reassurances and calming words into his ear until Valt's rage was nothing more than chest-wracking sobs of despair.

Wakiya found that he no longer had the will to cry. He simply turned and hugged against Rantaro again, who thankfully had the presence of mind to put his arm around him.

All alone with his sorrow and fear, Rickson's gaze fell on Shu.

He had built a roaring fire, four times as big and blazing as the first. Even now he arranged more firewood to be in easy reach. His shoulders had slumped only a little at the news of Cuza's demise, but still he worked.

And Rickson decided he wanted to know why.

"You know what's happening, don't you?" He asked, making his way back towards the warm living room. "You've known this whole time."

The others took notice and also filed into the room, either for the talking or the warmth. Ken finally stood on unsteady legs just long enough to throw himself onto the couch and resume crying into the cushions.

Shu stared at the crackling pyre he had built and sighed heavily. "I know."

"Huh?" Valt blinked in confusion.

Shu chuckled irritably. "Figures it would happen on one of our last Halloween together. Couldn't just enjoy one more night with the family, could we?"

"What are you talking about?" Wakiya asked.

"I figured Valtryek and Spryzen were the woods after they both hit rock bottom and nothing happened. Like Valtryek, you were always such a trusting friend. I should've figured it would be one of our friends that were the real danger."

"What danger?" Shasa was at the Shu's side. She looked at him with pleading eyes. "What's out there?"

They pulled away, looked at each other, and then nodded. Shu turned to everyone. "He is Slenderman. And like Daigo said before, he's not just a old tale..."

XxX

The mournful wind passed southbound, breaking through a swirling gloom born by Luinor. The gust's wheeling cry tore down the forest, past the fields of trees, and further on until it reached a solitary tree. The lonesome wind sighed as it bent around the hardened bark, protecting the angels asleep in the cold, cold ground. But what wind cries and sighs and moans? Could it be the slumbering roots that beckoned for the warmth of newest passing?

But to Valtryek and Spryzen, it was just an outspoken wind which did force remembrance of names once famed, but were now dubious and forgotten beside the moniker. The wind blew coldly, but Spryzen did not shiver, for his hardened spirit had already been touched by the frost of loss, which killed the seed of sorrow before it could sprout on this, another anniversary of Requiem's passing.

The headstone towered over them, imposing upon them his weathered Coat of Arms, red and white flowers. But, through sad sight, the years could be spelled out of Requiem past. Twelve years. Twelve years with parental bereavement. Twelve years where mourning tears had dried up, leaving a dispassion for authority. But in all respects, because Spryzen was the only one that returned to Requiem's deathbed, he cared most for his memory. Valtryek was too fast to remember, he had to be here for his best friend to comfort. But he couldn't

The wind, now a placid titan, once again sailed passed Spryzen, whispering his name. He flinched and believed to hear the sound of something purring at his shoulders. He dared not look behind him, but felt to indulge in fond name-calling.

"Hello, Slender."

To him rear stood it: Slenderman. The Grave, corporeal; a dreaded and tall and ghastly apparition that made those who shiver when named and appalled nature. Its suit was dark as the space between stars, and sucked life and light from the comparatively infant Sun. It was a supernumerary horror, mostly served in dead night as rotten legend. It was a cheerless, unsocial creature, and faceless.

"Waiting for me as usual, Spryzen. But that never surprises. Your honesty holds you to your word," Slenderman murmured. As it trailed on in its monotonous tone, the wind became silent and sharp. Spryzen's mane stood on end, and his body began to lightly shiver.

"But you're late. Busy?" Spryzen asked through his clattering teeth. His lips curled into a frown. He exhaled. 

Death may be busy, but he's never been late for our appointments.

"I am always busy. But I am never late for an appointment," Slenderman answered.

"Then why are you late?" Spryzen questioned. His countenance continued to wrinkle in worry.

"Because this is not an appointment. There were others close to you that required my attention," Slenderman responded.

Others close to you that required my attention.

Disbelief roiled inside Spryzen. His entire body turned hot, then cold, then hot again. Anger rose within him, so great it seared the breath from his lungs. He turned to Slenderman screaming, "Who did you take th—" That's when he saw it.

The village was on fire.

The burning village drew his attention from Slenderman. The red paint had taken a life of its own, shredding the foundations on its host with wicked, crimson claws. The squeals of collapsing timber slowly saturated the air. The column of black smoke eventually built up into a signature of Spryzen's companion, so thick and black that the flashing red and blue lights of the fire brigade were drowned. Listless, he crawled towards the alight structure, but stopped and swaggered, his jaw unhinged and open as his blank eyes stared.

If Slender has declared it so, there's no hope to stop it.

"That is why I was late," Slenderman whispered in his ear.

Spryzen's body twisted to the side. There stood Slenderman, its approach silent like the grave. The impenetrable shadow within the head was faced towards him, but it was impossible to tell whether Slenderman stared at him, or at the village. But such thoughts were far from Spryzen's mind.

He once again peered into the distance. There, as Slenderman had implied, the village burned to the ground. The wind blew in her direction, and soon the screams of his cremated family, along with the fragrance of Apples and charred wood, rushed past him. Spryzen closed his eyes. Bursts of sorrow gushed from either eye, fast-falling down his cheeks.

He was the last soul.

"Why? Why us? What quarrel do you have with our family?" Spryzen questioned. Without the trees or his family, without any divine purpose to shape his life, he was nothing but a hapless victim. The anger inside surged through him once more, so dark and overwhelming that it could contest the darkness of Slenderman.

"I have no quarrel with anyone, honest warrior. I only follow destiny. And today, the rest of your family has met their fate." There may have been no partial condolence in its tone, but Spryzen could sense a horrible grin forming over his skull.

"And you shouldn't repress your emotions. It's not very honest."

He turned to Slenderman. His lips were parted, and his teeth cracked as they gritted against each other. His brow knotted, and his eyes focused on Slenderman, the burning village reflected in his stare. "But why not take me?" he roared. "I am the Legendary Warrior of Fire. Is my soul not worth three to you?"

"No, Spryzen. A soul is a soul. You're still needed in the grand scheme of things because you are the Legendary Warrior of Fire." Slenderman's tone shifted to one that patronized. "It is why you get to live just a bit longer."

"You bastard! I — I'll kill you!" Spryzen leapt for Slenderman, his axe aimed at his seemingly fragile form. But he passed right through it. Slenderman was nothing more than a mist. But Spryzen turned and attacked anew. His axe wafted through the spirit, only temporarily dissipating Slenderman's form. But soon he tired, and collapsed on the ground, panting heavily as sweat dripped down his brow.

Slenderman's neck craned down to his level. "I am Slenderman, Spryzen. You are no more a threat to me than a termite. There is no way you can beat me."

Spryzen peered into Slenderman's black tendrils. For the first time in twelve years, he saw his eyes. They weren't empty as he believed. Instead, he saw the souls of his people buried in the lake which burned with fire and brimstone: a second death. As there screams died from the fire, they were born anew in Slenderman's eyes. But being so close, they were deafening and inspiring.

Spryzen chuckled darkly. "I know of one way to beat you." He stood up and walked towards the palace, his head held high.

Slenderman smirked. "I can read your thoughts. Your plan will be in vain, Spryzen." But despite his warning, he continued on to the palace. It walked back through the forest.

"Raze this barn. Raze this barn. One, two, three, four," Spryzen sang, until his had disappeared down the road.

XxX

Everyone stared in awe as Shu finished his story of his darkest dream. Satisfied that the fire would burn for some time yet, he walked to the couch and sat next to Valt and looked at them all. "Everyone's first Halloween after getting their lives is the most dangerous time of all. You'll start feeling so grown up that you start to question things. First little things like Spryzen and then bigger things like friendship itself. That's what calls to Slenderman, that spirit of disharmony, that betrayal of the most sacred truth. To question the very nature of friendship itself is borderline blasphemy. Some of you have done just that. You have, and now we are all being punished for it."

Rantaro blinked with watery eyes. "But I still believe in Spyzen. I haven't even gotten Roktavor yet. Why am we being punished?"

"And why did it take Cuza?" Besu asked in a quiet, trembling tone of voice. "He wasn't useless."

"It's about what you believe or how old you are anymore!" Shu snapped impatiently. "He's here now, and he will not stop until he has claimed us all."

Shasa hugged Honey close and gazed at Shu in desperation. "Isn't there anything we can do?"

Shu sighed and looked out the window. "We stick together. We keep the fire hot. We wait for the sun to come up. And you." He looked at Valt. "I need you to tell me something."

"W-what?" Valt squeaked.

Shu offered the kindest smile he could muster in the situation. "How many lullabies do you know?"

His smile was so warm that Valt couldn't help but match it. "Two, maybe."

Shu watched everything quietly, Nightmare Luinor still on the table.

And the singing began.