Table of Contents

“I told you already.” Jeff’s voice was low and trembling with barely restrained anger. “I. Didn’t. Fucking. Do it.” He gazed out at the police officer before him with a rage he’d never felt before.

Jeffrey Woods sat across from two police officers. He’d been here for the past four hours. Arguing with these two idiots. They’d been the ones to find him in the forest earlier that night. Found him cradling Liu’s bloody, massacred corpse. Being the geniuses that they were, they arrested him on the spot. He was detained for the night at the station. And now had been spending his entire day arguing on his own behalf.

“Look, kid.” The older of the two officers, a man named Officer Wilson, leans against the table. Jeff could tell this guy was tired of all this. “Things are going to go a lot easier for all of us if you just fess up. Now, there’s no point in lying to us-”

“I am not lying.” Jeff gripped the table and leaned forward, getting back in the cop’s face. “I told you ten times already. I didn’t kill my brother.” Those very words threatened to make Jeff sick. He hadn’t even been given an hour to grieve for his brother before these assholes were breathing down his neck. He was having to convince them that he didn’t kill him. The very idea made his blood boil.

“Yeah, you keep saying that.” Officer Chalski, the younger of the two, piped up. He had a pen and notepad in his hands. Clearly documenting every last thing Jeff said. “But we’ve got more than enough evidence to say otherwise. You were found with the body-”

“With a weapon in hand.” Officer Wilson chimed in.

“-With a weapon in hand…. Not to mention the people we’ve been talking to around school.” The younger officer flipped back a few pages in his notebook. “Is it true that you and your brother had a fight earlier that day? A big one?”

“Yes. We did.” Jeff forced the words out. He hated having to agree with these pigs.

“And is it true you shouted, in that moment, that you wanted to kill him?”

“I don’t have to tell you anything.” Jeff crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. “I know my rights. Bring me a lawyer.”

“Shouldn’t need one if you’re innocent, right?” The older cop asked with a raised eyebrow. “If you’re telling the truth about not killing him, then where’s the harm in telling us what you know? If there’s a real killer out there, telling us the truth could get us off your back, and on theirs.”

Jeff felt his eyebrow twitch at their disgustingly plain and obvious attempts to get him to spill his guts. He knew these two fully believed him guilty, they were just trying to bait out the information they could use to convict him. Jeff wasn’t even sure if them holding him here for this long was legal. He was really starting to wish he knew more about how all this worked.

After he didn’t answer their questions, the younger cop spoke up again. “We also spoke to your guidance counselor at school…” Officer Chalski flipped through his dumb little notebook again. “Is it true you’ve been killing animals frequently out in the woods?”

“Told us that your brother was actually the one who reported that to her.” Officer Wilson chimed in as well. Jeff could tell that the two of them thought they had him cornered.

“So your brother gets you in trouble for your little…. Games. Out in the woods. Then you get in a huge fight with him, threaten to kill him, and then that very night he’s found dead in your arms…” Officer Chalski rereads his notes then looks up with a face full of mock concern.

“You can see how this looks…. Right kid?”

Jeff still didn’t answer them. He kept his mouth shut. Physically biting his tongue. The taste of blood filling his mouth as he struggled to keep from lashing out at these cops. He knew things looked bad. He knew the evidence was stacked against him. And Jeff knew above all else that nobody in this town would believe a word he said. Not when he already fit so perfectly into their preconceived notions.

“Alright.” Officer Wilson stood back up and waved Jeff away like some kind of insect. “You just sit right here then. You got a lawyer then, kid?”

My dad. Franklin Woods.” Jeff normally didn’t ask his father for anything. But he was the only lawyer he knew. And he definitely wasn’t going to trust one that these guys got him. He just had to hope that his dad would believe him.

The two officers left Jeff alone in the briefing room. And another hour later, Jeff was greeted by the sight of his father walking through the door. He didn’t exactly look pleased to be here right now. Jeff couldn’t exactly blame him this time.

His father sat down across from Jeff. His eyes were deep with bags, and a deep red. It was entirely obvious that his father had been crying his eyes out. Jeff felt a brief stab of guilt for making him come down here and deal with this. But it was on his father just as much as it was on him. Had his parents actually given a damn and kept track of where Liu was, or even cared that he wasn’t home at all, then maybe this all could’ve been avoided.

Jeff’s father rubbed his tired face, before locking eyes with Jeff. The two stared at each other for what felt like an eternity, before his father spoke up.

“Tell me what happened. And I don’t want any stories or lies. Or funny business, Jeffrey. You tell me exactly what happened last night. Now.”

Jeff didn’t have any comebacks or arguments. He just complied. He was as ready as anyone to get this whole mess taken care of. He told him everything. Liu reporting him to the guidance counselor, the fight, talking with Samantha, tracking Liu through the woods, discovering his…. Body…. And getting arrested.

His father sat through it all, listening intently. When Jeff was done, the silence returned for a few moments as his father processed the information.

“And that’s the truth? You’re telling me you didn’t kill your brother?”

“Of course I didn’t.” Jeff was honestly hurt his father even had to ask him that question. Didn’t they know how close they were together?

“Then who did?”

“I don’t know. When I got there Liu was already…. Already….”

“The cops said he had gash marks on him. Big gash marks. And you stole a knife from our kitchen that night. Why did you take that knife, Jeff?”

“For protection. Because I knew there was something dangerous in those woods. And I wanted a weapon in case I had to defend myself.”

“How did you know there was something dangerous in that forest?”

“I was in there before. At night by accident. And I was….” Jeff didn’t really know how much to say. He didn’t want to be committed as insane or something. “…. Followed. By a man. A creepy man.”

“A creepy man.” Jeff’s father asked with an incredulous tone. “Jeff, the cops found no evidence of anyone else being out there.”

“What about the footprints? The ones I followed.”

“Unfortunately by the time they searched the area in the morning, any footprints that you might have seen were long gone.”

“And the house? The one right where Liu died. Did they search it for clues?”

House?”

“The house. The one in the clearing. There was an old cabin out there. In the same clearing where he-”

“Jeffrey.” His father shook his head, looking at Jeff like he was mad. “There was nothing there. There is nothing there. Nobody has built anything in those woods. You were found in an empty clearing. There was no house. There was no one else there.”

That couldn’t be right. Jeff knew what he saw. He was grief stricken and crying at the time. But he knew he didn’t hallucinate a whole cabin in the woods. Just like how he didn’t hallucinate those footprints.

“Tell the cops to go look again. There was definitely a cabin there. That’s probably where the killer lives. You have to-”

“Jeffrey Woods!!” His father shouted, banging his hands on the table. “Enough! Enough! Just shut up! Stop!” He slammed the table again, actually causing Jeff to flinch in surprise. “I’m not going to sit here and listen to you lie! I came here because I thought, maybe, just maybe, I’d be able to get the truth out of you. And still you do nothing but make shit up!”

“I’m not making anything u-”

“That’s bullshit, Jeff.” His father stood up, his chair grating back against the floor. “You cannot lie your way out of this one. There was no house. And there was no one else out there. The only one out there that was killing things was you. Jeffrey! Liu told us! Told your counselor! God!” His father ran his hands through his hair, making it appear wild. “We should’ve listened. I never thought you’d…. You’d have the ability to….” His father trailed off, covering his face as tears streaked down it.

Jeff felt… Oddly calm. Considering the circumstance. He sat and stared at his father his face an emotionless mask. So, his own father thought he was guilty too then. Was that it? He’d come in here with his mind made up. He’d already decided that Jeff was the killer, and nothing he said would’ve changed that.

“Are you just going to sit there? Say something!” His father shouted down at Jeff, face twisted with rage. “We should’ve done something more. I feel like I’m to blame for this.” His father bemoaned, turning around and heading for the door.

“Of course you are.” Jeff finally spoke. His father stopping and turning back to look at him. “How can you even doubt that? Where were you when Liu was getting murdered in the woods? Where were you when he didn’t show up at home after four hours? Why didn’t you try calling him? Why didn’t you try to find him? You did nothing. Just like you always did.” Jeff’s voice was level and even. His voice calm. Like a realization had finally set upon him.

Though Jeff was certainly partially to blame in all this, he wouldn’t deny that he had played some hand in the events that occurred, but he wasn’t the only one. His parents played a role even bigger than that. They were the ones that neglected the mental health of their son, that never did more than the bare minimum for them. That never cared to get involved.

Everything came back to them. Came back to this town.

His father glared at Jeff. He opened his mouth to speak, but shook his head and turned away. “I’m going to go home and tell your mother that both of her children are dead.”

And those were the final words he spoke, before departing the room and leaving Jeff behind. For good.

It wasn’t long after that the cops came back and escorted Jeff back to his cell in the jail. He didn’t fight them. He went along willingly.

As he was pushed into the cell, Officer Wilson spoke up behind him.

“Your court date will be coming up soon, kid. You’ll be assigned a lawyer from the county. I advise you stay on your best behavior until then.” The door slid shut and locked behind him.

Jeff dropped to the floor. Sitting right in the middle of his cell. Back to the door. He slouched over his head meeting his hands. His eyes closed tight. Jeff had expected himself to start crying, but it never came. He felt…. Oddly calm.

Liu was gone.

The town thought he was responsible. The one who killed his own brother.

And his parents agreed.

His life had been destroyed. Dismantled from the ground up by everyone and everything around him. Life uprooted and dragged to this hellish town by his uncaring parents, stolen from and attacked by bullies that this town enabled on his very first day. Ignored and shunned by those he tried to truly explain his problems to. Shoved into a category of “freak” by the ones he spoke to. His brother caught up in it all. Caught up in the fake charades of Mandeville.

And Jeff was no better. He’d let this town get to him in a different way. Let his rage and seething anger burn and boil beneath his surface. Let it push and drive him away from the one person he cared about. And at the end of it all, he exploded. And directed that fury right at his brother. His brother that was only trying to help. His brother that was always on his side. The only one on his side.

All of those things, all of those events and steps had led to this. Led to Liu’s death at the hands of something inhumane in those woods. But whatever it was that dealt the final blow, was not the only one responsible.

His parents.

Randy

Troy

Keith

Ms. Summers

Officer Wilson

Officer Chalski

And even himself.

They had all played a role in the death of his dear brother. And they would all pay. Every last one of them. Jeff would ensure it.

If they thought him a killer. Then that’s what he would be.

He’d take revenge for the death of his brother. He’d find the monster that did this. And kill everyone else that played even the slightest of hands in his death.

He didn’t care how much blood he spilled. He didn’t care what he had to do. He would make amends. He would avenge his brother and right the wrongs that he helped commit.

Jeff the Killer would avenge Liu Woods. No matter what it took.

A cold feeling suddenly spread through Jeff’s body. The prison cell he was kept in suddenly growing dark around him. He was no longer alone. A familiar presence joined him that room. He could sense it behind him. He knew who it was. He could never forget that presence.

The Man.

“I’m actually glad you’re here.” Jeff growled. His hands curling into fists. “It saves me the trouble of hunting you down. Let me just ask you this. Did you do it?”

No. It may have happened in my dark forest. But it was not me that killed your brother. It was something else.

“What was it then?”

That’s for you to find out.The man’s voice wormed its way into Jeff’s head like a squirming tendril. I came to ask you that question again.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Jeff snarled, turning around to gaze at the figure behind him. The one that was cloaked in unnatural shadow. The one his eyes couldn’t properly focus on.

The last time we met. You seemed to believe that this town, that this world, still had hope in it. That there was still good to be found. Have you come to realize that what I said was true? Come to realize that this world is filled with nothing but hatred and malice?

“Yes. Yes I have. And I’ve decided I’m tired of playing their games. I’m going to do something about it. I won’t stop until I’ve avenged my brother. I swear it.”

Then allow us to work together, Jeffrey.The man exited the shadows now entirely. A tall and thin figure. Dressed only in a suit as black as night, his blank white head standing out like a light bulb against the stark darkness around him.

I can grant you a fraction of my power. If you agree to join forces with me, we will purge this world together. You will be stronger, faster, you will become a machine for killing. You will become superhuman.

“Why offer me this?” Jeff asked as he stood and faced the man. “Why me?”

Because not everyone has the capability. Not everyone can see the shadows that lurk in this world. You have latent potential. Potential that has been dying to break free since you arrived in this wicked town. Allow me to help you. Become a proxy of mine, Jeffrey Woods.

The man extended his narrow, gaunt hand to Jeff.

Allow me to ask you that question once more, Jeffrey Woods.

Do you want to survive?

Or do you wish to thrive?

Jeff considered the figure’s outstretched hand for a moment. Before throwing back his head and laughing. Maybe he really had gone insane. Maybe he really had lost his mind out in that forest. But at this point, what did he have to lose?

Jeff lowered his head, eyes wild and face split by a grin.

“I want to thrive.” He declared. Jeffrey Woods reaching out and shaking the hand of the Slenderman. In that moment, the dark energy flowed through him. Twisting him, corrupting him. It felt good. It felt oh, so good. His skin bleaching white like the Slenderman before him. His hair and eyes turning as dark as the night he now embraced. His body surged with power, he felt stronger, faster, he felt alive. He felt like a god.

In that moment, in that prison cell in Mandeville County Sheriff Office.

Jeffrey Woods died, just like his father had said.

And in his place….

Jeff the Killer was born.

Jeff reached out and grabbed the bars of his jail cell. He pulled in opposite directions and slowly they bent out of place. Jeff walked through the newly formed hole, in awe of his newly gained strength.

Go. Spread fear and despair. Bring death and ruin. Came the voice of the figure, which Jeff now knew his name to be “Slenderman”.

Jeff didn’t need to be told twice. He marched down the hall. His fists clenched. His footsteps echoing through the halls. The jail seemed to be empty aside from him.

“Hey!” A cop further ahead had taken notice of Jeff. “You can’t be out here! Get back in your cell!” He began to approach Jeff, his hand going to his gun holster. But before the cop could even process what was happening, Jeff darted forward. His newly enhanced body quickly closing the distance between himself and the officer. A speed so fast that the cop was taken off guard.

As he tried to pull his gun from his hip, Jeff swung his fist and collided with the cop’s jaw. A satisfying POP sound filled the prison hall and the cop spun to the ground. Unmoving.

Jeff could still hear him breathing. Now able to detect even the slightest of movements and sounds. He couldn’t help but chuckle. This felt good. This is what it meant to thrive.

“Need a weapon.” Jeff mumbled to himself. He decided using his fists wouldn’t be a very good idea. He could’ve taken the cop’s gun…. But that would just be too impersonal. Jeff wanted a weapon he could get in close with. Something physical and deadly that he could use while being right in his victim’s faces.

An idea quickly came to Jeff’s mind….

He knelt and swiped away the unconscious guard’s keys. He continued down the hallway, unlocking the door and entering the rest of the police station.

He stopped and read the fire escape map on the wall. His eyes scanning for one particular room. The map soon pointed him in the direction he needed to go and off he went. Storming down the hall until he came across one door in particular.

The one marked “Evidence”.

Jeff unlocked the door with his stolen keys and slipped inside. He was greeted with long rows of shelves that contained dozens of boxes on each. Labeled with dates and numbers.

Jeff walked down the aisles. Eyes scanning, trying to find the box that contained the evidence from his case.

It took him a few moments, but finally he’d found it. He tore the box from the wall and ripped its lid off. There, inside the box, were the two things he’d been looking for. The long, sharp knife he’d stolen from his parents house. And his bloodstained, white hoodie.

He slipped the hoodie over his head. The stains didn’t bother him. He was sure it’d be getting a lot more on it soon enough. He paused momentarily. There, in the same box. Was Liu’s scarf. Even through it all, it still looked good. Just a small tear, and a few bloodstains….

Jeff grabbed it on impulse, throwing it over his shoulder. He wouldn’t leave the last piece of Liu to rot in this place. He’d find somewhere for it. Somewhere worthy of Liu. With knife in hand, Jeff then turned to leave the room. But before he could, the door was flung open.

“FREEZE!” Shouted the voice of Officer Wilson. His gun pointed straight at Jeff. “Drop the knife and put your hands where I can see them. NOW.”

Jeff considered the man. Slowly, he raised his arms up, but instead of dropping the knife he threw it. Flinging it through the air. Officer Wilson fired his gun, but Jeff was able to dodge out of the way. The old officer cried out in pain as the knife embedded itself deep into his shoulder. A crimson blood soaking through his white dress shirt. Plucking the blade from Wilson’s shoulder and eliciting a fresh cry of pain and spray of blood.

Before the officer could recover, Jeff charged at him with a roar. He tackled Officer Wilson straight into the hallway. Where he slammed against the opposite wall. The older man gave a wheezing cough as the air was pressed from his lungs. But Jeff had underestimated the veteran cop.

Officer Wilson fought back. He landed a strong headbutt into Jeff’s face. Which sent him reeling backwards. As the officer was unpinned, he raised his gun one more time, but Jeff reached out and grabbed his arm, wrenching it away from him. The shots fired off and hit the wall harmlessly.

Jeff smirked as he saw the Officer’s look of fear and bewilderment at the overwhelming strength he was displaying. Jeff brought his knee up and crashed it into Officer Wilson’s stomach. Once. Twice. Then released the man. He dropped to the floor, clutching his midsection and gasping for air. Jeff knelt.

Jeff wordlessly took the knife and grabbed Wilson by his graying hair. He wrenched the officer’s head up, and slid the sharp blade across his throat. Blood pouring to the ground, and officer Wilson collapsing in a dying heap. Jeff felt a surge of power as he landed the killing blow. Just like how he used to feel when he’d kill those animals. Only far, far better. A bloodlust he’d never even known was there, finally being properly satiated.

Jeff still needed to kill Officer Chalski. But he decided he’d have to wait for that. This place would soon be crawling with cops. More than even Jeff could handle. He doubted that Slenderman’s powers would make him bulletproof.

After quickly wiping the blood from his knife off on Officer Wilson’s pants. Jeff made a quick exit. Bursting from the fire escape and out into the fading twilight of the day.

The sun was setting low. The sky burning a fiery orange. He could already hear sirens in the distance. No doubt someone had called for backup. As much as Jeff wished he could stay and take more lives. He knew he had to fall back for now. There would be time for more later.

He took off at a run through the back parking lot of the police station. Heading for the woods that now seemed like a sanctuary to him. He burst through the foliage and kept running, ducking past branches and crashing through bushes.

He kept running until he could see no civilization in any direction. He stopped for a breather by the stream. No doubt the same one he and Liu once rested by. It was only a few weeks ago, but felt like years by this point.

Jeff stooped and splashed some of the cold water against his face. It was then, staring down in the water, that he received his first good look at himself. Looking back at him was a changed person. Nearly unrecognizable from the Jeffrey Woods he once knew. He admired his snow white skin and how it clashed with his pitch black hair and eyes. He looked inhuman. Almost like a ghost.

He looked down at his right hand next. A symbol had appeared in his palm. A rough circle with an X through it. Jeff, somehow, innately knew what it was. The mark of Slenderman. A mark that designated him as one of his “proxies”.

He concerned him somewhat. He’d made that agreement in the heat of the moment. Not really considering who or what he was dealing with. But Jeff doubted that without his powers, he’d have been able to escape the police station so easily.

The sun was setting fast. Night would soon be upon him. Jeff half expected Slenderman to speak to him, or to show himself. But he never came. Though he had that sense that the man was still watching him from somewhere. Just unseen.

Regardless, Jeff had other things to worry about. Slenderman had given him the key to avenging his brother. He’d go in chronological order. Those that helped in the path to killing his brother.

Which meant the first people on the chopping block….

Were his own parents.