Serena

I wake up in the middle of the night; sleep has not been easy these days. I go out into the kitchen and try to be as quiet as possible. As I try and find the stuff to make hot chocolate, I hear soft rustling in the living room. I peer around the corner but nothing is there. I shake my head and return to the kitchen. I finish making my treat, and walk quietly to the dining room. When I turn the corner, I find Eric sitting at the table. I walk over and sit down.

“Hey,” he says.

“Hi,” I reply quietly.

“So..umm..why are you up so late?” he asks.

“Why are you?”

“I asked you first.”

“Fine, I got up and couldn’t fall back asleep. What about you?” I say.

“Same,” he smiles. I smile back and take a sip of my hot chocolate. He stands up.

“I’ll be right back.” I nod and he walks down the hall to his room. I hear quiet rustling and he comes back with a small, wooden box. He sits down next to me and opens it. I look and see it’s a necklace, a simple yet beautiful necklace. It a small chain with a silver circle at the end. In the circle, the outer part is black with a circle of deep emerald in the middle. I stare at it and feel myself smile for the first time in awhile.

“Now,” he whispers, “I know you have been through too much in the past couple of weeks and I’m very sorry. The loss you guys have experienced is overwhelming. This necklace is very special to me. My grandmother gave it to me when I was seven years old. She told me that if you ever put it on, you must not take it off. I never put it on, but promised myself to give it to someone special, someone who really needed it. You need it and even though we just met, you have become very special to me. Now, will you accept it?”

I wipe away the tears that formed in my eyes. “Of course I will.”

He smiles. “Promise me something. Don’t ever take it off.”

I look him straight in the eyes. “I won’t.” He stands up and puts the necklace around my neck.

When its clipped, he bends down closer to my ear and whispers, “I really do like you, you know.” and walks down the hall to bed. I sit by myself and think things over. I put my head down in my arms and listen to the sounds of the street below. I hear footsteps coming into the room, look up, and see Trenton standing in the doorway.

“Hey,” I say.

“Hey,” he replies, sitting down in the chair across from me.

“What’s up?”

“I was thirsty, so I came to get a glass of water. Then I saw you and Eric talking.”

I feel my cheeks go red, “You heard that?”

“Yeah. Not very much though.”

“Yeah, he gave me this necklace,” I hold it up to show him, “and we were both up, so we got to talking. He’s a really nice guy. He’s pretty cool. I hope he can come with us.”

He sits in silence for a moment. “I see.”

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“You like him, don’t you?”

I feel my face grow hotter. “Maybe just a little. He’s a nice person and he’s kinda cute,” I say, blushing.

He stares at me. “Whatever. I’m not going to get involved with this.” He gets up and goes into the kitchen. I hear him get a glass and fill it up with water. There is silence for a moment then I hear him put his glass in the sink and his footsteps walking down the hall to his room. I sit at the table, alone again, and listen to the sounds of New York. I sigh, get up, and walk down the hall to bed.

In the morning, we have a “meeting” in the living room. I walk over and sit next to Eric on the couch. I look up and see Trenton staring at me and I stare back without breaking my gaze. He blinks and starts explaining everything to Nick and Jordan. We all sit in silence for a moment.

“Okay Eric,” Nick says, breaking the silence, “you can go with them.”

“Really?!” he says, giving my hand a happy squeeze.

“On one condition: we come with you.” Eric looks at Trenton, who thinks about it for a minute.

“Okay,” he says at last, “just know you might not come out of this.” We put some supplies into our bags and walk down to the street below.

“Where should we look first?” Eric asks.

“Well, where is a popular tourist attraction in New York?” I ask with a knowing smile.

“The Empire State Building!” Jordan and Nick say in unison.

“Exactly,” Trenton says, “We’re gonna split up and search every single floor. We should go in pairs, just in case. Now, pick a partner.”

Eric grabs my hand. Jordan and Nick move towards each other, and Kylie stands next to Trenton, leaving Dawson standing alone.

“Dawson, you can come with us if you want," Trenton says tentatively.

“No, I’ll go by myself.” We all split up and enter the building. Eric and I choose a floor at random at wait in the elevator. Eric opens his mouth to speak, but as soon as he starts talking I fall to the floor, my head throbbing. I open my eyes and realize I’m not on my elevator. I’m on a different elevator with Kylie. My thoughts are most definitely not my own, “She’s gorgeous just standing there. Where is it? Where could it be?!” I blink and I’m back with Eric. I look around and realize I’m still on the floor. Eric’s face is ghost white when he helps me back up.

“Are you alright?” he asks.

“I think so,” I say as the elevator doors open. He looks at me suspiciously and we exit the elevator. As we wander through the halls, I feel my phone vibrate. I pull it out of my pocket and read the text from Dawson.

“Where are you?!” it reads.

I type back, “Floor 13 passing room 432, why?”

I wait a moment and the reply comes. “He’s following you. I’m on 13 too, passing room 425. He’s coming, so watch your back. When you find him, you know what to do. I’ll be right behind him to help you ok?”

 I start shaking. I type back a hurried “ok”, and start to walk faster.

“What’s wrong?!” Eric asks, walking faster to keep up with me.

“He knows we’re here. He’s coming,” I reply hurriedly, checking the corner before turning it.

“HOW DID HE FIND US?” Eric yells.

“I DON’T KNOW! HE TENDS TO DO IT A LOT SO GET USED TO IT!” I yell back. The lights spark and grow dimmer. I start to run and Eric trips over my bag that I dropped. I turn around and see Slender right behind us. I scream and duck while Eric gets hit with the apple that fell out of my bag. He bangs his head on the wall, and slumps to the floor, a small pool of blood forming around his head. I back myself into a corner and look for something in the small room that might save our lives. I feel sick and pull my sunglasses out of my pocket and feel a little better. I scan the room and my eyes land on a jar of thumbtacks and a flashlight. The lights go out completely and I feel my hands close around the two objects. I throw the jar in the direction I think Slender is and hear it shatter. I turn on the flashlight and point it at him.

As he advances toward me I yell, “DAWSON, NOW!” He steps out from behind corner, waiting for my signal. He focuses on the thumbtacks lying on the ground. Nothing happens, but as slender man tries to approach me, his image starts wavering. I can’t come closer and staggers as he steps on the tacks. He takes one more step, points at me, then disappears. The lights return, and I fall to the floor, exhausted. Dawson runs past me to check on Eric. I get up and follow him. I see Eric lying on the ground, unconscious. I dissolve into tears, but Dawson gets me to snap out of it fairly quickly.

“Call Nick and Trenton and tell the to meet us out front,” he says shortly.

I nod and call Nick. I pull myself together and tell him its urgent. Then I call Trenton, no answer. I try Kylie, no answer.

“Dawson, Trenton and Kylie aren’t answering!” I cry.

“We can try again outside, now help me carry Eric down the stairs. I don’t think we should take the elevator,” he replies. I nod and grab Eric’s feet. It takes us fifteen minutes, but we finally make it to the front of the building. Nick and Jordan rush over to us and lay Eric down on a bench. Dawson explains what happened while I try and call Trenton. My tears flow freely down my cheeks. I call several times, but no answer. After a few minutes of heavy sobbing, I get a text message from Trenton.

         “Stuck in elevator. Get out of the building now! We’ll rendezvous in Central Park.” I squeal excitedly and tell the group. I text a hurried “k” and we gather Eric and leave to go to Central Park.