Aly

I wake up to my face stinging. I stand up and take a look of my surroundings. I'm standing in the middle of a snowy street with snowflakes swirling in the air. The street is empty except for a few rundown shops and me. Pain prickles at my feet and I look down. I'm barefoot.

"Thanks Slender," I mutter aloud. My breath fogs in the freezing air.  For each step I take on the snow-covered road, it brings white-hot pain to my bare skin. It's like walking on needles. I wince. Pain is not something I tolerate very well. Once I make it halfway down the street, it all disappears. The snow, the road, everything. Suddenly, I'm standing in a empty warehouse. My  bloody feet still sting from the snow. I stare down one of the halls of the warehouse. At the very end sits a jet black pit bull. It bares it's teeth and lets out a low growl.

"Nice puppy... it's ok," I whisper, backing away. The dog barks and it echoes throughout the warehouse. I move away faster and faster before breaking out into a sprint. The dog barks and I know it's following me. I whip around a corner and the dog smacks into me. I'm thrown to the ground. I scream and kick, but the dog latches onto my wrist and digs into teeth into my skin. I scream again and kick the dog in the nose. It yelps and cowers. This situation disappears and another one morphs right before me. I stand in the middle of an orange grove. I clutch my mangled wrist gingerly. It hurts more than the time I broke my ankle. The smell of ripe oranges is almost over powering. I tiptoe through the trees avoiding sticks with thorns along the fruit covered path. Crows caw over me and swoop down at random times to peck at the fruit. The trees cast eerie shadows over the paths and I shiver even though it's hot outside. Sticks crackle behind me. Someone's following me. I whip around to face them, but no one is there. I turn again and continue down the path. Another branch snaps and I turn again. At the very end of the path I came from, stands Slender with his tentacles extended. I scream and run down the path as fast as my stinging feet will let me. Branches whip my face and arms leaving bright red cuts all over me. I turn left down another orange path and almost smack straight into Slender. I throw a pointed rock straight at him, but he throws it back with ease. The rock hits the side of my head and black spots adorn my vision. My head aches and my wrist is hot with pain. I scramble to my feet again and run off in the opposite direction. I look to see if he's following me, but he has disappeared. I hang a right down another path, make two lefts, then another right. Thorns lodge into my bare, bloody heels and branches tear at my skin. I make a left and Slender stands before me. One tentacle throws me off my feet and I tumble to the ground. He raises another and it comes thundering down on me. My vision suddenly goes black.

I wake up with my hands tied down to a table, like an interrogation. A light dangles above me, but I can only see the table, my chair, and the chair across the table. The room is blanketed in darkness. I hear a door open, then slam shut. Loud footsteps approach the table, then a figure comes into view. It’s an average sized guy, with a white shirt wearing a gas mask. I see him reach into a small, unlabeled box on the table that I hadn’t seen before. He pulls out ten nails. He sets down nine, then holds up one for me to see. A simple, steel nail. I nod, then he grabs my left pinkie. He puts the nail against the tip, then slowly pushes it under my fingernail. Blood starts pooling, and I’m screaming in agony. He pushes it in half an inch, then goes to the next finger. I thrash around, but I’m restrained too tightly. Black rims the edge of my vision. I start to get lightheaded from screaming, but everything’s a blur. He’s gone through one hand. On to the right one. I scream at Slender, scream curses, scream just to scream. Tears fill my eyes and spill over. I can’t help it. This is killing me. I don’t realize when I pass out, but when I come to, my head is slumped on the desk. The nails are gone, along with the person, and my fingers are raw and bloody. Deep gouges in the table from me scrabbling with the fingers without nails in them. A single envelope sits on the table, addressed with my name. I pick it up, then everything goes black once again, and I feel weightless.