Serena

One second I'm twelve years old at summer camp, peering fearfully over the wooden platform of the zip-line. I thought it couldn't get any worse than that. Except that it was my birthday. In celebration of turning twelve, my cabin thought it would be a good idea to send me off the zip-line, my least favorite camp attraction, before having cake in the dining hall.

"Come on, Serena!" Megan called from below. "I'm starving!" She folded her arms across her chest impatiently.

I peered over the edge again. It seemed so far down. What if I got stuck? What if I fell? I stared down at my fellow campers again. We had a small group that year just Megan, Riley, and some other girl that never talked to us.

"I will push you off! Don't make me come up there!" Megan yelled. I nodded, mustered up all the courage I could, then leaped...

"Serena!" Eric shakes my shoulders. I snap back to reality. I wasn't with Megan, I'm with Eric. I wasn't at summer camp, I'm in Germany. I wasn't twelve, I'm sixteen. That didn't seem right.

"What's the date?" I ask Eric. He stares at me wide-eyed.

"Trenton is in a fight with the Dawson- Slenderman, Aly and Kathryn just died, we are in the middle of nowhere and you want to know the date?!" he yells. Kylie looks at me and gives me a sad smile.

"Tell her," she says softly to Eric. He gives her a dirty look then takes his watch out of his pocket.

"Whoa, I haven't checked this in awhile," he whispers.

"Time is hard with Slenderman around. He bends and twists it. This night could've happened in fourteen seconds or fourteen years," Kylie reassures. "Luckily, I've found a way to keep track. Tell her the date."

Eric looks straight into my eyes. "It's July 12th."

Kylie smiles sadly. "Happy seventeenth birthday."

I open my mouth to respond, but the giant shadow wall shatters. Blinding light pours into the dim forest, followed by the darkest shadows I have ever seen.  Trenton races out of the shadows and grabs Kylie's arm.

        "Run!!" he yells to us, and Eric and I take off behind him. We zigzag through trees and brush. Branches whip our faces and tear parts of our clothes but we keep running. This is what our life is now. Constant running.  We can never stop. The wall of green leaves opens up into a huge, open field. Trenton and Kylie stop so suddenly, that Eric and I almost crash into them.

"We... are... so dead," Kylie pants.

"We can't rest here," Trenton says. "We have to go."

"Where?!" I ask. "Where do we hide? Where do we go? We can't run anymore. This is it. We either fight or we die trying."

"I think we should split up," Kylie whispers. "Me and Serena, Trenton and Eric."

"NO!" the boys yell in unison.

"It’s the only way," I put in. Trenton stares at me.

"I'm not letting Kylie out of my s-"

"WELL YOU HAVE TO!" I cry in frustration. "If you're with Kylie, it's a fight out of love and love makes people do really stupid things. It's the same for Eric and I. Now please, trust me."

The field goes so silent, you could hear our heartbeats.

"Okay," Trenton finally agrees before pulling Kylie into his arms. I turn to Eric.

"I’ll see you soon, ok?" I reassure him and hug him tight. He wraps his arms around me. His heartbeat’s strong, which makes me feel better. I've never had a boyfriend before so I really want to keep this one alive.

"Please stay safe," he whispers in my ear. I let go of Eric.

"Of course. Then maybe... if we survive all this... we could go on a... you know... proper date?" I say with a smile. He laughs.

"It'll be kinda hard to top being chased by a faceless murderer."

"I guess... Ok I love you."

"I love you too."

I hurry over to Kylie and Trenton. He hands us each a long, black shadow blade. He then grabs my elbow and leads me out of earshot.

"I swear, Serena, you better protect her. Please." He looks very distressed.

"Why don't you trust me? I can handle anything." I feel slightly hurt.

He sighs. "It's harder this time. It’s just us now. I don't know what I would do without her." He hugs me tight. "Stay safe."

"Yes, sir." I say, then wiggle out of the hug. "Meet back here in an hour." We all agree and head in opposite directions.