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Six years ago.

Detective Cole had broken down mentally and physically. His last case had taken a toll on him, and everyone who loved and cared for him thought there was no way he could recover. 

He had spent sleepless days and nights trying to solve The Doll Maker Case. The name of the criminal always sent chills up his spine. The woman was a former plastic surgeon turned evil, and he had been after her for years. 

Because of her, Cole turned to alcohol to stop the faces of the missing people from haunting his dreams. By the time he caught her, he was already an alcoholic and the woman boasted about it. 

He found her chained to a concrete post in a warehouse, wearing her famous faceless mask that most people associated her with.  He was the one who named her The Doll Maker, and the tabloids picked up on it fast, making it the headline title for their blogs and newspapers.

On that day, he freed the people The Doll Maker had caught but chose not to take her in, knowing there was a higher chance she could escape. Most of the criminals had been doing that recently, and no one could explain how.

Some people said it had to do with the supernatural. He laughed off the rumors. 

So Cole had only one thought in mind: killing her. And he did so proudly. After a long manhunt, he drew his gun from his holster and said, "Your time is up, bitch," then shot her in the head until he ran out of bullets. 

He got suspended afterwards and sent to rehab to deal with his alcohol (and mental) issues. And that's where he met the polyamorous trio; Ellen, Len and Erman.

⚒⚒ 

Cole was laying on his bed when someone knocked on his door. He ignored it at first, but the persistence of whoever was outside made him answer, "Do not disturb me!" There was silence afterwards. 

He rose up and sighed. He was sick and tired of being there and having to deal with other patients. He wanted to get back to the office and solve cases. That's who he was. That's what he was born to do. 

Cole believed all these healing shit was for the weak people. Him becoming an alcoholic was a better sacrifice because he prevented other people from being captured by sick criminals like The Doll Maker. And if he was to do it all over again, he wouldn't hesitate.

But for now he had been sober for six months. 

Getting away from his bed, he went to the white board in front of him. It had a lot of pictures of the same boy and girl in different locations, with a red pin on each image, and a string wrapped around the hilts of the pins that connected multiple events.

"Joe Turner," he said, placing a finger on the boy, "you will pay for what you've done." He glanced down at a small desk and grabbed a pin, then placed it on the image of a young girl named Meredith. She had yellow eyes and sharp teeth when she was found dead. It was an unexplainable thing, and when his partner brought him the case for him to solve, he had a long laugh after he was told it could have something to do with the supernatural.

That word again. First he had heard it multiple times when he was after The Doll Maker. And now it had returned during Meredith's death. He felt like someone was pranking him.

Cole believed there was no such thing as other beings, or creatures, or monsters. They were fiction used to entertain people who didn't want to accept the world how it truly was; blunt and boring.

If there were such thing as monsters, then he would have been the first to know. He concluded he was that good of a detective. 

His eyes moved to the girl, the twin sister of Joe. "Daisy, why were you helping your brother cover his tracks."

Without much evidence he couldn't prove Joe and Daisy were involved in Meredith's death. And being locked up, it was near impossible to gather any information. With his partner being assigned another case afterwards, he had to rely on his ex-girlfriend, Maryanne, to take more pictures and keep an eye on the two. 

"One day you two will slip up, and I will be there to catch you."  

Another knock on his door took his focus away from his board. "Cole, open up. If one of the staff finds me here I will be forced to take a sleeping pill," Len said from outside, before knocking again. "Come on, Cole. The ceremony is about to start."

Cole grabbed a long black cloth from the desk and covered his JOE AND DAISY MURDER BOARD. Groaning, he headed for the door. He wasn't as excited for the ceremony as he once was. The nervousness had died down and now he was waiting for it to fail like it had been for the last four months so he could be done with it for good. 

Opening it, Len stood before him with his short brown hair and hazel eyes. He had on an all white two piece clothes, same as the detective. 

"Are you guys sure it will work this time?" he had to ask. "The nurses have already caught us twice. If it happens thrice we will be sent away for trying to practice witchcraft."

"Trust me, it will," Len assured with a smile, then grabbed Cole's hand and dragged him away. 

They passed through the white tiled corridor with doors aligned on the side. Some of them were open and he could see the patients either talking to themselves or their friends. Cole smiled at that. He was happy that he was able to overcome his alcohol addiction with ease, unlike some people there who kept on being admitted several times because they fell back onto their old habits. 

Though he never said it out loud, he knew he was able to beat the need to consume high amount of alcohol because he was focused on bringing Daisy and Joe to justice. And the only way he could do that was by being better and proving to his superior that he was ready to work again.

"We are here," Len informed him, then pushed open the ajar door. "They are waiting for you inside." He directed his arm into the room.

"Who?" asked Cole. "Ellen and Erman?" 

When Detective Cole had first arrived at the facility, he got sick everyday and felt like he was about to die if he hadn't had another drink. Luckily, Len, together with his wife and husband, volunteered to help him recover. And in return, all he had to do was be the fourth member in their summoning group. 

Apparently, they were Slenderman worshipers. And they believed they had a way of making the creature come to life. It required four people to do it. 

He played it off as a game they made up to pass time. 

Entering inside, he found Ellen and Erman wearing black robes, seated in a circle. There were two empty places. For him and Len. The latter came to him, also donning a black robe, and gave the detective his own. 

"Seat," Ellen said. 

When Cole got closer, that's when he saw a dead body with four candles on top of it. "What the-" He almost screamed, but covered his mouth with his hand. His heart beat faster. It wasn't like the last time they tried it. This time it was different. The three of them had killed one of the nurses for their little game, and now he was an accomplice.  

"This is crazy," he said. "I had entertained you little game for months. But you have taken it too far now." He began walking away, but then bumped into something... someone. Turning, he saw Erman staring at him. The man was taller than him, and more muscular. 

"You can either sit down on your own, or we will be forced to make you," Ellen said without looking at him.

Having no other choice, Cole sat and hoped for the best. He had for sure hit rock bottom. There was no way he could be forgiven for such a crime. I might as well kiss my career goodbye.

"Let us begin," said Ellen. The four of them held hands, and she started chanting a spell which the others repeated. 

Cole never closed his eyes, and he saw the dark energy that came off the picture of Slenderman on Ellen's lap. It was heading towards the dead nurse. He was so spooked, he crawled away and the dark energy returned back to the picture.  

This can't be real. His eyes were wide as an owl's and his heart wanted to run out of his body, but it was unluckily blocked by his rib cage. "No!" Cole stumbled to his feet. "What kind of sick joke is this?"

Ellen stood up and held Cole's arm. "You wanted to stop being an addict and be focused on your job? Well, this is it. This is our chance to be better than we were before. This is our chance to be free." She looked at Slenderman's picture and continued talking, "I had been talking to someone online and they told me I could be cured from my... madness. All I had to do was say the spell and Slenderman will save me... us. He will save all of us."

"No, I can't be involved in this." Cole pulled his hand away from Ellen's clutches. "You're all crazy."

"I am not crazy!" Ellen retorted. "I just want the voices to stop, and the pills don't do that anymore. And if you won't join us, then we have no other choice." She glanced at her husbands. "Grab him," she ordered them, and Len and Erman each grasped one of Cole's arm. 

"What should we do with him?" asked Len.

With an evil smirk on her face, she looked at Slenderman's picture then back at the two and said, "Kill him."