horrors2

Donde_Esta.The_Promis.tex

  1\chapauth{Donde Esta}
  2\chapter{The Promise}
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  55 A.M. is a shitty time for burnt coffee.
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  9As I, Luke Bavarious, stared in to my barren mug and gently touched
 10the still fresh wound on the side of my head, a reflection in the
 11still slick bottom forced a sob from the trenches of my gut.
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 15It was him.
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 19That night in the alley way, four sleepless and coffee spurn nights
 20ago, I saw something that can only be described as awful, and I
 21shot it. I shot it dead.
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 25He came at me and he came at me hard, but Ol' Betsy finally
 26laid him to rest. As he slumped over my side, covered in warm
 27oozing liquid, I caught a reflection of something far worse than
 28the disfigured wretch I had just put down. It was him; the man of
 29my non-existent nightmares.
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 33I caught his reflection in the broken glass and he was smiling,
 34smiling an unnatural and hideous grin. I was in no position to
 35defend myself. While I might be able to load a Beretta faster than
 36anyone else this side of the Hudson, being in his presence, time
 37seemed to slow to a halt.
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 41His wild arms flapped about as if the cool alleyway breeze had been
 42given life. Entirely too tall and entirely too pale to be human,
 43only one thing came to mind: Slender Man.
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 47Two weeks before that, I had gotten a call from an extremely upset
 48and distraught mother. She said that her son came home and he
 49wouldn't stop talking about how the ``Slender Man''
 50had just played with him and some of the other children at Bryant
 51Park just off of W 41st St.
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 55Her son went on to tell her how ``Slendy'', as the boy
 56had nicknamed him, had taken a particular interest in Suzy Carlton.
 57He said that Slendy took her into the alleyway and she came back
 58with a strange purple mark on her arm. She thought it was awesome
 59and all the other children wanted one too, but Slendy said that
 60they would have to wait and that he, ``Would be back for
 61everyone!'' Her son was the only one who was scared of
 62him.
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 66I scoffed at the lady and told her that I had more important things
 67to do than investigate some street performer handing out stickers
 68to children in the park. I didn't care if her kid got stiffed
 69a purple tattoo from some freak. I hung up on her.
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 73I shouldn't have hung up on her.
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 77As I laid in the street, looking at the piece of glass I was
 78terrified. Sobbing, making all the connections in my mind, I stared
 79at him. Stared into his devilish eyes, wondering what it was that
 80he wanted from me.
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 84As he approached me, arms dangling all around, he bent down in a
 85way that a human should not be able to and stuck his face nearly an
 86inch from mine.
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 90In that moment, the only thing I wished for was death; quick and
 91sudden death. Instead, the Slender Man would give me something much
 92worse: a promise.
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 96He looked me in the eyes and with a smile he whispered in a voice
 97which came out in chortles, ``Don't
 98worry{\ldots} Bavarious{\ldots} I'll be back for you
 99too.'' It was a promise which kept me awake for four nights,
100and a promise I expected him to keep.
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104Now, looking into my cup, I watched as he stood behind me. I did my
105best not to show my fear.
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109I looked at the badge lying out on the table. A gold shield made of
110brass and time. It wasn't much, just a symbol, but it gave me
111the courage to speak.
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115``Mr.\ Slender, why'd you go after those children?''
116I asked, trying to sound as calm as possible.
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120``The children give me{\ldots}'' it sounded now as if it
121were trying to speak while a river of maple syrup ran through its
122throat, ``{\ldots} they give me lifeeeeeee''.
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126``So why are you here{\ldots} Slendy?'' I asked
127cautiously, doing my best to distract him while positioned my hand
128on the holster under my robe.
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132``Little{\ldots} David Sanders{\ldots} didn't last very
133long{\ldots} and his mother{\ldots} was{\ldots} lacking,'' he
134said smugly.
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138``Well Slendy, that night in the alleyway, you should have
139taken your chance because now I'm ready for you,'' I
140barked, as I spun around and emptied a whole clip into his
141chest.
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145He shrieked and recoiled as black, viscous liquid leaked out onto
146my kitchen floor and ate away at it like acid.
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150With his defenses down I fought through the mess of flailing arms
151and pistol whipped him with the still burning hot barrel of my
152Berretta.
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156``You shouldn't have fucked with those kids, Slendy. You
157shouldn't have fucked with Luke Bavarious,'' I yelled at
158him.
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162He wasn't done. Despite my damage, he was still functioning,
163though severely wounded.
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167``I'll be{\ldots}back
168for{\ldots} you{\ldots} Bavarious,'' he coughed out, between
169sputters of demon blood.
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173He dashed out the door and before I could get to it, the thing was
174out of sight.
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178With a little boy's death that could have been prevented on
179my conscience, I now know my purpose in life. If I had only
180listened to him.
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184The Slender Man may have just made me a promise, but I'm
185going to beat him to it. Luke Bavarious is now on the case. 
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