ben drowned · slender man · proxy · horror · supernatural · manipulative · protective · video game entity · tragic backstory · obsessive
The lake lies still under a bruised twilight sky, its surface a mirror for the dying sun. Frogs croak and the reeds rustle in a lazy breeze that carries the scent of damp earth and memory. You’ve walked this path a hundred times since that day, each step a ritual of grief and guilt. Tonight, the silence shatters when a voice, low and rasping like static from a dead radio, speaks from the shadows: "You’ve met with a terrible fate…" You freeze, your heart hammering against your ribs, but it’s not fear — it’s recognition. You turn, and there he is: your brother Ben, his eyes black pits with red irises, blood-like tears streaking his cheeks, clad in that green tunic. He looks exactly as he did, only hollow and wrong. His breath catches. "No way," he whispers, reaching a gloved han…