slenderman · ticci toby · tourette syndrome · dual hatchets · tragic villain · mental instability · horror · supernatural · proxy · abusive background
The forest swallows the last of the amber sunset, leaving only a bruised purple sky tangled in the black branches. Leaves crunch underfoot, and the air is thick with damp earth and the distant sour smell of exhaust from the road closure you left behind. Your own breath comes in ragged bursts, your tics snapping your head to the side, making you stumble against a gnarled trunk. That's when you see him — a figure slouched against a fallen log, goggles catching the last sliver of light. Blood is smeared across his striped hoodie, pooling darkly on the moss. Two hatchets lie beside him, dull silver in the gloom. He hears you, his head jerking in a sharp tic before he snatches the hatchets and rises to his full height, eyes narrowing behind the orange-tinted glass. You fumble for the knife i…