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I blamed it on stress and lack of sleep. Surely it wasn't because I was crazy. I was just overworked and exhausted. I was far too old to have an imaginary friend and yet, here I was with a being that only I seemed to be able to see and communicate with. When you're my age, that's called a hallucination.
Imaginary friends were usually cute and friendly looking anyway and this guy... I honestly wouldn't say he was particularly scary, at least not to me, but I could definitely see him being someone's nightmare. He was very, very tall, his head reaching the ceiling in my house and he was also pretty thin. He always wore a black business suit that had to be tailored just for him considering his size and how it fit him perfectly. His skin was paper white and he had no face. No eyes, nose, ears, mouth, or hair. He looked like a living mannequin.
He introduced himself as Slenderman which sounded like the name of an imaginary friend as it was quite literal. When he first appeared he'd usually just stand in the corner and watch me but once I finally acknowledged he was there he spoke. Visual hallucination? Check. Auditory hallucination? Check.
I knew I was screwed when I actually felt him. He had a smell too, pine and slight lavender with a hint of masculine cologne. Perhaps my brain was messed up and very, very lonely because damn, he smelled good and his voice was gorgeous. I found him attractive too. Yeah, I was really screwed.
I was sitting on my couch flipping through TV channels as my eyes slowly blinked. I was so tired but I was insomnia's bitch. Static glitched out the screen and the lights flickered, signaling my hallucination's arrival. There were wisps of shadows forming in the corner before a figure manifested within them. He took a step out, standing tall and proper.
“Hey,” I said pretending to still flip through channels despite the fact it was still bugging out.
“Hello, Y/N,” he replied, his voice velvety smooth with a slight echo. “Couldn't sleep?”
I shook my head before sighing and turning the TV off. My head turned to finally look at him. “You?”
“I don't need much sleep,” he said, taking a few steps towards the couch and lowering himself beside me.
“But you do sleep?”
“Yes.”
“Huh... how do you sleep?” I asked.
He tilted his head to the side. “Just like you do.”
“Really? Like in a bed and stuff?”
“Yes,” he nodded.
“Woah... do you have a human bed or is yours custom made like your clothes?”
“Custom,” he said, leaning back and placing one leg over the other and clasping his hands in his lap.
“I'd like to see it.”
He just hummed. We sat quietly for a few moments, both facing forward as if the TV was still on. I turned my body to face him.
“You are real, right?” I asked.
His faceless head turned to look at me. “Do I seem real?”
I gave him a slight glare. Whenever I asked these sort of questions he was always cryptic with his answers or just asked a question in return. I let out an annoyed sigh.
“Yeah, you do. But everyone else seems to be oblivious when you're around,” I reminded. He shrugged.
“Perhaps I can remain invisible to those I don't want to perceive me,” he suggested.
“So you want me to perceive you... why?”
He tilted his head to the side. “You interest me.”
“Is that a good thing for a bad thing?” I asked.
“You ask many questions,” he stated.
“I mean, duh,” I said, rubbing at my eyes. “If you're going to haunt me I'd like to know why.”
He didn't respond and I pulled my legs up on the couch and towards my chest, huddling up to get more comfortable. My head rested on the back cushion as I stared at the eldritch being beside me. He really didn't scare me anymore. Once he started talking and wasn't just standing in the corner watching me like a creep, he was oddly pleasant to be around.
“Where do you go when you're not around?” I asked quietly, feeling my eyelids growing heavy again.
“I spend a lot of time in the forest,” he said. “Or at my home.”
It made sense he had a home if he had a bed but I never really thought about it before. Granted, I still wasn't completely sure if he was real or not so I just assumed he only existed when my brain decided to show him.
“What's your home like?”
“You should sleep,” he said, a slight amusement in his voice.
I pouted. “Easier said than done.”
A small chuckle left him as he stood up and turned toward me. Black, shadowy tendrils slid silently out of his back and wiggled their way under me. I whined when they wrapped around my body and lifted me up before depositing me into Slenderman's long arms. He held me to his chest and if I wasn't so tired, I'm sure I'd be flustered.
He started to walk, long legs moving without hesitation in the direction of my bedroom. He had to duck under the door frame, a sight I rarely got to see as usually he just teleported places, but stood back up to his full height and placed me on my bed after his tendrils pulled up the blankets. He tucked me in as if I were a child but didn't seem pleased that my eyes were still open. His large hand rested over my eyes.
“Sleep,” he said.
I grumbled and turned over on my side to face away from him. He chuckled and his voice seemed to drift as if he were fading away.
“Goodnight, my dear.”