The Darkness Within

Chapter 3: Painful secret

The minute we walk into the library I know something is up.  The lights are off and no one is making a sound which makes it eerie.  “Hello?”  I say to the darkness around me and as soon as I say it the door slams shut behind me.  The lights illuminate to reveal Twilight and the rest of the mane six.  “You have some explaining to do Shadow.”  She says with a stern voice.  “What do you mean?”  I say already having no idea what she is getting at.  “I Mean this symbol that is supposedly a symbol for a curse.”  She says levitating one of my books and revealing the symbol in question.  Rarity who is behind me looks at the book and stares wide eyed at me in shock.  “But that looks like the symbol on your back!  Shadow what is going on?”  They all look at me accusingly and I turn pale. I think of just running, just to run and never look back.  But no, I’m tired of running I've been running all of my life, I will take a stand.  “You really want to know?  Do you really want to fucking know!?”  I scream with tears streaming down my face, much to the mane six’s surprise.  “I’m cursed.  With the curse of the Slenderman.”

“What’s the curse of the Slenderman?”  Twilight asks with a gentler tone then before.  I sniffle a little before continuing “There is this creature that looks human like me, but it’s not.  It is a being of pure darkness that feeds on fear.  It wears a dark suite and tie, with a body and limbs so thin they resemble a tree and it’s branches.  It can grow tendrils and extra limbs of countless number.  And the creepiest part, it has no face.  It’s just a blank mask of nothingness.”  I look up to see everypony is pretty much terrified, even Rainbow Dash looks a little scared.  “And what’s this curse?”  Rainbow asks next.  “Well the curse is well, I can become Slenderman.”...........“What!”  I hear everypony yell.  “Yes, but unlike anybody else I can control it, I can control when I transform and everything.  You see when you get afflicted with the curse it makes you lose your sanity.  Every bit of you is destroyed until you truly become the Slenderman, hollow, empty, void of feeling.  But because I had help that didn't happen with me, I can fight it.”  I smile a little.  “Then why is it a curse?”  Another question from Twilight.  “Because I can still lose control if I'm not careful, in fact…that’s what happened to make me run away from home.”  I try to say under my breath but somehow Fluttershy catches it.  “You ran away from home!?”

“I suppose you all want to hear the story right?”  My answers are nods of heads and Pinkie pulling a bowl of popcorn form out of nowhere.  “Well it all started when I was twelve.  I was always different from the other kids.  I liked when the others would Shriek in terror about a scary story, I would be smiling like a goofball.  I also loved to be outside at night, and was never afraid of the dark, in fact I liked the dark.  I was told of my curse by my mother, I never met my father because he left me when I was born so my mother was teaching me to control my powers.  She was a renowned occultist and powerful witch and through careful research, experimentation and a few... mishaps, she discovered that if my magical will is strong enough then I could control the curse, and maybe even turn it into a blessing.  So she taught me witchcraft and other types of magic to help me with the curse.  I was performing one of my lessons  When IT happened.”

Flashback:

“Look mom!  I’m doing it!”

“No Shadow it’s too soon!”

“Mom! Help me it’s not listening!”

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!”

“MOMMY!”

........................................Kill

End flashback.

My mother died, because of my stupid mistake, and I can never undo it!  I killed her with these horrific powers!”  I yell through streams of tears.  “Everybody in my family rejected me tried to kill me!  I had no choice but to live in the woods.  I received help from some friends, but they never knew my secrete.  That… that I’m a monster!  And then to top it all off I was being cosntantly hunted down by a group of monster hunters.  But at least I managed to gain control of the curse, my mother would be so proud.”  I just can’t hold it in any longer as I burst into a fit of sobbing as I fall to my knees and let my river of sorrow that is my tears flow onto the floor of the library.  I sink to my knees and just cry for what seems like an eternity.  But then I feel a hoof on my shoulder, and a warmth that haven't felt in ages.  As I look up something I would never expect happened to me.  Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight had all enveloped me in a huge, warm hug.  The last person to hug me had been my mother.  I hear one of them whisper “Your not a monster, you’re a kind and caring soul that deserves a second chance.”  Says one of them, and I am not surprised to see that it is Fluttershy.  Element of kindness for sure.  “Thank you, I… I’ve never told anyone else this I just, thank you!”  I say hugging them all back.  About a minute passes until I feel ready to face what lies ahead.  “Now let’s get ready, you still have to introduce yourself to the whole town on the stage at town hall!”  Twilight says opening the door with her magic.  But as I walk through the door I feel a familiar sensation at the symbol carved into my back.

..................................Kill

Authors note! (I know this is short but have my finals to study for so it might be slow for a couple weeks.  Don't worry though I am not going to abandon this story!)  Rate comment and whatever!