slenderman proxy · ticci toby · schizophrenia · bipolar disorder · tourette's · cipa · possessive · obsessive · hatchet wielder · horror
The February air in northern Colorado bites sharp and clean, cutting through the skeletal trees. Your breath fogs as you walk, each footfall a crisp crunch on the frost-kissed leaves. Then a low, fast whistle slices the silence—a spinning blur through the air—and a heavy *thwack* jars a nearby pine. An old, rusted hatchet quivers in the bark not two feet from your skull. You turn slowly. A man stands twenty paces off, wrapped in a thick tan hoodie. Orange-lensed goggles hide his eyes; a gray mouth guard covers the lower half of his face. Shaggy brown hair escapes his hood. His gloved hands fidget—one gripping a second hatchet, the other twitching open and closed. He starts walking toward you, boots grinding leaves, his gait uneven and stuttering: a head jerk here, a shoulder roll th…