The next day, Lana and Greg wasted no time. As soon as they finished breakfast, they went straight to the woods.
Gregory was fascinated with the forest. Beautiful Oak and Spruce trees filled the area, and the forest had just begun to shed their leaves. For now though, they provided a cooling shade with their canopy. The dirt beneath him was soft, with grass sprouting here and there, and he saw the occasional rabbit or squirrel scurrying around. Everything about the place seemed... peaceful. Normal. Honestly, it was slightly disappointing to him. The vibe he got didn't scream 'cryptic'. It screamed 'hey! let's get nuts and berries and sing happy songs together until we die!'
And that annoyed him.
Lana was more than excited to bring her uncle out to her secret spot. "Now, you know you can't tell my mom about this spot, right? It's like... sacred to me."
"Of course." Greg replied, "I understand how that goes."
She smiled. "Great. Well it's not much farther. Just a little ways past this small gorge." She said, as she walked across the log she had placed.
Gregory took one look at the log, and then at the gorge. "How sturdy is that... uh... log...?"
Lana scoffed. "Pfft, it's fine. Just come on."
Gregory slowly and cautiously stepped onto it. It gave a small little creak, but it seemed to hold. He wasn't a big guy, but the muscle he packed did give him some wight. He creeped across, making it to the other side. "That wasn't too bad..."
"Come on, slowpoke!" Lana said impatiently. They continued on for a few more minutes before arriving at her secret spot.
Greg smiled. This was the perfect place for Lana. The perfect escape from the world. And hey, it was good for her to be doing something with her time.
Lana brought him inside, and plopped on the floor, leaning against the wall. "Welcome to my humble abode! I don't have anywhere but the floor to sit down, but that'll change... eventually."
Greg nodded, looking around. A bit run down, but he could tell she had been working on it. He walked out the back door, leaving it open. "Nice little place, it really is."
Lana stood up, brushing off her rear after having sat on the dusty floor. "That's where I saw it.. him... Slenderman. Whatever you wanna call him. I was just chillin', reading, and then I heard a noise, so I went outside." She thought for a moment. "Come to think of it, I just assumed I heard something... I couldn't explain why I went outside. It was more like I... felt something, ya know?" She joined her uncle on the back porch, leaning against the railing bordering it's edge. She pointed towards a grouping of trees, straight out. "Saw it there. It was like... a tree or something. Or like... He was all the trees for a moment, and then became a single tree... kinda... and then shrunk some, to about 8 feet tall. And then he whispered shit." She stopped for a moment, watching her uncle stare into the forest, focused. "U-uncle G?"
Greg snapped out of it. "S-sorry... just... thinkin'." He couldn't get past events out of his head. The horrible things that had happened. He stepped off the porch, walking forward. "So he was over here-ish?" He said, trying to push past his own thoughts.
Lana followed him. "Yeah... about." The two of them walked towards the spot she saw. She felt a chill travel down her spine.
Greg inspected the area, but he couldn't find anything useful. No footprints, no sign of Slender, simply nothing that could help him. He felt Lana slightly poke him in the side. "What is it?" he asked.
She was silent for a moment. "I-it's okay if you don't believe me, or think I'm seeing things. It was... pretty weird."
He pulled her in for a side hug, holding tightly. "I believe you, Lana. I do. I just... he didn't leave anything behind. Which doesn't help me." He wanted so bad to tell her what he did on a regular basis. But it wasn't time for that yet. He needed to make sure she was going to keep it to herself, and if she was going to be helpful to him. Perhaps people would criticize him for it, but he saw Lana as an adult. He was more than convinced that she had the ability to handle whatever would happen, to a point. He had already made the choice a long time ago that he would eventually share with her what he did at his job; some of the secrets he kept, the stories he'd never forget. He'd always felt like he could trust her, but even so, it just wasn't time. "But I'm sure our little camping trip tonight will bring about something..."
She gave a big grin. "I can't wait."
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