Slender Man Ch. 01

"With their grandmother, my mother." Molly said. "She got here earlier today and is getting settled into her condo. I could not get in touch with Cindy, though."

"She may be on a hot date." I said. "Callie Carrington is back in Town."

"Ah. Okay." Molly said, somewhat flatly. "So... what was that commotion about with someone trying to pursue you through our county?"

"Laura and I went to City University, and found some papers that I think Dr. Yarborough had stored. The same Dr. Yarborough who ran that Millwakee Camp that George Aurus was at for a while. While coming home, we noticed we were being followed, and with Laura in the car, and that evidence in the car, I called you guys in. Maybe too soon, as the perp turned around before really getting into Nextdoor County where you could've nabbed him or them."

Molly said "German said that he thought that car had a powerful motor or was amped up by nitrous, because it really shot out of there after doing a 180. We might not have been able to catch him even if he did get farther into the county."

"It kept up with the Black Beauty, too." I said. "And the motor in that thing is no slouch, as your sister may have told you."

Molly grinned. "Oh, she did. It's too bad they don't have the Autobahn here, with no speed limit. She'd love to get that car on a limitless stretch of highway."

"As long as we're not singing 'Hotel California' after she crashes it." I said. "Anyway, this is interesting data, and it confirms what I think was going on with Yarborough and Aurus."

"What's that?" Molly asked.

"You'll find out at my special briefing tomorrow morning." I said. "I'm inviting only a few very trusted people to it, and you are one of them, if you want to be on the guest list."

"Sure." she said. "What time?-- Don, there's something at your window..."

I looked over, then moved over and grabbed the cord to the blind. "When I say 'now', hit the lights." I said. Molly moved to the light switch. "NOW!" I cried out as I yanked the cord. Molly turned out the lights.

"YAAAGGGH!" she screamed. Someone was peering into the window!

"What the fuck!" I was gasping at the same time. The man in the window was wearing a suit and black tie, but his head was totally hairless and featureless, just a white blob!

"What is that?" Molly screamed out. My eyes instinctively cut towards her, just for an instant, seeing her hands over her mouth in shock. But in that split-instant the figure had disappeared!

I tried to peer out to see where he went, but could not see anything. Rushing for the door, I said to Molly "Stay here!" I ran into the hall. "Anyone here! Intruder outside!"

As I rushed for the front areas, the Duty Desk Sergeant came down the hall to see what was going on, the Patrolman remaining at the Desk as he should've. "Someone's outside, looking into my office's window!" I shouted. "Get anyone here to come out! Get guys into every parking lot around the building!"

We went to the side corridor that led to the gated parking lot. The Officer there was on the radio already. I rushed outside with the Duty Desk Sergeant. There was no one in the parking lot.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The Officer at the guardhouse to the gated parking lot said that no one had come in or out in the last 30 minutes, and he'd seen no one around the walls of the building.

"Did you hear a drone flying over, anything like that?" I asked.

"No sir." said the Patrolman, who was new and did not seem very bright.

We looked around my window from the outside. There was only about a two foot strip between the building walls and the parking lot's curb, but it was grass and dirt. There were no footprints at all. I had to strain on my tiptoes just to see into the very bottom of the window. I saw Molly in my office and she waved at me.

"The guy would have to be eight or nine feet tall for him to be as high up as he was and looking in." I said.

"Unless he was hanging down from a rope on the roof." said a voice. It was Sergeant Rudistan coming up.

"Nice point, Rudistan." I said, looking up. "How is the roof accessed?"

"There's no way to the roof from inside." said Rudistan. "That's so anyone who gets out of a holding cell can't get up there. If there's any work to be done, someone has to bring a ladder. Hicks and Johnson are in the public parking lot on the other side; they haven't seen anything, and there's no ladder anywhere."

I nodded. "I was thinking of a mannequin hanging from a drone flying overhead." I said. "That's all I can think of that this could be done, unless it's the real Slender Man himself."

"Who is Slender Man, sir?" the Desk Duty Sergeant asked.

"He's a legend on the Internet." I said. "Eight feet tall, wears a suit and tie, head is totally featureless. They made a video game about him, too. Rudistan! Go to my office and get Lt. Evans's statement before I go in there again. That way, what she tells you can't be considered to be influenced by me, as I haven't spoken to her since we saw the guy in the window." Rudistan stalked off.

"Sir," said the Duty Desk Sergeant, "I'll need to get your statement, too, for my Incident Report."

"Let's do that now." I said. And we did.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"That was incredibly spooky." Molly said as we had a late supper at the Mountain Nest. Carole and Jim were already in bed, and Bowser and Buddy were with them. My mom had come up, and we'd told her and Laura about the sighting.

"Yeah, I about jumped out of my skin when I saw that." I said.

"Don," Molly said, "you keep your hair short, almost military style, and I swear I saw it standing on end when you raised that blind."

"Oh, I felt electricity go up and down my arms." I said.

"What do you think it was?" asked Laura. "Anything to do with the stuff we got from City U. today? Or was Molly the target, and it's related to the Aurus case in Nextdoor County, or something like that?"

"I have no idea..." I said.

Part 4 - Sightings

"This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" yelled the lovely reporterette from outside Police Headquarters at 7:00am, Wednesday, March 8th. Bettina's hair and makeup was just a bit more perfect than normal, which meant she had a big story.

"Channel Two News has learned that there were multiple sightings of an urban legend creature named 'Slender Man' in several parts of the County last night! This footage was taken by some teenagers as they drove along the Bypass last night."

The footage showed the car and camera going south. It was not yet sunset, but dusk. The iPhone camera was filming out the passenger side window. In the distance, in a farm field, a tall man in a suit and tie and a white nothingness for a head could be seen. The camera tried to focus on it as the teenagers were yelling to stop the car. By the time the camera focused again, the figure was no longer visible.

Bettina said "In addition, Police were called to a house in the Kensington subdivision, where a figure was spotted in a field behind a home. This photo was taken from the kitchen window." The photo Bettina showed displayed Slender Man in a grassy field, not unlike the one Marie Saint, soon to be Marie Steele, had been found by the redoubtable Bowser.

"Geez, that's spooky." Cindy said as we watched in MCD.

"You have no idea." I said. "Watch."

Bettina then said "And Channel Two News has learned someone fitting this same description of a featureless 'Slender Man' was caught looking into the windows of Police Headquarters last night! Sources tell Channel Two News that Commander Donald Troy and another Officer spotted the sinister figure, who disappeared as the Police gave chase. Police have no explanation for any of these sightings."

"And in State politics," Bettina said, "Republicans shored up their numbers to sustain a threatened veto of the Budget by Governor Jared. Democrats say this only helps them, but Channel Two News has learned that Democrats whose seats could be lost in the next Election may defect from Senator Katherine Woodburn's so-called 'wall of granite' trying to block everything Governor Jared does, giving the Republicans hope that the Governor's budget can be pushed through."

"By the way," I said to Cindy, "that 'other Officer' that saw Slender Man... was your sister Molly."

"Really?" Cindy asked. "Wow. She's not prone to bullshit, nor are you. So what was it?"

"We think someone was dangling a mannequin from a drone." I said. "That's the official story, anyway." That caused Cindy to turn and peer at me.

"Think that's what these other sightings are?" Cindy asked I just shrugged my shoulders.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The Chief's weekly meeting was at 8:00am, and his top leadership gathered for it. As we waited in the Main Conference Room, I received no end of questions about Slender Man.

"All I know," I said, "is that it is scary as hell to open the window blinds and see a faceless man looking into the window. And I don't scare easy."

"No doubt about that." Cindy said. Teresa nodded vigorously in agreement.

Just then, Chief Moynahan came in. "Take your seats, please." he said formally. We all did.

"First of all," said the Chief, "the Sheriff congratulates the TCPD on capturing Jerry Saint and determining that Dick Ferrell is one of the murderers of Kevin Greeley. Your fast action on that has kept the minority communities from getting hostile and potentially violent. Also, the Sheriff said to give his heartiest congratulations to Sergeant Bowser for finding that little girl. He is in consultation with the Council over what to award Bowser."

"Dogs can only get K-9 Achievement and K-9 Commendation Awards, can't they?" asked Della Harlow.

"We shall see." said the Chief. "Bowser has been formally nominated for the Lifesaving Award... by me. At best, Bowser will receive the award that he deserves. At worst, the Council will spend a long meeting fighting about it." I resisted laughing out loud at that, but I couldn't hide a smile.

"Okay, Mr. Crowbar," said the Chief, "who the hell is this... 'Slender Man', I think he's called... and what is he doing in our County?"

"Sir," I said, "Slender Man is an Internet myth created some years ago. He's very popular in England. He is described as eight feet or more tall, wears a suit and black tie, has absolutely no features on his face, no ears, no nose, no eyes, no hair. He supposedly has tentacles that come out his back, like an octopus, and has allegedly been seen in the woods looking like a stick figure or clump of trees with those tentacles. He allegedly stalks and kidnaps children."

"Also," I said, "he allegedly causes cameras that record him to have static and then flicker out. And once he begins stalking someone, that someone is allegedly doomed to be 'disappeared' by him."

"It was nice knowing you, Commander." said Teresa Croyle. "He's obviously after you now."

"Bring it on." I said. "I look forward to facing him again."

"You men and your alpha-dog ways." Cindy said in response to my bravado.

"Bowser is my alpha-dog." I said right back.

"Okay, I think this was a meeting about Police business." said the Chief with some acerbity. "So, Commander, do you think this Slender Man business poses a threat to our community?"

"I think it's just a prank," I said, "but I am concerned for the safety of children in the area. I think we should notify the schools to be on the lookout for anyone observing the kids at school, and tell our Officers to be watching out for anyone seemingly observing children at schools or playgrounds or wherever they gather."

"Probably a good idea." said Moynahan. He turned to the Public Relations Officer, Cpt. 'Brick' Briscoe. "Brick, send notices to the schools. And also, put out a statement to the Press to warn parents to be aware of their children's surroundings. I'd rather err on the side of caution and scare them for nothing than have a child end up missing and have said nothing about it. Captain Croyle, put out the Commander's message, and reinforce it with my own to really be aware of anyone suspicious that might be watching children."

"Yes sir." said Briscoe. Teresa nodded her confirmation.

"Okay, one last thing." said the Chief. "Council Members Thomas P. Cook and Kelly Carnes are badgering the Sheriff and myself that not enough tickets are being given to violators of our traffic lawwwwws. They brought up that very dirty word: 'quotas'." The Chief saw the look on my face as he said "Now I know how the Commander feels about that, and Captain Croyle also. And I certainly don't want to fool around with stupid speed traps like they do in Coltrane County and Madison County. But just be aware that noise is being made about it. Okay, if there is nothing else, let's get to work."

Part 5 - The Federal Facility Solution

I had had Classroom 'J' swept for bugs, then swept it again myself. I put a little device on the window to make it vibrate at randomly changing frequencies. And I had Sr. Patrolman Hicks and Sergeant Rudistan guarding the door.

At 9:00am, my selected attendees came in: Chief Moynahan, Captain Ross, Captain Croyle, Lt. Evans of the NCPD, Supervisor Myron Milton, Detective Mary Mahoney Milton, Lt. Perlman of the State Crime Lab, CIA Deputy Director of the Science and Technology Directorate (Retired) Laura Fredricson, FBI Special Agent in Charge Jack Muscone, and FBI Special Agent Martin Nash. I had invited the Deputy Director of the FBI, but he sent back word that he was in Washington for meetings.

I took the podium. "Thank you all for coming today." I said. "What I am about to tell you is extremely sensitive information, and I am not kidding when I say that telling others could lead to the deaths of people, including people in this room now." They knew me well enough by now to know that I was not kidding.

"I believe I know what was going on at the Millwakee Camp, possibly the sanitarium nearby, and the Federal facility across the State Line." I said, beginning my slide presentation. "I have listed here the salient points of my interview with Leonard Lotz, shortly before we captured George Aurus, and before Lotz escaped prison."

I went on: "He said that most of the inmates there were 'thugs', i.e. tough and aggressive. He also said that sex was encouraged between the inmates there, and also between inmates and staff. He said that some of the girls at the facility escaped. Only females escaped, not males, by the way. Then add to it that George Aurus, a midget with other genetic issues, was not allowed to mate with any of the women."

"Then we have George Aurus himself." I said. "He emphasized the Federal facility, and I'll emphasize that they have classified that place like it's Area 51 or something; they really do not want the secret of that place getting out. Tough shit; it's about to come out now."

"Hoo boy." Muscone whispered to Nash.

"So what's it about, Commander?" asked Cindy Ross, every impatient.

"Eugenics." I said. I heard gasps in the room. "It's about an attempt to have young men and women breed to create so-called 'superior' strains of humans."

After a few seconds, I heard Molly say "That does make sense."

I said "We found some data at City University. The Allies captured Nazi experimental data of their attempts to create a master Aryan race. Some ugly things came out of that after the war, as the children born of it were raised in an environment of sexual abuse and other atrocities. But that data, along with a lot of other Nazi scientific data on things such as rockets, was brought to America."

I went on: "This data was examined by geneticists, biologists, and psychologists of the era, but it was when it came into Dr. Stewart Yarborough's hands that any real work was done upon it. Yarborough believed that genetic engineering could be done to create better gene pools, and therefore create better strains of the human genome. Fortunately, he did not have today's technology available to him. So he tried to do it the old fashioned way... breeding his subjects. And his subjects... were humans."

"Now here's where Leonard Lotz's information comes in." I said. "I don't think those girls escaped from Millwakee. I think they became pregnant. They were taken away from Millwakee, where their babies could be birthed, tested, and raised in an environment the testers thought would enhance their 'superior' breeding. This is exactly what the Nazis did, by the way. So, where would the ideal place to do that be?"

"The Federal facility." said Cindy.

"That's Iron Crowbar thinking, there." I said. "That is the only reason I can think of that the Government, or elements of it, would want to keep that facility totally secret to this day."

"And to that point," I said, "I think things were headquartered there in the 1950s, when the South was just beginning to experience what would become the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. The Big Boys behind the white supremacy movements saw what was about to happen in their old stronghold of the Deep South, so they started this operation here, using that Federal facility. Now there's attention upon it, so they're moving away from it, if they haven't already."

"What about that girl that escaped and went to the City Police?" asked Mary Milton.

"She said she and others were being tested upon," I said, "but Lotz said there was no testing he was aware of. I suspect that the people at Millwakee were drugged via sedatives in their food, and the bloodwork done and semen samples taken while they were unconscious. I think this girl may have awakened during that testing, maybe while she was being artificially inseminated."

I continued: "I also have to question the full veracity of her story, at least as the report tells it. She was made to disappear, and we only have the police report for data. It's possible it was altered. Whether it was or not, it's almost an aberrant data point."

"And why was George Aurus at Millwakee?" asked Martin Nash. "Forgive the political incorrectness of saying this, but he's not exactly the genetic material they'd be looking for."

"Yes, that's a point." I said. "My first thought is that they wanted some kind of comparison, contrasting sample to the 'good' genes, and Aurus would be that. Or sort of a control sample along those lines. Another thought I had was his presence was meant to bring out the aggressive tendencies of the others at the facility. We know Aurus was sexually molested, and Lotz hates Aurus to this day just for being an inferior midget, excuse the term."

"Wow." said Chief Moynahan. "Eugenics experiments. That's heavy stuff, Mr. Crowbar."

"Yes sir, and that's not all I found out." I said. "Trying to find names of those who were at Millwakee has been damn near impossible, because certain Government entities have done all they can to erase anything they find, from data to people. But the data I found did contain a few of names from the 1970s. And two of them will be of extreme interest to you in this room. One of them... was a 'Janet Fuqua'."

"Oh my God." said Teresa. "Jeff Fuqua murdered Terry Schultz and Jeanine Burke. Was he related?"

"He may well have been her son, and a product of the breeding experiments." I said. "Are you ready for the other name?... it was a Lisa... Davis."

Everyone looked at me funny. Then I put another document on the screen for them to see.

"Lisa Davis apparently did not stay in the program. I am not surprised that her progeny did not live up to the high standards of the program. You see, folks, this is a marriage certificate. Lisa Davis married a man whose first name was Donald, of all names. But his last name... was Ferrell."

"You have got to be shitting me!" gasped Jack Muscone. He was not the only one in total shock.