42

Hunter, Don't Shoot My Friend

Chapter 42: Stiles' Investigation

"Do you have any idea where the hell Tom is?" Stiles asked his friend Scott as they searched for the kids who were trying to summon Slenderman.

He didn't want to wait until Ethan had overwhelming evidence, believing he could stop it long before then. He wouldn't have to worry about a hunter if he became his assistant.

As usual, Scott was accompanying him. After all, his friend was saving his life by working with Ethan, a hunter who often appeared in his dreams.

"If they summon Slenderman, there’s going to be a massive disappearance of children, and I really don’t want to be here to experience it." Stiles was holding his laptop, browsing various websites that discussed the entity.

"Do you really think it's that easy to summon a spirit like that?" Scott didn’t believe that an ordinary person could summon Slenderman, who was practically a story made up by people.

"Dude, you're a freaking werewolf. Are you still having trouble believing in things that used to be fantasy for us?" Stiles looked at Scott as if he were a complete idiot.

Scott nodded slightly and said, "Yeah, you're right; it's still hard for me to process. But what I mean is that some things we can see, and others we can't."

"Oh, my God, listen to this: Slenderman does not have a concrete existence. His being dates back to time immemorial and is considered a legendary entity incapable of being fully recognized. The true nature of Slenderman is, therefore, hidden, tied to the world of esotericism and terror, without any true or definitive interpretation of what he is. Slenderman is mysterious, an enigma, and unknown.

"Due to his occult existence, Slenderman possesses a wide range of arcane abilities that can only be described as supernatural events to us. The exact limits of his abilities are unknown, but that doesn't stop him from using these abilities in various and terrifying ways."

The more Scott heard about this, the more nervous he became, and he asked directly, "In the hypothetical case that those people manage to summon Slenderman, could our teacher defeat him?"

"I don’t think so. He mentioned he would call an exorcist for this case because he doesn’t like doing priests' work," Stiles said, slamming his laptop shut as soon as he saw Tom and his friends.

Scott quickly responded, "Then he's crazy! Why not just do the job himself?"

"You don't get it. He does his job, but in his own way. Each of us must take responsibility for our actions." Stiles said this without much thought until he saw Tom walking away with his group of friends.

"Run, don't fall behind."

Stiles sprinted through the school hallways until he caught up with Tom's group, and before he could say anything, he heard, "I'm sure in the end we won’t do anything. As usual, Alan will freeze up with fear and pass it on to the rest of us."

"No, this time we’ll do it."

"This is stupid. Maybe it's some kind of virus, and it’ll end up ruining my computer."

"That's the first excuse."

Scott approached his friend and asked, "What’s happening?"

"I just overheard them, and I honestly don’t think they’ll do it. They're too scared." Stiles recognized the fear in one of the group members about completing the challenge.

"Big guys who are really scared?"

"Yeah, they're that type." Stiles wasn’t sure if he was deeply disappointed by this, but in part, it was also a relief.

Scott, on the other hand, was more excited and said, "So, let's head to training."

"Yeah, how thrilling..."