He closed his eyes, bracing for impact, but he never hit the ground below him.
He could hear the broken branch fall to the ground behind him, though he felt something else around his torso.
Opening his eyes, he found himself staring at a blank canvas of a face, shrouded in black against the raining backdrop of the dark forest.

Tendrils sprouted from the back of this creature like spider legs, writhing like live snakes, to the point Frank almost thought they were large enough to wrap around the thin, tree-like body thrice and still have room for more movement.
The tendrils were pitch black, seeming to lash out and curl erratically, losing Frank's hypnotized focus on individual ones as they almost appeared to blur together most grotesquely.
One of them had caught him from that fall, coiling around his waist and arms so the only things he could move were his legs and head.
He knew, however, that even the movements of those parts wouldn't last long, feeling the tentacle fasten and curl more around his legs and hips, restricting his movements.

Like the Entity's thorny limbs he was so familiar with; god....the Entity....why was he feeling a similar presence of power that the Entity possessed?
It seemed to be coming from this man -if you could call the being a 'man'- who was staring down at him.
Despite the absence of any facial features, Frank could feel the rage and confusion radiating off of the so-called man.
Static.....static and screams rang in his ears painfully.
Grainy static appeared in his vision as if someone had taped or held a dodgy TV screen up to his retinas.

"Found you..." a deep, ethereal voice stated shortly, the voice seeming to echo in Frank's mind while cutting through the static like a crossed radio connection.
"Now. What brings you to my forest?"this man -this slender man- stared at the adolescent slasher as he asked this question, bringing him a little closer to his non-existent face.
The teenage criminal's head was pounding, and it felt like he was going to be sick.
He was fairly sure his nose would start bleeding from behind his mask, and he didn't want to die by choking on his own blood, thank you very much.

"I...I don't know!" he replied half-bewildered and half-annoyed, looking at the man's lack-of-face, the static building more and more which didn't help his migraine or the ringing in his ears.
"I kinda woke up here, ok? I can't remember how I got to this place! One minute I was in Mount Ormond, the next I woke up here" he said, still holding his combat knife in his hand, not wanting to lose it.

His voice, interestingly enough, harboured a Canadian accent.
That was a rarity around these parts, to be sure.

If the towering entity had eyes, he would have narrowed them scornfully at the adolescent slasher with contempt and skepticism.
He wasn't sure how much he believed the teenager's tale, but decided to give him the benefit of the doubt, just for now.
Moving his tendril, he set the newcomer on his feet, his tendrils seeming to recede into his back.

"Next question. Who are you?" the man spoke sternly, his voice echoing in the teen murderer's mind, making him put a hand to his temple as he glared under his perma-grin mask.
"Why do you wanna know, exactly?" the teen replied, a little more stand-offish than he had anticipated, which made both of them bristle.
He let out a sigh, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket.

"Sorry, just...not used to trusting new people, is all. I get a lil suspicious when people are askin' me things about myself" he relented, his lanky associate giving a faint nod in response, along with a reply of "understandable."
Looking down at the floor and gently scuffing his sneakers against the dirt, the newcomer looked back up at the entity of the forest.

"Frank........" he replied.
"Hm?" the other man hummed.
"My name....I'm Frank" Frank reiterated.

"Very well, Frank. A pleasure to meet your acquaintance. I daresay, though, that's not a familiar name from around here. However, I assume you've heard of me? You don't seem to recognize me, I see, but....does the name 'Slenderman' ring any bells at all?" the tall man inquired.

Frank felt as if he was going to choke on his sharp intake of breath, as if he'd taken a toke of a dodgy-looking cigarette.
"Wait a minute...so you're him??" Frank gasped, eyes wide beneath his mask."I-I thought you were just a rumour! There's been art of you in our town, but I never thought...whoa..." he rambled, still stunned that THE Slenderman was right here, right in front of him.
A famous entity that had existed for centuries, if not millenia, many murders, disappearances and abductions were in his name; mainly the ones who were foolish enough to venture into his forest, looking for monsters. For glory. For death.

"Yes, I exist-" the Slenderman confirmed, "-I've existed for many years. You have an odd aura around you. You don't have any connections with any... strange beings, do you?"
Frank stiffened at the question, his eyes wide beneath his mask, as he hesitated to answer.
He weighed his options; either lie, and have this monster probe his mind and get killed for telling him a half-truth, or betray the Entity's secret.
Would it even find out?
If it did, will it torture him like it had done before, or would it be worse?

What did he have to lose? Apart from his abilities, and -possible- his life?

Frank breathed out to calm himself; his exhalation coming out in a cloud due to the dropped temperature that soon disappated into the rainfall.
"Does The Entity count? it's kinda like a spider-death-god thing, that makes realms and resurrects people, and, like, feeds off them and stuff" he told Slenderman.

Now, admittedly, the name didn't strike Slenderman as familiar in an instant, but he did have an inkling of its existence.
If it was a deity like Frank had told him, then there may be a slight chance he, and other rulers of realms he could not mention, would have a connection with it.
Once Frank had given him the description of the elderitch being, it was as if a light bulb had been switched on above him.
"Ah, yes, I know the one you mean" he acknowledged Frank with a slight nod, his palm turned up in a gesture of recognition.
If The Entity was who Frank said it was, then it would seem that Slenderman now had one of its underlings in his custody.

It might be in his and Frank's best interests, Slenderman thought to himself, if Frank remained in the mansion for the time being.
After all, none of them could risk any other types of monsters or deities getting their claws on the slasher.
Some may even be worse than himself or this....entity.

Slenderman looked at Frank, who looked up at him while trying to block out the static, then back to the mansion door, Frank staring in awe at the height and sheer intimidating look of the mansion.
Sure, it wasn't nearly as big as the realm he and his crew existed in while under the Entity's morbid care, but it was still enticing nonetheless.

From the windows and the trees, Frank could feel many sets of eyes on him, his insane, frenzied feelings beginning to creep up on him once again, as he reached for his knife in the front right pocket of his dirtied brown camo-jeans subconsciously, listening out as he heard footsteps and another layer of static creeping closer to them.

Something was behind them, laboured breathing and muffled giggles coming from behind both Frank and Slenderman, before Frank was pulled back, making the newcomer growl and spin around, pinning the assailant to a tree with his knife to their throat.
At the same time, Frank got a bloodied hatchet blade to his, barely grazing his skeleton tattoo on his neck.