I'm Fine

'''James Alexander. '''

''The scent of blood. The thick but also watery texture. The body had always interested me. The interior and exterior to be exact. I never made any distinction between human or animal. As long as the being breathed and had liters of blood cursing through their veins, I'd be content. I never questioned my thirst for knowledge, knowledge about the insides of a living creature. The first time my eyes had met the red liquid was at the age of 8. I had been watching some little wood critters running around in the garden. I managed to capture one of them, a small, chestnut colored rabbit. Knowing that I couldn't just retreat a knife from the kitchen drawer, my mother would notice the lack of it pretty soon, I had to improvise. I had sliced the critter open, leaving an incision from its neck all the way down its abdomen. Removing its intestines, I realized that I felt something I'd never felt before. It fascinated me. But upon watching that animal die before my eyes, I accepted the fact that I made a mistake. I never intended to take that rabbits life. I burried it in the garden, and laid a flower on the dirt and sand. I hear your thoughts and I will reassure you that I'm perfectly sane. I'm no psychopath, I'm no mental patient, I'm fine. ''

''Because of my need to open living creatures, it seemed only natural I would eventually study medicine. I graduated, even found a job. My first assignment involved a young woman who had sustained severe injuries after a violent attack. The background information seemed rather disturbed, since she would tell a story of seeing strange things when she went for a jog in the woods nearby her apartement. Supposedly, her first symptoms existed out of seing a static blur. It seemed that something caused her vision to become dissorted, a lack of sleep, some kind of narcotics or maybe her eyes were just getting bad. Ofcourse that is what a medical doctor would think of first when hearing such a statement. Next, she claimed to have been followed by a rather tall-looking man. She never saw a face due to the darkness. Granted, these days you hear loads of stories about nutjobs wandering in the woods. Just turn on the T.V. or read a newspaper, and all you'll see are articles or newsreports about murders. But it could as well be the result from getting to deep into urban legends. What was it called .. Slenderman? ''

''Haha .. it used to amuse me when I was in my teens. Whilest running from that figure, she returned home and decided to call it a day. And that's when she was attacked by, if I recall her words, and I quote : 'A teenage boy with skin so pale, the moonlight bounced off. He had no eyes, and the corners of his mouth were sliced all the way down to his neck '. She managed to fight him off and make a run for it. The words her attacker spoke to her were ; Don't worry, you'll be fine,' I view it from a scientific point of view. I don't believe in monsters, urban legends or any of that crap. The truth will overcome the hands of time and reach the light one day. And eventhough the story seemed to be coming straight from some kind of horrorsite, she was a patient, even if that meant I had to feign understanding and belief. The patients name was Samara Indigo. 25 years old and lived a healthy lifestyle. I should've known, normal people don't seem to eager to go for a jog, set aside in the middle of the night, set aside in the woods. I took a 2 hour drive to get to the little town she lived in, so I had plenty of time to think this over. I shuckled as I thought of her decleration once more. ''

''Slenderman .. how it's been a while since I'd heard that name. I admit, when I was 16 years old, I decided to go look for the infamous Slenderman with a couple of my friends. We walked around in the woods for hours, and ended up finding nothing but the howls of some dogs and whatever sound owls and other birds make, which became rather annoying after a period of time. The man who attacked her .. now that's another story. Pale skin, no eyes.. a severe scar.. never heard of such a person before, and I've read my share of urban legends in my time. Once I get back I should really look up such a thing, but then again .. urban legends were made up story 86% of the time and this woman had injuries to show for. Whoever it was that attacked her, must've been an actual man.. Maybe he was wearing a mask or some kind of make-up to make his appearance look more horrifying. ''

Dylan George.

'Are you sure you're gonna be fine on your own, Samara?'

The woman smiled, reaching for a bottle of water. 'No need to worry, Dyl. The doctor should be here in an hour or so,' The man grabbed his jacket.

'If anything's up, you give me a call, okay? Weird things have been happening lately, so I'm wary,'

Samara smiled, wiping her mouth. 'Granted. But I'm fine. Have a safe journey home,'

'Will do. You get some rest!' The door slammed shut, leaving Samara in her apartement.

''Man, I hate these parts. This town reminds me of those towns you hear about on the news. The type of towns that are deserted, miles away from society. Just waiting for a murder to happen. I had second thoughts the moment Samara mentioned moving here. She'd be out of reach and as rescent events demonstrated, something was bound to happen. Some weird fuck attacked her. Why that girl thought it was a good idea to go out into the woods in the middle of the night, still doesn't make any sense to me.. The description of that man .. seems alot like Jeffrey to me. Ah, yes. Jeff the killer, that's how he was known amongst gore-fans. A teenage boy who got psycho and deformed his face after he got severely burned. I never believed those stories. Urban, fucking, legends. I've read plenty of horror stories and they all sound like a buch of crap to me. You must be out of your mind to actually believe those kind of things. ''

A shadow crept over Dylan as he was about to take a shortcut through a small forrest leading to the parking spot where he'd parked his car. He stopped in his tracks.

'Seriously? Okay, whoever the fuck you are, and whatever kind of games you're playing, I'm not in the mood for it!'

he shouted, returning to walking deeper into the forrest. Tall, gloomy trees surrounded him, joined by the sudden sounds of nocturnal animals. I can't believe it. I actually thought I saw something.

''God, Dylan, give it a rest. You're getting too involved into these fairytales that it's melting your brain. Just cut the crap, go home and get a good night's rest. You need it, buddy. ''

His thoughts were interrupted once more when he heard the sound of a snapping branch in the distance. He froze, but breathed out a sigh of relief when he saw a little rabbit rush past him.

'Fuck me! Bunny you scared me,'

He felt an arm grab him from behind and another covering his mind.

'Don't worry, you'll be fine,' a voice told him.

Dylan tried to free himself from the intense grip, but soon realised that whatever was holding him, was unable to touch. The arm shifted, and he felt his skin burn right after. Muffled cries sounded underneath a bony hand.

' I'm fine ~ I'm fine.. ' the voice echoed again.

The man managed to free himself and dashed back to have a look at who had attacked him. His heart sunk and his limbs started shaking. A croocked smile was seen.

' You're fine .., '

the being lashed out at the 28-year old man, grabbing a firm hold on the neck of its victim. 'L..l..le'.. let. go!' Dylan choked out. He was clawing at the creature's hand with his fingernails, leaving marks. The skin of the man's neck melted slowly underneath the touch. Once the eternal organs were visible, the hand let go of him. 'Don't worry, you're fine,'

'''Megan Kennedy. '''

'' These goddamn SAT's! Urgh .. ' ''

The 16-year old turned on the TV and a newsreport immediatley drew her attention.

'Another attack .. and again the victim wasn't killed, just badly injured,'

Megan bit her lip, watching as a picture of a young man was being shown and the burns on his neck, stomach area and mouth. The girl squeezed her eyes shut as she saw that the flesh had been burned completely off and the man, known as Dylan George, no longer had any lips. She turned the TV off and leaned back into the chair. 'Oh my god .. That's Mr. George!'

At that moment, the door opened and Megan saw her mother standing in the doorway. 'Honey.. did you see the news?' Megan nodded silently. 'My teacher .. has been attacked,'

''Let's see .. monsters, monsters .. urban legends .. uhm, anything in here with a monster that causes burns? Wait .. what's this? Okay .. ' Megan wrote down the title of the article she had found online, and put the piece of paper in her pocket, before racing downstairs and grabbing her coat. 'Mom, I'm going to the library. It won't take long,' She jumped on her bike and peddled as fast as her legs allowed her to. She threw her bike against the librairy stalls and pushed against the big wooden doors. To her surprise it was locked. 'What? That can't be .. it should be open at this hour ..''

she mumbled, checking her phone for the right time. 7:48. pm.

'Fuck.. I needed to read that article about a Burns,'

In the windows of one of the busstops, Megan saw a croocked smile. She turned around and faced a rather tall-looking, bony, pale man. 'Oh .. Excuse me. Sir .. do you happen to know why the library's closed?' The man smiled.

 'Don't worry, you'll be fine,' 

it caused Megan to raise an eyebrow. 'Yes .. I am. But .. I wanted to .. nah, nevermind. Sorry for taking your time, sir,'

The creature crept closing toward her and tapped her on the shoulder. Unlocking the lock on her bike, Megan turned her head. A hand blocked her vision, she felt heath consuming her eyeballs as she screamed.

 'Don't worry, you're fine,' 

the voice echoed once more.

'''James Alexander. '''

'Miss Indigo, you were lucky. Your injuries weren't lethal. You should gradually recover completely,' James said, packing his things. The brunette smiles reassured, and thanked the man.

'Dr. Alexander .. you do believe me right? You don't think I'm crazy, right?'

The man shook his head in a half-assed manner. 'Don't worry, Miss Indigo. I'm sure you'll be fine,'

~

'Mr. George, I'm sorry to say this but these burns will leav permanent scars,' The man looked at his doctor.

'I'm afraid .. speech will remain a problem. Your lips .. were burnt badly. The flesh.. had to be removed,'

Dylan grabbed James' arm. 'Don't worry, Mr. George. I'm sure you'll be fine,'

~

'Don't be afraid, Megan. It's me, dr. Alexander. I'm here to change your bandages,' The girl nodded silently. 'Doctor .. will I be able to see again?'

'I'm afraid not.. But .. Don't worry, Megan. I'm sure you'll be fine,'

--

James opened the door to his bedroom, looking around. Then he found what he was looking for.

'Burns .. there you are,'

The pale creature looked up, smiling widely. James took a seat next to the boy on the bed and caressed his cheek.

'You've got to be more carefull, Burns,'

The creature tilted its head, as if it was trying to tell it didn't understand. James smiled, placing his hand on its cheek.

'I understand your desires. The thirst for blood, I am familair with,'

He then slapped the creature in the face, causing it to crawl away from James, until his back bumped against the wall. Beastly growls filled the room.

'I took you in after you were left for dead. I patched you up. If it wasn't for me, you would still be a bunch of severed bodyparts,'

Burns hid his face with some strands of bright red hair.

'When I tell you, you can fulfill your desires but not to permanently scar them, I MEAN IT!'

The creature squeeked in fear. James got closer, curling some of Burns' red hair around his index finger.

'I've been treating three of your last victims. Two of them are seriously scarred. One will never be able to speak again because you burnt his lips and vocal chords. And the other is left blind .. I am proud of you. But if you continue at this rate, they'll find you. People aren't that stupid ..'

'''Burns. '''

'''James ... don't worry. You'll be fine'','

James noticed his vision going darker, he saw Burns squatting next to him. Burns wiped some of the blood, inspecting his hands as they were covered with the red liquid. James knew the blood loss would be fatal. He looked at Burns as the creature seemed fascinated by the blood.

'B.. burns ..'

Burns smiled. ' ''Don't worry. I'm fine,'' '

'''Other information. '''

Burns.

Burns, officially known as Cilan Burns, was a victim of a violant attempted murder. He suffered multiple stabwounds and burns, as one of his attackes tried to burn him alive. He was 17 years old when he got under treatment by dr. James Alexander. Cilan had been severely scarred, that he was beyond recognition. It is unknown wheter Cilan is alive or a tormented spirit. All that is known is that after the attempted murder, he was decleared dead. James Alexander took him in and patched him together. He had been one of James' experimental patients. He is called 'Burns' by James, not because its his surname, but because of his burns and the fact that when in a certain state of mind, his hands would cause flesh and skin to burn or melt under the touch. Burns doesn't speak, he is unable too, his tongue was cut out, whenever he speaks, it's telepathically. He growls like some sort of animal.

'''Appearance. '''

Burns is portrayed as a verry tall and skinny young man. His hair has a bright red, blood colored color. (whether this is due the lack of washing and blood of his victims in it, is unknown) He has long, bony fingers with long, black, discolored fingernails. Even though his hands are never really seen, his arms seem to fade into thin air. Not much is known about his clothing, but most likely something black. Not much is known about his facial appearance. Known is that his hair hides his eyes. There were reports of several scars around the mouth and neck area, probably due to the burns and the loss of his tonque.

'''Motif. ''' Burns' motif for killing isn't clear. Eventhough it is known that he has a natural desire to harm others, and inspect their insides. Burns' had made alot of victims, the most known are Samara Indigo, Dylan George and Megan Kennedy. Burns had cut one of Samara's ears of, burned Dylan's lips off and throath, causing him to no longer being able to speak, and burned Megan's eyes, leaving her permanently blind. It could be that Burns caused the same injuries from which he suffered once, but it is not know wheter he misses an ear, is blind. He is unable to speak though. His catchphrase ' don't worry you (I) (will/are/am) fine, is most likely derrived from the last words he heard his attackers speak to him