True Identity

Been quiet for a while. That's because I've been busy. I've been paying attention to the news in the town we're in right now. There have been attacks. People targeted in alleyways. I tracked down the people afterwards and read their minds. They were attacked by none other that Camazotz.

But they weren't attacked at random. There was a pattern to the times and locations. I used those patterns to try and predict the next few locations and times. Just to be sure, I waited a while. Three more attacks, at the times and places I had predicted. I know where he'll be next. And I also know he wants me to know. He used those patterns on purpose. He wants us to find him.

A who better to do so than Kord. He's been training on and off for quite a while now. He just got back from a little absence, and I think he's ready to face Camazotz.

But Kord isn't the only one who has a fight awaiting him. When Kord got back he fund a bouquet of flowers outside our hideout. He brought them in.

"Who do you think sent these?" he asked.

"I there a card or something?" Sound asked.

"NR," I said. "The initials are written on the tissue paper."

"Nolla Row," Wildfire said.

"Exactly," I said. "Let me see those."

Kord handed them to me.

"Rhododendron," I said, examining a couple of the flowers. "Beware."

"What's that about?" Kord asked.

"I've researched the language of flowers," I said. "Thought it'd be useful knowledge to have in case we ever ended up dealing with the Smiling Man. These ones here are Marigolds, for despair, and Cypress, for death, and mourning."

"I see," Myrir said. "What about the rest of them?"

"This one right here," I pointed out. "It's a black rose. Another symbol of death. And then these marigolds. They mean farewell."

"A lot of death in this bouquet," Kord said. "Is Nolla Row trying to threaten us with flowers?"

"That seems to be the point of all the death flowers," Wildfire said.

"Not all of them," I said. "This one, in the center of the bouquet. It's pink hyacinth."

"And what does that mean?" Kord asked.

"In the language of flowers, it means play," I said. "But that's not what Nolla's trying to tell us."

I locked eyes with Sound briefly.

"Isn't that...?" he asked.

"Her favorite flower," I said.

"What's that about?" Kord asked.

"I know who Nolla Row is," I said.

"What!?" Kord said. "Who!?"

"It's complicated," I said.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out a piece of paper, which I handed to Kord.

"This is the time and place that Camazotz will show up next," I said. "Wildfire, I want you to go there with him."

"You want us both to fight?" she asked.

"No," I said. "This is Kord's fight. Don't intervene unless you have to."

"What about Nolla?" Kord asked.

"I'll deal with it," I said, getting up. "I have to go. Don't follow me."

I left the room. I pulled out my phone, hoping that my hunch was wrong. I punched in the number and let it ring. She answered after the first two rings.

"Hey, Isaac," she said.

"Pink Hyacinth was always your favorite, right?" I asked.

"That's right," she said. "So you got my little gift?"

"Yes," I said. "I tried all kinds of anagrams and alphabetical codes to try ad figure out what 'Nolla Row' was supposed to mean."

"Did you now?" she asked.

"I never thought to just spell the words backward," I said. "Wor Allon. From that made up language you created in fifth grade but never finished."

"That's right," she said. "Do you remember what those words mean?"

"Afraid not," I said. "It's been too long."

"I tell you when we meet again," she said.

"And where will you be?" I asked.

"In one week I'll return to the place I killed them," she said.

"Killed who?" I asked.

"Don't be so naive, Isaac," she said. "Slender Man didn't kill your parents. I did."

She hung up. I allowed my phone to drop to the ground.

It wasn't him. Slender Man wasn't the one who killed my mom and dad. He was there, but he wasn't the one. Nolla Row. She did it. She slaughtered them.

He was standing a few feet away. He had just shown up when my phone hit the ground. He stood there watching me for a while. I turned to him, looking into his blank face.

"Is it true?" I asked.

He nodded, then gestured to a motorcycle a few feet from him.

The path is open, He said to me, before vanishing. I guess I know how I'm getting back home.