The Girl Beneath the Tall Trees

Seventeen-year-old Jade Mercer knows the Blackwood is dangerous. Everyone in town does. The forest swallows sound, bends familiar trails, and leaves behind only scraps of clothing and impossible stories. But when Jade follows a pale figure between the trees during a storm, the woods close around her—and the world she knew disappears. In the heart of the forest, she finds Slender Man, a terrifying presence whispered about for generations. Yet beneath the horror, Jade discovers something unexpected: protection, loneliness, and a strange bond with the creature who has been watching from the shadows. As her family and the town search for her, Jade must decide whether she has been taken prisoner or finally found a place where she belongs. But the search party is getting closer, and the forest’s fragile rules are beginning to break. To preserve the stolen days she shares with Slender Man, Jade must become more than a missing girl. She must become the forest’s warning, its guardian, and its newest legend—the SlenderGirl.