` ` Getting back into the fandom after a few years, decided to draw one of my favorite characters.. :) ` `
— HEADCANONS // BACKSTORY ↓ ↓ ↓
⚠️(ᴛᴡ: ꜱᴜɪᴄɪᴅᴇ & ꜱᴇʟꜰ ʜᴀʀᴍ)⚠️
(not the best at writing back stories and I'm more used to writing fanfics... You'll understand what I mean when you read this shit )
BS— The day Jeffrey killed his family, he left the house and walked down the street with his father's shotgun in hand as he left a thick, red trail of blood behind him with every step of the way. Neighbors spotted him, and a few called the cops; but in their neighborhood, cops didn't bother to do their jobs correctly, so of course; they didn't come in time.
He had already killed his three main bullies (Keith, Troy, and Randy) but there was still one more guy he'd been meaning to pay a visit to, a young man named Travis. Travis had played in Jeff's head and pretended to be his friend, promising to never hurt him like the others did, and Jeff fell for it— not knowing that the boy was secretly friends with his bullies.
They became good friends, and eventually, Jeffrey grew attached to him and began to fall in love. He'd never been in love before, so this was all new to him. He didn't assume it was love because in his world, according to everyone in his life: "Men are meant to be with women". One day he told Travis how he felt, not quite describing it as love, but rather a deep connection— an admiration. He told him that he'd dream of him— dream of his smile, his eyes, and even when he wasn't in his dreams, he heard his voice, he felt him— even when he was awake, Travis was all that lingered in his mind.
Unbeknownst to Jeff, Travis had been recording this entire confession with a tape recorder, and he later showed the other three bullies. They got a kick out of it, of course they did. Travis had been recording their conversations for a while now just to laugh about it with his friends. However, Travis cut the recording before responding to Jeff, because it was at that moment he realized he was hurting a person with genuine feelings, and he'd been leading him on, making him truly believe he had a friend. It hurt his heart, but he felt cherished in a way he'd never felt before. He was starting to see Jeffrey in a completely different way, but he couldn't let the others know that because then he'd become the laughing stock.
So secretly, he'd take Jeff on secret little dates, and they'd share compliments between each other. But he wanted to fit in, so he continued to bully Jeff behind his back. Until one day, the day before Jeff was hospitalized, Keith was with Travis, and he showed Jeffrey the recording before calling him heinous slurs and names. His heart felt as if it had shattered into a billion pieces, and even though he'd made himself seem strong and tough. He broke down for the first time that day in front of Keith and Travis, and it wasn't pretty. He blabbered and snotted as he fought back the urge to pound his fists into Travis's face. Amongst the sobbing, Keith was howling with laughter and mocking the tears that Jeff spilled. Humiliated and heartbroken, Jeffrey left and returned home where he sat in his room and rotted in his bed for the rest of the day.
After his hospitalization and murdering Keith, Troy, and Randy— he needed to get his revenge on Travis. So covered in blood, and with a gouged face, he dragged his feet all the way to Travis's house and let himself in without knocking.
Upon entering, he saw Travis's mother— but before she could shriek with fear, he raised the shotgun and blew her stomach out. Then his father ran into the room, but was met with a slug to the throat. He knew where Travis's room was, and like he was on autopilot, he navigated upstairs and took a sharp right down the hall. He stood in front of the door, letting his head rest against the frame before weakly cackling and going for the handle, it was locked. He told Travis to let him in, saying: "Let me in, Trav." But when Travis didn't respond, he kicked the bottom of the door and screamed hoarsely: "If I have to tear this door down, I'll kill you too!" And after a moment of silence, the door clicked— and there was shuffling in the room. Jeffrey turned the handle, and limped into the room— his head bowed and not facing Travis. He shut the door behind himself, and slowly glared up at him through bloody, frayed hair.
Travis uttered out Jeffrey's name, his back already pressed firmly against the opposite side of the room. The Glasgow style gash across Jeff's face scarred a permanent image into Travis's mind, he knew he'd lost it. "Please don't kill me, Jeffrey, please." He begged, bringing his shaken hands to his chest and bending his knees as he slightly slid down the wall. Jeff shook his head and scrunched his face to look as sympathetic as he could with his brows being burnt off. "Travis, you know I'd never hurt you." He said, but his voice broke off with a snicker. He dragged his feet forward, cornering Travis against the wall as he tossed the shotgun to the side and slowly unsheathed a knife. The same knife he used to murder his own family.
Travis clung to the collar of his own shirt, frantically searching around the room, and his eyes landing on the gun— but before he could move his body to reach for it, Jeff stepped forward again— blocking the sight of the shotgun with his body. "I promise." Jeffrey said, his voice breaking in between words. He wanted to stab him right there— wanted to paint the room with his blood, but he couldn't bring himself to do it, not yet at least.
"What are you going to do to me." Travis whimpered, sinking down to Jeff's level, and wincing with anticipation. Jeff took one last step closer, lifting the knife up and pinning the tip of the blade to Travis's throat— watching as his adams apple bobbed against the metal. "You've always asked ridiculous questions." Jeffrey grinned, making the carved smile in his face so much wider. He gently slid the knife down Travis's throat, then pinned it against his stomach and stared into his eyes— but Travis refused to return his gaze. "What, are you afraid to look me in the eyes?" Jeff asked, then immediately— Travis looked up and met his gaze. Afraid to displease him seeing as his life was on the line. "You said I was pretty." He paused. "That day, in the woods.. you said I was pretty." And he sounded as if he was going to cry, but just as tears edged his lidless eyes, his smiled harder— his bottom lip quivering as he asked: "Am I not pretty anymore, Trav..?" He stared into each of Travis's eyes, watching as they darted across his bloodied gouges, silently judging. "Y-You are— you're .. you're pretty." Travis said nervously, cowering against the wall.
Jeff's expression completely changed, and he brought his other hand up to cup the side of Travis's face— cradling him in his palm before uttering the word: "Liar" as he stabbed Travis in the stomach and twisted the knife. Travis doubled over against Jeffrey, his hands trembling violently in the air as he almost collapsed. Jeff held him up by his throat with the hand that once cradled his face. He felt the vibrations of his whimpers and cries through the thin skin on his neck. ".. You promised—" Travis wailed, trying to squirm away. Jeff shoved him against the wall, then stabbed him again, and again, and again— heaving out "No, you promised." Travis met his fate that night, and Jeffrey stood there looming over his body for a good five minutes before he heard sirens in the distance. So, to prevent going to prison or being placed in a padded cell for the rest of his sad, pathetic life, he brought the knife to his throat and took his own life. However, he didn't die that night. He woke up in a room he'd never seen in his life, but it wasn't a padded room, it wasn't a hospital, it wasn't a prison cell. It was a bedroom, and through the window, he saw trees. He was in some building in the middle of the woods and he didn't know how he got there.
(Slenderman resurrected him and brought him back to his mansion in the forest before the cops arrived. In my au, Slenderman is drawn to severely mentally deranged people and he watches their every move to see if they're worthy of saving from their current lives. From his point of view, Jeffrey was worthy. He collects mentally deranged, unfortunate souls and rehomes them into his mansion to give them another chance at life knowing they could never have one in the 'normal' world with the way they are.)
HC— Jeffrey had a bridge piercing/gauged ears when he was set on fire; so the skin around his piercing melted against the bar so tightly that it can't be removed from his face without him prying it out himself. His bridge piercing was always his favorite out of the many he had, and he thought it looked cool on his mutilated face, so he kept it in. The gauges in his ears melted into the lobes— becoming part of his skin, so he didn't bother getting them out. Again, he thinks it looks cool.
HC— I think he originally had thick, light brown hair; but he dyed the ends black. His hair was one of the things he valued most about his appearance and after the fire— he thought he was hideous because he was left with bald patches and thin, frayed, and frail hair.