Prosecutors: Tweens attempted to kill friend to satisfy mythical internet creature

Prosecutors in Wisconsin say two 12-year-old girls lured their friend into the woods on Saturday to stab and kill her. The reason? They wanted to appease a mythological creature they read about on the internet.

One of the girls told a detective they wanted to become "proxies" of Slender Man, a "demon-like character" they discovered on a website, The Associated Press reports. After killing their friend, the girls planned to "run away to the demon's forest mansion," according to the criminal complaint. One of the girls said she sees Slender Man in her dreams, and believes he can read her mind. "It's extremely disturbing as a parent and as chief of police," Waukesha Police Chief Russell Jack said during a news conference.

The idea came to the girls last December, the AP reports, and they finally decided to set their plan into motion during a slumber party. The complaint says that they initially wanted to kill their friend at night "so they wouldn't have to look into her eyes," but put it off until the next day, when they played hide-and-seek in a park. They attacked the girl, stabbing her 19 times. One of the girls egged the other one on, telling her to "go ballistic, go crazy," the complaint said. The victim was able to crawl to a road where a bicyclist found her and summoned police. She was rushed to surgery, and is in stable condition.

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On Monday, the girls were charged as adults with first-degree attempted homicide. They will return to court June 11 for a status conference.