tonight, one extraordinary hour. >> she wasn't supposed to make it out alive. >> for the first time, the brave 12-year-old girl at the center of a case that shocked the world. >> slender man. >> the parents who sent their daughter on a sleepover, the two friends taking her in the woods, stabbing her 19 times. telling police they wanted to impress a man on the internet, slender man. take an exclusive journey with one extraordinary family.

where do you think she got the strength to crawl out of the woods. >> she wanted to live. >> tonight -- >> people wanted to know that slender man was real. >> and this evening, inside the plan in the works for months. and then, the moment a mother first sees her daughter. >> i said, you are going to be okay. you will be fine. >> and tonight, right here, the triumph. for the first time, the 12-year-old girl who never gave up. and her family with a message for the world. >> we knew that she had the strength that now i think everybody knows it. >> everybody does know. >> the "20/20" special, out of the woods. here now, david muir. >> good evening. and tonight here, our journey with one courageous family, one brave 12-year-old girl. for the first time, her parents are talking and you will meet

12-year-old peyton. she some how crawled out of woods and wanted to live. her paints want us to see the beautiful smile, a smile ha is just beginning to return. and they hope we can some how begin a conversation tonight, convinced there is a reason she survived. it's a friday night in an american town, waukesha, wisconsin and a mother and father like so many parents across this country are sending their daughter on a sleepover. peyton leutner is 12, and they know her friend well, morgan geyser another 12-year-old girl celebrating her birthday. why would this night be any different, but it was. >> on saturday may 31, 2014 a 12-year-old girl was stabbed -- >> reporter: you're about to go inside a case that horrified this country. >> two 12-year-old girls charged with viciously attacking their friend. >> she was stabbed 19 times. >> reporter: parents everywhere saying this could have been my child. an ordinary slumber party. three girls and someone else. an unknown figure getting into that party too.

a fictional character from the internet named slender man, who so many parents had never even heard of. we have spent months in that town and tonight for the first time, you're about to hear from that little girl's family. >> she was forced to go into the woods. >> into the woods. >> reporter: from the hero who found her at the edge of the woods. >> she was laying right here. >> reporter: the doctors who saw how close to death she came -- >> the knife cut through the tissue. >> reporter: and the school where just this month where they were all hoping she'd come back. one family's stunning journey about to play out tonight right before your eyes. it was a friday night, right? >> it was a friday night. >> reporter: their daughter peyton had been looking forward to it for weeks. you remember how excited she was that friday afternoon? >> oh, my gosh, she was so, so excited. she squealed and jumped up and down. >> reporter: excited when her mother told her she could go to her sleepover early. picked up even earlier than she thought? >> picked up even earlier than she was expecting. she was so excited.

>> reporter: and had she gone on sleepovers before? >> oh, yeah. and the -- this was just -- you know, her best friend's birthday party. >> it was just another friday night. >> and they were talkin' about it for weeks, if not -- >> and they were gonna go skating? >> they were gonna go to state -- peyton loves skateland. >> so she was gonna go roller-skating, have some pizza, and spend the night at her best friend's house? >> yep, they were probably gonna watch a movie. >> and so you thought this was -- >> and play american girl. peyton brought her american girl doll with her. >> she brought her american girl. >> reporter: but peyton would not come home the next morning. >> do you think peyton had any idea? >> no. she had absolutely no idea. >> no. >> what she was walking into? >> she was blindsided. >> reporter: her parents blind-sided too. friday night they send their daughter off. saturday morning, mom is in the backyard. >> joe was at work and i heard the doorbell ring and the dog bark. and it was a saturday morning at, like, 9:30, 9:45 and around the side of the house, up over the deck came a uniformed officer. she had a badge and a gun. and -- they walked around the

back of the desk -- the deck, asked, you know, "are you peyton's mom?" the first thing that goes through my mind is something has happened to somebody that i love. because that's the only a uniformed officer and a detective comes to your house on a saturday morning. >> reporter: she would slowly begin to piece together what had happened -- in the 16 hours since peyton had left for that sleepover. it is unthinkable. the first moment anyone would begin to learn of that horror was this call to 9-1-1. >> 911. >> i'm transferring a color on, big bend. >> reporter: after she'd crawled out of the woods. and just listen at first the operators cannot believe what they were hearing. >> he came upon a 12-year-old female. she appears to be stabbed. >> she appears to be what? >> stabbed. >> stabbed? >> correct. >> reporter: greg steinberg was riding his bike that morning. on a path that had actually been chained off. it was pure chance that he came this way. >> sir, are you with her right now? >> yes. >> is she awake. >> she's awake. >> is there any bleeding going on? >> her clothing has got blood on it. >> okay and you found her and she was just laying there? >> yeah. >> reporter: paramedics racing

to the scene. and listen. the operator is still fearing that that 12-year-old could still be in danger. >> is there any assailant around? >> uh, i don't see anybody. >> let me know immediately if you see anything else suspicious in the area. a car, or a person, anything. keep your eyes open. >> reporter: on that call, you can actually hear greg comforting petyon. >> honey, he's coming. they'll be here any minute. who did that to you? >> and you were biking by, and she says to you what? >> "could you help me please, i've been stabbed multiple times." i quick got out my cell phone i was shaking, and dialed 911, i just stayed with the 911 operator and i offered her water, because i had a water bottle on my bike. the other thing she said was she was having trouble breathing. >> she was right here lying on the grass. >> mm-hmm. >> but you had no idea how many times she'd actually been -- >> no. >> reporter: unaware how many times, unaware who did this to her, he watches as the ambulance rushes her away. the hospital less than 4 miles away from that path. so you bring her in here?

>> her heart rate was very elevated, and her blood pressure was low, so that was very fairly ominous. >> reporter: and when you looked at her, it was immediately apparent she'd been stabbed multiple times? >> yeah, to her chest, abdomen, arm and leg. >> reporter: doctor's concerned she might not survive. and her mother stacie has just been told peyton has been rushed to the hospital. she's also been told it was her best friend morgan who did this. she calls her husband. >> i went in the house and called joe. and i said -- "peyton's been stabbed. morgan stabbed payton. you need to me home." they need to rush peyton into surgery. so then i really lost it. >> reporter: so you got in the car? >> got in the car. >> reporter: just minutes later walking in -- >> so i walked into the trauma room that she was in. and she was pale as a ghost. she was terrified. she was crying. she couldn't breathe. >> reporter: but she saw you there? >> she saw me. and she put her hand out. and i rushed over to her. and i put my arms around her. and i laid next to her. and i hugged her. and i said, "you're gonna be

okay. it's gonna be fine." but i could see that she was covered. her arms and her legs and her abdomen, they were covered in stab wounds. >> reporter: they pull her away from her daughter. and she can soon hear the nurses counting. >> and all i hear is, "there's five on her arm. there's seven on her leg." and i'm thinking, "what? seven? what?" and one of the nurses says, "all right, i count 19." and then the second nurse said, "i count 19, as well." what? 19? what there's no way. >> reporter: there were so many stab wounds, it took two nurses to count them, 19 in all. and her little girl is now being raced down the hall. then they took her into surgery? >> then they take her into surgery. >> reporter: did you say anything to peyton when they wheeled her away? >> that i loved her and that she would be okay. >> reporter: but there was something else peyton's mother was thinking at the same time. >> morgan didn't do this is what's going through my head. there's no way. there no way that's what's happened.

morgan is 12. >> reporter: but that's exactly what investigators believe that morgan, and only other girl who was invited to that sleep over, anissa weier, did this. but they were nowhere to be found. >> they had run away. and -- and the police hadn't found them yet. and we just knew that peyton told us morgan stabbed her. and the police hadn't been able to find the girls. >> reporter: and in fact, the police believe those girls were walking. >> yep. >> reporter: they were going to find a mansion in the woods? >> they were into the nicolet forest, because they believed that there was a mansion there that slender man lived in. >> reporter: incredibly police say those girls were now headed to find a mansion where they believed a fictitious internet character truly lived. a character named slender man. who police say they were hoping to impress. all while their 12-year-old friend peyton is in the or fighting off death. when we come back -- the doctors who discover, it is worse than anyone thought. we're with the surgeon who saves her.

>> less than a millimeter. >> reporter: between living and dying? >> yes. >> reporter: and suddenly authorities find those other two girls. what they reveal about why they did it. and later tonight here, the and later tonight here, the 12-year-old survivor peyton, who you will never forget. whitening toothpaste and the other side with optic white. it whitens below the surface. and it can stay white! its whiteseal technology helps prevent stains from coming back. use colgate optic white whiten & protect along with the whole line for whiter teeth in one day. olive garden's never ending pasta bowl is back and better than ever, starting at just $9.99. say yes to bowl after never ending bowl of your favorite pasta and more yes to savory new sauces like velvety roasted mushroom alfredo and spicy three meat, plus toppings like crispy chicken fritta.

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"20/20" continues with out of the woods. once again, david muir. >> reporter: waukesha, wisconsin, just outside milwaukee. and on a saturday morning this past may, a horrific tale is just beginning to emerge. a birthday sleepover with three 12-year-olds the night before and now two girls are missing. the other, peyton leutner, has somehow crawled out of the woods, covered in stab wounds. 19 of them. she is now being wheeled into the operating room. having just told her mother, her friends did this to her. outside that hospital, in that town. >> a major search by ground and air. >> these are the woods where the stabbing actually happened. >> police are still on the scene. >> reporter: a frantic search

for the two missing, morgan geyser and anissa weier. >> two 12-year-old girls stabbing their friend nearly to death is unimaginable any time, but especially for a safe community like the city of waukesha. >> reporter: so unimaginable that even the brother of one of those missing girls, at first, confused, fearing for her safety too. showing reporters photos of his sister. asking, have you seen her. >> that's her, that's anissa, she's been missing for i don't know how long now. >> reporter: but the horrifying truth, even for him, the reason they're searching is about to set in. >> we're not entirely sure, we have absolutely no idea what's happened to my younger sister. >> reporter: while back at the hospital the surgeon john keleman is about to discover just how much damage has been done. you'll never forget the moment she came in? >> no. >> reporter: he tells me about one of the stab wounds to the heart. >> the knife came directly down at this point where this large branch was coming off this major artery.

and, cut through the tissue overlying it so that the vessels were totally exposed by this injury. >> reporter: the knife cut through the tissue but not the artery itself? >> exactly. the knife stopped at the wall of the artery. >> reporter: and had it not? >> had it not, she would of had a major heart attack from the amount of bleeding and probably died within a minute or two. >> reporter: that close to death. but they were now saving her life. while the hunt for the other two girls is in high gear. every agency in the area searching. >> we had the waukesha county sheriff's department, the city of waukesha police department, new berlin police department, city of waukesha fire department and flight for life all scouring that area. >> reporter: then nearly five hours after payton crawled out of those woods, the two other girls are found. they were right here along interstate 94 heading out of waukesha. a knife with a 5 inch blade found in one of the girls' bags.

police chief russell jack takes us back to that spot. >> both suspects had blood on their clothes. the knife from the stabbing was located in the backpack that was in the possession of the two suspects. >> reporter: police say they were carrying clothes, granola bars, water bottles, one of the girls carrying a picture of her mother and father and siblings. she wanted to remember what they looked like after leaving her town for that imaginary mansion in the woods. neither girl puts up a fight taken into custody they would soon be questioned. just as the other 12-year-old so excited about that sleepover is coming out of surgery. so six hours your little girl -- >> six hours. >> reporter: -- is in the o.r. and when that surgeon comes out what did he reveal? >> he said, "so we had to crack her chest." it was awful to hear that she had to go through that. >> reporter: how close do you think she was to losing her? >> if the knife had gone the width of a human hair further,

she wouldn't have lived. >> reporter: human hair. what is that? a millimeter? >> less than a millimeter. >> reporter: between living and dying? >> yes. >> reporter: where on dearth to you think she got the strength to crawl out of the woods? >> well, we asked her and she said, "i wanted to live." >> reporter: she wanted to live. >> she knew that if she couldn't get out of the woods that she wasn't gonna live. >> reporter: and as investigators prepare to question those two girls about what happened in the woods, two parents were about to ask their daughter what happened too. at first, peyton couldn't talk. writing to communicate. do you remember the first message she wrote? >> "i want to go home." >> reporter: i want to go home. >> "when can i go home?" >> reporter: and has peyton talked at all about the horror of that moment? >> she told me she was scared but the first time i asked her what she remembered about what happened, she said, "all i remember is the pain."

>> reporter: pain. and they would reveal to me there was something else she asked. >> "did they get them? we told her they were they were found and the police have them. >> reporter: and as a dad, in that moment, how hard was that? >> harder than i would have ever been able to imagine. this is my little girl who's laying there, and the only thing that i could tell her, at the time, to make her feel better was that, "the police have them." and she was safe with us. >> reporter: his daughter terrified of the two girls who were friends. how well did you know these two other girls? >> it was peyton's best friend. >> reporter: there was no question in your mind that they were best friends? >> oh, they were best friends. >> they were best friends since about fourth grade. >> fourth grade is when we met morgan for the first time. >> reporter: they say peyton would talk to morgan every night on the phone. >> were there ever any red flags? >> they would have little arguments. but every 12-year-old girl has little arguments.

>> reporter: the other 12-year-old, anissa weier, they had not met but they say peyton knew her from school. and as joe and stacie reassure their daughter the girls have been found police now begin to ask the questions. what did they do to their friend? and even more disturbing, why did they do it? >> both of them were very forthcoming in telling their version of the story and the details. >> reporter: when we come back -- the bone-chilling plan emerges the two 12-year-olds telling police they were plotting for months. >> the plan was to murder her. >> and the first -- >> she wasn't supposed to make it out alive. >> reporter: and where were they going next? that fictional mansion. and who where they hoping to find? >> they told police they wanted to kill the victim so people would know that slender man was real. >> reporter: who is this mysterious, fictional character born on the internet, and what those girls told police about why they did this when we come back. (woman) the constipation and belly pain feel tight like a vise. how can i ease this pain? (man) when i can't go, it's like rocks piling up. i wish i could find some relief. (announcer) ask your doctor about linzess-- a once-daily capsule for adults

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out of the woods continues. once again, david muir. >> reporter: 12-year-old payton leutner now out of surgery and in her hospital bed, still unable to talk, writing messages to her parents instead, asking did they get them. and across town at the waukesha police department, they had. the two other friends at that sleepover now answering questions of their own.

ellen gabler is a reporter at "the milwaukee journal sentinel." she has followed this case closely. >> the thing that was the most surprising and shocking to me was how planned out this whole thing was. >> reporter: the portrait they paint even before those woods is chilling. a plot they tell police that was in the works for months. >> you can't believe this is actually 12-year-olds, especially 12-year-old girls. >> reporter: they tell police they committed this crime in part out of their devotion to a character they discovered on the internet. slender man. a tall, faceless, mysterious figure. a fictional character who lurks in the background, sometimes peering over the shoulders of children. the story of slender man changing, evolving all the time with help from fans all over the world adding to the story online giving this fictional character new life every day. you have said that slender man is the bogeyman of this digital generation. >> he is. the thing that we fear that we don't actually encounter.

right? so we check our -- we check under our beds for the slender man but he's, you know, not actually there. >> reporter: not there, because he doesn't exist. but listen to what these two girls begin to tell police. anissa wieir revealing to investigators it was morgan's idea to kill payton to prove themselves "worthy" to slender man. anissa telling police her friend suggested, "we should be proxies of slender." anissa says she was surprised by morgan's plan but excited to prove that this fictional internet character actually existed. to prove the skeptics wrong. >> the girls were very clear with police that they were trying to kill the victim. they wanted to do it as a sacrifice to slender man. one of them said that slender man had been watching her. >> reporter: and in excruciating detail, they describe multiple plots, all beginning with that friday night sleepover. morgan's father picking up payton who was over the moon about this slumber party.

they go to skateland to go rollerskating, and there was already a plan for later. >> they went to skateland that night. and they went skating. and they had originally planned to kill their friend that night in morgan's house. >> reporter: payton's own parents now aware of what those girls have told police. >> they were planning on slitting her throat and putting a blanket over her head and making it look like she was sleeping, in the morning. >> and then -- and then leaving. >> leaving her there. >> reporter: but for some reason, at that moment, the girls changed their minds. >> she wouldn't be here right now. if it -- they had waited until 2:00 in the morning and done this overnight, she wouldn't have been found for hours. >> reporter: so the next morning comes and they change the plan? >> mm-hmm. >> reporter: the plan now is to go to the park into a park bathroom?

>> yep. >> they brought her here to the park on saturday morning to kill her in this bathroom. 0their big concern was finding a drain for the blood to go down, not the fact that they were going to stab and kill somebody. >> reporter: as they leave morgan's house for the park, anissa tells police morgan lifts up her white jacket, the knife tucked in her waistband and anissa tells police, "i thought dear god, this was really happening." but once inside that park bathroom, something happens between the girls now hatching their second plot. >> there was a back and forth between morgan and anissa about who was going to stab the girl. both of them chickened out, essentially, and said that -- they told police they couldn't do it. so for the second time, the plan to kill her didn't work out. >> reporter: but there would be one more plan. the girls leave that bathroom and walk down a nearby road to the woods. and payton's parents take me there, revealing to me what their little girl told them. >> they got to the park and they

told her they wanted to play hide-and-seek in the woods. she told me she didn't wanna go. >> reporter: she sensed it. >> yeah. she did say she was forced to go. >> reporter: to play hide-and-seek. >> to come -- she was forced to go into the woods. >> reporter: in fact, the girls tell police about that game of hide and seek. >> and morgan was the first seeker. and so anissa and the victim were hiding. anissa told her to lay down in the dirt. and she didn't want to. >> reporter: anissa tells police she sits on payton. and that payton says to her, "i can't breathe." anissa tells investigators she was thinking, "if i sat on her, morgan could then stab her." but she tells police they both fear payton's screaming will draw attention. anissa gets up. >> in that moment, they were passing the knife back and forth. because they were having second thoughts, even in that moment. >> reporter: that point, one girls says to the other, just go crazy? >> yeah, yeah. yep. >> reporter: a short time later, anissa tells police morgan takes the knife, turns to her friend

and says, "i'm not going to until you tell me to." anissa says she then told morgan to "go ballistic, go crazy." payton is stabbed 19 times. stumbling, trying to get up. >> anissa told police that, after they had stabbed her, she yelled, "i hate you. i trusted you." the suspects were getting worried that somebody would hear her. and so they told her to lay down. and they said that she wouldn't lose blood as quickly. >> reporter: the two girls tell police they signal to payton they would get help. but they had no plan to. they would leave her right there. and has payton talked at all about the horror of that moment? >> we asked her what she remembered about what happened. and she said she remembered everything. >> reporter: everything. her friends at that sleepover, asked by police, how they felt about what they did. anissa seemed most torn. she said, according to police, "the bad part of me wanted her to die. the good part of me wanted her to live."

when you hear that? >> when i hear that, i hear a girl who was struggling with the decision that they were making. she sensed that it was the wrong decision to be making. >> reporter: police say morgan said, it was weird that i didn't feel remorse. >> yeah. >> reporter: this was a girl who had been in your home many, many times. that line, it was weird that i didn't feel remorse. >> that was hard to read, because i thought that she really cared about payton as a person and they were good friends. >> reporter: in court, we heard morgan described as a child with problems. but did you see any of that? >> not really, no. >> reporter: this wasn't a disturbed child you bring in your home? >> no, no. >> reporter: they knew morgan. they liked her. they knew her parents. so when we come back, what was it? what set those girls off? could a fictional character

really convince two 12-year-olds to kill? how do you even wrap your heads around that? >> i can't. >> reporter: and the debate should those girls be tried as adults. what we've learned tonight. and later, right here a 12-year-old survivor. you will see her smile return, a triumph after months. our journey with her. the night is anything but good. introducing new aleve pm. the first one with a safe sleep aid. plus the 12 hour strength of aleve for pain relief that can last until the am. now you can have a good night and a... good morning! new aleve pm for a better am. getting an understanding of what they're looking for. somebody who has sensitivity, they want relief from their sensitivity pain, but they also want the other things that are available in toothpaste. new sensodyne complete protection is designed specifically for sensitivity sufferers,

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"20/20" continues with david muir. >> reporter: much of the world was about to hear this name for the first time. >> slender man. >> the so-called slender man stabbing case -- >> they did it to impress slender man. >> who is this shadowy figure? >> slender man. >> slender man. >> slender man. >> reporter: slender man, the mysterious fictional character online that few parents had ever heard of -- but those girls had. >> the story that the girls told police really did center on slender man and how they were doing this because they -- they felt like they had to.

they wanted to prove to the world that he was real. >> reporter: remember, police say after they stabbed payton 19 times, they were found hours later walking along the interstate toward that make believe mansion. >> the two female suspects left the scene, went to a walmart on the south side of waukesha to clean up and then they were walking from waukesha to nicolet nation park to be with slender man, in their words. >> they said that they were on their way to slender man's mansion in the nicolet forest. that doesn't make any sense. it's five hours away. with a car. >> reporter: that real forest that is hours away. and a mansion that doesn't even exist. they were going to live in this mansion? >> yeah.

>> reporter: that they believed existed. >> yeah. >> reporter: how do you wrap your heads around that? >> i can't. >> reporter: and tonight, the debate whether those girls should tried as juveniles or adults. both morgan geyser and anissa weier are right now charged as adults, facing up to 60 years in prison if they're convicted. after being evaluated by a psychiatrist, morgan was ruled incompetent to stand trial, anissa is now undergoing the same evaluation. lawyers for both girls are trying to get them moved to juvenile court. if that happens, they could be out by age 25. i ask payton's parents what they make of two vastly different fates facing those two other girls. do you think they should be charged as adults? >> for me, it's about making sure payton feels safe. and it's about making sure payton feels that she can move on with the rest of her life with no fear. >> reporter: the attorney for payton's family. the sentences are vastly different if they're tried as an adult versus a juvenile. >> correct. >> reporter: does that concern you? >> we believe that it is appropriate that they continue in the adult court.

>> reporter: if this case goes to trial, will payton have to testify? >> there's a possibility. >> reporter: a frightening prospect for payton's mother and father. and for so many parents out there already reacting to payton's story who had never even heard of slender man. >> we started googling, "who's slender man?" and it was interesting because as it turns out, you know, all kids know who slender man is. but we -- we had no idea. >> reporter: just how popular is slender man on the internet? >> there are thousands -- thousands and thousands of stories told by people of all ages and genders, people from around the world. >> reporter: experts says it all started with these two pictures posted on a blog. and then a web series about slenderman on youtube. then video games children playing. and watch this moment tonight. we head to a middle school in new york, 900 miles away from waukesha, wisconsin, away from the media glare, way from the headlines.

their parents agreed to let us in. hi guys! and they watched and listened on headphones right outside that classroom. i'm curious. how many of you in the room have heard of slender man? really all of you but one. and just listen to all of the different ways that these children -- all the same age as payton and those girls -- discovered slender man too. >> well, i played a game, like, on the ipad, but he's not real. >> reporter: he's not real. >> at least, i don't think so. >> this kid at my old school, he was playing it online during computer class. and i was like, "what is that?" and he answered, "slenderman." >> reporter: so you saw it actually in school? >> yeah. >> reporter: so you first found out about it on instagram? >> yeah. >> my friends showed me the game online. >> i just saw the game and i clicked on it. >> reporter: so you tell your parents before you download an app? or do you think you downloaded it on your own? >> no, i download it on mywn.

>> reporter: so you have seen him before? >> well, i've never seen him like in person but, yes, i've seen him. >> reporter: where? >> um, on the internet. >> reporter: how many of you wondered, is this real or is this fake? how many of you knew about slender man before your parents? almost all of you. and we had one last question. how many of you tell your parents everything you look up on the internet? and outside in that hallway the parents. nearly everyone in that class said that they knew long before any of their parents. did that surprise you? >> no because i feel like they know things way before we do. >> what surprised me is the range of technology they use. so the ire, so their using instagram and their using texting, and email and that's the things we keep up with but barely. >> as parents, we've been thrown into the wild, wild west with the internet and with social media. >> reporter: a wild west, payton's family, sadly, was thrown into too. and tonight here, one more thing we would discover during our journey with payton's family. that payton had actually asked her parents about slender man before any of this ever happened.

had payton ever mentioned slender man? >> to me, she had. morgan had been talking with her about slender man. and she would email links to different slender man stories that morgan thought were, you know, really cool and payton was terrified of them. so she came to me one night and said -- and could explain to me how scared she was. and i just told her, "if morgan was a good friend, tell her that this scares you and that you want her to stop sending them." >> reporter: did payton know, though, that this was a fictional character? >> she was torn, because she -- she would say morgan knows he's real. >> reporter: when you heard that morgan not this character was real, did it give you pause? >> a little bit. but at the same time, these girls are 12 years old. and fantasy, when you're 12 years old, is still a very active part of your life. >> reporter: you're thinking, she is just another 12-year-old girl and at some point she'll realize -- >> that it's just fiction. yeah. >> reporter: in fact, she thought payton's friends would simply grow out of it. she never imagined they could be capable of this.

fear and fantasy is nothing new for kids. you know, when you close the harry potter book, it's done. when the credits role after "hunger games," the movie is over. but in this online world is it hard with the line blurred between where fantasy ends and where -- where some of these kids think reality begins? >> i hate to say that something is beneficial coming out of this horrific attack. but one of the things that is beneficial is that it can start a conversation between parents and their children. it can also spark conversation among other parents. >> reporter: and recognize we're in this together. when we come back, one of the toughest and most telling moments in the interview. i'm curious as parents sitting here. and this is not an easy question to ask. and for the first time, you will meet 12-year-old payton. you will see her smile return here. we have spent months. and the triumph. and where she takes us, her favorite place in the world.

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"20/20" continues with out of the woods. once again, david muir. >> i get down on one knee and just pray for her.

>> reporter: tonight, nearly four months to the day since 12-year-old payton crawled out of those woods, a brave family with the strength to look back and somehow still be grateful for the way it played out. the parents telling me grateful those girls didn't strike that first night in the bedroom or the next day in the park bathroom because they say there would have been no one to help. instead grateful for that hero who just happened to take that path finding their little girl. >> the fact that he was coming down this way, it's just unbelievable at that moment. there's too many you know pieces that saved, saved her life. >> reporter: we were with them as they thanked him hugging the man who called 911 for their daughter. >> thank you. >> reporter: they're grateful to the paramedics, to the hospital minutes away, to the surgeon who discovered the biggest danger, that one stab wound just a hair from the artery in her heart.

>> i think she's a very strong girl and she's very fortunate to come through something of this magnitude. >> reporter: everybody did what they had to do at that precise moment. >> yeah, they did. >> reporter: to bring her home. >> yeah. >> that's how we're seein' it. >> reporter: bringing her home and determined to bring her back to school the principal telling me they're ready for payton as soon as she's ready. you're determined to welcome this girl back. >> absolutely. she wants to come back here. we want to welcome her. >> reporter: and tonight for the first time, payton. in the one place that now makes her smile the most the animal shelter not far from her home. this is the place to come. the kittens needing a home. she shows me her favorites. and there are too many to count. >> i want all three of them. >> reporter: and on this day she pulls out her phone. the katy perry concert she'd been to the night before. ♪ you're going to hear my roar

those lyrics, not lost in us, "you're going to hear me roar." we did not ask her about those moments in the woods. there was no reason to. no reason to re-live that pain. but her parents wanted me to see her smile again. the smile they feared they'd lost. >> she has the most beautiful smile. >> reporter: did that disappear? >> for a little while. >> yeah. and we see peeks of it every once in awhile. >> reporter: do you feel like your daughter has been stolen from you? >> for the time being. >> we'll get her back. >> yep. >> what else do you need? >> reporter: she's already on the way. >> can i get a blue pen stylus? >> sure. >> reporter: shopping for school supplies. preparing to for the 7th grade. >> she writes school supply shopping on the grocery list every week. >> reporter: the smiles we then saw looking at her notebooks. the ones with the kittens on the front. observations from a grumpy cat that's kind of funny. some people would say she's doing remarkably well, given what's happened to her. >> i would say that, way beyond expectations. i'm astonished at the way that she's been able to recover. >> reporter: and tonight, payton and her parents allowing us into her room. the walls covered in purple hearts.

payton's favorite color. messages from children, and from parents all over the world all for the 12-year-old girl who told her parents, i wanted to live. >> this is just a fraction i think we received over 10,000 hearts and letters. i like this one "don't let one act of evil stop you from seeing beauty in the rest of the world." >> reporter: have you read everybody heart? >> every single one. >> and every word -- >> every word. >> -- has mattered? >> every single word. >> she got one heart and all it said was it's not your fault i'm going to cry just thinking about it -- it's so simple but it's just so strong. >> reporter: family friends helping them. perfect strangers. the gifts of food. the help with her medical bills. >> this horrific act of violence brought out the very worst in a few people, and the very best in thousands of people around the world. >> reporter: even an anonymous donor paying for the legal

payments. she could be called on the stand. they know payton could be called upon to face the two girls she thought were her friends -- in court. i'm curious as parents sitting here, and this is, you know, not an easy question to ask, but the parents of the other girls. have you thought about what the other parents are thinking? >> i think about the other parents all the time. i can't imagine what they're going through i can't imagine getting that phone call, hearing these things. >> and knowing it was the person that you've raised. >> knowing it was the person that you loved and -- and that you trusted. >> reporter: and there was one more thing payton said in that hospital bed in the hours after surgery 4 months ago. >> she wanted to go back to school. she was devastated when she found out she was going to miss the last two weeks of school. >> reporter: really? >> she loves school. >> she does. >> reporter: and tonight, we are happy to show you the pictures. her walk down the driveway to the car. mom driving her back to school. and a proud dad watching.

>> she's meant to do something special. she's here for a reason, to show the world to treat other people better, for parents to maybe see dig in a little deeper about what their children are doing maybe she herself is supposed to be an inspiration. ♪ >> reporter: she already is -- remember those kids in that classroom 900 miles away? they have a message for peyton tonight. >> i would just tell her she's really brave and strong. she's a hero. >> she's amazing. ♪ every day i fight for >> reporter: and back out at that path where their little girl crawled through that opening in the woods, a mother and father revealing to me what they told their daughter. >> i told her i'd, i thought i thought i lost you. and she said, "but you didn't." from the get-go, she was stronger than we were.

that's our girl. we knew that she had the strength. but now i, i think everybody knows it. >> she's an amazing child. >> she's definitely our hero. ♪ sometimes all it takes is one voice ♪ ♪ take what you want ♪ build me up or cut me down in size ♪ ♪ knock me down but you ain't taking that from me ♪ you ain't taking that from me ♪ >> reporter: so many across the world have reached out to help peyton and you can too. when we come back --

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we were struck with the quiet strength of payton. her paints tell me, they want to thank the people around the world. the thousands of hourt with messages of hope. so many of you ask how you can help payton. there is a message for