has she talked at all about the horror of that moment? >> she wasn't suppose to make it out alive. >> tonight on "20/20," out of the woods. >> slenderman. >> the stunning interrogation tapes. 12-year-old girls describing why they stabbed their friend 19 times. tonight, we take you inside the slenderman hearings just this week. in their own words, their own voices. >> i was thinking, this shouldn't be happying. >> all to impress a fictional character on the internet named

slenderman. the stunning apology in the woods to their friend. plus, the shocking reveal. was it the biggest red flag of all? what was discovered on their computers and cell phones? david muir's journey with the family and the survivor. the milestone jumped this past week. >> we knew she had this strength that everybody knows now. >> out of the woods. here now, david muir and elizabeth vargas. >> good evening. tonight, the heartbreaking and horrifying new evidence in a case we've been following for months. we're hearing the interrogation tapes for the first time, 12-year-old girls describing why they stabbed their friend 19 times and left her

>> a brave journey, and no one could imagine what we heard in these interrogations heard just this week. a community hearing why they did this for the first time. >> reporter: tonight, like much of this country, it is a snowy and frigid friday night in one american town, waukesha, wisconsin. where this evening, an entire community is stunned all over again after hearing this week for the first time from two girls, their own voices, about the night they allegedly lured their friend into the woods and repeatedly stabbed her, police say, leaving her to die. >> she handed me the knife and told me to stab her. >> reporter: "20/20" has been following the case every step of the way. it's a horror story that began more than eight months ago. a mother and father like so many parents across this country sending their daughter on a sleepover.

at the time, payton leutner was just 12 and her parents knew her friend well, morgan geyser, and another 12-year-old, all of them celebrating morgan's birthday. why would this night be any different? but it was. >> on saturday, may 31, 2014, a 12-year-old girl was stabbed. >> reporter: tonight, the explosive new interrogation tapes just released. >> what are you doing? >> reporter: as we take you back inside a case that horrified parents across this country. >> two 12-year-old girls charged with viciously attacking their friend. >> they stabbed their friend 19 times. >> reporter: those girls, the suspects, in their own words in the hours after they were taken into custody. it is the first time we hear from morgan geyser talking about her friend payton, who they left in the woods. >> she was my only friend for a long time. >> why would you hurt your only friend? >> it was necessary. >> reporter: and for the first time we also hear from

anissa weier, too. her face blurred, the judge releasing this footage with the requirement not to show their faces during the interrogations. >> i said i'm scared. i was told, i was told if i didn't do something, my family would be in danger. >> reporter: her family in danger? who and what were those girls so scared of? we explore that right here tonight. while parents everywhere might be saying, not my child, tonight you're about to hear how all of this began as an ordinary slumber party. three girls and someone else, an unknown figure getting into that party, too. a fictional character from the internet named slenderman, who so many parents had never even heard of. we have spent months in that town and have documented one family's journey. two parents helping their daughter recover. >> she was forced to go into the woods. >> reporter: into the woods. 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 payton has now returned. one family's stunning journey about to play out tonight right before your eyes. and just this week, two parents who heard for the first time from the friends who police say attacked their daughter. it was a friday night, right? >> it was a friday night. >> reporter: their daughter payton 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. >> reporter: and had she gone on sleepovers before? >> oh, yeah. this was just -- you know, her best friend's birthday party. >> just another -- it was just another friday night. >> reporter: have some pizza, and spend the night at her best friend's house? >> yep. they were probably going to watch a movie. >> and play american girl. payton brought her american girl doll with her. >> reporter: but payton would not come home the next morning. do you think payton had any idea? >> no. she had absolutely no idea. >> she was blindsided. >> reporter: her parents blindsided 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. the first thing that goes through my mind is, something has happened to somebody that i love. because that's the only reason 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 payton had left for that sleepover. it is unthinkable. the first moment anyone would begin to learn of that horror was this call to 911. >> 911. >> i'm transferring over a caller 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: you can actually hear him comforting payton. >> honey, he's coming. they'll be here any minute. who did that to you? >> reporter: 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, cause i had a water bottle on my bike. the other thing she said was she was having trouble breathing. >> reporter: she was right here lying on the grass. he watches as the ambulance rushes her away. the hospital less than 4 miles away from that path. 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: doctors concerned she might not survive.

and her mother stacie has just been told payton has been rushed to the hospital. she's also been told it was her best friend morgan who did this. she calls her husband. >> and i said, "payton's been stabbed. morgan stabbed payton. you need to come home." they need to rush payton into surgery. so then i really lost it. >> reporter: so you got in the car? >> got in the car. >> reporter: minutes later arriving. >> 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 going to be okay. it's going to 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." 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 payton as they were wheeling her away? >> that i loved her and that she would be okay. >> reporter: but there was something else payton'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 the 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 payton told us morgan stabbed her. and the police hadn't been able to find the girls.

>> reporter: and in fact, police believe those girls were walking. >> yep. >> reporter: and tonight, right here, we finally hear the detectives, the investigators, who searched for those girls, who found them. detective michelle trussoni on the stand just this week. >> once they left that wooded area they started walking. they could hear the sirens coming. >> reporter: they were going to find a mansion in the woods? >> oh, the mansion, yeah, the mansion in the woods. they were into the nicolet forest, because they believed that there was a mansion there that slenderman lived in. >> reporter: this week, we heard the interrogation. just listen to morgan. in her own words. acknowledging who they were looking for: >> we tried to find slender man. >> tried to find who? >> slenderman. >> who's slenderman? >> he's a this tall, faceless man who preys on children. >> reporter: a character named slenderman. who police say they were hoping

to impress. all while their 12-year-old friend payton is in the o.r. 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: tonight, you'll hear much more from them in their own words, the hours of interrogation tapes just revealed. why did they do this? what was discovered on their computers, their cell phones? and later tonight right here, our time with the survivor payton and a brand-new milestone one week ago tonight. a young girl you will never forget. before fibromyalgia, i was on the go.

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"20/20" continues. with out of the woods. once again, david muir. >> reporter: waukesha, wisconsin. just outside milwaukee. tonight, in the depths of a brutal winter blast -- but they're also dealing with something else. the gruesome new details emerging just this week about a horrific tale that began to play out on a saturday morning this past may. a birthday sleepover with three 12-year-olds the night before -- and now two girls are missing. the other, payton leutner, has somehow crawled out of the woods, covered in stab wounds.

19 of them. she is wheeled into the operating room -- and just this week, more than eight months after that moment, the pretrial hearing. and we're now hearing from detectives who tried to talk to her the moment she was brought in. >> it seemed that it hurt too much for her to talk. she had a hard time breathing. >> reporter: 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 anytime, 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: while back at the hospital, where they ask us to put on scrubs to enter the o.r.,

surgeon john keleman is about to discover how much damage has been done. 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 have 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 five-inch blade found in one of the girls' bags. and just this week in court, we heard from the officer describing anissa weier as she is taken into custody. >> i asked her to show me her hands and she complied. and then i asked her to walk towards my voice. i noticed there was some staining on her sweatshirt, or on the abdomen area. >> reporter: and anissa in her own words describing the moment she was found. >> i said, i'm scared i was told, i was told if i didn't do something my family would be in danger. >> reporter: neither girl puts up a fight. they would soon be questioned. and we now hear morgan describe the victim, payton, as one of her closest friends. >> she's was my best friend since fourth grade. >> who was? >> payton. >> so why did you pick payton?

>> i didn't pick her. >> reporter: and as morgan is being questioned, that friend payton was coming out of surgery. 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 earth do you think she got the strength to crawl out of those woods? >> well, we asked her and she said, "i wanted to live." >> reporter: at first, payton 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 payton 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: the 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 her friends. how well did you know these -- these two other girls? >> 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 payton 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 payton knew her from school. and as joe and stacie reassure their daughter the girls have been found, police were questioning them. what did they do to their friend? and even more disturbing, why did they do it? tonight, morgan, for the first time in those interrogation tapes, seeming to waver. >> i didn't want to do this. >> why did you do it then? >> because i was afraid of what would happen if i didn't. >> reporter: and anissa also fearing what would happen if they didn't do it. >> i was really scared knowing that slender can easily kill my whole family in three seconds. >> reporter: and just listen to the detective who was questioning her. >> when morgan said to you that if we don't do this for slender, our families or loved ones are going to be killed. do you honestly believe that? >> well, yeah. >> reporter: when we come back -- the bone-chilling plan emerges.

>> the plan was to murder her. she wasn't suppose to make it out alive. >> 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? as we hear from those girls -- now in their own words -- about what it was that drove them to do this. and we see the alarming images found from inside one of the girl's bedrooms. right near the dolls, the bed, the clothes -- there was something else. helps you find a whole range of coverages. no one else gives you options like that. [voice echoing] no one at all! no one at all! no one. wake up! [gasp] oh! you okay, buddy? i just had a dream that progressive had this thing called... the "name your price" tool... it isn't a dream, is it? nope. sorry! you know that thing freaks me out. he can hear you. he didn't mean that, kevin.

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we'll even buy out your current contract. visit us online or come into a sprint store. half. out of the woods continues. once again, david muir. >> reporter: as 12-year-old payton leutner recovers from surgery in her hospital bed, she is still unable to talk. writing messages to her parents instead, asking, did they get them?

while across town at the waukesha police department, they had. the two other friends at that sleepover now answering questions of their own. and those newly released interrogation tapes allow an entire community tonight to now hear how matter of fact morgan sounded describing the moment to the detective. >> what were you trying to do with her when you stabbed her? >> kill her. i might as well just say it. we were trying to kill her. >> reporter: ellen gabler is a reporter at the "milwaukee journal sentinel." she has followed this case closely. >> 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 that character, slenderman. >> who's slenderman? >> he's a tall, faceless man who preys on children. >> you ever met him? >> not exactly. >> tell me about him. >> he watches you. >> reporter: anissa and her description. >> he can be anywhere from 6 feet to 14 feet tall, he doesn't have a face, his skin is

white and at his own will he can exploit these tendrils from his back and, like, strangle his victims. >> reporter: the online story of slenderman changing, evolving all the time with help from fans all over the world adding to the story. giving this fictional character new life every day. you have said that slenderman 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 slenderman but he's, you know, not actually there. >> reporter: but listen to what these two girls begin to tell police. >> morgan said, "hey, anissa we should be proxies." i was like, okay, how would we do that? >> she explained that in order to become a proxy of slenderman you needed to kill somebody to prove yourself worthy to him. >> reporter: anissa says she was surprised by morgan's plan but excited.

>> i was excited because i wanted proof that he existed because there were a bunch of skeptics out there saying he didn't exist. >> reporter: and in excruciating detail, they describe multiple plots. all beginning with that friday night sleepover. >> 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: and tonight we now hear from the detective about how they would do it. >> the plan was to stab payton in the neck and she would bleed out, they would cover her up with covers to make it look like she was sleeping and the two girls would run. >> reporter: but for some reason, at that moment, the girls changed their minds. >> she wouldn't be here right now if 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? >> we're going to do it today at the park. that's what morgan said. >> they brought her here to the park on saturday morning to kill

her in this bathroom. >> their 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. >> what were you thinking? >> i was thinking, dear god, is this really happening? >> reporter: 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. >> reporter: but there would be one more plan. the girls leave that bathroom and walk down a nearby road. and it was payton's parents who took us there months ago. 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 want to

go. >> reporter: she sensed it. >> she did say she was forced to go. >> reporter: to play hide-and-seek. >> she was forced to go into the woods. >> reporter: in fact, the girls tell police about that game of hide and seek. >> 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." >> when she went to sit on her to get her to go down into the ground, payton began yelling. >> reporter: anissa 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: at that point one girl says to the other, "just go crazy." >> yeah, yeah. >> reporter: and we discover hours into those newly released interrogation tapes, anissa with a stunning description. >> morgan and i were going to be like lionesses chasing down a zebra. i was going to tackle her and

then morgan was going to do the stabbing. >> reporter: 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." and from those tapes, here's morgan's description. >> what did you do next? >> stab, stab, stab, stab. >> reporter: and just listen tonight to what morgan reveals she said to payton. >> i said, i'm sorry. this had to happen. and she was like "why?" i said that like it was just, it was necessary. >> reporter: and anissa describing their friend payton on the ground in that moment. >> the whole time payton was screaming in agony. saying stuff like, "i hate you guys. i'll never forgive you. and, i trusted you."

and "sorry." >> reporter: payton is stabbed 19 times. stumbling, trying to get up. >> 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 her help. and now we hear this -- >> did you want to actually get her help? >> no. i kind of wanted to, but i know, i knew morgan wouldn't want me to. >> reporter: 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: detective shelley fischer interviewed payton in the hospital. >> she said that she was rolling around on the ground and that it was hard for her to breathe and it was hard for her to see as things were getting blurry.

>> reporter: 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 bad part of me wanted her to die. but, the good part of me wanted her to live. >> reporter: 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'd 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've heard morgan described as a child with problems. but did you see any of that? >> not really, no.

>> reporter: but this wasn't a disturbed child you were bringing into your home? >> no. >> reporter: 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? >> she said that he'd kill our families. >> i was really scared knowing that slender can easily kill my whole family in three seconds. >> reporter: also new tonight -- what was found on their phones. a key text message, and on their computers, what one of them had searched for on the internet. was it the biggest red flag of them all? ready for kout? you don't know "aarp." he's staying in shape by keeping his brain healthy and focused with aarp's staying sharp. with online mind sharpening exercises developed by the top minds in brain science. and exercise and stress reduction tips that can impact brain health. so he's ready for the real possibilities ahead. if you don't think top of my game when you think aarp, then you don't know "aarp". find more surprisng possibilities and get to know us

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this is pearle vision. you pick two, and... you're basically done. that's why the pennsylvania lottery created pick 2. just pick two numbers. done. pick 2. easy to play. simple to say. "20/20" continues with david muir. >> reporter: tonight, with those newly released interrogation tapes much of the world is hearing this name again. >> slenderman. >> slenderman stabbing case. >> they did it to impress slenderman. >> who is this shadowy figure? >> slenderman. >> slenderman. >> reporter: the mysterious fictional character online, that few parents had ever heard of. but on those interrogation tapes tonight it is clear those girls had. >> what's he like? >> um, a man. >> have you ever met him?

>> no. we've never seen him. >> who tells you about him? >> he's everywhere. >> the story that the girls told police really did center on slenderman and how they were doing this because they -- they felt like they had to. >> and i remember we tried to find slenderman. because anissa said he could help us. >> reporter: remember, police say after they stabbed payton 19 times, they were found hours later, walking along the interstate toward that make believe mansion. and tonight we learned how seemingly normal that walk was. >> we took turns singing songs to each other. we were surprisingly calm actually. it was like we hadn't just killed someone. >> you guys walked or you were running? >> we were walking, because we didn't want to look suspicious. we were already covered in blood.

>> reporter: they were going to live in this mansion? >> yeah. >> reporter: that they believed existed. >> yeah. >> reporter: two parents who must now deal with what's been revealed this week. and tonight we learn from investigators what they found on the girls' cell phones and on their computers. >> there's a number of searches for slenderman, how to become a proxy, a google search for how to get away with murdering someone. >> reporter: we have also >> reporter: we have also learned tonight of an e-mail. preliminary hearings are now complete. a judge will now decide in the coming weeks if the girls will be tried as adults on first degree intentional homicide, or something lesser in juvenile court. if convicted as adults, they would face up to 60 years in prison. as juveniles, they could be out by 25. i have asked payton's parents what they make of two vastly different fates facing those two 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: payton's story has already started a conversation in so many homes and classrooms about the fantasy world of slenderman. experts say 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 perhaps you'll remember this moment -- my visit to a middle school in new york, 900 miles away from waukesha, wisconsin. far away from those headlines in that town. parents here agreed to let us in. hi, guys! >> reporter: and they watched and listened on headphones right outside that classroom. >> i'm curious. how many of you in the room have heard of slenderman? and just listen to all of the different ways that these children, all the same age as payton and those girls, discovered slenderman too. >> well, i played a game, like,

on the ipad, but he's not real. >> reporter: so you first found out about slenderman on instagram. >> i downloaded it on my own. >> reporter: so you've seen him before? >> well, i've never seen him like in person but, yes, i've seen him. >> reporter: 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. >> 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. and tonight one more thing we would discover during our journey with payton's family. her brother, caden, there getting a kiss from mom. payton had actually asked her parents about slenderman before any of this ever happened. >> morgan had been talking with her about slenderman. and payton was terrified. >> reporter: did payton know, though, that this was a fictional character? >> she was torn, because she -- she would say morgan knows he's real. >> when you heard that morgan

thought that 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: just this week in court, evidence of how far some children can be pulled into that fantasy, into an internet character's story. lawyers presenting a hidden trove of twisted drawings found in morgan's bedroom, depictions of frightened children with the words, "help me escape my mind," "not even safe in your house," even dismembered barbie dolls covered in slenderman's symbol. investigators say for morgan, the fantasy had become real. when we come back tonight, we remember one of the toughest, and most telling moments from our interview. i'm curious as parents sitting here, and this is, you know, not an easy question to ask.

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once again, david muir and more of out of the woods. >> reporter: tonight, more than eight months since 12-year-old payton crawled out of those woods, the snow, the cold has moved in. but the warm hearts of that community, the bravery of one family, helping to bring payton back. >> i get down on one knee and just pray for her. >> reporter: we will never forget payton's parents telling me they are 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 they're 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 pieces that saved her life.

>> reporter: we were with them as they thanked him, hugging the man who called 911 for their daughter. >> thank you. >> you're welcome. >> 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 that artery in her heart. >> everybody did what they had to do at the precise moment. >> reporter: to bring her home. >> that's how we're seeing it. >> reporter: and just this past week, celebrating her 13th birthday. now a teenager. and for that birthday, payton headed back to the one place that still makes her smile most. the animal shelter not far from home. >> this is the place to come. >> reporter: there have been other moments of joy. the katy perry concert she went to. ready to show me the video. all these months later we have not asked her about those moments in the woods. there no reason to re-live that pain.

but her parents have told us from the start, they wanted us to see her smiling again. the smile they feared they'd lost for good. and the smiles we saw looking at her notebooks, with kittens all over them, before the school year even began. 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'm astonished at the way that she's been able to recover. >> reporter: when we went inside payton's room, her walls were covered in purple hearts. payton's favorite color. on them messages from children, and from parents all over the world. all of them writing to the survivor who told her parents, i wanted to live. >> this is just a fraction. 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: 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 family's legal representation. they know payton could be called upon to face the two girls she thought were her friends in court. what payton's parents revealed to me about the other families. i'm curious as parents sitting here, and this -- 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 just the person that you've raised. >> knowing it was the person that you loved. >> reporter: and tonight, from those interrogation tapes, haunting words from morgan herself. >> i honestly don't know why we did this. >> reporter: but payton's father instead choosing to focus on his own daughter. who just turned 13. tonight, proving to the world, she is truly a survivor. >> she's meant to do something

special. she's here for a reason. to show the world to treat other people better, for parents who maybe see -- dig in a little deeper about what their children are doing. maybe she herself is supposed to be an inspiration. ♪ >> reporter: in fact, she already is. remember the children in that classroom 900 miles away? all of them with a message for payton. >> she's really brave and strong. you're a hero. >> she's amazing. ♪ >> reporter: and even though that path where their little girl crawled out through that opening in the woods is now covered with snow, we won't forget the day that her mother and father revealed to me what they told their daughter. >> i told her i'd, i thought

i'd -- i thought i lost you. and she said, "but you didn't." we knew that she had the strength. but now i, i think everybody knows it. >> reporter: everybody knows it now. >> she's an amazing child. >> she's definitely our hero. ♪ >> we were all struck by the quiet strength of payton, her parents still thanking the kindness of strangers. >> you can learn more about the family's foundation, hearts for healing at abcnews.com.

just click on "20/20." >> and in a moment, next week, diane sawyer rep >> i'm jim gardner. >> a winter storm watch and advisories are posted and we'll talk about the snow in accuweather. talk about the snow in accuweather. >> next at i don't want to think about the alternative. i don't even know how to answer that. i mean, no one knows how long their money is going to last. i try not to worry, but you worry. what happens when your paychecks stop? because everyone has retirement questions. ameriprise created the exclusive confident retirement approach.

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>> they're a separate nation of women. your naeighbors, your friends. diane sawyer inside a world in turmoil, with all your questions about the secrets. >> you know i'm not going to say none of that. >> why is america locking up more women than anywhere in the world? next friday on "20/20." >> that's our program for tonight. thanks for watching. stay warm. i'm elizabeth vargas. >> and i'm david muir. from all of us, have a great evening and a great weekend. >> and up next the reeming john bracing for several more inches of snow tomorrow.

thousands are dancing the weekend away at penn statethon and alicia vitareli is live in weekend away at penn statethon and alicia vitareli is live in hollywood with jimmy kimmel, >> here we go again. temperatures are mrunthing to single digits for a second night in a row. records are in jeopardy across the tri-state. that's just the beginning.