In the cold, rainy season of Detroit I stood outside waiting for my food from the food truck, it was slow. That’s when the text arrived from the random number, it was a simple short text simply reading
Have you seen this man
attached was a picture of me, it was my typical, put together self taking a selfie. I stared at my smiling face and felt myself staring back at me through the picture, this was odd, but at the same time the kind of stuff that Joe or Ezra would pull if they got a new phone or a new number, I shot back a text.
You think you’re so funny Ezra, or Joe. Whatever, you know I’ll get you back
I chuckled to myself sliding my thin phone down into my pocket, the rain splashed on my face and the number for my food was called out, I grabbed my hotdog and made sure it had no toppings like I liked, and when I sat down another text rang out.
Who are those? Have you seen this man?
Alongside it they sent another picture of me from a different angle, something about it looked off, the frown on my face was bigger than usual and my eyes looked a little too tired, but whatever, I just sent back a middle finger emoji and another text.
I’m hangry, don’t mess with me
I put my phone on silence and enjoyed my dinner, after I was done, I grabbed a can of pop and started the walk back to my apartment in the cold rain, groups of people walked with umbrellas looking down at their phones with old cars speeding past with no care of laws or safety. As if I cared, I was just some old Joe working the same job everyday with no one to care for, and my phone buzzed, I always hated those “send emergency text” crap that bypassed your silencing.
Have you seen this number?
It was a picture of my apartment door with my numbers clearly displayed, I started typing a message but deleted it quickly, leaving stupid Ezra or Joe on read, they deserved it for this stupid prank and honestly, they deserved much more for wasting my time and making me uncomfortable.
I walked into my apartment complex and up to my apartment, the door was unlocked so I let myself in, it was a dumb and honestly dangerous habit of mine but I had the memory of a rock, so I just counted on the fact I had nothing worth stealing. One pop wasn’t enough to satisfy me, I went to my fridge revealing the five items in there, most of which were beer, luckily, I had food in the freezer.
The apartment wasn’t big, but it was home, I only had the main room with my couch, small tv, table and fridge then a tiny bedroom and a closet on the farthest wall. Sipping the beer and watching our local sports team lose was really the normal night for me, then i got another message.
Have you seen this crap?
It was a picture of our sports team losing once again, after laughing out loud I understood this was Ezra now, Joe never watched sports and some creepy stranger wouldn’t just send something like that, it was right down Ezra’s alley. Until.
Have you seen this view?
It was a picture of me, from the closet at the farthest side of the apartment, the door was cracked open and it showed me sitting just now, I craned me head to look at the closet and called out to Ezra.
“you’re not funny or clever Ez” I sighed as I got up and strolled over to the closet, the door was a crack open “I’ll get you good time for this one” I opened the door and, nothing. Only a broom and an old sponge I sometimes used, I looked down at my phone and shot back a message.
I get it, sometimes you watch me Ez, I’m cute I know
I got a message and a picture almost instantly.
We have seen this man
With a picture of me, except it was me tied to a chair in an old parking garage with a blindfold over my eyes and a gag in my mouth, it looked like I was struggling, but it wasn’t possible for that to be me, I was here now not there and I’ve never been tied up. The rain now pounded on the windows and the wind howled like a desperate person calling for help.
What is this? Who is that?
My palms were sweaty and it felt like I couldn’t breathe, time was like a slow Friday that never moved forward and the more I waited the more I felt my heart sinking from the possibilities, but no matter how hard I thought I couldn’t think of anything reasonable except maybe it was someone else.
Have you seen this man?
Whoever this freak was sent more picture, pictures of the man, or me? without the blindfold. The man looked horrified not at the camera or the person taking the picture but the small knife they held in their hand almost pressing against his chest.
I felt myself gag, was I watching some poor man at the end of his life? What sick, twisted game was this and why didn’t it make any sense, I wanted to run, but my legs were frozen to the ground like they were ice. My heart pounded faster than ever before and the sound of almost silence echoed loudly.
I don’t know that man, what are you doing to him?
The next text made my eyes water, more than disgusted I felt pure dismay.
You haven’t seen this man?
And a picture of my id and driver’s license held up next to the man, my id and driver’s license were in my pocket and yet I started at them through my screen. I couldn’t get myself to respond to whatever depravity this monster was doing to me.
You know this man
With this text were some of the most horrible images I’ve ever seen, things I will never get out of my mind no matter how hard I try. The only way I can describe them without crying out in pain is torture, the man who was me was subject to things I wouldn’t wish on anybody and yet I couldn’t look away from the images.
Morbid curiosity a truly a horribly beautiful thing, you can traumatize yourself just by typing the right words in the right site and you will never be the same, in the same vein when confronted with something like this it’s hard to look away, some part of me wanted to examine it and see what happened. And the more I did the sicker I felt.
I didn’t know what to make of it, but I didn’t have time.
We have seen this man
Alongside more pictures, pictures from the now closed closet door I was standing in front of, pictures from the window even though I lived on the third story. pictures from everywhere, under my couch, from my bedroom, even from under the crack from my door. And they all were of me, whether it was my face or my feet they all had me, looking down at my phone at the pictures.
I sprinted out of there, my legs carried me as fast as I could out my door and down the musty hall, the sound of people talking echoed through the hall and I had to push some people but I knew I needed to get out of there no matter what, the heavy door to the stairs took much longer then preferred to open as it creaked loudly like It wanted to announce to everyone the door was open.
My phone buzzed like crazy but of course I wouldn’t look at it as I sprinted down the stairs, my leg twisted trying to jump multiple steps at a time and I fell down, my leg turned in awful ways but the pain was far worse than anything else. My body slammed against the dirty carpet making me go dizzy for a minute.
Then the sounds of the door opening above me warned me of my fate, footsteps loudly ran down the stairs above me, I had no choice but to use my adrenaline filled body to stand up, the pain was excruciating as I opened the last door and ran out. My body collapsed onto the couches feeling safe in the public view of workers and peoples walking back and forth, my breathe was heavy and the pain from my leg set in, I surely couldn’t move and honestly, I should’ve called an ambulance to get some help but I just wanted to sit down for a second.
See you soon
My phone rang, the screen lit up with a picture of me from behind the front desk, the number blocked me instantly and curiosity got the best of me, I looked up at the tall man behind the desk, he wore the normal work outfit but his face was long, his eyes were dark and empty like a killer and he had a big smile with shriveled gums. His smile grew bigger as I heard the sound of chuckling echo from him, I tried calling the police, friends or an ambulance but after a single ring it was answered and a deep voice spoke from the other side.
“Have you seen the man?” then it hung up, I tried telling other people to help but they ignored me, my leg didn’t look injured and I just looked like a drug man, the man at the front desk didn’t look unusual enough for them to call the police, he was just in the uncanny valley.
I had the idea to break my arm or stab myself but by then all the people trickled out, so the last thing I did was write this, the man started to move slowly from behind the desk, if you’re reading this, help me, and even more so, have you seen this man?