A week or so back, I got a package I ordered online. Usual routine stuff. However, a number was written with bold red ink on it 3460. I paid little heed to that considering my usual deliveries don’t contain any marking other than the address print. Someone had definitely gone out of the way to write that number. I chalked it up to warehouse sorting or something.
Two days I had gone by, and I was walking from parking of my office park in Bangalore to my office building. It’s a 100 metre walk may be. Out of nowhere, a car nearly hit me. I jumped out, and lost my earbuds somewhere. I turn out to scream at this moron who nearly hit me. But I saw the driver giving me a creepy smile holding one finger. I yell “ drive with eyes open you stupid idiot “ and he drives by. I see the plates. I click a photo of the plates from behind. Just around the corner, there’s a security office of the office tech park. I tell the guy incharge about the incident. He asks me tell me the plates. I open my gallery, and what I saw startled me The number plate read 3461. I slowly stutter the entire number to him, and kept remembering the sign the driver showed me. He showed me his index finger hinting 1.
Couple of days pass by and I get another package. My new earbuds have arrived. And, lo & behold what I was suspecting happened again. The package has 3462 written on it. I get hold of the delivery guy, ask him where he’s coming from. He tells in his native language Kannada which I don’t understand. I ask him to give me the warehouse address location from Google Maps. He gives me that. I find the phone number off Google Maps, and fuck me the fucking phone number ends with, you guessed it, 3463. I am now sure someone is playing an elaborate prank on me. How the fuck this is happening.
Now, the weekend rolls by. Usually, I go out Friday & Saturdays with my friends. I was lucky enough to have a date that weekend on a Saturday. We went to fancy coffee place. She was pretty nice, and we had good time talking about her career : she’s a wedding planner, but awkward but fun. I’m a software developer. We have some fancy coffee & weird foreign snacks. It was now 8.40 PM and it was time to leave. I ask for bill and the amount hit me like a brick. It was, you fucking guessed it, 3464. I am literally gasping now. She thinks I’m surprised how high the bill is. It is little high, but that is not why I’m freaking out. I can’t explain to her why I’m freaking out. She pulls out her phone to pay her share as she said, I don’t say a word. We pay up, and leave our separate ways. I’m now so freaked out that I don’t wanna book an Uber because I am almost sure what the plates of the cab I book would be. I feel so helpless. I walk 4 km to my society. I reach my flat that’s on 18th floor of the building. Go inside and there’s a note slipped in. It says exactly what you think it says. But it also says only 35 lives remain with a smiley. I drop down on my knees, holding the paper. Something is happening, and I’ve no idea why. I am scared.
As I type this I’m dreading what fate has in store for me tomorrow. What will happen when I encounter 4000. Is this a countdown clock? I am thinking about filing a police complaint against harassment. I feel nervous and I’m double & triple checking the door. I’m now paranoid. Paranoid & browsing reddit. I need help. Please help me.