The bright screen pierces my eyes as I turn down the brightness. With coffee in hand, I blow on it gently before taking a sip. Satisfied, I put the cup down next to my laptop. I sigh and just stare at the screen leaning backwards, resting against the backrest. My brain feels fried. I have to take a mental break. I tab out from the e-book and go onto YouTube. It’s my passion. I smile at the computer as the narrator dissects the different stages of the crime. The usual, how the cops failed or made a mistake, how the murderer was a family member, all that.
Just as I got into the mood, the phone rang. Tyler? I answer the phone and ready my voice.
“Hello?”
“Ann Smithens.” Why would he say something so random and strange?
“Okay what about this Ann-” I look at the title of the video in front of me. The strange murders of Ann Smithens. Just a coincidence. “W-what about her Tyler?”
“You’re watching a video about her, right?” What the fuck. A rattling feeling caught me and I stood up. Every corner of my room got to see my piercing eyes. Was he here hiding? Was this some kind of prank?
“Not funny dude. Where are you hiding? This is kind of creepy.”
“Sofia, this is not a joke. Listen to every single thing I say.”
“What is it Tyler?” I can hear his breath on the other side of the phone. He’s breathing heavily. What is going on?
“You are being hunted. Someone is out to kill you. Trust me, but I don’t know why.” I freeze in place and begin walking backwards towards my bed. I sit down and await his next message. I was slightly embarrassed by my slight hint of fear. It’s obviously a joke.
“Oh, tell me more!” What was he saying, someone’s after to kill me? If this was a prank it wasn’t really planned out well. There was nothing pointing to that fact.
“Sofia, listen to me, it’s true!”
“And why should I listen to you?” He turns quiet for a few seconds, only his heavy breath entering my ears gently from the phone.
“Because I have watched you gotten, stabbed, cut up, shot, pierced, killed in every way. I’ve died as well. I’m stuck Sofia, I’m stuck! It always ends up with either you or me dying! I don’t know what to do!” I can’t respond. The eeriness in his voice. If he was acting he did a damn good job. I heard his teeth gritting in between sentences, the anger and frustration, the desperation. My gut feeling somehow told me there was some truth to his words.
“Tyler, what are you saying…”
“Go to your teddy bear on the nightstand.” I look at it, stand up and grab it with one hand.
“Okay?”
“Look closely at its right eye.” I glint my eyes and take a closer look. The usual black plastic, it wasn’t it. It looks like… a lens. A fucking camera! I lean my phone on the shoulder and press it down with my cheeks, grab the camera out of the teddy bear’s eyes and pull it out.
“What? No, how?!”
“It took countless attempts to find it, I don’t know if there are more. It doesn’t matter, someone is after you.”
“Okay fuck! What do I do!?”
“Lock your doors, close your windows, put down the blinders, everything! Most importantly, don’t forget the cellar hatch! Go, NOW!” He screams at me as I just jump up and run downstairs, locking everything first hand. First the front door, second the back door. Lastly, I ran down the cellar to lock the hatch. I turn on the single lightbulb and lock the hatch immediately. As I step away, the hatch begins shaking violently, trying to force its way to open. Someone was trying to enter.
“Fuck fuck Tyler you were right someone is trying to enter through the hatch!”
“But you got it locked, good. Now the blinders, for your own safety.” The hatch stops shaking and my body moves again. I want to stay in place and process what is going on. But seeing that someone actually was trying to make their way inside made it a hell of a lot easier to move my ass and do as Tyler says.
The stairs feel longer than usual as I run up with quick breaths. I slide on the mat on the floor and almost fall to the ground as I run into the living room, taking down all the blinders one by one.Before closing the blinders i inspect the outside, the neighbor’s house, the trees, the general vegetation. But no signs of any killer, yet. I continue through the different rooms, taking down every blinder one by one, still vigilant of the outside before I close myself inside.
Last is the kitchen. It only had one big window. I close down the blinders without much trouble. I’m ready, ready to find this fucker coming after me.
“Okay Tyler it’s done. What now?”
“Done? You didn’t see him in the kitchen window?”
“No, nothing there. What are you saying?”
“Oh fuck fuck it’s one of those scenarios! Did you really lock everything? Are you sure?”
“Uhm…” I try to think back just seconds ago but it’s all a blank slate. Then I remembered. “Fuck! The fucking bedroom window… I was so caught up in locking the doors I forgot!” Papers are rustling in the background on the other side of the phone. I get nervous. I hear him complaining and thinking out loud.
“B4, 5, 6, 7… No, okay. Scenario A6… Yes! This is worth a shot. I am on my way to you right now. This is the only way. Me coming to help you has never succeeded, I always died before rescuing you somehow. But at this stage it might work. Be careful, he is in your house. I will call the police.”
“WHAT?! HELLO TYLER?!” Nothing. He hung up on me. What the fuck what the fuck! He is inside? How? Where do I hide what do I do!? And the police, why didn’t I think of it?! I was so caught up in everything to forget the basics! My head spins in circles as I grab my own hair and begin pulling it in frustration. In the middle of my breakdown I just stop and stand up straight. I take a deep breath and calm down. If I’m to get out of here alive, I need to focus.
I just need to hide until he comes, right? Where to go though. I bite my nails in frustration. Fuck, I shouldn’t go far, if he’s in here I should stay as close as to this position as possible. Wait, that’s it! The cabinet in the corridor just outside. I tiptoe out the kitchen and enter the corridor, looking left and right. I see nothing. With the cabinet just inches away I spurt my way there and enter. Inside are just coats and jackets, so fitting inside wasn’t a problem. But it’s done. I’ll just wait here. It’s going to be okay.
Seconds feel like hours, minutes feel like days. I have been here only a few minutes but it’s killing me. I haven’t heard a sound! Was he really playing with me? Just as the thought hit me I heard a creak. Someone was on the second floor. Again, he was moving. It came closer; the steps began walking down the stairs. Each creak coming ever so slightly louder than the one before it.
I cover my mouth in fear of my breath making a sound. I’m terrified. What is going on? Who is it? Why is he here?! I want to look, but not at the same time. What should I do?! There is a slight crack in the middle between the two closed cabinet doors. If he were to walk past me, I would hopefully catch a glimpse of who he is.
I speak too soon and the steps come closer towards this direction. Moments later I see him, through the crack. I don’t see who it is but he is dressed all in black. It’s too dark in the corridor to make out any details or features. He stops outside my cabinet. A snicker comes out of his mouth. A shining light entered the small cabinet crack and I blocked it with my eyes. What the fuck?
As my sight comes back, I see a single eyeball looking through the crack, straight at me. The piercing eyes with red veins so red he must be on something. It’s as if the eyeball were to pop out. This looks straight out of a nightmare. He didn’t check if I was there, He knows I’m here.
“Oh Sofia, You can’t hide forever. Soon enough I’ll cut your guts open…” I block my mouth with two hands to keep my sobbing to myself. Tears roll down my chins as I hold my breath. This was insane, he is insane, who is he?! As the eyeball disappears the man begins laughing hysterically.
But a window breaking inside the house broke the tension and the man froze.
“What…” He drifts away from me, towards the sound. It must be Tyler. He won’t jump through the window? Should I run for it through the front door? Just as the thought struck me, I got a text message. And just as I predicted.
“The front door, now.” I take a deep breath as I hear the footsteps disappearing further away from me, I jump out of the cabinet and quickly unlock the front doors. My fingers fumbled but I managed. I could hear the footsteps behind me, he was coming.
“Come here little fucker!” I swing the door open and fall to the ground. I see shoes in front of me and look up, Tyler!
“Tyler help!” I look closer, he has a gun in hand. A gunshot pierced my ears and the man jumped over me, attacking Tyler. I hear someone getting stabbed and another shot. I scream and cover my ears. After seconds of silence, I open my eyes and remove my hands. I stand up and while crying walk over the two on the ground. The murderer is laying there dead, and Tyler is coughing up blood. I sit down on my knees, crying not knowing how to help him.
“Tyler what do I do?!”
“It’s okay, we were close this time. I have a better understanding on how to save us both next time.” He coughs up blood and some get on my face. I brush it off, not minding it. “Can you tell me who he is? I have never been able to tell throughout my other attempts.” I nod, scared to find out myself. My hand reaches to grab the facemask and remove it from the killer. I gasp, no, what? My head slowly turns to Tyler as the police begin arriving in the background. He just looks up into the sky, having no strength to move an inch.
“It’s your brother.”
“Fuck, I had a feeling.” Tyler dies on the spot. And the police began surrounding the crime scene. There are still questions I have. How did he know? What did he mean next time? All I hope is, whatever happened to him, or whatever situation he’s in, he succeeds the next time.