Everyone feels lonely sometimes. For me, last night struck a little harder than usual. I’m not sure why it did, but it led to me downloading Tinder. When irrational thoughts get to you, you start to think of irrational solutions to your problem. I figured I would get on tinder and swipe the night away, as it seemed like the easiest ‘fix’ for my problem. I have always believed that dating apps aren’t made to pair you with a potential lover, but rather to make you feel insecure, so you spend more time on the app.
Because of this, I was surprised to find a girl called Jessica had liked me back within 10 minutes of me using the app. I felt like she was fake at first, but I’d rather find out than contemplate about the possibility, so I texted her.
She responded within a few minutes, and we started talking. What felt like minutes of talking had turned into hours. When I looked at the time, I was surprised to see that it was 1am, so I told her that I had to sleep because I had to wake up early for work in the morning, but that I’d love to text with her again. She replied: “oh yeah no problem, if you give me your phone number, we can get off this app :)”
Without hesitation I gave her my phone number and went to sleep. I woke up and started the day as I usually do. I ate breakfast, took a shower, brushed my teeth, and got on my way to work. I have worked for a newspaper for over 5 years, where I get to write about all types of things. Today I had to write about a man who went missing not too far from where I live. He was two years younger than me and lived alone. It’s been two weeks since his disappearance, and the local authorities decided to use the newspaper in hopes someone would have more information.
As I was finishing up the story about the missing person, I got a text message from the girl. She asked me how work was and if I had anything to do that evening. I caught myself smiling at the text message and ridiculed myself for already being head over heels for this girl, despite not having met her in person. I always tend to get attached to people too quickly, which is usually why my relationships don’t go as I would like them to. Because of this I cursed my mind for feeling this way.
I waited a few minutes before answering her text, because I felt like it would make me seem more mysterious and busier than I actually am. I’m not sure why, but I figured it would be better than replying within 5 seconds. “Yeah, I’m free. Getting off from work soon. What do you have in mind?”
I sent the message and went back to finish the news article. Once I had finished it, I sent it to my boss for confirmation and left work for the day. When I looked at my phone, she replied to my message. “How about you come over to my place in an hour? We can chat and have some fun!”.
Without hesitation, I quickly opened the chat and replied, completely disregarding my previous strategy.
“That sounds great! I’ll be on my way soon.”
A few minutes after that she sent me her address, which was not far from where I lived. It’s about a 15-minute walk. As I made my way to her house, I was imagining all the possible situations that might occur, any conversations we might have and what the best responses would be. I arrived at her house 10 minutes earlier than she said, but being early is usually considered a good thing.
I knocked on the door of her house and waited for a little bit but got no response. I grabbed my phone and told her I was at her house. While waiting for a response I decided to look around the house, to see if maybe I could see her through one of the windows. I made my way to the back of her house and quickly found myself standing in the garden. Standing in the garden, I immediately noticed something odd. It seemed like she had done some digging a few days ago. I figured she had tiles in her garden which she decided to remove. Before I had the chance to think about it any longer, I heard her voice yell at me from a window above me. “Oh hey, you’re already here! Let me open the door.”
I waved at her awkwardly and was startled by her sudden appearance. I quickly regained my composure and made my way back to the front door, where I was met with her beautiful smile and a gesture for me to come in.
“You want something to drink?” she asked.
“Uh, some water would be great, thanks” I replied awkwardly.
I forgot how shy I can get around people when it’s not over text. It’s a whole different experience for me.”. I could tell she picked up on it, and she was amazing when it came to talking to people, because she managed to make me feel at ease quickly.
She handed me my drink and we started talking like we had the night before, the only difference being that this was face-to-face. After talking for a bit, I asked her if I could use the bathroom. “There’s one right down the hall”, she said, pointing to the general direction. I stood up and made my way to where she was pointing.
The bathroom seemed to have been recently cleaned, and the smell of bleach was more than noticeable. But other than bleach, I could also smell something else… something rotten. I made my way back to the living room and said, ‘Hey.’ “I think some animal might have died near your bathroom.”. As I turned the corner and looked at where I last saw her, I was met with nothing.I also did not get a response, so I called out her name.
“Jessica?”
There was a brief pause, but then she replied. “I’m in the kitchen making snacks!”. Something about the way she said it made me feel uneasy. I can’t explain why, but perhaps it’s because of all the stories I’ve heard online about this type of thing.
I slowly made my way to the kitchen, peeking my head around the corner, and what I saw left me stunned. She had smeared blood under her eyes and was holding a kitchen knife in her right hand. Though I felt unable to proces the situation I found myself in, my flight or fight instinct kicked in and I ran to the front door to open it, only to find it locked.
“What’s the matter? I thought you wanted to have FUN!” she said in a playful voice.
In a frenzy I ran upstairs and desperately tried to open any of the windows, only to find out she had locked all of them. I heard her make her way upstairs, giggling and singing. I cursed myself for being so careless. I should’ve known better to meet in a public place.
I tried to think of any way to get out of this situation, which was when I realized the window she had yelled through might still be open. Maybe I could use that window to get out. I quickly ran to the side of the house where the window was to push my luck. To my surprise, the window opened, and I saw my chance to escape. I could hear her yelling “NO!” as she was inches away and running towards me. Realizing I had no time to hesitate,
I jumped out of the window and landed on my back. Though the fall was painful, I was still able to get myself on my feet. I ran to her neighbor’s house and frantically knocked on the door.
An older couple opened the door and seemed rightfully confused by my frantic look, but realized I needed help, so they let me in. They allowed me to use their phone to call the police and offered me a cup of tea to recover from what had happened, which I explained to them. This when the pain in my back started to become worse, as the adrenaline in my body was slowly becoming less and less.
Within 10 minutes, I heard police cars outside. One of the policemen knocked on the door and asked me what had exactly happened. While I was explaining to him everything that had happened, the other cops kicked the door in after Jessica did not open the door.
A few minutes later the cops came out of the house with her laptop, a blood-filled bottle, and a cup of fingernails. The only thing that seemed to be missing was Jessica; she probably left as soon as she realized I would call the cops.
I got the medical attention I needed and was offered a drive back to my house by one of the policemen. I was completely exhausted and fell asleep within a few minutes. I took some days off from work to recover from what had happened, because I felt like I needed some rest.
A couple of days later I learned that Jessica had been part of an online cult which seemed to worship Satan. I had also found out that I wasn’t her first victim. The man I had written about in the newspapers, who had gone missing, had been found buried in her garden. After some DNA tests, they confirmed that the blood and fingernails they found were his.
I have deleted Tinder since then and decided to never download it again. There’s still no information about where Jessica is, but I’m glad I never gave her my address.