I was visiting my parents for the day as it was my dad’s birthday. It was a 6 hour drive but I didn’t mind as I hadn’t seen them a few months. I showed up and the house was filled with childhood friends that were basically forced on me due to the fact that their parents were good friends with mine. They were all pretty chill anyways. Apart from the fact that they all made fun of me in high school and even snapped my glasses one time. However, those days were in the past. I got over it and started to work on myself. I could never help the eyesight though.
I stepped foot in the house and was greeted like I had been gone for years. I felt kind of bad though as it was my dads birthday and it made me feel like I was stealing the attention from him. He was just probably going to drink with his friends like always, so I’m sure he didn’t mind too much.
My mum gathered everyone into the lounge and my sister and I cringed as she pulled out the dusty picture books from the back of the shelf. She was going to embarrass the whole family. While everyone was laughing at the pictures of me as a fat, naked baby, I noticed a man in the background. He wasn’t anyone I knew and realistically I just thought he was in the wrong place at the wrong moment, like an accidental photobomb. However, something felt off about it as if some negative aura resonated of the picture. I just forgot about it because what are the chances he was on the next picture of me?
He was.
But this time he wasn’t looking into the distance like some random bystander. He was looking directly at the camera, his eyes somehow focused on mine, as if he knew where I would be in this exact moment. This picture was taken 12 years ago so it must have been some funny coincidence. This spooked me a little and sent a little chill travelling down my spine, but again I thought nothing of it.
I went to my old room to hide from embarrassment as my mum had pulled out the pictures from when I was in high-school which were the worst years of my life. Made evident by the pictures that made me want to rub chillis in my eyes so I never had the opportunity to see them again. I also started to think about the man in the photos. Wondering about the chances of him being in the two solo pictures of myself and his eyes being perfectly positioned to stare at mine when the picture was taken years ago.
I never liked selfies, my high school self made me insanely insecure but just to check I took a selfie to see if this was just some bizarre coincidence. I opened the picture; my body froze as in the distance, through my bedroom window, I could see him crossing the street.
I ran downstairs frantically and snatched the book out of my mum’s hands. Everyone looked at me in shock as sweat dripped onto the page and my hands scrambled to look for my high-school pictures. There he was again. And again. And again. My heart beat out of my chest as I put my back up to the wall to take another picture of myself; thinking how could he possibly be in this one if theres nothing behind me.
I looked at the picture and he wasn’t there. I calmed myself down and sighed a breath of relief. My mum handed me a glass of water and I just played the party through; still a bit on edge about the whole situation.
The party had finished and I was just saying my final goodbyes to my parents before setting off back home. it was 3:00 am and I was only two hours into the drive, my parents sure knew how to throw a party. I was definitely feeling the effects of the alcohol but I was in full control of the car. My parents tried to convince me to stay the night but I told them I had work tomorrow afternoon.
I pulled into a service station to maybe rest my eyes a bit and started going through my phone. Whilst scrolling I received a text from this unknown number. I opened it and to my surprise it was the selfie I had taken of myself with my back to the wall. My skepticism made the conclusion it was one of my childhood friends who thought I looked funny in the picture. So I messaged them back with the middle finger emoji.
a few more minutes of scrolling later, I get another text from the same number. I again opened the message to see it was just the same picture. However, I started shaking uncontrollably. I adjusted my glasses to see if I was seeing things but i wasn’t. Tears flowed from my eyes as in the photo I saw a blood, red circle highlighting the reflection in my glasses. Pure fear engulfed me as what I saw was that same man. The same fucking man.
I didn’t know what to do. This man followed me through every picture of myself. My heart again beating faster as the number texted me. “take another picture.”
I blocked the number and started driving again. The adrenaline powered me throughout the whole of the way home and as soon as I entered my bedroom, I crashed into my bed. When I woke up, my phone had blown up over 50 messages from that one number. “WAKE UP NOW!” “I like the way you look” “we should take a picture together” “WAKE THE FUCK UP AND TAKE A PICTURE”
I couldn’t.
I was being overwhelmed. I didn’t know how to react. I curled up into a ball on my bed as my phone stayed pinging on my bedside table. Suddenly, I was startled by three deafening consecutive knocks on my front door. I crept towards the door and glanced through the peephole. Nothing. I opened the door and on the porch there was a box covered in Christmas wrapping. I picked up the box and walked back inside locking the door behind me.
I opened the box and my heart felt like it was being grasped tightly; with every breath came pain, like fire being exhaled through my nose. A camera. I knew how real this all was now as beneath that camera laid 2 photos. One of the man staring at me through my bedroom window, and one of him staring at me in the car at the service station.
This man follows me wherever I go, but what I don’t ever want to find out is if he is planning to hurt me.