I was trudging through the treacherous weather for what felt like an eternity, whilst cold gusts of frigid air wrapped itself around me. It was mid January, I had just finished a late shift at work and was on my way to see my friend, Charlie who I had arranged to meet at our local cafe.
As I was walking, I felt my phone vibrate. I fumbled around in my right trouser pocket, pulled out the device, and saw that I had received a message from Charlie reading, “Hey, I’m here! Where are you?”
I looked at the time in the top right-hand corner of the screen and saw that I was a good ten minutes late. “Sorry, I’m running late; I’ll be there in five.” I replied.
I eventually made it into town, and saw my friend occupying one of the window seats in the aforementioned cafe. He looked at me through the glass and humorously tapped on an imaginary wristwatch, mocking me for being late.
I made my way inside and sat down on the seat opposite. “What time do you call this?” Charlie asked rhetorically.
“I know, I’m sorry mate. So many people have been calling in sick.” I replied.
Charlie shook his head. “You need to pack that job in man. They’re constantly getting you to work overtime.”
“Yeah, I know. I should quit the nine-to-five, or in my case, nine-to-nine, and start up my own business.”
As we were talking, I noticed a girl sitting by herself in one of the booths directly behind Charlie, and I couldn’t help but see that she was staring right at me. She was absolutely beautiful! She had light brown wavy hair, wide eyes, and a warm smile. I had seen this girl before around town, but for whatever reason, I rarely ever saw her with anyone; she appeared to keep herself to herself.
I politely nodded at the girl and looked back towards Charlie, who was now frowning at me. “Who are you looking at?” He asked inquisitively.
He turned around and saw the girl I had been looking at. “Oh, I see!” He teased.
After about five minutes of awkwardly glancing past Charlie, I saw the girl get up and leave, but just as she exited the building, I noticed that she had left what appeared to be a blue backpack underneath the table.
Excusing myself, I rushed over to the table, picked up the backpack and followed her outside. “Hey! You forgot something.” I murmured.
The girl immediately spun around on the spot and looked at me with a wide smile. Her smile was strange, but I couldn’t fathom out why. It didn’t look friendly, nor did it look natural, but I just put it down as a look of embarrassment.
The girl gawked at me for an uncomfortable amount of time before speaking up, “Thank you!”
Rather than take the bag from me like I expected her to, she just continued to stare wide-eyed at me. Her head then tilted to the side ever so slightly, causing her light brown hair to partially obscure her face.
“Well, do you want it? My arm is going to freeze and drop off in this weather.” I joked.
The girl casually walked towards me, seemingly amused by my remark. Upon taking her backpack from me, she introduced herself as Sophia, but just as I was about to introduce myself, she interjected, “I think your friend is getting frustrated.” Sophia then raised her index finger and pointed towards Charlie, who was now looking at us through the window. “Well, I better let you get back. Thanks again!” She said, before turning and wandering off into the night.
What was that all about? Why was she staring at me like that? These questions filled my mind, but before I could comprehend what had just happened, I felt a warm hand grab my shoulder, snapping me out of my thoughts. “So, I guess you’re going back to her place.” I brushed Charlie’s hand off of my shoulder and turned to face him. “Yeah, all you’ve got to do is return a backpack nowadays.” I replied sarcastically. “Uh huh! Well anyway, I’ve got work early tomorrow. I’ll let you know what time I finish, and we’ll meet up. . .you and your girlfriend.” Charlie said before turning to walk in the opposite direction.
I got home at around nine o’clock and sat down in my living room, mindlessly flicking through the TV channels. I was catching up on the weather channel when I heard my phone vibrate. I had received a text message from an unknown number reading, “It was great to finally chat with you. I swear I’d lose my head if it wasn’t attached.” Whilst I couldn’t be sure if it was just Charlie playing a practical joke on me, I immediately assumed that somehow this girl–who I had only met approximately one hour ago–had managed to contact MY phone number.
I called the number, half expecting it to either go to voicemail, or for Charlie to answer, but it was undoubtedly her. “Hello?” A soft voice trailed out.
Feeling a little anxious, I hung up the call and tossed the phone to the side; shortly after, I went to bed.
-
The following morning, I awoke to the sound of my alarm blaring. Through bleary eyes, I looked over towards my alarm and saw that it read 7:05 AM, but fortunately, I didn’t have to get to work until 8:30.
As I was about to turn back over, the screen on my phone caught my attention. It showed three new messages from who I assumed was Sophia.
The first message read, “Did you mean to call?”
The second read, “Why did you hang up?”
& the third was just a text bubble filled with emojis.
It was then that another notification came through, this time from Instagram.
‘sophia.b.wilson01 requested to follow you.’
I ignored both the request & the text messages and rolled back to sleep.
At around 8:25, I arrived at work, and I shook my head in disbelief as I saw a familiar figure walking towards me. It was her! It was Sophia walking with a rickety sway. Her movements were odd, but I assumed that it was just the ever-increasing gusts of wind knocking her subtle frame off balance.
Upon getting within five metres of her, I saw another unsettling smile etch its way into her face. She then lifted her right hand and gave a half-hearted wave, but before I had the chance to ask her anything, she spoke, “I know what you must be thinking. Don’t worry, I’m not stalking you or anything.”
“I mean, I’ve seen you twice in the space of twenty-four hours. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t slightly concerned.” I replied.
Sophia was now a few feet from me, and her cheeks blushed a bright red. “It doesn’t look like you’ll be going to work this morning!” She said matter-of-factly. “Wh. . .what?!” I asked hesitantly.
Sophia averted her gaze and fixed her eyes on the building to our right. There, on the inside of the door was a closed sign. Bewildered, I looked back at her, half expecting some kind of explanation, but she looked just as bemused as I was, which made sense considering she didn’t work here.
“It looks like it’s just you and me.” Something about the way she said that felt wrong. Her wide eyes darted back and quickly fixated on mine as she took one small step towards me.
“Do you. . .maybe. . .wanna go somewhere?” She asked.
I shrugged. “To be honest, I just want to go back home.”
Sophia’s eyes narrowed, and her grin grew wider.
“Well, see you around. . .I guess.” I said before turning and walking in the opposite direction.
I considered my pace to be fairly quick, but I could distinctly hear light footsteps coming from behind; unsurprisingly, I turned around and saw Sophia walking closely behind.
“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be rude, but why are you following me?” I asked.
She looked down at her feet, and a look of anger slowly erupted onto her face.
“I don’t know. . .to spend time with you!” She answered - her harsh tone cutting through the air.
“Sorry. . . I . . .didn’t mean to offend you, I just. . .look, it’s just that I’m not used to girls following me and acting the way you are. I’m confused, that’s all.”
She slowly lifted her head and revealed a smirk. “Well, how do you want me to act?”
“I don’t want you to act. . .it’s just. . .I don’t know. . .you somehow got my number, you tried to follow me on Instagram, and now you’re here, where I work. Why?”
Sophia didn’t respond to my question. She just stared at me blankly. I waved my hand trying to get her attention, but she seemed dazed. “Well, you said it best. It’s just you and me. Do you wanna grab a coffee? Might as well since you are ‘stalking’ me.” I said.
Sophia and I arrived at the café a short while later, just to pass the time if nothing else.
We sat down and spoke for a good hour without any cause for concern. She rarely spoke about herself, but from what I could gather she didn’t seem to want to. Due to the fact that she obviously didn’t like talking about her past, I decided to talk about myself, but that’s when I felt it. An unexplainable feeling washed over me. I didn’t want to talk about myself, I wanted to talk about her. There was this bizarre vibe radiating off of her.
I felt my face going red, but before I could compose myself, Sophie started to chuckle. “What?” I asked, slightly embarrassed.
“Oh nothing.” She replied, trying to hold back laughter.
“No, what?!”
“Well, if you must know, you’re blushing.”
I looked around frantically trying to pull out an excuse. “Oh, it’s. . .it’s not blushing. It’s just we’ve been out in the cold for so long, and it’s fairly warm in here.”
Sophia raised her eyebrows, seeming to mock my excuse.
-
We spent most of that day together, and I genuinely enjoyed Sophia’s company. There were a few times where I had to watch what I said, because whenever I asked questions about her, she’d act up; not in a bad way, she’d just go distant.
I eventually invited her back to my place, which is what I think she wanted to begin with.
Sophia sat in the living room watching the TV whilst I went into the kitchen to make us both a coffee. Just as I was brewing the coffee, my phone started to buzz, and I saw that it was an incoming call from Charlie. I answered the call and heard a muffled sound coming from the other end.
“Charlie?” As soon as I uttered out his name, the call immediately cut off. A text then came through reading, “Sorry, bad line.”
I furrowed my brow and gingerly placed my phone onto the kitchen unit. It was then that I saw something in the corner of my eye. I practically jumped out of my skin upon seeing Sophia standing beside me. There it was again, that unsettling smile slowly chiselling its way into her face.
I took a step back, “Jeez, why did you creep up on me like that?!”
She was now holding the coffee I had made, delicately raising the mug to her lips, and taking small exaggerated sips.
“Okay, you’re kinda creeping me out. . .again.” I stammered.
She suddenly snapped out of her trance-like state and looked at me genuinely concerned. “Ar. . .are you okay?” I nodded, “Yeah, I’m fine. I just didn’t hear you sneak up on me.”
I left Sofia in the kitchen while I went to use the bathroom, taking my phone with me. I tried calling Charlie on the way, but he didn’t answer. Instead, a DM came through from Shaun, one of Charlie’s friends. It read, “Charlie didn’t come into work this morning. Did he skip work? Is he with you?” I replied stating that he wasn’t with me, and that he wasn’t answering his phone.
Before I reached the bathroom, I heard a loud crashing sound come from the kitchen. I ran back and saw Sophia standing in a pool of coffee.
“What the hell happened?” I asked, rushing over to the paper towels.
“No, no! I dropped it, I’ll clear it up.” Sophia replied.
I took a sip of my own coffee and asked her once again what had happened, but I wasn’t given an answer.
Another notification came through, startling both of us.
“Who is that?!” she asked.
“Oh, I think it’s my friend, Charlie. You know, the one I was with last night.”
I can’t quite explain the look Sophia gave me when I said this, but she looked somewhat confused. I looked down at my phone and saw that it wasn’t Charlie, it was another DM from Shaun. It read, “His phone can’t be on! It went through to an automatic voicemail three times.”
Something wasn’t adding up. Charlie never skipped work, and he certainly wouldn’t have ignored two of his friends, especially after calling.
About twenty minutes later, I started to feel weak, and I was having trouble breathing. Both Sophia and I were sitting on the couch watching TV, so I was trying my best to hide my discomfort; I obviously didn’t conceal it very well as Sophia turned her head to face me. “Are you okay?” She asked, edging over to comfort me.
I slowly shook my head.
Did she spike my coffee?
I got up and made my way into the kitchen, but before I could reach my mug on the draining board, I dropped down onto the floor and blacked out.
The next thing I knew, I was in my living room, laid out on the couch. I took one good look around me and noticed that my room was blanketed in darkness. The lights were off, the TV was off, the curtains were drawn, and Sophia was nowhere to be seen. The only audible noise was the ticking of the clock on the far side on the room.
I managed to get up off of the couch and I made my way over to the window. I peered through a small crack in the curtains and saw that it was now night-time. The street outside was barely visible through a flurry of snow, and the streetlights did very little to illuminate anything within ten metres.
I suddenly heard a creek coming from behind me. I turned around and saw Sophia’s figure looming in the doorway. Even though the room was dark, I could just about see her face. That sick, warped smile was back; it was wide, far too wide for the face it was on.
As my eyes adjusted more and more to the darkness, I started to see more of her. Her clothes were tattered, soaked in what appeared to be blood. In her right hand – was a mobile phone. In the other – was a kitchen knife.
In a panic, I haphazardly ran up the staircase just as she started to walk towards me. I rushed into the bathroom and locked the door behind me. Breathing heavily, I looked towards the window and felt mildly relieved, but that relief was short-lived as I couldn’t open it. That wasn’t the only thing I noticed. On the windowsill was a mobile phone. . .MY mobile phone. Just as I was about to call the police, a text message from Charlie suddenly came through. It read, “Don’t look behind the shower curtain!”
I wish that I had heeded that warning, because what I saw in the shower was horrific. There, splayed out in the corner was Charlie’s mangled corpse – arms broken and bones protruding.
I turned and violently threw up into the sink, emptying out the contents of my stomach, and that’s when I noticed something else. Underneath the sink, was a severed arm, torn and mangled in a way that I can’t even begin to describe. I looked back towards the shower and saw that Charlie had both of his arms, albeit, loosely attached to his body.
“You weren’t supposed to see any of this yet.” A muffled voice called out.
Through shock and disgust, I threw myself against the door and slammed it with my fist. “What the hell do you mean I wasn’t supposed to see this yet?! What the hell did you do?!”
Sophia spoke, “Look, I’m. . .I’m. . .”
“You’re what?!” I shouted.
“I’m. . .not going to hurt you. I promise! You’re the only person I wouldn’t hurt, not physically anyway. Please open the door.”
I slumped down onto the bathroom tiles, bereft of anything else to say.
“Are. . .are you mad at me?”
I didn’t know how to respond to that. It was as though she thought she hadn’t done anything wrong.
Shuffling then filled the silence, as I heard Sophia’s back slide down the door. Before I had the chance to ask her any other questions, an elongated buzz came from my phone. It was too late; the battery had died. I was stuck! Stuck with Sophia blocking my only means of escape. I tried once again to open the window, but it just wouldn’t budge.
“I promise I won’t hurt you.” She said.
“How the hell can I trust you after what you’ve done. Whose arm is this? Why is all of this in my bathroom?” I was manic; my anxiety and anguish soaring. I sat there, hopelessly planning an escape, but the door was my only option.
Suddenly, an idea hatched in my head. If I was quick, I’d be able to escape. I looked over at Charlie’s lifeless body and felt shame for what I was about to do. I quietly got back onto my feet, lifted Charlie up, and reached for the lock on the door. I gave myself a mental countdown before throwing the door open and chucking Charlie’s corpse on top of Sophia.
I ran down the stairs, ran through the living room and reached the front door; it was locked! I ran out into the kitchen and to my absolute surprise, I saw the back door wide open.
I ran out of the house and slammed the back door behind me. Just as I was catching my breath, I heard a faint knocking sound coming from my bedroom window. I looked up and saw Sophia’s ghoulish figure looking down at me. Her face was all wrong. That horrific face-splitting smile was getting wider, and her wide feral-like eyes appeared to turn jet-black. It was then that I noticed what was in her right hand. She was holding up that severed arm, and using it to wave at me.