Billy and Lucy have been inseparable since the night at the cafe. They are on the For You page when they see another post from Mr. Creepy on the TikTok app.
"This is getting really scary..." Lucy says.
"Maybe we shouldn't keep watching."
"I have to know what's going on."
The following post is more violent than any of the others. It depicts two kids dressed like the age-old painting The Kiss by Gustav Klimpt. The girl has the young man by the throat and makes a slicing motion across his neck. They then show the bloody, lifeless body on top of the girl.
Lucy asks, "How do they make it look so real?"
"I don't know, but it's freaking me out."
"I feel like they're watching us... How do you think they got the detective?"
"I don't know, but let's not worry about it until they post again. I'll pick you up tomorrow at seven."
Back at the Cyber Crimes division, an agent browsed the usual sites and apps when he got a notification that The Paperboy just posted a new TikTok.
He calls out to Detective Edmond Gates, "Sir, I think you need to see this."
Ed grunts as he turns to see what the fuss is all about. "What the fuck is this shit?" He asks as he watches the short video.
In it, two kids are sitting at a table. One reads while the other stares into the camera as if looking right at the viewer. It's uncomfortably direct for a video meant to be shared online. The final shot shows the reader's throat being viciously slashed by the other—a massive spray of blood coats the camera lens as the video ends. The agent tells Ed not to worry that all the videos are faked. They use some sort of editing app, but we have been tasked to keep an eye on the account.
"Who’s all on this?" Ed asks.
The agent tells him that they got the best of the best working on it. In fact, he has a friend in New York that is helping out as well, which is where the first video originated from. He tells Ed it's almost certainly a marketing scheme for some horror movie or something, and the sooner they shut it down, the better.
The next video shows a kid's head sandwiched in a doorway. He is still alive and tries to escape, bashing his head back and forth as the frames close in on his torment.
"Jesus Christ, I had nightmares after seeing that movie, The Doorway," Ed says. "Appears this guy has some good taste."
"Yeah, but look at these kids," the agent points out, "Don't you think they look like they are being forced to do this stuff?"
Ed takes a closer look at the kids in the videos and can see their uneasy expressions on their faces.
The next video is a jump-scare. The clip begins with the camera looking at the floor as a line of blood drips into the shot. As the viewer watches, more blood falls, and the line gets longer and longer until it is a steady flow. Then, suddenly, the screen turns red, and what sounds like a scream is heard.
"Alright, turn that fucking shit off," Ed says as he jumps back.
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They sit in silence for a bit, "Fuck, this is a bad angle." Ed says, trying to get comfy in his chair.
"What do you mean, angle?" the agent asks.
"Nothing." Ed says then starts, "Just have a feeling something isn't right about this like there is more to it. I mean, kids don't just wake up and do shit like this."
"Well, you know teenagers these days. They do whatever they want."
Ed nods in agreement, and the next video starts to play, and they read the title The Stalker as it shows a bunch of kids standing around. It's almost as if the person recording the video didn't want to be seen as it's shaky and goes from a building to a car.
"Holy fucking shit," Ed says as his jaw drops just as Detective Turner can be seen the moment before his car explodes.
"Turn that off!" Ed says as he gets up, "Jesus Christ."
The agent looks at Ed. "We need to find the person behind this."
The Paperboy is sitting in his dark basement, watching as the views keep going up on his TikTok videos. The kids he has fooled into watching are sending him messages such as "Creepypasta" and "THE PAPERBOY IS REAL." The Paperboy is laughing to himself as he types into his phone. "Who's next?"
The Paperboy looks at the newspaper cuttings of his past victims as the text notifications pour in. The latest video has been his most successful yet, and the whole internet is talking about The Paperboy. The Paperboy smiles to himself as he gets an idea. He races upstairs and outside, jumping onto his bike and riding off towards the woods.
"Time for some fresh paper cuts," he says as he rides into the woods to find some more kids to scare.
Ed and the FBI arrive at the house of one of the YouTubers they think is behind all this. It is a relatively large house with a nice car parked outside. Ed's hand is shaking as he knocks on the door. The door opens, and a short, balding man appears in the doorway.
"Hello, Officers?"
"We need to come in and search your house."
"Do you have a warrant?"
"We don't need one. We're FBI," Ed says, "Now, is there somewhere we can question you?"
"Well, come back when you have a warrant."
"We don't need to question you now. We just need to search your house."
The man looks at the pair of FBI agents and steps aside.
"Go right ahead. I haven't committed any crimes."
The agents walk through the house with the man far behind. They enter a study and find it filled with computer equipment. Cables run from a large desktop PC and into a walk-in safe.
"What's in there?" Ed asks.
"That's my safe," the man says, "What are you looking for?"
"Evidence that you're trying to scare people off their property with ghosts."
The man bursts out laughing as Ed angrily opens the safe. It’s filled with nothing but paper and dollar bills in the shape of tiny towers.
"Do you need some help balancing the budget?" Ed snarls.
The man continues laughing as the agents walk back through the house and out the front door. While making their way back to their car. Ed looks back to see the man waving at him from his doorway.
"That's not our guy," Ed says.
"How can you be sure?"
"The person who did this is an egotist. He would have gloated if he had accomplices or if he was the actual person behind this."
"So, where are we up to?"
"We've got a bunch of kids acting goofy, a couple of creeps, and a boring accountant."
"Maybe we should look into the kids further."
"Why?"
"Things like this don't just happen. This took planning. Someone put it all together."
"We don't know that. Keep looking at the adults."
The Paperboy is going through his phone when he notices many new follows from random accounts that look brand new. He assumes that they're from the people spooked last night and decides to have some fun. He looks at all their profiles and sees a pattern of random numbers and letters for names. He chooses to pick two names that sound scary: TheOvert Mask and RedTide harbinger. He posts a new article on his subreddit about what happened. He says:
The Trenchcoat group struck again last night at a local swimming pool. The swimmers were all too scared to get back in the water, and the lifeguards are quitting in droves. They didn't take any money this time but left a calling card—a red flag, with a white skull in the middle. Police seem baffled and have no leads. More after the following ad break.
His new ad appears on his screen. Eating some chips while waiting for it to finish. After it does, he sees one of his comments. It says:
"TheOvertMask: Nice article. Good job, everyone."
He smiles, reading through the thread.