Something’s After Me

‘Let me guess, it was on a dark and stormy night, wasn’t it?’, The man in the dirty leather jacket sitting across from me, taunted sarcastically.

I turned to look at him just about ready to throw hands since this jerk’s been going off like this since I came here. But I graciously held back and continued ‘Whether it was a dark and stormy night or a bright and sunny day, who cares? Why would i remember when it doesn’t even matter? Anyways, officer what’s important is there’s someone…something that’s after me I can feel it. ‘, I said, raising my voice.

He flinched at the unexpected response, clearly not expecting her to speak up. At a glance, she looked like a quiet pushover so he just said whatever to vent his frustration about getting caught selling weed to those college kids, especially since she hadn’t said anything in retaliation till now. (ohh so I just looked like an easy target to him, huh? but he was so wrong~).

The moment he looked at her cold eyes, he felt goosebumps, quieting down for a bit. Sneaking another glance, he took in her appearance. She wore a brown trench coat over faded blue jeans, paired with black wedges. Her skin was pale, her shoulder-length brunette hair framing her face with piercing icy blue eyes. (Yeah, yeah I know I look great). He regained his wits and thought, ‘What could she even do to me? She’s just a woman’. So, he got bold again as the officer was reassuring her.

‘Ma’am, we’ve already checked your house and neighborhood, there are no signs of a break in, and the officer on patrol didn’t find any signs of a stalker either. We believe there may have been a misunderstanding or it may have been a harmless prank by someone, as we couldn’t find any person fitting the desciption you provided’, said the officer politely.

‘You sure we don’t need to call the hospital?’ said that rude a**h***, still not learning to mind his own business. (⁠ノ⁠｀⁠Д⁠´⁠)⁠ノ⁠彡⁠┻⁠━⁠┻

‘What did you just say?! You’re not calling me crazy, are you?’ I grabbed him by the collar, tightening my grip and yelling while glaring at him. His eyes widened in alarm, as he shrunk back in panic, struggling against my grip while shaking his head vigorously, to the point I almost thought it’ll fall off. He finally shut up as understanding dawned on him, bringing him to the oh-so-profound realization that I’m not someone someone he should be messing with.

Before the officer could say something I let go, feeling satisfied, as I said with a blank expression, ‘Oops, sorry, my hand slipped’.

The officer just shot us a look, trying to hold back a smirk, continuing after a pause, ‘How about you go back home for now, and if you still feel something, you can give us a call’ . I tried to continue in protest, ‘ I swear, I…forget it, I’ll just leave’, I mumbled as I got up and exited the station.

Like seriously, what more could i even do at this point? Over the past month, I’ve been in and out of the station like this five times already, and it’s always the same. Sure, they took me seriously at the start, but after finding nothing, this is how it goes. Can I blame them? Honestly they seem just about ready to throw me in a psych ward, but who knows, I might be safer there since at least I’ll be under supervision.

I’m sure you’re wondering by now, ‘What genre is this story?’, and well, so am I. I’m waiting to see how it goes. Just hope the end isn’t me dying at the hands of a serial killer or ghost or something. Ugh…that’ll just be annoying and cliche. ¬_¬

Who am I?

Oh, right, forgot to introduce myself, heh. Well, for starters, my name is Alyssa Brown, nickname Alice. (I know it doesn’t suit my amazing personality, right? But what can I say, it happened and just kinda stuck). I’m a 20-year old high school graduate, with a beautiful height of 5’10 and weighing about 135 pounds. I love movies, especially those with a lot of fight scenes in them, and growing up, I dabbled in all sorts of different styles. I’m currently working as a freelancer, and honestly, I don’t know what I’m doing with my lifeee (cough…cough). Got a bit off track there. I’m an only child, and have no close friends (by choice of course, I hate people which I guess is mainly cuz I’ve had my fair share of rude idiots like that guy at the station). I live alone in Boston and my parents are currently on vacation until who knows when, maybe until they run out of money…? so yeah that’s probably all you need to know about me for now, though I do hope I get to tell you more in the future.

Yeah, I guess now I should start explaining what that was all about though before you get bored and leave (⁠٥⁠↼⁠_⁠↼⁠)

Let me backtrack this for you to about a month ago when I was lying on my couch, using my phone scrolling and having the time of my life while avoiding the mountain of work I had to do because I wasn’t in the mood yet you know the usual (^◕.◕^)…anyway I heard something in my basement, and I thought isn’t this is a perfect excuse to not work…i mean umm what could that be maybe it’s a rat, anyway I got up and went towards the door, but with every step i took the sound got clearer and louder when i realized something’s off. It was strange, I mean I had an idea what it was but of all places it shouldn’t be coming from my basementtt. It was the sound of chains rattling moreover it was like the way you would hear it on an old recording…I don’t know but maybe it could be cuz the door was closed was what I thought at the time, there was also some weird static which didn’t make sense I mean why was that even there and it just kept getting louder and louder the closer I got, seeming both close yet far away like there was something blocking it. I opened the door, climbed down to the third stair and flipped the switch (yeah I know why the third stair but that’s just how it was made I don’t know why ok, probably so the plot can move smoothly without me easily escaping), but the lights wouldn’t turn on, and the sound wouldn’t stop either, if anything it felt like it’s getting closer, and that’s when i thought ‘f*** this shit I’m out’ I mean I’ve seen enough horror movies to know that its dumb to “investigate” any further and turned to go back intending to immediately call 911, when suddenly a chain tied around my leg coiling up like a snake, pulling me hard, I fell and that was the story of how I died…THE END.

Just kidding, though it did hurt, but thankfully the basement isn’t that low, or it could’ve been a lot worse and I really might’ve died like some dumb side character from a horror film (and I ain’t no side character, hmph). But really, don’t worry~ I was fine, just kinda sore. I got up, ready to run back to safety when I felt a wet hand on my shoulder. I looked over, and thanks to the faint light coming from the open door, I saw that it was covered in mud. But I couldn’t turn around to look at the intruder, as the hand kept me from doing that, and strangely enough, it felt like I couldn’t even if I tried, like every fiber of my being was screaming at that moment not to move, to not turn around, that that’s the way I can leave here alive.

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Then, from the corner of my eyes, i saw a glint. It was from the silver chains hanging from that person’s body, which became particularly noticeable in the dark (though I guess if you saw chain hanging from someone’s body, it would be noticeable anywhere).

I wanted to scream, but nothing would come out. Then I heard a man’s rough yet somewhat excited voice, hidden under static. It sounded like it was from an old black and white film. It said, ‘…f..und…u…i…fin…ly…found…u…th…perf…ct…pl…yer…sel…cted…for…te…am…’, and then there was silence again. Suddenly, the lights turned on, and I was alone. I ran back up and called the police, though that didn’t do much good.

But really, let me tell you, it was creepy af, and I still don’t have any idea what that was all about or what any of it meant. And honestly, if it weren’t for the muddy handprint on my shoulder, the marks the chain left on my leg or the bruises I got from the fall I really would’ve thought I was hallucinating or something. But the traces the incident left behind were clear proof that it was real. It wasn’t just this, though. Over the month, this sort of stuff kept happening, enough times that I’ve lost count already. It would just happen suddenly, and without any consideration of my situation at the time! Whether I was eating, sleeping, walking down the street, wherever, doing whatever. It was always the same: lights went out, a chain coiled around my leg, a hand on my shoulder and that weird voice saying the same thing. And each time, immediately after, the lights came on and I was alone. And no matter how many times it happens, each time I feel like I did the first, I just can’t get used to it, but seriously, who would? I thought, ‘No one believes me, and I don’t know what to do. I guess I’ll just go home and distract myself by watching a horror movie’ (yeah, that’s perfect, I’m sure). ╮(╯▽╰)╭

At that moment, the street lights suddenly went out. ‘Crap’.

Amidst the darkness, a single spot emitted a growing white light, forming a rectangular shape, it was…a sheet of paper? No, it was a door. However, it didn’t have a doorknob. Yet, as if someone was pushing it from the other side, it was opening, slowly inch by inch, each second feeling like an hour. After what seemed like an eternity, though it was only a few seconds, the door fully swung open.

As it opened, a bright light emanated from the other side. She had to squint her eyes to see what was going on, but then it slowly started to dim. She kept looking forward towards the door, making sure to see what’s on the other side to not miss a single detail because it felt like whatever is behind that door is the answer to all her questions.

However, there was nothing! Yes, it really was like a plain white sheet of paper floating on the road, and she just stared blankly ahead, not sure what to make of this situation. The eerie silence continued for a bit but was soon replaced by the familiar static, and the man was behind her again. But this time, she had a feeling that told her that this is where her story will move forward (I’m sure, really, this time I’m right…I think).

He placed his hand on her shoulder like every other time, but then he did something different (see! I told youuu~). He turned her around to face him. She instinctively raised her fists, ready to fight this annoyance and put an end to this torture. But the moment her eyes laid on him, she jerked back in shock and accidentally tripped over her own feet, falling flat on her butt. She felt mortified as she’s been in countless fights, but for as long as she can remember, has never made a mistake like this before (that’s how shock I was, okayyy).

‘Pfft’, she heard a suppressed laugh. She had barely processed what she just saw when she ended up making a complete fool of herself but she refused to remain vulnerable. Despite being shaken to the core, she looked up with a blank expression, pretending nothing just happened.

She tried to collect her wits, bringing herself back to the moment, while adjusting her mental state to all this and acting like there was nothing unusual in front of her. But her voice betrayed her as it couldn’t help tremble as she asked , ‘What are you?’. Yes, “he” wasn’t a human (bet you can kinda guess what genre my life is now, eh?). The “man” that haunted her nightmares had some sort of bubbling black goo for a body (eww, I preferred when i thought it was mud), but instead of liquid or slime, it weirdly looked solid and shaped like a regular person. “He” wore a formal black 3-piece suit with a white dress shirt, black tie, and…wait, black boots? There were silver chains hanging around the neck, to shoulders diagonally and the belt. “His” dark green hair was shoulder length and looked like a spider plant? Overall everything about him was weird and just wrong. He didn’t carry any other weapons, but despite that, she felt a pressure, like it wouldn’t take any effort for this being to rip her apart. She felt terrified, something she had never experienced before (sadly it wouldn’t be the last; turned out this guy was just small fry ಥ⁠‿⁠ಥ ), as she was the kind of person to shoot first, ask questions later (Hey, what the hell! I’ve never shot anyone! Though maybe I did punched them around a bit~),but here she had a feeling that that wouldn’t end pretty for her.

The creature straightened his tie and cuffs before opening his mouth. And contrary to what she expected, it was a normal voice but he talked kinda like a gameshow host, speaking quickly as if he was both excited but also trying to get this over with, ‘I can finally get through to you now, the connection to world813 has been pretty glitchy probably since this is the first-time in a while and the system was still loading the communication program, but its all done now, so let me explain things to you first.

Hmm, let’s see, what did you ask…oh yeah, what am I eh? Well even if i tell you, you won’t know but I’ll do it anyway. So you see, I’m a £$%$£ oh i guess its censored for now. Then i guess you can just call me your collector. Anyway, I’m here because you are the prefect ‘player’ to be added to the team where you’ll find out what to do eventually I suppose if you live long enough that is’. He said with what seemed to be a big smile, looking genuinely excited, but on that face, it just looked wrong. He continued, ‘I can’t say much cuz you wont be able to get it anyway. See…then the static came back and she heard ◻◻◻◻◻◻◻ , well, nothing coherent.

She couldn’t hold back anymore and cried out while raising her fists defensively, as she took a fighting stance, ‘I have no idea what any of this means, and I’m seriously freaking out I…what…?’ His hand shot out so quickly that she hadn’t even noticed before she felt something gripping her right wrist, while interrupting, ‘Yes, yes, I’m sure. But you don’t need to understand if you survive long enough you’ll find out eventually now lets go,’ he said while dragging her towards the door.

She tried to pull her hand back, but he didn’t even budge. She kept getting pulled towards the door with no use resisting while saying, ‘What the hell man…collector whatever. I’m not a unique item to be procured, or trash to pick up, or whatever the hell it is you mean, I’m just a regularly person whose life holds no special value whatsoever. Hey, are you listening, heyyyy, seriously let me go!’

But it was no use; he just kept going step by step while getting annoyed with each attempt she made at resistance, and grumbled, ‘Why do i even have to do this personally? Why couldn’t those interns do it, seriously no respect making me collect this annoying little insect…’, then he disappeared behind the door into the unknown nothingness, and his voice cut off as if he was never there except for his hand pulling her wrist. She was horrified as she got closer to the door, and couldn’t pull free no matter what she did. It wouldn’t budge. Then just before entering, she used all her strength to stop right there, and it worked for a second. But before she could feel relief, chains shot out and coiled around her waist, pulling her forward where she disappeared behind the door, no longer in sight.

The lights came back on, and everything returned to normal with no traces left of what just happened. No one would ever know what happened to her or where she disappeared to. Her existence in this world from here on out would cease…THE END or is it to be continued.

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Alice: Are you kidding me? (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻