`A Weird Feeling'
Julia had a weird feeling all day.
She had felt like someone was watching her but had no proof of it. So she decided to talk with her best friend, Skylar, about it.
“Calm down, Julia,” her friend said. “You're just being paranoid.”
“No I'm not. I swear someone has been watching me all day. I can feel it.”
“Sure,” Skylar replied. “Anyway, what are you going to do tonight? You can do anything if you're home alone on Halloween!”
“Well, I think I might just scroll through my phone tonight,” Julia answered. “I don't really want to do much.”
“That's booorrriing! Oh, I see my mom's car. Watch out for your secret admirer,” Skylar said teasingly.
Julia and Skylar started laughing as they both parted.
On her walk home, Julia still had the same weird feeling someone was watching her. She ignored it but sped up her walking, being eager to get home. Later that evening, Julia was sitting in her room scrolling on her phone. Suddenly, she got a message from an unknown number: “Is this Julia Swenson?”
She sat up.
How did this person know my name? Did I give anyone my number today?
“Who's asking?” she asked.
“The Julia Swenson who lives on 6587 Meadow Avenue?”
Her heart started beating fast. How did this person know her name and address?
“Who are you?,” Julia asked. “How do you know who I am?”
“Well, as your friend Skylar says, I'm your secret admirer,” was the response.
“How do you know all this stuff about me?” Julia texted.
“Did you lock all of your doors and windows?” the anonymous person replied. “You're home alone and I hear there have been creeps
in the neighborhood who sneak into peoples homes.” Her heart dropped. Stumbling over her slippers, she ran and locked the back door, but quickly realized she didn't lock the front door when her parents left. She wanted to run to the front door, but she was too scared to move. Her hands were shaking and she began to panic. She managed to run to the front and to her surprise, the front door was locked. She felt a little relief.
“I can see that you saw
my message, Julia.” “Leave me alone!” She turned off her phone, locked the door to her room and went to her desk to get her computer. She jumped on her bed to watch a show. She couldn't help but to keep searching and examining her room, making sure no one was there.
Suddenly, she got an email:
“Silly girl, you think that I can't see that you moved to your computer?”
Terrified, she quickly closed her computer and picked her phone back up again.
“This has to be Skylar right? You can stop, this
isn't funny anymore,” Julia texted.
“You know, you should really lock your doors. You practically just let me in.” “Skylar, stop it! Now!” “You can't stop this from happening.”
Julia heard steps downstairs and ran to her closet to hide.
“Hiding in your closet now. Rookie move. Now you're trapped.”
She heard footsteps coming up the stairs. She covered her mouth in order to cover her breathing.
“Locked your door I see. Good thing your parents keep a key on them at all times. Such a shame, they really were sweet people.”
Julia started to cry. What is happening? This has to be a joke, right? She heard her bedroom door unlock and slowly creak open.
“Julia,” said a deep voice in a sing-song voice, ”come out, come out wherever you are.”
Julia tried to calm down as she backed up into the corner of her closet. She saw the shadow of someone approaching.
“Oh, Julia, don't worry, soon you'll get to see your lovely parents. You'll also get to see your friend, Skylar….”
The closet door opened. Julia screamed.
The last thing she saw was a tall figure with a bloodstained white mask on.