“You’re next”

She was doing it again. Ella had a habit of roleplaying over text, taking on completely different personalities. Whether she was a stuck-up child, a belligerent middle-aged woman, or a confused old man varied by the day and her mood. This was nothing unusual. We texted back and forth. I pretended to be scared while she pretended to be a deranged killer. Eventually, it got late, so I had to go to bed. So we told each other goodnight.

The next day she started texting me again.

“What is your address,” she asked.

This was also not an uncommon occurrence. Ella liked to send me letters but could never seem to remember my address. Assuming that was the case, I gave it to her.

It was a beautiful Summer morning. The birds were singing and the sun was shining. I opened up some windows to let the breeze in and then plopped onto the couch to watch tv. I switched to the news channel and felt the color drain from my face as the news reporter spoke.

“Yesterday morning, the body of 16-year-old Ella Porter was found. It appears she was murdered in her own home by the serial killer Gray Fox. If you have any information about the case, please call in.”

Suddenly I felt my phone buzz. It was “Ella”.

“Open your door, I’m here,”

I slowly turned my head to look out the door. Through the frosted glass, I saw the outline of a person. They were far too tall to be Ella.

I raced up the stairs and into my room. I could hear the sound of the person banging on the door. Stepping into my walk-in closet, I hid inside a box of old clothes. With shaking fingers, I called 911. The police assured me they would be there as soon as possible, but I couldn't help but wonder if that would be soon enough.

From somewhere downstairs, I heard glass shattering. The sounds of footsteps made their way around the house. Whoever this person was, they were not making any attempt to be quiet. I could hear them shoving things and breaking the screens out of the open windows. I knew it was only a matter of time before this psycho made his way up to my room.

I felt the hair on my arms rising as the person made his way up the stairs. He stepped into my room. Even from the back of my closet underneath a layer of clothes, I could hear the sounds of labored breathing. He circled around my room, flipping over furniture and tossing things off of my desk.

Then he left. I heard him shuffling through the other rooms, knocking things over as he went. Then I heard him come back to the door of my room. It seemed for a moment that he was standing still. The silence of the house was jarring, compared to the loud racket from a few moments ago.

Then my phone went off.

He came back into my room and sent a constant stream of texts from Ella's phone. I could hear him getting closer and closer to my hiding place. I should have grabbed a knife, hidden somewhere else, or left my phone on silent. But it was too late now. He lifted off the pile of clothes that had kept me out of sight. I looked up at him and saw a pale skinny face with wild eyes and a sickening grin. He was immensely tall, definitely over six feet tall. He was incredibly skinny, his long limbs made him seem almost inhuman. He grabbed me by the arm and pulled me toward him. His breath reeked of alcohol and cigarettes.

He tossed me out of the closet and into my bedroom. I fell to the floor, landing hard on my stomach. I saw the man grab his knife with both hands as he prepared to plunge it into my back. I could not let myself die like this.

I rolled to the side, his knife plunged into the carpet. I got up and ran out of the room and down the stairs. I maneuvered through the maze of broken furniture and sprinted out of the house, slamming the shattered glass door behind me. I ran out to my car and turned the key in the ignition.

Nothing happened. I turned it again, still nothing. I heard the sound of footsteps on the wooden porch. I saw the tall gray man running full speed across my yard. I tried one last time to start the car, but it was no use. He began banging on the car window screaming incomprehensible gibberish through the glass. After a few minutes, he turned and ran away. I thought I was safe, that the police had shown up or a neighbor was coming. I was wrong. 

The man had gotten into his own car. I heard his engine rev up as he sped his car towards mine. I felt the impact hit the side of my car. My seatbelt was not on, and I flew into the passenger seat. My head hit the glass of the window and began to bleed. I heard the man backing his car up, preparing for another hit. This time my car nearly tipped over. My leg was trapped in the misshapen metallic twists that used to make up the side of my car. I frantically pulled, hoping to get it free. But it was no use. The tall man got out of his car and started walking towards me. There was nothing I could do. He crawled towards me through the wrecked interior of what used to be my car.  With a victorious grin, he raised his knife to kill me.

At that moment, the sound of sirens became audible. I saw his face change from triumph to dismay as the police cars pulled into the driveway. Just as I had been frozen in fear when I first saw him, now he was frozen in fear as the cop cars pulled into the driveway.

He looked back at me once as if he was going to stab me. But then seemed to lose all his willpower. The police ran to the car and dragged him away from me. They took him back to the station for questioning, and I was rushed to the hospital. The man who tried to kill me was a serial killer known as the Gray Fox. He had killed five people before coming after me. The monster was given a life sentence with no parole.

After I left the hospital, I stayed with my sister until I got my feet on the ground. I had some money saved up, and insurance covered some of the damages. I miss Ella dearly and sometimes wish he would have killed me instead of her. But in the end, there is nothing I can do except be more careful in the future.