CLEVERLY DISGUISED MOTIVE: CDM STALKER

Chapter 8

1ST FEBRUARY 1984

The next couple of days were very hectic, emotionally, and physically. The calls kept coming in randomly and ending abruptly. Almost like this person was playing a game of hide-and-seek with me. At first, I had labelled them as regular prank calls until that night. It was pouring suddenly, half of Seoul area especially Gangnam had flooded, and people could barely go anywhere. I was left alone in the house after I refused to accompany Ana and mom for a seafood dine-out. Honestly, all I wanted was some oysters and shrimps, but my laziness wouldn’t allow me to get off the couch and go with them. I settled for takeout but with the roads looking so bad I had to cancel that as well. The option was to text Ana to get me some seafood on her way back, assuming she does see my text at all. My phone beeped out of the blue and I felt relieved that she had texted back. I did see a text, but it was from a number I didn’t recognize.

“i’m watchIng you…0_0”

Completely freaked out by the creepy text, I took a deep breath and flipped the screen of my phone over. But the image of the text still managed to invade my mind. A lot of unanswered questions flooded my mind giving rise to a huge fear that almost crippled me. My hand shook slightly as my phone beeped for the second time. This time around, I gave in to my reflexes and pulled that blanket over my head, not that it stopped me from thinking of that damned image anyway. The words kept ringing in my ears until I could swear that it would forever be etched into my memory. It was almost as if the room had shifted and everything around me was caving-in on me. I panicked, involuntarily holding my breath and that single action set a series of reactions that eventually led to a panic attack. My eyes blurred and my breath escaped in short breathless gasps. It didn’t really help that I was stuffed underneath the blanket. There was no air to breath, but I was too afraid to let the blanket go. My hands fisted the material in desperation as sweat began to form on my forehead. It was suddenly hot in the enclosed space and a tear dropped from my eye as my chest tightened in pain both from the lack of oxygen and the heat. Amid my dilemma, I heard the door creek, and my heart missed a beat. My eyes widened and the pain in my chest increased a thousand-fold. The tears began to fall in sync now and the air was even thinner now as if the small amount that had been there had been suddenly sucked up by a vacuum. My hand trembled but I still couldn’t let the blanket go.

There was a sudden yank and I saw Ariana looking down at me as I had lost my mind.

“Are you trying to kill yourself? Because I think that would be a horrible waste of your time”, she added sarcastically. I took a deep breath, gratefully for the air that immediately rushed into my lungs. She shook her head at me and dropped a take-out bag on my head. Picking it up, I opened it eagerly and dug in.

“Did you see my texts, or did you decide to ignore them?”, she asked again with an annoyed pout on her face. I looked up at her with a grilled shrimp in my mouth and reached to flip my phone up.  She rolled her eyes and dropped down on her bed with a sigh. 

“Anything you want to share?”, I asked carefully. Ariana was very private, almost secretive and we seldom talked, so I wouldn’t want her to think I was being nosy right now. She looked at me as if she was contemplating her next move. In the end she gave in and turned on her side to face me.

“So, I know someone, but I think she’s being stalked. I’m not a 100% sure about that though but I can’t tell that person or the police. It may get dangerous if the stalker changes his strategy”. I looked at her with the best poker face she could master.

“You should let the authorities know tomorrow, it’s dangerous for a teenager to be involved in things like that”

Ariana rolled her eyes sarcastically, but she knew all too well that it was a cry for help. Ariadne didn’t need to say it, Ariana just knew. “Okay Ma’am”, she responded instead in a seemingly unbothered voice.

In the two weeks that followed, there were two more texts

“I can watch you sleep Forever 0_0” which was the creepiest so far, then the most recent

“you will be mIne forever 0_0”

For the most part, this had affected my paranoia the most, making me jumpy around everyone. Ariana walked into the room with a smile on her phone.

“Hey, you want some pancakes?”, she asked, and I immediately said yes without a doubt. I don’t know what got her in such a good mood, but I wasn’t about to miss out on her offer. She looked up from her phone briefly and replied.

“Well go make yourself some. And make some for me too”. I should have known better than to think she would bother to do something as nice as that for me. I dragged myself off my bed and headed from the kitchen.

Halfway into the frying the second piece, my phone buzzed. It was another one of those creepy messages.

“can I have some panCakes too 0_0?

I turned almost immediately, eyes scanning around the kitchen and across the front yard through the window. I didn’t spot anything or anyone, goosebumps formed on my skin in response to the eerie silence that greeted me and how stupid I probably looked. Just as I was about to bolt back for the room, I saw Ariana descend the stairs. Some of my flight instincts dissipated and I instantly felt somewhat safe.

“Hey, can I borrow your phone?”, she asked but I shook my head. I didn’t want her to see the texts.

“Oh c’mon”, she said as she playfully grabbed it from my hand. I tried to grab it back, but she stepped back and shouted, “flip the pancake or it’ll burn”.  I groaned and left her to her mischief.

After three minutes of staring at my phone, she gave it back to me with a smile

“Should have done that a long time ago”