Never Turn Around

Sitting on my dusty old couch, I flicked through Netflix while shoving cold popcorn into my mouth and wondering why boredom exists. I was about done with Netflix and was about to move on to reading when I came across a movie cover I'd never seen before. The words across the top read "For Bored Adults". Confused and interested, I clicked on the cover. It brought me to a series of movies, each titled something like "Breaking Heart" or "Cry Cry Cry". Depressing, in other words. And so, of course, I clicked on the first movie, "Empty Holes Inside".

I leaned back on the couch and began to watch, my eyes staring at the black screen and my brain barely focused on the words coming out.

"It was the summer of 1986...broken up with me...devastated...and filled with pain. She had said she loved me...I still love her...contact...back to Adeline." It was at that moment that I started really paying attention.

"I met Adeline at Camp Teens last summer. We were put into the same cabin at camp, and we hit it off right away. We became friends really quick, spending every moment at camp together and staying up late telling stories in bed. One night, a couple other girls, their boyfriends and I ran away from the camp to the perfect getaway spot, especially for couples. Adeline and I were single, but we went anyway." I paused the movie, shaking. My first girlfriend's name was Adeline; I thought that at first, the year and the name were just a weird and creepy coincidence, but it seemed very unlikely that the person telling this story also went to the camp that same summer, also had a "friend" named Adeline and also snuck away at that very same camp with a bunch of couples. I looked around me, suddenly feeling watched. I closed all the curtains in the room and threw as many blankets as I could find over my lap, tucking them up to my chin. Once I felt safer, I unpaused the movie once more and watched intently. The screen showed a very realistic image - five girls and three boys stood around a lake, the sunset reflecting on the water magically. Three of the girls sat, one boy with each girl, and cuddled, their bodies entwined around each other gracefully. The scene spun around and started moving towards one girl, who sat on the edge of a log, her toes dipped in the water. The screen kept moving towards her, bouncing a little bit as though walking, and when the screen was a few feet away from the girl, she looked up.

"Hi, Mila!" Adelines face turned towards me, her beautiful red hair curled around her face perfectly and her wide, green eyes sweet with joy. I stop the movie and throw the remote across the room. Now I'm actually terrified, because that moment was the exact scene when I realized I liked Adeline. But the most creepy thing was that the film was through my eyes. How could this be possible? How do you film things with your eyes? Oh, and how did whoever made this movie get this clip...or whatever this is?!

Without me doing anything, the tv flicked on again. Extremely creeped out, I buried my face inside the couch. The lights started flickering on and off; pillows started flying everywhere; I heard a crash in the kitchen of broken glass, but I was too afraid to get up and investigate. The movie started back up: "Here's my house, 20 years later. I am inside, watching this very movie at 10:03 AM in the morning, but for whatever reason, I closed all my curtains. Let's go have a look!" I tore my hands away from my face and looked back up at the screen - it showed footage of my house with the curtains closed, about 10 feet away. I jumped up from the couch, making my way cautiously to the window, my body shaking and my nerves running. My dog, Sasha, scampered downstairs, barking vigorously. The movie continued playing.

"And that's my dog, Sasha, barking because she knows someones outside!" I chickened out and ran upstairs, Sasha running after me. Once we reached my room, I dialed 911 into the keypad on my phone, but before I could press the call button I heard the tv say "No, don't call! I'm just here to say hi!". For whatever dumb reason, I listened, but I didn't move from my room. Even though my door was locked, I heard it click open. The movie telegraphed the scene as it walked upstairs.

And then suddenly, a different voice echoed throughout my house.

"Mila, it's me, Adeline!" My heart leapt to my throat at the sound of her voice. I hadn't heard it in so many years - not since we were 19, and she broke up with me after 4 of the best years of my life, which were spent none other than with her. I opened the door, my heart racing and hope coursing through my body.

But nobody was there. I made to turn around, but before I could, the same dark, deep voice whispered cooingly in my ear.

"Turn around, Mila. I'm here now." And when I did, I screamed at the top of my lungs, one that echoed through the tv downstairs and around the whole house. A sharp jab of pain in my stomach, and then black...