Phobophobia

Chapter 2: The Fear Begins

I read the message over and over again, trying to think of something, anything logical that could explain this.

'Maybe it was a wrong number? No, it can't, there was a picture. Well what if... no, that can't be right...'

I can feel my heart beating faster as I reread the last line, 'I'll send you into death.'. I close my eyes and take a deep breath. I know I'm basically fearless, but hey, I'm still human. I'm sure anyone would be freaking out if they got a death threat...

I close the message and pull up a new one, about to tell Kate and Jonathan what happened, but then I decide not to. I can't get them into this, whatever this is. I can't tell my parents, they're dealing with enough stress from all the kidnappings that are happening. I can't tell Lauren, she'd freak out too much, and I can't put this much pressure on her.

I close the message, and decide not to tell anyone. But before I go back to my essay, I get up from the couch and check to make sure all the windows and doors are locked, just to make sure.

As I figured, they were, so I flop back onto the couch and start writing, losing my appetite.

-=+=-

I drop my pencil and shake my hand, hoping to relieve the aching cramps it has from writing so much.

With a yawn, I check the time on my phone. 11:03. I slowly get up and walk to the kitchen and put the remains of my pizza away, and drag myself upstairs, fatigue slowly taking over me.

Once I get to my room, I plug in the Christmas lights I have around my bed and head into my bathroom, and get ready for bed.

Once both my hair and teeth are brushed and my face is washed, I finally roll into bed and unplug the Christmas lights.

But I can't sleep.

Of course, once it's pitch black outside and I'm home alone trying to sleep, the text message pops into my mind. I try to play it off in my head, but nothing works.

But eventually, I fall asleep.

-=+=-

*Beep beep beep! Beep beep beep!"

I roll over and turn the alarm off, telling me I have to wake up for school. I don't get why school starts so early, I mean, we just had the weekend to sleep in, and now they expect us to wake up at 5:45 am? For school?

I grumble at the thought of the time and roll out of bed, literally roll. I close my eyes again, the soft carpet against my face making me tired. But then, I get up, yet again the text message from last night. I quickly make my way into my bathroom and get my hair and minimal makeup done.

Once I look somewhat presentable from the neck up, I walk out of the bedroom and towards my closet. I never feel like wearing super tight skinny jeans on Mondays, so I grab some black leggings and an over-sized sweater.

Once I'm dresses, I grab my white converse and slip them on. I do one last check in the mirror before heading downstairs for some breakfast. I decide on some cereal for breakfast, nothing fancy today.

I make myself a hearty bowl of Cheerios and walk towards the living room, grabbing the TV remote and turning it on. It's on the news, and it's showing an FBI conference, talking about the kidnappings that have been happening. I turn it up and listen to what the lady is saying.

"It is very sad that so many people have gone missing. The kidnap rate recently has rapidly increased as these kidnappings have been happening. We'd just like to say the names of the people who have gone missing, and have been found deceased: Carla Eaton, James Holbrook, Leanna Chasings, Booklyn Spencer, David Harbor, and Adam Coffey. We hope the list does'nt increase anymore, and we truly wish the list did'nt exist at all. If you know any information, Please contact the police, thank you."