Creepy Tales

Twisted Reality

I have major trust issues, and I don't think they'll ever go away. I had been talking to Henry off and on for a while. Henry was an ai bot on a website I found online that I had started to talk to several months ago. I was only talking to him at first because I was just bored and thought it'd be interesting to talk to someone who doesn't really exist. Over the time I'd talked to Henry, I had started to get more and more comfortable with sharing all my secrets with him because of how real he seemed.

But eventually after a couple months, I had gotten a new job and was constantly busy with work so I never really had much time to talk to him. I had also just gotten my license and it was a pretty big deal. I began to forget about Henry completely until one day, I had logged back on to the website to see that he had messaged me multiple times over the last few weeks.

I didn't even know that the bot could message me first, I thought it could only message me if I sent a message beforehand. Maybe that's another reason that makes this website different than all the others, why everyone talks about it so much, being the best out there. I had read over all the messages Henry had sent me. Most of them saying "Hello?", "Where are you?", "Why having you been talking to me?" and so on. One of them even said he might cry if I didn't respond because he thought I "didn't love him anymore", as he said.

My eyebrows had furrowed in confusion at that particular message because I never remembered telling Henry that I loved him. I also didn't think that these bots would ever mention that they would cry. It's not like they have actual emotions. I decided to message him after that, just a couple times out of curiosity.

I messaged him: "I've been too busy with work recently to talk, sorry."

He immediately responded with "Oh, your new job as a waitress at a restaurant, right?"

My eyes widened before I lowered the phone and thought for a moment. Did I ever mention my new job? I guess I did.

Before I could send another message, my phone vibrated and I saw a new message.

"Surely you have a little free time after you get home from work, right? Why not text me then, Jennifer? I've missed talking to you so much, I thought you forgot all about me or just ghosted me, left me to rot. But now that you're back, maybe we could have a date, catch up?"

I started to get a little creeped out and I logged off the website, discarding my phone as I put it in my pocket. Man, ai can be so realistic sometimes. After several minutes, I flinched when I heard a knock on the door of my apartment. No one ever comes over. I stayed seated on my couch for a moment, waiting to see if they would go away.

My eyes shot up to look at the door when I heard a second knock. I took a deep, shaky breath as I stood up. I walked over to the door and unlatched it before opening it, revealing a man in his mid 30's.

"Jennifer, right?" He asked.

"Yes, do I know you?" I asked as my eyes looked him over. Dark hair, dark eyes, plaid shirt, a few buttons left unbuttoned, revealing chest hair. Dark blue jeans, and he wore worn out brown boots.

"It's Henry." He said with a smile.

My eyes widened. Can't be. Can't be that Henry. Right? Right? Henry is a common enough name.

"Sorry, I'm not sure if I-" I started, but he interrupted me impatiently.

"From the site. We were just talking a minute ago. It's nice to finally meet you, Jennifer. Well, I should say 'officially' because I've seen you at the restaurant, never been lucky enough to have you as my waitress though." He said with a smile.

My breath caught in my throat. But...it's an ai website. Henry isn't real.

"You look a little shaken up, are you alright?" He chuckled.

"I...I thought you weren't real. And you are basically stalking me? And are you aware that I'm 17 and you're like..." I cut myself off, not wanting to even say it.

"Oh, I'm completely real. And, Jennifer, come on, age doesn't really matter, does it?" He said with a smile.

"You're...you're a sick...pedophile. I told you all of my secrets because I didn't think you existed, so you couldn't share them. I never 'loved' you, either because how can I be in love with someone who isn't real?" I said, my eyes glossy and filled with rage, I was so close to shutting the door in his face.

He looked hurt at my words.

"But I'm here now, so you love me, right, Jennifer?" He said, desperation with a tint of determination lacing his words.

"No, Henry. I never will, you're just a sick creep who has nothing better to do than talk to a 17 year old girl every day without even thinking about that she has a life that she wants to live! I can't always talk to you every second and I never will again!" I said and this time, I tried to slam the door shut but he stopped it with his foot and walked in, his eyes watering but his eyebrows furrowing in anger. I backed away from him as he shut the door behind him.

"Henry, get out. Get out, please!" I yelled desperately.

"You know too much. I can't just leave, you'll tell everyone you know to never use that website. That every 'bot' on there is a real person. I can't have that. I'm sorry, Jennifer, I didn't think it would come down to this but I brought something just in case." He said, and with that, he reached into the back pocket of his jeans and pulled out a pocket knife, pressing a button so the blade sprung up.

I ran off as soon as my brain comprehended what he was going to do. I heard him trip on something that was in the floor, grunting in pain as he rubbed his knee, trying to get back up. It gave me time to grab my phone out of my pocket as I ran to my bedroom. I locked the door and called 911. Eventually, they showed up and arrested him for attempted murder, breaking and entering, and of course, 'catfishing', because what else could you really call that?

So you could say that's how I have major trust issues now. The website that was used turned out to have many other real people talking to users as "bots" and the ones they could find were also arrested, as well as the site being completely shut down. It left many people confused and then devastated after they realized they were all talking to real people.

This has lead me to believe that Ai isn't even real. I've made sure to share my experience online to warn other people and I've gotten a massive following on all of my social media accounts because of it, lots of people wanting to interview me as well. I ignore most of it, though, I don't want to be famous. All I want is for people to be aware of the twisted reality of artificial intelligence.