Hit man

Jess

My phone vibrates under my pillow. I pull it out and see my friends name across the screen. I tap in my password and go into my messages.

Hey, u asleep? My friend texts. I reply,

No. I'm just practicing dying.

Don't be such a downer.

What if I want to be a downer?

-.- don't be a downer.

Fine. I send. I hear a noise outside. It sounds like a cat screaming. I then realize that my cats not sleeping in his bed. Maybe he snuck out again. I glance at the window but it's too dark to see anything. I try to ignore the sound but I can't.

Hey, I think Dennis got out again.

What? Again? You got to get one of those Invisalign things for him.

Terry, Invisalign is like a retainer... U mean an invisible fence?

Same difference Jess.

I smile some at my Terry's stupidity. Then the noise gets louder and more panicked.

Terry I'll be back. I'm gonna go check and see if it's Dennis.

Fine but be careful. It's dark outside.

No shit Sherlock.

I up my phone on my pillow and climb out of bed. I walk quietly down the hall and to the front door. I open it and look around for Dennis. I don't see anything. I start to close the door when I see something down the street. It looks like someone's shining a flashlight. Something about it unnerves me so I shut the door and lock all the locks. I then look at all the windows an the back door and lock them all. I don't know why I'm panicking so much. But it's better safe than sorry. I walk back into my room and find Dennis asleep on my bed. I shake my head at him. My phone vibrates and I pick it up. Thinking it's Terry I unlock it and it goes straight to the text. Once I'm in I see it's a number that I don't know and the text says

I see you.

I gasp and drop my phone. Quickly, I pick it up and call Terry. She picks up on the second ring.

"What? I was practicing dying," she jokes.

"Terry," I whisper, "someone texted me." She laughs a bit on the other line.

"Yeah, hi. That was me," she says.

"No, Terry, I mean someone I don't know." I explain as I look out the slats of the blinds.

"Wrong number?" she says. I explain about the flashlight and the cat noises and Dennis not actually being outside.

"Is someone stalking you?" she says, a little more panicked.

"How would I know?" I say.

"Jess, call the cops. Tell then the number and stuff and they'll track him down for you." Terry says. "And I'm on my way over. They can't get both of us."

"Terry," I say, "I will call the cops but don't come over. Because they could get both of us." Terry agrees to stay put.

"Kay, but if you need me I'll come and I'll bring the gun." She says. The gun is a nerf shotgun she spray painted black for Halloween one year. It did come in handy when someone tried to break into her house once. I feel my phone vibrate against my cheek. I pull it back and I see a text from the same unknown number.

Terry can't help you now.

I let out a scream and this alerts Terry.

"Stop talking to me and call the cops!" she says quickly. I can tell she's getting her stuff to come over. Another vibrate. I can't help but look.

Too late for the cops.

I look around my room. It's empty except for Dennis.

"Terry, they can hear us." I whisper.

"I called the cops from my land line," Terry says, "they're on their way."

Vibrate.

Too late.

I tell Terry to hurry. My phone vibrates again. I don't want to look but I do. I regret it.

There is a picture of Terry getting into her car.

"Terry," I say. Then another vibrate. I look. It's a picture of me. The back of my head, my phone pressed against my head and Dennis sleeping on my bed. My heart stops.

"Too late," a cold voice whispers in my ear. I scream.