Game of Life

Chapter 7: Midnight Lights

(Woodland's Run)
(1:45 A.M)

The Attwater neighborhood is illuminated by street lights. Silence is the neighborhood's best friend at this hour. Walking home from the police station is an exhausted Allison, bags under her eyes as she enters the Attwater neighborhood. Stopping at the neighborhood entryway, obvious by the entrance sign, her phone begins to vibrate in her left pocket.

*BUZZ BUZZ!*

Reaching for her phone, a notification pops up on the front screen of her device. A text, from an unknown sender. Their identity a mystery, and the message ominous. It reads:

The lies of this town will bury you in a New York Minute. How much longer until you're six feet under?

Not just a text however, an attachment is sent along with it. Curious, she opens the attachment. An image appears on the screen other phone. Allison glances at the photo, staggered by the subject of the image. The photo is of Allison, standing in her current location, right in front of Woodland's Run's entrance. The cryptic message seems to cause a sudden feeling of anxiety in Allison, as she suddenly turns around, swiftly looking to the left and right of her tense shoulders. None of her surroundings seems to strike her as out of the ordinary. She takes a deep breath in.

Allison: "Nobody..."

She continues down the street into the neighborhood, walking more cautiously than before. Continuing down the pavement, Allison begins to notice a light emitting from a source behind her. A strange humming sound begins to increase in volume. Concerned, she whips out her phone, accessing her built in camera. Viewing her phone screen, she examines the view behind her. It appears to be the headlights of a car, slowly creeping behind her. She gulps, thinking of how coincidental this situation may be. A strange gut feeling develops inside of her, knowing the time of night it is and how often a car would pass through the neighborhood. Aware of her situation, Allison's levels of anxiety increase dramatically. Attempting to not raise any suspicions, she continues to walk at a casual rate. However, she does indeed increase her speed. Behind her still follows the car, keeping a fairly close distance with her.

Beginning to pick up her pace, Allison clenches her phone in her hand as she keeps her phone on the
dial pad. The car begins to gain speed, slowly pursuing her. As she approaches a stop sign, she sighs. She turns left at the corner of a street as the vehicle brakes at the sign. Noticing the car has stopped at the sign, Allison gains a burst of speed as her fast paced walk changes into a mile run. Never looking back, she runs in fear, sprinting a length of ten houses before turning pivoting around another corner in Woodland's Run. She stands hunched over as she catches her short breath.

Still recovering from the strange encounter, her phone begins to ring. The "Illuminate" ringtone begins to play. A seemingly positive ringtone in a spooky situation. Waiting a brief five seconds, she decides to answer the phone call, hesitantly pressing the green accept button with her quivering fingers.

______________________________________________

(On the phone)

Allison places her phone to her ear. She hesitates to speak into the phone. She then speaks in a light tone, nervous.

Allison: "Hello?"

A static sound is heard on the other end of the call. Allison looks around herself, carefully examining her surroundings. She gulps as she speaks again.