Midnight Message

Chapter 2 - You are going to die tonight

The sound of her phone vibrating on her bed side table wakes Gemma from her light sleep. She pushes her long brown hair out of her face and fumbles for her phone. The light from the screen shines brightly in her dark room and she has to squint in order to read the clock. 11:51pm. What the…? Who would be texting this late on a Sunday night?

She secretly hopes it’s Jan telling her not to bother coming in to the library tomorrow morning. Gemma loves volunteering at the Richmond public library on Monday and Saturday mornings. She finds it relaxing to re-shelve the returned books in the quiet library and she knows Jan appreciates her help. However, she could really use those extra few hours to work on her essay that is due on Wednesday.

Gemma swipes her finger over her phone and reads the alert on her screen. 1 new message. She doesn’t recognise the number. Not Jan, Gemma feels guilty for even thinking it would be her. She wouldn’t text this late anyway. Curious, Gemma clicks on her inbox. A message pops up on her screen.

You are going to die tonight.

Gemma’s heart starts beating faster as she reads the message again.

You are going to die tonight.

The words jump out at her. Nervously she looks around her room. The light from her phone is causing all manner of menacing looking shadows to dance around her dark room. Her heart continues to race. Pull yourself together Gemma. She fumbles for her bedside lamp and hits the switch. Electric light fills her room and causes the shadows to disappear. Gemma stares at the message on her screen again and forces herself to calm down.

Was Zack sleeping over at his mate’s house tonight? His 14 year old brain probably thinks it’s hilarious to use his mate’s phone to prank her in the middle of the night. Gemma opens her bedroom door and pads down the hallway. She pushes open her brother’s door and peers inside. He’s lying on his bed, his stomach rising and falling slowly. Asleep. Of course he’s not at a sleepover. It’s a school night.

Gemma returns to her room and shuts the door. So who sent the message? Her heart rate starts to quicken again and she can feel butterflies in her stomach. She stares suspiciously at her door, then at her window, expecting an axe wielding murderer to come crashing into her room at any moment. The clock on her phone ticks over to midnight and the butterflies in her stomach do a flip.

She forces herself to calm down. This is stupid. Ok so it’s not Zack. But it’s probably some other bored kid who thinks it’s funny to text random people in the middle of the night. Gemma stares at her phone until the clock changes from midnight to 00:01. And logically speaking, it’s 00:01am, as in, the morning. It’s not even night. Unless the text counts night as the time it is dark, in which case it won’t be morning for almost 6 hours….

Gemma reads over the text again. This is silly. I’m not going to lie awake worrying about a stupid text that some idiot punk of a kid decided to send in the middle of the night. Gemma runs her fingers over the words on her phone then makes a decision. She taps her phone and the keypad appears. Well I’m not going to sit here all night wondering. She types a message and hits send.

Who is this??

Gemma turns off her lamp and settles back into her bed. Then her phone vibrates. 1 new message.

Your worse nightmare.

Gemma sits bolt upright, her heart starting to beat faster again. She fumbles for the switch on her lamp. The light comes on and she regains her composure. It’s just a stupid kid. She types a reply.

Shouldn’t you be in bed?

She gets a reply almost immediately.

No. I’d much rather be in your bed sweetheart ;)

Gemma stares at her phone in disgust. Who does this kid think he is? She types an angry reply.

You better watch what you say, you little prick, or your mummy might make you wash your mouth out with soap. Now, you better run along to bed before she grounds you for being up past your bedtime.

Gemma sighs and places her phone back on her bed side table. Then she turns off her lamp and snuggles back into bed. The nerve of kids these days. Seriously, you’d think he was an 18 year old hormone crazed jock the way he was talking. She rolls onto her side and closes her eyes. No sooner has she closed her eyes than the sound of her phone vibrating causes her to open them again. Annoyed, she reaches her hand up and grabs her phone. She swipes her finger across the screen and clicks on the little message icon.

Ouch. Those are nasty words. I think you owe me an apology, baby.

I’m not the one sending scary messages to random strangers in the middle of the night, jerk.

You’re a feisty one, aren’t you? Why don’t you come over to my place? I’ll help you relax ;)

Argghh Gemma slams her phone down on her bedside table and closes her eyes. She’s not going to waste any more time texting this idiot. She’s had enough of his sexual innuendos for one night. She glances at the digital clock sitting on her desk. It shows 00:15. She doesn’t have to be at the library until 10am so she can have a nice sleep in. She smiles. The sound of her phone vibrating causes her to wipe the smile off her face. He’s a persistent little prick, I’ll give him that. She buries her head under the covers and ignores her phone. After a minute it vibrates again. Then again. Argghh seriously? She snatches at her phone and stares at the screen. 3 new messages.

Wait, scary message? Aww is my little baby scared?

Don’t worry, I’ll come over and make it all better.

Or you could go crying to your mummy and ask her to make the scary message go away.

Gemma reads the messages and glares. She types a reply.

I’m 19 you idiot. How old are you?

Now, now. There’s no need to be rude baby doll. Why don’t you ask me nicely?

Gemma takes a deep breath and grits her teeth.

Please tell me how old you are?

Old enough to satisfy a girl like you. Old enough to have you screaming my name all night long. I’m 21 ;)

Gemma feels the butterflies return, but not because she’s scared. This guy is 21! She starts trying to picture what he might look like, lying in his bed. Then she stops herself. Who does he think he is? He’s got a massive ego and a filthy mouth. Gemma calms herself enough to write a simple, short reply.

What’s your name?

As soon as she’s hit send she realises it is the wrong thing to say. She’s left herself wide open for his next reply. Sure enough, her phone vibrates in her hand less than a minute later.

That’s more like it sweetheart! My name’s Trent. And don’t you worry, I’m home alone, so you can scream it as loud as you want. I’ll have you screaming ‘Trent’. I’ll have you moaning ‘Trent’. I’ll have you forgetting every other name apart from Trent.

He sounds hot. Gemma hears his name in her head. Trent. She likes the sound of it. Whoa, pull yourself together girl. Gemma sighs. He’s probably some ugly nerd with no life, taking a break from his computer game marathon to text a random person in the hope of getting a reply. She smiles at this thought. Her phone vibrates again. She reads his message quickly.

What’s your name baby doll?

 She’s had enough of this arrogant guy. With a sense of satisfaction Gemma turns her phone to silent and places it face down on her bedside table. After a few minutes her heart stops pounding loudly in her ears and her breathing returns to normal. Before she knows it, she falls asleep.