Hypnotic

One

I stared at his message for a few seconds, my teeth nibbling at the skin of my lower lip. It wasn't that I was nervous. I was just surprised. My fingers hovered over my phone's keyboard for a moment before I finally typed back. "Hey, Damiar..." I had barely let the reply set before I received another message. "What's your name?" I chuckled softly to myself and decided to tease him by sending my username instead. "PinkyFoxx_98," I texted back.

It was a hot minute before I received an answer. "No, baby. Your real name." With a soft eyeroll, I decided to be honest. "Venus." Another long minute dragged by before I got another message. "Venus who?" I sighed and closed the TikTok app on my phone before shutting my phone off altogether. It wasn't that I didn't trust Damiar - well, okay, maybe I didn't - but I was never the type to give out my full name to a stranger.

I ignored the notification dings from TikTok as I left my bedroom to make a bowl of Ramen noodles. Just to spice it up a little more, I added a few chopped up chili peppers and a couple of drops of red food dye. Once my lunch had finished, I set it on the table and went to retrieve my phone. I was greeted with three more notifications from Damiar. "Venus?" "Hey, you still there?" "Baby?"

I rolled my eyes and ate a fork full of noodles before responding. "I don't give my full name to people on the internet. I don't really know you. All I know is what the internet tells me." Again, I wasn't trying to be rude or anything of the sort, and Damiar seemed like a cool dude. I was just cautious when it came to giving out any personal information to people on social media. "Oh, so you've looked me up?"

I snorted out a laugh as I took another bite of my noodles before texting back. "Maybe.." The conversation dropped and I was slightly surprised. "Odd.." I muttered to myself before setting my now empty bowl of Ramen in the sink.

I settled on the couch and pulled up my college courses before telling Alexa to play a string of epic emotionals. I had successfully taken my mind off of Damiar and TikTok as a whole, but the familiar Supernatural theme song alerted me that someone was calling. I had Alexa pause the music as I looked at the number and squinted. I didn't recognize the 773 area code. I let the call go to voicemail as I looked up the number. "Chicago, Illinois, huh? Nope, don't know anyone there."

I shrugged and went back to my American Literature course, thinking nothing of it. However, I heard the chime of a new voicemail, and I allowed my curiosity to get the best of me. "I've been doing my own research on you too, Venus King." My blood ran cold as the message ended. I was all too familiar with that voice. I tried to rationalize that he knew my last name from Facebook or Twitter, but I had no recollection of putting my last name on any social media site, especially not my phone number.

I did the first thing that came to mind. I called him back. It rang four times and the seconds dragged by. Until finally - "Hey, Baby." "How do you know my last name?" I interrogated. "Where did you find my number?" He chuckled giddily like I had just offered him a hundred dollars. "Didn't you listen to my voicemail, silly? I've researched you." "That's wrong," I hissed at him. "When I say I looked you up, I mean that I know your birthday and age! I didn't know your number! And I don't know your full name!"

There was a long pause on the other side of the line, and for a moment I thought he had hung up on me. Then he spoke. "I didn't look you up online, baby," he purred. "I've been watching you." My chest constricted and I dropped my phone as I struggled to breathe. I was never one prone to panic attacks, but this was already too much. I had lived alone since I was 18, so if what he said was true...

I swiftly grabbed my phone off of the floor. "What's my middle name?" I barked. "What are my parents' full names? What was my mom's surname? What was my first pet's name?" To my horror, he didn't skip a beat. "Your middle name is Zoey. Your father's name is Alexander Ray King. Your mother's name is Zoe Emily King, former Williams. Your first pet was a rabbit named Sprinkles. He was killed by your second pet, a cat named Holly."

I shivered and glanced out of the window in paranoia. "Wh-where do I live..?" I whispered, my eyes peering into the dark. "100 West 57th Street. Midtown New York." Tears had long been streaming down my face, but the knowledge of the fact that he knew exactly where I lived sent a fresh wave of fear through my body. "What do you want?" I sobbed into the phone. "What the hell do you want from me?!"

The line was silent, and I could care less if he had hung up on me. I cried relentlessly, trying to figure out exactly what to do. Just before I decided to call 911, I heard him sigh - a heavy sigh. "I don't want to scare you. I don't want to hurt you. I just need your help." "My help?" I spit back. "The only help you need is from a psychiatrist!" "Venus!" "Damiar!" We both fell silent until he spoke up again. "I need your help with something I'd rather not talk about over the phone." I snorted in derision. "Yeah? Well you don't have a choice unless you intend on breaking into my goddamn house." I heard him sigh again, this time in annoyance. "Tomorrow at Starbucks. 9 am. If you don't show up you'll regret it."

The line went dead and I stared dully at the darkened screen. I screenshot his number before dialing 911.