Like a quarter thrown into a fountain for good luck, the full moon shone bright against the fog-and-cloud marbled October sky. Louisa strolled home alone, unaware of the weight of the air around her. The ends of her gauzy Pepto-Bismol pink dress wrapped around her body, floating behind her like birthday streamers, like she was constantly going through the doorway to a surprise party. Her plastic tiara chipped metallic-silver paint into her hair as she blew a bubble with her gum.
POP. The bursting noise rang out against the empty neighborhood, bouncing off the buildings before disappearing. Amidst the scattering, Louisa thought for the slightest second that she could hear a shuffling behind her. Like someone was a few paces behind her. But when she turned to look over her shoulder, all she could see was particles of fog sparkling under the street light.
She continued home, talking loudly into her phone as she filmed a recap of the night for her Close Friends story. Her bubble gum voice was punctuated by sounds of her chewing and popping her gum, like she was purposely enunciating every sound she made in an ASMR-style performance. If she thought there was something behind her, she couldn’t hear it over herself. She was entranced.
If she thought there was something behind her, she couldn’t hear it over herself. She was entranced.
As she was in the midst of explaining how Oliver was different than all the other washed-up white guys she had hooked up with in the past, her signal cut out.
“Nooooooo,” she wailed, tapping furiously on her phone screen, desperate for connection. “Ugh, this can’t be happening right now.” The glow of her phone screen was like the sun’s light reflecting on her face, turning it into a copy of the shining moon. The loading wheel monotonously spun round and round.
“Oh, but it is,” a deep voice rasped from the nearby darkness. “The time has come for you to pay what’s due.” It waited for her to respond, lingering in the ripe silence and anticipation. The night seemed to falter for a moment, like it was all an illusion. Like it was just Louisa and the voice, caught between sleep and waking—sleep paralysis, frozen muscles. Anything could have swallowed her up and ate her whole. The shadows shook and shivered like they were laughing at her. It wouldn’t matter what she did. In a few minutes, it would all be over.
“This is the worst!” Louisa cried.
“Don’t try to fight it,” the Voice uttered, a twinge of excitement in each word. Its heavy, wet breathing grew faster with each moment. It was hungry.
“Whatever, I’m just gonna go home,” she huffed, finally giving up on trying to salvage her story. She continued walking down the street with the same blasé attitude as before.
“Where do you think you’re going?” the Voice called.
Louisa didn’t respond. She just kept walking, unaware of anyone around her. She was thinking about Oliver and his shaggy, curly hair. How it fluffed up when he brushed his hand through it. How he only ever talked about himself to her. She understood him perfectly. Soon she would be home and have enough reception to finish posting. All of her friends were waiting to hear what she had to say. They loved her stories. She only ever talked about herself.
“Hey, get back here!” roared the Entity to a still-oblivious Louisa. “What the hell is happening?,” It muttered to itself. “I’m talking to you!”
“Huh?” Louisa said, finally glancing at her surroundings. “Did someone say something?”
“I did,” the Voice responded, glad to finally command her attention. “You and I have some business to attend to, Louisa.”
“Oh, are you in one of those skincare marketing companies? I’m already part of one so I don’t think I can get involved with yours, but I could give you a discount code if you want! I’ve had the time of my life selling these products, it’s actually a really simple set-up, see, you just buy a bunch of them from the main distributor and then sell them to friends and family and if you get people you know to sign-up you make a little profit from what they sell, so it’s a really great-”
“I DON’T CARE ABOUT YOUR MLM!,” It yelled.
“Jeez, okay, you don’t have to be a dick about it. I was just trying to help you be part of a really lucrative financial opportunity-”
“ENOUGH. I’m sure you know how this is supposed to go: I terrorize you, you run, the rest is simple.”
“Do you have a phone charger on you?”
It was speechless.
“Hello? Did you hear me? Do you have a phone charger, yes or no?”
Blood drips from my lips in rivers. I am the reason you are afraid of the dark. And you dare to ask me for a phone charger?
“I am a being that has existed for all of eternity, and that will exist long after you are gone. I have seen the world’s creation, and I will see to its end. I have ripped more souls than you could ever conceptualize from their weak, mortal bodies. Blood drips from my lips in rivers. I am the reason you are afraid of the dark. And you dare to ask me for a phone charger?”
“I mean…yeah. My connection isn’t working right and I figured it might be because my phone’s about to die.”
“You are insufferable,” the Voice groaned, begrudgingly throwing a portable charger at her.
“Thanks! Now let’s see if I can…” she mumbled, trying to make her Close Friends story work again.
“Did you not hear anything that I just said? Are you not afraid, mortal? That I will rip your tragic life from your sorry little flesh form?”
“Yeah yeah yeah, I heard you. Don’t you think it’s a little cliche? Your whole spiel and all? I’m just saying, it’s the twenty-first century, you might wanna update all of…” she gestured in his general direction “this.”
“Now what do you know about hauntings,” It sputtered, flabbergasted at her lack of tact.
“Well, I am an empath, so I am really in touch with other people’s feelings. And you just give off such a tortured artist vibe, it’s really getting my mood down. It’s just so...2013 of you, ya know?” she responded, not looking up from her phone. “Anyway, I just don’t think this is going to connect while I’m here, so I’m gonna head out. Thanks for the charger, I guess.”
The Being started to shake with rage. “You’re not going anywhere.” It stepped out of the shadows, into the pale light of the streetlamp. Louisa looked up and was finally present. Startled, she dropped her phone, and it landed against a rock.
The Entity grinned, even though it didn’t have a mouth or face or any defining features, really, except that it felt like the primal fear one feels at the base of their stomach.
The Entity grinned, even though it didn’t have a mouth or face or any defining features, really, except that it felt like the primal fear one feels at the base of their stomach. Somehow, though, Louisa knew It was grinning at her. And she was afraid. It was pleased. Finally, they had connected. Before Louisa had time to say anything else, the Being snatched her and disappeared into the night.
The street was once again bathed in moonlight, the October sky dappled by fewer clouds now. Everything was calm. As if no one had been there at all.
If you looked close enough, you could just make out a phone screen gleaming in the night. On the screen, the street was reflected back: the Instagram story had finally connected. No one was watching it. They never did.
