TW: Kidnapping
It's easy to say I didn't get much sleep last night after those chilling messages. I tossed and turned on my blow up mattress, hundreds of questions buzzing around in my brain.
"Who's sending me these cryptic messages? What do they mean? How did they even get my number? How did they know when I got to the house? And why did they call me 'Neighbor?' Do they live in one of the houses next door!?"
My anxiety had me checking the locks on the doors every few minutes. And for an extra safety measure, I had hung up a few sheets and blankets I brought in front of the windows, since my curtains were still being delivered.
Speaking of, the moving truck should be getting here soon. Since it took me so long to fall asleep, I ended up waking up later than I had planned, making me lose track of time.
Pushing down any anxiety from last night, I managed to pull myself off the somehow already deflated mattress and get dressed for the day. Nothing too fancy, just enough to keep me both comfortable and motivated.
Realizing I had no food, and not wanting to go shopping yet in case the truck got here while I was gone, I placed a delivery order for the closest coffee place for ((insert favorite drink/breakfast item))
About half an hour goes by before my food arrives, thankfully before the truck. I'm going to need as much energy as I can get bringing all those heavy boxes in by myself.
Another hour goes by and there's still no sign of the moving truck, so I decide to start organizing some of the clothes I had packed in my suitcase to kill time. It would have to be done eventually anyway.
Yet another hour passes and my mind begins racing, anxiety rising by the second. "Did they go to the wrong address? Did they crash!?" I can't help but pace up and down the new, empty hall, glancing out the window every now and then, hoping to see the truck in the driveway.
But there never was.
My phone began ringing from the other room, making me jump. My body moved quicker than I could think as I ran to grab it, ignoring the fact the person calling wasn't in my contacts and hoping it was the moving company calling to let me know what's going on.
"Hello?"
There was slight static on the other end. Whoever it was sounded very out of breath, their breathing heavy in the mic.
"Is that really you?"
On instinct, my head whipped around to observe my surroundings, fearing whoever this was was the person that sent me that weird message last night.
I tried taking mental notes on what their voice sounded like, just in case it was someone I knew pulling a prank on me. The voice was way too deep to be a female. It was also pretty scratchy, but that might have been from all the static on the other end. I wouldn't be surprised if they called me from a toaster.
"I'm sorry, who is this?" I swallowed the lump in my throat, trying to hide the fear seeping into me.
The person on the other end sighed "You don't recognize..." They trailed off "Not enough time to explain. Follow these directions if you want to know the truth."
I blinked in confusion "The truth...?"
"Don't you want to know who I am? Why you can't remember a rather important year of your life?"
My heart dropped to my stomach. I pressed my back to the wall, eyes continuously scanning the area around me as my fight or flight instincts started kicking in. "How the hell.." My voice shook under my breath before raising a few octaves "Who the hell are you? How do you know all-"
They hung up.
My hand shook, still pressing the phone into the side of my head, too scared to move. It wasn't until the phone buzzed that I quickly pulled it away, seeing yet another message from the anonymous number.
*312 Applework Rd*
An address.
I scoffed. A stranger is stalking me, knows things about my life only close family knows, and wants me to go to some random address? How stupid does this person think I am? I'll just call the police and-
*Buzz*
4:42 pm
From: Anonymous
* I think you're smart enough to make the right decision here *
There's no fucking way that thing just read my mind. It's coincidence, that's it. That's all this is. Just one big, and very unfunny, prank being pulled by one of my old friends using a voice modulator... right?
I scramble to type in the address I was sent, simply to get more information on what's going on here. My heart pounds in my chest as the loading sign spins impossibly slow before revealing some creepy abandoned warehouse. By the looks of it, there must have been some sort of fire here at some point. Black ashes and missing pieces decorated parts of the building, though most of it remained intact.
A website about it was still up and running with a brief description:
"The Candy Apple Productions team welcomes you to their home away from home. Come tour the behind the scenes magic of all your beloved shows and movies, including: Donna the Adventurer, Pinky, and..."
"No.. it's a coincidence. Surely it has to be a coincidence."
"...Welcome Home."
⎻⎺⎺⎻-⎽__⎽--⎻⎺⎺⎻-..ઇଓ
After making a couple calls to the moving company, I found out that the driver had somehow gotten the wrong address and that my things should be arriving sometime late tomorrow. Great.
I decided it would be best to stay away from my phone and try to keep my mind off things. As long as I stayed inside with my doors locked and windows covered, this mysterious stalker couldn't bother me... I hope...
My phone could be heard going off across the room, but I didn't bother looking up at it. Instead, I kept my head down and continued reading , drawing, coloring, etc.
My plan seemed to be working as the ringing stopped. But I couldn't celebrate victory just yet.
"I don't appreciate being ignored"
Everything around me seemed to collapse as I slowly looked up to my phone, seeing the call had somehow answered itself.
"I'm trying to be nice here but if you don't cooperate im going to have to take matters into my own hands."
Cautiously, I inched closer to the phone, not daring to make any sort of noise.
"Why don't we see what your dear mother has to say about-"
"You stay the hell away from her." I blurt out the demand, blood boiling in a mix of rage and fear at what this threat could mean.
"Come to the address before sundown tomorrow and maybe I will."
Once again, the call was ended.
My blood boiled inside of me. Feeling like a soda can that was shook up too much, yet had no way of being opened. I wanted to scream. This wasn't fair. I should be happily decorating my new home and meeting the neighbors, not wondering if i'll ever see my mother again.
The soda can I call myself begins fizzing through the cracks as I storm over and grab my phone. A new message was just sent: my mother's address. The bubbles begin pouring along with my tears as my phone is chucked into the closest wall. Whatever is left hisses, air escaping it as I gasp for more.
⎻⎺⎺⎻-⎽__⎽--⎻⎺⎺⎻-..ઇଓ
I don't remeber falling asleep, much less getting changed into pajamas or getting into bed, but I don't give it a second thought. A good nights rest has helped me think things through and really weigh my options, and though it's a terrible idea that will most likely get me killed, it's better than risking my mother's life.
Judging by the time, if I go now, and somehow miraculously make it back alive, I should have time to meet the moving truck tonight. With no time to waste, I throw on clean clothes and wash up before grabbing my keys and heading out the door.
As I plugged the address into the GPS, a notification appears at the top of my very cracked phone screen.
9:38 am
From: Anonymous
*See you soon dear*
"Yeah yeah fuck off" I mutter, cringing at the pet name. I play some of my favorite music in a sad attempt to calm my nerves. It was only about a 30 minute drive, much closer than I expected, which was slightly terrifying.
With every passing minute, my palms grow sweatier, gripping the wheel just a bit tighter. The inside of my cheek now has a noticeable divot due to my anxious chewing.
The warehouse had an oddly long dirt driveway that took about 5 minutes to get through in itself. Not to mention it was hidden by a bunch of overgrown bushes and trees. I almost drove right by it.
I made sure to park as close to the entrance as possible and to leave the doors unlocked, just in case I had to make a quick getaway. I fidgeted with the pocket knife I kept in my car as I looked for an easy way in. It wouldn't do much in a fight, but it was the only source of protection I had at the moment. I just hoped it would be enough.
Conveniently, one of the side doors had fallen off its hinges, meaning I wouldn't have to break anything to get in. Even with my flashlight, the inside was suffocatingly dark and foggy due to all the dust and debris in the air.
"Hello?" I called out, mentally smacking myself at the dumb move. I just alerted whoever was here of my presence, which would make sneaking around incredibly difficult.
I was expecting some sort of message or clue from my stalker when I got here, but so far it's just been radio static. They were probably doing this on purpose, just to get a rise out of me. I groaned at the thought. If this really was all just some elaborate prank then someone's going to end up hurt and it won't be me.
My fingers hovered over the anonymous number, debating just turning around right now.
10:12 am
"I'm here. Now what?"
My eyes are glued to my screen as I wait for a reply that will never come.
Sighing, I write this all off as a dumb prank from someone that saw my comment and wanted to have a little fun. But I didn't drive all this way for nothing, the least I could do was check out the place. I mean, I kinda always wanted to explore an abandoned building.
Ashes covered most of the floor and walls, but from what could be made out, the wallpaper and carpet were fairly antique. This matched a lot of the furniture and decorations as well. The ones that weren't broken or burnt at least.
Every room I entered seemed to either be an office or storage room. I had yet to see anything related to Welcome Home and I wasn't sure if this made me relieved or even more uneasy.
As if the universe read my mind, I stumbled upon a room that was very different from the rest. This room was much larger and was basically empty. The old brown carpet was replaced with a soft green that almost looked like grass, while the antique wallpaper was now light blue painted concrete with little clouds. It almost looked like they were trying to replicate outside... very poorly.
Upon venturing further into the dark, cold room, I ended up running into some sort of mini playhouse. It was red with a blue roof and was pretty small, only reaching about my waist. It was eerie to say the least.
Shining my flashlight in one of the windows to try and get a peek at what could be inside, not expecting much of anything. The light landed on a mini puppet of the Wally character looking right into my soul. I gasped and jumped back, dropping my phone in the process and shutting off the flashlight.
I cursed repeatedly under my breath as I scrambled to the ground, doing my best to feel around for my phone.
In my distracted state, a figure had managed to sneak up behind me, grabbing me tightly and placing some sort of cloth over my mouth. My heart threatened to burst right through my chest as I did my best to kick at the stranger cloaked in darkness, but it was no use.
In merely seconds, my vision had blurred into nothing as a ringing filled my ears before hearing nothing but the sound of suffocating silence. The last thing I felt was the stranger lifting me off of the cold carpeted ground.
"Sleep tight"
I could just make out the deep voice that had been tormenting me over the phone.
"You've got a long day ahead of you baby"