Chapter 4

For a moment, I wondered, “Why is this happening?” More importantly, why do I keep seeing these things? That man. The little girl. Now a red door, and inside it, a red phone. I tried to convince myself I was just tired, that the heat got to me. But I knew that wasn’t true. The man, the little girl, the red door, the red phone—this was all real. And I didn’t know how to stop it.

I hate to admit it, but at the time, I was more curious than scared. I wanted to know what was happening and why. I ended my night turning off the TV, cleaning up, doing the usual, but I couldn’t sleep. My mind raced with what I saw and heard, and how I felt. To be honest, I was scared. I kept thinking about that last line from the little girl: “No…please…I SAI—” It echoed in my mind, distant and desperate, like she was right there, yelling for help.

The worst part was how I felt. From the moment I heard those words, not sympathy, but dread washed over me. My jaw clenched at the thought. Any normal person would be terrified, but for me, it felt like a warning. The little girl’s last words meant something—more than just fear. But I couldn’t figure out why. Why did hearing a little girl’s last words in the middle of a scream make my heart pound with dread instead of sympathy? One thing was certain: the “magician” was a bad man, and I needed to avoid him.

The next day, I was in the kitchen making breakfast when I heard footsteps. I tensed and turned quickly—just my mom coming in. She noticed how startled I looked and frowned. “Honey, what’s wrong?”

I blinked out of my trance, forced a smile. “It’s okay, Mom. Last night I watched a scary movie. Still got the jitters.” Even as I said it, my voice shook. Her raised eyebrow told me she didn’t buy it, but she let it go. “Okay, sweetie, maybe lay off the scary movies. You’ve been tense lately, and you look like you haven’t slept.”

I nodded, forcing another smile. “Okay, Mom. Good luck at work.” She kissed my forehead and left. As soon as she was gone, I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding and tried to steady myself. Don’t let her find out, I thought. I had to play it cool and act like I was fine, even though I wasn’t.

I finished breakfast and headed to school to meet the “skater girls.” We went to class as usual. After school, we met at the entrance. Angela was out sick, so it was just me, Racheal, and Max. “I hope she’s alright,” Max muttered as we walked to the park. “Yeah, me too. After the sleepover, she’s been a little weird,” Racheal said. “I’m sure she’s fine, just needs to rest,” I said, trying to sound reassuring, but I couldn’t stop thinking about the red door.

Every corner we turned, I thought I saw a flash of red. Every red door made my jaw clench, hoping there’d be no ringing. There was nothing, but I couldn’t shake the tension.

We got to the park around 4 p.m. and did our usual skate routines—Racheal with tricks on her scooter, Max and I on our boards. We skated for a while, goofing off, until I saw him—Nick, from my English and math class. He played guitar, listened to heavy metal, and—god, was he hot. Black, fluffy hair, pale skin, green eyes. Did I mention he was hot? And he skated, too. He was across from us, doing tricks, and I couldn’t help but watch.

I didn’t realize how long I was staring until I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned to see Racheal grinning. “Ouuu~ like what you see, Rose?” I blushed. “What? No, hell no.” I looked away, but sneaked another glance.

“OMG, you totally have a crush on him!” Max said, appearing with a grin. I blushed harder but tried to act cool. “Shut up, Max,” I said. Racheal and Max giggled. “Go talk to him!” Racheal urged. “Hell no, I can’t!” Just the thought terrified me.

“Aww, come on, Rose! You totally like him!” Max insisted. “No, Max. Not happening,” I said flatly. I wasn’t in the mood to talk to him, let alone go up to him.

“Ugh! You’re no fun!” Racheal pouted. I smirked. “Then how about you talk to that boy in biology class?” Racheal blushed bright red. “HELL NO!” she said, shaking her head. Max and I laughed. Racheal stuck out her tongue, pretending to be annoyed, and we giggled. We skated until it started getting dark.

“We should get going,” Racheal said. “Yeah,” Max agreed, not really wanting to go home. I nodded. As much as I wanted to skate at night, it was a school night, and I couldn’t help but feel tense, gripping my skateboard tighter.

Racheal scooted off to her house—lucky her, living across the street from the park. Max and I walked together until she turned down her street, and I kept going straight. Just one more block to go. I put on my headphones and turned on my Walkman. As I rounded a corner, I was about three houses from my own when my Walkman and headphones started to go static and stutter. It was odd; I’d just bought them a week ago. The weirdest part was the stuttering: sometimes only one word came through the static. “Static~ crackle~...Should I st—...static~ crackle~ go!”

I frowned and smacked my Walkman. “Come on, stupid thing,” I muttered. I turned it off, restarted it, and kept walking. After that, it worked fine.

But as I kept going, I caught a figure in red in my peripheral vision across from me. I whipped my head around—nothing, just the darkness and a lamppost. I looked around—still nothing. My jaw clenched. I could’ve sworn I saw someone in red. Tall. Just like—wait, no. It couldn’t be. Could it?

I shook my head. I hadn’t seen him yet and intended to keep it that way. I walked toward my house. As I reached it, a black van with a faint drawing of a rose drove off around the corner, the engine rumbling in the distance. A faint, rotting smell of cotton candy lingered in the air, making my head spin. My jaw clenched again. Could it really be him? Worse—does he know where I live?

My stomach churned with uncertainty and dread. One thought wouldn’t leave my mind: He’s not just watching me anymore. He’s hunting.