Tales of the Scarecrow

Messenger

[READ AT YOUR OWN RISK]

Facebook has been the life of many people, especially teens. Communication has been running on chats and physical conversations are all starting to fade out. We use Facebook to talk to people we know and people we want to know, close friends, family, relatives.

But sometimes online communication can be scary. So I plead you to continue reading this story as it changed my perspective on chatting. It happened on one typical Sunday night. I was chatting with my best friend on Messenger and we were talking about countless random topics. Our convo was pretty much normal, until he started to message me strangely.

"Dude, there's a strange guy throwing stones at my house outside." He wrote.

"Must be some drunk punk." I typed.

"Wait a sec, dude. I'm going to talk to him outside." He typed.

After a while, he turned offline. I stared at the clock, 09:37PM. I also closed my Messenger and I continued watching the NBA game on my laptop as I lay down my bed. The game was on the last quarter. Golden State vs. Toronto Raptors. Unlucky for me, my team, Golden State lost by a single point deficit, so I closed my laptop and I opened my phone once again. I noticed that he was back online again, so I messaged him.

"So, what was the commotion about, dude?" I typed.

"It was nothing." He typed.

After a few seconds, he sent another message.

"Can I come over?"

"Sure. But it's late, you won't be allowed man." I typed.

"Dad said it's okay. Where is your house at again?" He typed.

This time, I found it strange how he could forget where I lived. I realized he was forgetful, so maybe his dumb amnesia got the best of him again.

"Hey, haven't I told you it's on the other side of the suburb, near the bus stop? You're like an old hag, man." I typed,

"I just forgot, sorry. Are you alone?" He asked.

"Uh, yeah. Mom and dad are out for the night and I'm currently the king of the house for the meantime. Come here now." I replied, I got a little drowsy as I yawned. I stared at the time and, it was already 10:03PM, twenty-five minutes before he went offline.

"Dude, call when you're right here. I'm kinda sleepy." I added,

"Just leave the doors unlocked." He replied,

I trusted him and I left the front door unlocked. He's my best friend anyway. But I locked the door to my room for safety reasons. I closed my phone and left my Messenger on. After a minute or two, I fell asleep.

It was already daybreak when I awoke. Noticing that I forgot about my best friend, I scrambled as I reached for my phone and saw that my Messenger had countless messages from him already.

"Dude, Im here. Please open the door to your room."

"Dude, open the door."

"JUST OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR!"

I was dumbfounded by the language he used. It shocked me, realizing that he was not the trashy talker kind of guy. I jumped out of my bed and went outside my room. As my fingers twisted the doorknob, I found blood on the other side of the door in my room. This is getting very creepy. He was offline but I still messaged him back and I apologized for not noticing him last night. I went down the stairs and I saw some blood tracks on the walls in the side of the stairway.

Something was definitely out of place.

I went to the living room with the thought that he might be sleeping there but I found no one. I tiptoed around every room but he wasn't in any one of them. Maybe he went back home, I thought. Then, I noticed he was online so I grabbed my phone and messaged him once again.

"Hey dude, sorry I fell into a really deep sleep so I didn't notice you last night." I typed,

After a minute, an unknown number called. Everything was starting to creep me out. I hesitantly answered the phone only to hear a concerned panicking voice. It was my best friend.

"Hey, hey man. Are you okay?!" He said in a very shaky voice.

"I'm okay dude, why?" I said, hearing his deep breaths through the phone on my ears.

"I got mugged last night! remember the strange guy? I'm currently in the hospital because he stabbed me. He tried to kill me, but luckily I escaped. But he took my phone and a few items from me!" He said in a shouting voice.

This time, I completely realized what the blood tracks and the profane language I received meant. I asked him about the exact time he got mugged and when he lost his phone, around 09:40PM.

He also said he did not come over to my house and that he did not send the messages. We reported the incident to the police and up until now, the criminal was still not caught.

My friend and I changed all our accounts after the incident.