Death Sends A Video

We all have gotten the email: Is this you in this video... We all know not to open it, but maybe not for the reasons we think.

 

Death Sends A Video

 

Death In The Hood

Connie opened her FriendsBook message and shook her head. There was only one line and it read, What are you doing in this video? She looked to see which one of her idiot friends had sent her the Spam.

 

“Of course,” she muttered. “Barb. That woman will click on anything. Connie picked up her phone and sent her a text message. Change your FriendsBook password, you’ve been hacked. Then she deleted the link from her inbox.

 

Her phone rang. Glancing at it, Connie saw that it was a text message from Barb. NOT JUST HER FRIENDSBOOK. BARB’S  BEEN HACKED. TO PIECES.

 

“What the heck? That woman’s sense of humor gets more and more bizarre.” She texted back, NOT FUNNY.

 

The next text was a picture. It was of Barb, with her body parts removed and lying next to her in a pool of blood. The message that came with it said, YOU’RE NEXT.

 

Connie dropped the phone and screamed.

 

***

The funeral was closed casket. Connie had stood next to it and tried not to see Barb as she had appeared in the photo the killer had sent her. She tried not to think about how the killer hadn’t been caught and how he had told her he was coming after her. The police had pulled back up the video link she’d been sent, just in case there was some clue on it, but the link hadn’t led anywhere. Just a message that read, THIS IS NOT A VALID LINK.

 

Her brother wanted her to move.

 

“I’m not going to live my life in fear.” But she did agree to stay at a safe house until the creep was caught.

 

“At least they have an internet connection here, even if it is slower than dial up.”

 

Finally she connected to FriendsBook. She clicked the top tab and froze. ONE MESSAGE FROM Barb. She looked around. The cop was outside the door, maybe she should call him into the room.

 

“I’ll take a look first. If there’s nothing there… I don’t want to waste his time.”

 

She clicked on the message. IS THIS YOU IN THE VIDEO? WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? Chewing on her lower lip, Connie moved the mouse over the link and clicked. A video popped up and began playing. As she watched the video the room began to spin. The video showed her sitting in her room at the safe house, watching a video on the computer. In the video she was holding a cup of coffee, just like she was now. In the video she heard a noise and turned, spilling her coffee in the process before falling and hitting her head on the floor.

 

“What the hell…”

 

Behind her she heard the door open. She jumped, turning to see who was coming in. She didn’t even feel the coffee scald her leg before everything went black.

 

***

“What do you mean there was no video?”

 

“I’m sorry ma’am. I have my best tech officer on it. There’s nothing there.” The police Captain shifted uncomfortably.

 

“What about the officer? The one that came into the room right before I passed out. Certainly he saw the video. It was on the screen when he opened the door.”

 

“Ma’am, again, I’m sorry but he didn’t see anything.”

 

Connie looked out the window, frustrated. When she looked back she saw the way he was looking at her. “I’m not crazy!”

 

“Of course not, ma’am.”

 

“You don’t need to patronize me.”

 

He smiled. “I’m not. I know this is a very frightening situation for you.” He paused, then said, “I have an officer outside. If you need anything…”

 

“I’ll be sure to yell.”

 

***

WHAT WERE YOU DOING IN THIS VIDEO?

 

Connie stared at the screen. She wanted to call the officer outside the door, but they already thought she was crazy. What if she called him and nothing was there? She sighed. Why had she even logged onto the internet? She moved the cursor, intending to delete the link. At the last minute she changed her mind and clicked it open.

 

In the video it was dark outside. She was sitting in the hospital bed and a nurse was bent over her. Connie was struggling with the nurse, who had a needle in her hand. Well, that would explain the struggle. She hated shots.

 

Connie looked up from the video and looked out the window. It was just starting to get dark. Turning back to the screen she watched the door open and someone came into the room. She couldn’t see his face because it was covered with a surgical mask. The Connie in the video was yelling, trying to get the nurse to turn around, but the woman wasn’t paying attention to her. He walked up behind the nurse and stuck a knife into her back. When the nurse slumped over the bed he turned to Connie.

 

“Run,” Connie whispered. “Run. Why am I not running?”

 

Connie jumped. There was a knock at the door. Connie looked up from her laptop and her heart began to pound as fear rushed through her. The nurse in the video was coming into the room.

 

“Hi, I’m Angie. I just need to get some vitals…”

 

“NO! GET OUT! GO! HE’S GOING TO KILL YOU.”

 

Connie’s laptop fell to the floor. Alarmed that Connie was having a panic attack, the nurse rushed to the bed to restrain her. She called for help over her shoulder. Connie understood that the cop should be running into the room, but no one came.

 

 “This will help you relax.” The nurse pulled a syringe out of her pocket. When Connie knocked the needle out of her hands, the nurse pulled something out of her pocket and began to tie Connie’s arm to the rail.  “I’m sorry,” she said, “but this is for your own safety.”

 

“No,” Connie cried. “You don’t understand…”

 

Behind the nurse the door opened. Connie opened her mouth to scream, but nothing came out.”

 

Word Count: 1,000