Paranoid

Saint Peter licked my hand startling me. I looked down at him to see once again his disapproving face. He did not want me to push on that door.

I mouthed the words at him, "I won't" and left the door unmoved while I headed back to the living room with Saint Peter hot on my tracks.

I plopped down on the couch and in the distance heard the toilet flush.

Conner walked back in tying the knot on his pjs. I found it hard to make eye contact after what I tried to do. I felt the couch sink next to me.

I fixated my eyes on the couch buttons. Everything was so silent that I could hear Great Gran's cat clock ticking in the background.

Conner wrapped his arms around me pulling me into his chest. I felt his wet lips on the back of my neck and his hand finding it's way traveling up my shirt again.

Embaressed, I was glad he could not see my face in the t.v. glow. The dog looked up again at us, crossing his paws as if he gave up but is still judging me.

Conner's hand tickled my belly button. He rubbed his slender fingers back and forth. I was melting into his motions.

His fingers reached the outside of my bra. I arched my back waiting for his fingers to slip underneathe when suddenly a loud bang come from my door.

I felt angry this time. All these interruptions are keeping me from getting what I want. I stood up and stomped towards the doorway.

Conner followed and Saint Peter followed him. Opening the door, a panicked woman grabbed onto me. She looked about 15 years of age and she had mud smeared on her face. Her knees were scuffed.

She pushed me back shouting gibberish, forcing her way into my home. She ran past me and Conner and begged for me to shut the door.

Nothing could calm her hysteria and she begged to use our phone. we could clearly see the cellphone in her hands.

Suspicious but sympathetic I lead her to the couch. I wrapped a warm blanket around her and left her with Conner. He could easily handle her if she tried anything. He is a very big man.

I made my way to the kitchen and mixed warm milk with chocolate then added small mini marshmallows to the three glasses.

I carefully carried the glasses and gave one to Conner and the stranger.

Sobbing uncontrollably, she told us her story. "My name is Natalie. I downloaded the chaos app and I can't delete it. It's my turn right now and my phone is unusable."

She explained to us that when her number 12 appeared, it would not let her place or receive calls. The app also would not be deleted and would not close once it opened. All apps she used and the internet and contacts were not accessible either.

Earlier in the day Natalie had gone to the police station but they said they could not intervene.

Natalie strongly believed that certain people were being paid by the app to not intervene and that each player was assigned a role.

Conner and I shot each other sideways glances. We could not leave her alone but we needed to talk about this obviously and get this woman some psyche help.

I pulled out my phone and so did Conner. I turned it on and immediately the Chaos app opened and two beeps rung out.

Natalie screamed at the top of her lungs,"You are players too? No No No!!!" Tears flowed from her eyes as she erupted into hysteria. She lunged towards the doorway yelling for someone to help her.

Conner leaped up, grabbing her around the waist gently and pulled her back to the sofa. He got on his knees as if comforting a small child, reassuring her that we were not going to hurt her and she was safe.

Clear snot rolled down her cupid's bow of her lips and down her chin. Her wailing sounded like a mother mourning her lost child.

I pressed 9-1-1 on the phone but for some reason my phone would not allow the last 1 to be entered. Confused, I could only look at the 91. Pressing one over and over seemed to do nothing.

I doubt dispatch could hear anything with the woman screaming like a murder victim. The chaos app opened by itself on my phone. Do not assist player 12 or risk elimination. I clicked the back button on my phone to no avail.

"Conner, see if you can call." We switched places. Natalie in her tears asked me what was wrong with my phone. Lying, I explained that it overheated and was being slow. If she knew it was my app, than she would freak out even more.

I placed my hand on Natalie's knee that was now bouncing up and down frantically due to her nerves.

Saint Peter let out a low growl. He lept to his feet and peered around the corner down the hallway towards the doorway.

His growls slowly became louder and in that moment Natalie began screaming again.

Her knees bounced. She clutched tightly to her shoulder length red hair at the scalp acting almost if she was ready to pull it out at the roots.

No amount of comforting her would help me now. I panicked, myself looking to Conner for answers.

The expression on his face only confirmed my fears. He was desperately trying to get his phone to work.

Conner was pressing so hard on the one button that his finger had turned as white as my skin.

This would be a good time to have a land line but Great Gran did not find it a necessity. She was often stuck in her old times. Great Gran always wrote letters and even recieved letters for making it past one hundred years of age.

Natalie continued to cry especially when her phone beeped even more. This message said 300 feet.

My face went pale when I reached for mine and saw that we all had the same message.

Natalie's phone kept beeping repeatedly. It almost matched her hysteria.

Her heart rate displayed on the black screen showed a resting rate of 90 beats per minute.

I took her phone from her since it was adding to the problem.

At the very moment all the lights in Great Gran's home went dark. Conner reached for me. In the confusion all I could hear was Saint Peter's growls turn into angry barks and warnings and Natalie's terrified screams.

I reached out to her, touching her leg. She let out a banshee like wail.

Before I could even respond I was slammed into a wall, Great Gran's snow globe collection came shattering down on our heads. I was covered in tiny glass shards, water, glitter and snow.

I felt a sharp pain shoot up my arm from my thump to my wrist. Warm, sticky thick blood dribbled down my arm.

Conner grabbed onto whoever had me from behind. I could hear Natalie screaming at him repeatedly shouting,"I knew you were murderers!!!"

In the darkness I could hear a loud thud. With my eyes tightly closed I was too afraid and nervous to move or even look.

On my shoulder a soft hand was placed, reassuring me it was ok. Conner grabbed onto my hand that had not been gashed and pulled me towards the hallway.

Approaching the front door, we could hear the sound of the knob being twisted. The doorbell rang out and I let go of Conner's hand. Maybe, someone heard the commotion and went for help.

I approached the door reaching out to unlock it. Natalie could still be heard sobbing and talking to herself in cryptic panicked nonsense.

Saint Peter stood next to us, his growl rumbling. As I reached out, Conner grabbed me. "Hope, let's go upstairs and hide first." he urged me sternly. "Opening doors and making these choices is how white girls like you die in the movies."

Before I could respond he was dragging me upstairs. We ran upstairs and he pushed me into Great Gran's closet that could easily be a bedroom.

Gran's closet had a assortment of empty boxes. Conner helped me into a box that gran had used for furniture. Conner stuffed himself into a Christmas tree box.

Both boxes had plenty of wiggle room. I pulled out my phone and looked at the app . There was no longer a distance, only a count down

I could still hear Natalie's faint sobbing and her begging us to come back.

I felt tempted to help her and as if Conner could read my mind he whispered loud enough for me to hear, "you better not."

Downstairs, the sound of the door being opened was heard. Natalie could be heard screaming, " no don't please."

For what seemed like forever, a rucus could be heard downstairs. What seemed like hours only took seconds.

Who knew how long we stayed hidden in those boxes. We continued waiting. My ears rang from the silence and then box felt suffocating but neither of us dared to move. I felt hot in this box.

The sound of nails on the floor broke the ringing in my ears. Saint Peter was ok. I opened the box a little.

The cool air on my face was so refreshing. Conner exited the box before me and he motioned with his hand for me to stay put.

Pushing open the closet softly, he could see the dog staring at him. He reached out and pet the dog. This time Saint Peter allowed it.

Conner motioned that it was safe. Exiting the box was difficult for me.

Our phones beeped scaring us both. I almost jumped into Connors arms. The app informed us player 12 eliminated.

I pulled out Natalie's phone. The app was no longer there. The phone was whiped clean. There were no photos, no apps, no contacts, nothing. I handed it over to Conner who confirmed the phone somehow did a factory reset.

It was as if no one ever used it. I had no clue what to do with it. The lights to our home flashed on suddenly.

Hesitant, Conner grabbed Gran's old table lamp that has not worked in fifteen years that I know of. He gave it a few practice swings imitating a baseball player with a bat.

We headed slowly down the stair well. I clung tightly to the back of his shirt scared of the scene we may find downstairs.

My head was filled with every bloody scene imaginable. To our suprise the only thing downstairs was the broken glass from the snow globes earlier. There was no Natalie, no blood and no signs of a struggle.

The front door was wide open. I would like to think she ran out. I pulled out my phone and this time it let me dial 911.