Stranger Danger

I arched my back, and exhaled. I’d just finished moving all of my boxes into my new house. I smiled. Finally, I was able to move out of That Neighborhood! I’ll finally be able to forget….. My smile melted. No, I can’t remember The Incident! I shouldn’t even think about it! It’s all in the past. All in the past…..

I walked out of my new house. Unpacking could wait. I needed a walk. I strolled down the winding sidewalk and took in the identical houses lined up next to each other. 

“Excuse me?” I looked around. A guy around my age was jogging up to me. 

“You’re my new neighbor, right?” I nodded. He grinned and stuck out his hand. “I’m Gregory Chapman. Nice to meet ya!” I froze. Chapman. That was her last name…. No, no it was just a coincidence! Chapman is a common last name...right? 

“Uhm… dude?” I blinked. Gregory looked at me, concerned. “You okay?” I nodded.

“Sorry… I just spaced out a little bit.” I shook his hand. “I’m Alan Jones. Nice to meet you, to.” We talked for a little bit about sports, and video games, and other things. He really was attractive. Apparently, he also thought that I was attractive, because he asked me if I wanted to go out on a date with him. He was moving pretty fast which, although it was pretty weird, considering that we had just met, I accepted. We exchanged numbers, and he walked back to his house, while I stood there like an idiot. Wow. I couldn’t believe that happened! As if out of nowhere, somebody ran past me, and shoved my left shoulder with their hand, almost making me fall.

“Hey!” I yelled, but they kept running. “Jeez…” I grumbled, and then touched my shoulder. There was a piece of paper stuck onto it, and I peeled it off. The note read, 

Do not trust him.

“...What?” I flipped the note over. Nothing. “ ‘Do not trust him…’” I looked around for a sign of the stranger, but they were nowhere to be seen. “Weird.” I shrugged my shoulders, and walked back inside. 

A few days after, I was sitting in my living room when someone knocked on the door. I went and opened it, but instead of a person standing there, there was a package with a note. I picked it up. The note was a love poem from Gregory- no, Greg. He’d texted me and told me to call him that earlier today. I smiled, and opened the package. 

Inside were twelve perfectly circled chocolate chip cookies. I sniffed one. It smelled strongly of butter and chocolate, but also had the faint scent of… almond? I looked down at the cookie, then shrugged. Weird. I picked up the box of cookies in one hand and gripped the cookie in the other. I walked down to the pavement and almost took a bite of the cookie, when someone stuck out their foot and tripped me. I fell, and the cookies all fell onto the ground. There was no way I could eat them now. I looked around, to try and see who had tripped me. 

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw someone dash away from me. They looked vaguely familiar. From what I could see, the tripper had long, golden hair and dark skin. Those were two traits that were unusually paired up together. There was only one person that I knew had those two traits. But she was dead. There was no way she could be here right now. Not after I….

I really should stop thinking about that incident. I looked down at the cookies. Something clicked inside my head. I remembered Suz- I  mean, I remembered her telling me something long ago. What was it….. Oh.

Did you know, cyanide sometimes smells like almonds?

I quickly backed away from the cookies. Was that just a murder attempt? I shook my head. No, Greg would never do something like that..right? 

My phone buzzed. When I checked it, I had gotten a notification from Greg asking how I’d liked the cookies. I frowned, and slid my phone back into my pocket. I wasn't sure if I could trust him right now. And that stranger… I ran my finger through my hair. First the note, now this?It’s like they promised someone that they would protect me.. I paused. Just like Suzie… I clutched my head in agony. She’s dead! She couldn’t even protect herself! I stumbled inside and slammed the door shut. 

One week later, I found myself sitting on my porch. I was on my phone, when someone approached me. 

“Hey, Alan!” I glanced up. Greg walked up to me, and ruffled my hair. I smiled. A day after he had supposedly tried to kill me, I asked him about it. He hadn’t seemed nervous at all when he told me that it must be an accident. I knew when someone was lying or nervous, and he’d seemed completely calm. 

“Ready for our date?” I nodded, and grabbed his hand. He helped me up, and I walked into his car. 

While we were leaving the neighborhood, we soon got stuck into a traffic jam. This made sense, because it was currently rush hour. I glanced to my right, then took a double take. Could it be? I stared at the car next to us. The driver  had light brown skin, long, golden hair, and two bright blue eyes that stared back at me. The woman driving smiled at me, then mouthed something. 

I’ll protect you.

I looked away. That woman reminded me of her…. But it had to be a coincidence. Right?!

An hour later, we had reached our destination. It was a small shopping center with different assorted shops. There was a bookstore, a grocery store, and more. The center was just outside of the neighborhood, but since we lived at the very end of the neighborhood, it made sense why it took us so long. We walked toward the Rocky Road ice cream shop, when suddenly, Greg stopped. 

“Greg?” I tapped his shoulder. “You.. okay?” He looked at me. He looked….sad, and kind of...scared?He sighed. 

“I don’t want to do this.” He muttered, then sighed again. I looked at him. 

“Do...what?” I asked, but he just shook his head. 

“Just know..” He started, then took a deep breath, and began again. “ Just know that you brought this upon yourself.” 

I looked at him, confused. “Brought….what?” He glanced around, as if making sure there was nobody there. I glanced around with him. Surprisingly, the shopping center was completely empty, except for a stray cat. He pulled me into an alleyway and pushed me down. I sat on the ground, looking up at him. “Gregory…?” I whispered. 

He paced in front of me for a while, then spun and looked down at me. “Do you remember what happened at Rocky Road?” He asked solemnly. I looked at him, my eyes widened. Rocky Road..? He didn’t mean the murders, did he? I slowly shook my head. 

“I… don’t know what you mean.” I said. He looked at me coldly and grimaced. 

“Of course you know what I mean.” He stared at me, thinking, then slowly grinned. He squatted down so we were at eye level, then said, 

“Does the name Suzie Chapman mean anything to you?” I gasped. Suzie Chapman, my best friend. The first victim of the Rocky Road murders. The one who was supposed to be dead. I pushed myself up off the ground. 

“Maybe it does, maybe it doesn’t.” I replied. “Why does it matter?” He glared at me. 

“Why does it matter..?” His voice was dangerously low. I heard a small click, then out of seemingly nowhere, he pulled out a gun. He got up, then pointed the gun at me and smirked. 

“You know, I’ve planned this for a long time. “ He said, his voice silky smooth.  “ Ever since the murders, I’ve planned my revenge on you.” I tuned out the rest of his speech, and prepared myself to run out of the alleyway. Even though Gregory was standing in front of the opening, I could probably manage to run fast enough. I sprinted to the opening, but he grabbed my collar and prevented me from getting away. We had now switched places, I was standing at the opening, and he was standing in the alley.

“You really thought I’d let you just get away?” He asked, then laughed. It wasn’t a normal laugh. It sounded like he was going insane. I tried to back away but he lifted the gun back at my body. 

“Time to die!” He said, and pulled the trigger. I closed my eyes, awaiting the inevitable. After a while, I opened my eyes. I wasn’t...dead? 

“NO!” I heard Gregory cry out. I looked down, then started. Lying in front of me was the same woman who had been following me around. She looked up at me, and smiled. 

“Alan…” She whispered. Her voice was so familiar… I kneeled down at her side. 

“Suzie?!” I exclaimed. She laughed softly, then murmured, “Didn’t I promise to protect you?” I remembered the car ride here.. So that really was her after all. I looked up at Gregory, who looked horrified. 

“Sis..” He whispered, then tears streamed down his cheeks. He glared at me then pointed the gun at me. 

“Gregory wait-” I tried, but he ignored me. There was a loud bang, then darkness.

~The Willstone District Paper~

Local townsperson and one other found dead in alleyway, shooter calls police on himself. 

Local townsperson Alan Jones, and an individual named Suzie Chapman were found dead in an alleyway in the Willstone Shopping center. On further investigation, Suzie Chapman was found to be a presumed victim of the Rocky Road murders. As killer Gregory Chapman explains, “Suzie, my sister, was almost killed by this guy (Alan Jones). Hell, she disappeared for months because she was so frightened of him. He also killed everybody who lived on that road, which included the rest of my family! So I obviously had to put him down. It’s just…. I didn’t mean to kill Suzie….” For context, the Rocky Road murder was the brutal murder of the residents of Rocky road and the attempted murder of Suzie Chapman, all done by Alan Jones himself.  After the murders, Jones had disappeared for a span of three months. His murder was the first anyone had heard of him. 

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