Don't Shoot The Harbinger

by Ryan Green

I am laying down on my living room couch and the TV is on. I take a look at my phone and it is 6:30 am.

  “Fuck I must have fallen asleep and had a bad dream.”

  I walk into the kitchen and look in the sink, it’s empty.

  I walk into my bathroom, and I see nothing out of the ordinary.

  I walk into my bedroom, nothing.

  I looked in my closet and the computer was sitting there just where I left it.

  I get in the shower and get dressed and ready for work.

  I make sure that all of the windows in the house are locked and all of the doors are locked.

  I walk out to my driveway and get in my car.

  Sitting on the passenger seat of my car is a picture.

  I pick the picture up and look at it.

  It's a picture of me sleeping on my living room couch.

  On the bottom of the picture is a note that reads “We had a deal Blaine.”

  On the back is the same symbol that I saw in my dream with the words Order of Azoth written on the bottom.

  I sit inside of my car staring at the picture and reading the note over and over. I go back inside and take the computer out of the closet. I plug in the computer and set it back on the coffee table.

  I log onto instant messenger.

  SoccerDude2k1 is not online.

  I sit down tapping my toes impatiently, nothing happens.

  I left the room to go to the bathroom and I heard a door opening sound coming from the computer and ran back to the computer.

  SoccerDude2k1 is online.

  I wait around for a few minutes waiting to receive a message but nothing comes.

  I decided to message him.

  XxBlaineDamage88xX:Who the hell are you, why did you come by my house last night?

  SoccerDude2k1: You invited us over Blaine.

  XxBlaineDamage88xX: No I didn't.

  SoccerDude2k1: Yes you did.

  I received a picture file. I open it up and it is a screenshot from years ago with him inviting me to meet up.

  XxBlaineDamage88xX: That was when I was twelve. That was over fifteen years ago. I'm giving you one warning to leave me alone or something bad is going to happen.

  SoccerDude2k1:You wanted it, Blaine. You were my project. You were a loner, no one talked to you and I made you feel special. You owe this to me, I invested so much time into you and one day you just disappeared. I waited, I watched and I knew one day you'd come back.

  I take the computer outside and throw it in the trash.

  I get in my car and I head to work.

  “So the whole part of the people running around your house was just a dream? Everything about the conversation about you being paid to exploit kids was just a dream? You really didn’t do that kind of stuff did you?” Megan asks me.

  “I’m getting to all of that. There is a lot to tell, a lot you won’t really understand until you hear me out. What I just told you was a dream for the most part but it was like Deja Vu. Everything that happened in that dream was a chain reaction almost it seemed like.”

  Chapter Ten

  “The house Caesar” the waiter says as he slides a plate in front of both Blaine and Megan. “You will find the traditional romaine lettuce, freshly shaved parmesan cheese, our house made croutons which are baked fresh daily and seasoned daily as well as our famous house Caesar dressing.”

  The waiter looks at Megan “Oh, and I almost forgot” he walks back towards the kitchen doors and reemerges with two wine glasses and a bottle. “Your Riesling wine as well” he says as he pours them both a glass.

  “If there is anything else I can do for you, feel free to ask” the waiter encourages them.

  “That should be fine for now thank you,” Blaine tells him.

  The waiter walks back into the kitchen area.

  “Where was I?” Blaine asks Megan.

  “You were driving to work I think”

  My entire drive to work seemed like it flew by in an instant. I couldn't remember anything that I had seen along the way. I don't remember any traffic lights, any restaurants that I passed, I don't remember seeing any cars, I don’t remember anything.

  All I could see for that whole drive was that person's words flashing through my head over and over “We had a deal Blaine.”

  “Who does this guy think I am? I am not a twelve year old boy anymore, anything I did back then I can’t even remember doing. Did I really promise to join their stupid little cult group?”

  I pulled into the parking garage at work and I remember feeling extremely paranoid. I remember driving very slowly looking around the garage as several empty parking spots passed me by. I got out of my car and I looked around at my surroundings several times.

  “There’s a tracking device on my car, I know it. He followed me here, he had to have” I remember thinking to myself, I was extremely agitated.

  I ran my fingers along the bumper of my car and I felt a bump and I dropped down onto my knees and tried to rip it off. I take my car keys and I scratch and scratch at it but it can’t get a good look at what it is. I drop onto my back and slide under the car, my spare key is taped under my bumper, I forgot that I put that here.

  I continue searching the outside of my car from top to bottom looking for some sort of tracking device.

  I wasn't exactly sure what I was looking for but I knew that if I were to come across something that seemed suspicious or out of place that I would absolutely recognize it.

  I envisioned seeing a piece of metal similar to the look and feel of a watch battery. I envision a man sitting at home on his computer masturbating to a map of me driving around getting off on knowing exactly where I am going.

  The man is a sick bastard.

  I searched the inside of my wheels, I opened the hood of my vehicle and searched through the engine, I searched under my wiper blades, I opened my trunk and searched every inch of it and I found nothing.

  I see a man wearing a sweat suit and sunglasses walking around the corner about 100 feet away and I get back into my car.

  I pulled out of the parking structure and I circled around the block several times. I weave in and out of traffic and take different side streets just to make sure I am not being followed.

  I was watching my rear view mirror the whole time when I felt a car had been behind me for a suspicious amount of time. I stopped my car and parked on the street. Once the car passes me I turn around and drive the opposite way, making sure I am not setting a pattern.

  Ultimately enough time has passed where I decided that I had not actually been followed and I pulled back into the parking structure.

  I cautiously watch everyone getting out of their cars looking for that familiar face. I look in every car at anyone sitting inside and examine every parking spot.

  Level one, too many cars, not good enough.

  Level two, too many motorcycles, not good enough.

  Level three, too many empty spaces, not good enough.

  Level five, there’s no cars here, that’s suspicious.

  I drove all the way to the roof of the structure.

  "No one will be able to sneak up on me all the way up here" I tell myself.

  There are cameras on every corner and there are four exits.

  I enter the stairwell from the roof access and begin walking down the stairs. I got down two floors then I heard footsteps coming up the stairs toward me from several floors below.

  I froze, I clenched my car keys in my hand and made a fist so that the keys create a makeshift set of spiked brass knuckles.

  I see a father and daughter walking up the stairs toward me. They both have ice cream in one hand and the daughter is holding her father's hand. They don’t look suspicious but you can never be too sure.

  How do I know that the computer man is acting alone? He kept saying words like us and we, I just knew there had to be lots of them.

  Who is to say that a father and his little daughter can’t be a part of their shitty little cult? They wanted me
then I was a kid, maybe they recruited this little girl now as well.

  I smile and wave at them. I don't want to come off as too suspicious or equally unwelcoming.

  If I get attacked by someone else and the man is the only other person nearby that can help I don't want to burn my bridges. It is a really hard line to walk knowing there are faceless people out there who want to hurt you but not being able to alienate the honest ones who could save you.

  The little girl looks up at me and she sheepishly scoots closer into her father, I can identify with that girl.

  "It's okay, Kelsey say hi to the young man," the father says to his daughter.

  She looks up at me again and her face turns red.

  I looked down at her, I knelt down so that I was at eye level with her. I extend my hand out to her.

  "Hi Kelsey, I'm Blaine and it's very nice to meet you."

  She smiles at me and as soon as she reaches her hand out to shake my hand I hear a car alarm go off.

  I immediately stand back up and hurry past the father and daughter, almost knocking the ice cream out of their hands in the process.

  "I am so sorry" I say as I try to get to the ground level as quickly as possible.

  I am sprinting down four flights of stairs as quickly as possible. I can feel my lungs burning and my ankles and knees are popping with every single step. My thighs are on fire and I trip and fall down several steps and rolls until I hit the landing.

  I had another flight of stairs to go.

  I get up and look around, there is a group of men standing at the far end of the parking structure staring at me, pointing and laughing.

  I brush myself off and hobble down the last flight of stairs.

  “If I make it out of the parking structure alive, I swear I will get in shape. I will start running 3 miles every single day.”

  I reach the ground level of the parking structure and I stop to catch my breath.

  I look around to take a quick survey of the immediate surroundings. The ground level of the parking structure is full of cars, but I don't see anyone in the immediate area.

  I walk out of the structure and begin heading towards the building I work in. My building is two blocks from the parking structure but I know it's the closest public parking area to where I work.

  I notice every single detail about every single person that I passed on that two block walk.

  Every person I see approaching me I take a complete and thorough mental assessment of. I looked them up and down, I watched how they walked, I watched their eyes to see if they were hinting at someone sneaking up on me and I watched their hands to see if they had any weapons or anything that could hurt him..

  There isn't a single person that I feel I can trust at this point.

  Not a single person that crosses my path can be trusted, not a single person that is sitting outside eating at a restaurant can be trusted. Not the homeless people asking for change, not the teenagers skateboarding down the street, not the old women speed walking.

  When I finally got to my office I took one last scan of the street and I felt like everyone I had just walked by was either staring at me or talking about him.

  I enter the building, walk past the doorman and head toward the elevator. I scan the list of buttons looking for anything out of the ordinary.

  I remember reading a story about people putting poison on common public items that leach into your bloodstream and shortly afterwards kills you.

  I push the button to the 20th floor.

  The elevator opens and there is a woman I recognize exiting.

  "Hi Blaine!" She exclaims "Good morning, how are you!?"

  "I'm fine." I respond as I slide past her.

  She stops in the doorway of the elevator waiting for me to say a little more.

  The lady and I have never really had a conversation outside of work that wasn’t work related. She chooses now to want to figure out the ins and outs of my life. This is the moment that she chose to try and get to know me a little better, to express her interest in me?

  I stare at her and behind her coming through the doors is a familiar face. It's the pizza guy from last night.

  "It was good seeing you Karen have a great day, maybe we can go on a date or something some time, alright great, bye again." I nervously say as I begin to repeatedly hit the button to close the elevator doors.

  The trip to get to the twentieth floor seems like it is taking hours. This was normally a very fast elevator. I am expecting the elevator to stop and the lights to turn off. I am expecting someone to drop in from the ceiling or to stop at a different floor and have a group of cult members bombard me and kill or kidnap me.

  I looked up at the indicator as it blinked on the 20th floor and the intercom announced the floor that I was on.

  Usually this is a cool little feature but today the voice can only remind me of what the voice on the other end of my computer probably sounds like.

  I imagine the digital elevator woman's voice telling me to join their cult, to help them kill and abduct children and traffic them to sick freaks around the world.

  The door to the elevator opens and I can’t wait to get out.

  I quickly walk into my office and slam the door behind me, when I look at my desk, my boss is sitting there with his feet up and waiting for me.

  "You're late Blaine. The presentation is in ten minutes and now we don't have any time to go over it. Looks like you're on your own for the one pal" my boss explains as he playfully laughs.

  I have known the guy for years now and I feel like I can momentarily let my guard down.

  "Yeah, yeah that's fine. I was up late working on the damn thing, everything will be great."

  My boss and I walk together to a conference room nearby.

  They set up the projector and get all the documents sorted out and set at every seat.

  As they are sorting and passing out the paperwork people begin piling into the room and filling up seats at the table.

  I have seen almost everyone before entering the room except for one person. The man takes the last seat. He's wearing a light gray suit, a white dress shirt and a red plaid tie. He is balding on top with a long ponytail, he is extremely overweight and he has on thick framed glasses.

  This is the man I just saw in the lobby.

  This is the pizza man from last night.

  I can tell by the way that the man is staring through me that the man can tell that I know him. I know exactly who he is, but how did he get in here?

  Why are all of my co-workers talking to him?`

  I spent the next twenty minutes nervously trying to explain cyber security to these men and women in the conference. I am sweating and stuttering, I am falling over my words and I can't help but stare at the man between words.

  How am I supposed to give a presentation about cyber security and safety to the one person I can't get away from on the internet?

  I stop mid sentence and look at my boss.

  If you have any questions, direct them to Mark.

  I rushed out of the room, I ran to the elevator, I frantically pushed the button for the ground floor.

  The elevator opens up and Karen is standing there again trying to exit.

  What are the odds that she would be in my way when I'm trying to get away from the man twice? She has to be part of them, she just has to be.

  I aggressively push past Karen as she tries to get out of the elevator and continue their conversation from earlier.

  “What the hell Blaine, you fucking jerk, see if I go out with you now” she exclaims.

  “I wouldn’t date a member of a fucking pedophile cult anyway Karen, stay the fuck away from me!” I shout as the door closes.

  The elevator opens and the digital elevator woman's voice says “ground floor Blaine, you can’t run forever” as I burst out of the elevator though the building.

  I run the two blocks to the parking structure pushing my way through crowds of people that are shouting profanities and th
reats at me as I go by.

  I get to the parking structure and I rush up all the flights of stairs to the roof.

  My car is still the only car on top.

  I look around and there is no one around, there is nothing around, everything is quiet.

  "That couldn't be him in there, there's no way" I try to reassure myself.

  I search my car again as quickly as possible for any tracking devices I thinks may have been planted in or on my vehicle