Nikki's Secret

by William Malmborg

  Kimberly acknowledged the wave with a nod, closed the door, and then watched as he headed to his car to drive away. Before getting in he looked down the street. Nothing seemed to catch his attention, however, and soon he was gone.

  With that Kimberly headed to her computer to check out the profile he had given her, a nervous anticipation building as she waited for the Internet connection to be made and did a search for the OK Cupid website.

  8

  “Ah, fuck!” Bill cried as pain ripped him from his dream, the source being Toby’s back claws as the cat used his chest as a springboard. Adding to the intense sting was the sweat that soaked into the torn flesh, the moisture having oozed from his pores as he slept in the ever-warming apartment.

  A knock on the stairway door shifted his focus, though it did little to dull the pain. Having lived with Toby for a long time now, he knew the hot sting of the scratches would be there for quite some time. He also knew that dabbing it with disinfectant in the near future was a must given that those claws had been frequent visitors to the litter box.

  For now, however, that could wait as he found out what Kimberly wanted.

  He opened the door.

  “Sorry if I’m bothering you, but can you come down and look at something real fast?” Kimberly said. “I found out who has been telling people I’m this girl Nikki.”

  “Oh, no problem,” he said and started following her down the steps. “How’d you figure all this out?”

  “That guy from yesterday stopped by again and told me that this Nikki person had told him if he came by again without the flowers this time that he would get lucky. Can you believe that?”

  “Wow, weird.”

  “Anyway, he told me where I could find this girl’s profile on a dating site -- that’s how he’s been talking to her by the way, so you’re right about your previous books having nothing to do with it.”

  “Oh good,” Bill said, concern over what he was about to see upon her computer screen making it difficult to talk.

  “Have you ever heard of the site called OK Cupid?” she asked as they stepped up to her computer. It sat on an oddly constructed glass desk in the corner of her family room.

  “No,” he said, a bit of relief appearing.

  “I hadn’t either.” She reached for the mouse. “But it was pretty easy to find. So was her profile once I was on the site.” She moved the mouse to knock out the screen-saver.

  Oh shit! Bill’s mind cried, the relief he had felt a moment earlier fading fast as he saw the profile picture.

  “Now, I have to ask, does that really look like me?”

  Bill didn’t reply.

  “And what about these?” Kimberly continued while using the mouse to scroll through the profile pictures.

  Again, Bill didn’t reply. How could he when he was looking at a dozen pictures he had taken of Nicole back when the two had started the process of setting up the blog and the Adult Friend Finder profile?

  “Bill?” she asked.

  “Oh, um -- ” he looked at her and then back at the screen and then at her again “ -- maybe a slight resemblance.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah, not one where I’d be like ‘that’s that girl from the profile’ if I looked at these, then at you without already believing there was a connection.”

  Kimberly didn’t reply to this.

  Damn, even her profile name is the same, Bill realized. His mind then tried to tell itself that it was all a huge coincidence, but then dismissed the possibility before it really took hold. Having the same name, maybe, but having the same name and all the same pictures, not a chance.

  “You know what I’m going to do,” Kimberly said.

  “What?” Bill asked.

  “I’m going to set up my own profile on here, as a guy, and message her and see what she does.”

  “Why?”

  “Because what if she gives me this address. I can then contact the administration people and inform them of what she’s doing. If they don’t care I’ll then tell the police about it because I’m sure this is somehow illegal. Even if it isn’t I’m sure whoever is doing this will get scared off if the police tell her to stop.” Kimberly seemed really pleased with herself.

  Bill on the other hand was a bit concerned because if the police did get involved it would probably lead back to him, and while he knew he hadn’t done anything wrong, he still didn’t want it all coming to light.

  Then again, it’s not like you’re a famous horror author who is going to be dragged through the media spotlight if this information comes to light.

  Still, he didn’t want the attention.

  He then realized something. Only one person could be behind this, because only one person knew the truth behind the NIU Nikki profile on the Adult Friend Finder site, which had pretty much been reproduced here, and the blog. The question was why would Nicole do something like this? If she had found a way of making money from it okay, but having guys show up here, that didn’t make any sense.

  “So, what do you think?” Kimberly asked. “Is it a good plan?”

  “Seems like it could work?”

  Kimberly smiled. “I hope so. The last thing I want is for more guys to show up thinking I’m her.”

  “I bet.”

  “Now the only thing I’m confused about are the pictures from last night. Do you think that has anything to do with all this?”

  “Honestly, I can’t say for sure.” Had he been more focused on her question he would have added a statement on how it seemed a little far-fetched that two completely separate incidents would begin occurring within hours of each other. Instead all he could really think about was why Nicole would leave pictures like that. No sensible answer arrived. Just figuring out why she would send guys here through the profile was a mystery.

  Is it really her?

  Who else could it be?

  9

  Kimberly stared at a picture of Kyle she still had on her phone and debated on whether or not to use it for the OK Cupid profile she was creating. Nothing but disgust was present when thinking about him these days, yet still the right and wrong aspects of posting such a picture fueled her indecision.

  He wouldn’t think twice about using your pictures for something, she told herself. Hell, he probably is using your pictures.

  Thankfully, he didn’t have anything explicit, though he had often tried to get her to agree to take pictures and video of such things – for my private collection since you don’t put out nearly as much as you should.

  She shook her head at the memory, and then grew frustrated with herself for often hesitating in her rejection of the idea.

  You almost gave in once just to please him.

  Actually, she had given in, her lips uttering an agreement to suck his dick while he filmed it, but then, as he got the camera ready, she came to her senses and reversed her decision.

  ‘You can’t do that!’ he had cried. ‘You already said yes!’

  ‘I changed my mind.’ Then, to appease him, ‘I’ll still give you a blowjob though and let you cum in my mouth.’

  Being a guy, he had accepted this, and, naturally, being herself, she had later regretted it, her conscious telling her she should have said no and not offered the blowjob as compensation.

  Now, looking back, she was just glad she had put the kibosh on the videotaping because if she hadn’t she was sure the video would be up on porn sites right now for guys to download and enjoy.

  See, he wouldn’t think twice about using pictures and videos of you, so why are you so concerned with using one of him. And it’s not like you’re trying to hurt him with this picture. You just want to try and learn something about someone who may be trying to hurt you.

  Then you should just call the police and show them the profile, she argued with herself.

  No, not yet.

  Once she had emails from the NIU Nikki profile telling her to meet at this address, then she would alert the police (well, maybe), but until then
all she really had was a young man’s word, a young man who had actually tried snagging a semi-date out of all this – or so it had seemed.

  She shook her head and then looked at the picture again. Indecision still gripped her, however, so she turned her attention to the About Me box. Well hung and fit twenty one year old with an unquenchable thirst for sex.

  The statement caused her to grimace, yet it seemed to fit perfectly with what other men on the site were saying about themselves, so she left it alone.

  Does it actually work? she wondered. Do other girls see something like this and think, ‘oh yeah, that’s the guy I want to start talking to?’ If she were one of those girls, the answer would be a huge NO, but maybe she was the odd one out. Maybe girls who used sites like this to find men were the type to enjoy such statements.

  A thought about the type of guys who had been ‘significant’ to her suddenly entered her mind followed by the realization that she wasn’t really one to talk about anyone else’s choice in men.

  Memories of the bathroom and the blood and her beloved cat began to arrive.

  No! No! No!

  She did everything she could to keep the memories from filling her head, but the harder she tried the more forceful they became. Thankfully, they didn’t overwhelm her this time, all because she started searching profiles in the DeKalb and Sycamore area, her bare arm constantly wiping away the tears that were falling so she could see the screen.

  You should talk to someone, Melissa had told her a while back. Even if you think you can handle it on your own you’d be surprised how much talking about it with a professional will help.

  But I can’t afford it, she had replied. And I don’t want Mom and Dad to know why, and they’ll pester me and pester me until I tell them.

  Then I will help you cover the cost.

  Kimberly had almost given in at that point, but then said no. She knew her sister was well off, but not well off enough where she could simply lay down that kind of money without having to shift some things around. She also knew that if she really needed it there would be people she could talk to at NIU, people who were free.

  Should have done that back at U of I, she now told herself. Might have been able to finish school, or at least gotten some sympathy on why your grades slipped and not been tossed out on your ass.

  She shook her head.

  What’s done is done.

  On screen she noticed something in a profile that she needed to add to hers, one that made her About Me section read: Well hung and fit twenty one year old college student with an unquenchable thirst for sex.

  Once added she went back to looking at the picture of Kyle. She then thought about all the times she had given in to his demands, and all the times she had allowed him to make her feel insignificant, and thought, Ah, fuck it.

  A minute later the picture was up on the profile.

  He’ll never even see it, she told herself. And it will be taken down in no time anyway.

  Well, if NIU Nikki actually responds to it.

  Concern on whether or not NIU Nikki would think the profile a trick filled her head, and she wondered if there was anything she could do, aside from answering all the questions, to make it look more realistic.

  Searching the OK Cupid site filled her with ideas, but she then wondered if seeing all the sudden activity would make NIU Nikki think the profile was trying too hard to look real.

  Can she even see your activity?

  If we favorite each other what does that mean?

  Is it like Facebook?

  She sighed.

  You’re over thinking this.

  You can always set up another profile if this doesn’t work.

  Of course, that would require finding a different picture to use, which could start to become tricky.

  Unless Bill would agree?

  Actually, Bill could probably do a nice job with something like this. After all, creating characters that seemed real was how he earned a living, and with this he wouldn’t even have to keep them seeming real over several hundred pages. Instead, he would just need to create one and then speak for it whenever NIU Nikki messaged him.

  With these thoughts on her mind, Kimberly nearly headed upstairs to ask Bill’s opinion, but then caught herself moments before making the actions a reality.

  Don’t want to make a nuisance of yourself.

  Instead, she would wait and see what happened with the profile she had created, and, if it failed, she would see what Bill’s thoughts were on creating his own.

  You might want to ask his help in sending her a message, though, her mind suggested.

  Doing a simple ‘I have a big dick and want to fuck you’ message didn’t seem like it would get her anywhere. It would need substance.

  She also wanted to wait a while. Creating a profile and sending a message right away wouldn’t look right, almost like she had simply created it to target NIU Nikki.

  That is what you’re doing.

  Waiting would be good. Unfortunately, it would also be difficult. She wanted to send and receive a message from NIU Nikki right now, one that came out and boldly said to head to this address.

  Naturally, this brought up the question of then what?

  Kimberly had no idea.

  10

  “Hey Nicole, it’s Bill. Can you please give me a call? It’s important. Thanks.”

  Bill closed the phone and looked over at his laptop, sudden uncertainty flowing through him. Questions were present as well, mainly ones that asked why Nicole would do this. A debate on whether or not it really was her always followed. When asking himself these questions downstairs he had settled on a statement of who else could it be. This time around was no different. He couldn’t think of anyone else that would do this, at least not when factoring in the address being used.

  But why torment Kimberly?

  Asking this brought him full circle.

  Once again no answer arrived, nor would one until he was able to talk to Nicole.

  He looked at his phone, his mind willing it to ring.

  No call arrived.

  She might not call at all, he realized. Not if she suspects it has something to do with whatever game she is playing.

  Doubt arrived with this thought. Directing it was the familiar question on why Nicole would do this, only this time he wasn’t asking it in hopes of bringing about an answer, but more with a sense of disbelief because the idea that she would be behind something like this was seeming less plausible the more he contemplated it.

  But if not her then who?

  Nothing followed.

  You’re missing something; something important.

  What?

  Again, nothing.

  He thought about all the times he had been stuck when working on a story, the sudden halt in narrative flow the result of his mind being unable to come up with a realistic reason for the crazy events that were taking place. Whenever this happened he didn’t force the issue because he knew an answer would eventually arrive, the sudden click usually occurring when he was thinking about or working on something else. Once this happened everything would fall together in his mind and the rest of the story would flow from his fingertips without much trouble.

  Nothing like that would happen this time.

  Several clicks might occur, but whether or not they truly provided an answer would be a mystery until he was able to talk to the person involved, be it Nicole or whoever else was behind it. Without such action he would be in the dark, his mind unable to figure out who the person was that was using the pictures he had taken, and why they were using them to lure men to the house.

  He looked over at his phone, a demand for it to ring echoing in his head once again.

  If it is Nicole she might not call.

  If she doesn’t you can go to her apartment, and if she doesn’t answer the door just go to her work and make sure you get seated in her section.

  Give her a reasonable chance first.

  He sighed and took
a seat, his mind unable to focus on anything but the need to speak with her. Attempting to sidetrack his mind would meet with failure. Adding to the turmoil he felt was the lack of progress he had made with his writing this morning. Had he completed the daily goal of ten pages he wouldn’t have minded sitting and staring at his cell phone, just like he wouldn’t have minded sitting and staring at the TV (if he had cable), or watching porn (if he had Internet), but having failed in his goal left him on edge. In fact he felt downright lazy.

  Nothing, not even the knowledge that he was paying all his bills and slowly but surely knocking down the credit card debt with his writing, could dispel this feeling of inadequacy.

  He shook his head and stood up from the couch, his mind now unable to stand the thought of just sitting there. Pacing was better. Back and forth he went, eyes constantly glaring at the phone.

  Ten minutes came and went without him even realizing it. He didn’t pace the entire time. Sometimes he stared out the front window at the street, or went to the back window and looked at the yard. During this latter staring moment he realized it was time to cut the grass again, but decided against using it as a distraction. Later, once he had the Nicole issue figured out he would take care of that.

  11

  Bill saw the flashing blue light on the phone as he walked back in from the kitchen where he had grabbed a soda, his ear having never heard the single buzz as the message arrived.

  1 NEW MESSAGE was centered on the screen when he opened the phone. Beneath that was the word NICOLE.

  Finally, he said to himself.

  JUST GOT YOUR MESSAGE. WORKING DOUBLE SHIFT TODAY. NEED ALL THE HOURS I CAN GET BEFORE CLASSES START. WHAT’S UP? I HAVE ABOUT TWENTY MINUTES TO EAT SOMETHING. I CAN TEXT BUT WON’T BE ABLE TO CALL UNTIL I GET OFF TONIGHT AT NINE. TTYL.

  Bill thought for a moment on whether or not he wanted to ask the question he needed to ask through a text, and then decided, what the hell, and typed up a message that read: DID YOU SET UP YOUR OWN NIKKI PROFILE LIKE THE ONE I USED TO HAVE?

  He didn’t send it right away, concern that she would simply say NO even if it was a lie stalling his finger.