Chirp - a modern horror story.

The following is a silly horror story,  it's a little far-fetched, but regardless it is a horror story, with scenes of violence, murder, threat, manipulation, and mental and sexual torture, so please don't read if you are uncomfortable with any of the above.  

Chirp

Chirp. Katy smiled at her phone, knowing she was addicted to the thrill of social media, even if she would never admit it. It was that addiction that had signalled the end of her previous relationship when Mark decided he had enough of her staring at the screen, with anything he said sailing over her head. She raised an eyebrow as she looked at the latest snap on her favourite app Snapchat. It wasn’t a known sender… ‘Interesting’ she thought opening the message. A buff-looking guy in a football jersey. Well, she didn’t know him, but he was certainly her type.

That was six months ago. It had been a wild six months. Katy and Dan were love’s young dream, brought together by their mutual love of social media particularly Snapchat. An app that you could send messages that would disappear after ten seconds was perfect for Katy to tease Dan with some risqué pictures before they met later in the evenings. This particular day was special, a sixth-month anniversary dinner. Katy wasn’t sure, but she had a feeling Dan was on the verge of proposing.

She wore a skimpy negligee that accentuated all of her curves, sending a snap of herself seductively leaning over the kitchen table to her 14706 followers. She never posted anything over the top, just enough to keep her followers engaged and wanting more. The caption this time read waiting for my man, six months wild ride .x That went to all her socials, Snap, Insta, and Facebook. She was determined she would get 15000 followers by the end of the month.

It was 4 pm and Dan was expected at 5. The goose was cooking nicely, and the table was laid out perfectly. Katy took pride in appearances, not just her own, but her apartment as well. She sat at the table, everything was ready for the romantic meal, so she poured herself a glass of wine and flicked open her phone ‘Just enough time to check the comments and see if my latest pic garnered any new followers’ she thought to herself. There was the usual array of supportive comments, friends posting the fire emoji, wow lucky guy, if he doesn’t show up let me know. Then there were the usual negative comments from a smaller, but vicious bunch of followers, always the same bitch, slut, put some clothes on whore. Katy always tried to shrug these off, ‘man-babies’ she would tell herself, but there was no way she could avoid it affecting her at least a little, and had often cried over particularly nasty comments. It’s the price of fame she told herself, wiping a tear and smiling at a nicer comment on her Instagram feed.

She was about to put her phone down when she noticed a new add request on Snapchat, another one toward the target she smiled to herself. Moments after accepting the request her phone chirped with the Snapchat notification that always brought her happiness. It was one of her favourite sounds in the world, well it was, until that very moment, as she took a sip of wine whilst opening the message, her eyes widened, her wine glass crashing to the floor. She moved her mouth to speak, but no words came out, she then dropped the phone, shaking with a million thoughts running through her head. What, how? Is it real? It can’t be. Why?

With hands shaking, Katy bent down to pick up her phone that had crashed to the floor, she went to look, but the picture had gone. The ten seconds had elapsed. She went to look at the contact who had sent the picture, but there was no information, no profile picture, just a username that read ‘Time2Pay’. Trembling, she typed out a message to the mysterious account ‘Who are you, what do you want, what is this?’ hitting send, she thought back to the image she had seen, she’d only glimpsed it for a moment, but it appeared to be Dan, bound to a chair, in what looked like a warehouse. What felt like an eternity passed before she finally received another Snap alert, this time it was clear, it was Dan, and a hooded figure standing behind him with a cleaver at his throat. The message simply read: follow instructions, or he dies. Call the Police and he dies.  Don’t be a hero. Be smart bitch.

Katy stared at the phone in disbelief, frozen in fear, eyes glued to the screen until the ten seconds elapsed and the message disappeared. She continued to stare at the screen, motionless, struggling to process everything that was happening, when another new Snap arrived, this time the picture focused on Dan’s face, he had two black eyes and had clearly been beaten badly. The message along with the picture read ‘Follow the instructions exactly, they will follow via snaps, don’t contact anyone, or else.’  Katy had still barely moved a muscle, she was in a state of shock, it was mere moments later when the next snap arrived,  It was a screengrab of her earlier Instagram story, with her seductive pose, alongside the message ‘bitches like you think you can just tease and think you are above everyone else, take only your phone, and walk to the end of the street.. in only this outfit’

Katy finally snapped into the moment, she looked down at her outfit, this maniac wants me to go outside dressed like this?? She thought to herself, right, I can’t just follow along with this plan, I need to call for help, she reached for her phone, and dialled her younger sister Daphne's number, “come on come on, pick up” she muttered to herself as the phone rang out. She tried twice more without a response. But she always answers Katy thought, her little sister was even more obsessed with her phone than she was, and although she didn’t like to admit it, was probably a little prettier too.  Chirp.

Katy looked down at her screen with an impending sense of dread, she almost threw up in her mouth, the photo was of a bloody finger, with a message reading ‘I told you not to contact anyone, now, Dan won’t be serenading any other girls with a guitar anytime soon, you’re welcome’ “Oh my god, oh my god” Katy repeated to herself with a growing sense of horror, she quickly sent a message back to the account, ‘I’m sorry, please I won’t do it again, I’m doing your task now’. She smoothed down the negligee, and slipped on a pair of nearby heels. Scooping her phone into a handbag, she took a deep breath as she stepped outside, shuddering as she breathed in the crisp autumn air.

Taking a deep breath as the door slammed shut, she looked around, her heart sinking as she realised the street was as busy as normal. She started towards her gate, desperately gripping the bottom of her negligee, trying not to flash her neighbours, she wished the ground would just swallow her up. Every step the clicking sound of her heels sounded like the loudest sound she had ever heard. As she got to her gate and stepped into the street a couple of teenage boys were walking past, their eyes on storks as they noticed her “Show us your tits” the bigger of the two bellowed.

Katy tried to ignore them and began to set off down the road as instructed. An elderly couple was outside tending to their garden “Hello Katy, you look nice” Marvin shouted, eyeing her hungrily. “Are you okay?” ugh creep Katy shuddered, as Marvin's wife clipped him round the back of the head whilst staring at Katy with hate-filled eyes. Several others passed without incident, although they all looked uncomfortable as they passed by.

Finally arriving at the instructed spot, Katy quickly messaged the mysterious account Okay, I’m here, I’ve done what you said. She stood, shivering for what seemed like an eternity before receiving a response that simply said prove it, task 2: upload a story with a selfie from where you are, the caption should read Living that slut life.

‘Why is this happening to me? Katy wondered to herself, as she snapped a selfie through tear-filled eyes.’  Sighing, she uploaded the story as instructed.  The replies were instant: ‘Wow, stunner, so brave, looking gorgeous’ were the first few, before the darker comments followed ‘Haha, stupid bitch, I always knew you were a slut, hurry up and show some nudes whore’.

Chirp. Katy looked at her phone, the notification noise she used to adore now was bringing a new terror with every noise. Taking a deep breath, she looked at the new Snap. It was a picture of an ear, with a message that read well-done bitch, but you took way too long, and now Dan will never hear your whiny voice again. Katy fell to her knees, shrieking, and wailing loudly, the tears flowing freely. Chirp, she grabbed the phone, there was no picture this time, just a message that read now you know how important it is to respond quickly, in the hedge behind you there is a bag, grab it quickly and follow the instructions.

Katy looked behind her, and there she noted a plastic bag fluttering in the wind. She quickly bent down to retrieve it, and as she did so a young couple walked past her, both staring at her. Katy stared straight down at the floor, the couple just looked bemused with what they were seeing, and quickly hurried by.  Katy looked into the bag, there were a few items, but the thing she pulled out first, was the note that simply said, ‘read me’, opening it fully, it was simply a location with the message ‘get here now’.

Chirp! Another snap, this time a picture of someone tied to a chair, but with a bag over their head, the shape didn’t look like Dan, which just led to confusion in Katy’s mind.  The message this time read ‘By now you should know I’m not fucking around, get to the address on the paper within the next thirty minutes, or I’m going body part chopping, PS, no Uber or taxi, I’ll know’.

Katy looked at her phone and called up Google Maps, it was a 90-minute walk. Wtf, she thought to herself, it’s impossible and he knows it, I don’t have any money, or my cards with me, It’s impossible. Frustrated, she pulled out her phone and messaged the account that was terrorising her ‘It’s impossible, I can’t walk, or even run that fast’ It was all she could think of to do. Chirp! Her heart sank looking at the latest Snapchat message, it was a Shutterstock image that was clearly of a lady working as an escort, leaning into a car window, with a message that simply read ‘sluts find a way’ ‘God’ she thought to herself, before standing on the edge of the pavement and holding her thumb out, in order to hitch-hike.

Several cars flew past, a few beeping at the scantily clad woman, and one that seemingly had several guys in, who rolled down the windows to holler as they sped past. Whatever they yelled was unintelligible, but Katy had a reasonable idea of what it probably was.  Finally, after several minutes of humiliation, a Blue Ford Fiesta slowly rolled up next to her.

“Wowzers, looking good babe, how much are you charging” the guy leaning out of the driver's window shouted in Katy’s direction, her face going bright red as she replied “I’m not a street worker, I just need a lift to this place” as she stated her intended destination. “Huh, well you are dressed like a street whore, you are standing on a corner, and I’m pretty horny, so if you want a lift, I think we both know how you are going to pay for the lift”.

The guy sneered at her. Katy looked at her phone, she had 23 minutes left to get to the designated location, it was a 15-minute drive. She couldn’t believe what she was about to do “Fine, fine” she cried. “Great” replied the driver, swinging open the passenger seat. Katy took her seat, and reached for the seat belt “Woah woah woah, what you doing?  We don’t leave until I’m satisfied” the driver stated firmly, unclicking her belt with his left hand, whilst undoing his jeans with his right.

It wasn’t an act she was particularly fond of, as she hesitated, fighting back the tears, “can I just pay you instead? I have money at home” she asked when she felt the stranger's hand on the back of her head, forcefully directing her.  Need to save Dan, need to save Dan she repeated in her mind. It was only a few moments later before they were driving away, with the guy making several jokes about her thanking him for the protein. Screeching to a halt outside, she quickly exited the vehicle, but not before the stranger gave her an almighty spank as she was getting out, “if you need a lift again, let me know” he shouted with a wink, before accelerating off, wheels spinning.

Katy looked at her phone, she was at the location 29 minutes from the moment she received the last message. Breathing a sigh of relief, she messaged the account that she was there. Looking around while she waited for a response, she figured she was on the outskirts of the city, it wasn’t a location she had been to before, but at that moment she was thankful there weren’t many people around. The temperature was continuing to get colder as the night progressed and given how little she was wearing; the cold was beginning to bite at her skin. She started to do small hops from one leg to the other to stay warm when she finally heard the chirp from her bag.

Shakily, both from nerves and the icy temperature, she grabbed her phone from her handbag once again, flicking straight to Snapchat. There was no picture, at which she felt relieved, as presumably, they hadn’t cut off any more of Dan’s body parts. The relief was short-lived however, as the message read ‘It’s time bitch, you have kept me, and everyone else waiting long enough, that outfit may be skimpy, but it isn’t revealing enough, post a topless pic, right now’. Katy put her hand to her mouth, gasping, how can I do that, no, I won't was her first thought.

Desperately she typed out a message as fast as she should ‘Please, don’t make me do this, I’ll do anything else, I’ll send you a topless pic, why are you trying to ruin my life, what did I ever do to you? Please!’  she was in floods of tears as she hit send. The response was almost instant ‘Wrong answer.’ Almost a minute later, a second message arrived, it was a severed hand, with a message reading ‘Dan’s losing a lot of blood, you better hurry if you wanna save him and take him to the hospital’ Once again the message disappeared even before Katy had time to digest what she had seen.

Grimacing, and checking that there was no one around, Katy slipped the top of her negligee to the side, letting it fall below her breasts. The biting cold had made her nipples rock hard, which she was sure was another reason for this damn task. He hadn’t asked for a message to be posted with this picture and Katy mused on whether to add one but thought it best to just follow these maniacs instructions to the letter. Closing her eyes and taking one last deep breath, she clicked send. That was it, there was now a topless pic of her out in the world. It’s worth it if I’m saving someone’s life, she told herself.

Out of habit, and despite the situation, she was transfixed on the comments that were flying in ‘Omg, BABE!, puppies! I’d like a ride on those funbags, glad you are finally accepting your whore side’ That last comment caught her eye, it wasn’t from an account she had seen before, the profile picture was a clock when she clicked on it, and the profile was private, with no further details available unless you had been accepted as a follower.

Ring ring’ That’s odd, no one ever calls me Katy thought to herself, and was both overjoyed and worried to see it was her mum calling. She pressed answer and held the phone to her ear, scared to even speak “Katy! What is the meaning of this, I thought I raised you better than this, how could you do such a thing? And to find out from Jill down the street. Get round here right now young lady, we are going to have a serious talk,” Katy’s mum bellowed down the phone. All Katy could do was listen, tears rolling down her eyes, quietly, barely audible, she whispered “Help me, get police”, before hanging up the phone, praying to god that he wasn’t somehow able to hear.

After hanging up on her mum, there was already another snap alert waiting for her, ‘doing well so far bitch, now, lose the dress and go inside the building to your left’ Katy gulped at the latest message but given events so far, she figured she should have seen this coming. It’s clearly some kind of perve she told herself as she walked to the door and let the negligee fall from her body. Naked, save for a pair of heels and her handbag containing her phone, she exhaled sharply, grasped the handle, and entered the building as instructed.

She had to shield her eyes, the beaming fluorescent light was extremely powerful, and it took a moment for her to adjust. Finally, she was able to look around, the room she was in was large, with several other doors leading to god knows where. There were scant furnishings in the room, but dead centre was a chair, with a figure clearly tied to it, although given the lighting, from where she was standing it was impossible to be certain it was Dan.

“Dan” she cried and began to move towards him before Chirp! She stopped in her tracks and picked up her phone, the latest snap was a picture of Dan, but it was zoomed out, showing the body parts in front of him that had already been detached. The message read ‘Do you think I’m going let you off that easily, that in front of you, is not Dan, go see for yourself’.

She rushed over to the centre of the room. Whoever it was, was not moving. She pulled the hood of the motionless figure and recoiled in horror “Mark” she screamed. She checked his neck for a pulse, figuring that was the right thing to do, although she didn’t know for sure, however, it became obvious that he had been dead for a while, his skin was cold to the touch, and the blood on the floor under him was clearly not fresh.

“WHY” Katy screamed towards the heavens. “Why?” bellowed out across the room startling her. A projector on the far side of the room flickered into life, “Why, you ask, pah, firstly do you like my drop zone? Aka your new home? As for why, girls like you think you can get away with anything you want, rejecting people, and then continuing to tease them while parading your other loves in our faces, well no more”.

The figure talking was wearing a balaclava and walked up to a chair in which this time it was clear the bound figure was Dan. He struck him full force, although it seemed like Dan was already unconscious, “he needs medical attention, badly, so if you want to help him, you better upload a nude pic, I’m sure all your fans will love it, btw, have you seen your follower count? You’re welcome! you have 3 minutes” The gravity of the situation was getting close to overcoming Katy, and she fell to the floor, pleading almost to herself “Please, I don’t want followers, I don’t want any of this, I’ll do what you want, please just let him go to the hospital,’ she repeated several times through sobs.

“That’s five minutes, too late, now stay there, on your knees, and watch” the figure bellowed, before pulling out a pistol and releasing two bullets into the back of Dan’s head “nooooooooooo” Katy screamed, with a sudden sense of determination sweeping over her, she wasn’t going to die here today as well, she picked herself up, memories of moments with Dan raced through her mind, that first snap, him strumming his guitar as he sang a love song at her, and made her way towards the door she had come in by. 

Wait, someone was standing at the door, it was the guy who had driven her here, “what… what…?” Katy mumbled in confusion. “I see you’ve already met my assistant” the person on the projector howled with laughter.  Katy was a tall, slender girl, however, she could look after herself, growing up attending Tai Chi classes with Daphne made sure of that, although the guy standing in front of the door, holding a knife certainly complicated the matter.

He eyed her with a perverse look, “Hey babe, need another ride?” he mocked. “Please, just let me leave, I won’t report you” Katy pleaded with the man, hoping he would see sense. “No can-do little lady, bosses orders, anyway, I want to have a go on that fine arse of yours.” He stated menacingly, advancing towards her. “Okay,” Katy sighed, dropping to a squat-like position, whilst trying to discreetly remove her heels “You win, now just tell me what this psycho wants” she quietly uttered in defeat.

“Simple babe, he wants you, but I’m gonna have you first,” came the response with a leer, as he advanced towards her. Katy, summoning every ounce of strength she could muster, dug the heel of her shoe into the man's leg, causing him to scream in pain She immediately did the same to the other leg with her other heel, eliciting another painful yell, in and out, she stabbed his legs several times with her heels before he grabbed her and hurled her across the floor, creating space between them.

“You stupid bitch” he snarled, “Now you’re going to pay”. He advanced towards her, but he had been slowed drastically by Katy’s attack. She was now both faster, and a better fighter, despite that, she was still giving up a lot of strength. It was a brutal struggle, but finally, it ended when Katy managed to use the guy's own knife to stab him squarely in the gut.

Katy limped towards, the door, she was badly bruised, and beaten, and fully naked now, she had left her heels at the scene of the fight, and with blood dripping from her cut lip. She reached for the door handle, opening it gingerly. Her negligee was still on the floor where she discarded it, and she quickly used it to cover up her modesty. Pulling out her phone, she pressed 999, shaking, she put the phone to her ear “999 what is your emergency” “P-p-p-police” she blurted out, before in her ear she heard “Chirp” barely able to focus, she looked at her phone screen, it was the same image of the tied up person as before, but it wasn’t Dan or Mark, the message read ‘baby, where you going, our relationships only just begun, come back inside quick’

She put her hands to her head and screamed “Leave me alone” before standing up and marching back into the building, she was going to find this maniac and make him pay herself. Chirp she looked at her phone ‘Hurry up and post the nude bitch, we both know it’s what you want to do anyway, you attention-seeking slut” Despite the horrors she had gone through, she noticed her followers had ticked over the 15,000 number, she allowed herself a wry smile, before launching her phone at the closest wall, chirp chirp chir…. Was the final noise it made as the technology finally failed. She started trying every door, until finally she got to a locked door, “This has to be it” she muttered.

Unlike the main foyer, this room was dimly lit, as her eyes adjusted to the light Katy made out two figures at the far end of the room “wh…who are you” she cried out “Why are you doing this to me?” Suddenly the room's main light flicked on, and she had to shield her eyes for a moment before being able to take in the scene in front of her. There were two figures alright, one wearing a ski mask and brandishing a gun, the other, with her hands tied above her head and struggling to balance on heels was her younger sister Daphne.

That’s how he knew I tried to contact someone earlier, the bastard, Katy thought to herself, her thoughts were interrupted by the disguised man speaking “Who am I? You really don’t know? well maybe this will jog your memory” With that, he dramatically removed his mask, revealing a ruggedly handsome face, with a small scar under his left eye.

Katy blinked twice, staring at the man in front of her, who in the space of one evening had taken it upon himself to ruin her life. She had no idea whatsoever who he was. “Look familiar?” he yelled. She didn’t want to say no and risk angering him, considering the situation Looking at him, then at Daphne, and back to him, she tried to play it as cautiously as she could “It’s been a long time, remind me where we first met”? will this work? It has too..she told herself.

“You fucking bitch, you have no idea who I am do you?” came the retort. All Katy could do was shake her head and look down as he continued to speak “John, John Davis, we went to high school together, I asked you out, twice, and you, you turned me down, just to then go and whore yourself out on social media, well was it worth it? We could have been happily married now but look at the situation you have put us in” His every word dripped with spite and resentment, it was clear he truly believed it was all her fault.

“Look, I’m sorry” Katy figured trying to reason with him was her only choice here, and began to slowly walk towards him “but my sister has nothing to do with it, please, let her go and we can sort this out between us” It seemed like John was pondering for a moment, before pointing his gun at Katy, making her freeze in her tracks “All right, I’ll let her go, but you need to take her place, he nodded toward a wall, there was what appeared to be a dog cage “Take off your dress, and get in” The two sisters locked eyes, the fear evident in each other. Daphne was shaking her head no, but seeing no other option, Katy followed his instruction, once again slipping off her dress and crawling, with great effort given the injuries from earlier, into the cage.

“Good, now, see that padlock, lock yourself in the cage, and get on all fours like a dog” She continued to comply when he suddenly put a phone next to her “I saw you broke your last phone. Log in to your social media, and hurry up about it” it took a few moments, but she finally logged into her accounts, John reached down and grabbed the phone back, before pointing towards her, snapping a pic. He quickly uploaded it to all of her accounts, with a caption that read ‘How cute am I? Finally found my forever home, love my master’. He showed it to her with glee in his eyes, leaving the phone just out of reach of the cage, but allowing her to watch the comments come rolling in.  “I did what you said, now let her go” Katy shouted through floods of tears.

“Did I say I’d let her go? Whoopsie, I told a little lie, I’m just as untrustworthy as high school sluts it seems. You are gonna stay there, and watch as I abuse your sister, and then kill her. After that, we will begin our life together, and you will learn to love me. In time, you will thank me for this” He confidently stated and strode over to Daphne, spanking her hard twice, which made her scream and squirm in her bonds “Please stop, please” Katy screamed for mercy, when there was suddenly an earth-shattering noise, and “POLICE, ON YOUR KNEES NOW” Katy fell back into a seated position in her cage, it was over, she wept openly, staring at Daphne, despite it all, they were going to be alright.

“To Dan, I never had long enough with him, but I know he was a wonderful man, and I will always cherish the memories I have” Katy raised her glass clinking it with Dan’s father, mother, and sister. It had been 12 months since that fateful night changed all their lives for good and they were just starting to pick up the pieces, Although Katy still posted on social media often, she lived much more in the now, realising any moment could be her last. She was thankful to Dan’s family for staying in touch, and even taking her in as one of their own. She was smiling when Chirp. A new snap message, unknown account, her face went white…Hey babe, I got a phone in Prison, see you when I’m out in a few years.

Fin.