Texting

She thought he was a green flag because he wanted to meet her parents for supper.

Nat ran down the driveway behind the mall and hopped up onto the raised cement area where the bins and stairs and loading bays were. Hoping to find cover, she scooted under the overhang of a raised platform. Pulling out her phone, she shielded it with her hand, praying that the light wouldn’t leak through her fingers and give away her position. Turning it on, she could slid all the sounds down to zero and turned off vibration before dimming the screen.
She couldn’t turn it off and loose the chance to call for help.

Looking out from her hiding spot, Nat tried to control her breathing.

She told herself there was no way the monster could hear the heartbeat thundering in her ears. After all, there was nothing she could do about it.

*********************

Nat had thought it would be safe to meet Steven. It was only 7:30 when they were supposed to get together, and even though the mall would be closed, the sun was going to be up for another half hour and there were coffee shops and restaurants open along the street.

It had been months since they’d met. She’d missed him so much, even though they’d only met in person once. Blond and tall and older, he had written her poetry and loved her for the things they had in common. Her green flag college guy had talked about looking forward to meeting her parents and never called her mature for her age like all the memes warned about.

Steven had texted her that he was going to be a few minutes late, and then another few minutes, and then another. At 7:54 he texted that he was almost there and Nat watched the sky turn orange with pink streaks. At 8:15, as the sky turned from dark blue to black, Nat texted him that it was getting cold and that she was going to go home, only to receive a text.
<I’m right behind you.>

Turning around, Nat saw a dark shadow looming against the night sky, and froze.

*********************

Steven had been Nat’s first boyfriend, and now he was probably dead.

The monster must have eaten him and stolen his phone, pretending to be Steven, and texting her to meet him.

It looked like a giant centipede, so black it absorbed light and darkness steamed off it in a mist that reached for her. It had reared up twenty feet into the sky as she had stood frozen on the corner where they had agreed to meet, then crashed to the ground where she had been standing.

If Nat hadn’t fallen sideways onto her ass and woken up because of the jolt, she would have been crushed or gobbled up or whatever it was planning to do to her. But she had scrambled away as soon as she hit the pavement and ran faster than she ever knew she could go, making it to the back of the mall, and hoping to find somewhere to hide until she could escape.

*********************

Nat’s phone lit dimly with a text. Squinting to make out the message with the brightness set so low, she read,
<where are you?>
She replied <gone home> and heard a faint ding a few bays down the driveway to her left.

<no you haven’t. Come out.>

Nat replied, texting each word separately, trying to get a better idea of where the monster was using the dings from Steven’s phone.
<Where>
<is>
<Steven>
<?>

<I’m Steven.>
He replied.

<no!>
<you>
<are>
<not!>
<Steven>
<is>
<way>
<shorter>
<and>
<blond>
<and>
<human>
The dings seemed to be closer than before, but still some distance away.
A dark shape moved across the driveway, reared up and wove back and forth as if searching the back of the mall. Nat pressed her phone against her chest to hide what little light it might give out.

After what seemed like an eternity the shape lowered and moved back to her side of the driveway. Nat pressed herself against the side of the building under the platform and covered her face with her jacket.
For another eternity she listened as she heard the sounds of rustling and falling objects moving along the back of the mall. She held her breath as the sounds seemed to near her loading bay, and then move away. She forced herself to count off a minute, and then two and then ten and then thirty before looking at her phone again under her jacket. Nat saw a new message.
<he was shorter, and blond. Human is debatable. I was pretending to be a 15 year old girl online when he asked to meet me for my birthday. I’ve been Steve for three months, ever since your third text.>

Nat remembered the poem Steven had written her for their first week anniversary. He had changed from short messages to long conversations after a couple days, but she hadn’t expected to get a sweet silly limerick.

There once was a girl who was smart,
Her words could be likened to art,
I’ve had her time for a week,
I find her quite sweet,
I hope someday she’ll give me her heart.

Thinking about it now, she wondered if he had meant he wanted to take her heart literally. At the time she had thought it was wonderful; not the poem, limericks were rarely wonderful, and this one wasn't an exception; but that a handsome older guy had made the effort to write any kind of poem for her.
She had sent back a bit of a Shakespear sonnet, apologizing for not writing him something herself, after searching through dozens of options until she’d found something she thought wasn’t too much for having known him only a week.

Come! O come, my life's delight!
Let me not in languour pine!
Love loves no delay; thy sight,
The more delayed, the more divine!

After that they had started talking about writing and their favourite poets and music and everything that went through her head. And every few days he wrote her another poem, and some of them were actually wonderful.

As the hours passed Nat stayed still, hoping to stay undiscovered until the mall staff started to arrive before opening.
Every once in a while she would get another text.

<Steven was a creep.>

<I saved you from him.>

<He was talking to six other girls, and he was leading them all on.>

<All of their names have the age of the girl, or the date of their 16th birthday>

<You’re Nat/17>

<His text history was full of conversations where the last message was a girl agreeing to meet up.>

Eventually the texts stopped, and Nat drowsed off.

The sky had started lightening when she checked her phone again.

<I saved you for last because I wanted to stay with you forever.>

<I could be myself with you.>

<You aren’t like other girls.>

Nat stared at the screen for a long time, and then began to type.
<.>
<.>
<.>
<You have got to be Fucking kidding me!>
<those>
<are>
<such>
<Pickme>
<Lines!>

She heard a series of dings, then heard something loudly breaking and a roar.

Nat startled, then froze again, hoping he hadn’t heard her movement.

There was a thumping sound, then metal crashing and a crunch, before a scattered sound like pebbles falling. There was a quiet pause, then a creaking followed by another metallic crash followed by a bang like someone punching a car door.
<come out! I know you’re still here>

Nat glared at her phone.
<I>
<DON’T>
<WANT>
<TO>
<GET>
<EATEN>
<!>

The sun peeked over the roof of the mall. Nat closed her eyes and leaned her head against the cement behind her. She just had to wait for the delivery trucks and staff to start arriving. The monster had asked her to meet in a quiet place, and delayed until it was dark and the streets had emptied. She hoped that meant he hid from crowds.

Sounds of loud crashing continued. Nat could make out the sounds of dumpsters being rolled among the other noises. The sounds got closer and closer to Nat’s hiding spot as the sky got brighter and her chances of hiding in the shadows under the loading bay faded.

A giant black shape appeared, searching the area near her hiding spot, and then their eyes met and the monster sped towards her.
Nat scrambled out from under the overhang and rose to her feet, stumbling as her legs filled with pins and needles from having sat unmoving all night. She ran, ignoring the pain and the sensation of her knees and ankles twisting due to numbness. She fell and picked herself up again and again, aiming for the street crossing the mouth of the driveway, towards where there might be people.
As she stepped out of the mall's shadow, Nat was blinded by the sun.

She heard the monster scream.

Turning around, Nat fell over backwards. As her eyes adjusted she saw the monster reaching out to her, into the sunlight, with several of his front legs. The dark mist around him began to burn off and red blisters appeared where the sun touched. He roared and reared back, then smashed into the section of pavement that was still in shadow. The pavement cracked open and the monster dug into the ground beneath dragging his body into the hole leading underground. When he was gone the ground healed leaving only a raised crack.

Nat sat in the middle of the driveway shaking. After a minute staring at where the monster had disappeared, she started patting her pockets looking for her phone, before spotting it several feet away. She crawled over to get it and called her parents.


*********************

That next night Nat was lying in bed, with ice packs on her knees and ankles and hot packs everywhere else, surrounded by snacks and watching a playlist of horror movies where the final girl killed the monsters in a gruesomely creative manner.

She received a text.
<I miss you.>

Nat blocked the number, and then called her mom to beg for bedroom ice cream delivery.