Followers

Bright light flashed through the hallway window followed by a thunderous crack. The storm was announcing that it was close, very close. Almost right on top of the four-bedroom family abode nestled in a sleepy, tree-lined suburb. Leanne, startled by the sharp slap of the lightning, nearly leapt out of her Kim Possible PJ bottoms. Her hands clapped over her mouth preventing a small squeal from escaping her lips. A quick glance towards Mom and Dad’s bedroom door assured her that they were still safely within the confines of their own room. Leanne forced her breathing to slow. She wasn’t used to disobeying her parents. She shuddered to think what would happen if they found her sneaking around the house in the dark after midnight. Actually in truth, Leanne had never been punished much past a light scold. She was generally a very well behaved kid and wouldn't normally take risks like being out past her bedtime but tonight, she had pressing matters to attend too...

Leanne looked toward the room at the end of the hallway. An ominous blue glow pulsed from behind the closed door. The eerie light pooled on the drab cream carpet at the bottom of the door. Leanne paused for a moment looking forlornly upon the brass doorknob. Michie’s room. Leanne’s older sister. There were only 16 months between them but they might as well have been born in different centuries. Michie had just begun 11th grade and Leanne was starting her first year as a freshman at Bishop’s High School. She couldn’t remember the last time it felt like they were in the same universe, never mind attending the same school. Michie was just so far ahead of Leanne. Her taste in music, going to parties, boys. It’s not like Leanne didn’t want to join Michie in this sparkling new world, but every time she tried to get in she was met with closed doors. Just like she was now.

Dejected, Leanne slunk down the stairs to the main floor. Her destination was the family office that housed the only computer in the Johnson house. Her heart started to quicken with excitement. It had been three days since she had been able to get to the computer without her family noticing she was amiss from her bed after curfew. Leanne’s mind was racing. His image flashed in her mind. Charcoal brown curly locks, hazelnut eyes flecked with gold, a dazzling smile. Wallace. She’d carefully laid out the groundwork. She’d been playing things cool and it had been going well. Tonight was the night things could go to a whole new level. Chill Leanne, chill. She hopped over the last creaky step and was on the main floor landing. Two shuffles and a skip and she’d reached her destination.

A multi-colour psychedelic screensaver rippled over the face of the square computer monitor, lighting up the shadowy room. Leanne practically leapt into the large leather office chair her force rolled it forward slamming into the computer desk with a loud bang. Shit. She held her breath and snapped her eyes towards the doorway. Still as a frightened rabbit Leanne stared up the shadowy hallway and held her breath for one count... two counts... Phew, no one was coming. The sounds of the thunderstorm had masked her clutzy moment. Satisfied that she could continue in privacy, Leanne turned back and booted up the machine. The familiar Windows flag shimmered on the screen. Warm, fuzzy endorphins washed over her, settling in her stomach as happy butterflies. Her heart pounded in her chest as she waited for the system to load. What would her next move be? Should she open up with light conversation? Or was it time to get into something heavier…

Melodic bells chimed out from the computer, letting Leanne know it was game time. Her hand hit the mouse and clicked open the program before she’d even looked at the screen. The monitor lit up Leanne’s eager face. Youthful features awkwardly clung on for dominance in a face that was headed towards maturity. Large child-like eyes were set against cheek bones that had begun to sharpen looking out of place beside her rounded chin. The colours from the screen shone on her skin, brightening her already elated demeanour. A happy jingle drifted out of the speakers. Leanne opened up the last play file. There he was. Wallace Garrett Larson. Leanne was still impressed at how close she’d been able to get the appearance. The graphics were pretty far out in this game, she even got a match for his favourite hoody. At school, her and Wallace didn’t really talk much… yet. Well to tell the truth, she actually hadn’t talked to him since 4th grade when he came over for the first unisex birthday party that Michie ever had. It had been Spice Girls themed. Mostly the girls screamed and danced in the middle of the living room while the boys crowded on the couches looking sorely out of place.

In the game it was different than at school. They were friends, maybe even more than friends Leanne hoped. She thought that tonight if she tried a flirty action that he might like it, possibly even reciprocate… Leanne took a deep steadying breath and got to work, clicking away on the mouse, instructing the game version of herself to approach Wallace. In rapid succession she fired off actions for her player to take…

Chat.

Joke.

Talk about day.

Ask him about his interests.

Back to chat.

Tease.

Apologize.

Friendly hug…

Green plus marks floated over both of their heads indicating it was working. He liked it. He liked her. Leanne’s heart was in her throat and her stomach churned uneasily. The happy butterflies had turned into flapping sparrows. Her legs tingled, she fidgeted in her seat and her finger came to an abrupt halt hovering over the mouse button. Yes. It was time.

Romantic kiss.

The animated version of Leanne leaned back shyly for a moment considering the command that had just been issued to her. A blush spread across the in-game Leanne’s face, she turned away from the digital Wallace before following her orders and stepping towards him for their first –

BANG! Violent light flooded the room coupled with a clap that vibrated through Leanne’s bones. Complete darkness followed the alarming crack of lightning. Leanne’s blood thrummed in her ears. Hazy white clouds hung in her vision. Her retinas, scorched from the brilliantly bright screen, now helpless in the pitch black of a power outage. She looked aimlessly from left to right. The elation she had felt moments before was quickly fading as she realized what she had missed. Did she go through with it? Would it pick up where it left off? She sunk into the chair. Angry tears began to prick the corners of her eyes. Leanne buried her head in her knees, dampening Kim P’s cartoon face with salty tears. She was getting ready to pick up her sorry self and go to bed when a green glow filled the room. Her heart leapt from her stomach back up into her chest. She was almost too nervous to look.

Through her fingers, Leanne peeked up at the looming monitor. The game wasn’t on. Nothing was on the display. Nothing she recognized anyway… The screen was illuminated with a hazy green it reminded Leanne of when she opened her eyes underwater at the lake. She sat up to get a closer look. There were darker green shapes that seemed to recede into the background of the display. Two dark oval pits and a wide horizontal line. The lights and shadows intermingled in such a way that the screen took on a three-dimensional appearance. Leanne had never seen the computer do anything like this before. She had a creeping sensation she should reach for the power cord and yank it out of the socket. A happy chime sounded out from the speakers and a white vertical bar popped up on the right side of the screen. It started rapidly filling with text.

603973: Go for it girl! He is SO yours.

820014: UGH, what is the obsession with this guy… LAME.

462900: LEANNE, PERF. We LOVE you.

859373: Here 4 the cringe

927463: DO IT. OMG I CAN’T WAIT. PLS PLS

619374: XD

937582: I CANT WATCH sum1 tell me when its over

803830: Why can’t I look like Leanne D: That skin. So jelly…

498284: Get it over with nerdalert

462900: Wait a minute… SHE’S HERE. It’s her, I can see her!

Leanne blinked hard. What the hell was going on? Suddenly the shapes that had been hiding in the depths of the watery green screen began to shudder and shift. They were moving towards the front of the screen, becoming more prominent, more three dimensional, more… like a face. Leanne’s mouth dropped open in horror, she pressed herself against the backrest of the chair trying to put room between herself and the computer. The face was settling now into a featureless mask, as though a skull had been buried underneath sand and only the reminder of a human face remained. The shadowy holes where eyes should be, closed and open, like blinking… the mouth made shapes in a slow, shaking fashion.

“What are you…” The hoarse whisper escaped Leanne’s lips before she knew what was happening. An awful curiosity was surfacing alongside the horror in her heart.

820014: We’re your followers.

“Followers… What…Where – Have you been watching me?” Leanne swallowed; her throat had begun to ache with a tight fear.

498284: Duh.

927463: OMG EVERY DAY.

“What – I, I don’t even play every day…” Sweat ran down the back of Leanne’s neck.

619374: LOL

498284: y do i even bother with this chick

603973: Hun… we don’t just watch you when you’re playing the game.

462900: OMG I WATCH ALL THE TIME!! I WOULDN’T MISS ANYTHING. YOU ARE MY EVERYTHING!!!!!!

Leanne shoved herself back from the desk, the chair rolled into the wall and a framed picture of her, Michie, Mom and Dad fell to the ground the glass shattering on impact. She leapt out of the chair and lunged for the computer cord, yanking it out of the wall. The room returned to darkness and Leanne stumbled out the door, rounding the corner and running up the stairs as fast as she could. In just moments she had shut her bedroom door securely behind her and dove straight into her covers.

Under the safety of the blankets, Leanne’s breath began to return to normal and her heart rate slowed. What just happened and how was it even possible? Leanne shook her head trying to rid herself of the awful memory. She didn’t know how to make sense of it… it was probably just some spyware. The computer was constantly getting bugged up with different viruses. Dad had told Michie to stop pirating music, now look what happened. Leanne was going to give Michie a piece of her mind tomorrow - Michie wasn’t the only person in the universe, she could stand to care about others once in a while. Leanne’s anger took hold in her mind eagerly replacing the fear. A wave of relief swept over her as she made sense of the situation. She rolled back onto the pillow and closed her eyes, focusing on her breath and waiting for sleep to bring sweet dreams.

An eerie green light lit up the back of Leanne’s eyelids and her body clammed up with fright. She kept her lids screwed tight. Maybe she was dreaming, there was no computer in her room, she wasn’t even allowed to have a laptop, maybe it… Leanne’s skin turned cold. They said they watched her everyday…. Just a few months before for her 14th birthday -- she had got a TV…