It was hard for Rebecca to tell the world how she really felt. And even harder for her to explain what the list of names in her little black book in her closet was for.
A social media star on the rise, living in a mansion in the hills surrounded by young social media stars all hoping to get to the top of the social ladder. They were all afraid of failure and really were in it for the attention and money. Easy money. And lots of it.
Rebecca prided herself on the fact that she "wasn't like them" she was "different" as her loyal following would say. They couldn't understand why Rebecca, so seemingly humble, would surround herself with her social media counterparts. Sure, it was easy to make friends in the same line of work as you, but why would Rebecca associate with people who were only in it all for the money. Her friends were obnoxious and full of themselves, constantly checking their appearance in the mirror and completely ignoring normal social cues.
What the world didn't know was that Rebecca was just like them, just better at hiding it. She came across as humble and sweet, but if anything, Rebecca was the worst of them all. She clothed herself in designer made clothes (unknown to the world, so she seemed like your run of the mill Target shopper), she drove a Bentley (but posted videos in her mom's Toyota), she was paying thousands of dollars for a room in the giant mansion she shared with her friends, and she was utterly evil.
Rebecca Parkins came across as the sweet and humble girl from Texas, who moved to LA to pursue her dream of acting. All along she had been acting. It was a known secret to the group of LA social media stars that Rebecca was far from sweet or humble. She was a bitch. She let everyone around her know she thought she was better than them and spent most of her free time belittling those around her. Why did these people let her treat them like that? The answer was complicated.
Rebecca was the reason they all had the fame and fortune they had. She included them all in the ritual. Knowing the power Rebecca had over all of these young people gave her an ego, a God complex.
The ritual. "Our ritual" as Rebecca put it, making everyone think they were all apart of this amazing secret pact, when really Rebecca was the one gaining the most. She supplied the people to the source, they just got success for a few years out of it. In the end, the same thing would happen that always happens. People would forget. Forget all about these once rich and famous social media stars, and move on to the next big thing. Rebecca was different, she would never leave the spotlight. She ran the spotlight.
The ritual was a quick but painful experience that the young stars had to go through once a week. They'd all cut off a few inches of the underneath of their hair, set it on the palm of their hands, light the hair on fire, and repeat the words Rebecca had them repeat. Rebecca would go to her closet, with the remnants of these people's hair and blow the ashes into her little box. Sealing it with a kiss and saying a few words. Nobody but Rebecca really knew what the purpose was, but they knew they gained fast followers and fast money.
With every name added to her list, every pile of hair added to the box, the man Rebecca worshipped gained his energy and those who aided him gained what they wanted. Fame and fortune. It comes at a cost.
Every week Rebecca would track her ritual attendees in a little black leather book she kept in her closet, underneath the box she blew the ashes into. Names upon names of social media has beens and current stars. If anyone ever found her book with it's pages crowded with familiar names, Hollywood would have a field day. Most social media users are following a plethora of social media stars, and any news about them would quickly spread like wildfire.
Rebecca never let the idea of being found out disrupt her daily activities so when she left she rarely ever locked up her room. She knew people in the social media world feared her, especially the ones who lived with her. So when she left for yoga on a Tuesday she wasn't expecting to have lost everything by Wednesday morning.
While Rebecca was in a yoga class thirty minutes away from her home, Skyler Bass took it upon himself to look in Rebecca's closet to find out what it was exactly she had been doing in there after the weekly ritual. The box and little black book were fairly inconspicuous but his search led him to it. After carefully lifting the extremely heavy box (he later discovered was filled with the ashes of hundreds of social media stars hair), Skyler peeled open the little black journal scanning the names listed.
The biggest names in the social media world lined every single page. Every single social media star who had ever really had a name for themselves was in this book. With an annual salary written next to it. One name repeating every single page.
"Rebecca Parkins - FOUNDER - $43.7 mil/year"
Skyler was shocked and decided to take pictures of every single page. Hundreds of social media stars now being exposed for their secret group of cult-like activities. He went into the notes app on his phone and began his story. Posting a screenshot with a link to an entire folder of pictures of the little black book to "socialmediasecrets" on Instagram, Skyler went about his day.
When Rebecca returned home from her errands a few hours later, she discovered all of her friends had suddenly moved out. The house was empty. There were no cars, no furniture in the bedrooms, no rap music playing by the pool, nobody. It was empty. Rebecca ran to her phone to scroll through her messages, social media accounts, etc. Every number was gone. Every account she followed was gone. It was as if every social media star had suddenly vanished. Rebecca's account was still there. 6 million followers flooding her comments with things like "You ran a cult!" "What is wrong with you?" "You're genuinely insane."
Looking through her tagged photos, Rebecca found the post Skyler had sent into socialmediasecrets and found the story he had made public, along with pictures of her little black book. Rebecca's followers skyrocketed. Hundreds of thousands of people following her as minutes passed. Her friends, too scared of the backlash deleted everything. Renting hotel rooms and booking flights back home to escape whatever it was that would come of this news. Realizing she had forgotten one room, Rebecca found Skyler in his bed. Laughing. Laughing at Rebecca. "Time for our ritual Becks."
Page 267 of the little black book read:
"1. Rebecca Parkins - FOUNDER - $200.7 mil/year"
"2. Skyler Bass - CHAIR MEMBER - $97.5 mil/year"
About the Creator
Aubrey
Mystery bound.
Backyard Skulls
February 2007 His blade slices through the fleshy parts with ease. It’s graceful, disgusting but graceful. How he holds that carved handle with equal parts purpose and delicacy, as if he’s painting a rummage sale art piece to hang over a fireplace.
By Christy Munsonabout a month ago in Horror
The Poisoner
Assassins have existed since the dawn of time, higher ups in society across the world desire to see those who wronged them dead! So killers are hired to eliminate the targets for wealth, typically money is the reward they seek. Most assassins use hidden blades, carried under their sleeves, quickly slashing their victims before blending in with the crowd again. Others use sniper rifles or other long range guns, shooting from afar or up close. The best assassins are subtle and sneaky, the greatest ones of all have never been caught! There are a disturbing number of ways you can kill a human, I obviously won't share any, not in this story so use your imagination. The point of this tale is to explore the most bizarre assassin to ever walk the planet, a killer who is still unknown but has committed a countless amount of murders across the globe. All of which include spiking or tampering with the victims food or drink. This would poison the target to the point of fatal illness, it happened to the most unlikely of people, as though this assassin had no true targets but simply killed for sport. Perhaps there were reasons he chose to kill these people, but it is a mystery that has been left unanswered for decades. Many believe there to be multiple Poisoner assassins throughout the years, the theory that is it no single man or woman makes a lot of sense. It is a theory many subscribe to. The targets killed range from cute couples, families or lone travellers, who visit exotic restaurants whilst on their holidays around the world. It is always detected to be either rat or ricin poisoning, that kills the victims. There have been numerous cases investigated, where CCTV has spotted strange chefs in kitchens, those who were never officially hired had slipped in a disguise and tampered with the food. They always wear the chef's scarf over their face, to hide their identity. The figure has been described as male, standing tall and athletic. To presume the killer is male, he has been spotted in bars too, a hooded figure with a balaclava, spiking drinks of people who later end up dead. Usually the police don't investigate until the killer has already committed his murder, so it seems they have long vanished before any trail can be found. Not to mention the amount of people who were at first presumed to have been food poisoned, where it was the restaurant or cafe found responsible for not properly serving well cooked food. Only for forensics to later discover the truth, which was far more sinister and purposeful. Nobody knows who this assassin is, or why they do the terrible things they do. They are presumed to be male, but even that is uncertain. The race or gender of the killer is not yet confirmed. No face has ever been identified. A pattern has not been detected either. The Poisoner is a ghost, an assassin so good, they always manage to slip through the cracks, what with their many disguises and hiding spots. One can only assume the assassin seeks out those with bounties upon their heads, do if you've angered the wrong person, someone high up in society, be sure to eat food from the supermarket instead. You'll never know if The Poisoner is after you or not, until it is too late! If you eat or drink anything that tastes off, you should probably bin that item and wash out your mouth, there's a good chance it may be dangerous to consume. Then you'd become another death, on a list of thousands.
By Joseph Roy Wright6 days ago in Horror
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