The Scripted Stalker - Chapters 11 & 12

A Psychological Thriller

Chapter 11

Barney saw his Natalia crying for help. There was a figure in black standing next to him on the boat. It seemed as if that person was communicating to him without speaking. Fire blazed around the lake; Natalia’s eyes were open wide in terror as he watched her body sink into the murky water.

Barney’s screaming woke him up. His heart thudded as he looked around his tiny apartment. His scream seemed to hang in the air until it gradually faded and was replaced by the ticking of his clock. The dream seemed so familiar, and he couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling of deja vu. It was a nightmare, he told himself. It was ok and Natalia would be sleeping right beside him in bed and…then he noticed there was an empty space next to him in bed.

Where was Natalia? Was she out whoring around? Sinning?

He got out of bed and paced. She was nowhere in the apartment. Should he call the police? Too soon for a missing person. If only someone would understand.

He stumbled over to his desk and turned on the computer. It was so old that it creaked and spun. Soon he would see his angel on the screen. The beautiful woman he learned went by the name, Rissa, on her blog page. Barney scrolled through the pages of useless bullshit writing on the blog hoping to see her smiling face, but she was nowhere to be seen. Maybe she took a break for the day?

He went to type in search only to be met with an icon of a locked key. “Suspension” it read. “3-day suspension from Scripted effective immediately. Reason: Harassment. If you violate the terms of agreement your membership will be terminated”.

Barney stared angrily at the screen. Who? What? He thought back to the comments and couldn’t remember if there was one that he posted which would warrant this.

“Fuck!!” he screamed angrily. First Natalia leaving him and now he could not see his angel, Rissa. “SHE!!” He boomed. “She did this! She is no Angel!! She is NOT PURE!”

Barney looked wildly around his apartment for something to smash. In a blind rage he picked up a hammer on the counter and started walking toward his television. He left it on at night with the sound muted. The blonde news lady looked like his Rissa.

It was her! They were plotting against him!

He dropped the hammer and picked up his rifle and started shooting at the screen. Then he turned and started firing at his computer.

There was a loud banging on his door.

“Police open up!” a shout came from the other side of his door.

Barney continued shooting at the open spaces of his apartment. The pounding of the door got louder in his brain.

All he could see was his Natalia and his Rissa laughing together on television. Mocking him. “Loser,” they said. In his delusional mind, they were back on the television he shot out. No matter how much he shot at it, he couldn’t make them stop.

The women’s cackling laughter rung in his ears in torrents so much so that he didn’t hear the cops smash down his door. Barney felt himself fall to the ground before he could fight them.

“It’s her fault,” Barney sputtered as the police cuffed him.

“You need to come with us,” The officer in charge said.

Barney tried to fight them.

“We need back up and a psych evaluation,” a younger cop said into his scanner.

Barney looked up and saw a blinding light.

“Natalia,” he whispered.

She was standing before him. Her hair was wet and there was something tied around her neck.

The cops looked around. “Is someone else here?” one of them asked.

The other cop grabbed his gun and searched around the corner.

“She’s right here,” Barney said pointing to the couch.

The cops saw no one.

“Listen to the cops, Barney. They will help you. You need to follow them,” Natalia told him before vanishing as quickly as she appeared.

Barney agreed to follow them. Anything for Natalia.

“Wait for me, darling,” he yelled back to his apartment as the officers led him out the door to the squad car.

Chapter 12

Barney had a psychiatric evaluation when he reached the police station. Since no one was harmed, he would not be arrested. However, he would be admitted to a maximum-security psychiatric hospital.

He was mumbling incoherently for the duration of the ride to the mental facility in the police car.

Detective Douglass Reed shook his head as he tried to tune out Barney Blevins. Who was this Natalia he was mumbling about? He made more mental notes. So many questions to ask him.

The detective instantly regretted agreeing to work this Saturday. Now this. Never a dull moment.

Douglass knew as a divorced man and bachelor that this was his life now. He scoffed when he thought of the term bachelor. The bachelor detective…it sounded like a bad 80’s TV cop show. Being divorced at forty-five sucked. Working the night shift as a cop sucked even more. His wife walked out on him a year ago, without a reason. Now this was his life.

He looked over at his young partner and laughed. “Get used to this. The night shift is never dull.”

There was little known about the man they had taken into custody. According to Henrietta Hixon his apartment building superintendent, his name was Barney Blevins. She told Douglass that Barney was quiet and hardly left his apartment. But she also added that he did regularly leave his apartment every single Monday at 4:30 p.m. without fail.

It was interesting that Henrietta knew those times. This had to be on a regular basis, Douglass thought. Maybe Barney told her something? In the morning, he would have to pay her a visit again to find out more. Make it late morning. His shift should be over soon, and he was definitely heading to the bar. Another day in the life of a middle-aged, washed-up detective.

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Henrietta Hixon shook her head. There was never a dull moment in this apartment complex. You think you had a good tenant and then they go bat shit crazy. Barney was a quiet man in his late 60s, but there was something about him that always made her think he would snap. He lived alone, but she was almost sure she heard him talking to someone at times. She knew he didn’t have any visitors. Maybe he was talking on his phone?

Henrietta tried to recall if there was ever anything specific that was unusual about him, but she drew a blank. She did have some video footage. She had them put up at the asking of another tenant who had claimed she was being stalked.

Henrietta chuckled to herself. The only footage she got was someone mooning the camera. It was a tenant from 3B! He was kicked out for indecent exposure. That time, the police showed up and made a big production out of it, but not as much action as tonight.

Henrietta snuffed out her cigarette before heading back inside. She better get some beauty sleep. The cute, divorced detective would be here in the morning. Henrietta was seventy-one, but she still had it.

She imagined herself side by side helping the detective solve the crime. Maybe she would get a head start and start checking surveillance cameras herself. Who knows what she could find.