As the opening credits for Dead Birds rolled, she noticed the laptop screen go black out of the corner of her eye. Pushing pause on the remote, she watched as the cursor appeared in the middle of the screen. She grabbed her phone, preparing to text April, just as a notification from the camera app appeared onscreen, and a knock sounded at the front door.
Crouching low to the ground, Kayleigh ran into the kitchen, sliding into the nook area and pulling back the curtain on the bay window. She was relieved to see that the person at the door was not wearing a robe, but relief turned to shock when he turned around and caught her peeking out from behind the drapes. “Terry?”
Terry looked flustered but tried his best to smile while pointing at the door. “Can you let me in?” he mouthed.
Putting the curtains back in place, Kayleigh slid out of the nook and walked to the front door, trying to calm her nerves as she did so. Opening the door, she nodded and said, “How are you doing, Terry? Oh, or would you prefer I call you Pennywise?”
The young man flushed and fiddled with the zipper of his jacket. “I can explain. Could I please come in so that we can talk?”
“Wait a minute,” Kayleigh said, closing the door in his face and heading inside to retrieve her phone. Firing off a quick message to April, she let her friend know that Terry was at the house and that she would text as soon as he left. As much as she believed that the man out front was harmless, Kayleigh still wanted to protect herself as much as possible. Before opening the door again, she navigated to the camera app on the phone and activated all of them, turning off notifications for the time being. That done, she opened the door and allowed Terry inside.
“Thank you, I...”
“Raising a hand in front of his face, Kayleigh said. “Let me stop you right there. Before we go anything here, I want you to be aware that we have cameras all over the house. You got it?”
Terry nodded, looking genuinely hurt at the level of distrust launched in his direction.
“Got it,” he said quietly.
Kayleigh led him into the living room and pointed at one of the chairs sitting on either side of the couch. “Have a seat. Can I get you something to drink?”
“Do you have a soda?”
Pulling out a beer for herself, Kayleigh grabbed a Coke and tossed it to Terry, who deftly plucked it out of the air. “So,” she said, watching him crack open the tab. “What brings you here again?”
“I need to explain what happened last night.”
The young man looked nervous, his eyes flitting all over the place, failing to settle on any one thing. As he tilted his head back to take a drink, Kayleigh noticed small patches of white make-up under his right ear, where he had failed to clean up all of his clown get up. “I’ll admit, I was a little surprised to see you there. Were you on a spying mission for Diablo games?”
“No. I was doing my job.”
“Wait, so you don’t work for them?”
“No, well, yes, but not in any real formal capacity. I’m an aspiring actor.”
Waiting for a smile or some crack in his sober façade, Kayleigh said nothing, staring Terry down and hoping that he would buckle under her gaze.
“I know, everyone wants to be an actor or an internet superstar nowadays, but this is something I’m serious about, I swear.”
“Okay, I’ll bite. Why acting, and how did you end up with the Diablo Games gig?”
The question seemed to put Terry at ease, as he finally smiled and launched into his story.
“I’ve been a bit of a loner for most of my life, mostly because I’m shy and lacking in self-confidence.”
“The perfect traits for a wannabe actor,” Kayleigh said sarcastically.
“More so than you might think,” Terry said, shrugging off the jibe. “When I was in middle school, I had a thing for Jenna Carlson. She was a beauty and way out of my league. The only way to get close to her and maybe impress her was to join the theater club.”
“How did that work out for you?” Kayleigh interrupted.
“It did nothing for my love life,” Terry laughed. “It did, though, lead me to the stage, which was where I found my happy place. There is something about putting on make-up and slipping into the skin of a character that is freeing. I was selected to be a lead in the first play that I tried out for, and then again for the next one. I was a different person, a confident one once the stage lights hit me. I knew from the start that I wanted to pursue a career in acting.”
“Not to be rude, Terry, but you have hardly hit the heights of the industry.”
“I’m aware of that,” Terry said, tensing up as he spoke. “I’m doing the clown stuff and working part-time at Medieval Times to help pay for my acting lessons. The Borealis Theater is opening its performing arts center soon, and I want to be part of the shows there. The money that Diablo Games offered me will pay for classes for the next six months.”
“That sounds like a sweet gig, which brings me to the most crucial question of the day. How did they find you? We’ve tried to research Diablo Games, but we have come up with nothing.”
After taking another drink of his soda, Terry cleared his throat and said, “If you want to know more about them, I’m not the person you need to ask. What I can tell you is that they contacted me through Craigslist.”
“People still use that? I thought it was just for wannabe serial killers,” Kayleigh interrupted.
“It’s where I get most of my business. I link to my website, which is where I list my acting credits and the different services that I have available.”
“So, they messaged you through Craigslist or through your website?”
“Craigslist. They let me know that they wanted me to pose as a recruiter for their new game, but they also asked if I knew anything about social media.”
“Why?”
“Well, they specifically wanted to know about my experience with Instagram and whether or not I was familiar with your account.”
Slamming her beer on the table, sending white foam flying out the top of the longneck bottle, Kayleigh stared down Terry, making him shift his gaze to another part of the living room. “Are you telling me that they had me picked out from the start.”
“Yes. Look, I already followed your Instagram page, just like I follow a lot of people who live in this town, lest you think I’m a stalker or something.”
“Why would I think you’re a stalker? Oh, right, you tracked me down to the mall and made me sign up for the game.”
“It wasn’t like that at all. They told me you’d be there on Friday and that I should be on the lookout for you.”
“That sounds a whole lot like stalking to me, Terry.”
The young man fidgeted in his seat, fussing with a stray thread that hung from one of the buttons on his jacket. “I’m sorry you feel that way, but it was all about the money for me. Your Instagram is cool, but I have no interest in you in any kind of romantic way. I knew you were going to be at the movie that night, and then I saw the picture of you wearing the theater outfit. Picking you out was easy after that, but I made sure not to stand right outside the movie theater. That would have been creepy.”
“What was the name of the person who contacted you?” Kayleigh asked, trying hard not to imagine him scanning through her feed.