Globusz^® Publishing 

“Hello!” Lori answered her mobile phone as she walked around her local park in New York. Neither the phone or Lori herself had recognized the number.

“Hello Lori!” The voice was so deep and sinister that it sounded as if it was deliberately done that way. And these two words only unnerved Lori a little.

“I’m sorry I don’t recognize your voice. Who is this?”

“You recognize my voice because you have never heard me talk before. And I’ve never heard you until now. I thought you’d have a pleasant voice and indeed you do.”

“So we’ve never spoken before? Sorry I still didn’t catch your name.”

“Right now, it doesn’t matter what my name is.”

“Yet you know mine.”

“Clearly.”

“Look, I’m sorry. I really don’t like talking to strangers, not even on the phone.”

“Oh come now, what harm could I do you on the phone.”

“Unless you’ve got something important to say I would suggest that this is just a waste of your phone bill.”

“Oh, indeed, I have something very important to say. I’d go as far as to say that it was a life or death scenario.”

“If that’s the case please tell me that news. But if you are just wasting my time then I’d like to know.”

“I’ll tell you all you need to know in good time.”

“All right, look I’m sorry but I’m strongly suspecting you are wasting my time. So I’ll be going now.”

“Hang up and you’ll die right there bitch!” The voice was raised for the first time.

Lori stopped walking and stood rooted to the spot.

“That’s right Miss Jordan, you’ll die right there in the park. Do you think that jogger will notice? What about the old couple on the bench? I know one thing the gunfire will scatter those pigeons just before the bullet scatters your brain.”

Lori stood still. She took deep breathes. She ran her left hand through her hair and looked around the park.

“You won’t be able to see me, Lori.”

“Okay, you’ve got my attention. What do you want with me?” Lori managed to speak with a calm voice.

“Well I’m sure I could think of a lot of things given time, I’m sure most guys could.”

“This doesn’t sound like a regulation sex pest phone call to me.” Lori even managed a bit of boldness.

“You are correct in that belief. I have a very particular reason to be talking to you.”

“You going to tell me what that is?”

“All in good time.”

“Look, I don’t mean to upset you but just because you can see me doesn’t mean you can kill me.”

“I can see those pigeons too don’t forget.”

“So?”

Within seconds there was a quiet sound of something flying past Lori and the flock of pigeons on the grass near to Lori flew away. All except one, which was now laid out on the floor. Lori tentatively walked over to the bird. Leaned over to inspect it then let out a gasp as she saw the blood coming from the dead pigeon. She covered her mouth, stood upright and frantically began to look around the park again.

“Told you already, you won’t be able to see me. Do I have your attention now?”

“Absolutely.”

“Really? I’m not convinced. Perhaps you need a human sacrifice. Let’s see the old couple on the bench, maybe the kid playing with the ball or maybe one of those two about to jog past you.”

“No, please, that won’t be necessary. Leave them out of it just tell me what you want”– Lori begged as her breathing became less controlled and she came close to tears.

That same quiet noise again and then one of the joggers collapsed to the floor grabbing his leg and screaming in agony. Nobody else in the park knew what had happened apart from Lori. Even the jogger himself had no clue what the instant sharp pain was in the back of his upper thigh.

“Oh God no! Please stop!” Lori held a hand to her forehead and lost control of her breathing. Nobody noticed her staggering away from the scene. Gradually people became aware of the stricken joggers plight, if not the reason for the blood pouring out of his leg.

“Don’t worry Lori, if I shoot you I’ll shoot to kill, so you won’t feel a thing. Where do you think you are going bitch?”

Appeared that she was staggering nowhere in particular but Lori was attempting to get to the nearby rubbish bin.

“I... I need... need a... a... I... I am... am asthma... ma.”

“Asthmatic? Oh sorry dear. I didn’t realize. Not going to kill you is it? I wanted to have much more fun with you.”

Lori frantically rummaged through the bin with one hand, while holding the phone in the other hand. Down towards the bottom she found what she was looking for. She pulled out the brown paper bag that had been used to carry fast food. A few other things came out with it. But Lori shook the bag quickly. Soon it was the only thing in her hand. Horrible shortness of breath more than overrode her worry of any germs on the bag. She put it to her mouth and started to breath into it. About a minute had passed before Lori felt in control of her breathing again.

“Don’t you have one of those inhalers?”

“Yes but I was just planning a walk around the park. And that wouldn’t normally come close to setting off an attack. So what do you want me to do?”

“You see that black BMW to your right?”

“Yeah.”

“Get into the back seat of it.”

Lori was in no mood to be calling a bluff. So she did as she was told. While she had another look around the park, she tried without success to catch a glimpse of her tormentor.

      Whilst the driver of that vehicle was clearly in on the phone caller’s plot, he was not the caller himself. Since Lori continued to hear from him on the phone while in the car. He told her that she was to be driven round to a man’s house. And she had to convince him to get in the car with her. The driver had a gun with him. And Lori was told he wouldn’t hesitate to use it if she tried to escape from the car. The journey to the mystery mans house wasn’t all that far. The car pulled up at the end of the longer than average driveway, on a street lined with large houses. Lori’s instructions were simply to get the man into the back of the car. But neither of them was allowed to talk with anybody else. Refusing to get with him in the car or telling anybody else what was going on would result in her death.

      Lori couldn’t help but look all around her as she walked up the drive. She realized it easily could have been paranoia. But Lori still felt like she was being watched. She walked slowly and tried to control her breathing. Her heart pounding away was proving more difficult to control. After knocking on the door she had no idea what to expect, for all she knew it could be the man on the phone that was to answer the door. That thought in her head was given some credence when the man who opened the door was holding a phone to his ear.

“Hi! Err okay. I know you don’t know me but I need you to do me a really big favor.”

“Well that was an attention grabber. Please go on.”

“Well this is a bit crazy. Actually it is a lot crazy. But I need you to get into the back of that car with me.”

“I see. Well, on the face of it, that’s one of the best offer I’ve ever had. But I can’t help thinking there’s a little more to this than your letting on.”

Despite the extreme situation Lori managed to produce a smile at the young mans comment. “Sorry, I’m not really getting my point across here. I didn’t mean to give you the wrong impression.”

“Don’t worry. I couldn’t get too carried away. The phrase ‘too good to be true’ is ringing in my head.”

“The thing is I need you to get in the back of that car. In fact my life, kind of depends on it. Please, I know this is a massive leap of faith from your part, but I really need you to believe me right now.”

There was a strong quizzical look on the man’s face. “Sorry, Joe, I’ll have to call you back.” He spoke into the phone and hung up. “Look! I want to believe you. But I’ve heard of these sorts of door step scams before. And I hate to be gullible.”

“Look, please!” Lori started to get the feeling she was going to die on this stranger’s doorstep. Sweat came down on her brow. And another asthma attack didn’t seem too far away. “I’ll tell you straight out. There’s a guy on the end of this phone that says he’s going to kill me if you don’t get into that car.”

“Oh come on, you were doing quite well as the pretty lady con-artist. But you’ve completely over done it now. Sorry lady, maybe you can try next door.” He went to shut the door only for Lori to forcefully push it fully open.

“No! It has to be you!” Lori begged then screamed as the window next to the front door was shattered by a bullet. “Please you’ve got to help me, there’s nobody else who can keep me alive right now. I know you don’t know me. But please don’t let me die here.” Lori spoke amongst big sobs of tears and heavy breathing.

Momentarily stunned by what happened to his window he didn’t take in all of what Lori said. But he fully captured the sentiment. And Lori’s tearful state didn’t look like any sort of act.

“Okay, calm down mate. What do you need me to do? Just get in that car?”

“Yes please, I’m so sorry.” Lori’s breathing got worse.

“You are all right.” He checked as he put his hands on her shoulders. And he tried to make eye contact while Lori stooped a little.

“I might be having... have... having an ast... ast... asthma attack.”

“Oh, wow! You’re not having a good day, do you? Have you got an inhaler?”

Lori pulled the bag from the bin out of her pocket. And she started breathing into it.

“I’m sure I’ve got a better bag for you somewhere.” He said and went to go inside to look for one.

“No!” Lori managed to shout out, stopping him in his tracks. “He might ki... kill me if you go inside.”

“Let’s just get in the car.”

“Please.”

Both of them were very self-aware as they walked to the car, looking around with a distinct feeling of still being watched. He opened the back door for Lori then followed her in. As soon as the two of them were in, the driver locked all the doors and drove off.

“Seen as it appears I might have just saved your life. You might as well tell me your name.”

“Lori.” She had her asthma just about under control and took the bag away to speak.

“Hey Lori, I’m Ryan. You really have no idea what’s going on here?”

“No, I was out for a walk in the park. Then I answered my phone and the worst day of my life began to unfold.”

“Well, the only comfort I can offer is this. If this guy really wanted you dead, then by now you would be dead.”

“I get the feeling he has something grander planned for me. Already I can tell he likes a bit of drama.”

“No, shit. Did you say it had to be me to get in this car? Was he that particular?”

“Yeah, he told me to get in this car and I would be driven round to a man’s house. And that man had to get in the car with me.”

“Sounds like I’ve got as much reason to be seriously spooked out as you.”

“Can you think of anybody who’d hate you that much?”

“No, not at all, most guys don’t even notice or remember me enough to get about to hate me.”

The car headed out of the New York City limits. The two back seat passengers tried to come to terms with exactly what was happening to them. Lori’s first and instinctive impressions of Ryan were that he was a decent and trustworthy guy. Yet she couldn’t completely remove the thought that he might be in on this plan against her. She found herself listening intently to his every word as she searched for something that would incriminate him. She hated herself for being so untrustworthy. But the situation was controlling her emotions. Ryan for his part couldn’t help but feel some sympathy towards Lori. She was a pretty, tearful, asthmatic female. And she did indeed cut a very sympathetic figure. Yet Ryan too, couldn’t get suspicions of his latest acquaintance out of his mind. The figure Lori was portraying was one of such helplessness that he couldn’t stop himself from thinking that it was all a bit too contrived to be true. Both of them sat in the back of a strange car with a stranger, being driven by a stranger, and neither of them knowing whom to trust. They both would wonder what the other would have to do to prove their trustworthiness. Both of them thought of the ironic answer to that surprise was that the guy would have to die.

After around half and hour of driving, the car was out on an open and slightly winding road, in a quiet and unpopulated area. Neither Lori nor Ryan really knew where they were by this stage. Lori’s phone rang. And from the phone’s lack of recognition of the number, Lori correctly assumed that it was the stalking psychopath.

“Well done Lori. I knew you could persuade him to get into the car.”

“I think that bullet through the window was probably the most persuasive.”

“Hold the phone so he can hear me too.”

Lori held the phone in between her and Ryan. Both were intrigued as well as scared about what he might say to them next.

“Now you both can hear me I’ll tell you what is about to happen to you. You are being driven to a very luxurious holiday home out in the country. When you get there six guests will already be there as well as the staff. Now this is the important part of the game. So concentrate on this next bit. You are not allowed to tell anybody in that house about how you got there. As far as they are concerned you have won a competition to stay the weekend at that place. If you mention anything to anybody about our little situation then I will kill both of you. No harm in you discussing it yourself I suppose. But you better make sure you are not overheard, because if you are you will both die. Simple enough game! Oh, and I’d appreciate it if you cut down on the swearing.”

He abruptly hung up.

“Doesn’t exactly sound like somebody you’d like to get to know.” Ryan commented.

“Yet I already hate him.”