Unmasking the Insanity *HOW IT ALL BEGAN PART 3*

THIS IS THE BEGINNING PART 3.

   The blaring of the alarm clock assaulted Zara’s ears, jolting her out from her troublesome sleep. The worrying message had kept her awake most of the night; the sheets were twisted around her limbs, probably because of the thrashing around in she had done in her sleep. The bedroom was still fairly dark but, outside the wind raged; clouds seemingly hid the sun with the promise of rain. The dreary day outside reflected her mood.  Her head was fuzzy, but the remnants of the night before clung to her mind. 

   She was hesitant to look at her phone, but that little voice niggled away ‘go on have a peak, just one look’ it said. She didn’t want it to be real, maybe it was a dream, or maybe it wasn’t. But the little voice in her head forced her hand as she dragged her phone from the bedside table. A toss of her head sent her long raven black hair flying over her shoulder as her eyes blurred with sleep to read the ominous message once again. An uneasy feeling pitted at the bottom of her stomach, her forehead crinkled and her expression was one of mute wretchedness.

    Stark reality struck her full force as the text message from the night before stared back at her troublesome face and told her it was all too real.

   She quickly logged onto the illicit website she had signed up to which was called dontgetcaughtcheating.com, and rushed through her ever increasing list of admiring men. No man going by the name of the tall man existed, just other pseudonym names of other male characters she had befriended.

   ‘Are you getting up anytime today?’ Ben beckoned from downstairs; breaking the silence and Zara’s thought process.

   ‘I’ll be down in a minute, just give me a second.’ Zara hesitantly replied.

   ‘Well, hurry up, or you’re going to be late’ Ben shouted back.

   Zara stared at the message on her mobile for a few more seconds, ignoring Ben’s protest. Their sorry state of a love life was a dismal disappointment; the bite of regret pinched at her heart. But she had to get her excitement from somewhere since Ben had lost interest. She knew that signing up to the website was wrong and dubious but, the thrill of men ogling over her voluptuous body was hard to resist.  It had become like a drug, an addiction, a daily fix.

   Her phone suddenly vibrated, causing her to flinch. The number calling had been withheld. She sat up in bed with a frowned look of puzzlement on her face,   picked up the call and tentatively said ‘Hello.’

   From the moment she listened, she was pressing the receiver closer and closer against her ear.    

  ‘Who’s there?’

  There was no response.

   Every cell in Zara’s body suddenly went on red alert as ‘Teardrop’ by Massive attack began to resonate through her earpiece, sending ice cold shivers down her spine.  

   ‘This isn’t funny’ Zara said, feeling a little unnerved. ‘If you’re not going to speak then I’m going to han-’

   ‘You’re right this isn’t funny.’ the caller spoke with a ring of authority cutting Zara off like a slap in the face. ‘And if you value your life and those that surround you, I wouldn’t advise you disconnect from this call. I can be very aggressive, if provoked.’  

   A bewildered look of disbelief swept over Zara's face, as the caller’s words seemed to be littered with malice. ‘Listen pal, whoever you think you are, or whatever you think-’ 

   ‘You don’t know me, Zara,’ the caller replied in an abrupt manner, cutting her off again in mid -sentence ‘but I know everything I need to know about you, did you get my message from last night, or do you still refuse to acknowledge my very existence.’

   ‘F**k off mate! This is a joke right. Everybody knows the tall man doesn’t exist �" the tales are made up �" you’re full of s**t! ’

   ‘Is that so?’

   ‘Yes that’s so’ Zara shot back. ‘So why don’t you just shut the-’

   ‘Shut the f**k up’ the caller’s words cut her off like a slap in the face ‘I don’t think so, but what I do think is that you should listen very carefully to what you are about to be told. I am here to warn you of a storm. A storm so fierce and so violent that not even God will be able to bring it to a calm. I am about to rise from up from the tales that have been told, and strike fear into sinners across the land.’

   A shudder of fear rippled over Zara and her heart lurched up into her mouth.

Her insides twisted in turmoil as she pondered what to say next.

   ‘But for now,’ the caller continued ‘Why don’t you take another look at your email. I think you’ll agree, that what I’ve sent you is a little bit of an eye opener.’

   Zara took her phone away from her ear, tapped down on its screen and opened up her inbox.

   Helplessness engulfed as she gasped at her own nude picture staring back at her; one of many which she’d sent to her online guy friends.   Stark reality suddenly struck and her mind whirled with disjointed and chaotic thoughts.

    She placed the receiver back up to her ear, and re-engaged in conversation.

  ‘You’re a f*****g a*****e!’ Zara exclaimed, her chest now rose and fell with each angry breath. ‘How the hell did you get hold of these pictures? Who the f**k are you?’  

  ‘I have already told you who I am. But I do have many more pictures and videos of you in my possession. Would you like to see?’  

   ‘F**k off!  This is a joke, right? Everybody knows the tall man tales aren’t true �" they’re all made up �" you’re full of s**t! ’

   No reply.  

  ‘I said answer me, you sick f**k!’ Zara pleaded, her heart now beating twice as much as a few minutes ago. But the person on the other end wasn’t listening anymore.

  ‘I said answer me godammit!’

   She waited motionless for an answer, but there was still no reply.   

  ‘Right, f**k this and f**k you! I’ve had enough of this s**t. I’m calling the-’     

  ‘Heed my warning Zara.’ the caller replied, invading Zara’s speech at the most importune of moments. ‘Calling the authorities will only lead to a series of catastrophic consequences. Staying on the line will make your life that little bit more bearable. I’ve already warned you: I can get aggressive if provoked. So I suggest you be a good little girl, keep that phone against your ear and listen carefully to every single word I have to say. To put it bluntly.  For me, failure is fun. For you, failure is deadly.’

    Zara’s fragile nerves splintered at the words. She wore a tense angry expression, as she struggled to hold her temper.  

   ‘F**k you!’ Zara yelled back as blood pumped through her veins at a feverish pace. ‘You know nothing about me. Do you hear me! nothing!’

   ‘Is that so?’

   ‘Yes, that’s so. You’re just some sick, twisted old perv who gets his kicks out of threatening people with some bullshit information about a man who doesn’t exist.’ 

   The called chuckled.

   ‘You find this funny do you?’ Zara replied in retaliation, her knuckles turning white as her free hand began to crumple the fabric of the bed covers. ‘Tell you what, why don’t you do yourself a favour and f**k off back to the mental asylum you’ve come from; get them to throw away the key and leave me the f**k alone!’    

   ‘If only it were that simple. But soon, you will know just how much I know about you. Until then, I’ll be sure to give you a wave as you pass me by on your Saturday morning journey into work. I’ve enjoyed our brief conversation, it has been rather fun. But as you know, all good things do eventually come to an end.’

   The caller’s words sent Zara’s mind into a dizzying spin and her heart sank like a rock. All four walls of the bedroom felt like they were closing in. She held her back ramrod straight up against the bed’s headboard as the caller let rip a whispered giggle.  She could almost see the evil grin that must have been twisting around the caller’s lips.

 

  ‘Well go on then, f**k off and leave me alone!’ Zara hissed back into the earpiece with all the intensity she could muster.

   In the background ‘Teardrop’ came to an abrupt stop and the caller re-engaged in conversation with a calm and steady tone.

  ‘Before I go, and just so you are aware. I have left Ben with a parting gift.  I hope you don’t mind but I have taken the privilege of sharing one of your many nude online pictures with him. I don’t think he looks too happy, quite sad actually, I can tell.’

   ‘You’ve done what!’ Her voice was now dry, faltering for the first time it was breaking: her aggressive composure was gone. She closed her brown eyes, shook her head and said ‘And what do you mean he doesn’t look too happy.’

   ‘Why don’t you ask him yourself? He’ll soon be in the bedroom; he’s coming up the stairs right now.’

  ‘What do you mean, he’s coming up the stairs? How the hell do you know?’

  ‘Oh, how foolish of me, I didn’t I tell you, did I,’ the caller replied in a mocking tone.

  ‘Tell me what?’

  ‘I’ve been parked up outside your house all this time.’

  The callers biting sense of humour mocked the seriousness of the situation.  His bitter laugh sent a tidal wave of chills down Zara’s spine.

  The connection went dead.

  The silence felt heavy and dark, as if a hovering storm cloud had swooped down and invaded itself into her life. Zara’s nerves had been shattered to a million pieces and she felt violated and exposed. Quickly gathering her thoughts, she flung the duvet cover off from the bed and frantically dashed to the bedroom window; ripped open the curtains and gazed out of the bedroom window, her eyes darted around from left to right to catch any kind of glimpse of any suspicious person or vehicle.

   There was no sign of any vehicle outside the house. Whatever form of transport the caller had been using, it had now gone; vanished completely out of sight.

   Ben appeared at the foot of the bedroom door with a look of scorn written across his face. He held up his phone, gesturing for Zara to look at her own nude picture which was showing on his touchscreen display.

   Desperately wanting the ground to swallow her whole, Zara froze to the spot. 

   Ben stood, just stood and with a tone of exasperation he said ‘Just what the f**k do you think you’ve been playing at Zara?’

   A sense of dread rolled around in the pit of Zara’s stomach as she sheepishly flashed her eyes to meet his. She swallowed the lump that came into her throat and began to speak.

Reviews

[BBP]

Sorry it took me so long to get to this. But as always your work is amazing and so professionally written.

I know Ive read this before but it seems so much more polished.

The dreary day outside reflected her mood -ACE LINE!!!!

You played her anger so well and then her dread of Ben seeing the picture transitioned perfectly.

But Ben's anger and disappointment wasn't lost in her emotions playing out, you laid both out so perfectly balanced to get the scene across.

And as always......... Love Ray's banter with the Sinful Six.

[Mr.Writer]

OH... NO! The chapter ended with a cliffhanger and once again left the readers with wanting more from your rich storytelling!
The way you described so many things in the book with the flow keeping up at pace, it was magnificent!
" ‘F**k off mate! This is a joke right. Everybody knows the tall man doesn’t exist " the tales are made up " you’re full of s**t! "
I feel like this line repeated somewhere down in the story :D
Overall, superb!

[Joey Nizz]

This was well detailed!
I love how you showed Zara and ray in this one!
This was a good read buddy, Keep it up!

[Rachid Amrani]

‘Well, hurry up, or you’re going to be late’ Ben shouted back.
Zara checking up the illicit site- You raised an issue that is very common these days. We live in a time where it seems we’ve lost touch with our real world. It seems that technology had crippled our social skills. Gone are the good days when men and women used to meet each other the traditional way (public places). Or could it be that Zara checked up the website for a specific reason: Tracking a subject for example!
-But that was a smart thing you did by raising the issue in your story.
-Again great job on describing to us the reactions of the character (Zara’s reaction when she answered the phone and her reaction as she received the caller’s message not to hang up the phone). It felt like I was watching a movie.
-LISTEN PAL- I had to read the expression a few times since I’m a big fun of the word “Pal”.
The dialogue between Zara and the unwanted caller flows so nicely and very informative. As it goes back and forth, it tells us a lot about the caller’s intentions and Zara’s reaction.
As I read their conversation, I was dying to continue reading to find out just what the unwanted caller wanted from poor Zara. You succeeded in creating the element of curiosity like you’ve done in the previous chapters. And of course you left us more focused on Zara’s reaction as the caller made threats against her (Not to call the authorities). Good job!
-And No! Anything but sharing nude pictures of somebody else. I feel sorry for Zara when the caller said he was going to do just that.
Another good chapter full of suspense and action. And like every chapter, you left us curious as to what going to happen in the next chapter.
Thank you for sharing.

-Rachid-

[Farhan Shaikh]

This awesome..
Loved every thing in it..the characters Zara and ray their tone..wonderful..
This is something we don't get to read daily..
Very good chapter.
Thank you for sharing Mark

[Hebe]

Wonderful entrance.... your words just seem to fall flawlessly on the page and come together to cause fear, anxiety and dread.... powerful stuff!!

[Dr. YumnaKay]

I wish I could feel sympathy for Zara, but I don't lol.. The attitude of Ray towards her at least is justified..

The transition of Zara's tone from aggressive to defensive was the strong part, I think, and I liked it! The fear of having revealed everything to Ben really showed up well through her dialogues.
I liked Ray's menacing tones here..

Like always, I just love your attention to details, Mark. Oh and you ended the chapter while leaving the reader anticipating on what Ben would do to Zara. I feel she'll be able to make up some story but idk.. Def sparks my curiosity..

A good one! Hopefully you'll be adding more 😊😊

[Sinbulvinter]

I love the sudden changes in Ray's tone, it makes him seem almost bipolar. He can go from calm to arrestive as s**t in a split second. Scary.
The chapter gives a sense of danger and an unsettling feeling. I always love your details and the way you display emotions on the characters!

[Rebecca Church]

oh snap, trouble in paradise~~. This is going just going to be one big ball of drama and awesomeness. Will the two be able to survive whats to come?? well.. I suppose only time will tell.

You're a grand writer Mark, you definitely know how to set the story up for one that'll be tense and have people wanting for more!

Becca