It was night, Jaqueline decided to make a video call on the computer with her friend Barbara to get away from the thoughts that haunted her. When she was alone, that house seemed much bigger than it really was and every noise outside made her jump. She had been trying to stay sober for the last few days, but the tension she was in because of the messages made everything more difficult. At least now she could laugh a little and distract her mind while she chatted with Barbara.
- He offered me a lot of money. Can you believe it?
- And you didn’t accept?
- Of course not, he can pay to see my videos on OnlyFans if he wants, but I don’t do that kind of thing.
- Not by money, right friend, but for free you’ve already done it with the entire city! - Barbara laughed while Jaqueline protested.
- I’m changing. This time it’s serious. No more Jackie Tequila. Now I’m going to become a serious girl. I haven’t had a drink in... three days.
- I’m with you, babe - replied the other with a wink - I’m going to spend a few days on Mr Moacir’s yacht, ops, Big-Moe (he gets furious when he’s called Mr Moacir) and when I come back, I’ll stop drinking too! But... we’ll keep showing our asses on the internet for money, right?
- Of course! Let’s shoot another video together before you go. The Halloween one is doing great.
- I’m in. Now... changing the subject a bit... what about the crazy guy on the messages? Did he stop bothering you?
Jaqueline gave a deep sigh, her face changed completely at the memory of the messages.
- I wish. He just sent a new direct one today. I’ve already blocked him twice, but he keeps creating new accounts. Look at what he sent me earlier, you won’t believe it:
I am down on whores like you and I shant quit ripping them till I do get buckled. Grand work my job will be. I'll give you no time to squeal.
- Oh my goodness, - exclaimed Barbara - this time he’s taken it hard!
- I’m scared, Barbie. I even thought of deleting my account from OnlyFans, but he also sent me messages on my personal e-mail. I don’t even know how he got the address and...
- What’s wrong?
- I heard my mobile phone vibrating. It’s in my bedroom. I’ll get it and be right back.
Jackie got up and climbed the two flights of stairs that led to her room. The computer camera showed her friend a beautiful room with modern and refined decoration. In the background, she could see the corridor leading to the kitchen, passing through the doors of the pantry and the bathroom. Bárbara observed the environment, which had been the stage for so many videos of the two of them, and wondered if it had been a good idea to leave her friend living in that house alone.
Then Barbara saw something that sent shivers through every hair on her body: a shadow was slowly approaching the hallway, coming towards the living room. The girl instinctively put her hand to her mouth and squeezed her eyes shut to understand what it was. Closer, she could make out a short man wearing a dark coat and a strange tall hat. Barbara shouted as loud as she could, hoping to alert her friend, but soon noticed that the shadow had gone still. The screen was frozen.
“She needs me, he’s going to kill her” - she thought desperately, so she grabbed her car keys and left in a hurry.
***
In the bedroom, Jaqueline picked up her mobile phone on the bed and saw a new message, “From Jack to Jackie” with a picture attached. She clicked on the arrow design to download the photo, but quickly switched apps, as if trying to escape the green bar that was filling up. “I will not see that now. He’s trying to terrify me.” Shee scrolled down the Instagram screen for a few moments, looking at various images without really paying attention to any of them, until the scrolling stopped. The internet was no longer working.
“No, please, not today.”
She stuffed her mobile phone into her pocket and walked back down the stairs, already worried about her friend who was waiting for her. The computer screen was on, but the call had dropped.
She looked for the router, forcing her memory to remember where it was. “In the pantry, that’s it. It amazes me that the internet works in this house with the router stocked there.” She hurried down the hall and found the pantry door ajar. She put her arm through the opening, groping the wall for the switch, but the light didn’t come on. After a snort of indignation, she switched on the lantern on his mobile phone and entered the dark pantry, going to the back wall where the router was. No little light was flashing. She ran her fingers along the back of the device, searching for the power button, but soon noticed something missing.
- Where’s the power cord? This makes no sense.
As she waved the phone to focus the lantern, her hand absentmindedly made the open applications scroll on the small screen until the photo Jack had sent her appeared before her. Jaqueline’s eyes widened when she saw the photo was of herself, on her back, sitting at her computer during the video call with Barbara.
“He’s here!”
The girl ran out in a panic, but barely passed through the pantry door and two arms passed in front of her face from behind. The cable removed from the router squeezed her neck and she felt a mixture of pain and despair as her attacker tried to strangle her. But Jackie didn’t give in. She propped her feet on the corridor wall and pushed back with all the weight of her body, causing the man to lose his balance and fall backwards, then ran back inside the pantry and closed the door. She felt two violent kicks coming from the other side, but she pulled one of the large shelves, which was crossed diagonally, blocking the door completely. Now all she could hear was Jack’s thumps and howls of hatred.
She heard her mobile phone vibrating. She instinctively fumbled in her pockets, but knew it wasn’t there. The noise was coming from the corridor. Without it, she couldn’t call for help and would have to stay there, trapped until someone came. It didn’t take long to find an emergency lantern, and she felt a little more relieved to no longer be completely in the dark. On the other side, she could hear footsteps coming and going. Now and then, the man forced the handle, trying to open it, but soon stopped again.
After a long time, Jackie did not know exactly how long, she heard Barbara’s voice calling at the front door of the house.
***
- ‘Jackie, are you okay? Please answer me! - Barbara shouted as she knocked on the door from outside, - if there’s anyone else there, just know that I’ve called the police and they’ll be here any minute!
“As soon as they stop laughing and believe my story about Jack the Ripper,” she thought sadly to herself.
With no answer, she looked apprehensively out the windows. The lights were on, but there was no sign of life.
Suddenly she heard Jaqueline’s voice. It sounded muffled and distant. She couldn’t understand it.
- Jackie, where are you?
That was the last thing Barbara said before Jack’s shadow loomed over her. She felt a sharp tap on the back of her head and everything went black.
From inside the pantry, Jaqueline was still bellowing, trying to alert her friend.
***
Jackie heard something heavy being dragged down the hallway towards the kitchen. Just the thought that it could be her friend made her shiver. The girl shouted a few swear words at Jack through the door, but got no response of any kind. The fear was turning into anger.
She looked around for something she could use to defend herself. She found in a toolbox a small pocketknife, which she kept in her pocket, and a very long spanner.
It took a lot of effort to move the huge shelf back into place, but finally the door was clear. The fear of what might happen now filled Jackie with adrenaline. She held the heavy spanner and stepped out into the hallway. It was then that she came across a very bizarre scene.
Jackie heard a squeak, and a smell of food invaded the hallway. There was blood and the trail followed to the kitchen. There was Jack, on his back, frying something on the cooker. Barbara’s body was on the floor, her stomach had been cut open and her viscera was visible. There was blood everywhere. Jaqueline covered her mouth to contain the vomit.
- It’s a family recipe - the man had a choked but calm voice - my great grandfather brought it from England.
Jack had a round face and a thick, pointed moustache, and his brown eyes were shaded by the brim of his hat. He wore a leather apron, all battered and bloodstained. He placed the frying pan on the table and picked up a huge knife that was also bloody.
- We might call it an eco-friendly recipe these days, because I clean up by killing something rotten in society (like you Internet whores) and in return I make a snack out of a piece of your kidney.
For a moment, Jackie was detached from reality. She seemed to be in a distant dream, a nightmare that would soon end with her waking up peacefully in her bed. This couldn’t really be happening.
But the survival instinct was stronger than fear: when Jack attacked her with the knife, the girl reacted and jumped sideways, dodging the blow. She brandished the spanner in response, but missed too, and at that moment the man made a second strike from below that hit her in the ribs, making a deep cut. Jaqueline leaned over the table, bent over in pain.
- It won’t be long now, my dear. I’ll clip your ears off and send them to the police officers, along with a note written with your blood. You’ll be very famous in the end.
Jaqueline felt something hot near her. It was the frying pan with her friend’s fried kidney, which Jack had just taken from the fire. She tightened her hand around the frying pan handle and struck with all the strength she had left, hitting Jack right in the face. The man fell to his knees screaming, his hands over his burned face. The girl acted quickly, pulled the pocketknife from her pocket and stabbed him in the neck. Blood gushed out, hitting the window over the sink.
***
It was Halloween. A few teenagers were strolling through the streets dressed up as all sorts of horror movie creatures. The few who noticed a stunned girl walking with her clothes soaked in blood and a pocket knife in her hand, thought it was just one more person coming from a costume party after drinking a lot.
Jaqueline was found by the police three blocks away from her house, in a state of shock, with an open wound on the side of her thorax and was rushed to hospital. She was only able to talk about what happened two days later.
The bodies of Barbara and Jack were taken away by forensics. The mysterious man was not identified and nobody came to claim his body, which was cremated as an indigent, along with his clothes and the knife he used in the crime.
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