Watching

Originally posted on Twitter October 31, 2020.

After two weeks of multiple health screens and asking everyone to quarantine, she surprised her closest inner circle with a trip to a private island, where they could pretend things were normal for a brief moment in time.

They danced, rode bikes, swam near whales, kayaked, watched a movie on the beach and so much more. While the masses withered in distant shores, they reveled. “Truly we are blessed” said one partygoer “Indeed,” the other would reply, going back to their drink.

She herself waded in adulation and gifts, well wishes from those closest to her on this joyous, momentous birthday, far from the preening eyes, the vile hatred, the chains of fame that were on her. For now… she was happy.

It was time for the final surprise. A gift from her loving husband. The lights dimmed as they stood in the courtyard in anticipation, until the light of the waxing moon was all that illuminated the partygoers. A small gesture to a technician, and it was time.

Then, in the middle of the cleared space, clouded by fog and steam, an apparition of her long gone father. Whether through sorcery or technology, he was brought back to her on this day.

“Happy birthday, baby girl.”

She began to cry.

“You’ve grown up to be so beautiful,” continued the apparition, “you’ve done so much, you’re an amazing mother,” he continued. All around, there were murmurs and joyous tears.

“Remember when we used to listen to that song on the radio?” “Oh how I loved when you danced.” The spirit continued on, recounting cherished memories and family in-jokes.

Finally the ghost concluded “Remember, I’ll always be watching you from heaven. I’ll ways be with you. I’ll always be watching…”

“W̶a̵t̷c̴h̸i̵n̷g̷…”

“What’s going on?” “Did it glitch?” “What happened?”

“Hey, cut the feed!” her husband signalled.

Nothing.

“Can someone at least turn on the lights?” “My phone’s not working.”

The crowd waited anxiously, trying to figured out what was going on, lit only by the moon and the suspended hologram.

“Where is that tech? I swear I’m going to fire him when this is all…”

“I’m going to find the manager and try to figure out what’s going on,” said one of her sisters, as she disappeared back into the manse.

A minute passes. Two minutes. Ten.

The birthday girl is worried. “Should we go check on her?”

Her gathered guests started to become impatient. “…poor production quality…” “…honestly I thought she’d be better than this…” “…gonna go back, maybe I’ll have electricity back in my room.”

“Wait, please stay!” she shouted. But they already started to leave.

It was only her now in courtyard. Well, her and the suspended figure of her deceased father. She didn’t know what to do.

“Dad what’s going on?” she pleaded, not knowing what to do. “Why are you doing this to me? This was my special day…”

She knew it was foolish, that it wasn’t her father, just a technological trick. But she was desperate, and she needed help. Pleading, she looked up at him.

What looked back was not her father.

The kindly visage that she had known throughout her life had been distorted and made grotesque, exaggerated to demonic proportions, phasing in and out with the light. Its body dripped some sort of ooze and its limbs twisted in unnatural ways.

It began to move towards her.

“Who are you? What do you want from me?” she screamed as she slowly stepped back from the creature.

She ran. The creature lunged after her.

Before long she came across the cobblestone path where she greeted her guests only a few days before. "WATCHING, WATCHING" came the creature's voice behind her.

Her heel caught along one of the grooves and she tripped, tearing her dress and scraping her knee.

“Stupid!” She braced herself for whatever horror the creature would unleash on her. And then…

Nothing.

The voice echoed in the air from all around her, but the creature was nowhere to be seen.

She unhooked the clasp on her heel and continued barefoot.

“Hello?” she cried out, “Mom? Sis? Honey?”

Nothing, silent except for the twisted voice of her father—or whatever that creature was.

She made her way to the lodge, where many of the guests said they would go, but they were empty, doors left ajar with nary a person in sight or sound.

“Anyone there? Where is everyone? Is there any staff here?”

She made her way around the other locales of the resort; the beaches, the lakes, the trails; all places which up until an hour ago had been filled with cherished memories, but now in the silent, deserted night only filled her with a sense of dread and desolation.

And it was through this search that she started to feel it. That vile sensation that she was all so familiar with. That lingering feeling whenever she stepped out into public, the well-known curse of fame.

The feeling of eyes on her.

The feeling stuck to her no matter she went. She couldn’t be being watched. The only other people who were on the island were her friends and family, and if they saw her they would come and help her, right?

But still she could feel them.

She was just stressed, that’s all. Deep breaths, like her yoga teacher taught her. She would just need to find someone, anyone, and they could get to the bottom of this. But that slimy, unshakeable feeling continued, crawling up her spine and eating at her temples.

She began to hear things too. Coughs. Crying. The wailing of sirens. Angry shouts. But she couldn’t make out where they were coming from, and they were so quiet that she couldn’t tell what was real and what wasn’t.

“Why am I hearing these things?” she thought. “This was supposed to be my special day. This was supposed to be paradise. I shouldn’t be hearing any of this here…”

It was more than one voice now.

It would be around midnight now, though she couldn’t tell because her phone won’t turn on. She was back at the foot of the cobblestone steps, not a single human soul in sight, haunted by visions and the constant hum of “WATCHING” hovering over her.

She stooped down to cry.

And then she saw it. Up the path, through her tears, the blurred outline of a figure. Could it be? She got up and ran. “Hey! Over here!”

It was her husband, her caring husband. Here after all this terror was her love to save her. But when she got closer…

It was her husband… but it also wasn’t. It was another hologram, frozen in time, just like that of her father. She passed her hands through the static apparition. “WATCHING, WATCHING” the figure spoke in her husband’s voice.

“Is this some sort of sick joke?” she shouted to the air. “Whoever you are you better fucking show yourself!”

Nothing.

In the distance, not too far away, another familiar figure.

“Mom!” she shouted and rushed to it.

Another hologram.

“What is this?” she shouted through her tears. “What the fuck is this??” Then she noticed, the figure of her husband, which had been facing the other way, was still staring at her.

She backed away, but no matter where she turned the two figures had their eyes trained on her.

Another figure up the path, that of her sister, the same blank stare, the same weird trailing effect. She turned around to see the other two figures but… did they somehow move closer?

"WATCHING, WATCHING, WATCHING." shouted the three in unison.

More figures of family as she went up the path, back towards the courtyard. Her best friend. That actress she met once at a shoot. The kind politician who listened to her. All of them stone-faced and static. All of them, just…

She entered the courtyard and the figures followed, apparating when she couldn’t see them. In the center, where it was before, was her father, reverting to his human form but maintaining the same, cold look as the others.

“Why are you doing this to me?” she pleaded at the assembled ghosts. “This was supposed to be my special day. I just wanted to share it with you all!”

Silence.

“WHY ARE YOU ALL LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT!?”

She sank to the ground and clasped her face, her pristine makeup stained with tears. Even with her eyes closed she could still feel their eyes on her, piercing through her thin dress and sinking under her skin. A pain more tortuous than any she had known.

From all around her, the legion’s voices grew louder, and she knew they were growing closer. And she knew. She took a final deep breath and stood up once again to face the horde.

For all she had done to try to escape, to pry herself away from their searing gaze, to build a bubble of peace for herself and her family, they found her.

As the twisted shadows of her friends and family descended upon her, stabbing her with their burning eyes, she finally accepted. She could never escape. No matter to what far shore or peak she tried to run, they would always be there.

Watching.