Online Interaction Not Rated.

I never had a lot of friends growing up and when I made a friend I always chased them off because I would try “too hard” I suppose to impress them to keep them around and it would just come off some kind of social anxiety. So, as any other teen in high school would do in my scenario, I played online video games. Halo was my absolute favorite. I was decent at it; no “skills” to really brag about. I just played to kill some time and escape from the real world. I was a little irritated with myself though, because it seemed that I treated this just like real life and would show the same anxieties and awkwardness even when just talking to people over a headset. I would get nervous when talking to people I didn’t even know. It was almost infuriating.

This went on for weeks till I got to the point that I would not even try to talk to people or make friends. I was starting to lose interest in the game and didn’t play it for a few weeks. I was left home alone one weekend and decided to play it just to pass the time. I jumped in a team slayer match and was just playing around. Played a few games and thought I had had enough. Just when I was getting ready to turn off my system and I got a message from someone from the red team. His name was “The Listener” I was on the blue team that game so I could only assume that it was just some hate mail or some other player just being angry about the game that they lost. I opened the message and was surprised to see that it said “good game.”.

I snickered at the message and was honestly surprised by the sportsmanship. I replied just simply “you as well” and went to turn off my Xbox again. Then I got a party chat invite from the same player.

I accepted the invite.

I plugged in my headset and just readied myself for another rejection.

“hello?” The Listener said

“Hey.” I said almost mumbling.

“You are a good player” He said. “We should play together. Maybe be on the same team this time so I don’t lose.”

“Yeah sure. Maybe I won’t see red when playing with you this time.” I said, cringing at my own pun.

“Yeah. For sure.” The listener said, laughing at my joke.

He actually laughed. I was so used to people leaving me on my own when playing games after I make jokes or even try to just converse with them. I got a good boost of confidence and we started playing some games.

We picked back up on same team slayer and it was a lot of fun. I couldn’t believe I was actually making a friend. It’s like he saw past my anxieties and was just happy to have me to play with him. I have to be honest; I enjoyed the company too. After playing for a pretty good amount of time, I checked the time, it was 230 AM. I had to get to bed.

“That was fun man. I have to go though. Feeling pretty tired.” I said

“Sure thing man. Thanks for sticking it out with me this long.” He responded. “Do you want to play more tomorrow?”

“Sure. I just have a few things that I have to take care of first but I will be online tomorrow.” I replied.

I woke up the next day feeling pretty happy that I actually had someone looking forward to playing games with me. I rushed to finish my chores and sat down on the couch with some juice and turned on my Xbox. I had barely had time to see my home screen and a party chat invite from The Listener came up on my screen. I plugged in my headset and joined the chat.

“Hey man.” I said

“I was waiting for you.” He said chuckling “Where have ya been?”

“I had some chores to finish before I could play some games.” I explained. “Parents may get upset if they don’t get done.”

“Oh I get it. But you’re parents aren’t there.” He said.

I felt pretty puzzled. I had never mentioned that my parents were out for the weekend. I shrugged it off and went with it.

“Yeah but they could walk in that door any minute.” I responded.

“Nah. You’ve got time.” He said. “Ready for some halo?”

“Sure.” I said.

I turned on my game and we started messing around in some team slayer. After a couple of games just making some bad gaming related jokes and laughing with one another, he started to act weird in my opinion.

He was asking some personal questions. My name, where I was from, how old I was. I tried to dodge the questions but he kept being persistent. Finally, he got some answers out of me.

“Hey. We don’t live that from each other.” He said. “Maybe we could meet up sometime.”

“Maybe.” I said. I was starting to feel uneasy.

“Hey I got to get off for the night. I have to get to sleep for school tomorrow.”

“Oh. Alright.” He said. He seemed genuinely let down that I had to get off. “Do you want to play tomorrow?” he asked.

“Sure. After I finish my homework and stuff.” I replied.

The next day I got up and went to school and was still thinking about how The Listener was acting and all the questions he was asking. I tried not think too hard about it but it always found its way back in my mind. I looked at the clock as I was sitting in my last class of the day. I only had five minutes till I was done and could go home.

After I walked home and got upstairs to my room, I started on my homework. After finishing all my subjects, I felt exhausted, I wasn’t going to have the energy to play games tonight. He would have to find someone else to play with. I was going to bed.

I woke up and checked the weather before leaving for school. It had snowed all night. School was cancelled. I didn’t waste any time. I finished my breakfast and went back to my room to hop on Xbox. I turned on my Xbox and I said you have 30 messages. I checked them and they were all from The Listener. Throughout the day he had been sending me messages all of them basically just asking where I was and some seemed upset and some asked if I had forgotten about him.

I set myself to appear offline. I didn’t want to deal with him today. He was starting to creep me out. I kept my profile appearing offline and just started to watch some random videos on YouTube and got another message. It was from him.

“649 Walter.”

It was my address. I felt my heart skip a beat. I finally worked up the courage and decided to chat with him.

“Hey what’s up?” I asked.

Silence on the other end. I was starting to get nervous.

“Hello?”

“Finally have time to talk to me? After all the time we have played together I thought were actually friends but you have been hiding from me all day.” He said.

“What do you want?” I asked.

“I want a friend.” He responded. “I went by your house yesterday. You had said we would play after you finished your homework. You were fast asleep.”

“Leave me alone.” I said with a shaking voice.

“Funny. I thought you were a friend. Friends make time for one another. You have been avoiding me. Why?” He said very angrily.

“I have been tired.” I said.

“Stop LYING.” He shouted in his headset.

“How do you know my address?” I asked. At this point I was getting scared at what this person was willing to do if I didn’t comply or listen to him.

“That’s not what’s important.” He said. “What’s important is that you don’t ignore me anymore. You don’t want to do that again.”

“I thought you said you wanted to hang out in person?” I said trying to conjure up a plan.

“Yeah.” He said willing to hear my offer.

“Meet me here tomorrow after I get out of school. You obviously know where I am.”

“Ok. Don’t leave me out to dry again.” He said.

And with that, he left the chat. I had to figure out something and I didn’t have a lot of time do it. I didn’t get any sleep at all that night.

I went to school as usual but now instead of just stressing over my academics, I was stressing over what I was going to do after I left school and saw this person outside of my home. At lunch I sat there and just stared at my food trying to think of what I was going to do or say when I saw him. Maybe I could tell someone. But who would believe me? What would I say? ‘Help. Someone that I only can assume is crazy is stalking me after playing some video games online.’ No. That wouldn’t work. I had to solve this problem on my own.

After school I was walking home and was about one block away from home and saw the strobe of police cruiser lights. They were close to my house. I just kept telling myself it was a problem in the neighborhood and nothing was wrong at my house, but, as I got closer I could see I was wrong.

My dad had called the police shortly after he had gotten home and noticed that the front door was kicked in. Someone had broken but nothing appeared to be missing but the house was completely turned upside down. The only room untouched in the chaos was mine. I knew who it was but didn’t know his name. I only knew his online alias. That wasn’t going to be good enough to get us anywhere. I walked in my room and stood there just confused and scared and a few other emotions mixing at once.

I turned on my Xbox and immediately got a chat invite from The Listener. I accepted.

“What?” I said furious with the person I am now speaking to.

“You have a nice house. It looks good from the outside but that doesn’t do it any justice after seeing the inside.” He said smugly.

“Look, I don’t know who you are but you need to just leave me alone. If you were trying to scare me then you have reached your goal. I agreed to meet you after I got out of school but you broke in instead.” I said.

“Look closely at what I did. The only electronics that work are the ones you need to play Halo with me.” He said almost laughing.

“You are crazy. I don’t want to talk to you or play games with you anymore. Stay away.” I said trying to sound confident.

“You really don’t have any room to make demands in this situation.” He responded laughing.

I was at a loss as to what I could or should do. I froze with my headset on. He was right. Who was I going to tell and what was I going to say. My only hope was to play some games with him and play the role of his friend. I had no choice but to do what he says. He knows where I live and is willing to go to some lengths to get to me. I know nothing about him. I played some games with him. After a couple hours of silence while playing I told him I had to go to bed. He told me I was playing with him tomorrow. I was living my life by someone else’s expectations and demands. I was basically his slave.

I woke up the next day and stared at my Xbox and contemplated just getting rid of it. I didn’t turn it on that day. Maybe he would think there was a problem with my internet or something and I could get away without talking to him for a day. It was a quiet and relaxing day without my Xbox. I never thought about him once. He didn’t exist today.

A little later in the day, going on around midnight or so I would say, I turned my Xbox back on just to watch some videos. I got a message. It was from him.

“you were warned” was the whole message. I felt sick to my stomach with fear. I had no idea what he was planning to do to me or my family. I didn’t respond. I just turned my Xbox off and laid back in my bed. I was terrified of what was to come. There was no hiding it. I didn’t sleep that night. After the sun came up and I was up and moving. I got a knock on my door. My heartbeat fast and hard and I approached the door slowly. I was the only one home as my parents had left for work. I looked through the peephole. It was the police.

“Can I help you?” I asked the officer.

“May I have just a moment of your time? Your parents as well if they are here. If not, we will need to get in contact with them as well.” The officer told me.

“They are at work. It’s just me here right now.” I said.

“Does that look familiar to you?” The officer asked while handing me a picture.

“Yeah. Its me.” I responded. “Where did you get this?”

“We arrested a man for some mysterious behavior this morning. He was sitting in his car outside your home.” The officer responded. “He had your picture in the car.”

“Oh my god. Who was it?” I asked trembling. “Do you have a picture of him?”

The officer handing me a picture of the man that was stalking me. I was disgusted. He looked like he was in mid-forties or early fifties. Shaggy hair and a mangy looking beard. I finally had a face to place with the person who was making my life hell. I felt a little more at ease.

“Do you recognize him?” The officer asked.

“No. Did you have any more information on him?” I asked.

“He was watching your house for what appears to be weeks. He had a notepad with exact times when people left or returned. He was definitely stalking you.” The officer responded.

“Did he give you his name?” I asked.

“He only gave us an alias. Said he called himself The Listener.” The officer replied.

A smile came across my face. He was going to jail. He had some warrants out for breaking restraining orders and doing this exact same thing. I didn’t have to live in fear anymore.