Being alone, tonight, wasn't so bad. Jennifer could use the quiet time, enjoying a few hours of Candy Crush on her Android phone while catching up on some recorded episodes of Cake Wars on TV.
But what was this? Suddenly the lights in the family room flickered, followed by a complete loss of power in the house. The TV screen was now black and there was nothing but dead silence with only Jennifer's Android phone to provide light.
Jennifer sighed, "Of course... a power outage..." On a night like this, such a phenomenon wasn't totally unreasonable; just an inconvenience. As for heat, at least Jennifer's thermostat and furnace had battery back-up. All she could do was sit in the darkness and hope for power to soon be restored.
Jennifer turned her attention to the Android phone, and opened Facebook to update her status. "Great! A night alone with a nasty snow storm and power suddenly goes out."
Just as Jennifer hit "Post", a notification window appeared on the screen. "Do you want to accept 'I Found Where You Live.vcf' into Contacts?"
What was this? Did Jennifer receive some virus or corrupted file from Facebook? She did the only natural thing and immediately selected "No". Then she resumed her game of Candy Crush.
Moments into the game, another mysterious window appeared on the screen. "Do you want to accept 'Your Wireless Network Is Your Last Name So I Know You're In There.' into Contacts?”
This was obviously someone's idea of a sick joke who apparently intended on scaring people. Immediately, Jennifer selected, "No", and then rebooted her phone. Hopefully that would flush out any corrupted file that might be opening the mysterious and alarming windows.
The phone rebooted, and Jennifer left it sit on sofa beside her. How much longer would the power be out?
Just then, a never-heard-before notification alert came from Jennifer's phone. What could it have been? She picked up the device, opened the screen and was slightly disturbed to see another mysterious window on the screen. "Do you want to accept 'Jennifer, I'm Outside Your House & Stalking You Via Bluetooth.vcf' into Contacts?"
"What the Hell????" exclaimed Jennifer. Could this really be true? Originally thinking the message to be some unwanted file from Facebook, Jennifer was beginning to believe that someone was, in fact, outside her house. If so, it was best for Jennifer to go into settings and disable her Bluetooth to prevent any possible tracking. She never had need for Bluetooth, but it apparently served a useful purpose for someone outside.
Jennifer found the Bluetooth menu under settings and disabled it. That would put a stop to someone's sick idea of having fun. Then she opened the phone screen with the intention of giving her cop boyfriend a call. She really needed to hear his voice and feel safe at that moment. Maybe he could drive over and check out the grounds.
But what was this? The disheartening indicator on the upper-right hand corner of the phone informed Jennifer that her network was down. There was no analog or data connection to the cellular grid. The power outage must have affected whatever cell tower Jennifer's Android device usually linked up to.
Jennifer sighed and immediately walked over to the kitchen where the landline phone was mounted to the wall. Sometimes good-old fashioned technology was best to use.
But so unbelievable; there was no dial tone! Just what sort of night was this turning out to be? Electric power had been knocked out, her Android could not find a nearby cell tower to link up to, and now the landline was down? To make matters worse, some creepy stalker was claiming to be outside of her house and tracking her via Bluetooth.
Suddenly, the strange alert from moments before sounded from Jennifer's Android phone on the sofa. It couldn't have been another unwanted message in the form of an incoming file! After all, Jennifer disabled her Bluetooth. She quickly walked over and picked up the device.
Fear immediately spiked and surged through Jennifer's veins. This was getting out of hand. Who was out there, and why did this person target her to torment for the evening? With no other choice she decided to communicate with this supposed person outside, using the same media.
Nearly shaking, Jennifer created a contact file with her simple message as the contact's name. The message was simply, "Hello? Who's Out There?" Then, under the options menu, she selected to send via Bluetooth.
The Android phone scanned the surrounding area and reported a device nearby that was named, Outside. Assuming this to be the culprit, Jennifer selected this device and watched as the send notification flashed, followed by a message, "Your file, ‘Hello? Who's Out There?.vcf' was successfully delivered."
Jennifer waited for a moment until a notification window opened on her screen, "Do you want to accept 'It's Me.vcf' into Contacts?"
"Who is me? Do I know you?" asked Jennifer in the next Bluetooth message.
"Do you want to accept 'You See Me Around. I'm Really Interested In You.vcf' into Contacts?”
Who in the world could it have been? Jennifer couldn't think of anyone in her daily travels that stuck out as being interested in her. Was it the guy at the coffee shop? Was it the new coworker down the hall? Both men were good-looking, and maybe Jennifer might have participated in some harmless flirting with them. But they seemed safe—men who wouldn't try to escalate the flirting into something more.
"What do you want?" asked Jennifer in another message.
"Do you want to accept 'I Want You. I Want To Make Love To You.vcf' into Contacts?"
Immediately, Jennifer created another message, "Not sure who you are, but I have a boyfriend. And he's a cop!"
But the stranger outside didn't seem to mind as evidenced by the next notification that appeared on Jennifer's screen. "Do you want to accept 'I'm Not Worried About Him. As Long As He's Not Home We Can Have Fun.vcf' into Contacts?"
Jennifer sighed and quickly walked over to the kitchen phone. She picked it up, but still no dial tone. "Come on!" How much longer would she be without power or communication? This was the perfect night for the stalker outside.
"Do you want to accept 'I See You In There! You're So Pretty!' into Contacts?"
Jennifer ran into the hallway where there were no windows. Where was he? Where was the stranger hiding outside? How Jennifer wished she had been more thorough in closing her curtains. Apparently the stranger outside found a crack and could watch his victim.
"Do you want to accept 'Why Don't You Get Naked & Come To The Window? I Want To See You Naked.vcf' into Contacts?"
"Do you want to accept 'Come On Beautiful! Let's See You Naked! Get Naked Now & Come To The Window.vcf' into Contacts?"
As long as Jennifer remained in the closet, she was safe. There were no windows in the confined space which, of course, meant the stranger could not see her. In fact, maybe he was beginning to have difficulty locating her device with his Bluetooth. Perhaps this was the safest place to be.
Jennifer remained in the confined, darkened area for about ten minutes. Then, another message came through to her phone. "Do you want to accept 'I Love Cookie-Cutter Housing! I Once Downloaded The Floor Plan Of Your Home From Your Builder.vcf' into Contacts?"
What did the stranger mean? What was he hinting to?
"Do you want to accept 'I Circled Your Home & Measured Bluetooth Signal. I Know Where You Are.vcf' into Contacts?"
Shaking, Jennifer typed out a message and sent it to the stranger outside. "You bastard! Go away and leave me alone!"
"Do you want to accept 'You Are Hiding In The Hallway Closet From Me. Why?.vcf' into Contacts?”
Enough was enough! Jennifer finally powered down her cell phone so that the stranger could no longer track her, and then exited the closet. From there she ran downstairs and hid in the basement furnace room.
Several minutes passed as Jennifer waited in the dark, and hoped that power would be restored. It wiped out everything which left Jennifer helpless and defenseless. Jennifer's cop boyfriend sometimes encouraged her to get a gun to protect herself in situations like these. But she strongly opposed gun ownership. Funny... she suddenly wished for one, now!
Suddenly, an unbelievable phenomenon happened with her Android phone. Without pressing the power button, Jennifer's phone started to boot up.
"No! Stop!" Jennifer nearly shouted. She pressed the power button and held it down in hopes that this would force it to cease booting. But the phone was Hell bent in coming back to life to serve as Jennifer's traitor.
Immediately an incoming message came through from the stranger outside. "Do you want to accept 'You Gotta Love RFID Chips. Even When Your Phone Is Off An RFID Reader Can Locate One.vcf' into Contacts?"
RFID chip? What in the world was that? At that moment, Jennifer didn't understand that manufacturers of electronic goods install an RFID chip into each device. These chips include device information, serial numbers, etc; and are usually used for inventory. Within minutes, an entire trailer of electronic goods can be inventoried with the use of RFID chips. And they get their power from the signal coming from a reader which means that a device does not need to be turned on.
RFID chips also serve another purpose! "Do you want to accept 'I Can Access Your Device Hardware Through The RFID & Boot Your Phone So I'm Back.vcf' into Contacts?"
Jennifer sighed and shook her head in disbelief.
"Do you want to accept 'Oh, You Are Now Hiding In The Basement Furnace Room.vcf' into Contacts?"
Perhaps if Jennifer reasoned with him. "What do you want? Why are you doing this?"
"Do you want to accept 'I Already Told You. I Want You. I Want To Make Love To You.vcf' into Contacts?"
Jennifer quickly responded, "But you can't! What you are doing isn't right."
"Do you want to accept 'Just Open The Door & Let Me In Your House. Let Me Make Love To You The Way You Want Me To.vcf' into Contacts?"
Unbelievable... And to make matters worse, the stranger outside was suddenly aware that there was a power and communication outage. "Wow! There Must Be An Outage. Your Whole Neighborhood Is Out! I Also See I Have No Cell Service.vcf' into Contacts?"
What did this mean to the stranger? Surely he wouldn't escalate his game into something far worse!
"Do you want to accept 'It's The Perfect Night For Us To Be All Alone With No Distrubances.vcf' into Contacts?"
Jennifer remained paralyzed and motionless. How she wished she could call the police.
And then there was a knock at the door. "Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock."
"Do you want to accept 'That's Me. Let Me In Your house!.vcf' into Contacts?"
There was another knock at the door; this time, louder. "Knock, Knock, Knock, Knock, Knock.”
And then Jennifer waited in the darkness for about fifteen minutes as there was no further knocking on the door or Bluetooth messages. Did the stranger go away? Did he realize that the game was a stalemate and could go no further? Or was he up to no good and working on a new angle to break in the house?
The strange alert sounded on Jennifer's phone. She opened the screen, "Do you want to accept 'I Love Phone Utility Boxes On The Outside Of Houses. I Checked And Can See Your Phone Is Out.vcf' into Contacts?"
Oh no! What was the stranger implying? Surely he wouldn't take advantage of Jennifer's helplessness with no power, phone, or cell phone connectivity.
"Do you want to accept 'I'm Going To Be Nice. Why Don't You Just Let Me In So I Can Make Love To You?.vcf' into Contacts?"
Jennifer's heart rate and breathing increased in fearful anticipation of what might happen next.
Another knock at the door, "Knock, Knock, Knock, Knock, Knock!"
"Do you want to accept 'Let Me In Your House.vcf' into Contacts?”
The stranger pounded his fists with all his might on the door, "KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK!"
"Do you want to accept 'YOU LITTLE TEASE! LET ME IN YOUR HOUSE NOW!.vcf' into Contacts?"
Poor Jennifer started to cry. Should she have run outside at that moment into the backyard, and over to the neighbor's house to safety? It would be the opposite direction from the stranger who was pounding harder and harder on the door. It would be much safer than being alone in the house with him where he could do anything he wished to Jennifer.
Jennifer couldn't believe what was happening, next. The stranger decided it was time to kick and barge his way into her home. "SLAM! SLAM! SLAM! SLAM!"
From the sound of it, the stranger would be in her house in less than a minute.
"SLAM! SLAM! SLAM! SLAM! SLAM!" Some piece of hardware broke off from the door. It was Jennifer's queue to get the hell out of the house before it was too late. She left her cell phone in the furnace room to avoid being further tracked by the stranger, and ran upstairs to the back door.
"SLAM! SLAM! SLAM! SLAM!"
Now at the back door and nearly free, Jennifer unlocked it and attempted to slide it open. But what was this? The frigid cold and ice froze the door shut! She was trapped in the house with no telling how long it would take to force the back door open. Left with no choice, Jennifer ran upstairs into her bedroom and hid in the closet.
"SLAM! CRASH! BOOM!" Apparently, the stranger made his way into the house. "I'm home Jennifer!" the stranger shouted. "I'm home to make sweet love to you! Where are you; you little tease? You've been a naughty girl who wouldn't let me in!" The voice grew softer and muffled as he descended the stairs; obviously believing that Jennifer was still in the furnace room.
There was a muffled voice shouted from downstairs. "You tried to trick me! You're hiding someplace else in the house!" As the stranger ascended the stairs he continued to shout and make one-sided conversation as-if Jennifer could hear him. "That's okay; I know where you are hiding! I don't need a phone to track you! See, I'm smart! I know that when a woman is about to be attacked in her home, she runs to her bedroom and hides! Do you know why? It's because she secretly wants the stranger to make love to her. You're waiting for me, Jennifer, aren't you? You're probably hiding in your bedroom closet and hoping that I find you! It's all part of the teasing seduction that a woman like you likes to do!"
The stranger continued to shout to Jennifer while climbing the stairs, through the second level hallway, and into the bedroom. But what was this? The bedroom window was open with a makeshift rope of bed sheets tied together. It was anchored from the leg of a heavy desk that stood against the wall near the window and dropped outside to the ground.
The stranger looked outside the bedroom window to see in what direction Jennifer had run. But she was nowhere to be found. "Jennifer!" He called out. “Get back in this house! You know want it!"
Then he griped to himself, "Why does she have to be so difficult?"
Jennifer listened from her closet as the stranger stormed out of her bedroom, down the stairs and out the door of her house. Was it really that easy to trick him? He almost had her. For so many weeks she worked so hard and played the game so well. It looks like she would have to initiate round two.
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