Johnny was a jumpy, anxious kid. Always was, always had been.

This meant that he was always aware of his surroundings, no matter where he was, his guard almost always up to ensure that nobody could catch him by surprise.

He was a little paranoid sometimes, getting scared by something as simple as the rustle of the leaves on a tree, causing him to tense and pick up his pace.

Usually, it was nothing, nobody was following him or going after him and he got to where he needed to be with no problems, usually, that was the case.

But recently, he felt that he was constantly being watched, like no matter where he was or what he was doing, he was being closely monitored by someone that he couldn’t see. At first, he brushed it off, assuming he was just being paranoid and that it wasn’t anything.

He thought that for a few days. Then a few weeks. Then a month. After that, the panic started seeping in. He’d began to only feel watched, but he felt like he could hear some voice, silently whispering wherever he was.

Eventually he told you about it, being one of his closest friends and trusting you with his life. He told you everything, begging you to not leave his side in hopes that whoever it was would be scared off, and you agreed.

So you went everywhere with him, never leaving his side at school, the mall, the store, at home, around town, etc.. At first, he felt safer, having someone around him to protect him helped a lot.

That feeling didn’t last long.

One day at school you and Johnny stopped at his locker so he could grab something before class. He opened it, and an envelope fell out. Curious, he opened it, pulling out some cryptic note inside.

“I’ll walk down the mall, stand over by the wall, where I can see it all find out who you call, lead you to the supermarket checkout, some specials and eat food, get lost in the crowd. One way, or another, I wanna get ya, I’ll get ya, I’ll get ya, get ya, get ya, get ya…”

The two of you looked at the note, confused and a little nervous, before he looked back at the envelope and noticed there was still more in there.

Johnny dumped it out, multiple pictures of the two of you together at all different places, even at your house, each of them taken with the two of you facing another direction, oblivious to the pictures being taken. The creepiest part? Your face was crossed out in every single picture.

You both panicked, deciding to skip the rest of the school day and run to the DX to find Soda and Steve, they’d know what to do…right?