Short Thrills

The New App

(cClearhawk nhaalieh10 ddorixyuum)
It was just after daybreak, and Natalie was already standing by Clare's locker. Both girls had their books in one arm and their phones in the other. "What's your username?" Natalie asked Clare.
"Cl_hawk," responded Clare.
"Okay, thanks!" Natalie ran off but before she could run anywhere, she ran into Damian. "Hey, move it!"
"Sorry," Damian laughed. "What were you talking to Clare about?"
"It's a new app call VideoChip, it's a video chatting app that lets you use filters, from like Snapchat and stuff, while you video chat. It's pretty cool."
Damian made a face. "Seems weird to me, I heard that thing was hacked."
"Rumors," Natalie replied with confidence, "And even if it is hacked, it's probably just a few bugs that can be easily fixed." Her phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out and smirked. "Well, look at that," she said in a mocking tone, waving her phone in Damian's face. "Looks like the app is going to get updated. Eat it!" Then Natalie turned on her heel and briskly walked to class.
* * *
   After school, Natalie walked home and instantly ran to her room. She locked the door, jumped onto her bed, and pulled out her phone. She pulled up VideoChip, typed in Clare's username, and waited. Clare's face showed up on Natalie's screen. "Hey Nat!"
"Hey Clare!"
   For a while the girls talked. They talked about school, boys, sports, and homework. The clock read 11:47 and the girls snapped back into reality. "It's late," said Clare. "I better hang up."
   "Okay," said Natalie. "Don't forget to log out. You'll get hacked if you don't."
   "Oh right, thanks," Clare paused the video but could still speak to her friend. Natalie instructed her how to log out though the phone. "It won't work."
   "What?" Asked Natalie.
   "It says 'ERROR: WE SEEM TO BE HAVING TROUBLE ALLOWING YOU TO LOG OUT. PRESS (HERE) TO FORCE LOG OUT.' Should I push it?" Clare replied.
   "Sure, see what happens." So, Clare did as she was told. Her finger was millimeters away from pressing (HERE) when suddenly the lights flickered off. Silence. "Clare?"
   Clare's sharp scream blared through Natalie's phone. She turned pale with fear. What had happened to her?? "Umm... Clare?" Natalie's voice shook. "Are you-"
   Her voice was cut off by another one of Clare's scream. "Natalie!!" Clare screamed in terror. "Help me!!" Then silence once again filled the air. Then the connection of their call fell short, ending the call.
                                                                         * * *
   Natalie quickly found Damian on VideoChip and instantly called him. "Hey, Natalie. Good timing. I've been up all night working on this paper. Do you think you could help-"
   "No time for that!!" Yelled Natalie. "We have a real, actual problem here!" She immediately spilled everything to him. Telling how Clare died moments ago.
   "Gosh dang," said Damian. "I'm gonna call the police for you. This seems bad. Hold on." Natalie needed to tell him not to hang up or log out.
   "Wait, don't-" But she was too late. Then, history repeated itself. The lights in Damian's house flickered out and he yelled in fear at the top of his lungs. "No!! Please stop!" Natalie pleaded. It was no use. Damian screamed one last time before silence filled the room again. The call ended.
   Then Natalie sat in the middle of the room. Her phone sat in her palm with VideoChip pulled up. She sat there staring at her phone, debating if she should log out or not...