They paid me $300 to fill in for them at a job I’d never heard of. It was the strangest thing that’s ever happened to me.

Hey there, friend. It’s me, Tender. I just woke up from a deep sleep and this is the first thing I am doing. It’s a little after 4 a.m. and I still don’t feel tired enough to go back to sleep. It’s been a crazy last few days, so I thought it’s as good a time as any to tell you what happened when I took a job I’d never heard of, and was handed a responsibility I couldn’t handle. <br><br><br><br>My shift at the gas station was over at 11 that night. It was a fairly normal shift in the way there wasn’t any incidents, but my manager showed up late to take over the next shift. <br><br>I tend to get home around 11:30 a.m. every morning, and this particular morning, that wasn’t going to happen. <br><br>I was grabbed just as I opened the door to leave the store. <br><br>“Hey, tender, I’m so sorry. When I was driving here, I saw this bitch throw her phone out of the window. Right under my wheels. It shattered, and all I have now is a useless hunk of blackened plastic.” <br><br>“Yeah, no, I can’t work anymore, I’m so beat.” <br><br>My manager was just covering her morning, and didn’t have the authority to force me to stay. But she also didn’t have the money to pay me. We agreed on a grand, and I stayed.<br><br>I had to stay an extra four hours, until her boyfriend got home to cover her shift. I was tired, but I was also a thousand dollars richer, so I was pretty happy, all things considered. <br><br>When I finally left the gas station, the sun was already up, and I had to use my sunglasses. I don’t like to drive, it’s not my favorite thing to do, especially when I’m tired. <br><br>I grabbed my phone to listen to some soothing music to help me get through this drive, and that’s when I saw it. <br><br>A text message. <br><br>*Do not open door.* <br><br>That was all it said. I was just glancing at it, so I thought that was all there was. It was probably spam. But I was so tired, I had to read it again. <br><br>*Do not open door.*<br><br>*I am standing in your backyard. Soon, I will get inside. If you try to run, I will cut you down like the animal you are. If you open your door, I’ll kill everyone in the household.* <br><br>*I will get in. It’s only a matter of time. If you let me in, you will live. If you don’t, you will die.* <br><br>*If you open the door, I’ll kill everyone in the house. If you don’t let me in, I’ll kill you.* <br><br>*I am standing in your backyard. Soon, I will get inside. If you try to run, I will cut you down like the animal you are. If you open your door, I’ll kill everyone in the household.* <br><br>*I will get in. It’s only a matter of time. If you let me in, you will live. If you don’t, you will die.* <br><br>*I am standing in your backyard. Soon, I will get inside. If you try to run, I will cut you down like the animal you are. If you open your door, I’ll kill everyone in the household.* <br><br>*I will get in. It’s only a matter of time. If you let me in, you will live. If you don’t, you will die.* <br><br>I drove with one hand and deleted the text with the other. It was just spam, and I would just block the number. I wasn’t going to let some spam text freak me out this early in the morning. <br><br>I focused on the road. Why would someone send me that? It didn’t make sense. It was just some spam text. I was just about to block the number when a text popped up from the same number. <br><br>*Do not open door.*<br><br>*Do not open door.*<br><br>*Do not open door.*<br><br>*Do not open door.*<br><br>I deleted the texts, and my eyes were back on the road. I had to drive in the day, which I absolutely hate doing, and I didn’t need some spam texts making it worse. <br><br>But my mind wandered. Who was this? Why were they sending me these messages? Why were they so repetitive? <br><br>I focused on the road again, this time to stay safe. <br><br>I wasn’t sure why, but the texts had me scared. It wasn’t just the message, it was also something else. The way they didn’t have any punctuation, the way they repeated themselves. <br><br>I wasn’t going to let some spam text freak me out this early in the morning. I had to stay strong. <br><br>I focused on the road, and I didn’t look back. I didn’t check my messages. I kept going until I got home, and once I got inside, I locked all of the doors. <br><br>I texted my boyfriend, and told him to check the backyard, just in case. He probably thought I was crazy, but he went to check the backyard anyway. He searched with a bat, but he didn’t find anything. <br><br>I stayed in the bedroom, just in case, and my boyfriend returned a few minutes later. He didn’t find anything, and he sat next to me as I explained what happened. <br><br>I showed him the texts, but he didn’t believe me. He said there was nothing, just a blank text history. <br><br>I was just tired. I thought I had dreamt it. Maybe I had even dreamt that I’d stayed late at work. Maybe this whole thing had been a dream. <br><br>I was so confused, and I was so tired. I went to sleep, with the door locked and the bat under the bed. <br><br>I woke up around 2, and I grabbed my phone, half expecting more spam messages. But there were none. <br><br>I had to go back to work in a few hours, so I needed something to take my mind off the morning. But what I found instead just made it worse. <br><br>My boyfriend had left for work, and he’d left a note on the coffee table. <br><br>*I’m so sorry. I didn’t believe you. But I looked back at your call history, and you were telling the truth. After you went to sleep, I called the number. I spoke to someone. They said they were in my backyard, and that they’re going to get in sooner or later. They said they’re going to kill me and the people closest to me, just because I wouldn’t let them in.*<br><br>*But I’m going to. I’m going to let them in. I’m scared, and I’m going to let them in.*<br><br>*I don’t think they’re a person. I think they’re something else.*<br><br>*Please run, and never come back. I love you.*<br><br>There was an address below the note. I recognized it, as my boyfriend’s cousin lived there. <br><br>He had a big house, and he didn’t live there alone. He had a family, and he had extra rooms. I would be safe there. <br><br>I ran to my car as fast as I could, locked the doors, and sat as low as possible. I was scared, but I knew that I could do this. I had to do this. I had to protect myself and the people I cared about, and if that meant leaving my boyfriend behind, then that’s what I was going to do. <br><br>I looked at the rearview window as I pulled out of the driveway. I don’t know what I was expecting. Maybe I thought there’d be a monster, or a person, or something. But there was nothing. <br><br>I was just being paranoid. That was all. <br><br>I shook my head as I drove away. I was doing this for nothing. <br><br>I parked my car in my boyfriend’s cousin’s driveway and walked to the door. His wife answered, and I handed her the note. She read it, and she let me in. <br><br>They didn’t ask me any questions. They were probably just as confused as I was. <br><br>They showed me to one of the extra rooms, and I locked myself in. They brought me food, but I didn’t eat any of it. <br><br>My phone was dead, and I didn’t want to charge it. I didn’t want to see if my boyfriend texted me. <br><br>I needed to think, and I needed some time to myself. <br><br>And that’s why I’m writing here. It’s a little after 4 a.m., and I am still thinking. I’m still trying to understand this whole thing. <br><br>Who were those texts from? Who was in my backyard? <br><br>And what happened to my boyfriend?