Hurricane Warning

The hurricane warnings were screaming across every news channel, so I told my boyfriend, Ryan, to come over to my place to ride out the storm. It wasn't long before a knock echoed on my door. I was just about to open it when text began to scroll across my vision, like a live-feed of comments only I could see. [Don't open the door. It’s not just Ryan out there. He brought his entire family.] [If you let them in, you will die.] 1 My hand, hovering over the doorknob, froze. The strange, scrolling text continued: [Nina, whatever you do, don't open that door. If you do, his whole clan will swarm in, and you'll never get them out.] [They'll insist on opening the windows during the hurricane. You won't be able to stop them. They'll destroy your home.] [They're going to throw your cat out the window. When you try to save him, the wind will sweep you both away. You'll fall to your death. Please, Nina, don't open the door!] The knocking grew more insistent, and the comments scrolling in my vision grew more frantic. My entire field of view was a wall of: [DON'T OPEN THE DOOR]. I pulled my hand back. I live alone. It pays to be cautious. And if Ryan really did bring his entire family, there was no way in hell I was letting them in. But right now, I had no way to verify if the comments were real. My door didn't have a peephole. I remembered the security camera I’d installed by the entrance. I pulled up the app on my phone. Unsurprisingly, the battery was dead. My fault. I’d forgotten to charge it. I pressed my ear against the door, trying to listen. All I could hear was the deafening knock, knock, knock. I pulled back, deciding to video call Ryan to see for myself. Just then, the knocking stopped. I heard Ryan's voice from the other side. "Weird, no one's answering. She told me she was home." I pressed my ear to the door again. Silence. It sounded like he was just mumbling to himself. A moment later, my phone buzzed with a text from him. Ryan: Hey, you home? I'm at the door. I thought for a second, then hit the video call button. He declined it. Nina: What's wrong? His reply was instant. Ryan: I'm right here. Can't we just talk face-to-face? A knot of suspicion tightened in my stomach. Why wouldn't he answer a video call? The only other time he'd done that was when he lied about working late to have dinner with his ex-girlfriend before she moved abroad. Before I could voice my suspicion, another text came through. Ryan: Come on, babe. I'm literally at your door. Let's just talk inside. I typed back, my fingers firm. Nina: Answer the video call first. It took a long time for him to reply. Ryan: My camera's broken, babe. That was it. I knew for certain he was hiding something. And it was probably exactly what the scrolling comments had said: he'd brought his whole family. 2 I met Ryan in college. He pursued me relentlessly. I finally said yes mostly because he was gorgeous—campus-heartthrob level—with good grades and a knack for treating me like a queen. Our relationship had always been solid. After graduation, he even brought up getting engaged. But I hesitated. It was because of his family. He came from a dirt-poor town in the middle of nowhere, the kind of place that makes headlines for its poverty. He was the golden boy, the one who made it out. My background was the opposite. My mom is a successful entrepreneur, and my dad is a university professor. This apartment, just off campus, was a gift from my mother when I started college. Ryan had been here a few times. He didn't live with me—I wasn't keen on living together before marriage, and his office was on the other side of the city anyway. He rented a small place near his work. But this hurricane was a monster. A category 5. The area where he lived was a low-lying flood zone, so I told him to come here for a few days to stay safe. He never mentioned bringing his family. I didn't even know they were in the city. New comments began to scroll. [Poor Nina has no idea. She keeps putting off the engagement, and Ryan's getting desperate.] [Yeah, since she won't visit his hometown, his family came to her. They wanted to "inspect" the future daughter-in-law. Then the hurricane hit before he could arrange a meeting.] [She's right not to meet them. It's too soon. Besides, his family is cheap as hell. Ryan makes great money, but instead of getting them a hotel, he crammed his entire family into his tiny studio apartment. Now he wants to cram them all in here.] [Exactly! Don't let them in, Nina! In the original story, after our girl dies, Ryan gets "motivated by grief" and becomes a rich CEO. So unfair.] The live-feed continued. Apparently, I was a character in a novel. I was the "tragic first love" of the second male lead, Ryan. My accidental death during this hurricane was the catalyst that drives him to bury himself in work, become a young, successful CEO, and then meet the female lead, who just so happens to look exactly like me… I stared at the words, speechless. Novel plot or not, one thing was crystal clear: I did not want to die. 3 A sharp rap on the door snapped me out of my thoughts. "Nina, it's me! Ryan!" he called out. Annoyed, I shot him a text. Nina: I'm not home. The knocking stopped. A second later, my phone buzzed. Ryan: Oh, did you go out for groceries? I'll wait here for you. I remembered then. He had offered to pick up groceries on his way over. I, trying to be considerate of his finances, told him I’d take care of it. He’d agreed. I’d video-called him from the grocery store before, so my story was plausible. He wouldn’t suspect a thing. From behind the door, I heard his voice. "She's not home. Went to buy groceries." And then, for the first time, I heard other voices. "What the hell? We came all this way, and she just goes out shopping? She's gonna make us wait out here in the hallway?" The voice belonged to an older woman. It had to be his mother. A younger woman chimed in. "Seriously. Acting all high and mighty. Who does she think she is, some city princess?" That must be his sister-in-law. Ryan shushed them. "Quiet, both of you. A hurricane's coming, and you didn't want to pay for a hotel. I had to bring you here. She doesn't like crowds, that's why I didn't tell her beforehand. If I had, she never would have let you in." An old man's voice, gruff with anger, boomed, "She wouldn't let us in?! I wouldn't let her into our family! The nerve!" "Dad, cool it," Ryan said. "This isn't our town. When she lets us in, don't you dare start acting like the family patriarch." The old man just huffed. Another, younger man spoke up. Probably Ryan's brother. "So when she gets back and sees all of us, is she actually going to let us in?" "We're already here," Ryan replied confidently. "And with the storm coming? She won't have a choice." The comments flared up in my vision again, filled with outrage. [Oh yes, she did have a choice! In the original timeline, she saw you all and refused. But you forced your way in!] [And you talk about not acting like a patriarch? Your mom insisted on opening the windows for "fresh air." Your dad wanted to throw the cat out because "cats prevent pregnancy." And Ryan just stood there like a coward and did nothing!] [Totally! And his nephew threw a tantrum and smashed her whole cabinet of collectibles!] [Nina got so mad she threatened to call the cops. That's the only reason Ryan finally stepped in, promising to pay for everything and leave after the storm. But then his mom secretly opened a window again. The wind scared the cat, who scratched his dad. So the dad tried to throw the cat out the window. The cat clung to the ledge for dear life. When Nina rushed to save him, a huge gust of wind blew her right off the balcony. She became his 'white moonlight' in the sky for real…] I was shaking with rage. I couldn't even read the comments anymore. My cat, Apollo, sensed my distress and started rubbing against my legs, purring. Leaving them out there wasn't a long-term solution. I thought for a moment, then texted Ryan again. Nina: Change of plans. Not getting groceries. I'm going to Chloe's place. You should go home. If you're worried about flooding, get a hotel room. 4 Chloe was my best friend. She’d never liked Ryan, and I used to think she was just being overly critical. Turns out, a best friend's instincts are razor sharp. The family outside my door quickly figured out I'd ditched them. A torrent of profanity, heavily featuring the word "bitch," filled the hallway. Soon, another text from Ryan arrived. Ryan: Babe, why didn't you say so earlier? I'm already here! Nina: You can go back the way you came. The weather's still calm. It was true. The eerie calm before the storm. His reply was fast. Ryan: My place is definitely going to flood. And hotels are so expensive. Why don't you just give me the keypad code? I'll just stay at your place for a couple of days. I let out a cold laugh. So, he wasn't leaving without getting inside, one way or another. I shut him down. Nina: Not convenient. Chloe's waiting for me. Can't talk. After that, I ignored all his messages. Outside, Ryan and his family started yelling and cursing at my door. For the first time, I was seeing this side of him. Thinking back on the comments, a shiver of true fear went down my spine. Thank God I hadn't let them in. But then, I heard his father's voice again. "She's not home, right? So, can you figure out her keypad code?" 5 The hair on my arms stood on end. Ryan had been to my apartment several times. I'd never told him the code, but I hadn't exactly hidden it when I typed it in. It was possible he'd seen it. Worse, my door didn't have a chain or a deadbolt on the inside. All you needed was the code. "I never really paid attention," Ryan said. I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding. But then he added, "But I can try. I know all her family members' birthdays, anyway." My heart leaped back into my throat. The code was Apollo's birthday. We had celebrated it together. My mind raced. I silently dragged a heavy stool in front of the door. The comments started scrolling again. [That's not enough, Nina! Three grown men will break that down in a second!] I heard the keypad beep. An incorrect entry. Ryan was trying his first guess. I couldn't move anything else heavy on my own. I grabbed a chair and stacked it on top of the stool, then piled on a few boxes I could lift. Apollo seemed to sense the danger, his back arching. A second beep. Wrong again. He was starting his third try. My apartment complex was old. The building management was useless, and there was no security guard. I had no family in this city, and my friends were all women. Taking on his entire family was too dangerous. I was about to call the police. Just then, a new voice spoke up in the hallway. "What are you all doing?" It was my upstairs neighbor. Ryan's voice was smooth and practiced. "Oh, hi. I'm here to see my girlfriend, Nina. She had to step out for a bit and told us to let ourselves in and wait." I had a very bad feeling. I did not have a good relationship with my upstairs neighbor. He had two young kids who sounded like a herd of elephants at all hours of the night. I'd complained, I'd called the cops, nothing worked. If anything, it got worse. Finally, in desperation, I secretly bought one of those ceiling vibrator gadgets. That had finally quieted them down a little. Now, seeing a crowd of rough-looking people at my door, he was definitely going to enjoy stirring the pot. Sure enough, I heard his confused voice. "But she's home."