1 The Mysterious Tinder Girl

It was a warm day in Caracas, Manuel had just made a fresh brew of his favorite coffee as he picked up his phone to check the news and browse his favorite apps before returning to his desk. He worked from home; he was one of the lucky ones whose job wasn't affected by the Corona Virus pandemic.

He worked on finance, and in spite of the current economic ups and downs of the country, he could manage a decent life. Like many of his age, Manuel was spending most of his time on social media, meeting new people, and making new friends.

Since the pandemic began, the majority of people had to recluse to their homes; strict mandatory curfews and quarantines were placed in order to avoid further contamination and infections brought by Covid-19, and Manuel was no exception.

As his labors of the day were coming to an end, he was looking forward to a night of exercising, watching movies, and having an all-relaxed night in with no plans. For many, this sounds like a lonesome way of life, but for a majority of people, it wasn't any other choice due to the curfews and the growing fear of the virus.

For weeks, months, people were getting used to having the virus in their lives and learning to coexist with it either by social distancing, masks, and basic sanitary procedures either at home or on the go. The local government had started to implement 7x7 quarantine rules, which meant that some businesses and shops could open for a small period of time and then going into lockdown once again.

For Manuel this represented a bit of freedom, he could go out and see his friends and family once again, all while being safe and cautious. He wasn't as paranoid as many in his circle but he had respect for the current situation of the country and the world we're living in currently.

One day, Manuel attended a small gathering with his friends. It was pretty cozy, 5 people making food and drinking beer at an apartment of a friend of his that was relatively close to where he lived, so he went walking.

At the gathering, one of his friends was retelling his experience with a popular dating app. Intrigued, Manuel had the utmost curiosity in what his friend was saying and how it was easy for him, an average-looking individual as he pointed out could date beautiful women. His interest only gained more notion, as he hasn't dated or being romantically involved for a long time, even before the pandemic. His last relationship lasted for a couple of years before it abruptly ended. They went their separate ways on good terms, but since then he hasn't tried dating seriously and it started to emotionally and mentally weigh in on him.

That same evening, on his return home, Manuel walked to his building thinking about what his friend said and how it was a great alternative to regular dating. As he opened his apartment door and prepped for the night, he left the app downloading before shutting his eyes.

The next morning, while he was at his daily routine; he settled his profile as best he could but he was more preoccupied with his responsibilities of the day. The day went on as it usually goes for Manuel, nothing out of the ordinary to make his activities any different from the day before.

At night, while he was having dinner and watching a popular Netflix show, Manuel received a message from one of his friends. The very excited acquaintance sent a voice chat to Manuel detailing how he just came back from a very lustrous date with a stranger he met on the app and how he planned to see her again. Manuel then opens a picture of the woman his friend was dating and to his surprise, the woman was a beautiful brunette with characteristics that were "out of his league" as his friend placed it.

As the conversation then turned into mundane and basic topics between the two, Manuel's curiosity got the better of him, as he changed apps to see if his friend's luck could be bestowed upon him. As he started to get the hang of the app's mechanics, he started to swipe a number of potential women he found attractive but with no hope of actually getting into a date with one, scoffing at the idea that he wouldn't take it very seriously.

Though he was paying no mind to the app, he got somewhat frustrated he couldn't get any messages or matches with any of the women he swiped; finding it too childish of him; he simply placed a mindset not to give it any thought and carry on with his life as usual.

The weeks have gone by, the climate was getting colder. It was that time of the year where the country was plagued by random rainstorms and high winds. For some of the residents in Manuel`s local area, this meant lots of power outages and loss of internet connections or basic mobile networks. He was no exception to this norm; most of his nights or even during the daytime were interrupted either by a transforming blowing up or a random power line failure.

One of these nights he was sitting in darkness, waiting for the power to come back whilst he was browsing his phone and chatting with his friends who also suffered the same power outages. While changing between chats and conversations, curiosity got the better of him, and started once again dwelling on the infamous dating app. As he swiped once again on the pictures of the girls he liked he was starting to get bored rather quickly. Losing all hope he began to sway his attention to other sorts of interest.

As the hours pass, and slowly falling asleep he notices his phone started to vibrate; having nothing to do at that moment he reaches over to the counter to check the notifications. To his surprise, the app has shown him that he has made a match and someone wanted to message him.

He opened the app and to his shock, there was this beautiful brunette named Sandra who wanted to talk to him.

They quickly hit it off and the two of them were arranging to meet, and just like that Manuel has agreed to go on his first blind date. Ecstatic, he messaged his friends in excitement, of which most of them were happy for him while some were skeptical of the whole online dating and actually warning Manuel of the dangers of online dating.

Not giving into paranoia and dismissing such claims of some of his friends as overreacting, but when all is said and done, he went through with it anyways. After exchanging information and planning what they would do and how was the day going to play out, there was one detail that had him hesitate for a bit and that was that she could only be available during the night, due to her long work schedules that have most of her day occupied.

For a brief moment, this sounded like a red flag for Manuel, but as someone who spends most of his days behind a laptop he started to understand the girl's request; he knew very well what is like to have an entire day filled with work-related activities and very little time to enjoy other distractions. He finally agreed and like an overjoyed teenager, he couldn't stop smiling at the fact that he would go on a date a couple of days from now with a very attractive woman.

The days pass, and it has been obvious that both have been messaging none stop trying to make small talk to get to know each other at a basic level; Manuel while browsing Twitter during his break notices a couple of threads that speak of people disappearing under mysterious circumstances during long hours of the night in various parts of Caracas, but this type of news wasn't new at all to Manuel; making it as something that has become rather common in the country to a point that it becomes part of living in such an agitated city at this particular period in Venezuelan history.

Finally, the big day arrived...

They decided to meet around 7 pm at a nearby coffee place that was coincidently close to Manuel's apartment, so he decided to go on foot 30 minutes earlier to arrive either on time or having a few minutes to spare so he doesn't have his date waiting for him.

As the clock is striking close to 7, he gets up from where he sat while making time and headed to the coffee place to meet Sandra.

Checking his phone several times, he notices he hasn't received any messages from her since the night before; starting to get worried and thinking he might be stood up, he started to get agitated and nervous. To calm himself, he went to the cashier to order a soda while he waited either for a response or a signal from his would-be date.

Losing hope, as he was finishing his drink and prepping to leave; he hears a soothing, soft voice calling his name. He turns and sees a pretty brunette matching the description of the girl in the pictures he had on his phone. As he approached her, he takes off his mask to make his presence known and greets her with a calm demeanor but quickly putting it back on; she glances at him and after recognizing him, she does the same. She seemed friendly and outgoing while Manuel, being the opposite, was nervous as he tried to regain his composure after believing his date wasn't coming.

As the hour passes, the couple seems to hit it off pretty well, being comfortable and finding a lot of common ground on interests, and having a pleasant time with each other's company. His thoughts were dwindling between how much of a good time he was having and how this seems all so unreal. Feeling utterly foolish for not listening to his friends all the times they brought up this famous dating app.

As they were heading their separate ways, it would seem as if both were a perfect match. Making a woman laugh was never one of his strong attributes but on this night it looks like there was a change to that norm. The sensation of her voice and laughter had an intoxicating yet strange sensation on him, a feeling he had never felt before either on previous dates or relationships to a point of confusion. "Is this what love at first sight feels like?" he wondered while walking home.

The effects a person can have on another can have significant alterations to one's usual habits and even discarding personal safety if obsession-type sentiments kick in. Let's not forget that the authorities have placed a mandatory curfew and a set of warnings for citizens not to venture at night due to risking their personal safety.

This became too real when a couple of police officers stopped Manuel nearly a block from his building. All of the sudden, he snapped out of what felt like a trance-like state and noticed one of the officers was starring right at him asking again why was he out at such late hours.

Having no excuse to say, he just went with the truth; he simply was finishing date with a girl he met and lost track of time. The officers laid the terms pretty simple to Manuel, explaining that by violating the curfew, they have no choice but to arrest him and hold him for said violation... unless he could make it up for them. Facing jail time was the last thing he wanted, so he reluctantly "collaborated" with the officers discreetly and he was sent on his way. After arriving at his apartment, shaking in anger by having such a nice evening ending with a bitter note, he simply went to bed to shake it off until morning.

As he woke up and checked his phone, he noticed he didn't get a text from Sandra. Wanting to send her a message but at the same time not wanting to sound desperate or needy, he decided to do it at a later point during the day, noticing the hour, he thought she might be working and it would be rude to disturb her.

Around 8 pm, his phone rang; to his surprise it was Sandra. He greeted her fondly, and so did her, thanking him for the lovely time they spent and apologizing for the late hours on which the date ended. Stating that she wanted to see him again and promising that the next time around they would try to stay within the hours before the mandatory curfew and avoid unwanted trouble.

A few days have passed and as expected from two people who show such chemistry towards each other, the texts keep going back and forth. Every time she wrote it gave him a reason to smile and it was a nice distraction as well as a change of pace for the young man.

Dating while the quarantine was in effect or even general socialization was hard, especially for younger folk who are driven to reach out and spend time with their significant others or friends. But many over the passage of time have found new ways to work around the government's strict rules. For Manuel it was no exception, he wanted to see Sandra again, and has thought of ways to make it work in spite of current circumstances.

The weeks have passed and they have been on several dates without incident; more to their advantage came in the form of lighter restrictions and reduction of strictness regarding the rule on which citizens can go by on their daily lives; this made socializing much easier for everyone either for job purposes or to reconnect with their friends and families.

As things were starting to move quickly between the two lovebirds, it became obvious that both showed interest in each other physically. Sandra, wanting to spend more time with Manuel suggested they spend the weekend at her apartment, an option that he never considered or thought was an option seeing they've been dating for a short while; none the less he agreed. Sandra overjoyed by Manuel's acceptance of her proposal she reached to him and hugged him tightly, to Manuel's surprise, she had a tight squeeze in spite of having a thin figure; heeding no mind to it he responded in kind.

As he returned, he got texts from some of his friends in their group chat asking about him. It has been some time since he went to any of the gatherings hosted by his regular companions and noticing his absence. Manuel simply told them what he has been up to lately besides his daily activities from his job. Asking what were his plans for the weekend they were surprised to hear his answer; that he was going to spend the entire weekend at the house of a girl he barely knew. Not taking the responsibility to kindly from the very same friends who boasted on the many girls they were picking up, but they responded by commenting that they knew they were dealing with total strangers and the safest way is to either go to a hotel or somewhere of the sort if the interaction was going to be physical. Manuel again sounding defensive he stayed by his actions and assured his friends that he knows what he's doing. Avoiding wanting to continue the argument, they still left the invitation open for him if he wanted to stop by and even bring this mysterious tinder girl of his. But his mind was made up and he would stick to his original plan.

The day before he left for Sandra's apartment, he was prepping a small bag of his things to take for a full weekend and as soon as he finished packing he was on his way, stopping at the pharmacy for some sweets for both of them to enjoy a night of movies. He had everything planned out for the evening.

When he was near the building, he texted Sandra to let her know he was close so she could greet him downstairs at the front door. Noticing it was cloudy, he felt relieved he went with a jacket just in case it rained.

He was familiar with the location; a friend of his lived a couple of blocks from her. Checking his phone he saw that Sandra hasn't responded, up until a couple of minutes were she apologized for not being there and that she will arrive in a bit.

Having not much to do, he sat at the street in front of the building only to be greeted by the friend he recalled to live close. As they greeted each other, the acquaintance asked him what was he doing in this part of town, Manuel answered in a shy demeanor that he was going to stay the weekend with a girl he was dating. Expressing joy at Manuel's plan, he wished him the best and to have a good time. As he checked his phone, a soothing voice called to him from the other side, Sandra finally arrived.

As they enter the building, Manuel felt a sudden drop in temperature, he checked his phone and it surprised him that it was 14 degrees inside the complex when outside was around 21º Celsius when a soft melodic voice got his attention elsewhere. But he couldn't point out where the melody was coming from; either someone was singing in one of the apartments or simply it was something he remembered that moment, possibly a song.

Sandra was quiet for some reason, perhaps a little nervous; as they went up the stairs Manuel tried small talk and showed her the movies he brought and some snacks, but assuring her that there's a small shop nearby if they run out and he could get more if she wanted to; She looked at the bag and gave a joyful smirk when she noticed her favorite chocolate and responded with a kiss to his cheek while apologizing to him, assuring him that everything was fine, she was just a little nervous because she didn't bring people often and she mostly keeps to herself when at home.

The building was pretty grim, dark, and had the windows covered for some reason; Manuel felt a bit unease but every time he noticed something, Sandra caught his attention by making small talk or distracting him. One thing he found odd was that there was no sound from other occupants, not even music or television; yet they continued to go up the stairs. It has been a while since they entered and been going up this stairwell; he started to believe she lived in the penthouse.

As they reached the end of the stairs, it turned out to be just that. As the doors opened he entered a much cleaned, minimalistic, and well-cleaned penthouse. Amazed at how nice the place looked he gave Sandra compliments on her home.

After hanging her purse and coat, Sandra asked Manuel to go up to the living room to feel at home, pointing that she was going to the bathroom for a moment and assuring him that she won't take long.

As he walked around, more curious than ever he began to notice some more odd things in his surroundings. Starting with one in particular and that the apartment had no mirrors; maybe they were in the other rooms and she wanted to keep the minimalistic vibe. Another noticeable fact he took attention to was the lack of pictures or family photos, except for a large painting at the end of the living room.

As he grew closer to inspect the painting he noticed that it was of a woman who looked exactly like Sandra. Must be a relative or a gift of some sort, but it was strange that it was the only piece of decoration he could visualize in the main room.

As he took his jacket, he looked for a place to hang or put it and not make a mess, but seeing that there wasn't any he decided to keep it around and finally sat on the couch. Minutes were passing by and wondered if Sandra was ok, it was a while since she went to the bathroom and he started to get a little worried but didn't want to bother her; not wanting to sound needy or desperate, he grabbed his phone but didn't have too much signal, so he sent a text message to Sandra asking her if she could pass him the wi-fi password, but got no response.

Suddenly the air came filled with a familiar smell; it was lavender as if someone was burning incense. Sandra came down with more relaxed clothing and offering Manuel something to drink, giving him options of wine, sodas, water. He replied that wine was great; she then went towards a cabinet and took out two glasses and laid them on the table in front of him.

She went to what Manuel assumed was the kitchen to get the bottle but he then turned his attention to his phone and was vibrating intensely. Joyful at the sight that he got a decent signal, he went to check on his messages and to his surprise, it was the group chats of his friends. Everyone was frantic about the disappearance of one of his friends, specifically the one who introduced him to tinder. As he read through the message, it seems that he hasn't shown up at his gym or even at work for several days. Manuel showing concern started to reassure his friends that he was surely fine and that probably he was out on a date with one of the girls he met on Tinder.

Then the conversation turned to him as his friends asked Manuel to take care and not do anything rash with strangers he met on those apps. Again responding with a defensive and somewhat offended demeanor, Manuel reassured his friends that he was a grown man and he knew what he was doing; pointing out that they should just mind their own business.

As Sandra returned, she served 2 glasses of wine and placed some snacks on the table in a bowl she picked up from the kitchen. As she picked one of the movies Manuel brought, he tried to hide his frustration and trying his best not to ruin the night for both of them.

Sandra pointed out that if he wanted he could go to the bathroom and change into something more comfortable so they can enjoy a night of movies. As he got up and went to change, he still felt the temperature going even colder and as a result, he stayed with his hoody hoping not to catch a cold.

As he got to the living room, he noticed the lights were out; probable a blackout, and as annoying as it was, he'd rather be with his date than be all alone in the dark. But there was a small detail he took notice of, Sandra was nowhere to be found.

While walking slowly with poor visibility and just having the flashlight from his smartphone to light the way, she still was nowhere to be seen.

- Are you all right my love?

A sweet but strange voice that sounds more distorted was behind him and as he turned around there was nothing. Feeling uneasy and uncomfortable, he started to call out for Sandra and asking her to stop joking around.

Following this predicament, Manuel's luck it seems would turn for the worst due to his phone suddenly started to flicker as he was running out of battery and started to go to a power-saving state of which the light was dimmer and the flashlight was now gone.

As he turned to the nearest light source, there was a black figure standing tall looking right at him. Paralyzed with fear, Manuel was speechless and couldn't move a muscle. To make matters worse, he could hear what sounded like growling noises emitting from the figure.

As he gathered whatever courage he had left, he turned around and headed straight to the door leading to the stairwell only to find out it was locked. Everything went to a halt when suddenly the lights turned back on.

Still shaking, he turned where the strange figure was standing only to see Sandra right in front of him, hugging him, seemingly scared of the blackout that just happened a few moments ago.

As they were walking to the couch to stay together, Manuel suddenly felt even more unease. Trying to stay close to Sandra, they sat down to try and to compose themselves.

To his surprise, another blackout occurred, this time followed by a large thunderclap and what sounded like a transformer overloading. You could hear the frustration of the nearby neighbors, but at the end of the day, this was nothing new to them.

To make matters worse, Sandra was nowhere to be seen. Once again he was all alone. As he leaned over to nervously pick up his phone he felt the tight grip on his wrist, something strong. As he lifted his head, he was starring straight into a pair of glowing red eyes. From the mysterious terrifying figure, the sound of growling returned. As it slowly crawled towards him, he heard a familiar voice.

- Don't be afraid

It was Sandra's voice, but it was coming from the creature and it grew more distorted with every passing second.

- Just relax and lay back… I'll do the rest.

Manuel entered in a fight or flight response and in an impulse kicked the figure as hard as he could to try and make a run for it to the door.

As he was reaching for the handle he suddenly was thrashed and thrown like a rag doll back to the center of the living room.

Standing on top of him there was Sandra, her naked body was clear as it can be; but also there were several changes to the slim cute girl. Her eyes were glowing red, and large bat-like wings were sticking out from her back.

- Don't struggle… I'll only make things more fun for me… you are mine.

A new feeling overcame Manuel, it was pain, something stabbed him on his shoulder, but his screams fell on deaf ears due to the storm raging outside.

He grabbed what was stabbing him to realize it was some sort of claw coming from Sandra's arm.

Everything changed when a new sensation came to him around his neck. She was biting him with such force all Manuel could do was twitch from the pain but slowly doing less, the new feeling was that of tiresome, his last thoughts were of his friends and how right they were, regretting not listening to them and realizing his time was coming to an end. While he entered into shock, the monster that was Sandra turned more feral with each bite she took, savagely tearing Manuel apart; until everything turned too slowly into darkness.

The final sound he heard was that of a howling scream accompanied by thunder as he drew his last breath.

Everything was quiet as the weeks passed. It was 8 pm on a Saturday and blonde Sandra, now Margaret was waiting for her blind date, all the while browsing her favorite app.