I, Sylvia Fay, was nineteen years old and was in the middle of my first year of college in Columbia, Missouri. I used to love to watch drama channels on Youtube. Drama channels were all about gossiping about whatever was going on in the world of social media influencers, be they Instagram models or YouTubers. Most of these stories were ridiculous, petty, or untrue altogether. It was like a never-ending, crazy soap opera. Maybe I should've thought about the people that were affected by these rumors but the channels were just entertaining to me and my guilty pleasure. Drama was just part of being on social media.
One drama channel that I always watched was called "Dish at Tiffany's." Twenty-one-year-old Tiffany Vidia was loud, funny, and bubbly but unapologetically nosey and judgmental. She had platinum blonde hair, green eyes, and wore hot pink lipstick. She loved to gossip about anything and anyone. She thought that the people on the internet were just there for her amusement and for her video content. People who she talked about always got severely cyber-bullied afterwards but it was all just a game to her. She was also obsessed with collecting teddy bears. She always filmed her videos in her bedroom that was filled with teddy bears of all sizes and colors. Some thought that this was very strange but I thought that it was sort of endearing.
One late Friday night in my apartment, I just finished writing a research paper for my literature class. I was now laying in my bed. My boyfriend, Stephen Lee was at work as a manager at Taco Bell and my friends were still doing homework in their dorms. I was bored, scrolling through my Twitter feed on my phone, until I got a notification that Tiffany was doing live stream on Youtube. I clicked on it for some entertainment. I began watching while twirling my long, ginger hair around my right index finger. Tiffany was talking about a silly, obviously bogus story about how Daniel Preda's alleged cheating on Joey Graceffa was the reason why they broke up.
Tiffany was talking enthusiastically when one of teddy bears that was on a shelf suddenly fell down onto her bed. This made her jump and she laughed at herself. I thought nothing of it at first and chuckled too. She put the small, orange teddy bear with blood-red bead eyes up on the shelf and continued talking. After a few more seconds, the bear fell in her lap.
She giggled and said: "I guess that this one wants some camera time. He is special after all."
Then, she began to tell how she got the bear. A homely, old woman, who practiced witchcraft, used to live next door to her in Los Angeles. The woman saw Tiffany's videos online and warned her to stop rumor spreading, saying, "Quit spreading negativity and lies or it'll come back to you threefold."
Tiffany didn't listen of course but the woman kept telling her to stop. Each morning, the woman was at her door, trying to convince her what she was doing was wrong. Finally, one morning, the woman wasn't there but left the orange teddy bear at her doorstep with a note that read: He wants to take care of you now. I can't control my powers anymore so I had no choice. I'm sorry.
Tiffany was confused by the note but the woman had moved out over night. She probably shouldn't kept the bear but she thought that it was cute.
"Maybe he's cursed," she joked, shaking the bear at her web cam, "or haunted, oooo!" She laughed and put the bear back on the shelf.
The story sounded very weird but I thought that she made it up to creep people out for Halloween.
"It is October," I mused, "Besides, who would actually keep a teddy bear from a woman who was basically stalking them?"
Tiffany was talking about how Instagram model, Emily Ratajkowski, allegedly faked a burglary for attention and how Kendall Jenner supposedly exposed her. As I watched Tiffany talk, I thought that my eyes were getting tired and were playing tricks on me because I swore that the bear just climbed down from the shelf on its own behind her. Now, it stared at her with monstrous hatred.
I rubbed my eyes in disbelief and exclaimed: "What the actual hell?! Am I hallucinating?"
Then, I watched the bear begin to slowly crawl closer towards her with a sharp blade suddenly poking out from its left paw.
Unsure what was going on, I quickly typed in the chat box: Anybody else seeing the bear move? Is this a prank?
One typed: Tiffany's just messing with us. Haha, someone's in the Halloween spirit!
Another typed: Sooo funny Tiff, stop screwing around. Lol!
She wasn't really looking at the chat all the way. She thought that people were commenting on the Emily Ratajkowski story.
"People do anything for attention these days," said Tiffany, "I wouldn't be surprised if it was true."
The chat then froze. No one could type, only watch. The bear was now levitating, as its face turned grotesque and deranged. I could also hear diabolical laughter faintly in the background but it seemed like Tiffany didn't hear it. At this point, people didn't know whether to laugh or be completely terrified. She never pranked her fans before and this was quickly going from odd to beyond disturbing by the minute. I didn't want to believe what was seeing. I was desperately looking for strings or a remote in her hand; anything that would tell me that this was all a joke.
Then, the bear zoomed up out of the frame of the camera. Thinking that she ended the joke, I took a breath and waited for her to say "Gotcha" but she kept on gossiping like nothing was wrong.
"Let's talk about ruined Youtuber," she rambled on, "Shane Dawson! Oh, he's a total pe---"
She didn't get the chance to finish. The demented teddy bear all of a sudden dove down in front of her and slit her throat in one, long, swift slash with its blade, blood splattering on the camera lens. Her eyes bulged out with confusion, agony, and fear. I screamed in absolute horror and I tossed my phone on the floor. I rapidly got up from my bed and backed myself against a wall, my stomach wrenching. As blood continued spewing everywhere from her throat and mouth, she was asphyxiating; making an awful gasping, gargling sound. After a few seconds, there was a loud thud then silence.
Even though I was trembling, crying hysterically, and could barely breathe, I slowly walked towards my phone to pick it up. I was still hoping that this was a prank that went way too far. Picking it back up with shaky hands, I saw that someone or something had wiped away the blood from the lens. I saw that Tiffany was dead, laying on her stomach on the bed in a pool of blood and her open, lifeless eyes fixated on nothing. I also saw most people had left the stream but some were still watching for some reason.
The murderous bear then popped into the frame with a wide, demonic grin that took over half of its face, showing jagged teeth. In a scratchy, creepy, sing-song voice, it simply said: "No more rumors, no more lies or someone else dies."
Then, the live stream abruptly ended. Realization made my blood go cold instantly and slightly unhinged my mind. This was no joke. It was a real, intense paranormal experience and a threat. An evil teddy bear killed Tiffany and will kill again when someone spread a rumor or told a lie online.
I curled up into the fetal position on the floor and sobbed uncontrollably until Stephen found me but I couldn't tell him what happened. All that I could utter was: "No more rumors, no more lies."
Other people still thought that it was a prank until the Los Angeles police found Tiffany dead in her bedroom, buried underneath her teddy bear collection.
When police tried to watch the live stream, all that they could see a black screen and Tiffany's case remained opened. No one spoke up about what they saw that night, for they were afraid to. There wasn't even anything online about it but after that night, I deleted all of my social media accounts and never watched Youtube again. I also wouldn't let my loved ones gossip or lie...that ungodly teddy bear wouldn't ever kill anyone who I cared about over stupid rumor spreading and unnecessary drama.
(c)Lena Holdman, all rights reserved 2020
Happy Halloween! 🎃😈
Smooches and think Tink!
