Like most kids my age, TikTok is my escape. TikTok is great for exploring the amazing places you can’t go to and seeing people you haven’t met. Skateboarding was my second favorite thing to do but being able to combine both of them was my ultimate escape. I wouldn’t say I was the most famous on TikTok, but I had a few hundred followers. I would go to unusual places to skate and explore. There, I can let all of my emotions loose and just ride. This night was no different. I drove myself 20 minutes away from my house to an abandoned middle school. The ignition barely had time to turn off as I ran to my trunk for my skateboard.  The night wasn’t young. The sky was lit up with stars, planes, and the moon. I pushed past the broken gate with my skateboard and I was in. The crumbling school stood in front of me. The walls were almost nonexistent. The floors had massive holes in them with debris everywhere. 

Garbage was in every corner. I guess I’m not the only person who thought this would be a fun place to go, I thought. Rats running across the floor had infested the room. The chalkboards had graffiti all over them. The chairs and desks were covered in dust and filth.  The door inside was cracked slightly and I wanted to explore more…  stick to the plan; find a staircase, I told myself. After finding a staircase long enough and with a nonbroken banister, I put my phone down and set the timer to 10 seconds. I sprinted up the stairs. 

“8, 7, 6, seconds,” I counted down loudly. Each of my steps felt more rickety than the last. 3 seconds. I reached for the top platform with my last step. Here we go, I thought, taking a deep breath. I ran and then dropped my skateboard. I soared down the staircase at what felt like a thousand miles an hour.  My wheels slammed on the floor with a thud. I raised my hands in triumph. 

“WOOOO! LETS GO! That was so much fun!”” I screamed out loud for no one to hear. I stopped my skateboard from letting me go farther and I walked back towards my phone. The video replayed on a loop and displayed my amazing trick. I picked it up for a closer look. 

Chills ran down my spine as my head spun around to the left and right, investigating my surroundings. I watched the video multiple times but kept seeing it. The figure behind me in the video. He had a red jacket and his face was covered with a mask. He was standing behind me the entire time. 

How could he be behind me? I looked over there. I had a view of the entire staircase above me. This has to be a filter, I thought. I went to look on TikTok if there was a filter added to my video. There wasn’t. I briskly tried to follow my way out but it didn’t work. I went left and right multiple times but ended up in the same place.  I screamed out a grunt in frustration and dropped my skateboard. I needed to think strategically.  I looked around the room and tried to find anything that would help me remember my way out. The graffiti on the chalkboard! I saw multiple artworks on my way in so I quickly followed them as I ran out as fast as I could. 

20 minutes later

“Mom! Mom! What I saw! What I saw!” I could barely get my words out.  

“What is it, Cece?” She replied as if I was just referring to some high school drama. 

“I went to an abandoned school to film a new skateboarding TikTok and someone was behind me. He was wearing a red jacket and a mask.” It sounded crazy saying it out loud.

“Cece, you need to stop making these things up. We live in a safe area. There are no criminals around here.” 

“How do you know that? They could be anywhere and he was DEFINITELY behind me. I’ll show you the video if you don’t believe me.” The TikTok app was already open on my phone. I looked through my saved drafts to find the video but it disappeared. 

“No, Mom, I swear it was right here. You have to believe me,” I begged her.

“Remember what the doctor said,” my mom said calmly.

“I know but…” I remember that doctor’s visit. Everything they said to me. I didn’t believe it at the time and don’t know if I still do now. No one ever believed me with my condition.  

“Cecelia, this is your schizophrenia acting up again. You can’t be crying wolf every time you dream up these thoughts. We have talked about this before. You can’t believe everything you see around you. It’s not safe for you or others,” my mother stated with concern in her voice. 

“Mom. This isn’t my schizophrenia. I know I have told you about things like this before but this is real. The video showed it.” 

“Just drop it, okay? We’re done having this conversation.”

How could my mom not believe me? I’m her daughter. We are all we have left after Dad left us when I was 10 years old.  It was mostly because of me.  If she couldn’t believe me, who would? We are supposed to be a team, the mother-daughter team. Will she never believe me again? 

I couldn’t have this. I wouldn’t. Going back to the abandoned middle school was the only way to show her that this guy was real. This might have been dangerous, but what else would I have to wager? I needed to do this. For me and her. 

After school the next day, I was determined to set my story straight. I walked into the school and it felt blood-chilling. I knew what I was getting myself into. The man in the mask. The memory of him in the back of my video haunts my brain. It played on a loop. Chills ran through my spine. Emotions were running through my brain. Thinking straight was impossible. My vision felt foggy. What did I get myself into? Could this have just been my condition?  I faced the door. It was still slightly cracked from yesterday. Last chance to turn around, thought the only sane part of my mind.  I was not chickening out. This was my time to show my mom that I was credible. My schizophrenia was not playing tricks on me. Walking to the staircase was worse this time. The feeling of familiarity came over me. I walked up the stairs with every piece of strength I had. He was there. Standing up on top of the staircase. He was waiting for me. The window above me cast a mysterious light on him. My body was frozen in fear. I needed to get my phone out to record. I couldn’t move. My feet were a part of the floor now.  I was unable to walk.

 “Hello Ceceila,” the man in the mask whispered. Nothing was going to make me move …except that. I ran down the stairs and skated through the corridors, getting away from him. I was filled with fear. Every wall looked the same to me. How was someone supposed to leave here? Getting lost was the number one thing I didn’t want to do but somehow I did. I must have passed the same room five times. 

“Now, come on!” I stomped my foot in frustration. I walked down a few more hallways until I was met with a dead end. 

 “Cecelia,” the low voice of the man following me was heard in my ears; ringing in my ears. Turning around the man stood not even three feet away from me. 

“You’re… your’re… you’re…. You’re real.” 

“Yes. Yes, I am, Cecilia.” 

My eyes went big. I had heard him call me Cecilia before but it was different now. It was familiar.  The night light was shined on him in a way that made him look more dangerous than I first thought. 

“How do you know my name?” I straightened myself out and tightened the grip on my skateboard. It gave me the sliver of confidence that I needed. 

“Who doesn’t? You’re so popular on TikTok. Your skateboarding videos,” he pointed towards the skateboard covered in stickers, leaning against my leg. 

“Have you been following me?” The sound of my heart beating faster was clouding my ears. The idea that something that I love to do might have led to a masked man following me was something I didn’t want to think about.  

“You know my name. What’s yours?” I queried. The masked man reached for his mask and took it off his face. 

“I’m your dad,” he said with no emotion.

It couldn’t be. It can’t be. Why is my dad here and why does he look like this? I thought to myself.  

“ I know you were scared but this is the only place that I can live in peace alone.  You would understand,” admitted my dad.  I didn’t know what he was talking about at the time but now I understand. He thinks that because I have schizophrenia, we’re alike. 

A figure walked past the hallway entrance and stopped in their tracks. 

“Mom!” I shouted. I ran past my dad without a second thought. There was no better feeling than running into my mom’s arms. 

“I believe you. I’m so sorry that I thought you were lying.”  Hearing my mom say that was the best feeling. “It took me some time and then I remembered where your dad used to hang out when he was your age. His old middle school,” my mom explained.  My mother looked at my father in disbelief.

“It’s okay. I know you just thought it was my condition at first.” She let go of me and we both turned to face my dad. We had a lot to unpack together, as our mother-daughter team.