Who Do You Love

Who Do You Love? is a scary story about a young girl who meets a smooth-talking charismatic stranger.

I walked 47 miles on barbed-wire,
Got a cobra snake for a necktie.
Built a house by the roadside,
Made of rattlesnake hide.
Brand new chimney up on top,
Made out of human skulls.
Come on baby take a walk with me,
Tell me, who do you love?

Alleen was a pretty, thin, nervous girl of 15. She was given to reading romantic novels and taking long walks along the beach. She had never gone on a date with a boy, never held hands, never even had her first kiss.

One night, her mother was at work and Alleen was alone in the house. She was lying on her bed, reading a book when she heard a car coming up the driveway. There was a crunch of gravel as it stopped outside the house and someone got out.

She looked out the window and saw it was a boy. She had seen him around town before. He was darkly handsome with a devilish smile and the deepest blue eyes she had ever seen.

She rushed to the front door, put on the chain, then waited for him to knock. When he didn’t knock, she grew impatient and opened the door a crack to peer out.

Boy: Don’t I know you?

Girl: Who are you?

Boy: I told you I’d come to see you, didn’t I?

Girl: I don’t even know who you are.

Boy: You’re cute, Alleen. You want to come for a ride with me?

Girl: How do you know my name?

Boy: I know a lot of things about you. You’re such a cute girl, I took a special interest in you. I know your best friend’s name is Mary French.

Girl: How do you know her?

Boy: I know everybody.

Girl: What’s your name again?

Boy: They call me Smitty.

Girl: You’re not from around here.

Boy: Sure I am.

Girl: Then how come I never saw you before?

Boy: Sure you saw me before. You just don’t remember.

Girl: I guess I remember you.

Boy: I came out here especially to see you.

Girl: How old are you?

Boy: I’m your age.

Girl: No you’re not.

Boy: Maybe I’m a couple of years older. Eighteen.

Girl: You’re a lot older. Thirty maybe.

Boy: That’s a crazy thing to say.

Girl: You look thirty.

Boy: I’m almost the same age as you.

Girl: Maybe you better leave.

Boy: I’m not leaving until you come with me.

Girl: I am not going with you.

Boy: Why not?

Girl: Why should I?

Boy: Don’t you want to go for a ride with me?

Girl: No.

Boy: Why not?

Girl: I have things to do.

Boy: Like what?

Girl: Just things.

Boy: Don’t fool around with me, Alleen. I don’t mind a girl being shy, but I don’t like a girl who fools around.

Girl: If my mom comes home and sees you…

Boy: She’s not coming. She’s at work.

Girl: How do you know that?

Boy: I know all about you. I like you, Baby. Now what you’re going to do is come out and take a ride with me. You’re my date tonight.

Girl: What? You’re crazy…

Boy: I can make you feel good. Nobody cares about you more than than me. I know 100 ways to make a girl happy. I’ll make you love me. You don’t know what that is now, but you will…

Girl: Shut up. You’re crazy.

Boy: Look at you, all couped up in this old house. Like a baby bird in its nest waiting for the momma bird to come home. You need to spread your wings little bird.

Girl: Shut up or I’ll call the police.

Boy: Why would call the police?

Girl: You better not try and come in here.

Boy: I’m not coming in there. You’re coming out here.

Girl: If you don’t go away, I’ll call the police.

Boy: If you call the police, then I’ll have to come inside and get you. You don’t want that.

Girl: Leave me alone.

Boy: You don’t want to get in trouble, do you?

Girl: Please leave me alone.

Boy: Look, Baby, if you come out I’ll take you for a nice little drive, but if you don’t come out, I’ll have to wait until your mom comes home and you wouldn’t want her to get hurt, would you?

Girl: No.

Boy: If someone set your house on fire, you’d come out soon enough. You’d come running to my open arms.

She was so confused, she couldn’t even think.

Girl: Where?

Boy: Where what?

Girl: Where are we going?

Boy: Just for a ride. That’s a good girl. Put the phone down.

There was a ringing in her ears and she couldn’t breathe.

Boy: I promise it won’t hurt.

She felt sick to her stomach and her hands were shaking.

Boy: We’ll go out to the desert where it’s nice and sunny and we’ll talk about precious things. I’ll show you what love is. Come on, before your mom comes home. I don’t want her to get hurt. Now, come on.

She felt so weak, she had to lean against the wall in case she would faint.

Boy: Your parents don’t care about you. Your mom, your dad, they don’t know a single thing about you and they never did. You’re better off without them. I’m the only one who cares about you. Come on with me.

She felt her heart pounding in her chest.

Boy: Now come on, smile for me. That’s a good girl. Come out here to me.

She watched herself unlock the door and it slowly creaked open. She felt herself float out into the sunlight where the boy was waiting.

“Come on, it’s time for us to go,” he said with a smile.

“But I have to get my coat,” she said as he lifted her into his car.

“Forget your coat,” he said as he slammed the door. “You don’t need it where we’re going.”

That night, when Alleen’s mother came home, she found the house empty. She reported her daughter missing and the police searched for her for a while. They assumed she was just another teenage runaway.

Her mother never gave up hope. She even consulted a psychic who told her Alleen was lying on the sand under a big tree next to the water. Her mother left the kitchen light on every night just in case Alleen decided to come home.

Months later, the police stumbled across a shallow grave in the desert. It was under a big tree, near a stream. Inside, they found the skeletal remains of a teenage girl.

It was all that was left of Alleen.