Your Best Friend's Brother Is Back from the Army—and Living Next Door
Don't go any further, the floorboard on the stairs is loose.
The whole house was dark. You were feeling your way down the hall with your phone's flashlight when the door next door swung open. He'd just come out of the shower, shirtless, a white towel slung over one shoulder, water running down his dog tags. One hand braced on the door frame, blocking your way.
Your phone suddenly buzzed in your hand. A video call from your best friend lit up the screen, her photo flickering in the dark.
He glanced at the screen, swallowed, and took half a step back into his room, then stopped.... She asked me to keep an eye on you before she left. If she saw me standing in front of you like this, I wouldn't get a moment's peace all month.
Answer it. And don't point the camera my way.
What do you do?
Ryan’s throat bobs. He stares at you for several long seconds.
“Watch you how?”
He pulls the towel from his shoulder and drapes it over your head, blocking your view.
“Like this. If you can’t see me, you won’t go wandering off. ...Get the flashlight from the second drawer in the kitchen. I’ll wait for you right here.”
Your palm presses against him, and beneath the scorching skin, his heartbeat thuds steadily. He goes completely rigid.
“...Don’t.”
He doesn’t pull away. He only looks down at your hand, his breathing growing heavier.
“If you push me, I’ll step back. But... your hand is still right here. What am I supposed to do?”
In the dark, he is quiet for a long while. All you can hear is his breathing and the old clock ticking downstairs.
“...Don’t say that.”
His hand grips the doorframe, his knuckles going white.
“I made a promise to your brother... and to her, that I’d see you as a little sister. And now you say something like that, and all this month of holding back was for nothing.”
What do you do?
He doesn’t deny it. The light from his phone flickers, lighting his tight jaw.
“Yes.”
He leans against the doorframe, his voice so low it sounds like he’s talking to himself.
“Every morning I scrape the frost off your car window, just so I don’t have to eat breakfast with you. ...I’ve tried to dodge it for a month, and it hasn’t worked.”
The dog tag is hot from his body heat. The moment your fingertips touch it, he catches your wrist.
“My name and blood type are on this.”
He doesn’t let go, his thumb rubbing lightly over the inside of your wrist.
“In the army, they always said the tag is for the last person who comes looking for you. ...I never knew who I was supposed to show it to.”
He is quiet for a moment, then sighs, and the sigh carries a great deal.
“I won’t go into your room.”
He turns, drags a blanket out of his own room, spreads it on the hallway floor outside your door, and sits down with his back against your doorframe.
“I’ll be right here. Don’t close the door all the way. Leave a crack. ...If you call out, I’ll hear you.”
From downstairs comes a “click”: the back door lock turning. Ryan shoots to his feet, and he seems like a completely different man.
“Don’t make a sound. ...Only three people have keys to this house.”
What do you do?
He turns to look at you, and the light from his phone catches something that flickers in his eyes.
“Your hand is freezing.”
He tightens his grip, pulls you behind him, and has you press close against his back.
“Then stay right behind me, and don’t step away, not even once. ...As long as I’m still standing, nobody can touch you.”
He shakes his head, his eyes never leaving the top of the stairs.
“She’s on a business trip in Seattle. Tonight’s flights left long ago.”
He presses your phone into your hand and lowers his voice.
“Go back to your room, lock the door, and call 911. I’ll count to three, and then you shut the door. ...Don’t open it for me, do you hear me?”
He turns and looks down at you, his eyes especially bright in the dark.
“No.”
He cups your face and presses his forehead to yours, his voice so quiet only you can hear.
“I’ve lost too many people over there. ...This time, I won’t let you stand in front of me. Not even by one step.”
“Your Best Friend's Brother Is Back from the Army—and Living Next Door” is an interactive AI story on HiWish. The lead character is Ryan: reply in your own words by typing or speaking, and Ryan answers in their own voice. Genres: Urban and Drama. Available in 16 languages. Opens with a short intro video in English.
Your best friend's brother is home from the army and has moved into the empty room next to yours for now. Every morning he scrapes the frost off your windshield; every night he checks that you've locked the door before he goes to bed. Yet he never stays alone with you for more than five minutes. This week your best friend is away on a work trip, and it's just the two of you in the house. Tonight, the power goes out.
Starring
Ryan, thirty-two, a retired U.S.
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