I hear a knock at the door. I opened it up to see the UPS man there next to him standing a package almost as tall as him. 

“A package for Allison?” he says 

“That's me, but I didn't order any packages…” I say 

“Well it has your address on it.”

“Hm, that's weird.” I mumble. What could this be? Who would send me something this big? 

“Can you sign here please?” He hands me the clipboard and I sign my name at the bottom. “Thank you! Have a nice day!” he shouted as he walked down the porch steps. 

“You too!” I reply and suspiciously walk up to the package. The package is about 6 foot tall and 2 feet wide. How am I going to lift this? This thing is bigger than me! Then I put the box on its side and pushed it through the door. Ugh this thing is heavy!

The clock strikes 11:07 am, and I've been staring at this box for five whole minutes. It’s giving me a weird feeling… Almost like I shouldn't open it…  Why? What's the worst that can happen? So I wander to the kitchen and grab the scissors. When I step back into the living room I see the box is open.  

 A male voice announces from behind me.“Hello! My name is Brandon, your new personal robot Boyfr-”

“AHHHH!” I scream and run it to the coat closet by the front door. Why is a 6 foot male in my house and what happened to the package? “WHAT H*LL! WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!” I shout. 

“Sorry I'll repeat,” he starts to say almost as if he was programmed to. “Hello! My name is Brandon, your new personal robot boyfriend!” 

“Get out of my house!” I pant. Taking a quick breath.

“I cant. was assigned to take care of you!” He says 

“Assigned by who?” I ask.

 “I'm not sure!” he remarks “It's just in my data!”

“So you're a robot?” I asked him. 

“Yes, pisifictly your robot boyfriend here to take care of you and all your needs! You can come out now. I promise I won't hurt you!” he says in a calm, almost trustful tone. Trusting him, I came out slowly. Twisting the door knob and opening the door a crack. I peek out then I see him. He had brown wavy hair down to his ears; his skin was glowing a light tan color; his eyes were a shimmery blue; his lips looked soft; he was everything I dreamed of when I was 16. He looks like a normal person I don't understand…

It's now 12:35 and we have been talking for an hour and 20 minutes. “So, you're here to be my boyfriend? And you were in the package?” I ask just to confirm.

“Yes!” he says 

“How are you supposed to be my boyfriend if you're a robot?” 

“Well if it's not obvious I'm madly in love with you.” he answers 

“But we just met?”

“Well it feels like I've known you my whole life!” He puts his hand on my leg. I scooted over so he couldn't reach me. What should I do? Is he lying? He doesn't even look like he's a robot. But I'm not going to lie, I kind of want to trust him. I've never had a boyfriend that took care of me. They were all a bunch of dirtbags. 

“I guess we can give it a try. But you sleep on the couch.” I say.

It's a month later, Brandon and I have bonded a lot. Brandon cooks for me every night and bakes me cupcakes during the day. I sense he doesn't have a job, He's kind of like a stay at home dad, with no kids. Brandon was cleaning the kitchen when I woke up. “Good morning” I yawn. 

“Good morning!” He hums and kisses me on the cheek. “Are you ready for work? I packed your lunch!”

“Yum, what is it?” I ask. “It smells delicious!” 

“It's your favorite! Chicken pot pie!”

“Ooo! That sounds nice. I don't know what you put in it but it sure is good!” 

“It's a secret!” he says as he brings me my bag and thermos of coffee. I head over to the door and grab my keys while putting on my coat. 

“I can take out the trash before I leave!” I suggest 

“Oh, don't worry, I can do it!”

“But you do everything here. I can do it today, besides it's 7 o'clock, I still have 25 minutes to spare, it's only a 15 minute drive to work anyway! I can for sure have it done in less than 10 minutes!”

“If you wish!” he says and heads back to the kitchen. I grabbed the trash and headed out the door. Brandon must have not got the chance to shovel the driveway as it was an unexpected 3 inches of snow. It's been starting to snow this week, which must mean the holidays are coming up. I can't wait to show off Brandon's cooking to my family! I put the trash bag on the porch and grabbed the snow shovel. I have 10 minutes until I need to leave anyway, I have time.  

Ugh thank goodness I'm all done. I go back up to the porch and stomp my feet off. When I go to grab the garbage I look at my Watch, 7:30. WHAT? That took me 30 minutes I didn't even realize! I have to go. I'll text Brandon when I get to work to take the garbage out, he’ll understand. I rush to the car and start to call my boss. While it's ringing, I hop in and try to start it. It didn't work, so I tried again. I curse under my breath then my boss answers.

“Hello!” I hear my boss cut in and out. 

“Oh! Hello Miss Smith! I was going to just call in late today. I lost track of time but now my car won't start, so I don't think I'll be heading in today! My apologies.” I speak into the phone hoping she can hear me as the signal keeps cutting out. 

    “That's ok!” she says.

“Thanks for understanding! Have a good day bye!”

“You too! Bye!” I hear before hanging up. I was about to get out of the car when I saw Brandon through the window. It looked like he was dragging something from the back door into the kitchen. What is he doing? I got out of the car and walked up to the porch to grab the garbage now that I had time. And look up to see our neighbor from next door through the window. He was on the kitchen floor passed out with blood dripping from his head and Brandon standing at his feet. I drop the trash and rush into the house. 

“OMG! WHAT HAPPENED?” I scream. “QUICK! CALL 911!”                                                

“When did you get home?” Brandon says in shock

“I NEVER LEFT! HURRY CAL-” I stop in my tracks and look at Brandon and the counter behind him. Blood was everywhere; fingers on the cutting board; a chopped off tongue; and 4 eyeballs in a bowl. I couldn't look at the rest. I started to throw up. 

“ALLISON!” he says as he rushes to my side. I scoot away afraid of his touch. “Allison please don't be scared i would never hurt you!” he starts to say 

“Is this what you have been feeding me?” I say in a panicked uneasy tone. He doesn't say anything… “I NEED TO CALL THE COPS!” I pull out my phone and he grabs it from my hand. 

“I can't let you do that, '' he mumbles. 

“What? WE HAVE TO TURN YOU IN!” I shout, shaking. 

“I SAID I CAN LET YOU DO THAT!  He snaps.  I jumped back. “I wish you could just accept this but you leave me no choice.” He grabs the rolling pin off the table… I sprint out the back door.

I run to the first thing I see, the shed. I quickly lock the door and I feel my heart beating fast, then I hear a bang on the shed, “You can come out now” he says in a creepy voice, “You’re not getting away.” I sit there not responding, I’m breathing heavily trying to figure out what to say or do. The banging stops, “I have to go get the cupcakes out of the oven, don’t move cause I’ll be back.”  

I need to think of a plan. I see a bucket in the corner of the shed, a rope on a shelf, and a string on the floor. That’s when I know what to do, then I remember the hose, but it’s on the other side of the house, so I would have to get there fast. I quickly grab the bucket, unlock the door, and sprint to the front of the house while being cautious of my surroundings. 

As I reach the front of the house, I see Brandon in the window, I know he can see me but I don’t care. I reach the hose and turn it on and put the bucket under it, after 30 seconds of waiting, the bucket is finally filled. I grab the rope and string that I had found in the shed and look in the window to see if he’s there but he’s not. I look around and I see him headed towards the shed. This is my perfect opportunity to set up my plan. 

I run inside panting and trying to catch my breath, I start looking around the house for the perfect spot for my plan, then I see it, I know where it’s going to go. Once I get to the spot I was originally planning on putting my trap, I unwrap the rope and begin running it along the ceiling and tying the handle of the bucket to the rope. As I finish setting up the first part I run to the kitchen to get oil. Before I pour all of the oil out, I set up a tripwire that lines from one end of the hallway to another. I know this will work. 

I get anxious waiting for Brandon to come back from outside to continue looking for me. When he comes inside I hear the back door open. I stay quiet and try not to breathe heavily.  

“Allison” he call’s “I know you are in here…” I’m hiding in the coat closet again like when we first met, waiting for him to walk across the trap in the kitchen doorway. “ I know you’re hiding…” he whispers. Then that’s when I hear it like a shock of electricity and then a voice that doesn’t sound so human “N-No-“ that’s when I knew. It was safe to come out so I twisted the knob and opened it to see him on the floor and water flooding everywhere. I rushed over and grabbed my phone,  which he left on the counter. I start to dial 911. I’m finally safe.