Creepy - Hearts Are Just Likes

Episode Date: June 17, 2020

Click "like"...***Written by Sonora Taylor and narrated by Michelle Kane***Check out our reward tiers at patreon.com/creepypod***You can also subscribe to us on YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/creepypod***Music by Steve Blizin***Title music by Alex Aldea***Intro/Outro Narration by Joe Stofko Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This is the bloody disgusting podcast network. No. This is creepy. A podcast dedicated to sharing the most famous chilling and disturbing creepy pastors and urban legends in the world. Whether these stories truly happened or are simply fabrications is for you to decide. These stories make no. contain graphic depictions of violence and explicit language. Listener discretion is advised.

Creepy presents. Hearts are just likes. Written by Sonora Taylor and narrated by Michelle Kane. Haley's fingers trembled as she steadied her phone. It was always difficult to get her best side just right. But when she did, the result was beautiful. Her dimple appeared, her freckles sparkled, and her hair fell in a way that accented her eyes. Of course, there were filters in Photoshop, but Haley liked to keep her selfies as real as possible.

Being real was what made her so popular online. Being real was what got her alike from Kim Kardashian when Haley posted a photo of herself spritzing on Kim's new perfume and tagged her. Being real made thousands of strangers flock to her account to fill her feed with likes and led hundreds of companies to offer her samples of their own perfumes or their foods or their lotions or whatever Haley could promote on their behalf by being a real face for their real product. Haley had a job to do on Instagram, a job that brought in likes and money. She'd do anything to keep it. Fortunately, all she had to do was take her picture. Before snapping her latest selfie, Haley angled the camera a little more to the left. She didn't want

the splash of blood on the wall to be visible. She smiled, then took her picture. It had 3,000 likes within two minutes. Haley had many admirers who posted compliment. both kind and lewd on her feed. Tommy Boy 89 was when she'd noticed amidst the den of all the rest. Tommy Boy 89 showered her with hearts and liked every single one of her posts. It wasn't long before she noticed his photo next to his likes. She clicked through to his profile and saw a pair of beautiful eyes looking into hers and a smile that was just as lovely.

Haley liked his latest picture and added a comment. You like so many of my picks. Why don't you say hi? Tommy Boy 89 didn't respond. Haley shrugged and forgot about her comment until the next day. She posted a selfie with a tamarind bubble tea from a new cafe in Georgetown, complimentary, of course, so long as she tagged the cafe and added hashtag yum in addition to hashtag ad. Tommy Boy 89?

liked her photo within three minutes, and shortly after, he added a comment. Hi. Haley followed him and immediately sent a direct message so they could talk in private. They introduced themselves and found out the basics. They both lived in D.C. They both spent a lot of time on social media. They were the same age and liked the same restaurants. It didn't take long to meet up in an Italian place they both liked. And because the small talk was out of the way, It didn't take long for Haley to invite Tommy Boy 89, who asked her to call him Tom, to her apartment, where they spent the rest of the night and the better part of the morning, having sex. They became a couple and began to post online together. Tom had a bit of a following himself, not quite as large as Haley's, but large enough to where they could be considered an Instagram power couple.

Haley's selfies were interspersed with pictures of Tom looking over her shoulder, and her comments were frequently littered with starry-eyed followers, declaring the two of them to be hashtag relationship goals. Haley wondered if they'd feel the same, if they noticed that Tom's likes had disappeared in time with them becoming close. After they'd been together for almost six months, her likes and subsequent offers from companies to promote their products and enhance her. her brand, continued to skyrocket. However, none of those likes had come from Tommy Boy 89. Why aren't you liking my pictures anymore? Haley asked one day as they sat sprawled on her couch. I'm in a bunch of them. Tom answered as he scrolled through Instagram. I feel weird liking my own face. There are plenty without you. I can tell you I like them in person. He leaned forward and kissed her cheek. I like how your hair looks today. And those coconut pancakes you made this morning

were delicious. Haley smiled but didn't laugh. I miss your hearts, though. She said with a pout that was only somewhat fake. Hearts are just likes. Tom kissed her temple. And I don't just like you. I love you. I love you too. But her answer was distant, her thoughts lost in her feed as she scrolled through and saw he'd been liking everyone's photos, but hers. It was hard to ignore the way his hearts were speckled across other accounts, boosting their presence and lessening hers. Hearts were important. Hearts kept her in business. Hearts weren't just likes. They were what kept her alive. Tom insisted, though, that they weren't a big deal. Their disagreement on the matter began to cool things between them, though they were all

smiles when they posted pictures online. Haley wondered if he stayed with her to keep his gained popularity online, attaching himself to her influence. If that were the case, the least he could do is keep her afloat by liking just one of her damn posts. Jesus Christ, Haley, will you late off of me? It was their third fight in two weeks. Haley had posted several photos ahead of her weekly Instagram live, and Tom hadn't liked a single one, not even the one where Haley wrote, I love you, Tom, while making a heart with her fingers. It's not that important, he said. It is, Haley cried. It's a video I want people to see, where we'll tell everyone we're moving in together for our six-month anniversary,

how's it going to look when you're not even liking my pictures? It's going to look like we're filming a video together. You know, a thousand people are going to watch it anyway. And we should get a thousand more, but I get drop-offs when people stop liking my posts. Haley wasn't exaggerating. She'd only gotten two offers from companies that week

to promote their wares and a photo of her breakfast that morning, an ascibe bowl made with homemade keto granola, had gotten a hundred fewer likes than a similar photo the week before. Haley worried that she'd only continue to fall. Tom, though, wasn't worried at all. bothered Haley more than any lack of likes.

It doesn't matter, he said. It does! How does it look when my boyfriend doesn't like my posts? when he goes around liking everyone else's pictures and not mine. No one cares. Everyone cares. Haley sped toward Tom, grabbed his phone before he could react. Everyone watches us and everyone can see when you don't like my stuff.

Give me my phone. Tom wrestled with Haley for the phone before she could get to her page from his account, where she planned to mass like every post from the past week. They're not just hearts, she continued. Haley spun and yanked away from Tom, which caused him to stumble back. He began to fall, and Haley sent him down faster by hitting him in the chest with his phone. Their likes! Tom's head struck the coffee table. The glass top cracked but didn't shatter.

Haley yanked him up by his shoulders. And when you don't like my posts? Haley slammed his face against the iron corner of the table. You bury me! Haley slammed Tom's head against the table one last time, then threw his limp body against the wall. Blood smeared from his face onto the wall as he slid, lifeless, onto the floor. Haley stood still and waited for Tom to move.

When he didn't, she walked to his body and placed her fingers against his neck. His heart didn't beat. Haley knew this was bad. She also knew she was supposed to be live in 90 minutes. She'd find a better way to deal with Tom later. For now, she rolled him into her bedroom and shoved him under the bed, careful to bend his feet so his shoes wouldn't be visible. She cleaned the trail of blood leading to her room,

then scrub the table and placed a colorful cloth mat over the crack in the glass. The wall would have to wait until she could buy paint. Wiping the blood would just make the stain worse. Once she was done, she sat on the couch and tried to collect her bearings. Tom was dead. People would wonder where he was. People would ask about him. She wondered what she'd say when they noticed that Tom was no longer in her feed.

Haley wondered if she should begin scrubbing Tom from her profile now. She had relationship statuses to change, his accounts to unfollow. But doing that now would only be able. prompt more questions. Why had they disconnected? Did they break up? Where was Tom? Haley brought herself out of her thoughts, shook her head, and looked at her phone. She would have to buy time, and the best way was to act normal. She picked up her phone. She'd do her live episode without him. She had before, and before that, she'd post a selfie. Hi everyone, Haley waved into the camera of her phone.

Her laptop set open beside her so she could monitor comments and likes on her feed while she recorded her Instagram live on her phone. It was a lot of windows and a lot of people to watch, but Haley was used to it. She smiled as she greeted her faceless followers. She couldn't see who she was waving to, but hearts began to swim around her face as her viewers liked that she was there. It's Thursday night, she continued, and that means it's time to check in with you

before my awesome weekend. As always, you can send me questions and I'll answer them while I talk about what's been going on lately. So yesterday, I went to a really great sandwich shop in DuPont Circle, and a question interrupted Haley almost immediately. They always did,

but while Haley expected the question, it still caught her off guard. Where's Tom? Haley smiled and looked back at her camera. Someone's already asking me about Tom. He's not here tonight. He's out and about, but hopefully he'll be back for next week's video.

She made a mental note to set the virtual stage for a dramatic exit on Tom's behalf, where, after months of love and joy and visiting the hottest places together, he had straight up ghost her. That was why he wasn't online through his various accounts. He was avoiding her. Maybe she'd get everyone to search for him.

She tried not to chuckle at the thought of all of her followers going on a wild goose chase, looking for someone who's dead, nor frown at the thought of all of them flocking away from her feed in search of his. A swarm of typed sighs and sad-faced emojis came through and Haley sighed as she slumped her shoulders for effect. I know, you guys, I miss him too. But we'll see him and his beautiful face again soon. Haley heard a ding which signaled that someone liked one of her previous posts.

She looked at her laptop and checked which post it was as she continued to speak. Anyway, this sandwich shop, Bon Mots, is a Vietnamese fusion place, which offers new takes on the classic... Haley stopped as she checked her notifications. Her breakfast that morning, the one with the fewer likes than the breakfast she had posted before, had one new like from Tommy Boy 89.

Haley blinked, then refreshed the photo. She didn't see Tom's username, just the thousands of likes that had been there before. Haley ignored it. It was probably. a mistake. Sorry, guys, she said with a shrug. I got distracted by someone liking my breakfast from this morning. Did you all try that keto granola? I couldn't believe how good it was, especially since it didn't have any oats. A flock of hearts flew through her screen.

One follower wrote, it looks so good, I'm making it tomorrow. Another added, I bet keto is why your face is so pretty. Aw, thanks to the follower who said my face is pretty. It's just a just average guys. Haley patted her cheeks as she looked from side to side. And I keep it decent looking with good food, good health, and this awesome oat scrub I just started using. Before Haley could talk about the soap, she had promised the organic startup she'd promote in exchange for free products and a boost on their channels, she got another like on an old post. It was a selfie she had posted the day before to show off her new makeup, a blue eye shadow that Thompson made her eyes look like an autumn sky over her freckles.

Haley shared his comment in her post and tagged him, yet still, it had gone unliked. Until now, Tommy Boy 89, liked the post. What the hell? Haley muttered. She didn't realize she had spoken out loud until a series of questions came from her followers, all various forms of what? Oh, nothing, Haley replied with a smile, so it was weaker than it had been before. I just got distracted by another like on my makeup selfie from yesterday.

Another question came through, and Haley read a response on who the company was or which colors would best suit which skin tones. The question, though, wasn't about her eye shadow. Hey, sorry, I'm late. Where's Tom? Haley kept her smile, but sighed through it. She hoped it was quiet enough to not get picked up by the mic. I just got another question about Tom, she said. She knew avoiding questions about him would cause more suspicion than ignoring them.

You all must really miss him. Another cluster of hearts swam across the screen, and Haley tried not to glower at Tom's popularity. She and Tom were popular. That was what the hearts were for, the two of them. Like I said before, I don't know where he is tonight, Haley said with as much enthusiasm as she could muster, but hopefully we'll see him soon. Haley heard another ding.

She closed her eyes at the sound. All she'd wanted when Tom was alive was just one heart, one like to show her he was watching her online. Now that he was dead, his hearts were all she heard, and they were the last thing she wanted. The sound of a question made her open her eyes. She read, What's wrong? Haley smiled again. She had to remember she was live. And nothing, sorry, she said. I'm getting a lot of likes again. Now, this scrub. Another ding. Another like. Haley ignored it.

She picked up the scrub and continued. It's from a new company called Oatshine and, ding! They use all organic oats and fruits. Ding, ding, ding. Which sounds like breakfast, and really it is like breakfast, but for your... Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. What?

Haley slammed down the scrub and checked her notifications. She saw several likes. all of them for pictures she had posted over the past six months, and all of them from Tommy Boy, 89. It couldn't be. Tom was dead beneath her bed, and his phone lay still on the coffee table next to her. Haley checked each notification to see if he was indeed liking her pictures, but when she refreshed them, Tom's likes would disappear among the thousands of others. part of a number that Haley lost count of within minutes of her pictures going viral. But as he had in life, Tom stood out from the rest. His username clamored for her attention as she tried to keep up with his hearts.

The likes became a steady beat that Haley knew she'd have to ignore. It's a soap I've started using every day, and if you use the code, Hailstorm 20, you'll get 20% off your first order. The dings ceased. Haley sighed with relief. Now, this weekend, she continued, I've got a lot of fun stuff planned. A follower asked her a question. Didn't you have some big announcement with Tom? Haley's grin stayed frozen in place as she replied.

Some of you remember that Tom and I were going to have a big announcement tonight. How could they forget? She had talked about it for a week to get their followers excited. She'd talked about it, but Tom had not. Tom had posted pictures of his dinner, a couple selfies with her, and only one picture of her the night before, with a caption saying he'd have something special to share about a special someone very soon. It had gotten a lot of likes, so had Haley's announcements, but not one like from him. Haley's seethed a little as she continued, but, as I've mentioned a couple times now,

he's not here and I don't want to say anything without him. Another dean, a single one this time. Haley forgot her followers as she opened the picture that was liked. It was a close-up she had taken of Tom after. one month of dating, one that emphasized his eyes. The same beautiful eyes she had seen when she clicked through to his profile all those months ago. Haley bit her lip and tried not to hyperventilate despite her heartbeat climbing in time with her notifications. The thrum of dings thrashed in her ears as she stared at him, staring at her.

One of her viewers asked, what's wrong? Nothing. Haley replied, though, she couldn't smile. You look awful, another follower wrote. Eat more asaiables, the third one quipped. A swarm of hearts flooded the screen. Haley knew they weren't for her, but for the viewer's joke. She furrowed her brow and said as calmly as she could. really, I'm okay.

Ding, ding, ding. I'm just ready for the weekend and ready for Tom to come back. Haley paused and said, yes. She took a breath as she composed herself. A little vulnerability would only make her story about being ghosted, all the more tragic. Yes, I'm more than ready to see him again. I miss him, even though it's only been a short while since I've,

A ding snapped in her ears. She looked at her laptop before she could stop herself. She clicked through when she saw that the notification wasn't just a like, but a comment. Haley saw the first picture they'd taken together, one she'd snapped the afternoon after their first date. Tom kissed her cheek and she grinned at the camera. Underneath the picture, Tommy Boy 89, had written, hi. Haley covered her mouth and tried not to scream.

The dings became a steady stream once more. Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. And she moved her hands to her ears to quiet their call. A question popped up on her screen and glared her in the eye. Yeah, where's Tom? There are questions had to stop. Tom's likes had to stop. Tom had to be stopped.

She had stopped him before, and everyone would see it and know that they should stop too before she lost her mind. You want to know where Tom is? Haley snapped. She jumped up and stormed into her bedroom. Haley dragged his body from beneath the bed and wrapped her arm around his shoulder to steady him as she held up her phone. Here he is. Here's Tom.

So stop asking me. Stop asking where he is and for God's sake. She stared into his open, lifeless eyes and his bloodied, broken face. Stop liking my picks. For more information, including pictures and videos of the stories told on this podcast, or to suggest stories for future episodes, visit us at creepy pod on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, or email us at creepypod at Gmail. All stories told on this podcast can be found at creepypasta wiki.com and are protected by a creative

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