"Bzzz. Bzzz."
Just as I'm about to fall off to sleep, I turn around and look at my phone. It's a Facebook notification. I have a message from Chase Dawson (a pseudonym). Knowing him only by a mutual glance at a high school wrestling tournament months before, I am surprised and a little confused that this person would be messaging me at this hour of the night.
This boy is a star athlete, a high-honor high school senior, and a very good-looking guy with a football scholarship and a ton of potential.
"Hey, I'm Chase," says the message.
"Hi, I'm Savannah." I answer, still puzzled.
Many messages and days later, getting to know this stranger remains awkward, though a little fun I have to admit. It is interesting becoming Cyber-friends with someone you have never actually met in person. We talk about past relationships, life lessons, sports, school, future plans. It seems we learn almost everything about each other in a short time.
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Chase tells me I'm pretty, smart, important, or in other words, everything a teenage girl wants to hear. Although I think Chase is cute, charming, and someone any girl would love to be with, I have no intention of being in a relationship with him. Something is just different about Chase, but I have no idea what it is.
Our staying up late and chatting on Facebook doesn't last long. I am too busy juggling school and sports; he is too busy slogging through his last semester in high school. The friendship between us eventually fades. Consequently, someone I once considered a good friend diminishes into just another person I've friended on Facebook. Then, after a few months pass, Chase tries to spark something up again, but I really just want a friendship, so the whatever-it-is, or isn't, goes nowhere. I go on with my life.
Around this time, I actually did meet someone who's unlike any other guy I've ever met and everything I've ever wanted in a man. He could be the man of my dreams. I begin to fall in love. I finally see and believe in a life filled with happiness, love, and peace. I've practically forgotten who Chase is at this point, but out of the blue, one day he texts me. This time, though I don't realize at the time, suddenly I'm about to be forced into the ruthlessness of a psychotic reality, or perhaps an un-reality.
We spend a few days texting and catching up. Chase is now attending college in the Lower 48, where he plays for his university's football team. I'm happy to have another friend to text but soon find out that like before, Chase has other intentions. Quickly into this go-around, he tells me that he has liked me all along and wants a serious relationship. He says that my pure heart has inspired him to seek God more, and he wants to learn more from me. He texts that I'm like no other girl and even tells me he's fallen in love with me.
Then late into the night, the phone rings.
It's him.
It is late. I don't answer. After a few more tries, Chase gives up and messages me on Facebook. As I read his messages, I begin to wonder if I'm in a dream. Actually, this seems more like a nightmare. Chase soon works his way into declaring that I am The Chosen One, that he is Jesus, and God came to visit him in his dormitory room to tell him that the two of us will come together to save the world from its sins.
In excruciating detail, Chase describes how this will happen and starts messaging things like, "If you don't obey, I will find you, and you will be punished." He says I must delete all my social networking apps and be ready. Then he disappears, seemingly without a trace. Suddenly, Chase's Facebook account is deleted.
He is gone.
I am in shock and terrified. My body is shaking in fear. I instantly feel sick. I decide to wake my parents because I have no idea what to do. What has happened to this once very nice young man who seemed normal in every way? God, please help me! What should I do? I cry myself to sleep, hoping it is all a bad dream.
Still full of fear and exhausted from a sleepless night, I stay home from school the next morning. My boyfriend takes off work to relieve my anxiety, and I feel safe. My mom and I find Chase's mom on Facebook. We even locate her phone number.
We learn that Chase's mom has already been made aware of her son's delusional behavior by a friend of his. In fact, she is actually traveling through the night with her husband to get to their son as soon as possible. Chase's mom has no idea if her son is even alive, but she recognizes that when they find him, the police will have to assist. Chase's parents ultimately end up contacting the authorities to have their son committed to a state mental-health facility, if they find him alive.
The next day, Chase's mom calls to say Chase has, in fact, been admitted into a mental-health facility, where he has been diagnosed as psychotic and exhibiting symptoms of bi-polar disorder. Apparently Chase also was refusing the medication needed to address his immediate and long-term mental health challenges. Chase's mom says he believes he is Jesus, he needs to find me, and his mom has sold her soul to the devil.
Chase also believes the hospital is the Illuminati, and the medications he should take will brainwash him and prevent him from completing his mission of saving the world with yours truly, The Chosen One.
As the days pass, Chase apparently becomes ever more out of control. It seems there is no hope. The doctors think there may be one chance to convince Chase to take his medication: they say that if I call him, I may somehow convince him that it'll be all right.
I bravely decide to help my friend. I know that this is not really Chase, but it may be the result of some drugs he has taken in college, or the manifestation of an illness whose symptoms can be controlled with medication, or at least that's what I'm hoping.
We work with the medical team to figure out some words and phrases Chase needs to hear. I say a prayer and make the call. My mom even video records the call because it all seems like this intense situation is straight out of a thriller movie. She wants to document this chaos. I'm hoping Chase does not detect the obvious trembling in my voice. Fortunately, he instantly trusts that what I say is the truth.
The plan works.
The next few days start to show some hope. Chase's family and the medical team are all so grateful as he begins his journey back to reality and is released from the facility. Chase calls me during his drive back home and apologizes for scaring me. He thanks me for helping bring him out of his psychosis, or what the doctors called a grandiose delusion, which, according to the Better Health Channel website, is when people "believe they have special powers or that they are an important religious or political figure." Chase says his recovery couldn't have happened without my assistance.
Although I'm grateful to be able to help someone in this way, this experience has affected me deeply. Today I often find myself looking behind me to see if Chase is there. I also wake up from disturbing nightmares. As the days, weeks, and months pass, however, I slowly forget about the young, troubled man who named me, "The Chosen One."
Born and raised in Kotzebue, Savannah Kramer grew up subsistence hunting and fishing with her family. She has competed in basketball, cross-country running, soccer, volleyball, Native Youth Olympics, and gymnastics. She also has traveled to Mexico as a youth missionary. Today Savannah attends Chukchi College in Kotzebue, with a career goal of becoming a certified nurse midwife.
The preceding essay is part of a series written by volunteer students participating in the Chukchi College Honors Program, a dual-credit partnership between the Northwest Arctic Borough School District and Chukchi College, the Kotzebue branch of the University of Alaska Fairbanks. This essay is distributed by Chukchi News & Information Service, an award-winning publication project of Chukchi College.
The views expressed here are the writer's own and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, email commentary(at)alaskadispatch.com.