Short Stories

Distorted Voices

"Cassaji23"

Once I typed in my password, the bright phone light illuminated the room. My eyes are covered by my blonde hair, in this dim room where I sit amid the night before me. The smell of puffy lemon filled the air as the sound of a click snapped around in the corner of my room.

I opened my messages to see Daren had texted me again, he knew that I didn't wish to talk to him anymore... he never listens to me. Why can't he just take a hint already?

"Choi, I know you read this, I'm sorry! Can we please just talk? I need to talk to you about this thing that I have been keeping for a while."

I ignored his message.

"Was that Daren?" Elyssa asked. She rolled over from the bed. "I told you to block him already, he may have been in our friend group before we got together, but you need to cut him off."

I groaned, annoyed. I knew I should've done this years ago, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. He was always there for me when I needed him most, and he was the reason I gained the courage to ask her out anyway. So how could I bring myself to block the key being who brought me this happiness? The person who I... Who I had fallen for in the past... before everything else... How could I cut that out of my life?

"I'll do it later, right now just go back to sleep... Sorry for waking you up."

Elyssa didn't say anything, but I heard her shuffling in bed. I turned off my phone and went back to sleep. In moments a loud ding had alerted Elyssa's phone. She turned it on and immediately shut it off.

"This bitch just won't shut up!" Elyssa groaned. We both attempted to go back to sleep. Whilst we were trying to sleep, a loud bang at our front door, we shot up from our bed. Looking at each other through the dark. We waited for a moment before the same banging echoed throughout the desolate household once again.

Elyssa and I did not exchange any words but were able to figure out what we were thinking. I stood up, strolling out of the room, whilst Elyssa had made sure all of the nearby windows were locked and the blinds were shut. I had obtained a knife from the kitchen and trotted my way back to Elyssa who gave me a thumbs up.

The banging sent shivers down my spine, Elyssa tightly clung to my arm.

"Cassandra! Please! I can't run away from it anymore!" Daren shouted from behind the door, his voice muffled slightly.

"He's here!" Elyssa whispered. We both backed away from the door, hiding, and locking ourselves in one of the bedrooms. Elyssa made sure to lock every door before closing them to add to our hidden nature.

The banging only got louder and louder before the door was busted open and crashed into the wall. We both quivered in fear, trying to keep our breathing quietly though our bodies would not compute with our attempts to stay quiet.

In mere moments we could hear Daren groaning in agony, before we could hear the sounds of flesh being ripped apart, of some liquid substance, blood presumably, splattered about in the house. Soon all we could hear was nothing. It was only our faint, rapid, breathing we could hear in the silent household. Every part of my body ached in running, wanting to flee, but I would not leave for my own safety. I would have to take Elyssa with me.

"Cassssannnndra!" Daren's voice, though distorted in many ways, said childishly. Something was off with the tone he was using. It was as if he had snapped and was now toying with us, making sure we were in a panicked state.

Another door busted open and crashed into the wall. Soon, it busted into the room we were in, the door slammed across from us. Shattering into bits and pieces with the sheer force that this thing had applied to the door. Elyssa took the knife from my hand and braced herself to attack it.

"Casssannnnddraaaaa!" Daren's voice called out to me.

In moments Daren had entered the room. His body was covered in blood, he was holding a piece of bone in his hands. Also bloodied, he turned his head slowly to look at us.

"Casssannndra! I'm here to tell you somethiiingg!" Daren called out to us. His voice was distorted, though. He started walking towards us, but his movements were glitchy and uncontrollable. He limbed, leaned too far to one side, stumbled back, or just stopped for a moment.

Elyssa ran up to him, stabbing him in the chest before kicking him onto the ground.

"Let's get the hell out!" She shouted.

We both ran for it to the door, before Elyssa had been dragged by some strange force. I peered behind me to see Daren had grabbed hold of Elyssa's legs. I ran over to assist, prying Daren off of Elyssa. He dropped Elyssa, took hold of my shirt, and threw me across the room. Crashing into the wall I groaned in pain.

I tried to get up but the agony had kept me down to the ground. I could only hear Elyssa's screams of terror as they began to fade away, the clumps of thuds that descended into nothingness. He threw her into the basement... Fuck...

Managing to get up, I had taken a couple of steps before I heard footsteps coming up the stairs. Diving into one of the rooms, I hid and waited for them to head somewhere else. Once they did I made my way to the basement.

I soon stopped in my tracks. "Babe, over here," I heard Elyssa's voice calling over to me from our hiding spot. I walked over before a pair of hands grabbed onto me, covering my mouth, and pulled me into the basement. A couple of steps down I gasped in horror.

"I heard it too, babe," Elyssa whispered into my ear. How is there another voice that sounded exactly like hers?

We both cautiously went up the stairs and attempted to get out of the household. Looking behind us, I saw the creature with its six ginormous spider-like legs, and a single glowing green eye staring at us.

"Goodbye, babe," it called out to me. Its voice mimicked Elyssa. It ran over to us, the jiggling scales rubbing against each other echoed within the household. Its ear-piercing screech echoed in the household as it came closer to us, we both ran like hell out of there. Making it out of the doorway, I heard Elyssa screaming as the thing had grabbed hold of her.

"Elyssa!" I screamed. Looking back I saw that she was already being pulled into the basement, barely hanging onto the door frame. They had moved over there so quickly, I couldn't register that she was already there.

I ran away with tears in my eyes. Knowing that I couldn't save Elyssa from that-- from whatever that thing was. Running to the neighboring houses, baning on their doors to let me in, but to no avail. I would do this until someone would answer me, seeing me in distress, they had let me in. Informing them of what is happening, leaving out certain details, they called the police.

They would arrive shortly after and I would exit out to tell them of the situation. An officer would enter the house and come out with no information. There was nothing there.

"The house is perfectly fine," they reassured me. Knowing what I had just witnessed, I knew that it was a lie. I walked into the house myself only to discover that everything was fine. Everything was normal... As if nothing had happened.

"Elyssa!" I shouted. I looked around the house for Elyssa, turning over everything to look for her: Nothing. There was nothing here.

I walked into our room to find my phone still on my nightstand. Picking it up and turning it on, I had gotten a notification from someone. It was Elyssa.

"Received 1 voice message from Elyssa"

I played it and there was only silence. Nothing was there. Only the ragged breathing in the background.

"Casssannnndrrraaa" Upon hearing the distorted voice of Elyssa. I turned my phone off and threw it onto the bed.

A ding came about on my phone. Another message was sent to me. I opened my phone and it was from Daren.

I opened my phone and began to unlock it. To read whatever Daren had sent to me, and hopefully block him from my life. Or at least... That is what I hoped I would be able to do.

"Cassaji23"