| GHOST STORIES | THE BLACK PHONE | COMPLETED

7 | YOU WERE CHEERING FOR THE PITCHER

     "HOW ARE YOUR eyes?" The Grabber questioned, moving closer to Abby, now with a tray of food on his lap.

Abby, who had pushed herself against the wall to keep herself as far away as possible, decided to be honest. "They hurt."

The man hummed and nodded his head, as if he understood what she was going through and the pain she was experiencing with her eyes. He moved the tray from his lap and towards her. Abby glanced down to see a bottle of soda and scrambled eggs on it, but the eggs looked like slop.

"I'm not the best cook." He admitted, having noticed her disgusted look. "But it's the best I can offer you."

Abby made no move to get the food, which seemed to make him angry. He moved closer, aggressively pushing the tray towards her. She flinched slightly as he quickly moved the bottle towards her.

"Drink it." The girl shook her head, worried that there would be something in the food or soda. "Drink it!"

"No!" She shouted back.

Suddenly the man got to his feet and in a flash was by her side, trapping her in his arms with her back against him. She fought as hard as she could, but The Grabber was much stronger. She even yelled, forgetting that no one could hear her.

"Drink it." He growled into her ear, pushing the bottle to her lips.

She kept them as tightly closed as she could, making sure not a drop got into her system. The Grabber became even angrier, he threw the bottle and let it smash against the wall. Instinctively, Abby moved closer to The Grabber, as if it was James trying to protect her. Then she realised who it was and pushed away, but this time The Grabber let her.

She moved away and backed herself into a corner, watching as the man stood and moved to the broken bottle. He began to collect the pieces before putting them on the tray. He was still angry, his heavy breathing being an indicator, but he didn't seem to want to hurt her or be aggressive towards her now. He turned to view the shaking girl, who stared at him with wide eyes. He picked up the tray and walked out, slamming the door behind him and locking it.

Abby pulled her knees to her chest as she tried to get her breathing back to normal after the encounter. She eventually did so and somehow fell asleep against the wall, only to be woken up some hours later to the phone ringing. She slowly got to her feet and took it off the wall, placing it against her ear.

"Hello?" She asked softly. "Hello? I need help. Please."

She didn't expect a reply, but suddenly a voice spoke. "Abby..."

She moved the phone away from her ear, staring at it for a moment before putting back up to her ear. "Hello? Who is this?"

"Don't hang up." The voice spoke, it sounded male. 

"Who is this?" She asked again, it was a voice she swear she had heard before.

It took a moment for the person to reply. "I don't remember my name."

"Why not?"

"It's the first thing you lose."

Abby immediately understood the voice, believing it to be one of the voices of the missing boys, but which one she didn't know. "How do you know my name?"

"I know you. I saw you once." The voice replied. "The game, you were cheering for the pitcher when I was batter."

The name flew to her mind in an instant. "Bruce? Bruce Yamada?"

The voice, Bruce, seemed to remember that it was his name, and now seemed surprised that even Abby knew it. "Yeah. Bruce. I'm Bruce."

"Did you hear the phone?" She asked, hoping she wasn't really going insane, then again she was apparently talking to the ghost of a previous victim of The Grabber.

"It rang, but none of us heard it. Just you. The Grabber hears the phone too, but he doesn't want to believe it."

She took a small breath. "Why are you calling me?"

Bruce paused again. "I'm glad it's you. Abby?"

"Yeah?" She breathed out, closing her eyes for a moment.

"There's a dirt section of the floor in the hallway where the tile is loose. Dig down underneath the foundation. I tried, but there wasn't time for me to dig up and out the other side."

She nearly scoffed at his words. "I won't have enough time."

Bruce didn't reply, he didn't agree nor disagree with her, the phone simply clicked and went dead. She pulled the phone away from her ear and placed back on the hook. She took a moment to decide what to do, does she even attempt Bruce's plan of escape? What if she didn't have enough time? What if The Grabber caught her while she did it?

The girl headed to the hallway and began to slam her foot in the ground to find the loose tile, it broke under her foot and she quickly kneeled down to pull it up. She created a small enough hole in the tiles to reveal the dirt Bruce was speaking about. She hid the broken tile, keeping one rather sharp bit in her jean pocket as a weapon.

She started to dig, but it was tiresome and she hadn't had any proper rest since she had been put into the basement, just small sleeps here and there. Her stomach growled again as she covered up the hole and sat back on the mattress. She pulled her knees to her chest and turned her head to the phone, wondering if it would ring again. If Bruce was the one calling her again, or if it was going to be someone else.

But the door opened up, revealing The Grabber with the tray but this time there was a fresh plate of eggs and a new bottle of soda. "I made you some fresh food. Now, I want you to eat it this time."

"What did you put in it?"

He looked down at the food. "Salt and pepper." He giggled, he placed it on the floor, realising she wouldn't eat it if he tried to force her like last time. He preferred to prolong his victims lives, not let them die of hunger or thirst. "Eat it, don't eat it. You're already down here. What do I need to drug you for?"

Abby's stare turned into a glare, thinking of plenty of other reasons he may need to drug her for. His mask faced just tilted, as if he knew what she was thinking of. He let out another giggle before leaving the room, closing the door behind him. But this time, Abby didn't hear the click of the lock.