| GHOST STORIES | THE BLACK PHONE | COMPLETED

8 | I DON'T HAVE THE STRENGTH

     ABBY HEADED TO the door, wondering if maybe her hearing went and that was the reason she didn't hear the door lock. She pulled on the handle, gasping softly when it opened for her. She peaked around the door, expecting to see The Grabber waiting for her. But he was gone, she opened the door more, about to step out and make an escape. But the phone rang, for once, she was going to ignore it.

She made it up only a couple of steps before the continuous ringing made her turn around and pull the phone off the hook. "Hello?"

"Don't go upstairs." A new voice spoke, this one being even more familiar to her than Bruce's was.

"Why?" She questioned, now being sick at the thought that her actions could've caused her harm.

"It's a trap."

Then it clicked. "Billy?"

The voice remained silent for a few moments, like Bruce had when Abby reminded him of his name. "I don't remember my name. I delivered newspapers."

Abby felt her breath go shaky as she remembered seeing the boy throwing newspapers at her house. "You're Billy Showalter, you delivered to my house."

"Maybe. Do not go upstairs."

"Why?" She asked again.

"He's waiting...on the other side with that fucking belt. He didn't say you could leave, so if you try, he'll punish you. He'll beat you with that belt until you pass out. It hurts, Abby. It hurts real bad. You'll cry. You'll beg him to stop. We all did. But he just keeps beating you." The phone clicked off and Abby let out a breath.

She stared at the phone in her hand for a moment, thinking about all the horrible things each of these boys had to go through. They were protecting her, at least Billy and Bruce were. One offering a way out and another stopping her from being hurt. She placed the phone back and then looked at the door.

She wasn't like the other victims, she was a girl. He only took her because she had seen him take Robin. She wondered if her outcome would be different. She moved to the door and slowly walked upstairs, her heart beating loudly in her chest. She stopped near the top of the stairs, where she could use a mirror to see what was happening in the room.

She nearly fell backwards when she saw The Grabber. He was sat in a chair in the middle of the kitchen, shirtless and with a belt in his hand. Her breathing became shaky as she silently went back down into the basement and closed the door behind her. Her eyes then landed on the tray of food, her hunger was too much to bare with, she dropped to her knees and began shovelling the disgusting slop of cold eggs into her mouth as she hadn't been given any cutlery. But the soda helped wash it down.

Abby went to sit on the mattress after eating, her stomach now full of the slimy eggs. She hadn't once laid down since getting there, worried The Grabber could do something while she was in such a vulnerable state, but it was much more comfy than sleeping upright. So she laid down, but her back was still against the wall. 

She didn't know how long she had managed to sleep, but she was once again woken up due to the phone ringing. Abby sat up and quickly grabbed the phone, placing it against her ear.

"You said my name was Billy." She relaxed slightly at the familiar voice. "Don't call me that, please. I don't remember it. It's not who I am now."

Abby noticed the empty soda bottle begin to shake on it's own, quickly believing it was due to Billy's manipulation. "What do you want me to call you?"

The bottle fell on it's side as Billy answered. "I delivered newspapers. I was a paperboy."

"Paperboy?"

Billy didn't reply to her words. "See the wall in front of you? See how the wall is separated from the floor?"

"Yeah?"

"I tore a long cable loose from down there. I kept it hidden." He spoke.

Abby furrowed her brows. "What am I meant to do with that?"

The bottle on the floor began to spin, faster and faster, until it was balancing on it's rim. It pointed towards the covered window, making Abby even more confused. She didn't have the strength to tear off the cover, or pull herself up the cable and out the window.

"I-I can't do that. I don't have the strength." She said down the phone.

"You have to try." The line cut and she was left alone once more.

Abby put the phone back and made her way to the gap between the wall and floor, she stuck her finger into it, feeling the cable tucked not too far behind. She managed to get a hold of it and pulled it out, she then went to the window, trying to lasso it around one of the gaps that let in light. But she couldn't seem to get it. She let out an angry yell as it once again slapped to the ground.

Not being able to think of any other ideas, she tucked the wire back where she found it and sat back on the mattress. She was angry. Angry at everything. Angry at herself for not being stronger when trying to fight off The Grabber. Angry at herself for not being faster when running away. For not being louder when screaming for help. Tears began to well in her eyes, but she didn't want to cry.

James said that she shouldn't let her father see her cry, and if she could do that, she could ensure that The Grabber would never see her cry. That would just prove to him that he had broke her, that she was ready to be killed. But she wasn't, she was going to survive, she would try her hardest. But using Billy's method of escape would be a lost cause.

She moved back to the hallway, finding the small hole she had begun to dig and started again. She threw the dirt into the toilet and flushed it, repeating the process until she had made a hole that went to her knees. She covered it back up and sat on the mattress, too tired to continue.