31 Days of Halloween

The Phone Call

The phone rang. "Hello," I said, "Hello." No one answered, and I hung up. Hitting the volume button on the remote, I turned the television up and continued watching my movie. I had agreed to house sit for two weeks for friends of my parents, the Donnely's. The house was huge and had the pool in the backyard. I found it funny that only two people lived in such a large home, so big in fact, that if they didn't want to see each other, they wouldn't have to. Settled back in for the movie, the phone rang again. Since they still had a landline and it was their home, I reached to answer it. Again, there was no response. Wondering if someone was trying to call and there was a connection problem, I hung up.

When it rang for the third time, I wasn't so friendly, "If you can't speak, don't call here again."

As I prepared to hang up yet again, I heard it. The softest whisper, "I can speak."

Chills ran down my spine, and the hair on my arms stood on end. Something about the voice creeped me out. Definitely a male voice, I was lost on how to respond. I didn't have to.

"Your turn," the voice whispered.

"I'm not playing some stupid game with a kid making annoying phone calls. This is stupid," I shot back, not letting the fear which crept through me, show in my voice.

Hanging up, I instinctively walked to the front door to check the lock. Not that it made a whole lot of sense, but, I wanted to be sure. Being in a gated community made it that much safer, yet I still found myself on edge. If it rang again, I would answer it and immediately hang up, turn the phone back on and lay it down. This was my third night, and I hadn't slept well the two previous nights, being in a new place that was so big took some time to get used to. Tonight, I wanted to sleep, not mess around with some idiot kid playing on the phone. It wasn't long before I could put my game plan into action. It rang, and I never bothered to answer it. Thinking it through, I picked up, hung up and turned the ringer on silent. Now, I would be able to rest.

Upstairs in the guest room where I was staying, I slipped on a pair of sweats with the t-shirt which I had put on earlier. Their dog sat quietly next to the bed until I turned off the light and pulled the blankets up, and then he laid down. My own personal guard system, or at least an alert. Alert for what? This house is empty except for you and the dog, I thought to myself. Laughing at my own ridiculousness, I closed my eyes and drifted off. My last coherent thought, how comfortable the pillows were.

Waking up in the middle of the night, I had to gather my bearings. Where am I? Where is the dog? What woke me up? All rapid fire questions shooting through my mind. Answering them in short succession, I'm at the Donnely's, the dog was at the side of the bed, who knows now, and the last question answered itself when my cell phone rang. Who the hell is calling at this time of night? Grabbing it, I slid the talk button.

"Hello?" I said, "Hello?" Nothing. Who would have the Donnely's number and my number both? It was too much to be a coincidence that both numbers would receive prank calls on the same night. "Don't call this number again."

"You can't stop us," the same hushed voice spoke.

Wanting to scream, I controlled myself and hung up, again. Wide awake with a million scenarios playing out in my head, I tried to focus on who could have both numbers – theirs and mine. The answer was simple, no one. Calling for Jasper for some sense of comfort, I was dismayed when the dog never showed up at the bed. In a house this size, he could have wandered anywhere and might not have heard me at all. Right now, I wasn't about to go hunting him down.

Sitting in bed with my phone in my hand, I stared at it. Confused. Listening to the rain falling on the window and roof, I tried to relax. Relaxation wouldn't come quickly now. The phone rang again. Unknown number. Great. I didn't want to go through this all night. Again, sliding the talk button to on, I sat there, this time, I didn't say anything.