Scary Stories 1

The Fax Machine

One night, after hearing that a relative had experienced something really terrible, I started praying for victims of domestic violence and sexual assaults. It was around midnight and I'd spent the past couple hours thinking about what I'd do if something like that happened to me. I shared a room with two of my sisters and both were soundly asleep. My parents had gone to bed an hour before after turning off the computer and the fax machine they kept in the dining room down the hall.

As I was lying there praying, I suddenly heard the fax machine turn on with its familiar beep and shuffling. Right after I thought "..and please keep all women safe tonight," a disembodied voice from the dining room said, "We're sorry, the call you are trying to make cannot be completed."

Dead, heavy silence. It was the same voice you hear when the number you've dialed has been changed or disconnected. Nothing else was said.

It took me hours to get to sleep. It was almost dawn before I stopped waiting for the voice to speak again.