3 a.m. -part 1

“Gem, I really need to get some sleep so stop bug'n, ok!? its almost 3 am! We’ve got to get off of the phone!" says Josh in a whimpering whiny voice. "Ok, ok but first let me tell you about this cool story that my friend Becky told me the other day". Gem was way too amped from the Red-Bulls she'd drank around 1 am, so that she could stay up to study for her midterms and talk to her boyfriend all night long. "Ok Gem, but this is THE last story and I’m getting off, ok baby? I am really tired and have a biology test in the morning...or should I say, in 4 hours". "So, shut up so that I can tell you! it’s pretty scary. Are you sure you wanna hear it now before you go to sleep? I mean, it being your birthday and everything, I need to give you some kind of gift until later, right?" Gem asks in an innocent voice. "Yeah, ok, happy birthday to me, now tell the story before I hang up on you!", now a little annoyed and delirious form the lack of sleep that is typically associated with being a med student. "Ok, here it goes: There was a guy and girl talking on the phone...just like us and it was near 3 am, just like it is now. Right when the clock turned 3 am, another voice came on the phone. Kinda like a 3 way call but uninvited, get it?" now even more crazed with sleep deprivation, Josh says "YES I get it! Move this story along will ya!" "Ok, so, the other voice started asking the girl where she lived, how old she was, what color her hair was and if she was alone, sort of flirting with her. The boyfriend started to get mad and cussing the guy out; telling him that he was going to kill him if he didn’t get off their phone call. Then the voice said, "not if I kill you and your girlfriend first!” The guys says dude that so not funny! Who are you!? Don’t let me catch you in the street, or its game over for you!” The voice on the phone says “be my guest. Too bad that you won’t make it to your girlfriends house in time to save her. Then the phone when dead. The guy is calling out to his girlfriend over the phone but she’s not answering him. So he panics, grabs his cell phone and keys and speeds off to her house. He knocks on the door just to find that the door is unlocked and the electricity cut. He walks in the house and goes through each part of it. He goes upstairs, into her parent’s room and sees both of their throats have been cut. The guy is so scared that he starts to pee on himself.”

Josh interjects, “ugh that’s gross. I don’t wanna hear anymore.” “Why? Are you scared birthday boy?” Gems say, taunting her boyfriend. “You both should be afraid…VERY AFRAID.” An unknown voice commands. “Gem, that’s not funny! I’m hanging up now.” Josh nervously says, “Who…who is this?" Gems heart begins to beat in her throat, making it hard for her to swallow. “You don’t know who I am…Gem? You’ve been talking about me for the last 5 minutes. “Josh! You are so not funny! Stop playing, you're really starting to scare me!” Gem looked at the clock on her bed side table and noticed that it was exactly 3 am.

“It’s not me, I swear! Gem, just hang up. This dude is just trying to creep us out.”

“No, this dude is just trying to cut your insides OUT!” the killer says on the 3 way line.

“Gem, hang up now…”

“If you do, I will kill Gem. Is that what you want Josh? For your girlfriend’s guts to be laid out all over her expensive bed spread? Just let me know and I will make that happen for you.” “Dude, what do you want from us? We haven’t done anything to you!” Growing more annoyed and louder with each passing minute, Josh continues, “We’re med students so we don’t have much money! So what is it that you could possibly want from us?! Why are you playing this sick joke?!” The killer says in a calm and collective voice, “This is no joke and to answer your question, because you were up. Do you really think this was planned? I dial into a random phone number at 3 am and you are the lucky winners. You are the ones chosen to die tonight. The question is, which of you I will kill first, hmm?” the demented intruder seemed to be playing a sadistic game. Suddenly the lights go out in Josh’s apartment. Gem lets out a bloodcurdling scream. “Gem…Gem, are you alright?!” Josh asked with alarm in his voice. There was no answer. He could hear footsteps coming down the hallway. With his heart beating louder than his voice, Josh starts whispering to keep the intruder from hearing him, “Gem please answer me”. There was a dead silence that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Josh was paralyzed with fear. His mind was racing at one hundred miles an hour, trying to figure out what happened to Gem, who was in his apartment and how he would make it out of this nightmare alive. The only thing that he had near him to fight with was an old scalpel that his father gave to him before he passed away. Josh kept it on his nightstand for good luck while studied for his med exams. With his hands trembling he picks it up, hoping that it will at least slow the predator down long enough for him to get away. As Josh heard the killer creeping forward, slowly making his way to the bedroom, he could hear the heavy breathing of his stoker over the phone and the echo of his unearthly voice speaking in a cold menacing tone, “Josh, I’m coming for you. There’s nowhere to hide.” Feeling like a prisoner walking to his execution, Josh begins to panic. “Don’t pass out. You're dead if you pass out”, he thinks to himself. He finally moves slowly into the closet, holding the phone up to his ear anxiously wanting to hear his sweet girlfriend’s voice just one last time. Josh takes deep cleansing breaths to steady himself while holding the surgical blade tightly in his sweaty palm.