User:Ellie Dearest

“-In addition, this thing, creature, whatever it is, has been to every country, state and city in the world. Do not underestimate this, this…abomination! Stay on the lookout and check for an update at-“ The TV was shut off by the man watching it. Carl was sick and tired of everyone talking about the abnormal sightings. I knew this. I sighed, exhausted, but I continued cooking. The thing, no one knew what it was, had been seen everywhere. New sightings every day. But, no one could tell you what it looked like. No one could identify it as man, woman, or animal. Every time the station phone rang, it had a different description. “Can’t you hurry up?” “I’m going as quick as I can, and as far as I’m concerned, you can cook it yourself.” I retorted. He didn’t respond. I dumped to stir fry onto the red and white plate and brought it to him. “Thank you, Nola. And, I’m sorry for my remark…I didn’t think.” He said. I nodded in forgiveness. Carl was seventy-eight, going on seventy-nine. I dropped by ever so often to check on him, since he’d gotten out of the hospital for a stroke. “If that’s all-“ I was cut off by the ring of a phone, “I’ll get it before I go.” I told him. I picked up the teal house phone, “Lo?” I answered. Nothing, “Hello?” I skipped abbreviations. Nothing, then slowly, I heard a bit of static. The white noise made me grit my teeth. I hated the noise. I hung up. I was about to turn when the phone rang again. “Nola, who is that?” Carl shouted. “No one, I’ll get it again!” I shouted back, picking up the phone. “Hello?!” I demanded. “Who is this? It’s Amanda.” An older woman was on the phone. She sounded about fifty. “Oh, Amanda!” I said. Amanda was Carl’s ex-wife, “Carl’s in the living room, did you want to talk to him?” I heard her shuffle around for a moment, “Oh, it’s seven. No, no, leave him to his programs. I’ll call back later.” She said. “Alright, then. I’ll talk to you sometime soon, I hope.” I said. “Okay. Hey!” “Yeah?” I asked. She sounded urgent. “Make sure his sodium isn’t too high…you know, heart failure?” She reminded, her voice now sad. “Yeah, I know,” My voice lowered, “When I made his dinner I made it without salt, he wouldn’t be happy about that.” We laughed. “Alright, sweetie, take good care of him, and take care of yourself, you sound tired, get some rest…and don’t worry about coming over tomorrow, I’m flying in tonight to visit him, I’ll take care of him for a few days.” “Okay.” I said. We hung up. I turned around and began to walk out, grabbing my jacket and purse on the way. I waved at Carl and locked the door on the way out. I sighed and got my jacket on, dreading the walk to the store for food I really shouldn’t be walking anyway, with this thing out, but I was. I pressed the button on the elevator, impatient. I lived next door, but I needed dinner. The gray doors slid opened, and It was empty. It was usual for this time of night, but it seemed weird to me. I stepped inside. The light above me flickered. Everything seemed scarier with this thing out. I walked out of the elevator, out of the apartment complex. It was eerily dark. Maybe I should just go home, hold it out until daylight. My stomach growled in protest. I took a deep breath, I’m a big girl, I thought. I started walking, every street light in town was glaring full-blast. No one wanted to be in the dark. People’s house lights were on. I checked my watch. Seven thirty. Not too late. But late for this town. I’d long forgotten the weird phone call by the time I reached the store. “Nola?” I heard. I swung around to see my best friend, Karla. “Did you walk here?” She asked. I nodded. She shook her head, “Go shop. I’ll drive you home.” She said. “Okay.” I replied. I bought the essentials; Bread, butter, milk, cereal, canned goods and the supplies for a broth stew that would last three days at least, and house supplies. Karla drove me home, like she said she would. “Keep safe, honey…I’d hate if anything happened to you.” She said. I hugged her, “I’m fine.” She nodded furiously. I got out. I rushed back upstairs, walking this time. I finally got inside my apartment, “Cubby?” I asked, “Here, doggy!” I called for him. I heard the tags dangling from his collar. The golden retriever panted and wagged his tail. I got out his bag of dog food and pour some into his food bowl. I hit the answering machine and plopped on the couch. “Hey, Nola. I know you’re probably out, or at Carl’s,” It was my mother, “But I wanted to call you to tell you I love you lots. I’ve got to go, I love you.” It beeped to show that the message was over. Another started. At first it was silent. But I heard static. My heart thumped loudly. I gulped. I rushed to the machine to see a number, but there was none. All it read was, “Wireless caller.” I deleted the message and Cubby came in. I hugged him to comfort me. A few moments later, the phone rang. I was scared. Was it the same person? This must have been some sort of joke, right? I answered, “Lo?” My voice quivered. “Nola, its me, just checking to see you’re home safely.” Carl’s voice echoed through the receiver. I sighed, “I’m fine, Carl. Thanks.” After a few minutes of him talking, we hung up. I went to bed.

The next morning, after showering and eating a bowl of Apple Jacks, I heard the phone ring. I prayed it wasn’t the same person. I answered, “Hey?” “It’s me…” Amanda’s voice was on the phone. But she sounded weird. Like she’d been crying, “Amanda? Is everything okay?” “No...” She said, “It’s Carl…I just…I didn’t mean for this to happen!” She sobbed. “Yeah?” I said, worried now. “He had a heart attack…he’s dead.” She cried. “Oh my God…” I said. After calming her down, she hung up. I didn’t know what to do. Did this have anything to do with that creepy call? “Cubby?” I called, realizing I hadn’t seen him at all. He barked. I sighed. I still had him. I called Karla to check on her, and my mom. They were all fine. Just a coincidence. Then the phone rang. I was too sad to answer it. I let it go to voice mail. Static. “Fuck!” I cursed, I picked up, “Whoever this Is, you need to stop calling me, leave me alone or say something!” I shouted. “You’re going to die tonight.” A voice I didn’t recognize. Cubby growled. I hung up. I ate broth for dinner and crawled into bed, the phone call behind me. Probably just a prank. I closed my eyes and…BANG, BANG, BANG!!! I couldn’t breathe I was so scared. But nothing was there. Cubby was still sound asleep, “Cubs?” I called so that he’d wake up. He raised his head, alert. I looked out the window to the fire escape. Nothing. I saw a flash of white out of the corner of my eye. I turned. Nothing. I was scared. I looked down my hall, and as I turned, I heard something. Was that…static? Cubby seemed to hear it, too. He growled and barked once, but he seemed to see something. He whimpered and lowered his head, backing up. “What’s wrong, boy?” I asked. He just backed up further, leaving me to go down the hall alone. The static got louder with each step. I opened the bathroom door, ready to fight. Yet again, nothing. I stepped all the way in, opened and closed the shower curtain. I looked in the mirror. I got ready to turn as two cold, black eyes replaced my own. I blinked and saw they returned. And the static came back. I turned to the door, to meet a pale figure, grabbing me by my neck. The static sound came from his chest. His face was scratched, clawed at. “I told you, you’re dead tonight.” And that was the last thing I heard.