Phonecall
The phone rang, vibrating in it's holster and emitting a tune of beeps. The sound of footsteps could be heard approaching. Elmer opened the door to the room, picking up the noisy handset whilst grumbling to himself.
'Hello?' He spoke into the phone, and waited for a reply. Nothing came. 'Hello?' He repeated himself, before hanging up, and replacing the phone in it's holster.
'Lousy kids. Why can't they do something productive?' Elmer thought to himself, angry at the caller. He was in a bad mood; earlier that week he was due to meet Winnie in Brewsters, but she hadn't shown up. He'd waited there for hours, hoping she was only late…
'I haven't heard from her since,' Elmer said to himself in a worried tone of voice. Winnie was such a good friend… He was about to leave the room, and return to his business upstairs, when suddenly the phone burst into another fit of rings.
'Oh what now?!' Elmer groaned, picking up the phone, and shouting into it.
But this time Elmer's words were returned. A calm voice called across the wire.
'Twelve in the morning, three rings. Pick up the phone.' The voice hung up.
'Idiots.' Elmer put down the phone, and trudged upstairs.
******
Elmer lay awake in his bed, his eyes staring at the ceiling. He thought about the phonecall he had received earlier. Suppose it was someone who knew about Winnie? He couldn't sleep, and was beginning to get scared. The clock struck twelve.
The phone next to Elmer's bed began to ring. Once. Twice. Three times. Elmer sat up and grabbed the phone.
'What do you want?' He wailed into the phone. This was driving him crazy.
The same calm voice that Elmer had heard earlier spoke.
'Quiet Elmer. In twenty four hours time, come to the abandoned house.'
'H-how do you know my name? Why must I go there?' Elmer asked, but the voice had already gone.
******
The next day Elmer was determined to find out more about the mysterious phone calls. There must be a reason why he was called. Elmer was convinced that the reason was Winnie.
He knew where the abandoned house was. It was the only one in the village that was falling to bits. But before visiting it he would go to Brewsters. Brewster was a good friend of Elmer's, and Elmer was sure that he would know what to do.
Elmer entered the café, and sat down on a stool in front of the counter. He greeted Brewster, and ordered a cup of coffee.
'What can I do for you Elmer?' Brewster asked as he prepared the coffee.
'I've been receiving strange phone calls. I think they may be related to Winnie's disappearance.'
'No sign of her then?' Brewster asked solemnly as he set down the cup of steaming goodness.
'No sign of her.' Elmer sipped the drink, instantly feeling the warmth throughout his body. He smiled. 'Great as usual Brewster!'
'Thanks Elmer, it's a new recipe.' Brewster began to clean a glass.
'I was asked to go to the abandoned house.'
Brewster recoiled in shock, dropping both glass and cloth on the floor. The glass smashed, shards flying across the room.
'You mustn't go there. It will only mean trouble…'
'But what if Winnie is there?' Elmer was pleading. He had expected Brewster to come with him, but that was obviously not going to happen now. He was on his own.
Elmer got up, thanking Brewster for the coffee, and apologising for the broken glass. His mind was set. He would go to the abandoned house.
******
The clock struck twelve, and Elmer opened the rusty door of the abandoned house. The hinges creaked and groaned; the door had obviously not been opened for a long time.
The house had been abandoned for as long as Elmer had lived in town. Elmer had never know the reason why it had been abandoned, only that it had been abandoned, and would most likely stay that way.
The house was three stories high, each level being linked by a rickety staircase. The windows were smashed, and the brickwork bruised beyond repair.
Elmer tiptoed inside, and almost immediately the phone that was placed on a battered old dresser opposite the door, began to ring. Elmer picked it up cautiously, and spoke into it. 'He-hello?'
There was no sound. Elmer put the phone down, and it began to ring again. On the third ring Elmer picked up the phone. 'Hello?'
'Go upstairs,' said the familiar voice.
Elmer put the phone down, and began to climb the stairs…
He emerged in a small room, no bigger than Brewsters café, illuminated by a thin shaft of moonlight. The wallpaper on the wall was peeling off, and something was leaking through the ceiling. Elmer examined the furniture, or what was left of it. Something wasn't right. There was a familiar smell about the room…
Suddenly, noises came from upstairs, and footsteps pattered across the ceiling above Elmer. He cowered against the wall, paralysed by fear. But he had to keep going. If Winnie was in this house, he had to find her.
The footsteps stopped and Elmer, still shaking, begun to climb the stairs.
The sight he saw when he reached the top of the steps both shocked and amazed him. 'W-Winnie?'
His friend was standing directly in front of an open window, the only unbroken window in the house, moonlighht shining on her pale face. She turned round, and looked into Elmer's eyes.
'Who are you?' She muttered.
'Winnie, you must be able to remember me. I'm your friend, Elmer! Remember?' Elmer assured himself that she'd be okay, he knew she would! He approached her with an outstretched hand.
'Get away from me!' Winnie screamed. She took a step backwards, then another, edging closer to the window.
'Winnie, you've got to come with me! We can get out of here!'
'No! I'm staying up here. He can't get me up here!' Winnie took another step backwards. A mobile phone fell out of pocket. It clattered onto the rotting wooden floor and began to ring.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
On the third ring Elmer trod on the phone, smashing it through the floor. The ringing stopped.
Elmer looked up, to see the distraught face of Winnie looking at him. She was sobbing.
'He's going to come up here. He's going to come for me!' She screamed, and hurled herself through the window, breaking the glass and sending herself hurtling downwards.
'Winnie!' Elmer yelled, and without thinking, ran down the stairs. He had to help Winnie!
******
Elmer reached the bottom floor, and rushed to the entrance. He groped in the darkness for the door handle. He found it, and twisted it. The door wouldn't budge. He was locked in.
The phone began to ring. Elmer smashed it with a clenched fist, yet it kept ringing. He smashed it again and again, until it stopped. For moments there was silence. Then the phone began to ring again. But it wasn't the same phone.
Elmer screamed, and looked at the remnants of Winnie's mobile phone, lying smashed on the floor. He picked them up and hear the calm voice in his ear.
'Don't put the phone down.'
'You killed her! She's dead because of you!' Elmer yelled through tears of rage.
'I killed her. And I'm killing you.'
'What? What do you mean?' Elmer sobbed. The reality was creeping over Elmer like a pack of ants. Deadly ants.
'Elmer. You're going to die.'
Ringing buzzed around Elmer's head like moths round a candle. He slowly put down the phone, and turned round. The ringing intensified. Shrill beeps cut through the air. One, two, three. Elmer blacked out.
******
The following morning, Winnie's body was found. She had broken her neck in the fall, and hadn't been able to get help. She was taken into intensive care, but died three days later.
Police broke into the abandoned house, and found Elmer harbouring various head wounds, and practically insane. He was taken to a psychiatric hospital, gradually regaining his sanity. But when he heard about Winnie's death he took his own life.
Brewster blamed himself for the incident, and shortly afterwards he shut up shop and left town. No one has heard from him since.
The causes of the incident were blamed on insanity. But what caused that insanity?
Is your phone ringing now? One, two, three… Go on, pick it up. Pick it up and speak. It won't hurt you. Do you dare answer the phonecall?