The Last Voice Message

Sami Rahman had always believed that technology stored memories.

Not just photos or videos.

But moments.

Voices.

The last words people spoke before something changed forever.

That was exactly why he had taken the job.

Sami worked as a data recovery technician for a telecom company. His job was simple: recover lost data from damaged phones.

Most of the time, the files were ordinary.

Deleted photos.

Forgotten recordings.

Old voice messages.

Sometimes sad.

Sometimes funny.

But never disturbing.

Until the day the phone arrived.

It was placed on his desk in a small evidence bag. The label attached to it read:

Recovered from accident site – Highway 12

Owner: Omar Farooq

Status: Deceased

Sami sighed quietly.

This happened often. Families sometimes wanted to recover the last messages or memories from phones of people who had passed away.

He opened the bag carefully.

The phone screen was cracked badly, but the internal chip seemed intact.

“Let’s see what you were hiding,” Sami murmured.

He connected the device to his recovery computer and began scanning for files.

Lines of code appeared across the screen.

Photos.

Contacts.

Messages.

Nothing unusual.

Then a single file appeared.

Voicemail_003 – Corrupted

The timestamp made Sami pause.

It had been recorded two minutes before the accident.

Curious, Sami clicked on the file.

The speakers crackled softly.

Static filled the room.

For a few seconds, there was nothing.

Then he heard breathing.

Heavy breathing.

Like someone running.

Then Omar’s voice appeared.

“If… if anyone finds this message…”

His voice was shaking.

“Please… don’t come looking for me.”

Sami leaned closer to the speakers.

The sound quality was poor, but the fear in Omar’s voice was clear.

“I shouldn’t have gone into the forest.”

Forest?

Sami frowned.

Highway 12 passed through a long stretch of dense woods outside the city.

Many accidents happened there.

But Omar sounded terrified, not injured.

The recording continued.

“I thought I heard someone calling for help…”

Branches snapped loudly in the background.

Footsteps.

Running.

“But there was no one there.”

Sami felt a strange tension building in his chest.

Omar’s breathing became faster.

“It followed me when I left the forest.”

Silence filled the speakers for a moment.

Then a faint scratching sound appeared.

Like claws dragging slowly across wood.

Sami turned the volume up slightly.

“What the hell is that?” he whispered.

Omar’s voice returned.

“It’s behind me now.”

A long pause followed.

Then something else happened.

Another voice appeared.

But it wasn’t Omar.

It sounded deeper.

Distorted.

Almost like several voices whispering at the same time.

“…turn around…”

Sami’s hand froze over the keyboard.

His skin prickled with goosebumps.

He quickly paused the recording.

The office suddenly felt colder.

Maybe it was just interference.

Corrupted audio files often created strange sounds.

He pressed play again.

The recording resumed.

Omar sounded desperate now.

“I can hear it breathing.”

Heavy footsteps echoed through the recording.

Branches snapping.

Leaves crunching.

Then Omar whispered something barely audible.

“It’s standing behind me.”

Sami held his breath.

The next sound was a scream.

A raw, terrified scream that cut through the speakers.

Then the recording ended.

Sami leaned back slowly.

“That’s… disturbing,” he muttered.

But something didn’t make sense.

He looked at the audio file again.

The total length of the message was three minutes.

But the recording had ended after one minute and twelve seconds.

The progress bar on the player still showed time remaining.

The file continued.

Even though Omar had stopped speaking.

Sami frowned and pressed play again.

Static returned.

Then silence.

But slowly… another sound appeared.

Breathing.

Slow.

Deep.

Right next to the microphone.

Sami’s stomach tightened.

This wasn’t Omar.

The breathing was heavier.

Almost animal-like.

Then the whisper returned.

But clearer.

“…you heard us…”

Sami immediately stopped the recording.

“What the hell…”

He checked the waveform of the audio.

The remaining two minutes of the file had been recorded after Omar died.

That was impossible.

Suddenly the computer speakers crackled again.

The audio file began playing by itself.

Sami’s eyes widened.

He hadn’t touched anything.

The breathing sound filled the room again.

Slow.

Close.

Too close.

Then the whisper spoke once more.

“…now we know where you are…”

The lights above Sami flickered.

The office felt darker.

Colder.

The phone on his desk suddenly vibrated violently.

Sami stared at it in shock.

The screen lit up.

A new notification appeared.

New Voicemail Received

His hands trembled.

That phone had no active SIM card.

It shouldn’t be receiving anything.

Slowly, he picked it up.

The sender name showed only one word.

UNKNOWN

The message length was exactly the same.

3:00 minutes

Sami felt his heart pounding in his chest.

He knew he shouldn’t listen.

But curiosity pushed him forward.

He pressed play.

Static filled the room again.

Then a faint whisper appeared.

“…turn around…”

Sami’s blood ran cold.

He felt something behind him.

Something breathing softly in the dark.

Slow.

Patient.

Waiting.

And then he realized something even worse.

The voicemail wasn’t playing through the speakers anymore.

The sound was coming from behind him.

Right next to his ear.

The whisper spoke again.

“…you listened…”

“…now it’s your turn…”

The recording timer on the phone began counting again.

Recording New Message

Sami tried to move.

But he couldn’t.

The last thing he heard before the phone dropped to the floor was the sound of his own voice screaming.

And somewhere in the darkness…

Something whispered.

“…send the message…”