Three Missed Calls

The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but a candle burned in the window on the cold night of September 21st, 2004, a woman named Edith Harper would cross paths with this cabin on her way home from work. Usually, Edith would take her regular route, taking a dirt road to the next corner and then crossing over to 50th Street to catch the 10 O'Clock bus, the last bus to run that night.

However, the night met Edith with unfortunate events. Yellow caution tape closed off 23rd Street, and she continued walking only to get told to turn around by a cop on the scene.

Frustrated, Edith slowly started to walk away, only to stop again and watch as paramedics carried a bloody body bag out to the ambulance. Not wanting to watch any longer, she continues toward the end of the road. Edith looks around and comes across a detour, a small trail that cuts right through trees to 50th Street. Sighing, Edith checked her watch; it was 9:29 p.m. realizing she only had 30 minutes before the bus arrived.

Walking towards the dimly lit trail, Edith stopped dead in her tracks and watched in horror. A man about 6"0 stood in the upstairs window of a rundown cabin, covered in blood from head to toe. He stood there, just staring at her. The man started to faze through the matter of wall and float in Edith's direction, coming more into the light, she could see his ghostly features. He had a pale face, dark eyes, and wild hair with a deranged look plastered on his face.

Without a second thought, Edith ran further down the trail; looking behind her, she realized the man had disappeared, so she decided to walk faster. Rechecking her watch, it was now 9:36 p.m. She was halfway through the trail when Edith could hear a phone ringing at the end of the path—stopping and looking ahead to see where she could locate the noise in the passage. Not finding a source, she waited for the ringing to stop before continuing down the narrow path. After regretting her choice of taking the detour, she finally made it to the other side of the trail.

She crosses over to 50th Street and waits at the bus stop. After waiting and calming down from the altercation from earlier, it had already been 15 minutes. Edith sighs happily, knowing she only had nine more minutes before the bus arrived. Looking to her right, Edith could see the end of 23rd Street; with police now gone, the road stood empty with only caution tape left behind. Looking away, she thinks about how bizarre her night has been, from the dead body, the creepy cabin, and the bloody man, to the ringing.

Before she could collect her thoughts, Edith heard it again; the ringing was coming from right beside her. Her eyes shoot down to the ground to see a black phone only 3 feet from her. The ringing was only getting louder and louder, to the point of deafening Edith's ears. Edith covered her ears and tried to break the phone with her foot. With success, the phone stopped ringing, but in the midst of it all, Edith failed to hear the sound of pitter-patter quickly heading her way. She whines when feeling a sharp object rip through her flesh. Quickly turning around, and screams, only to see a bloody knife on the ground and no attacker. Edith started crying, backing up into a street light; she rechecked her watch. It was now 9:59 p.m. looking to her left; she could see the bus come into view as it approached the bus stop. Quickly glancing to her right, she could see the man from before gliding towards her with only his upper torso and the bottom half of his body gone.

Hyperventilating and panicking, Edith ran towards the bus and jumped on, paying her bus fee and taking a seat. Upon sitting, the bus took off; looking out the window, she could still see the man watching her every move until he disappeared behind a building. Still in shock, her lips quivered, and her eyes dilated. She tried to calm her breath as look down at her now bleeding side, wincing at the pain as she applied pressure to the wound. Trying to relax in the seat, she looks out the window to see the man, now skinless, staring back at her in the reflection of the glass, only hearing the words.

"ANSWER ME! ANSWER ME! ANSWER ME!"

Edith screamed, jumping, falling out of her seat, and crawling into the seat across the aisle. Her cries died down when, for the 3rd time the night, she heard the phone ringing. Time again, it was coming from the driver of the bus. Slowly peeping from behind the seat, Edith watched with caution as the phone ringed; the driver did not react and continued driving. The bus stopped when the phone stopped ringing; looking out the window, she realized this was not her stop. Edith looks and walks carefully toward the bus driver and asks why he stopped—getting only the response that made her blood run cold.

"Why didn't you answer?"

"WHY DIDN'T YOU SAVE ME, EDITH!?"

"Don't you REMEMBER!?"

The driver's head turned around on its shoulder, and his body turned into a shadow hovering over her. Edith soon realized what was happening; all the events leading up to now were too familiar, and she was reliving every event from that day. Today was the day Edith's brother Ash was kidnapped and murdered and left to die in an abandoned cabin just outside of town. He tried to call her for help but only got the voicemail.

I was too busy to pick up my brother's call, and now he's dead. I blamed myself every day, and I couldn't live with that, so I decided to follow his demise to ease my pain. Now I'm in purgatory and will never go home. Ash makes sure that I will never rest, that I never get the satisfaction of it. I made my choice, and now I must pay the price.

Watching as the shadow figure approached her, accepting her fate, she closed her eyes and softly cried. With one quick motion, the shadow drugged her down into the pits of hell. Where she will forever live her sentence, and all that remained behind was.

THREE MISSED CALLS