Unknown Caller

The smoke carried off into the wind as my cigarette burned between my fingers. I placed it in between my soft, pink lips to take my last puff. I tossed the cigarette into the ashtray right as I felt my phone begin to vibrate from my back pocket. I pulled the phone out to reveal my screen was lit up with the words Unknown Caller.

"Hello," I answered. Not a word was said in response. All I could hear was the sound of white noise.

"Okay, whatever," I sighed before hanging up and placing the phone back into my pocket.

I stepped back into the doggie daycare I worked at and proceeded to the main play area. I was greeted for the second time today by all the lovely creatures I was to take care of with saliva and lots of wagging tails. I smiled at the friendly dogs.

"Hey, Mariah! Can you give Lily a bath? She got a bit gross playing outside," my coworker, Krista asked me politely.

"Yeah, no problem," I replied before calling for her, "Lily-girl! Come here, baby!"

Lily's little paws patted her way over to me with excitement. She was a little Yorkshire Terrier. I picked her up and noticed the saliva and dirt all over her from playing with the bigger dogs. I chuckled as I walked to the sinks that we bathed our dogs at with Lily relaxed in my arms.

"At least you're one of the easier ones to bathe," I said to Lily as I placed her into the oversized sink and turned the water on. I made sure the temperature was just right before spraying her coat down. She just stared at me with those dark, wide eyes that felt like they were pleading me to stop and let her go without the bath.

"I know, it sucks, but we gotta get you clean," I said in a soothing voice.

I lathered up her black and brown coat with soap and began to rinse. Her stare was still fixated on me. I turned the water off once all the water was dripping clear off of her and grabbed a towel. I wrapped the towel around her body and began ruffling her fur in an attempt to get rid of the excess water. I think that was her favorite part.

I picked Lily up and placed her on the table next to the sinks. I grabbed a little brush and the hairdryer. I turned the hairdryer on and began brushing through her coat while swaying the dryer back and forth around where I was brushing.

She was just about dry when Krista bolted in with Duke. Duke was a French Bordeaux. More commonly known as a French Mastiff.

"Mariah, can you please bathe him too, I gotta go. Peyton is with the other dogs," Krista said, basically shoving the task onto me.

"Whoa, yeah that's fine, but can you at least take Lily back out there?" I asked as she shoved Duke's bath leash into my hands.

"Yeah, I can do that," she replied while picking up Lily and running off into the main playroom.

I let out a sigh and looked at Duke who was just pattering around the room. Duke was a pain in the ass to bathe. I grabbed him anyways and hooked the leash to his plain, black collar before pulling him towards the sinks. I hooked the other end of the leash to the bar on the wall in order to keep him inside his bath otherwise he would escape and make a mess even bigger than what he already makes with the leash attached.

I began the process of the bath. The water was turned on and I made sure the temperature wasn't too hot or too cold before soaking Duke's light brown coat. He stomped his giant paws and splashed some of the water on me.

"Duke!" I grumbled before letting out a slight chuckle.

I began to lather up his coat with soap and before I could get very far he was already smearing soap suds onto my shoulder. I grunted with a slight aggravation and continued to lather him up. I could feel my phone vibrating in my back pocket again. I ignored it.

I started spraying off big ole' Duke. The more I sprayed him the more he got me with the water. Finally, I rinsed the last of the suds off and turned off the water. I grabbed the hairdryer and a towel before tossing the towel over the big baby. I ruffled him up with the towel as much as possible and then began to blow dry him. He just kept trying to bite the air. It was kind of cute honestly.

Once I dried him off I unhooked his leash from the collar and took him back into the main playroom with the other dogs. I shuffled my way over to the chair that sat right next to Peyton.

"I'm over bathing dogs today. Duke was enough," I joked. Peyton just laughed and went back to her phone where she sat scrolling through her social media accounts.

I pulled my phone out of my back pocket to find I had a voicemail. The caller ID once again read, Unknown Caller.

I placed the phone to my ear and listened to the voicemail. It was the same as it was when I answered the phone earlier. Not a sound to be heard other than some white noise. I clicked off my voicemail shrugged it off.

"What was that?" Peyton asked me with a look of confusion. I looked up at her with a little surprise that she was even paying attention.

"I, uh, don't really know. This blocked number keeps calling me, but when I answer the phone nobody says anything. It's basically just a bunch of static," I explained.

"That's weird. Maybe it's just a scam caller trying to get your information," she replied.

"Maybe," I shrugged.

Owners started picking up their dogs as the day was coming to an end. The last dog was walking out the door when my phone started to ring again. I slid it out of my back pocket and read the name. Once again, it was the unknown caller that had been calling me all day.

I clicked the answer button and placed the phone to my ear without saying a word. All I could hear was white noise again.

"Look, I don't know who or what you are, but take me off your call list. I'm tired of these phone calls. This is ridiculous!" I spat before hanging up.

I placed the phone back into my pocket with an angry force. My face started to get hot. The repetitive calls were aggravating.

I helped lock up the daycare before leaving for the day. I grabbed my keys and shuffled out to my car. I opened the driver-side door of my 2012 Chevy Malibu and climbed inside. I started the engine and drove home while listening to the radio. It was 6:07 pm, so the sun was still out as it was the middle of the summer.

I pulled into my driveway and parked my car. I pulled the key out of the ignition and peered out the window at my small white house that sat in the middle of town. I had a couple of flowers around the front side of the house that made the house look pretty.

I climbed out of my car and started walking to my door. I shuffled my keys until I grabbed my house key and unlocked my door. I walked inside and went straight to my bedroom where I took my scrubs off to slip into some more comfortable clothes. I found a pink tank top and some cute, light gray biker shorts that I put on.

I heard my phone ding from my nightstand where I placed my phone out of habit while changing. I pick it up to find an unread text message. I unlock my phone and open the message;

Unknown Caller:

You're very pretty.

"What the fuck," I said to myself. That was creepy as hell.

I started typing a response.

Mariah:

Who are you? You're not saved in my phone, and it won't show me a phone number.

I anxiously waited for a response, but one never came. I left it alone for the moment and went to my living room to watch television. I plopped down on my soft, black couch and grabbed the remote from the coffee table.

I turned the tv on and flipped to the sci-fi channel. I watched the show that was on until I eventually drifted off into sleep.

I didn't know how long I was asleep, but something started to feel off. My body felt the need to pull myself back into the real world. I slowly opened my eyes with a nagging fear that wouldn't go away. I was no longer on my couch, but in a wooden chair and tied up. Even my mouth was wrapped in duct tape so I couldn't scream.

I frantically looked around for my captor but found nothing except a dark, empty room. I didn't understand how I got there. I should have woke up during the process of someone taking me, right? I must be dreaming.

Those thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a door creaking open. I turned to look as a tall, shadowy figure of a man slowly crept through.

"Ah, you're awake finally," the figure spoke in a low tone.

I looked at him with fear in my eyes curious as to what he planned to do next. He kept inching closer to me.

"Mariah, isn't it? I couldn't help myself. You're so pretty that I felt I needed to add you to my collection, my dear. It's really nothing personal," he started explaining himself.

This sick man wanted me for his collection? He's crazy! He was right next to me by now and started stroking my face. I kept trying to pull away, but I had nowhere to go.

"You'll be my best piece yet. Don't worry, I won't hurt you. You won't feel a thing once I'm finished," the man tried to reassure me of his twisted ways. I tried to scream through the duct tape, but it was so tight around my mouth I couldn't get a tiny bit of sound to escape.

I could barely see what he was doing. I tried to break loose, but he had me locked in so tight I couldn't do anything. I noticed he reached into his pocket and pulled something out. I couldn't make out what it was. I suddenly felt a poke in my arm. It didn't take long at all and I could feel my body shutting down. My vision kept going in and out before it finally faded to black.

I was never seen again.