Midnight Call
The Call
Rain hammered against the windows as the clock on Riya’s desk slowly turned to 1:17 AM.
The entire house was silent.
Riya rubbed her tired eyes and looked at the half-finished assignment on her laptop. She had been studying for hours, but the storm outside kept distracting her. Every flash of lightning lit up her dark room for a second before everything fell back into silence.
Then her phone vibrated.
Unknown Number.
Riya frowned.
“Who calls at this hour?”
She almost ignored it, but something made her pick up.
“Hello?”
For a few seconds, there was only static.
Then a girl’s voice whispered—
“Don’t open the door.”
Riya sat upright.
“What?”
The girl sounded terrified. Her breathing was shaky, as if she had been running.
“Listen to me carefully,” the voice said. “He’s outside your house.”
Riya quickly looked toward the window beside her desk. Rain blurred the empty street outside.
“There’s nobody here,” she replied nervously.
“You can’t see him yet.”
A chill ran through her body.
“Who are you?” Riya asked.
No answer.
Instead, the girl whispered something strange—
“If you want to stay alive… don’t look behind you.”
The room suddenly felt colder.
Riya laughed nervously. “This isn’t funny.”
At that exact moment—
Knock… Knock… Knock…
Someone knocked on the front door downstairs.
Riya froze.
Another knock.
Slower this time.
Knock… Knock… Knock…
Her heart pounded violently.
“Did you hear that?” she whispered into the phone.
But the girl on the call had gone silent.
“Hello?!”
Nothing.
Then suddenly—
The bedroom lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
And went completely dark.
Riya gasped.
Outside, thunder exploded across the sky.
In the darkness, her phone screen was the only source of light.
And on the call screen…
The number had disappeared.
Now it only showed two words:
INSIDE HOUSE.
