It was 11:00 p.m. Mark was sitting alone on the living room sofa as a torrential rain poured down outside the window, accompanied by the rumble of thunder.
Suddenly, the landline phone on the coffee table rang.
Mark frowned. This old-fashioned landline had been left behind by the landlord when he moved into this old house; the lines had long since been cut, and it didn’t even make a dial tone, let alone ring.
“Ring-ring—ring-ring—”
The ringing sounded particularly jarring in the empty living room. Mark hesitated for a moment, but picked up the receiver anyway.
“Hello?”
There was no response on the other end, only a crackling static, as if someone were breathing from a great distance.
“Who is it?” Mark asked.
“…Where… are… you…” came a hoarse, distorted voice, as if it were bubbles rising from the bottom of a body of water.
Mark’s heart sank, and he immediately hung up.
He stared at the landline, his heart racing. Maybe it was a short circuit? he reassured himself.
But ten seconds later, the phone rang again.
This time, he didn’t answer.
“Ring-ring—ring-ring—”
The ringing continued, as if someone were frantically dialing.
Mark stood up and unplugged the phone cord from the wall.
The phone finally fell silent.
He let out a sigh of relief and turned to head back to his bedroom.
Just then—
“Ring-ring—”
The phone rang again.
He spun around abruptly, staring at the landline that wasn’t connected to any wires.
The ringing came one note after another, like a death knell.
Without another moment’s hesitation, he picked up the receiver.
“Who the hell are you?!” he shouted.
There was a few seconds of silence on the other end, then a voice came through, clear enough to send chills down his spine:
“I am you.”
Mark froze.
“What… do you mean?”
“You shouldn’t have answered this call,” the voice said. “Now, you can’t get out.”
No sooner had the words left its mouth than the living room lights suddenly went out.
Mark tried to run, but found his feet as if nailed to the floor—he couldn’t move a single step.
He looked down and saw his shadow slowly crawling up from the floor, reaching out toward him.
The phone was still ringing.
But this time, the ringing was coming from right next to his ear.
He looked down and saw that he was still holding the receiver.
And on the other end of the line, he heard his own voice:
“Hello?”
