The Call

“Why did I answer that call..?” Beverly uttered. She could not see straight let alone think. Haven't seen daylight or lights in general for what feels like weeks. Feeling disgusted and dirty, sitting on what feels like kitty litter.  Mouth covered with duct tape. Hands tied behind her back what feels like straps.. She cannot tell if it is a belt or some kind of other strap. Wiggling her way to try to break free, but nothing seemed to be working. As tears were dripping down her face, she thought she heard banging. Could not make out what the sound was until it got closer. Footsteps. Was it one person or multiple? 

Slowly a door creaked open and the footsteps got closer. “Hello Beverly. I told you we were watching you,” said a deep voice. Beverly was puzzled. Even though she was really tired, she knew she heard that line from somewhere. Thinking back, she tried remembering where she heard that from. She started thinking of when she first entered the new town. 

Putting the key into the keyhole, Beverly took a deep breath into her new life. Opening the door, she looked around her new apartment. It was small, but it was the perfect fit for her. Walking into the kitchen, she grabbed a drink of water. As she was drinking, she noticed an old house phone attached to the wall in the kitchen. Very rarely does anyone see those phones anymore. Everyone uses cell phones now, who would need a house phone? Curious as she was, she checked to see if there was a dial tone or if it was there just for design. Strangely there was a dial tone. 

As she was walking away, the phone rang. Beverly stopped dead in her tracks, puzzled as to why it was now ringing. The landlord told her that this apartment was vacant for almost a year. For some reason, no matter how much the landlord tried, he could not rent out this apartment. He was relieved when Beverly wanted the apartment. Beverly answered the phone, before she got to say, ‘hello?’ a deep voice answered with, “We’re watching you.” 

What does that mean? Is that the landlord just making sure that everything is okay with his new tenant? It can’t be, what landlord does that? Confused, Beverly responded, “Sorry, I think you have the wrong number,” then disconnected the call. 

Unpacking her things took a lot longer than she expected. Trying to get as much done as possible. As it was getting darker, Beverly decided to end the night with a glass of wine and read a book. Next thing she knows she is waking up to a phone ringing.

It was the voice on the phone! Who was this guy though? She cannot recall where she knows the guy. Starting to cry louder more tears floating down her face. The masked man and hermade eye contact. His eyes looked as if he was hungry for something. Hers was pleading eyes to let her go. 

Silence in the air, so quiet you can hear a pin drop. Why wasn’t he saying anything else? What was going to happen next? How long has Beverly been captured? She could hardly think because she had a migraine. Where did this migraine come from? Lack of sleep or did he do something to her? 

Suddenly the guy took his eyes off Beverly got up and walked to the door. Looking as if he was leaving, he grabbed a bat next to the door. Beverly’s eyes went wide, scared that she may die. She had to do what she could to get out of there but how? Quietly trying to see if she can loosen the strap. Hanging the bat over his shoulder, the guy kept pacing back and forth as if he were waiting for something... or someone.

Jumping up from the phone ringing, Beverly slowly woke up realizing that she fell asleep on the couch reading her book. She put the book on the table as the phone was still ringing. By the time she went to answer the phone, the phone was disconnected. Shrugging it off, Beverly got ready for the day. Walking out of the building, she left a message for the landlord letting them know what was going on with the phone. Because Beverly is the type that overthinks everything she just wanted to make sure it was nothing to worry about. 

Beverly could not help but wonder what the voice meant on the phone, ‘We’re watching you’. Being surrounded by people, she starts to think of whose actually keeping an eye on her. A lot of people are looking at her as she is walking down the street, but is it because she is looking at them or are they just watching where they are going. 

Since it’s a new town, she decides to explore the new town, looking for restaurants, parks, and seeing families walking their dogs. The scenery was beautiful to her because she was used to living in a small town now she is in a big city. As she was at the park, was twirling around, enjoying the weather, so much she accidentally bumped into someone. 

Took a while, but the masked man finally left the room. Struggling to break free from the strap, Beverly tried doing what she could to get the tape off. One way she knew how was to lick the duct tape and keep making what feels like kissing faces. She had to get out as fast as she could, but make it look like she was still tied up in case the masked man showed up. Constantly trying to break from the strap, she learned that it was loosing up somehow. She felt a medal part on the strap; it was a belt!! 

Footsteps were approaching again! As the footsteps were getting closer, she was able to break free from the straps, but still kept the tape on. Her arms were behind her back still holding onto the belt as hard as she could. Feeling weak, she is using the rest of her energy to escape.

“You shouldn’t have done what you did, Beverly,” said the masked man coming into the room. He had the bat in one hand and something else in the other. Kneeling in front of Beverly he opens the paper and starts reading, “Just wanted to get more information on my new place. Something may be wrong with the phone. ~Beverly”. The masked man stood and tossed the paper across the room. 

“Now you got the landlord involved… tsk tsk Bevy! Getting more people into more danger. You really should stop doing that. I hear this is not the first time you have done this. You remember what happened with your sister don’t you?” the masked man continued. 

Beverly had to think hard because not everyone knew what happened with her sister. The only ones that knew about her sister were her family and her crazy ex who needed help. That happened five years ago and her ex got sentenced for seven years. There is no way this guy could be her ex, the judge swore he’d never get out. If this was not her ex, who was this guy and how could he know about her past? Will she escape? She’s so close,but feels like so far! Glaring at the masked man, whose pacing back and forth, Beverly thinks to herself, “Maybe he did get out… maybe I won’t get out… all because I answered the call.