𝐌𝐘 𝐋𝐄𝐆𝐒 𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐁𝐑𝐔𝐒𝐇𝐄𝐃 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐌 𝐀𝐈𝐑.

It was calm, evenings usually were as Casey picked me up in her silver convertible, waving her hand for me to come over from my front door.

"Bye Ma! I'll be back tomorrow!"

My mother called something back in return, her thick New York accent obvious, even over the loud music my sister was playing upstairs.

"Get in, Ivy! God, your ass takes forever!"

I laughed, clapping my hands in front of me excitedly before jumping over the side of the car, "shut up, bitch. Drive!"

𓆈

"𝐈𝐕𝐘, 𝐂𝐀𝐍 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐀𝐍𝐒𝐖𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐇𝐎𝐍𝐄, 𝐎𝐑 𝐈𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐓𝐎𝐎 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐒𝐓𝐔𝐏𝐈𝐃 𝐀𝐒𝐒?"

Casey turned to me teasingly with her tongue sticking out, I threw the popcorn packet at her and she just caught it, not before it hit her in the face, causing us both to laugh before I turned to answer the phone.

My hand grazed the receiver and I felt uneasy for a second until I turned to see Casey stood behind me making a 'scary' face, pulling her eyes down and pulling her lip up.

"Oh yeah, really hot"

I wacked her shoulder accidentally as I turned around- not hard, wincing the moment I realised, "shit! I'm sorry!"

She laughed, pulling my hand down and kissing my cheek before looking me dead in the eyes, "it's fine, now answer the phone. That ringing's driving my pretty ass insane!"

I laughed, turning and answering, "hello?"

A raspy, deep voice resonated on the other line, and for some reason my body felt stiff, like someone was running an ice cold finger down my spine.

"Hello."

"Uh... Yeah?"

"Who is this?" the man asked at the same time Casey dropped water down her front, causing it to splash over the floor and make it slippery, resulting in her losing her balance momentarily before she caught onto the counter.

"Who're you trying to reach?" I asked through a laugh, picking at the chipped black nail polish on my fingernails.

"What number is this?" the person asked again.

"Well, what number are you trying to reach?".

"What are you doing?" he asked again, sounding slightly more impatient than before.

I could of sworn I saw something move outside in that moment, with the way the bushes swayed freely against the quickly cooling air, leaving a thin fog floating outside.

"Moi? Makin' popcorn, I'm about to watch a film with my friend. You?"

"I'm just sitting here, bored. Y'know how life is."

I nodded, walking over to the counter and leaning against it- I slapped the counter roughly as my arms made contact, which left a stinging sensation underneath my skin, allowing prickles of red to emerge under the peach surface.

"What are those noises?"

I laughed lightly, tracing my finger over the wooden knife block that was placed beside me, "the popcorn"

He made a noise of realisation on the other end, and I could almost here the smile as he said "so, d'you have a boyfriend?"

I smiled lightly, scoffing as I looked out toward the pool, flicking the light on and off bored-ly, "no. Why, d'ya wanna ask me out on a date?"

He laughed lightly, almost sucking in breath as I heard him shift, "oh, I'd love to sweetheart. But right now, I gotta go."

"Alright, bye!"

The call ended with a solid beep, and I placed the receiver back down on the counter once I re-entered the kitchen, only for it to ring again.

"Dibs not," I quipped quickly, picking at a banana I had previously been eating and placing a slice in my mouth.

Casey groaned, rolling her eyes as she picked up the receiver and began to wander like she always does when she's on the phone.

I moseyed around for a while, sitting myself on the kitchen counter and watching the popcorn.

I slipped somehow, maybe on some water on the counter, maybe out of pure coincidence, but I slipped, pulling myself off of the counter and smacking my head in the process.

I felt slightly dizzy, pushing my hand to my forehead and wincing, feeling the thick red blood drip through my fingers.

The popcorn grew past its size, bursting- steaming fire blew through the hole and caught me off-guard. I grabbed the handle without thinking, burning my skin lightly and causing me to drop it back onto the stove.

I groaned as I removed my t-shirt, thinking back to the advice we were told in tenth grade during 'accident survival' training- apply pressure.

I was left in my bra, plain black with lace trimming, not noticing the blood dripping down my front until I looked to where my glasses had fell to the floor before picking them up and putting them in my pocket.

Casey ran back in, looking startled as she held the phone between us, "what the fuck happened to you?!"

I groaned, pressing my t-shirt harder and rolling my eyes, "my stupid bad luck. What's up wi'you?

"I think I'm about to die!"

I looked at her with surprise, scoffing and turning to walk away, only for her to grab my arm and pull me back toward her.

"Seriously! There's someone on the phone! See for yourself!"

I looked at her sceptically as I removed the phone from her hand and pressed it to my ear, "hello?"

"Hello, Ivy," came the same voice from earlier, this time deeper and more aggressive, "your friend Casey isn't lying, Sweetheart. She's about to die. But don't worry, I won't hurt you."

I scoffed, pulling my t-shirt from my head and refolding it to a non-bloody side before pressing it back on the cut, "listen asshole-"

"That was quiet the fall you took"

That stunned me, as I looked around for anyone near me- nobody.

"How'd you know I fell?" I asked, looking Casey in her panicked brown eyes, trying to keep my blue ones as calm as possible- I was scared, really.

"I'm watching you, Sweetheart. I'm always watching you".

I scoffed, walking over to the counter and placing my t-shirt on the table, "hold on pal, let me put my t-shirt back on".

I was panicking, I knew that. I could see my hands shaking lightly as I pulled the blood soaked tank back over my head, placing my glasses back on my face- now was one of the times I wish I had brought my contacts.

I picked a knife up and gave it to Casey, then I grabbed her arms and looked her dead in the eye- "you need to leave, Casey," I started, shaking her lightly, "they're trying to get you alone in the house. You need to go to you neighbour's place and get help. Go!"

She nodded harshly before running to the door- she took the phone with her.

I was all alone in the kitchen, until I heard her running back toward me, crying loudly as she held the knife in her hands.

"I can't do it, I can't leave you"

I nodded, holding my friend's hand and taking the phone from her with shaky, bloody fingers, "what do you want?"

The man laughed menacingly, breathy and deep as it rung through my ear, "go look on the porch, Sweetheart".

I swallowed thickly, grabbing a knife from the block and walking ahead of Casey, phone in my left, weapon in my right.

A tear left my eye as I pressed the receiver back to my ear, "w-what now?"

He cooed, and I could practically hear the small smile as he said "don't worry Sweetheart, I wouldn't hurt you. I love you."

"Why do you love me?"

He sighed, "I don't know, Sweetheart, because you're everything I'm not".

"Ok... Well then, why can't you leave us alone if you love me?"

"Because, Sweetheart, your friend has to die. Now, you need to go upstairs, and hide under the bed, ok?"

Casey looked to me, she must have been able to hear the conversation through the speaker because she looked to the direction of the stairs, eyes flickering between me and the wooden blocks quickly.

"Go now, Sweetheart. I'll talk to you in a moment, there's a phone in Casey's bedroom, isn't there?".

Casey nodded, "give me the phone and go."

"I don't want to leave you, Cas. They're already in the house."

"Just go, if you don't then neither of us'll survive!" She pushed my hair from my face and quickly kissed my forehead. "Go, Vee, you have to go."

I handed her the bloody phone, hugging her and running upstairs- it was stupid, I know, but I had a strange sense that the person, whoever it was, wouldn't hurt me. Maybe it was my naive side showing, but in this moment, I did just as I was told.

I slid past the door, locking it in place and pushing Casey's dresser in front of it.

I ran toward the phone, looking at the keypad as numbers swam through my head.

The police wouldn't get here in time.

The only one I could remember was Stu's, because I had rang it so many times and I had received calls from it so many times that now, the numbers were engraved into my brain.

I slid my fingers over the keypad, typing in each number.

I finally dialled and felt my hands shake, listening to the rings drill through my mind- no answer.

I let out a light wail as I heard Casey scream, running to the window and pressing my hands to it, just in time to see a black figure plunging a knife deep into her chest before they fell from my view.

I cried, placing my hand over my mouth to muffle the sound as I saw her parent's car approaching, praying that they would find her in time.

Suddenly, I heard steps echoing through the room, and before I could turn around, a rag was placed over my face and my mind began to go fuzzy- the last moment I remember was a gloved hand stroking my cheek, and low whispered seeping into my mind as I fell, though I couldn't recognise the voice in my dazed state.

"Sh sh sh, Sweetheart. That's it, nice and sleepy..."