🩸 A CALL IN THE DARK
Chapter 1: The Phone That Shouldn't Ring
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The city of Valencia slept under a restless moon.
Rain whispered against rooftops, sliding down glass like tears.
In a small apartment near the edge of the city, Adrian and Adriana Sanchez dreamed uneasy dreams — until the call came.
Riiiiing… riiiiing…
Adrian's eyes snapped open. The clock read 3:00 A.M.
His phone buzzed violently on the nightstand — no caller ID. No sound except the rain and that haunting ring.
He hesitated before picking it up.
> Adrian: "...Who's calling at this hour?"
Silence. Then —
a whisper so low, it felt like it crawled inside his ear.
> Voice (distorted): "Do you want to see what hides in your school?"
Adrian's breath caught. The line filled with faint static — then laughter. Not human laughter.
Something hollow. Echoing. Hungry.
He dropped the phone.
The call ended.
But the voice didn't stop.
It was inside his head now.
> Voice: "Tomorrow… you'll see the truth."
And then, just like that — the phone melted.
The screen distorted, the glass bubbling as though boiling from inside.
Adrian stumbled back, heart pounding.
> Adriana (half-asleep): "What the hell are you doing, bro? It's… like, 3 a.m."
Adrian: "Someone called me. Said something about… school."
Adriana: "Spam call. Go back to sleep."
Adrian (whispering): "No. It wasn't normal."
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☠️ The Next Morning
Valencia High buzzed with its usual chaos — laughter, gossip, the metallic clang of lockers.
Adriana stretched, slinging her bag over her shoulder. Her fiery red-streaked hair shimmered in the sunlight.
> Adriana: "You look like death, Adrian. You didn't sleep, huh?"
Adrian: "Just… weird dreams. Forget it."
But he couldn't forget. The voice lingered in his mind like a parasite.
By lunchtime, whispers filled the cafeteria.
A crowd gathered near the courtyard.
Adriana and Adrian pushed through — and froze.
There, hanging from the flagpole… was a body.
A student. Eyes hollow, skin pale gray, mouth frozen in a silent scream.
Blood dripped down the flag.
Someone muttered:
> "It's Marco… from class 3-B…"
Adrian's stomach turned. Marco — the bully who always picked fights. But now his body was nothing but a shell.
Carved on his chest, in jagged letters, was a single word:
"ANSWERED."
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🕯 That Night
Adrian sat in silence, staring at the same phone now mysteriously whole again — as if it had never melted.
The clock struck 3:00 A.M.
The screen flickered to life.
> Unknown Caller.
He didn't answer.
> Adriana (half-asleep): "Don't even think about it."
Adrian: "What if it's connected to that… thing at school?"
Adriana: "You're letting fear mess with your head."
But the phone answered itself.
The lights went out.
Only the screen's glow remained — pale blue on Adrian's terrified face.
> Voice (softly): "You saw it, didn't you? The corpse. The message."
Adrian: "Who are you?"
Voice: "Not who. What."
The screen flashed static, then showed something impossible —
The hallway of their school, live. Empty, except for one figure walking slowly.
A man in a black coat.
Long hair. A scar across his eye.
He turned toward the camera, as though seeing Adrian through it.
> Rin Kaito: "If you value your lives… destroy that phone. The darkness already called you."
The call cut.
And outside their window — thunder roared like a beast's laughter.
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Adriana gripped Adrian's arm.
> Adriana: "Who the hell was that?"
Adrian: "Someone who knows what's coming."
The phone buzzed again.
This time, one message appeared on the cracked screen:
> "Lesson One begins tomorrow."