have to go. That cell phone I thought was yours, it’s ringing.”
“Okay. Don’t let them give you shit for taking their phone. Tell them you thought you were doing a friend a favor.”
“Yeah, thanks.”
Sela hung up and walked into the living room. The phone was still ringing inside Sela’s purse (Was it Sela’s imagination, or had the ring become louder?). The ring wasn’t really a ring really; it was a tune playing—some song that a consumer could download off the Internet for ten bucks or so. It sounded familiar but Sela couldn’t really place where she had heard it before.
She opened her purse and took out the phone. The color was much redder than Mandy’s. How could she have ever mistaken it for Mandy’s phone? Mandy’s phone was reddish orange and dull. This phone was bright crimson, like the color of newly sprung blood.
And perhaps it was just Sela, but it seemed that the air was getting cloudy. Smoky, even. She looked around. No fire anywhere. Dean’s lighter was safely on the coffee table. No reason why the room would get hazy.
Just my imagination
, Sela decided as she pressed the “on” button. Immediately the ringing stopped. She took a deep breath and said, “Hello?”
There was no reply, but Sela heard noises. Like a hundred girlish voices in another dimension, hanging off the edge of a cliff, screaming in slow, pulsating vibrations that moved through the thickness of water and time.
The sound became louder, and then faded, faded until it almost stopped. But not quite. Sela could still hear an echo of it—that
something
—on the other line.
The hairs on the back of her neck stood up.
And what was happening with the air? The room’s damn near opaque
.
Again she asked, “Hello?”
Silence. Even the slight echo was gone, flooded over by a wave of stillness.
Finally a girl’s voice asked, “Who is this?”
CHAPTER
9
S ela’s words fell out in a jumbled heap.
“I don’t know if you’re gonna believe me when I tell you this but, I have your phone and it’s completely by accident. I found it at the Black Kitchen last night and I thought it was my friend’s. I didn’t know until a moment ago that it was someone else’s.”
She paused.
“If you just give me your address I can bring it back to you after work, or you can come by here, whatever you want to do.”
The girl didn’t answer.
Sela bit her lip. “Hello? You still there?”
The girl’s voice spoke again, “Yes. What’s your name?”
“Sela. Sela Warren. I’m a perfectly harmless person, really. I just made a stupid mistake, and I’m really sorry. I guess these red phones are popular but, look, if you give me directions to your house, I can just drop it off after work. Are you going to be home today?”
“I think so. It’s dark in here.”
“There was a power outage last night,” Sela said. “I think the lights are back on now.” She stood up and tried the light switch. A light blinked wildly for a moment, and then came on. “Yeah, it’s back on now. Just try it, I’m sure you have power too.”
A long pause followed. “No. It’s still dark where I am,” the girl answered.
Sela paced the room. “Hmm, in that case, you might want to call your power company, because it should be on.”
“So cold, too.”
“Well, your heater’s been off all night.” Sela stopped pacing and walked toward the window. She opened the latch and lifted the glass, hoping the fresh air would help empty the room of its dense fog. It didn’t. Sela sighed. The room was as cloudy as a battlefield. She would have to call maintenance. Perhaps there was a carbon monoxide leak. Not that she knew what a carbon monoxide leak looked like.
“Can you bring my phone back to me?”
Sela flinched when she heard the girl’s voice again. She looked down at the red phone in her hand.
Ah, the phone call
. Sela had almost forgotten she was on the phone with someone, so consumed she was with what was happening to her
“Okay. Don’t let them give you shit for taking their phone. Tell them you thought you were doing a friend a favor.”
“Yeah, thanks.”
Sela hung up and walked into the living room. The phone was still ringing inside Sela’s purse (Was it Sela’s imagination, or had the ring become louder?). The ring wasn’t really a ring really; it was a tune playing—some song that a consumer could download off the Internet for ten bucks or so. It sounded familiar but Sela couldn’t really place where she had heard it before.
She opened her purse and took out the phone. The color was much redder than Mandy’s. How could she have ever mistaken it for Mandy’s phone? Mandy’s phone was reddish orange and dull. This phone was bright crimson, like the color of newly sprung blood.
And perhaps it was just Sela, but it seemed that the air was getting cloudy. Smoky, even. She looked around. No fire anywhere. Dean’s lighter was safely on the coffee table. No reason why the room would get hazy.
Just my imagination
, Sela decided as she pressed the “on” button. Immediately the ringing stopped. She took a deep breath and said, “Hello?”
There was no reply, but Sela heard noises. Like a hundred girlish voices in another dimension, hanging off the edge of a cliff, screaming in slow, pulsating vibrations that moved through the thickness of water and time.
The sound became louder, and then faded, faded until it almost stopped. But not quite. Sela could still hear an echo of it—that
something
—on the other line.
The hairs on the back of her neck stood up.
And what was happening with the air? The room’s damn near opaque
.
Again she asked, “Hello?”
Silence. Even the slight echo was gone, flooded over by a wave of stillness.
Finally a girl’s voice asked, “Who is this?”
CHAPTER
9
S ela’s words fell out in a jumbled heap.
“I don’t know if you’re gonna believe me when I tell you this but, I have your phone and it’s completely by accident. I found it at the Black Kitchen last night and I thought it was my friend’s. I didn’t know until a moment ago that it was someone else’s.”
She paused.
“If you just give me your address I can bring it back to you after work, or you can come by here, whatever you want to do.”
The girl didn’t answer.
Sela bit her lip. “Hello? You still there?”
The girl’s voice spoke again, “Yes. What’s your name?”
“Sela. Sela Warren. I’m a perfectly harmless person, really. I just made a stupid mistake, and I’m really sorry. I guess these red phones are popular but, look, if you give me directions to your house, I can just drop it off after work. Are you going to be home today?”
“I think so. It’s dark in here.”
“There was a power outage last night,” Sela said. “I think the lights are back on now.” She stood up and tried the light switch. A light blinked wildly for a moment, and then came on. “Yeah, it’s back on now. Just try it, I’m sure you have power too.”
A long pause followed. “No. It’s still dark where I am,” the girl answered.
Sela paced the room. “Hmm, in that case, you might want to call your power company, because it should be on.”
“So cold, too.”
“Well, your heater’s been off all night.” Sela stopped pacing and walked toward the window. She opened the latch and lifted the glass, hoping the fresh air would help empty the room of its dense fog. It didn’t. Sela sighed. The room was as cloudy as a battlefield. She would have to call maintenance. Perhaps there was a carbon monoxide leak. Not that she knew what a carbon monoxide leak looked like.
“Can you bring my phone back to me?”
Sela flinched when she heard the girl’s voice again. She looked down at the red phone in her hand.
Ah, the phone call
. Sela had almost forgotten she was on the phone with someone, so consumed she was with what was happening to her
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