Into the Night

Part 1

    Lightning flashed and the lamp flickered again, the peals of thunder adding to the distortion. Monica hated the way that the stuttering light caused the shadows to writhe and bounce like black insects, so she reached over to her bedside table and yanked the plug from its socket. Near darkness engulfed her room. The only illumination left was the sickly, gray light that radiated from the screen at the foot of her bed.
    Her body trembled as she burrowed deeper into her sheets, even though warmth that radiated from her small figure should have stopped the shivering. She used to not have to warm herself.
    Reruns of shows played on a loop, but the deafening thunder drowned out the voices. The only other living thing in Monica's apartment was the small black cat nestled by her right side, which was emitting a low rumbling.
She reached over and stroked the black fur, which stirred under her touch. Monica slid her other hand underneath her comforter, and pulled out her cell phone. She adjusted her bright blue eyes to the glaring light that beamed off of the screen, and took note of the time: 11:13 pm.
    A crack of thunder exploded. Monica's phone flew out of her hand, tumbling down to the floor as she heard what seemed to be glass shattering. Sweat dripped down her forehead, droplets dampening her sheets. Her mouth became dry; all moisture evaporated. Both of her arms wobbled as she braced herself on the bed. Monica shook her head and let out a laugh, but it was thin, humorless; a gravelly sound. She lifted one of her hands off the bed and leaned down toward her fallen phone. The screen was off, and the floor was coated in a layer of blackness. Her hand groped the floor, patting from left to right. As she made her way around the hard floor, her hand skimmed over something cold and long. She stopped and picked it up, holding it up to the meager light that flooded her window. A silver chain snaked along her wrist. Dangling from the chain was a small heart locket. The pendant glinted, but as Monica looked closer, she noticed the clasp was broken, and the locket was empty. It wasn't there anymore. Her eyes widened as it all trickled back. Inside used to be a photograph of her childhood best friend who was gone now, as was the only picture she had of him. Tears streamed down her face. She threw the necklace across the room, hearing it clink on the floor. Leaning down again, Monica snatched her phone.
    After shoving the phone under the sheets, she laid back into the puffy pillow behind her head, letting out a long sigh. The voices continued to on the tv, but slowly drifted into background noise. The thunder outside had ceased, but the rain persisted. It was soothing, however, and lulled her to sleep.
A rumbling erupted on Monica's left side and her eyes shot open. She wrenched her hand away from the cat, who immediately scrambled to its feet.
    Monica's hand dove under the blanket, emerging with her cell phone.
    She squinted as she tried to focus her blurry eyes on the screen.
    Unknown was displayed as the caller ID.
    Monica cocked her head and clicked the green button.

    "Hello?" she said.
    Silence.
    "Hello?" she repeated.

    The silence carried on, but she realized that there was the thumping of rainfall in the background of the call.
    "Oookay, bye?"
    She hung up. The time on her phone read 3:17 am.
    She put the phone on her bedside table, next to her lamp. She fell back down onto her pillow, sinking in as she drifted back to sleep.
    BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ.
    The sound rang right next to her ear, shaking Monica awake for the second time. She tilted her head toward the phone, which was the only light in the ill-lit room. Her spine grew rigid as she focused on the ID displayed on the screen:

    Unknown.

    Her eyebrows drew together. The vibrations continued. Monica slowly stretched her hand toward the phone, flinching at every vibration.
She finally snatched the phone, pulling up to her face. She let it sit in her hand, the vibrations shuddering through her arm. She pushed the green button. The time on the screen started to count. She brought the phone up to her ear. It quivered in her grasp. There was only the pounding of rainfall on the other end.

   "Hello?" she said.

Then it started.
The breathing.

    It was quiet, but she could hear it. It was deep and raspy; a male voice. It scraped the inside of her ears like nails on a chalkboard.

    "Why?" he said.

    Droplets of sweat surfaced on Monica's pale skin.
"What do you want?" Her voice had dropped to a whisper as she clutched the phone so hard that it began to shake.

    "Why would you do this to me?" he growled, sending surges of ice through her body.

    Warmth crept over Monica's face, a crimson blush overriding the deathly white.
    "What do you want?" Monica repeated.

    The thunder that had stopped, started again. A loud crash struck right outside her window. At the same moment, she could hear the same booming coming from the phone.

     "I found you," he said.

    Monica slowly turned her head toward the only window in the room. The only window that gave Monica a full view of the long stretch of road just outside her apartment. A singular street lamp at the end of the road loomed in the blackness. It's weak bulb dimly lit the street. As she looked closer, another bolt of lightning struck the sky, revealing a dark figure standing underneath the lamp.
    The breath Monica tried to draw in caught in her throat. The phone slipped from her hand and landed on the floor with a bang.
    All of a sudden, the call ended, and the whole room went silent. Monica slumped down into her sheets, burying herself deeper and deeper. The beating of the rain outside seemed to match the drum in her chest. Her eyes flew across her room, only to be greeted with the pitch black of the night.