Singular Sizzle :: Urban Legend (#1)

Rumour has it that an urban legend lurks around the peaceful Pinnacle Town. It is said that it would all begin when someone receives an unknown number, and decides to call it. Of course, I never knew about this urban legend until it occurred to me one fine day.

That evening could have been the busiest moment of my life. A dance was going to be held on Saturday at the school’s main hall, and I had volunteered to help set the place up. Let me remind you, I am not a very hardworking person. The real reason behind me wanting to help up was just so I could be with Diana that evening and eventually ask her out to the dance.

I never imagined working to get a place ready was hectic. Huge banners needed to be hung up, fancy decorations needed to be placed in order, while the tables and chairs had to be carried from the classrooms to the hall. Many had shown up to lend a hand, so the place was quite full with movements and chatters. As I was bringing some chairs inside the hall, my eyes darted around in search for Diana. She was one of the head committees for the event, so she was supposed to be there to make sure everything runs smoothly. Since there were quite a number of people inside the hall, I did not manage to find her.

Disappointed, I slumped the chairs I was carrying into a corner with a huge sigh. As I lazily set the chairs apart, a tap on the shoulder made me turn around. “What’s with the long face Danny?” a girl’s voice greeted me. It was Diana! My heart skipped a beat. Was this fate? I had almost given up on meeting her today and planned to continue my volunteer work half-heartedly. With her suddenly approaching me like that, I got energetic and hardworking again.

“Wow, aren’t you a hardworking guy?” Diana said with a chuckle. Diana had just transferred to my school recently, and she turned out to be the person sitting in front of me in class. So far she has been a very friendly person to everyone. Her short dark hair and those sparkling blue eyes were what made me attracted to her. I began to leave my chair arranging work aside and began to chat with her for a while.

“I’ll see you around then. Work hard!” she waved goodbye when a teacher had called her up to the office. I waved back, grinning as I watched her disappear among the crowded hall. My heart fluttered with content and happiness. This feeling did not last though, since I had forgotten my main purpose of wanting to meet her today. I did not meet her again that day as I continued my work slowly with a frown.

Evening grew late, so the volunteers were allowed to go home. I looked out one more time for Diana before I decided to go back home with frustration. It was a pretty long walk between my house and the school. I usually take up only 15 minutes to get home, but since my pace was rather slow that day the sun was already beginning to set when I reached my house. A cold wind swept by as I opened the gate.

“Mom and dad should be home already,” I murmured as I slid in the key to the door. As I was about to enter the house, I noticed that something was in my uniform’s pocket. Curious, I rummaged my hand inside it. To my surprise, I fished out a piece of paper that was folded neatly. What could it possibly be?

After greeting my parents, I rushed towards my room and started to unfold the paper. Nothing was written on it except for an unknown phone number. I thought this was weird, since I could not remember anyone that could have placed the note inside my pocket without me noticing. At that moment, optimism hit me. Could it be that Diana had given her number to me silently? To be honest, I was not really paying any attention to her actions when we were chatting earlier as I was totally mesmerized by her beauty. I could not even remember what we had talked about.

Without any second thoughts, I dialled the number. My heart raced faster when there was ringing, and I was determined to ask her to the dance this time. When someone picked up, I held my breath. “Hello?” I stammered. There was no reply. “Hello? Who is this?” I said again, but I could only hear silence at the other end. It was rather scary not hearing anything at all, not even breathing. Then, the other end hung up. That’s when things start to get creepier.

As I was heading down for dinner feeling confused over the matter, I could not help getting the hunch that someone was following me from behind. When I turned around, I could only see an empty staircase. During dinner, the lights in the kitchen seemed to flicker crazily for one moment and remained entirely calm the next. My parents took no serious concern over the matter, saying that the house was old and that my dad needed to call the electrician tomorrow. When I headed back to my room after that, I again felt that someone was following me from behind and this time I seem to hear an irregular breathing. Without checking this time, I quickly dashed to my room and locked the door.

For some reason, it was a really silent night. As I was lying there on my bed, I could only hear the sound of the clock and the sound of my heartbeat. It was beating in an irregular manner now. Nothing weird was happening at that moment, but I was still feeling very scared of what had just happened. I thought that the night was still early. When my eyes glanced at the clock, I was very surprised to see that it was almost midnight.

Then, it happened. Just when the clock struck midnight, all the lights went out. I gave a soft yelp of surprise and froze. As I was adjusting to the darkness, I noticed that the lights at my neighbour’s house were also out. There must be a power outage within the area. Finally after I few seconds, my eyes could see the surrounding much more clearly. Then I noticed something weird was moving around on my side.

I held my breath and took a look. It was something black, and it looked like a hand. A hand was creeping itself up on my right arm! I turned my face around, with my heart almost bursting inside. What was that thing? My question was answered when a cold and shrill voice was whispered into my right ear. It goes; “You called me? You called me right? You called?”

I was so scared and surprised that my voice was stuck in my throat. That thing was from the number that I called earlier. That must be it. It must have come because I called it. I never once turned around to see who or what was whispering in my ears. The thing kept whispering and rubbing my arm for a while, when it all stopped when the lights went on again.

I breathed really hard. My eyes were hurt by the sudden blindness. I turned to my side. Nothing was there. Was it still there? Will it come back? I could never know for sure, but one thing is for certain. I could not sleep the rest of the night.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: It's been a while! A piece written on behalf of Kikuri's request. Getting some urge on understanding more urban legends out there. If you have avy good ones, do tell me okay? Take care now!^^