The Warning

Shannon woke at 3:17 a.m.

She didn’t know what had woken her. There was no thunder, no phone buzzing on the nightstand, no footsteps outside her door. The house was completely still.

She rolled onto her side and pulled the blanket closer. The red numbers on her alarm clock glowed across the room.

3:18.

“Go back to sleep,” she whispered.

Her brain had other plans.

Tomorrow’s math test came first. Then the argument she’d had with her best friend. Then, for no reason at all, she remembered something embarrassing she’d said three years ago in front of her entire class.

Shannon groaned and buried her face in the pillow.

That was when she heard it.

Tap.

Her eyes opened.

Tap. Tap.

The sound came from the window.

Shannon sat up slowly. Her bedroom was on the second floor. There were no trees close enough for a branch to touch the glass.

Tap.

She reached for her phone and turned on the flashlight.

“Probably rain,” she told herself, even though the sky had been clear all evening.

She crossed the room and pulled back the curtain.

Nothing.

Just the backyard, washed pale under the moon.

Shannon almost laughed at herself.

Then she looked down.

Written in the fog on the outside of the window were four words.

I KNOW YOU’RE AWAKE.

Shannon stumbled backward, gripping her phone in her right hand. Its flashlight was still on, and the beam shook across the walls.

Someone had written on her window.

Her second-floor window.

She forced herself to look again.

The words were still there.

I KNOW YOU’RE AWAKE.

Shannon's heart pounded so hard she could hear it. She thought about calling her parents, but their bedroom was downstairs, at the other end of the house. What if whoever was outside heard her?

Her phone vibrated in her hand.

Shannon jumped. She switched off the flashlight and opened the notification with her thumb.

A text message filled the screen.

Unknown Number- Don’t scream.

Her stomach dropped.

Another message arrived.

Unknown Number- Don’t wake your parents.

Still holding the phone in her right hand, Shannon typed a reply with both thumbs.

Shannon- Who is this?

She stopped typing and held the phone in front of her.

Three dots appeared.

Someone was typing.

They disappeared.

Then appeared again.

Finally, a message came through.

Unknown Number- Look under your bed.

Shannon lowered the phone but didn’t let go of it.

Every part of her wanted to run. Instead, she slowly turned toward the bed.

The blanket hung over the side, almost touching the floor. Beneath it was nothing but darkness.

“No,” she whispered.

The phone vibrated against her palm.

She raised it and read the new message.

Unknown Number- You need to hurry.

Shannon swallowed. She crossed the room with the phone still in her right hand and flipped on the overhead light with her left.

Then she approached the bed.

She knelt and placed her phone faceup on the floor beside her right knee. The screen remained lit.

Now both of her hands were free.

She reached for the edge of the blanket.

One.

Two.

Three.

She yanked it upward.

Nothing moved.

The overhead light reached just far enough beneath the bed for her to see old shoes, a backpack, and a cardboard box she hadn’t opened since moving into the house.

Then she noticed something else.

A second phone.

Small. Black. Glowing.

Shannon kept her own phone on the floor beside her. With her right hand, she reached under the bed and pulled out the strange phone.

A photograph filled its screen.

Her breath caught.

It was a picture of her bedroom.

Shannon was in the picture, standing beside the window and staring at the words written on the glass.

She glanced at her own phone on the floor.

Then back at the strange one in her hand.

The photograph had been taken less than a minute ago.

From inside her room.

Shannon stared at the photograph.

If the picture had been taken from inside her room, someone had been there with her.

Or still was.

Her eyes moved slowly around the bedroom.

The closet door stood slightly open.

Shannon was sure she had closed it before going to bed.

She tightened her grip on the strange phone.

Then her own phone vibrated on the floor beside her knee.

The sound made her flinch.

She placed the strange phone on the floor beside the bed, then picked up her own phone with her right hand.

A new message waited on the screen.

Unknown Number- Don’t look in the closet.

Shannon's eyes snapped toward the narrow gap between the closet door and the frame.

Her thumb hovered over the screen.

Shannon- Why?

The reply came immediately.

Unknown Number- Because it knows you saw the picture.

Shannon read the message again.

It.

Her thumb went still against the screen.

A faint scratching came from inside the closet.

Three slow scratches.

Then silence.

Shannon stood, still holding her phone in her right hand. She backed toward her bedroom door.

Something shifted behind the hanging clothes.

Not a shadow.

Something solid.

A sleeve pushed outward as if a hand were pressing against it from behind.

Then it dropped back into place.

Shannon reached behind herself with her left hand and found the bedroom doorknob.

She twisted.

The door wouldn’t open.

She pulled harder.

Nothing.

Her phone vibrated.

Unknown Number- I told you to hurry.

Shannon typed with both thumbs.

Shannon- HELP ME

Three dots appeared.

Then the reply came.

Unknown Number- Pick up the other phone.

Shannon looked toward the strange phone beside the bed.

It was several feet away.

Between her and the closet.

“No way,” she whispered.

A sharp crack came from inside the closet.

Shannon jumped.

One of the wooden hangers dropped to the floor.

Then another.

Then another.

They weren’t falling on their own.

Something was pushing through the clothes.

Shannon gripped her phone and tried the bedroom door again.

Still stuck.

Except there was no lock on her bedroom door.

Her phone vibrated.

Unknown Number- Shannon.

She stared at the message.

Unknown Number- The other phone is the only way out.

Shannon looked toward it.

Then she heard a soft thump.

The closet door had opened wider.

A hand curled around its edge.

Shannon couldn’t move.

The fingers were too long.

Pale knuckles bent around the wood one after another.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Then a fifth finger appeared near the bottom of the door, far below where a normal hand should have ended.

The fingers tightened.

The closet door began to open.

Shannon shoved her own phone securely into the pocket of her pajama pants.

She ran.

Behind her, the closet door slammed against the wall.

Shannon didn’t look back.

She reached the bed and dropped to her knees.

The strange phone was inches from her fingertips.

Something stepped onto the bedroom floor behind her.

Thump.

Shannon stretched farther.

Another step.

Closer.

Thump.

Her fingers closed around the strange phone.

The screen changed instantly.

The photograph disappeared.

In its place was a live image of her bedroom.

Shannon saw herself kneeling beside the bed.

She saw the open closet behind her.

And she saw what had come out of it.

The figure was impossibly tall, its shoulders hunched beneath the ceiling. Its arms hung almost to the floor. Its face was hidden in darkness, except for two pale eyes fixed directly on Shannon.

It took another step.

Shannon heard it behind her.

She saw it on the screen.

But she refused to turn around.

One of its long arms lifted.

Its fingers opened above her shoulder.

Then Shannon noticed something else in the live image.

Her bedroom door was open.

She looked up.

The real door was still closed.

On the strange phone, however, the doorway stood wide open, revealing the dark hallway beyond.

A message appeared across the live image.

DON’T LOOK BEHIND YOU.

The creature’s hand lowered toward her.

A second message flashed onto the screen.

RUN THROUGH THE DOOR YOU SEE ON THE PHONE.

Shannon stared at the message.

RUN THROUGH THE DOOR YOU SEE ON THE PHONE.

The creature’s hand lowered toward her.

She could see it on the strange phone’s screen, its long fingers almost touching her shoulder.

Shannon jumped up.

She held the strange phone in front of her with her right hand and ran toward her bedroom door.

On the screen, the doorway was open.

In reality, it was still shut.

Her brain screamed at her to stop.

She didn’t.

Shannon slammed into the door.

Except she didn’t.

For one dizzying second, the bedroom vanished.

Cold air rushed past her face. The floor seemed to disappear beneath her feet.

Then she fell hard onto the hallway carpet.

Shannon gasped and rolled onto her back.

Her bedroom door stood behind her, closed.

Something struck it from the other side.

BANG.

Shannon scrambled backward.

Another hit shook the door.

BANG.

A thin crack appeared near the top of the frame.

Shannon got to her feet and ran.

“Mom! Dad!”

She raced down the stairs, nearly tripping over the last few steps.

The living room was dark.

“Mom!”

No answer.

“Dad!”

Nothing.

She pulled her own phone from her pajama pocket.

The screen lit up.

3:17 a.m.

Shannon frowned.

That wasn’t possible.

Minutes had passed since she first woke up.

She unlocked the phone.

No missed calls.

No messages.

The texts from the unknown number were gone.

Every single one.

Shannon opened the message app and searched again.

Nothing.

A heavy crash sounded upstairs.

Shannon looked toward the ceiling.

Her bedroom.

She needed to get outside.

She ran to the front door and grabbed the handle.

Locked.

She turned the deadbolt and pulled.

The door didn’t move.

“No. No, no, no.”

She unlocked it again.

Still nothing.

The strange phone vibrated in her other hand.

Shannon looked down.

The live image had changed.

It now showed the living room.

Shannon was standing by the front door.

Behind her, the staircase rose into darkness.

At the top stood the creature.

Shannon refused to turn around.

A message appeared.

IT CAN’T SEE YOU WITHOUT THE PHONE.

Shannon stared at the words.

“What does that mean?”

Another message appeared.

BUT YOU CAN’T ESCAPE WITHOUT IT.

A floorboard creaked upstairs.

Shannon looked at the screen.

The creature had moved down one step.

Then another.

It was coming toward her.

Shannon typed on the strange phone.

Shannon- Who are you?

For several seconds, there was no answer.

The creature descended another step.

Finally, words appeared.

Unknown- Someone who made the same mistake you did.

Shannon's fingers trembled.

Shannon- What mistake?

The answer appeared immediately.

Unknown- I picked up the phone.

Shannon stared at the message.

The creature was halfway down the stairs now.

Shannon- How do I stop it?

No answer.

“Come on,” Shannon whispered.

The creature took another step.

Then another.

Shannon typed again.

Shannon- PLEASE

Three dots appeared.

Unknown- You have to give the phone back.

Shannon looked toward the stairs through the strange phone’s screen.

The creature had stopped.

Its head tilted slightly.

As if it were listening.

Shannon- Give it back to who?

The reply made her stomach twist.

Unknown- The closet.

Shannon looked upstairs.

“No.”

The creature started moving again.

Faster this time.

Shannon backed against the front door.

There had to be another way.

She looked at the strange phone.

The screen showed the creature reaching the bottom of the stairs.

Then Shannon noticed something.

On the phone’s screen, the creature wasn’t looking at her.

It was looking at the phone.

That was what it wanted.

Shannon understood.

She turned and ran upstairs.

The creature lunged.

Shannon watched it through the screen instead of looking back.

Its fingers swept through the space where she had been a second earlier.

She raced up the stairs.

The creature followed.

Each step shook beneath its weight.

Shannon reached the hallway.

Her bedroom door stood at the far end.

In reality, it was closed.

On the strange phone, it was open.

Just like before.

Shannon ran straight at it.

She passed through.

The bedroom swallowed her.

Everything was exactly as she had left it.

The overturned blanket.

The fallen hangers.

The open closet.

Shannon stopped.

The closet was empty.

Behind her came another heavy step.

The creature was entering the room.

Shannon ran toward the closet.

The strange phone vibrated.

Unknown- Put it where you found it.

Under the bed.

Of course.

Shannon dropped to the floor.

The creature crossed the room behind her.

She shoved the strange phone beneath the bed.

Nothing happened.

“It’s back!” Shannon shouted. “Now leave me alone!”

The phone vibrated under the bed.

Its screen glowed against the floorboards.

A final message appeared.

Unknown- Not yet.

Shannon's blood ran cold.

The creature stopped directly behind her.

She could hear its breathing.

Slow.

Deep.

Close.

Then her own phone vibrated inside her pajama pocket.

Shannon froze.

She pulled it out.

One new message.

Unknown Number- Don’t turn around.

Shannon stared at the words.

Then she understood.

The messages had never been coming from the strange phone.

Someone else had been guiding her the entire time.

Someone who had survived this before.

Shannon typed quickly.

Shannon- WHAT DO I DO?

The reply came.

Unknown Number- Turn off your phone.

Shannon pressed the power button.

The screen went black.

Instantly, the bedroom became silent.

No breathing.

No footsteps.

Nothing.

Shannon stayed perfectly still.

Five seconds.

Ten.

Twenty.

Finally, she looked over her shoulder.

The creature was gone.

The closet door was closed.

The hangers were back in place.

Her blanket lay neatly across the bed.

Even the words on the window had disappeared.

Shannon slowly stood.

Her alarm clock glowed beside the bed.

3:18 a.m.

Only one minute had passed.

She climbed into bed without turning her phone back on.

She didn’t sleep.

She watched the clock until sunlight finally appeared through the curtains.

At 7:02, she heard her mother downstairs making coffee.

Normal sounds filled the house.

Cabinets opening.

Water running.

The radio playing softly.

Shannon almost cried with relief.

She went downstairs and told her parents everything.

They checked the closet.

Nothing.

They checked the window.

Nothing.

Her father even moved the bed.

There was no strange phone underneath it.

By breakfast, Shannon had almost convinced herself it had been a nightmare.

Almost.

Then she remembered her own phone.

She went upstairs and turned it on.

The screen loaded normally.

7:46 a.m.

Several notifications appeared.

None from the unknown number.

Shannon opened her messages.

Empty.

She let out a long breath.

Then her camera app opened by itself.

A photograph appeared.

Shannon stopped breathing.

It showed a bedroom.

Not hers.

A different bedroom.

Blue walls. A desk covered with books. A digital clock glowing beside an empty bed.

3:17 a.m.

Someone was asleep beneath the blankets.

On the other side of the room was a closet.

Its door was beginning to open.

A text box appeared beneath the photograph.

SEND A MESSAGE?

Shannon stared at it.

Now she understood who had been texting her.

The person before her hadn’t escaped.

Not completely.

They had simply become the warning.

And now it was Shannon's turn.

Her fingers shook as she typed.

Don’t scream.

She hesitated.

Then pressed send.