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Once the credits began to roll, all that was left for them to see past the small white letters that scrolled through was a black mirror that reflected their expressions– one of pure shock and the other of intrigue.
At the end of the movie, Nene is practically clutching hard on her boyfriend’s hand for comfort. She glanced over at him and her fear had suddenly turned into anger. “What’s with that look?! How are you not even the slightest bit horrified by that ending?!?”
Rui only chuckled in response. “Well… I mean, I sort of expected it.” He shrugged. “That’s just what happens when you mess with haunted hands that reveal spirits. I think that’s the best horror movie I’ve seen this year, though.”
“We’re never watching that again…” Nene sighed and turned off the TV in her living room, then stood up and turned the lights back on before she fell back onto the couch.
“Suit yourself. Do you wanna rewind and watch a romance instead?”
“That’s enough movies for tonight… Not like I’ll really be able to sleep anyways…” Nene yawned.
“Alright, whatever you say.” Rui stood up and walked over to the bathroom. “Let me just use the restroom.”
“Be quick… I don’t wanna be alone right now…”
Rui gave her a reassuring smile and nod, then entered the bathroom, leaving Nene by herself on the couch.
Nene tried to calm herself after such a traumatizing ending, but her eyes continued to dart around the room. Even when the lights were on, she couldn’t help but think the shadows were moving… No, it just had to be her imagination, it’s just nerves after watching a horror movie. Definitely.
Everything was fine– “AHHHH!!!” Nene flinched and screamed at the sudden noise, then she slumped and sighed when she realized it was just her telephone ringing.
Ugh, I’m hopeless… She thought as she got up and walked over to the telephone.
Why… why can’t I pick it up? She tried reaching for the phone but her hand didn’t dare budge. What… What was this twisting feeling in her gut? Just… just pick up the damn phone already…
She forced herself to pick it up and put it to her ear. “Hello…? Kusanagi residence…” Her nerves were beginning to haywire again as she heard nothing on the other end of the line. What was happening right now? Who the hell was calling?!
Silence filled her ears, met with nothing except… was… was that breathing? “Hello? Speak up, please…” She asked again and once again received no answer. The breathing began to grow louder and she slammed the phone down on the switch hook, ending the call.
Damn kids… no good prank callers-
Ring! Ring! Screamed the telephone again, showing that it was the same number calling, to which Nene responded by picking up the handset again and screaming into the receiver. “What do you want?!”
“Hi~” A dark and monotone answered, causing Nene to shut up.
“Um… Sorry, who is this?”
“You know exactly who this is.”
“I… don’t?”
“Maybe if you answer my questions correctly, I’ll tell you who I am.”
“Okay… bullshit. I’m hanging up-”
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” The voice said, cutting her off. It felt like whoever was on the other line was grabbing onto her wrist, not letting her end the call.
If there was a possible stranger calling you for a suspicious reason, you’d hang up, right? Well… Nene was still a bit shaky from the horror movie a while ago, so this could be a nice distraction as Rui does… whatever he’s doing in the bathroom. There’s really no harm, right? As long as she doesn’t reveal her name or address or whatnot, this would be fine.
Besides, it could just be one of her friends trying to play some kind of dumb game. It was Halloween after all, so why not just get in the mood?
Although… Nene didn’t really know who would play some kind of prank like this. Tsukasa was too squeamish for this sort of stuff… Mizuki, maybe? They seem like the prankster type. But really, it could be practically anybody since it was undoubtedly obvious that whoever was calling was using a voice changer. Nene couldn’t really think of anybody else who would do something like this; it was a total stab in the dark.
“Alright… I'll bite. I'm curious.” She leaned against the wall and kept the phone close to her.
“Good choice. Let me ask you first, what was the last horror movie you watched?” The voice on the other line asked.
“ Talk to Me . Just finished watching it a few minutes ago.”
“I see… Then, let’s do a quick trivia quiz. Answer all three questions correctly and you win! If you get even one wrong, then… Well, just hope you get all the questions right.”
Nene felt her skin prick up with goosebumps. This was starting to get oddly threatening, but… there was kind of no turning back now, was there?
“Okay…? Hit me.”
The voice chuckled and coughed. “Alright, first question; What is the main character’s name?”
Easy enough. “Mia,” Nene answered and felt a little smart even with such a simple question.
“Correct. But that’s easy. Let’s turn it up a notch.
“What animal did Mia come across on the road, nearly dead, when she picked up Riley?”
“A… um… A kangaroo.”
“Great job. Last question;”
Nene felt rather proud of herself, she was… finding this weirdly fun?
“Who was the first person to die in the movie?” The voice asked and Nene didn’t immediately answer this time around.
It took her a moment, but she finally remembered.
“Um… That guy’s brother in the opening. Duckett…?”
“Wrong. Chronologically, Mia’s mom died first before the movie started.”
Okay, that’s not fair. “What?! You should’ve specified!” Nene started to get a little more pissed off by the second. She breathed in and out, calming herself– although she was still a bit mad about the trick question.
“Too bad… You lost. Could you tell me your name?”
“What? What the hell do you want my name for? I’m not telling you that!”
The voice only laughed at her. “Why do I want your name? Looks like you failed yet another question. It’s pretty obvious why.”
“I want to know who I'm looking at.”
There was a tap on a nearby window, and when Nene turned her head to look, there was a visible flash of movement behind the glass. She stood in place, trapped in fear as nothing but darkness was left in the window.
Her heart began to sink, nearly dropped the phone as her eyes widened in horror. “Fuck you… this isn’t funny.” She played it off as a mere coincidence, that maybe it was just a tree branch that tapped on the window or something…?
“C’mon, Nene. You're being a kill joy here. Here’s another question I believe you failed.”
“Did you lock all of the doors and windows in the house?”
“You already fucking know my name, asshole! I’m hanging up!”
“Wrong move here, Nene-”
She didn’t let him finish as she slammed the phone down again. She ran over to the front door and made sure it was locked before she moved to each nearby window and closed and locked them all too.
She tried to rationalize it all, but her heart was racing. She just… she just had to make sure everything was locked for safety’s sake. She wasn’t in any real danger, was she?
Nene ran all over her house, locking every single window and door, forgetting about Rui who was still in the bathroom– completely unaware of what had just happened.
Once she was finished, she went back into the living room and collapsed onto the couch, breathing heavily and in a sweat from her frantic run around the house.
She took a good look at herself in the reflection of the TV, seeing just how messy her appearance was. Only then did she remember that Rui was still in the bathroom.
She got up and ran over to the bathroom door and knocked hard. “Rui! Are you done yet?!”
“Sorry! I got distracted with my thoughts. Let me- Um…” His voice wavered at the end, causing Nene's panic to spike more.
“What? What is it?!”
“My bad, just calm down. It won’t unlock.” Some bangs were heard on the door, a few on the knob, and a few on the door. “It’s… it’s not budging.”
“It’s… fuck…Wait!”
Nene moved back a few steps, preparing herself before she ran full force towards the door, ramming it with her shoulder. She barely even made a dent as she stumbled backward and fell to the floor. “Damn it!”
“Nene? Is everything alright there? You sound rather frantic.”
“Some guy threatened me on the phone! Please, just try opening the door-”
Another knock on the window.
Slowly, Nene turned her head to look in the direction of the knock and saw… something there. Or… someone. There was no denying that it was a person, she could faintly see them raise their hand and wave at her.
“FUCK OFF!” Nene shouted as she ran over to the window and pulled the curtains to cover it. She then ran over to the kitchen, and with her heart still pounding out of her ribcage, grabbed a large kitchen knife and held it close.
All bets were off, she really was in danger now. Whoever the hell was calling on the phone just a moment ago was standing right outside her house, taunting her.
Suddenly, there was banging on her front door as the doorknob shook. Nene let out another guttural scream as she ran to the bathroom door. “Rui! They’re here! Please, hide and do not make a fucking sound!”
She ran upstairs and looked around for anywhere to hide. She couldn’t hide under the bed, there was no “under” the bed to even begin with, so the best that Nene could do was the closet.
Her steps were uneven just like her breathing, she moved all of her clothes around and made just enough space for her. She put the knife down and pulled her phone out, making sure to put it on silent as well as turning down the volume as she dialed 110. Even from where she was, she could still hear whoever it was breaking the door down.
…But it didn’t connect. She didn’t have any bars and her Wi-Fi was off.
It was just working a moment ago… She pondered. The only logical answer was the damn psycho cut off all the lines in the area. Of fucking course…
Then, Nene heard the door barge open, and loud and intimidating footsteps entering the house. Nene picked the knife back up and held it as tightly as she could. She was terrified, not just for herself, Rui too, who was still inside the bathroom.
She so badly wanted to hold onto his hand for comfort, but she kept clutching onto the knife with all of her life as she heard the footsteps make their way around the house.
She heard knocking, but… not on her bedroom door.
It was the bathroom door.
Fuck… Rui! She felt her eyes get glassy as she stayed in place, unable to do anything as she heard them barge into the bathroom, followed by a scream.
A few seconds passed before the footsteps moved upstairs and stopped just right in front of her bedroom door. No… Knock. Knock. Knock.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
The door swung open and hit the wall. Nene slightly opened the closet door to get a good look at the intruder. She saw a figure in a black hoodie and pants enter the room, walking over to her bed, checking for her. They turned around for a moment and Nene could see a simple white mask one could find anywhere.
When they turned around again, towards the bed, Nene slowly got out of the closet, making no sound as she quickly made her way out of the room and downstairs, her only thought in mind was to check on Rui.
She walked into the already open bathroom door and was met with… nothing. A confusing scene lay before her, as there was no blood, no struggle, no anything… besides a few rocks on the floor.
Nene felt a sigh leave her, she looked up and saw that the bathroom window was open. That meant Rui possibly was able to make it out.
Though… she still was confused about the rocks.
Nene turned to leave but then the door slammed behind her. Her eyes widened in shock and she tried to open the door but it wouldn’t even open. As if something was blocking it from opening on the other end since the door opens outwards.
…Except, the lock wasn’t broken.
But, Nene didn’t give it a second thought as she banged on the door, still trying to open it with all her might. Which wasn’t much since she was practically on the brink of collapsing from exhaustion this entire night brought.
God, how was she going to get out?! Wait… the window!
She turned on her heel and ran to the bathroom window, nearly tripping on a rock.
She tried to vault over the open window but was met with the intruder, standing right in front of her.
Nene screamed and fell back, pointing the knife at them. “STAY BACK! STAY THE FUCK BACK!”
The intruder didn’t listen as they slowly entered the bathroom through the very window Nene had planned to escape from.
They walked closer and closer to her, brandishing a large knife that was… plastic…?
When they were standing just right in front of her, they slowly moved their hand to their mask and took it off.
“RUI?!” Nene shouted and dropped her knife to the floor, clattering and echoing throughout the room.
“Hi~” He dropped the knife too, although it fell down with a dull thud.
“You… You…” Nene wanted to kill (not literally) and embrace him right now. In a confusion of rage, she got up and ran over to him as he let her in his arms, then she banged her fists on his chest.
“So, how was the prank? Did I scare you?” Despite her punching his chest, he still patted her hair anyway, smiling affectionately at her.
“I fucking love and hate you at the same time right now… I thought… I thought you got hurt!”
“Sorry for making you worry too much… I think I went a little too far there. You know I’d never hurt you.”
“But… How? How did you do all of that? I thought you were locked in the bathroom the whole time…?”
“Well… I was actually outside for most of it.” He smiled, but Nene was still confused even if to Rui, it seemed obvious.
“Eh? You were banging on the door though…” Nene’s eyes wandered and landed on the rocks. “Wait…”
“Mhm. I used the rocks to make it seem like I was banging on the door.”
“And how about the Wi-Fi and the connection?”
“I just simply turned the router off. I also turned on Airplane Mode on your phone while you were distracted with the movie.”
“…You’re an asshole sometimes, you know?” She grumbled under her breath and just stayed there in her boyfriend’s arms.
“Hey, you’d make an amazing final girl at the very least.” He held her close and comforted her. “Although you did make some dumb decisions like in any horror movie ever. Like… not simply hanging up the phone.”
“Hey, I-!” Nene had no excuse. “I… I’d probably survive a horror movie…”
“That’s just the first rule of a Scream movie.” He ran his fingers through her hair, looking down at her affectionately, even if he was smirking mischievously.
“Never answer the phone.”