My Demons

Ring. Ring. Ring.

I rolled onto my side and glanced at my phone as it continued to make the noise that had disturbed my dark slumber.

Ring. Ring. Ring.

The number flashed across the screen; I didn't recognize it. The clock read 2:59 A.M. Who would be calling me this early in the morning... or this late at night? I silenced the call and drifted back to sleep.

Ring. Ring. Ring.

I picked my phone back up. The clock now read 3:01 A.M. Once again, I silenced the noise and rolled back over in my bed.

Ring. Ring. Ring.

Okay, three times is a little extreme. At 3:03 A.M., I answered the phone with a sleepy and irritated, "Hello?". Heavy breathing a deep growling answered me. At first, I thought the caller had poor signal; but, as I listened closer, I heard far-off screams of torment in the background and the growling deepened.

Immediately, I bolted upright in my bed and urgently tried coercing information out of the caller, asking them if they needed assistance, begging them to hang up and dial 9-1-1. All the while on the other end, nothing but the growling and screaming lingered in the dead air.

I glanced down at my phone screen and grabbed paper to write down the number the caller was using. I told them to hang on while I called the police for them and sent in the number. Nothing struck me as odd about the phone number until I had to read it to the dispatcher; then, it hit me.

The phone number was 666-666-6666.

My cell phone slipped from my hand as I stared at the paper in mild disbelief. I could slightly hear the dispatcher over the phone trying to talk to me, but I was far away in another world, where Hell apparently had a landline.

I gathered myself and told the dispatcher the call was a mistake before hanging up. I placed my phone back on its charger and my head back on the pillow. Seconds later, I hear it again.

Ring. Ring. Ring.

I ignore it. The noise somehow seems to grow louder.

Ring. Ring. Ring.

The longer I ignore it, the louder it seems to grow. I grab my pillow and jam it over my head in a desperate attempt to drown out the noise, but still it persists.

RING. RING. RING.

At last, I can no longer stand it. I grab the phone, silence it, shut it off, and toss it in my nightstand drawer. Thinking it was finally over, I settled myself in bed and closed my eyes.

Ring...

Ring...

Ring...

I screamed against my pillow and sat up. Reaching into the drawer, I pulled out the phone and threw it against the wall so hard that it shattered into pieces. The broken shards laid in a pile on the carpet, finally quiet. I laid back down in the dark silence, anticipating sleep.

RING...

RING...

RING...

Impossible.

Slowly, cautiously, I glance at the phone pieces on the floor and see all of them glowing with a sinister red light. Instinctively, I scream and throw myself under the covers , attempting to hide from the mysterious forces that were attempting to reach me for whatever reason... with whatever intent...

A large, black shadow crept across my covers, growing larger and darker with each small advance that it made towards me. I felt the covers lift from my body; I curled myself into the tightest ball I possibly could, hoping to disappear... hoping to become invisible to whatever threat awaited me on the other side of the sheets.

I saw a man with the face of a monster, eyes glowing and fangs glistening in the moonlight. I saw claws reaching out as if to grab me, coated in a thick, black smoke. The man joined me under the covers and drew as close to me as possible, leaving no room for me to move... no room for possible escape.

I was trapped there, in my room, in my bed, with this monster. I glanced up to fully take in the sight of him... and found that I recognized him; then, he spoke.

"I tried calling you before I showed up, but the reception at home is really bad."

My demon had come to rejoin me; my demon of depression.