Rachel sat alone in the darkened room, the flickering candle on the table beside her barely enough to light the space. The fog outside pressed against the windows, thicker and more oppressive than ever, the pale glow of the moon struggling to pierce through its choking veil. The air inside the house felt heavy, almost suffocating, and Rachel’s nerves were stretched thin. Every creak of the floor, every faint rustle outside, made her jump.

The group had reconvened after the terrifying encounter in the abandoned department store. They were all exhausted, worn down by the constant fear and tension that had gripped Ridgemont for the past three weeks. The growing darkness, the creeping sense of something malevolent watching their every move—it had become unbearable. They had tried to sleep, but nightmares plagued them all, pulling them into a restless cycle of fear.

Rachel leaned forward, running her hands through her hair, her mind spinning with the events of the past few days. She couldn’t shake the image of the mannequins, their hollow eyes and stiff, jerking movements, the way they had accused her, pointed at her, as if she were the cause of it all. It wasn’t just paranoia. The Crawler was getting closer. She could feel it in her bones, a cold, crawling dread that never left her.

The phone on the table buzzed, the screen lighting up in the darkness.

Rachel’s heart skipped a beat. The phone had been dead for days, no signal, no power. She stared at it, frozen. The screen blinked, an incoming call flashing across it—her own name. Her own number.

Her breath caught in her throat as the phone buzzed again, the vibration rattling against the wooden table. Slowly, she reached for it, her hand trembling. She didn’t want to answer. She didn’t want to hear whatever waited on the other end.

But her fingers moved on their own, picking up the phone and swiping to answer.

“Hello?” she whispered, her voice barely audible in the thick silence of the room.

At first, there was nothing. Just static, a low hiss that crackled through the speaker, filling the room with its eerie, hollow sound. Rachel’s pulse quickened, her fingers tightening around the phone.

And then she heard it.

Her own voice—screaming.

The sound was distant at first, like it was coming from somewhere deep within the static, but it grew louder, sharper, more agonized with every passing second. Her own voice, screaming in pure, unfiltered terror. It was a sound she had never made before, a sound that chilled her to the core.

Rachel’s hand shook as she held the phone to her ear, her skin crawling with the cold, sickening realization that she was listening to herself suffer. She didn’t understand how it was possible, but the scream—her scream—was filled with pain, with fear, with a horror so profound that it sent a wave of nausea through her.

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She pulled the phone away from her ear, her breath quickening, her heart pounding against her ribs. But even when she moved the phone from her ear, the sound didn’t stop. The scream continued, loud and piercing, echoing through the room.

Her voice—her future. It was a glimpse of what was waiting for her, a fate she hadn’t yet met but could feel lurking in the shadows. The Crawler was showing her what was coming, what she couldn’t escape.

The phone buzzed again.

Her heart raced as the screen lit up once more, her name flashing across the display. The screaming on the other end hadn’t stopped, but it was interrupted by another incoming call.

It was the same number. Her own number.

Rachel swallowed hard, her hand trembling as she answered the second call.

“Hello?” she whispered again, her voice thick with dread.

This time, there was no static, no delay.

There was only her voice—soft, calm, cold.

“You can’t run forever, Rachel,” the voice said, her voice. But not hers.

Rachel’s breath caught in her throat as she listened to the sound of herself speaking, her heart hammering in her chest. There was no emotion in the voice. It was flat, mechanical, almost as if it was mocking her.

“You know what’s coming,” the voice continued, each word dripping with malice. “You’ve known all along.”

The screaming continued on the other line, growing louder, more frantic, as if the agony had reached a fever pitch. Rachel’s skin prickled with terror, her mind spinning as she tried to comprehend what was happening. This wasn’t just a warning. It was a promise. The Crawler had always been there, lurking in the shadows of her life, but now it was making its move.

Her voice on the phone continued. “You’ve seen it, haven’t you? The faces in the fog. The darkness crawling closer. The death that follows you.”

The screaming stopped abruptly, leaving an unbearable silence in its wake. The calm, mocking voice took over completely.

“There’s no escape, Rachel,” it whispered, almost lovingly. “I’ll be there soon. And when I am, you’ll scream for real.”

Rachel’s hand trembled as she dropped the phone onto the table, her heart pounding in her ears. She stumbled back, her chest tight with panic as the weight of the words sank in. The Crawler wasn’t just hunting her—it was taunting her, showing her the fate that awaited her. It was already inside her head, infecting her thoughts, her fears.

The phone rang again.

Rachel stared at it, her body shaking with terror as the screen lit up once more. Her own number flashed across it, the sound of the ringer cutting through the heavy silence of the room like a knife.

Her breath came in ragged gasps as the phone continued to ring, the sound drilling into her skull, filling the room with its relentless, oppressive noise. She knew what would happen if she answered. She would hear herself again, screaming, begging, breaking. It was only a matter of time before that scream became reality.

The phone wouldn’t stop. It wouldn’t let her ignore it. The Crawler was coming, and she was running out of time.

Rachel stepped forward, her hand hovering over the phone, her entire body trembling. The ringing grew louder, more insistent, echoing in her ears, in her mind.

With a deep breath, she picked up the phone, her fingers tightening around it as she swiped to answer one last time.

The line was silent.

And then, the cold voice whispered through the speaker, sending a chill down her spine.

“I’m here, Rachel.”