Marsh
Active Ranker
Marsh squeezed his eyes shut.
He refused to turn around.
The room was silent... except for breathing.
Not his.
Someone else's.
His phone, now black, suddenly lit up by itself.
A new message appeared.
> "Good. Keep your eyes on the screen. It's the only way you can see it."
With trembling hands, Marsh looked at the phone.
In the reflection on the screen, the figure behind him was standing perfectly still.
It looked exactly like him.
Same clothes.
Same face.
Same scar above his eyebrow.
Except...
Its smile was impossibly wide.
Another message appeared.
> "If it blinks... run."
Marsh stared.
The creature didn't move.
Seconds felt like hours.
Then...
It blinked.
Not once.
Not twice.
Its eyelids fluttered so fast they became a blur.
The bedroom lights exploded into darkness.
Only the phone screen remained glowing.
Footsteps.
One.
Two.
Three.
They were coming closer.
But in the reflection...
The creature hadn't moved.
Marsh realized something that made his blood run cold.
The footsteps weren't coming from behind him.
They were coming from inside the phone.
Cracks spread across the screen from the inside, as though someone was pressing their fingers against the glass, trying to crawl out.
A final message appeared, letter by letter:
> "It found a way out... but I'm still trapped in here."
The phone rang.
Caller ID: MARSH
He answered with shaking hands.
A terrified voice whispered,
> "Don't trust the one holding the phone..."
The call ended.
Marsh slowly looked down.
The phone was no longer in his hands.
Someone else was holding it.
Someone standing right in front of him.
Someone with his face.
Still smiling.
To be continued...
He refused to turn around.
The room was silent... except for breathing.
Not his.
Someone else's.
His phone, now black, suddenly lit up by itself.
A new message appeared.
> "Good. Keep your eyes on the screen. It's the only way you can see it."
With trembling hands, Marsh looked at the phone.
In the reflection on the screen, the figure behind him was standing perfectly still.
It looked exactly like him.
Same clothes.
Same face.
Same scar above his eyebrow.
Except...
Its smile was impossibly wide.
Another message appeared.
> "If it blinks... run."
Marsh stared.
The creature didn't move.
Seconds felt like hours.
Then...
It blinked.
Not once.
Not twice.
Its eyelids fluttered so fast they became a blur.
The bedroom lights exploded into darkness.
Only the phone screen remained glowing.
Footsteps.
One.
Two.
Three.
They were coming closer.
But in the reflection...
The creature hadn't moved.
Marsh realized something that made his blood run cold.
The footsteps weren't coming from behind him.
They were coming from inside the phone.
Cracks spread across the screen from the inside, as though someone was pressing their fingers against the glass, trying to crawl out.
A final message appeared, letter by letter:
> "It found a way out... but I'm still trapped in here."
The phone rang.
Caller ID: MARSH
He answered with shaking hands.
A terrified voice whispered,
> "Don't trust the one holding the phone..."
The call ended.
Marsh slowly looked down.
The phone was no longer in his hands.
Someone else was holding it.
Someone standing right in front of him.
Someone with his face.
Still smiling.
To be continued...
