Hidden from View

Part 2: Hidden From View.

So if any of you caught my last story Locked Away, you'll know i had a very strange and terrifying experience when i was a child, i'm not entirely sure whether the first is simply a dream, but i know the second was bad enough that my brain blocked it out completely, only for it to return in terrifying form in my nightmares. I've decided to go for an RMT (Recovered MemoryTherapy) session next week, i'll be keeping you posted on what i find out. In the meantime, i've decided to expand on the initial events, i was avoiding adding this to the initial post as i wasn't quite ready to share that with the world, but since i took the first step with "Locked Away" and the second step by going for RMT, i feel i should go further and tell you all about this.

It was the summer of 2007, I was 16 years old and i had just finished secondary school. I'd not done as well as expected in my GCSE's and was faced with two options: Find a fulltime job, or, go to College for 3 years and make up the grades to get into a good University. Naturally, i chose the latter.

My father and i drove to the main campus and filled out the necessary forms and applications to start my course in September, i don't remember anything particularly striking about that day except that as i was leaving the main office, i bumped into someone. I was in a hurry and hastily apologised without even stopping, i felt bad but, i needed to decide what course i was going to study and submit the forms the following day so i was naturally in a rush.

I got home that night and decided i'd go on to study Media, i'd always had a passion for filming, journalism, editing and sound engineering so it seemed natural to me. I filled out the forms and got an early night, i needed to be up early the following day to submit them first thing.

Around 4 in the morning, i was woken up to the high pitched ringing of our home phone. Despite being half asleep, i knew what a phonecall in the middle of the night meant, someone we knew had been in an accident, or worse. My parents room was closer to the phone so they picked it up. There was a lengthy pause and my mum walked in through the door with a rather puzzled look on her face.

"It's for you, honey why are they calling so late?"

I took the phone from her, shrugging. As i placed the phone to my ear, i could hear an odd tapping sound in the background, it wasn't loud enough for me to figure out what it actually was at the time, but it was prominent never the less. I simply dismissed it as the rain and carried on.

"Uhh...Hello?"

There was another long pause, broken by the sound of an almost forced giggle.

"Hehe hi! It's Jenna ____ and i wanted to ask you if you wanted to be my boyfriend?"

"Sorry...Jenna who? I don't know anyone by that name...how did you even get this number?"

She giggled again.

"You gave it to me when i met you at college, silly!"

One thing i've never done is hand out my home number to anyone that wasn't a classmate, childhood friend or someone i knew VERY well. Everyone else i wanted to keep in contact with would either get my mobile phone number or my MSN address.

I was getting confused and stressed at the situation, but i had a feeling it might be some kind of stupid prank so I nipped it in the bud quickly, I could feel my bed calling me already.

"Look, i'm sorry but i have a girlfriend and i'm not interested."

I put the phone down and walked back to my room.
The phone began ringing again before i'd even stepped foot through the doorframe. This was getting a bit much now, even for a prank. I sighed and picked it up, hoping for a solution to this.

"Look i don't know who you or your little friends are but i have to be up in a few hours and so does my family, so why don't you just tell me what you want or if this is just a prank so i can spare us both the trouble and disconnect my phone for the night."

She was silent on the other end for about 10 seconds, the constant tapping the only sound breaking the awkwardness.

"I'm sorry, will you come and meet me? I'd prefer talking to you in person."

Her response took me aback a bit.

"Right now? It's four in the morning and i have no idea where you live, let alone who you are."

What she said next made my stomach contract.
"Oh that's okay, i'm outside."

It was then i realised what the constant tapping was. It wasn't the rain, it couldn't have been the rain.

I slowly turned and walked towards my front porch and my suspicions were confirmed.

It was a tapping at the front door...and it got slower and more laboured as i turned to stare.

I have paned windows for my front door, so you can't see who's on the other side properly, only silhouettes. Now it wasn't clear, but i could see no silhouette on the other side of the door.

My blood ran cold.

"Who the f**k are you and how did you get my address?"

Silence.
"TELL ME!"

"I'll tell you if you come outside."

I felt dizzy, not sure of what i was going to be greeted by when i opened that door. I shakily placed my hand on the doorknob and twisted the lock, a myriad of horrifying scenarios played out in my head as I opened door to come face to face with...

...nothing. There was nobody there. I took a look to the top of my driveway, it's around 30ft long and pitch black so I couldn't see much, but there was nobody in sight.

"I got nervous, i'm sorry."

I jumped slightly as i remembered i had the phone to my ear.

"Will you come and meet me at the top of the road? Please?"
I slammed the door shut and decided this was enough for one night, i was terrified and tired.

"No, i'm f*****g done with this s**t, i don't know who you are but i will be calling the police if you call here again, got it?"

Then she did something that has not left my mind since that night.

She started to cry.

This in itself isn't a strange thing, but it was how she sounded when crying. It started off as an almost forced, mock crying. As if she didn't even care. But then after a few seconds it got more intense, more full of pain and hurt. She began wailing in between breaths, almost bringing herself to vomit as she coughed and spluttered. It was awful to listen to.

Then, as i went to apologise, i heard something in her voice that made me drop the phone. It started getting deeper. much deeper. I daresay it began to sound like a man, but i put the phone down and unplugged it at the wall before anything else could be said.

My mobile phone rang 16 times that night. When I woke up in the morning, i checked my answering machine. All the voicemails were exactly the same, just her repeating "We've been here before." My mother was receiving calls at work the following morning which were so distressing, she had to leave the office. I asked her what the caller said and she replied:
"Nothing, just the sound of...snarling and a constant tapping in the background."

Furious, i called the college and explained the situation to them, asked them how the hell they could let something like this happen, who the hell they were employing that would give out my personal information like that. I must've ranted on for 10 minutes before the administrator politely interjected and explained that nobody had come to ask about my details, nor did anyone with her name come through the college that day. She said however she'd do a 
double check and placed me on hold.

When she got back, her voice was timid and no longer full of enthusiasm or authority.

"Mr___ I think you may need to get the police involved."

I was planning to anyway, but i enquired as to why.
I don't remember much of what happened after this, i'm almost certain i passed out because i remember seeing my mother rush towards me. But i do remember what she said.

"We have you on CCTV dropping some of your forms as you bump into someone, they picked up the forms and hastily left. We were unable to identify them as they had their face hidden the entire time, they must've known where our cameras were.

And Mr___, they were not alone."

 

Author's Note

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