Chapter Text
William slammed his textbook down on his desk in frustration and was sorely tempted to start slamming his head against the wall too. He wasn't even halfway finished this assignment and it was already making him want to tear all of his hair out.
His phone vibrated beside the textbook and he glanced at it to see a notification from Amber pop up, with a picture of her at one of the many Halloween parties on campus and a text saying "Wish you were here, there's a ton of hot guys I could've watched you fumble<3".
William smiled to himself at that and then shot his textbook an accusing glare, cursing his professor for giving him a graded assignment due over the weekend. Who in their right mind wanted to do schoolwork on Halloween night? And a friday night, no less. What he should be doing right now was drinking, dancing and eating his weight in chocolate, not studying different types of viruses.
His parents had asked him earlier that week to housesit for Halloween night, seeing as they were going out to some fancy dinner to, in their words, 'relive their romantic youth' and they didn't want to disappoint their yearly trick or treaters. He'd agreed because he knew that staying on campus while at least ten different parties were going on would only result in him getting absolutely no work done and handing in an empty document.
To his parents' credit, the Clockwell residence was extremely popular on Halloween, to the point where William had run out of candy to give to all the little shits in sparkly costumes and had to turn off all the lights downstairs in the hopes that they'd think no one was home. So far it seemed to have worked, he hadn't had any visitors in the last two hours. Or it could just be that it was late at night and by now it was most kids' bedtime, but either way he was hoping that the doorbell wasn't going to ring anytime soon.
William gave his textbook one last dirty look before he pocketed his phone and went out of his old room, flicking the hallway light on as he went down the stairs. He desperately needed a break and something to eat, followed up by an hour of doomscrolling and maybe a bath. An odd shape on the living room table caught his eye as he was walking through the living room, and he switched the main light on to see a bunch of old DVDs stacked in a haphazard pile on the coffee table.
There was also a bag of microwave popcorn and a sticky note with his mom's handwriting on it beside the DVDs, which read "Happy Halloween!". He flipped through them and rolled his eyes when he realised that they were all his parents' favourite horror movies from when they were younger. Nightmare on Elm Street, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Exorcist, Scream, and of course, Halloween. Talk about cliché.
His phone vibrated again and William pulled it out, expecting to see a another notification from Amber. To his surprise, someone was calling him, an unknown number that he didn't recognise. He let his phone ring for a few seconds, debating whether it was worth it to answer the call or not. At this time of night it was probably a prank call, or someone who got too drunk and couldn't type their ex's number properly, but then again, even that sounded slightly more entertaining than watching crappy jumpscares for the rest of his evening.
Boredom triumphed over common sense and he tapped accept, lifting the phone to his ear. "Hello?"
Static crackled over the phone for a brief moment before a man's voice answered with the same greeting, almost like a twisted echo. "Hello?"
William picked up the bag of popcorn and started absentmindedly reading the instructions on the back, wondering if it was maybe just a wrong number type of situation. "Uh, yes?"
There was a short pause, as if the guy on the other end had been expecting a different response. "Who is this?"
He ignored the question as he went into the kitchen, flipping the light switch on and wincing a little at how the artificial brightness assaulted his eyes after hours of studying by lamplight. "Who are you trying to reach?"
Another pause and then another question, the voice sounding more amused with every second that passed. "What number is this?"
William glanced curiously at the caller ID again before he set the bag of popcorn on the counter and continued on towards the hallway that led to the front door. "Well, what number are you trying to reach?"
Static crackled again for a second as the voice answered, his tone filled with feigned confusion. "I don't know."
He rolled his eyes at that and flicked on the porch light, glancing out of the window at his parents' large garden. This conversation wouldn't go anywhere if they were just going to keep dodging each other's questions. "Well, I think you have the wrong number."
"Do I?"
"It happens, take it easy." William hung up before the voice could say anything else and unlocked the front door. Whatever that guy's issue was, it wasn't his problem, and he had no intention of adding it to the long list of problems he already did have. He stepped outside, checking to make sure that some grubby kid hadn't knocked over one of the many halloween decorations strung up around the porch that his mom had spent at least an hour rearranging, until she was confident that they looked better than their neighbours'.
His foot bumped against something as he was looking around, and he glanced down to see a plastic, pumpkin shaped bucket lying on the doormat. He picked it up to take a closer look, his eyes widening in surprise when he saw that there was a dark red ribbon wrapped neatly around the bucket. It was filled to the brim with different types of candy, including Hershey's kisses, Sour Patch Kids hearts, Reese's cups, as well an assortment of jellies that were shaped like eyeballs and organs and brains.
He stared at it suspiciously, wondering how long it had been sitting outside the door. Someone must've put it there pretty recently, any earlier and a group of kids would've thought it was for them and snatched it up. It was unlikely that some trick-or-treater had accidentally left it behind either, no child would forget about an entire bucket of candy. Maybe one of the neighbours had left it there as a gift for his parents.
William took one last look around before he went back inside, taking the bucket with him. He was sure that his parents wouldn't mind him sampling some of their gift as payment for being their housesitter. He switched the porch light back off and turned to lock the door, when suddenly his phone rang again, his ringtone blaring at a volume that almost made him drop the bucket.
It continued to ring for a few more seconds while he made sure that the door was firmly locked, before he accepted the call and lifted the phone to his ear as he walked down the hallway. "Hello?"
The same unknown caller from before spoke again softly, the static making it difficult to catch everything he was saying. "I'm sorry, I think I dialed the wrong number."
He snorted in disbelief, both intrigued and somewhat impressed by the sheer audacity of this man. "So why'd you dial it again?"
The reply was almost instant, his voice low and smooth like a snake's skin. "To apologise."
William resisted the urge to scoff at that as he set the bucket on the kitchen counter and reached over to grab the bag of popcorn. Apologies didn't exist in this economy, let alone apologies for dialing the wrong number. "You're forgiven. Bye now."
"Wait, wait, don't hang up on me again!"
He paused at the slight hint of desperation in his tone, his curiosity getting the better of him. "What? What do you want?"
There was a long stretch of silence that was occasionally broken by static crackling, before the other man answered quietly, "I wanna talk to you for a second."
William didn't say anything for a moment, his finger hovering over the button to hang up again when the voice added, sounding a lot more sincere than before, "Please? Why don't you wanna talk to me?"
He considered it as he opened the microwave and shoved the bag of popcorn in. He hadn't exactly been planning on spending Halloween night talking to a stranger over the phone, but if he was being completely honest with himself, it's not like he had anything better to do. "And who exactly would I be talking to?"
The caller paused for a second, and William almost thought he was about get a straight answer for once before the voice responded with the same irritating confidence from earlier, "You tell me your name, I'll tell you mine."
A loud beep sounded from the microwave as he shut the door a little harder than necessary and set the timer for three minutes. Just when he thought they'd finally been getting somewhere, too. "Yeah, I don't think so."
The voice muttered something under his breath that sounded a lot like "killjoy" before the static faded and he asked, "What was that noise?"
This guy asked an awful lot of questions for someone who couldn't even tell William his name. Still, his whole mysterious charade made him want to know more. "The microwave. I'm making popcorn."
There was a laugh in response to that, the voice carrying a teasing lilt to it now. "Seriously? I only eat popcorn at the movies."
William reached over to the bucket and unwrapped one of the Hershey's kisses, popping the chocolate in his mouth as he responded dryly, "Well then you're missing out. Besides, I'm probably gonna end up watching a movie tonight."
"A movie?" The voice seemed to perk up a little, his tone growing more eager. "What kind of movie?"
He raised his eyebrows at the sudden interest and leaned against the counter, scrunching up the wrapper between his fingers. "A scary one, y'know, Halloween spirit and all."
The static returned on the other end as the voice replied, the guy on the other end clearly trying to sound as casual as possible. "What's your favourite scary movie?"
William held back a laugh at his poor attempt to be nonchalant about the question and hummed thoughtfully, considering his options. "Hmm, I don't really have one to be honest, I haven't seen that many."
"Oh c'mon," The voice turned more coaxing, his impatience bleeding through the phone. "You have to have a favourite. What comes to mind?"
His thoughts drifted back to the stack of DVDs on the living room table as he tossed the candy wrapper in the bin. "No really, there's nothing in particular. How about you tell me your favourite instead? Maybe it'll help me choose."
There was a slight pause before the voice answered, sounding a bit skeptical of his request. "You want to know my favourite horror movie?"
William rolled his eyes. "Don't tell me you don't have a favourite either. We can't both be indecisive or this conversation will just keep going in circles."
That earned him a low laugh, the static making it sound slightly distorted. "No no, I promise I have a favourite, I love horror movies. D'you think you can guess what it is?"
"Way to keep a guy waiting." He sighed exasperatedly, although a smile was tugging at his lips. "Alright, let me think. Is it Nightmare on Elm Street?"
"Is that the one with the guy with knives for fingers?"
"Aren't you the one who's supposed to be the scary movie expert here?"
Another laugh, his voice infuriatingly smug. "I just wanted to know if you knew your stuff."
The microwaved beeped loudly to signal that the popcorn was done as William held the phone closer to his mouth, his tone sharpening. "I do, asshole. And I also happen to have seen the original Scream before, so I know exactly what you're trying to pull here."
The other end of the line went completely silent and he snorted in amusement, feeling just a tad bit guilty for ruining the moment. "It's a pretty good idea for a prank, I'll give you that. And hey, bonus points for the fact that you can do the whole hot murderer voice thing well, but here's some advice for next time; try it with someone who's actually that stupid."
The voice was quiet for a few more seconds before he responded in a bitter tone, sounding very much like a trick-or-treater who had gotten told off for taking one too many lollipops. "You're no fun."
It was his turn to laugh as he grabbed a bowl and took the popcorn out of the microwave, trying his best not to sound too condescending. "Aw I'm sorry, did I make you lose a bet to some frat guy 'cause you couldn't get me to scream?"
"Please. As if some frat guy would be able to come up with a bet like that, let alone be sober enough to do it right." The voice huffed petulantly before his tone changed to a more imploring one, his confidence wavering slightly. "Won't you at least finish the scene? C'mon, play along with me, it's my favourite scary movie. I know you know what comes next."
"You're lucky I'm bored." William set the bowl aside for later and leaned back against the counter. He had a feeling that this guy wouldn't appreciate it if he started munching and crunching on popcorn while they did this scene. "Alright fine, go ahead, knock yourself out."
Static crackled for a second and then the voice spoke again, low and teasing. "So, you got a boyfriend?"
Definitely not some frat guy's idea then. He tilted his head slightly, his tone equally as playful. "Why? You wanna ask me out on a date?"
"Maybe. Do you have a boyfriend?"
"No."
The voice exhaled quietly, almost murmuring as he continued, "You never told me your name."
William glanced outside, although it was near impossible to make out anything with how dark it was. "Why do you wanna know my name?"
"'Cause I wanna know who I'm looking at."
There was the slightest flicker of movement at the edge of his vision, the shadows rippling briefly as he turned and narrowed his eyes at the kitchen window. "Aaaand I think we can stop there for tonight."
A small noise of outrage came from the other end of the phone as the voice protested, "What? Why? We were getting to the best part!"
He snorted derisively, tearing his gaze away from the window. "You mean the part where I hang up on you again?"
"No, I mean the part where you start screaming."
William wasn't sure whether to laugh or scoff at that, his curiosity getting the better of him again. "Okay, now I have to know the details of this bet. Or dare, or whatever type of prank this is. If I scream, do you win?"
The voice paused briefly before he responded, sounding almost thoughtful. "If I say yes, will you scream for me? Or do you need me to scare you first?"
Talk about pushing your luck. "Alright, listen asshole—"
The static returned as the voice interrupted him harshly, his tone turning venomous. "No, you listen here you little bitch. You try to hang up on me again and I'll gut you like a fish, got that?"
He rolled his eyes in annoyance, the guy's insistence on sticking to the script was starting to get on his nerves. "Yes you're very convincing, very scary, I'm positively terrified right now. But seriously, is this a joke?"
"More like a game. Can you handle that, William?"
William froze, the phone nearly slipping out of his fingers in surprise. "What did you just say?"
The voice was filled with the same amusement from earlier, but it was crueler, sharper now, with a cutting edge to it. "What do you think I said?"
He inhaled sharply, a sense of unease starting to pool in his stomach. "How the hell do you know my name?"
"The same way I know your number."
William was starting to have serious doubts that this was just some random prank call, and even if it was, he didn't find it very funny. "Who put you up to this? Was it Amber? Eve?"
His response was mocking laughter, the voice taking on a higher pitch in an attempt to mimick him. "C'mon William, you can't be that stupid. But then again, you're clearly stupid enough to forget to lock your front door."
He cursed under his breath and gripped the phone tighter, refusing to take the bait. "Well I'm certainly not stupid enough to fall for that. I did lock it."
The voice went lower again, his tone irritatingly taunting. "Really? Are you sure? Are you willing to bet on that?"
William thought back to when he had stepped inside and how his ringtone had distracted him for a moment before he locked the door, doubt eating away at him. He could've sworn he locked it, his attention span wasn't that bad. Was it?
Shit.
He stormed out of the kitchen and paced hurriedly down the hallway, tensing when the voice started cackling over the phone. "Oh yeah, so funny, hilarious. Is this the highlight of your evenings? Making people double check if they've locked their doors properly?"
The voice snickered quietly. "Maybe."
William reached the front door and tried the handle, internally sighing in relief when it didn't budge an inch. He had locked it, there was no way anyone could've gotten in.
He let himself relax just a little bit as he turned to go back to the kitchen and raised his phone to his ear again. "See asshole, I did lock—
Someone knocked sharply on the door before he could finish that sentence, the sound echoing through the hallway.
William's soul nearly left his body as he scrambled back away from the door and swore loudly, dropping his phone in the process. "Oh my god, oh my god, what the fuck."
He sagged against the wall for a few seconds, running his hands through his hair and trying to get his racing heart to calm down. There was the faint noise of static crackling from where his phone had fallen on the floor, along with several muffled words that he didn't particularly want to hear at the moment.
The voice came through again as William picked up his phone again, and he had the nerve to sound disappointed. "You're not gonna let me in even after I came all the way out here? That's kinda rude."
He pinched the bridge of his nose and breathed in and out slowly before he replied, his tone hardening. "I don't know how you even got this address in the first place or who the hell you think you are to come here messing around at this hour at night, but I am two seconds away from calling the cops on your trespassing ass if you don't leave right now."
The voice snorted, the harsh edge to it returning. "And are the cops two seconds away from you? No, they're not, but guess who is."
William glanced towards the door warily. It was taking all of his willpower not to call 911, go back upstairs to his room, and hide under the covers until whoever the hell this was went away. "What the fuck do you want?"
There was the sound of laughter again as the voice answered, amusement dripping from every word as if this was some kind of inside joke between old friends. "I told you, to talk. If you hang up on me I might get bored, and then who knows what I'll do?"
He didn't respond to that, his focus was still on the door as he strained his ears for any sign of the person outside moving around. After a long stretch of uneasy silence, he heard the sound of wood creaking as muffled footsteps walked across the porch and went back towards the driveway.
William waited a few more minutes to listen for any other noises before he exhaled slowly and felt the tension in his shoulders fade just a little. He turned away from the door to head back into the kitchen when the voice let out a low whistle over the phone. "Real nice place your parents have got here. A huge house and an even bigger garden, I bet their jobs pay well. You should tell your mom to remember to close her bedroom window properly when she leaves though."
The voice's words made him stop in his tracks as he was walking past the stairwell and slowly glance upwards. The lights were switched off on the upper floor, which meant that for all he knew someone could be standing at the top of the stairs staring down at him. Watching. Waiting.
He inhaled quietly, trying to steel his nerves and hoping that his voice wouldn't betray the fear running through his body. "Okay, now you're just lying out of your ass with that. Let me guess, you're going to throw a rock at the window to try and scare me? Is that it?"
Static crackled for a moment, and then there was the sound of branches rustling, twigs snapping and the low scrrrape of someone's boots being pressed against a wall, like he was already wading through the large rose bushes that his mom had planted right outside her bedroom window. "I might. Or I might try scare you upfront. That's way more fun than being threatening over the phone, don't you think?"
William's knuckles were starting to turn white from how hard he was gripping the phone, his gaze still fixed on the stairs. "Yeah, good luck with that. You and I clearly have two very different ideas about what counts as fun, and I don't plan on entertaining yours."
The guy on the other end simply hummed softly in response and kept talking, the lightheartedness in his voice failing to hide the threat behind his words. "Y'know, you never answered my question from earlier, about whether or not you need me to scare you first to get you to scream. But hey, I think I'm gonna get an answer soon, because if that window stays open for about thirty more seconds, then I'm scaling up that wall, sliding open that window and making my way inside."
William clenched his jaw as the voice continued, the hairs on the back of his neck standing up. "And what do you think I'm gonna do once I get in? Do you wanna play the guessing game again? I'm sure I can give you a few hints this time."
"Look, I'm not playing your stupid game—" A loud groaning noise interrupted him, the crrreak of someone gripping the pipe that was right beside his mom's bedroom's window and pressing it just a tad too hard. He would've flinched if his muscles weren't so tense that they were practically locked in place, with his feet rooted to the floor.
"Ah ah ah, there's no backing out now, William. You agreed to finish this scene with me, and we both know how it ends." The voice went lower until it was barely above a whisper and William could hardly hear what he was saying over the static crackling, as well as the sound of his heart pounding in his ears. "What's it gonna be then? Are you gonna get that window, or am I gonna get you first?"
This was very clearly bait that was just to try scare the shit out of him and mess with his head, but it was also very clearly working. He stayed frozen in place, not even daring to blink as he stared at the top of the stairs, hoping that if he somehow concentrated enough then he could will the lights on the upper floor to turn on by themselves.
There was another crrreak sound and that all it took for William to spring forward and sprint up the stairs as fast as he could, his feet barely even touching each step. As soon as he made it to the landing he slammed his hand onto the light switch and stood there for a moment as the lights flickered to life, breathing heavily. Nothing. There was no one lurking in the shadows, or hiding behind the end of balustrade, there was no signs of anyone at all.
He turned to look over at the door to his mom's bedroom, which was closed. He walked over to it warily, his fingers shaking slightly as he reached out to grip the handle and waited for a moment, listening for any more noises coming from either his phone or from inside the room. After a few seconds of dead silence, he slowly turned the handle and pushed the door open.
The light from the landing flooded into his parents' bedroom as he opened the door, revealing that it was completely empty, with both windows shut tight and their bed still neatly made. William stood there for a few seconds in disbelief, his heart still racing.
The voice suddenly erupted in laughter and he inwardly cursed himself for falling for the same trick twice, his feelings of apprehension quickly being replaced by annoyance. "You motherfucker. Are you done now? Because I think I've had just about enough of you for one evening."
The asshole on the other end kept laughing as William stepped out of the bedroom and shut the door behind him, his voice brimming with satisfaction. "Oops, did I say bedroom? I meant bathroom, sorry."
He sighed frustratedly, the option to just hang up on the guy was growing more and more tempting with every word that came out of his mouth. "You can try make me double check every single lock all night dickhead, it won't change the fact that you're not getting in—"
William paused as he passed by the bathroom door and felt a breath of cold air hit his skin, his words dying in his throat. The voice spoke up again, a twisted cheerfulness in his tone. "What was that you were saying? I didn't catch all of it."
He instantly moved to fling the bathroom door open, his gaze falling on the window by the sink that was open by the tiniest, teeniest crack, with incense sticks lying on the windowsill.
William inhaled and exhaled slowly before he closed the window and turned around to go back out onto the landing. His mom always liked to keep the bathroom window open whenever she was burning incense. It didn't mean anything, it didn't mean anything. "You're just trying to fuck with me."
The voice let out another low laugh, the sound crawling under his skin and littering it with goosebumps. "Is it working?"
What he would've given to be able to say no to that. Instead he figured not giving him a response or a reaction would let him keep even a shred of what was left of his dignity after he had just ran around his parents' house because of some stupid prank call.
William had set one foot on the first step when all of a sudden the lights in the downstairs hallway flickered slightly. He stared at them in confusion and then they flickered again, then they flickered twice, and then they switched off entirely, cloaking the first floor in complete darkness.
There were two voices speaking this time, one that was coming from his phone, and one that was drifting up the stairs. "C'mon William, don't you think it's about time we got to talk face to face?"