The Call

Lisa’s parents were gone at a party for the evening. And all poor Lisa had to do was stay home and watch her two little siblings, making sure they didn’t get in any trouble. Wishing she were out hanging with her friends on a clear and beautiful Friday night instead of at home baby sitting the two brats, Lisa flicked on the TV in the den.

The kids were in the next room, the living room, playing with their toys. After flipping the channels for what seemed like hours, she finally came across a made-for-TV movie that looked pretty good. A romance, her favorite. As Lisa started to settle into the movie, the kids came in, demanding that they were hungry and wanted something to eat. So while the kids took over the television, Lisa went into the kitchen to make spaghetti for the three of them.

Just as everything was about to be finished, the phone rang. Lisa went to answer but her stupid little brother got to it first and said, "Hello? Smith residence." No answer. "Gimme the phone!" Lisa said, snatching from her brother. "Hello, who is this?" Lisa demanded. "I’m near" said the voice on the other side. "Near where?" Lisa replied, but there was nothing but a dial tone. A little shaken, Lisa checked on the kids and finished preparations for dinner. She set up the table and poured out spaghetti for everyone. After everyone chowed down, the kids decided to take a nap on the couch while Lisa finished up the movie. As she turned on the TV, she saw it was almost over. "Great.." she mumbled right before the phone rang again.

Forgetting the previous episode, she ran to the phone before it woke the kids and shattered her peace. Snatching up the receiver, she blurted, "Hello?". "I’m closer" reported the other end. "Huh, excuse me?" said Lisa. But once again, nothing but a dial tone. Lisa was bugging out now. "I’m near, I’m closer? What the hell?" she wondered aloud. Deciding to get to the bottom of it she called the operator. "Yes, how may I help you?" the operator said.
"I’m getting a couple of strange phone calls here and I was wondering if you can tell me where they came from?" asked Lisa.
"No," replied the operator, "but I could put a tap on your line and the next time he calls I can tell you where it came from." Lisa thanked the operator and hung up.

She walked over to the kids and woke them up. She didn’t want to scare them but she had to have them awake in case of emergency. Lisa deliberated on calling her parents, but she decided that she old enough to handle this herself. "I’m 17, and I’m tough" Lisa knew, "I can handle this". Just a she was summoning her courage, the phone rang. Lisa told the kids to stay quiet and on the couch. She answered the phone with a faint, "Hello?" The weirdo said, "I’m here now, and my, it is so sharp..." He giggled in the background.. "Huh? Wh.. What’s so sharp?" Lisa blurted. "Where are you?" But the man hung up. Instantly the phone rang again. It was operator. "My God, those calls are coming from inside your house! Get out now, and I will call the police!!"

Lisa slammed down the phone, grabbed her keys and the kids and flew out the front door. They got in the car and locked all the doors..All of a sudden, police cars came roaring up the driveway. One car checked on the kids while four policeman burst into the house. They searched everywhere until the finally came to attic. Upon going in they found a young man in the corner with a cellular phone and a huge butcher knife, getting ready to head downstairs.

Another Version:

A young girl was babysitting two young children. She sent them to bed and soon started doing some homework when the phone rang. She picked it up, "Hello?" she said. There was a man on the other end, "Have you checked the children yet?" was the only thing he said before CLICK, the line went dead. About and hour later the phone rang again, it was the man. "Have you checked on the children yet?". The girl was beginning to get scared, fifteen minutes later the phone rang. "Hello?" She answered hesitantly. "Why haven’t you checked on the children yet?!" The man demanded. The girl hung up and called the operator. The operator told her that she would trace the call the next time the man called her. Sure enough, a little while later he called again: "Go upstairs and check on the children" he said. The girl hung up and called the operator, "Get out!" the operator said, "the calls are coming from inside the house!". The girl rushed to the door and ran outside. When the police came they found the children dead in their beds.

In other versions I have heard, the babysitter is babysitting in an apartment and the calls are traced from the apartment downstairs. When the babysitter looks out into the hallway she sees a man walking towards their apartment with an axe, and a murderous grin on his face.

Yet Another Version:

My friend told me this version of "The Call" when I was little, only later did I hear the ‘real’ ending. The body of the story is the same: there are a couple of scary phone calls, then the the operator traces them into the house and says get out. The babysitter then runs to get the 3 kids sleeping upstairs. She gets the 5 year old first and then goes into the 6 month old baby’s room.

In the crib and around the floor she notices blood and footprints leading into the 8 year old’s room. Gripped with fear she continues telling the 5 year old to run to the neighbors’ house as fast as possible and wait for the police. The babysitter enters the 8year old boy’s room and sees more blood, but sill no sign of the kids. Then, at the end of the hall in the dad’s office she hears a muffled baby’s cry and notices light steaming under the door. Grabbing a metal bat from the boys room, she courageously swings open the door, and to her horror.....The eight year old is sitting on his father’s desk, playing with the baby and wearing his dad’s "blood" stained boots. Next to him is his dad’s cell phone, a tube of fake blood, and on his face a huge grin. It was all an elaborate prank to scare the babysitter whom he did not like. She sighed with relief then yelled at the boy all the way down stairs and told him he must explain this to the police. She never babysat for that family again!