We stood frozen. Tony's hands were shaking and weak, and he was barely able to hold the phone. I didn't think I would be able to hold it, either. The phone acted like the source of this torture. Like, if we touched it, it would burn is, and poison would spread through our veins. We set it down carefully on the counter, as if it were a ticking time bomb, waiting for the venomous voice to speak again.


"Let's play a game..." Drew Sanders had hissed. We stood in the kitchen rigidly as we helplessly listened to nothing. Drew Sanders was in control, now. We had no choice but to wait painfully for him to speak again.


"I just want to make one thing clear," Drew Sanders' voice snickered.


We mumbled unintelligently.


"No police," he growled. Of course, no police. If this wasn't such a serious situation, I would have scoffed at how cliché he sounded. This was like a shitty horror movie.


Except this wasn't some shitty horror movie.


The horror had morphed its way into real life, and it was never going to leave us alone.


"I hear you're in a band. You sing, right?" Drew Sanders spoke again, this time not to us, but to Vic.


"That's what I thought. It'd be a shame if something happened to your voice, wouldn't it?" He said threateningly. A few moments after he said that, we heard a slashing sound and a gurgling scream. "Careful, Victor. You'll wear your voice out if you do that."


I felt like I was going to be violently ill.


"Anyway," Drew Sanders sighed nonchalantly, bringing his attention back to us on the phone. He didn't speak for an entire excruciating minute, but we heard the sound of feet shuffling and doors slamming.


"Change of plans, friends," Drew Sanders sighed into the phone. "It's more polite to converse about these matters in person, don't you agree?"


We didn't say anything, still frozen in terror.


"Hmph," he huffed into the phone. "I guess in person you'll be more polite and speak when you are spoken to," he growled.


I couldn't even say anything back to that. The only thought that was running through my head was that he was coming for us.


"What's going on in here?" I suddenly felt Spencer's arms snake around my waist. I continued to stand like stone, despite her comforting touch.


"Oh! Spencer! It's lovely to hear your voice," Drew Sanders cooed. Spencer froze. I could feel her chest pounding against my back, her heart rate accelerating and her breaths hitching.


"What is wrong with you people? At least I can get Victor here to speak. He's a polite guest," he said, and we heard Vic scream again. I dropped to my knees in anguish. If I had to hear that bloodcurdling scream one more time...


"V-Vic..." Spencer whispered in fear, sinking down to the ground with me. "T-tony, wake up Mike," she said, her voice shaking. Tony nodded robotically, and then he sprinted to the yard.


"Ah, that's nice! You're all there! Perfect!" Drew Sanders chimed in again. I shivered violently, and Spencer squeezed me desperately.


Mike bursted into the house with Tony, his eyes wide in confusion.


"What is going on?" He hissed through clenched teeth, kneeling down next to me and Spencer.


"I'll be there soon, Michael. And then you will find out. Would you care to speak to Victor? He misses you," Drew Sanders screeched. Mikey's eyes popped out of his head, and he clutched the phone tightly in his hands.


"Vic?" Mike yelled into the phone. We heard a moan come from the other end of the line.


"Here, Victor," the phone shook, indicating that it was being passed to Vic.


"Vic! Vic! Are you okay?" Mike asked frantically, despite the fact that we all knew the answer to that question.


"Hi, Mikey," Vic said in a tiny voice.


"Okay, that's enough. We are here," Drew Sanders laughed. The line went dead, and we all jumped when we heard a car's engine cut in the driveway.


"Fuck!" Tony exclaimed.


"What the fuck do we do?" Mike asked.


"Spencer, you hide upstairs," I said.


"He knows I'm here, Jaime!" She cried.


"It's safer anyway," I shook my head. "Tony, you go with her."


"I want to stay," he said angrily. Not at me, but at the situation.


"We are all staying," Spencer said fiercely. "We are in this together," she squeezed my arm, reminding me of my words from earlier.


"Yeah," Mike nodded in agreement.


Footsteps. Groans. Mother of God, he was at the door. And he had Vic with him.


A knock.


Spencer backed into the wall in terror.


"Fine, I'll just let myself in," Drew Sanders, sounding clearly annoyed with our "behavior".


The door slowly creaked open.


"Urgh, let's go, Victor. I can't drag you everywhere," he muttered.



Suddenly Vic collapsed through the threshold, lying face down on the floor.


And then Drew Sanders appeared, a small grin on his face and a cigarette loosely hanging out of his mouth.


We all cringed when he kicked Vic in the side, pushing him out of the way so the door could close.


"Nice place you got here," he said, yawning. He whipped out kerosene and a lighter.


We stared at him, not sure what to do or where to go. We could slip out of the back sliding door, but how would we save Vic...



"Y'all need to lighten up," Drew Sanders said seriously, flicking the lighter open.


He smirked.

Notes

I'll just leave this here.



I'll be back to regular posting Sunday/Monday. I'll also finally update my other story "Something About You" hopefully I'm at a lake house but I figured I'd give you something real quick. Sorry it's short, but, evidentially, major shit is about to go down. (Sorry if this is disturbing...? Idk. I hate scary movies but for some reason I can come up with this shit. Haha)