Born In Blood - Chapter 2 Cold Ligh

The fake peace had settled in the room and made Anoi break out in a sweat.

“Outside. I have to go..”

Suddenly, somewhere in front of her, a phone started ringing. Anoi’s heart shivered. Inside, her stomach had gone just as cold as her surroundings.

She recognized the ringtone in an instant. That was her phone. It was her melody, one-of-a-kind, the one that she herself played on a piano.

A faint light appeared somewhere in front of her; a sign that the screen turned on.

The phone softly spilled light around and contrasted with murky darkness, momentarily blinding her. Once Anoi’s eyes adjusted, she could distinguish faint contours of a door.

She felt a rush of happiness and tried to get up. Wobbling and swaying, she hurried forward in desperation, to reach the door in time, before the light would go off and she would be engulfed in darkness again.

Strangely, the screen didn’t turn off even when her fingers brushed the doorknob. The melody carried on and the persistent caller refused to give up.

Anoi leaned down and held her phone in her trembling palms.

It was at this point that she noticed that there were bloody fingerprints smudges all over her screen.

She trembled, and then, remembering the situation she was in, quickly answered the unknown caller.

At first there was faint breathing of the person on the other side. It was as if they were taken aback that their call was finally answered.

Anoi held her breath. Her throat was burning, and although she had ignored it as she was crawling, now, it was unbearable.

Finally, her hoarse voice tore the silence.

“Hello?”

Next second, she heard what she at that moment thought to be the most wonderful, most calming voice, so full of worry and fear. And it was so familiar. And now, together with that person, it became so special. At least, for that moment.

“Anoi?”

“Anoi, where are you??”

It was Lint.

Lint was a colleague. Strangely, he wasn’t someone very close to Anoi, so she was surprised he was the one who called her. Even in her workplace, he was known as a dangerous person. She took care not to get too familiar with him, which was hard to do, since they worked alongside each other every day.

“Hey, where are you?!” The voice brought Anoi back.

She only thought that perhaps she shouldn’t have avoided Lint just because of what others said. She felt her heart warming up.

“Lint” She paused, feeling as if her throat was about to tear open. “It’s dark..”

“What?”

“Dark-”

“Dark? Where are you?”

“-ness”. Anoi squeezed out. Then she grasped her neck, wanting to scrape the inside of it and get rid of that scratchy feeling. “cold.”

She could hear Lint panting. Was he looking for her?

“It’s alright. I know where you are. I’ll be there in seco..”

And then her phone turned off.

The battery died. And Anoi wondered if she would too.

She curled next to the wall and was about to fall asleep.

Suddenly, the sound of a key turning in the door jerked her awake.

The door opened. And the illuminated figure of Lint stepped into the darkness.

“I knew you were here.”

Strangely, the voice was somewhat cold.