It was her phone again. An awful, high-pitched ringtone she didn’t remember hearing before.

Lily sat up in bed, scrubbing at her eyes, and looked out the window. It was still pitch-black.

That couldn’t be right. It had been nearly dawn when she came down from the cemetery, hadn’t it?

Maybe there was a storm coming up. Deep clouds blocking the sun.

There was something weird on the window frame, too. Something she hadn’t seen before. Lily leaned over to get a better look.

There were uneven grooves in the wood inside the frame. Right above her bed.

Scratch marks. As if something had been inside her room—right over her bed—scrambling in from the outside.

No.

She’d checked the window frame when she’d come in. It had been smooth and even.

She must still be dreaming.

Lily backed away from the window as the phone kept ringing. It should’ve gone to voice mail after four rings, but the shrill sound continued, bouncing as it vibrated, sliding dangerously close to the edge of Maria’s bed.

Lily slapped her cheek, trying to wake herself up. It didn’t work, but her cheek throbbed. Her legs did too.

This wasn’t a dream.

Lily moved farther back and gathered her crutches. She crossed the room to Maria’s bed and picked up her phone. A blinking icon told her she had a new text message. She clicked through to read it.

THEY ALL KNOW.

She didn’t recognize who the text was from. It didn’t even look like a real phone number. It said 555-555-5555.

Either way, the text was creepy. It reminded her of that terrible dream from before.

Her phone was still letting out that awful noise. Lily hit the Off button, but it kept ringing. She must not have pushed hard enough.

She pressed the button again. This time the phone switched to another ringtone. A long, constant, high-pitched buzzing.

The sound climbed into Lily’s ears. Pain churned through her body.

Lily brought her fist down on the Off switch, but the buzzing didn’t stop. It was getting higher with each passing second. More like a screech than a buzz. Lily turned on the phone display and hit numbers randomly, trying to make it shut up, but nothing happened.

Then the display cut off altogether and another text appeared from the same number. All in caps, it read:

WE ARE HERE, LILY. WE ARE STILL HERE.

Lily shrieked, the sound disappearing into the blare from the phone.

She dropped the phone onto the thick carpet. The screeching only got louder.

She clapped her hands over her ears and moved toward the door. When she tried the knob, it wouldn’t budge.

She pounded on it. Surely someone would hear her and call for help. They must’ve already heard the phone’s god-awful screeching.

No one came.