"Voice Mail"

A Story by Joe Price

The person you are trying to reach has gone missing

“Voice Mail”

By Joe Price

It was Charlene’s Birthday. She was turning 98 on February 8^th at exactly 8:49 p.m. She has very short white hair and haled eyes. She had 3 grandchildren who hadn’t visited her in a year. They always forget about what’s really important because of all of the new electronics (smart phones). If they were to take a music theory class they literally would say, “there are three hash tags in this scale.” The oldest was Francine Messhiey (for she had been married). She’s 18 and is very tall and she has brunette hair and green eyes. Her hair is curly and goes down to her butt. Her younger brother Derrick is 15 and short for his age. He’s a ladies man and he’ll do anything to get into the girls’ pants. He once ditched school and attempted to have sex with his girlfriend. He has brown short hair and blue eyes. The third child is deceased. She died due to a tumor in the brain at the age of 10.

Then there was Derrick’s girlfriend Sarita or Rita for short. She had black straight hair with blue, pink, sometimes purple streaks in her hair that went down to her shoulders. She’s very very sweat, but very very bitchy at times. She is extremely jealous of other women, and has a lock that can be very easily picked.

“Derrick, c’mon we’re gonna call grandma” Francine said.

“Why should we, I mean she use to call us at least once a week, she doesn’t even call us on our birthdays anymore I mean what the hell.” Derrick said before putting on his shirt.

“I know but she’s gonna be 98 and we need to check on her anyway we haven’t heard from her in a whole year, and it’s not like we can visit her. In case you haven’t noticed, we live in Maine and she lives in Vermont.” She said while dialing the number.

“Fine.” He said. Francine pressed send and the phone rang once and went straight to voice mail.

“Your call has ben forwarded to an automated voice messaging system, 4231668195 is not available, at the tone please record your message, when you are finished recording you may hang up or stay on the line for more options”

They heard the tone and put it on speaker.

“Happy Birthda-“ they started only to be interrupted by the robotic voice of the machine.

“P.S. the person you are trying to reach has gone missing.”

“What the f**k was that.” Rita said as she walked into the room. The two were too freaked out to answer especially Derrick.

“What the hell just happened?! Where did that come from?! Derrick said in an anxious manner.

“Hey, Derrick calm down. Someone is probably just trying to pull a prank. We’ll try calling her again. ” Francine said trying to calm him down. They tried calling again and it once again went straight to voice mail. After trying the third time they decided that maybe they should go check on her.

“Ok I’m really freaked out now, we need to go check on her so I’m calling mom and I’m telling her that we are going to Vermont to check on her.” Francine said with a worried voice.

The trio (Francine, Derrick, and Rita were always known as the trio mainly because they were all connected in some way whether it was relation, dating, or BFFs) started making their way to Dale (Francine’s car). She named it Dale after her grandpa who died of a stroke at the age of 58. Francine got in the driver seat while Derrick and Rita got in the back together. Francine dialed the number of her mom.

“Your call has ben forwarded to an automated voice messaging system, 4231669937 is not available, at the tone please record your message, when you are finished recording you may hang up or stay on the line for more options”

“Hey mo-“ She said before being interrupted once again.

“P.S. the person you are trying to reach has gone missing.”

“No, there’s just no way.” She said as if she were amazed. Derrick and Rita were kissing in the back seat. They stopped long enough to question what was going on.

“What is it” Rita asked concerned.

“I got the same voice mail I got when we called grandma.” Francine said.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me. Please tell me you’re kidding me.” Derrick said in a shocked manner.

“How is this po-“ Rita said as she was interrupted by the ringing phone.

“It’s grandma!” Francine said so relieved. Grandma hi we were so worried tha-“ Francine was interrupted by the voice mail.

“Are you on your way hear yet, Francine? Are even coming to see me your grandmother? You know the one you never call or come to see."

“Who is this?!” Francine asked anxiously.

“It’s me you pathetic grandmother, you know the one you never call. The one that’s missing.”

“What did you do with her?! Francine said while crying.

“Just hang up now!!!” Rita said in a terrified manner.

“Francine look out!!!” Derrick said as if he were about to die. They ran off the road into a very steep hill. The car flipped up side down several times before crashing into a tree. Derrick slowly opened the car door. He crawled out of the car. His face was covered in blood and dirt.

“Rita!!!!!!! Where are you?!” Derrick screamed.

“Over here.” Rita said as if she were in pain.

“ Francine!!!!!!” Derrick screamed.

“Derrick, she’s over there!” Rita said. They ran to her only to find that her throat was slashed and that she was dead.

After discovering that Francine was dead, her phone started to ring again. Rita picked up the phone and answered.

“What?” Rita said as if she were pissed off.

“Did you find your friends death amusing? I know I did.”

“What the hell do you want from us?” Rita asked as if she were about to cry. Derrick took the phone from Rita’s hand, through it onto the ground and stomped on it. Derrick ran over to the totaled car and grabbed a mallet and beat the phone up with the mallet. A phone rang, but this time it was Rita’s phone that rang.

“Don’t answer that.” Derrick said as he grabbed her phone and through it onto the ground and beat it up with the mallet.

“Derrick.” Rita said as if she was going to kill him. “That machine could be the answers to everything.” The phone was broken, but it kept ringing.

“Just ignore it.” Derrick said. “We’re almost there anyway, we’ll use my phone to call the cops and tell them about Francine. And then we’ll continue on foot.”

“We’re hear.” Derrick said. They’d finally made it to Charlene’s trailer park. Charlene’s trailer looked like it hadn’t been touched in a whole year. There was mold growing on the porch. The porch looked as if you could fall right through it. They started walking to the neglected trailer. They finally got to the door but before they could knock the door opened.

“Aunt Rena, what are you doing hear.” Derrick asked surprised. Rena looked very young for the age of 68. She looked as if she were just 30. She’s a very creepy lady. She has black hair and brown eyes.

“You’re just in time for the party.” Rena said.

“What party? If you were having a party why didn’t we hear from you guys?” Rita asked.

“Just come on in and we’ll chat” Rena said. They walked in slowly but surly.

“Where is everybody?” Derrick asked.

“They didn’t care so the didn’t come.” Rena said.

“That’s awful.” Rita said. “Where’s Charlene?”

“She’s in her room.” Rena said. Rita and Derrick started walking toward her bedroom.

“Hey gra-“ Derrick stopped as he saw 3 grave stones that read.

Here lies Rena Barker, Charlene Davis, and Wilma Davis. The aunt, mom, and grandmother of 3 children.

There was a fourth stone in the bathroom that read.

Here lies Francine Messhiey. The sister of 1 soon to be dead brother.

Derrick and Rita started running back to the living room.

“We gotta go.” Derrick said

“Go? But you just got here. What’s the matter? Rena Paused. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“Nothing we have to get out of here.” Rita said in a concerned manner.

“Ok.” Rena said. “But before you go, the person you are trying to reach has gone missing.” She said. Rita and Derrick had a worried and surprised look on their faces. They started running toward the kitchen. Derrick grabbed a knife, and ran back to the bed room. When they got there, they saw the bones of their mom, grandmother, and their real aunt Rena. Francine’s corpse busted out of the bathroom door. The dead bodies walked toward them. Derrick and Rita turned around only to be blocked by the other aunt Rena.

“Where the hell do you think you’re going.”? The dead bodies grabbed Derrick and Rita. The voice mail grabbed the knife out of Derrick’s hand. She shouved the knife into Derrick’s abs. His guts spewed of his body.

“Derrick!!!!!!” Rita screamed. Rena ate Derrick’s guts. Rena shoved the knife into Rita’s abs and ate them as well.