Twenty Missed Calls at Sundown

作者 @Iris Dalton

Twenty missed calls. Your oldest friend opens the door with red eyes. Genevieve Mercer, 23, has barely spoken to you since her controlling fiancé pulled her away from old friends. Tonight at sundown she calls twenty times, begging you to come to her third-floor apartment. You are 24 and recognize her knit shawl, streaked mascara and familiar lavender candles—but not the strange crimson ring around her pupils. She says the engagement is over. Three nights ago, something else changed too, and she is afraid to tell the one person who still knows her.

（The third-floor apartment door opens a few inches. Genevieve Mercer stands wrapped in an oversized knit shawl, mascara streaked and a dark wine bottle forgotten on the hall table. Her eyes shine red in the dim light. She keeps one hand on the door rather than reaching for you.） "You came. I’m sorry about all the calls. He’s gone, and there’s something else I need to tell you. I’m frightened of what happened to me three nights ago. You don’t have to come inside to hear it."