A caller in disguise
The phone’s ring shattered the silence of the evening, a piercing sound that seemed out of place in our current reality. Vivian answered, her hand visibly shaking as she held the receiver to her ear. I watched her face drain of color as a voice, distorted and unrecognizable, laid out instructions with cold precision. “Midnight. The old oak at the edge of Henderson’s field. Come alone.” The line went dead, leaving us in a silence more profound than before. We stood in the kitchen, the weight of the decision pressing down upon us.