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I had just pulled the kettle off the stove when my phone buzzed on the kitchen counter. I didn’t expect a call this late—especially not on a Thursday. I glanced at the screen and froze.&nbsp; Incoming Call: Bella (Me)&nbsp; My own name; and my&nbsp;own number.&nbsp; I blinked. Was it a spam call? A bug? The kettle hissed behind me, steam curling into the dim air.&nbsp; The phone kept ringing.&nbsp; Tentatively, I answered it. “Hello?”&nbsp; For a beat, all I&nbsp;heard was silence. Then—static. And under the static, a breath. Then a voice. My... own voice?&nbsp; “Bella. You need to listen to me.”&nbsp; I stiffened. “Who is this?”&nbsp; “I’m you,” the voice said. “And you need to get out of the house. Right now.”&nbsp; I let out a nervous laugh. “Okay, is this a prank? Who is this really—Katie? This better not be some TikTok challenge—”&nbsp; “I don’t have time to explain everything,” the voice interrupted, urgent. “You’re in danger. Something’s in your house. It looks like Tina, but it’s not Tina.”&nbsp; My heart dropped. My&nbsp;best friend Tina&nbsp;had just stepped out to walk the dog. Or so she’d said. “What are you talking about?”&nbsp; The voice—my voice—was shaking. “She’s not who you think she is. You’ll find out soon. But if you stay, if you try to confront her, you won’t survive the night.”&nbsp; Static again. A long, screeching burst. Then the call cut out.&nbsp; I stared at my screen, my&nbsp;reflection dim and ghost-like in the black glass.&nbsp; Call ended. Duration: 00:56.&nbsp; The logical part of my&nbsp;mind suddenly kicked in—spam numbers was possible. Maybe someone was playing an elaborate prank. Maybe Tina was in on it. But even thinking that made my stomach twist.&nbsp; I grabbed my keys from the counter, slipped on my&nbsp;runners, and opened the front door.&nbsp; Tina was on the porch. Too fast.&nbsp; I jumped ten miles into the air. “Jesus! You scared me.”&nbsp; She smiled. “Forgot my wallet. Just went back inside to grab it.” She&nbsp;held it up, waving it casually. “You okay?”&nbsp; My eyes flicked to the doorknob behind her. It hadn’t made a sound opening or closing. My&nbsp;house creaked when you so much as breathed.&nbsp; “You didn’t hear me?” she asked, stepping closer. “You look pale.”&nbsp; I nodded slowly. “Just tired.”&nbsp; She stepped towards me with her arms outreached, as if to hug me, but I&nbsp;stepped back.&nbsp; Something flickered in her eyes. Not hurt—calculation.&nbsp; “Let’s go for a drive,” I said suddenly.&nbsp; “What?”&nbsp; “I need air. Let’s just…go somewhere. Now.”&nbsp; She tilted her head. “You sure?”&nbsp; “Yes.” My voice cracked, but I smiled through it.&nbsp; She nodded, pocketing her wallet. “Let me get my coat.”&nbsp; “No!” I&nbsp;said quickly. “It’s warm enough.”&nbsp; A pause. Too long.&nbsp; Then she smiled again, broader this time. “Sure. Let’s go.”&nbsp; We got in the car, and I gripped the steering wheel till my knuckles turned white. I started driving aimlessly, away from the house, from the streetlights, from the familiar.&nbsp; “So,” Tina said after a while, “what’s really going on?”&nbsp; “What do you mean?”&nbsp; “You’re nervous. I can feel it.” She laughed. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were afraid of me.”&nbsp; The way she said it—like a joke, but not—made my skin crawl.&nbsp; “What if I told you I got a weird phone call?” I asked. “From someone claiming to be me.”&nbsp; She turned her head slowly. “And what did ‘you’ say?”&nbsp; “That you weren’t who you said you were.”&nbsp; She didn’t respond right away. Instead, she&nbsp;looked out the passenger window and smiled faintly. “Smart girl.”&nbsp; My stomach turned cold. I pulled the car over on a rural side road and reached for my&nbsp;phone. No signal.&nbsp; “You were never supposed to get that call,” she said softly.&nbsp; I lunged for the door handle, but she was faster. She grabbed my wrist, painfully tight.&nbsp; And then—&nbsp; Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.&nbsp; My phone vibrated in the cupholder. I twisted, slammed my&nbsp;elbow into her chin, and fumbled the phone into my hands.&nbsp; Incoming Call: Bella (Me)&nbsp; Again.&nbsp; I answered it.&nbsp; “Don’t let her touch you!” my&nbsp;voice screamed through the speaker. “It’s not human—”&nbsp; Tina roared and lunged for the phone, but I dropped it and kicked open the driver’s door, scrambling out. I ran into the woods, trees swallowing me in seconds.&nbsp; Behind me, branches cracked. I could hear snarling and panting.&nbsp; I didn’t dare look back.&nbsp; After minutes—or maybe even hours?—of running, I collapsed beneath a fallen log, my&nbsp;breath ragged. My phone was gone. My hands were bleeding. But I was alive.&nbsp; For now.&nbsp; Somewhere far off, a voice that sounded like Tina’s called our my name.&nbsp; But it was too perfect. Like a recording.&nbsp; I didn’t respond, just lay there under that log.&nbsp;

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The Echo's Warning

chleosnowy

Chloe Liu

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