Don't answer the phone!

It was a wet grey October night and the Smith's out for the evening. So they called in a teenage babysitter who was a friend of the family to take care of their three children. When she arrived they told her they probably wouldn't be back until quite late, and that the kids were already asleep so she needn't disturb them.

So the babysitter starts doing her homework while awaiting a call from her boyfriend. After an hour the lounge phone rings. She answers it, but hears no one on the other end — just silence, then whoever it is hangs up. After a few more minutes the phone rings again. She answers again, and this time there's a man's deep voice on the line who calmly says, "Have you checked on the children?"

'Click.'

At first she thinks it might have been the father calling to check up and he got interrupted, so she decides to ignore it. She goes back to doing her homework, then an hour later the phone rings again. "Have you checked on the children?" says the chilling voice on the other end.

"Mr. Smith?" she asks, but again the caller hangs up again.

She decides to phone the restaurant where the parents said they'd be dining, but when she asks for Mr. Smith she is told that he and his wife had left the restaurant 45 minutes earlier. So she calls the police and reports that a stranger has been calling her and hanging up. "Has he threatened you at all?" the policeman asks. No, she says. "Well, there's nothing we can really do about it. You could try reporting the call to the phone company."

Ten minutes go by and she gets another call. "Why haven't you checked the children?" the voice calmly says.

"Who is this!?" she asks, but they hang up again. She dials 999 again and says, "Look I'm scared. I feel like, he's watching me!"

"Have you seen him?" the policeman asks. She says no. "Well, there isn't much we can do about it," he says. The babysitter then goes into panic mode and pleads with him to help her. "Now, now, it'll be okay," he says. "Give me your number and street address, and if you can keep this person on the phone for at least a minute we can try to trace the call. What was your name again?"

"Lisa"

"Okay, Lisa, if he calls back we'll do our best to trace the call, just try to keep calm. Can you do that for me?"

"Yes" she replies, and hangs up. She then decides to turn the lights down so she can see if anyone's outside, and that's when she gets another call.

Silence . . . and then the familiar voice says. "Why did you turn the lights down?"

"Can you see me?" she asks, panicking.

"Yes."

"Look, you're scaring me!" she says. "I'm shaking. Are you happy? Is that what you want?"

"No."

"Then what do you want?" she asks.

Another long pause. "Your blood"

She slams the phone down, terrified. Almost immediately it rings again. "LEAVE ME ALONE!" she screams, but it's the policeman calling back. His voice is urgent.

"Lisa, we've traced that call. It's coming from another room inside the house. Get out of there!! Now!!!"

She tears to the front door, attempting to unlock it and dash outside, only to find the chain at the top still latched. In the time it takes her to unhook it she is in a real state of panic, she sees a door slowly open at the top of the stairs. Light streams from one the children's bedrooms, revealing the profile of a tall man standing just inside.

She finally gets the door open and bursts outside, only to find a policeman standing on the doorstep out of breath. She presses herself into the policeman's arms wildly sobbing. The policeman tries to calm her down and asks her to wait outside. The policeman enters the house and quickly searches the whole house from top to bottom, but finds nobody there. The back door was still locked from the inside and no windows were open and all the children are still sound asleep in their beds.