Not Always There When You Call Novels & Stories

Where are they? My phone sits untouched on the coffee table, screen dark. I’ve checked it a dozen times, scrolling through missed calls that don’t exist and messages that haven’t come. Lucas always texts me when it’s absolutely necessary and even when it's not, and Ash… well, Ash doesn’t always think to keep people updated. But this long? Even for them, it’s too much.

Not ever. ---

Instead, she called her friend, Macie, again. It was strange. Macie had said she'd be there half an hour ago, but when Alice had tried to call earlier, her call hadn't gone through. Alice had assumed Macie was just busy and didn't want to bother her. Yet, when she'd tried to reach out to her earlier in the elevator, her call had gone straight to voicemail. As the robotic voice came through once more, telling her the call couldn't go through, Alice's brows knitted together as a bad feeling crept in. Instead of jumping to conclusions, she drove straight to Macie's place.

Since when does a basic blood donation turn you into a Victorian ghost? But of course, Michael ate it up. He whipped the car around without missing a beat. "I'm coming to get you. Hang tight, okay?" Kallie's voice perked up—briefly—then went syrupy again. "No, really, don't. I'll be fine. I don't want you to miss your marriage registration..." "You don't have to say anything else. I'm on my way!" He hung up, then turned to me like he was giving orders.

No response. I redialed, my fingers trembling, but the call wouldn’t go through. Panic gripped me. “Roy, please pick up!” I pleaded again. My whole body shaky. My legs wobbling. Why the hell did the call just go off and now it’s not going through?……..

If he was not caught up in such special circumstances, he would have never showed up. After taking a shower, he replied to some work emails, but no one opened the door even after a long time had passed. He picked up his phone and made a call. A cold mechanical female voice told him that no one answered. He called again, but it was still the same. Abel frowned slightly. He chose another contact and called Apollo. This time, it was answered quickly. Apollo was in a noisy place, and he sounded drunk. “Abel? Don’t worry about me. I’ll stay at the hotel tonight. Tomorrow morning—”

This was like a dream come true for me, but I guess it was all new to me. My phone rang all through the evening and it was Jake calling, I didn't know if picking the call would give me the courage to speak to him. There and then, a thought came to me, Janet, I had to call Janet, I need be needed to speak to someone else I wouldn't know what to say to Jake.

But I didn't give up. I could just call my brother and sisters. It wasn't such a big deal so one by one I started to call them. "The person who you are trying to reach is currently not available! Please try again later." I heard for all of the calls. At this point I was feeling very disturbed. Everyone not picking up my call at the same time was something that never used to happen. I tried to dumb it down to them gone on a outing to a mall or something. I tried to relax myself but I was still wondering why no one picked up the call.

The caller didn’t respond. "Hello…. Huhhh, are you there?" The call ended abruptly. I tried calling the number again, but it just wouldn’t go through. "Who could that be?" I had no one in mind. "Well, whoever you are, you’ll call me back if you need me," I growled.

Please let that have been a dream. Slowly — cautiously — she reached for her phone. Her fingers hovered above the screen. If the call log wasn’t there, she would never drink again. She unlocked it. Recent Calls. Unknown Number. 12 minutes. Her heart started beating louder. She tapped it, half expecting more. There wasn’t. No follow-up call. No messages. No missed attempts. Nothing. The absence sat heavier than anything else could have. If he was weird, wouldn’t he have texted? If he was curious, wouldn’t he have tried again?