The Dead Dont Call Back
697 Words
By morning, the world had already buried him. Mark was dead. People said it in hushed voices, as if speaking too loudly would make it more real. Nurses avoided her eyes. Relatives spoke in soft tones filled with pity. Even strangers looked at Lois like she had already lost everything.
But Lois sat in the hospital corridor, her back straight, her eyes dry.
Because something inside her had changed.
“He’s not dead.”
Her voice was quiet, but steady.
The police didn’t believe her. Not really. They asked questions, wrote things down, nodded in all the right places—but she could see it in their eyes. To them, it was over. An accident. One victim. Case closed.
“You need to rest,” one of the officers told her. “Shock can make things feel confusing.”
Lois held his gaze. “I know what I saw. And that wasn’t Mark.”
The officer gave a polite nod, already moving on.
By evening, the hospital had grown quieter. Too quiet. The kind of silence that made every small sound feel wrong. Lois stood by the window at the end of the corridor, staring into the dark. The rain had stopped, but the sky still looked heavy, like it wasn’t finished yet.
Her phone buzzed.
She froze, then slowly pulled it out. Unknown number.
Again.
Her pulse quickened as she answered. “Hello?”
Static filled the line—low and crackling. Then came a sound. Faint. Broken.
A breath.
Lois’s heart slammed against her ribs. “…Mark?” she whispered.
Silence. Then something else.
A voice. Weak. distorted. Barely there.
“…Lo…”
The line went dead.
Lois stared at her phone, her body completely still. That wasn’t her imagination. That wasn’t grief.
That was him.
“Miss?”
She turned sharply. A nurse stood a few steps behind her, watching.
Too closely.
“Are you alright?” the nurse asked.
Lois didn’t answer immediately. Something felt off. The woman’s eyes flicked briefly to Lois’s phone, then back to her face. Too quick. Too aware.
“I’m fine,” Lois said slowly.
The nurse nodded, but didn’t leave right away. She lingered for a moment, then finally turned and walked off. Lois watched her go, unease settling deep in her chest.
Minutes later, Lois moved—not toward the waiting area, but back down the hallway. Back to that room. The one with the wrong body.
The corridor was empty now. The lights dimmer.
She reached the door, paused, then pushed it open.
The room was different.
The bed was empty.
Lois blinked, her breath catching. “No… that’s not possible…”
She stepped inside quickly, her eyes scanning the room. The sheet was gone. The body—gone.
Footsteps echoed behind her.
She turned.
The same nurse stood in the doorway.
Watching her.
“You shouldn’t be in here,” the nurse said calmly.
Lois’s chest rose and fell rapidly. “Where is he?”
The nurse tilted her head slightly. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“The body!” Lois snapped. “It was here. I saw it. Where is it?”
A brief pause.
“They transferred it.”
Too quick. Too smooth.
“To where?” Lois pressed.
The nurse gave a faint smile, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “You ask too many questions.”
A chill ran through Lois.
“Who are you?” she asked, her voice lower now.
The nurse didn’t answer. Instead, she stepped aside and gestured toward the hallway.
“Go home,” she said. “Before you get involved in something you don’t understand.”
The words were calm, but they carried weight.
A warning.
Silence filled the room. Heavy. dangerous.
And in that moment, Lois understood.
This was not an accident.
Mark didn’t just disappear.
He might have been taken.
And whoever might have been behind it…
Knew she was getting close.
Lois slowly stepped back, her heart pounding, her mind racing. Fear crept in—but not enough to stop her.
Because now she knew the truth.
Mark was alive.
And something out there didn’t want him found.
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