EPISODE 12 — LEAH WAS DEAD
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Leah held the telephone receiver against her ear.
Nora couldn’t move.
Behind Leah stood her mother.
Dead.
Blood covered her dress, but her eyes were fixed on Nora.
“Mom…”
Her mother’s lips moved.
Run.
Nora shook her head.
“I can’t leave you.”
Her mother pointed toward Leah.
RUN.
Leah slowly turned.
Her eyes were completely black.
“You heard her.”
Nora stepped backward.
“What are you?”
Leah smiled.
“You’ve been asking the wrong question.”
“Where is the real Leah?”
“She isn’t here.”
“Where is she?”
Leah tilted her head.
“Do you really want to know?”
“Yes.”
“Then look.”
She pointed toward the floor.
A small photograph appeared between them.
Nora picked it up.
It showed Leah.
She was thirteen years old.
Standing beside the house.
But there was a date written underneath.
AUGUST 14, 2019.
Nora’s hands began shaking.
“That was seven years ago.”
Leah nodded.
“That was the night I died.”
Nora stared at the photograph.
“What happened?”
Leah’s smile disappeared.
“My mother brought me here.”
“Why?”
“She wanted to trade me.”
“For what?”
“For my sister.”
Nora looked toward the darkness.
“Elara.”
Leah nodded.
“She believed the house would give Elara back if I replaced her.”
“Did it?”
“No.”
“What happened?”
Leah’s voice became quieter.
“It took both of us.”
Nora looked at the telephone.
“Then who have I been talking to all these years?”
Leah stared at her.
“The thing that took me.”
Nora’s stomach turned.
“Why did it pretend to be you?”
“Because you trusted me.”
“Why me?”
Leah didn’t answer.
Nora stepped closer.
“Why did it need me?”
Leah looked at the photograph.
“Because you were always the third daughter.”
Nora’s heart stopped.
“I don’t understand.”
“You weren’t born to your mother.”
Nora froze.
“What?”
“She found you.”
“No.”
“She found you in the house.”
Nora shook her head.
“My mother gave birth to me.”
Leah smiled sadly.
“That is what she wanted you to believe.”
Nora’s eyes filled with tears.
“Then who am I?”
Before Leah could answer, the telephone rang.
Both turned.
The receiver in Leah’s hand began vibrating.
She looked frightened.
For the first time, Nora saw fear in her eyes.
“What’s wrong?”
Leah whispered:
“It knows we’re talking about her.”
“Who?”
“The third daughter.”
Nora stared.
“Me?”
“No.”
Leah looked behind Nora.
Nora slowly turned.
The little girl with the red balloon stood there.
But she wasn’t a child anymore.
She was taller.
Her face was older.
Her white dress was covered in blood.
Nora stepped backward.
“Who are you?”
The girl smiled.
“You know me.”
“No.”
“You’ve seen me every night.”
Nora’s breathing stopped.
“Every night?”
The girl nodded.
“In your dreams.”
Nora remembered.
The red balloon.
The dark hallway.
The little girl calling her name.
She had been seeing her since childhood.
“You were always there.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because you forgot me.”
“Who are you?”
The girl stepped closer.
“My name is Elara.”
Nora stared.
“But you’re Leah’s sister.”
Elara nodded.
“And you’re my sister.”
Nora couldn’t speak.
Leah screamed:
“DON’T LISTEN TO HER!”
Elara turned toward Leah.
“You’re still pretending.”
Leah’s face twisted.
“I protected her.”
“You used her.”
“I had no choice.”
“You always have a choice.”
Elara raised one hand.
Leah suddenly collapsed.
Nora rushed toward her.
“Leah!”
Leah grabbed Nora’s wrist.
“Don’t touch me.”
“Why?”
“Because if you touch me…”
She began trembling.
“…it can use you.”
Nora pulled away.
The basement shook.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
Then a deep voice spoke from the darkness.
“Enough.”
Nora froze.
The voice didn’t sound human.
It came from every wall at once.
Elara looked frightened.
“It’s awake.”
Leah whispered:
“No…”
The telephone began ringing.
Then every telephone in the basement rang.
Hundreds.
Thousands.
The sound became deafening.
Nora covered her ears.
“Make it stop!”
Elara screamed:
“YOU HAVE TO ANSWER!”
Nora looked at her.
“What?”
“You have to answer the first phone.”
Leah shook her head violently.
“No!”
Elara shouted:
“It’s the only way!”
Nora stared at the old black telephone.
The first phone.
It rang louder than the others.
RING.
RING.
RING.
Nora walked toward it.
Leah crawled after her.
“Nor, don’t.”
Nora looked back.
“You said you’re dead.”
Leah nodded.
“I am.”
“Then why are you afraid?”
Leah’s eyes filled with tears.
“Because I know what happens when it answers.”
Nora picked up the receiver.
“Hello?”
Everything stopped.
No ringing.
No voices.
No movement.
Nothing.
Then a little girl’s voice whispered:
“Hello, Nora.”
Nora recognized it.
Her own voice.
Nine years old.
“Who are you?”
“I’ve been waiting for you.”
“Why?”
“Because you promised.”
Nora frowned.
“I never promised anything.”
“You did.”
“When?”
“When you were nine.”
Nora closed her eyes.
A memory flashed.
Her childhood bedroom.
Leah standing beside her.
A telephone between them.
A little girl with a red balloon.
Nora crying.
And herself saying:
“I’ll come back for you.”
Nora opened her eyes.
“I remember.”
Elara smiled.
“You promised me.”
“What did I promise?”
“To take my place.”
Nora’s heart stopped.
“No.”
Elara nodded.
“You were supposed to die.”
Leah screamed:
“DON’T BELIEVE HER!”
Elara turned.
“You already know I’m telling the truth.”
Nora looked at Leah.
“Did I promise her?”
Leah didn’t answer.
“Leah.”
She whispered:
“Yes.”
Nora stepped backward.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because you wouldn’t have forgiven me.”
“You used me.”
“I was trying to save you.”
“You let me believe you were alive.”
“I know.”
Nora’s voice broke.
“You watched me grow up.”
Leah cried.
“I watched you because I couldn’t leave.”
The telephone receiver suddenly became hot in Nora’s hand.
She nearly dropped it.
The voice on the other end whispered:
“Choose.”
Nora looked at Elara.
Then Leah.
“Choose what?”
“Who leaves.”
The basement floor cracked.
A bright white light appeared beneath them.
Two doors rose from the ground.
One was red.
One was black.
Words appeared above them.
LEAH
ELARA
Nora stared.
“What about me?”
The voice answered:
“You don’t get a door.”
Nora’s blood ran cold.
“Why?”
“Because you belong here.”
The black door opened.
Behind it was darkness.
The red door opened.
Behind it was sunlight.
Elara stepped toward the red door.
Leah remained still.
Nora looked at her.
“Go.”
Leah shook her head.
“I can’t.”
“You can.”
“If I leave, you die.”
Nora froze.
“What?”
Leah pointed at the telephone.
“It needs someone to stay.”
The voice whispered:
“Choose.”
Nora looked at both doors.
Then at Elara.
Then Leah.
Suddenly, Nora understood.
The house wasn’t asking them to choose.
It was waiting for her to sacrifice someone.
Nora smiled.
“No.”
The voice became angry.
“Choose.”
“No.”
The walls shook.
“CHOOSE.”
Nora lifted the telephone.
“I choose nobody.”
The basement went completely silent.
Then the voice whispered:
“Wrong answer.”
Every light exploded.
The doors vanished.
Elara screamed.
Leah disappeared.
And the telephone receiver began whispering directly into Nora’s ear:
“Then we’ll take all three.”
Nora dropped the receiver.
Behind her, three pairs of footsteps began approaching.
One belonged to Leah.
One belonged to Elara.
And the third…
belonged to Nora.
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