We pulled away from each other simultaneously, as if an invisible bond had pulled us apart. The sudden distance made me shiver as I looked into the hallway. On an expensive, shiny bar table sat a telephone that looked so old, as if no one had noticed it for decades. The ringing broke the silence, a shrill, ominous sound that ripped through the air. We both froze, petrified, the sound seemingly crushing us.

"Who's calling?" I mumbled, the words trembling from my lips. The cold that suddenly ran through my body made me take a step back, while my fingers shook uncontrollably. But I already knew: It was a rhetorical...