SHORT HORROR STORIES

CENTIMETRE SQUARES

A teenage girl was asked to babysit for two children one night while the couple went out. One was a baby, and the other was a toddler. She agreed, and during that evening she packed them both off to bed early so she could watch TV in the living room.
About an hour after the kids had gone to sleep, the landline phone rang. Thinking it might be one of the parents, she answered it.
"Hello?"
There was a long pause on the other end. Just as she was about to hang up, a low, scratchy voice began to speak.
"Centimetre squares. Centimetre squares. Centimetre squares."
The girl was confused, but she decided it was probably just prank callers. She hung up quickly, a little unsettled, and turned on the TV on again. Only ten minutes later, the phone rang again. She answered it, a little warily.
"Hello...?"
This time, the breathy, scratchy voicereplied straight away.
"Centimetre squares, centimetre squares, centimetre squares, centime-"
The girl, trembling, hung up again. She tried to tell herself that it was just stupid prank callers, but she couldn't help feeling frightened. She tried to focus on the TV. Not five minutes later, the phone rang.
This time, she hesitated to answer it. But she managed to convince herself that the prank caller wouldn't bother again, and the couple had told her to answer the phone in case they needed to call her.
She licked her dry lips.
"He-Hello...?"
"Centimetre squares, centimetre squares, centimetre squares -" The voice was louder now, and more gleefull.
"Who are you? Stop calling me!" She cried down the phone, but the caller ignored her and carried on his chant.
"Centimetre squares, centimetre squares-"
She hung up, her hand was sweating. This was stupid! She decided to call the phone company and ask them to block the number. It was freaking her out.
"Hello?" The voice answered on the other end. She quickly explained her situation and they promised they would track down and block the prank caller. She thanked them, and hung up.
She sat back down on the sofa, feeling relieved and a little more relaxed. She immersed herself in the TV, but not ten minutes later the phone rang, again. She was a little cautious but confident that the prankcaller couldn't reach her any longer. She answered it. "Hello?"
"Get out of the house, now!"
Shocked, she stuttered, "E-excuse me-"
"This is your phone company, we tracked down the number, the caller is upstairs. Get out of the house!" She froze, stunned. Then she dropped the phone and sprinted for the door. Just as she reached for the lock, she realised the children were still upstairs. For a few seconds she dithered, and then rushed up the stairs to get them.
The landing was dark, and in the unfamiliar house she couldn't find the light switch. She crept quietly along, intending to sneak into their room andget them out as soon as possible without any noise. As she tiptoed into the hallway towards the closed door of their room, she realised in one heart stopping moment that there wasyellow light shining through the gap under the door. She had turned the light off earlier.
Forgetting her fear, she sprinted over and flung it open. The room was brightly lit up, but was empty. She rushed over to their beds and clappeda hand over her mouth. Both children had been cut into centimetre squares.