Jen was startled by her phone suddenly ringing. She picked it up beside her, immediately not recognizing the strange number. The glowing digits on the screen flickered ominously, like a premonition. She was tempted to ignore it, but curiosity and frustration gnawed at her. Begrudgingly, she swiped to answer.
“Hello?” she said, her voice uncertain, heart pounding in anticipation.
“Hey, Jen. Remember me?” A familiar voice rang out, smooth and taunting. It was Kyle—the boy who had turned her life upside down, trapping her in this bizarre universe.
Jen’s breath hitched. “You!” she spat, her voice rising in anger as she sat bolt upright on her bed. “Take me back to my world! Right now!”
Kyle chuckled on the other end of the line, his amusement only fueling her rage. “But where’s the fun in that?” His voice oozed a carefree arrogance that made her blood boil.
“This isn’t funny, you little freak!” Jen snapped, her hand trembling as she gripped the phone tighter. “I don’t belong here! I want to go back to my real life.”
Kyle's tone remained light, even playful. “I’ll ask you again: Transform or Dare?”
Jen froze. That cursed game. The very one that had brought her to this twisted world. She had no idea how the rules worked or why Kyle was forcing her to play. Her mind raced back to the first time she heard those words, the strange, almost hypnotic way he had lured her into agreeing to play. But now, she was done.
“No!” she yelled, standing from her bed, her face flushing with frustration. “I’m done with this! I’m sick of this weird world. I’m sick of you. Who even are you, anyway?”
There was a pause on the other end, and Jen thought, for a fleeting second, that she had finally caught him off guard. But then Kyle sighed—a long, exaggerated breath that sent a shiver down her spine.
“Looks like you still haven’t learned anything.” His voice had an edge now, something darker and more serious. “Well, guess what? You’ll just have to suffer more.”
Before Jen could respond, the line went dead. The silence that followed was suffocating. She stared at the screen in disbelief, her heart pounding so loudly she could barely think.
“Hello? Hello!?” she yelled into the phone, as if Kyle could still hear her. “What do you mean, more? What’s going to happen now?!”
Her words echoed uselessly in the empty room, her voice trembling with panic. As her hand lowered the phone, she felt it—the subtle shift in the air, like the pressure in the room had changed. Jen’s heart skipped a beat, and a familiar, cold dread crept into her chest.