A Short Crime Fiction Story: The Midnight Caller
“Detective Harris, please help me. Someone is in my house… but I didn’t hear anyone come in. I just… I just know they’re here,” the woman’s voice pleaded.
Rachel quickly grabbed her coat and rushed to the address. The house was located on the edge of town, surrounded by tall trees, their branches swaying in the wind. The streetlights flickered, casting long shadows on the snow-covered ground.
When Rachel arrived, the front door was slightly open, and the woman, Anna, stood in the doorway, looking pale and terrified. Her eyes were wide with fear, and her hands shook as she gripped the doorframe.
“Detective Harris, thank you for coming,” Anna said, her voice barely above a whisper. “I… I don’t know what’s happening. Someone has been calling me every night at midnight, breathing on the other end of the line. And tonight, I saw a shadow in the window.”
Rachel stepped inside, scanning the dark, quiet house. It felt still, too still. She could sense that something wasn’t right, but the house was perfectly ordinary, nothing out of place.
“Where did you see the shadow?” Rachel asked, her voice calm but firm.
Anna led Rachel to the living room, where the curtains were drawn, the room bathed in dim light from a single lamp. “It was right there, by the window. Just a dark shape moving across the glass.”
Rachel examined the window closely. There was nothing outside. No footprints in the snow. No sign of anyone having been there.
“How long has this been happening?” Rachel asked.
“For about a week now,” Anna replied, sitting on the couch, her face pale. “Every night, the phone rings at exactly midnight. It’s always the same—just breathing. No words. I don’t know who it is, but it feels like they’re watching me.”
Rachel sat next to Anna, her mind racing. The calls were unsettling, but they didn’t seem like something that could be easily explained. She glanced around the room again. There was a small, wooden cabinet against the wall. Something about it seemed off.
“Do you mind if I look around a bit more?” Rachel asked.
Anna nodded, her hands clasped tightly in her lap. “Of course. Please, find out what’s going on.”
Rachel approached the cabinet, noticing that it was slightly ajar. She opened it carefully, and her heart skipped a beat. Inside was a collection of old photographs, mostly black-and-white pictures of Anna as a child. But one photo caught her eye. It was a picture of Anna with a man, standing in front of a house that looked like it had been abandoned for years.
“Who is this man?” Rachel asked, holding up the photo.
Anna’s face went pale. “That… that’s my father. He disappeared when I was a teenager. No one ever knew what happened to him.”
Rachel felt a knot tighten in her stomach. “And the house in the photo? Do you recognize it?”
Anna looked closer at the photo, her eyes wide with shock. “That… that’s the house where I grew up. But it’s been abandoned for years.”
Rachel’s mind was racing. Could the answer lie in that old house? She had to know more. “Anna, I think we need to go to that house.”
Anna hesitated. “But it’s been empty for so long. I haven’t been there since… since my father disappeared.”
“I know,” Rachel said. “But I believe the answers are there. We have to find out who’s been calling you.”
Reluctantly, Anna agreed, and they drove to the old house. The air was cold and the wind howled through the trees as they approached the run-down building. The windows were broken, and the door creaked as they pushed it open.
Inside, the house was dark and musty. The wooden floors creaked under their feet as they moved through the dusty rooms. In the back of the house, they found a staircase leading down to a basement.
“This is where my father used to work,” Anna said quietly, her voice trembling. “He was an artist. He had a studio down here.”
Rachel felt a chill run down her spine as they descended the stairs. The basement was cluttered with old canvases and paintbrushes, but in the corner, something caught Rachel’s eye. There was a table, and on it, a stack of old papers.
As Rachel sifted through the papers, she found something that made her heart race—handwritten notes, all signed with the name of Anna’s father. But the last note was different. It was dated the night he disappeared. The note read:
“I’ve made a mistake. Someone is watching me. They know what I did. I have to leave before it’s too late.”
Anna gasped when she saw the note. “That was the last thing my father wrote. He disappeared the next day. No one ever found him.”
Rachel looked at Anna, her mind piecing everything together. “Your father wasn’t just an artist, Anna. He was involved in something dangerous. Someone from his past is trying to find you. The calls you’ve been getting—they’re from the person who’s been hunting your father all these years.”
Anna’s eyes filled with tears. “But why me? Why now?”
Rachel took a deep breath. “Because you’re the only one left who knows the truth. They’re coming for you, Anna, because they believe you know something about your father’s disappearance. They want you to reveal it.”
Suddenly, the sound of footsteps echoed behind them. Rachel spun around, but the basement was empty. A cold shiver ran down her spine. The person who had been watching Anna was close. Very close.
Rachel grabbed Anna’s hand. “We need to go. Now.”
They rushed out of the house, but when they reached the car, a shadow appeared in the streetlight. A man in a long coat, standing silently, watching them.
Rachel pulled Anna into the car. “Drive fast. Don’t stop.”
As they sped away, Rachel looked in the rearview mirror. The shadow remained in the distance, but the man didn’t follow. For now, they were safe.
But Rachel knew this wasn’t over. The mystery of the midnight caller was just beginning. And someone, somewhere, was still watching Anna.
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- Moral Short Stories for Kids
- Short Tenali Raman Stories for Kids
- English Stories for Kids: Whispers in the Library
- English Stories for Kids: The Disappearing Door
- Engaging English Stories for Children
