Hello?

“‘Hello?” The voice called out of the woods, carrying through the inky blackness of the night. The voice didn’t sound hurried or urgent, rather very calm, as if calling out to a friend. As if trying to draw someone’s attention. It was a woman’s voice, sounding maybe early twenties. “Hello? Is anyone there?” The voice called out again, however something was off about it. Maybe it was because it was longer, but it sounded almost like the last two words were slurred together, as if this mystery speaker wasn’t experienced talking, and wasn’t opening their mouth all the way. The voice was still calm and casual though, despite it being the middle of the night in the middle of nowhere. I could barely see the treeline through my window, and definitely couldn’t make out the shape of a person through the dull pitch. The moon was mostly obscured, barely peeking out, as if it was trying to make it harder to see. Someone could be very close to the window and I still might not notice them. 
“Hello?” The voice called out again, cutting through the otherwise silent night. I quickly checked to make sure the window was latched and locked shut, before darting to my front door, double checking that the deadbolts were applied. It was quiet now, the only sound I could hear was my breathing, heavy, as I tried to steady it. There were no crickets, no coyotes, no owls, no life at all outside, but it was always like that at night. Even the wildlife knew to stay away once the sun went down. I couldn’t stand still, my legs carrying me to my kitchen as I paced through my small house, listening. Maybe the source of the voice went away. Almost as if in time with my thoughts, it called out once more. “I need help. Please” But again there was no urgency. It was still calm and casual, same as always. And you could still hear that something was off about the voice. But it sounded better. Every night it sounded more human, more comfortable mimicking speech. It sent a chill down my spine, and I hurried back to my door, triple checking it was locked all the way.
It probably didn’t matter. It never came this close and tried the door, or the windows. It never did anything but call out, but I still wasn’t going to test that. I needed to calm down. Freaking out listening to it call out to me wasn’t going to help. Nothing would. But my feet had other ideas, carrying me back to the window. All the other windows were boarded up, so I never had to worry about them. It was just this window, this one portal to the outside world. I looked through it, my heart pounding against my chest. At the treeline I saw a figure. It was hard to see, barely visible, but the silhouette of a person against the darkness of the woods was unmistakable. I took a step backwards. I had heard the voice before, a lot, but never seen a figure. Maybe it was different this time, maybe it was actually a person. No, it couldn’t be. I hadn’t seen another person out here at night. I was far enough away from the nearby town that someone wouldn’t accidentally wander over. And the figure wasn’t moving, standing completely still, any and all features obscured by the night.
“Can you help me?” The voice called, as easygoing as ever. I turned away, heading to my room.. I needed to ignore it. I've been sleeping terribly, forced to sleep during the day so I could stay up at night. My dreams are restless and disturbing. I needed to figure out how to cope with this. They say I'm supposed to stay inside,  keep my house locked tight, and to ignore the voice, but they didn’t say how hard it would be. How terrifying it would be. I laid in my bed, wishing I could sleep. They also said that they would grow bored, move on somewhere else. How long would that take? I don’t know how much more I can handle. “It’s cold out here” It called out, and I flinched. It sounded closer this time. I rose to my feet, the sound of my breathing filling the room. Why was it closer? They said that if I ignore it, it would go away so why wasn’t it going away? I wanted to cry, but that wouldn’t do any good. Instead I calmed myself, breathing slowly through my nose. In and out. I walked over to my nightstand, pulling out the handgun I kept. Supposedly, it was useless, but I’d rather have something. Anything. I was in uncharted waters. I slowly crept over to the window, and breathed a sigh of relief. The figure was still there. Maybe I had imagined it getting closer. Maybe it got bored and went back. Either way it felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders.
I set the gun on my coffee table, rubbing a hand through my hair. I fell down onto my couch with a thud, feeling restless yet exhausted. I wanted to sleep so bad. I hadn't felt this tired all week. I hadn’t had this pooling pit of dread in my stomach. It scared me how different tonight felt, but I didn’t know what to do about it. Calm down, it's fine. As long as I keep the doors and windows locked it can’t get in here. As long as the lights stay off, it has no way of knowing I’m in here. As long as I don’t do something stupid, I’m ok. I turn to the clock on my wall. It's only half past three. Another 3 and a half hours until the sun comes up. What then? I still can’t leave. Not until it goes away. Until it leaves the area. Just because it's active at night doesn’t mean it's not out there in the sunlight, waiting for me to do something stupid. I pull out my phone. Not that it does anything. My service has been out. I throw it onto the couch, cupping my head in my hands.
BANG BANG BANG. I shoot up, grabbing the gun and turning to face my front door, the pounding shooting a new type of fear into me. Fuck, I had fallen asleep, I wasn’t supposed to do that. “Let me in please. PLEASE” A voice cried out. It was different. It was a woman, but much older sounding. It sounded scared. Why would anyone be out here?  BANG BANG BANG. More pounding, banging. There was a desperate edge to it. “Please there’s something out here” My blood froze, and I ran to my front door. Someone was out here. Another person. “H-hold on. Who are you? Are you ok?” I asked, holding my breath as I awaited a response, my hand resting on the top deadbolt. “Please, please let me in, There's something out here” The voice cried out, and my hands still. Damn it, damn it, DAMN IT. It sounded so real, so human. But its last words didn’t sound human. I ran to the window. The figure was gone. I cursed myself silently. “Please let me in. I-I’m hurt.” It called out, and it was obvious this wasn’t a person. It was one of them. I aimed my gun at the door, taking a step back. 
“Who are you?” It asked, and I let out a choked gasp, my grip on the gun tightening almost painfully. It sounded different. It was a man's voice. My voice. It wasn’t perfect, and it didn’t sound human at all, but it was unmistakable. It was my voice, my words. What should I do? I didn’t know it could mimic voices. I fucked up. I screwed up so bad, I did the cardinal sin, I talked to it. I stood there, gun pointed at the door for what felt like an eternity. I don’t know how long I stood there, in silence, my breathing heavy, not moving a muscle. A bead of sweat trickled down my forehead, and I wiped it with the back of my hand. What was I supposed to do? The only advice they have is don’t talk to it, ignore it. How did it sound like me? How did it sound so convincing before? All these thoughts rolled around in my head, a large jumbled mess of fears and worries.
“I can see you,” It said. It said in my voice. I quickly turned my head to the window, and saw something dart out of view. Tears rolled down my face, there was nothing I could do to stop myself from breaking down.  I slowly started to back up to my room. BANG BANG BANG. It was getting desperate. It knew I was in here. It had known the whole time. It had been toying with me all week. That had to be why it didn’t move on. But it couldn’t get in. They said so. The experts said so, on the broadcast. They said if a hunter is in the area, it will attempt to lure prey in, and wouldn’t force itself into a building. That they weren’t strong enough to even break a window. I so desperately hoped that was true. That they were telling the truth. I stepped into my room and threw the door shut, locking it. I backed up until I hit the wall, the gun still pointed in front of me.
“Where did you go? “ It asked, still butchering my voice. It sounded less human than ever, its patterns and inflections completely wrong. Images of victims flashed in my mind. Descriptions of what happens to those caught by the hunters. I bit my thumb to keep from crying out in fear. BANG BANG BANG. Its pounding started up again, getting louder and louder as it kept slamming against my front door. “It can’t get in. It can’t get in” I repeated to myself, willing it to be true, my voice barely a whisper. The PSA said that simply locking your doors and windows is an effective way to stop them from entering your house. I heard a crashing noise, the sound of wood and glass splintering.

 “Please help me” It cried out, the voice paralyzing me, I heard the sound of something heavy dragging, of footsteps through my house. It's not a large house, and it does not take long for the footsteps to stop right outside my door. I fire the gun, before firing it again. I heard a cry of pain, and I knew I hit. I continued to fire, the sound deafening, until I ran out of bullets, the gun clicking as I continued squeezing the trigger. “That hurt” I remembered when they found the first victims, back when everyone assumed it was just a deranged lunatic. I remember how disgusted I felt just looking at the photos of the corpses. Of how they played with their food, what they did while they were still alive. Thinking of that now made me sob. A slow knocking on the door causes me to swing my head. “Please just go away” I cry out, my words barely audible through my sobs. “Please just go away” it mimics back, as wood splinters. The door cracks and swings open, and for a moment all I can see is the darkness of my house. Then, through the dark, I see a pair of eyes, staring at me.