I Heard My Own Voice Coming From Outside My Bedroom.

We moved out of that house about a month later.

On our last night there, we were finishing up packing the boxes. My mom was in the living room, and I was alone in the hallway, picking up a few things.

That was when I noticed the pencil mark on the wall.

It was a date.

Underneath it, it said:

“3:17. Don’t answer.”

I stared at it for a few seconds.

I asked my mom if she had written it.

She said no.

Then I heard three knocks behind me.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

I turned around.

There was no one there.

I looked at my phone.

3:17 a.m.

I ran out of the house and never went back inside.

I thought it was over once we moved.

Until a few months later.

One night, I was in my new bedroom, completely in the dark, when my phone vibrated on the nightstand.

It was a call from an unknown number.

I answered without thinking.

At first, there was nothing but silence.

Then I heard breathing.

And then, very quietly, a voice said:

—“Are you there yet?”

It was my own voice.

I hung up immediately.

The phone rang again.

This time, it was a message from an unknown number.

It only said:

“I told you not to answer.”

Since then, I never answer calls at 3:17.

But the worst part is that some nights, when I'm completely sure I'm alone, I hear three knocks on my bedroom door.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

There are always a few seconds of silence.

And then I hear my own voice from the other side:

—“Are you awake?”