Whispers From The Dark Read Online Free Page B

computer, seen what sites he had visited and made an offhanded reference about it.  Coincidence, plain and simple. 
    But still…this wasn’t right.
    He’d known it in the back of his mind from the moment the first word popped onto his computer monitor.  But now, after indulging whoever was toying with him and his own curiosity, the fact was front and center in his mind. The back of his neck tingled with the growing sensation that someone was watching him. 
    This wasn’t right.
    “Fucking hell,” he said to himself.
    you know nothing of hell materialized in the chat window.
    The breath caught in Bill’s throat as he sat staring at the words.
    There was no question about it now.  Whoever it was could hear him.
    “Jesus Christ.” He whispered so quietly he could barely hear the words himself.
    died screaming for his daddy   appeared on screen immediately.
    He hardly had time to read the words when the hairs just below his scalp tingled as he felt someone close behind him, breathing on his neck.
    Leaping from his chair with a scream Bill whirled violently, swinging a fist behind him but connecting with nothing.  There was no one in the room with him.
    Not even Robert.
    Bill looked around, panic creeping through him and knotting his stomach.  He was alone.  But he still felt like he was being watched.  He stood, rooted to the floor, for what seemed like an hour.  Silence hung heavy in the air, broken only by the faint chirping of crickets and frogs outside.
    Finally, he began to make his way toward the bathroom, craning his neck to try and peer around the corner and down the hallway while staying as far away from it as possible.  His heartbeat kicked a quick steady pace in his head.
    “Robert?”  His voice was strained, quivering with fear.  “You taking a piss?”
    Hopeful as he was, Bill wasn’t surprised that no response came.
    A few hesitant steps and he was able to see down the hall and into the dark, empty bathroom beyond.
    Behind him, the computer speakers crackled lightly with static.  Bill froze.  Through the hissing came what sounded like a voice, nearly inaudible beneath the white noise.  Bill couldn’t make out what it was saying, or even if it was male or female, but it was definitely a voice.
    Frozen in place, Bill stared at the speakers as the voice escaped from them.  It was almost hypnotic, rhythmically rising and falling in tone in an eerie pattern.  It sounded like it was singing to some unheard music.
    No, Bill thought to himself.  It wasn’t singing.
    It was chanting.
    As soon as Bill realized it, the static fell away and the voice became clearer and louder.  It was male and female, both speaking at the same time in a language Bill couldn’t identify.  Their tone was growing more intense by the minute, like a southern preacher gaining more and more momentum as he whipped his congregation into a frenzy.
    Bill ran across the room and switched the speakers off so frantically that he knocked one off the desk.  The house plunged back into silence as he stood over the computer, staring at the monitor.  His mind raced, trying to figure out both what was happening and what to do about it.
    More words appeared on the computer monitor, sending a fear coursing through Bill’s veins so powerful that his body began to tremble.
    coming for you, bill.  got your mommy and daddy got your buddy robert now it’s your turn.
     Panic overcame him and he began to scream.  “Who are you?  What the fuck do you want from me?  What did I do?”  Tears began to stream from his face.
    And then he heard the child.  A young child‘s voice, vaguely feminine, slowly becoming louder.
    The voice was coming from his bedroom, echoing through the house as it sang in a nursery rhyme rhythm.  “R-I-N-G-O, and Ringo was his name-o!”
    Staring down the dim hallway leading to the source of the voice, Bill began to back up, glancing over his shoulder every few steps as he made his way toward the front