The Author: MONSTER FUJI 怪物不二

Monster Fuji is a post-90s writer who won first prize in the 2011 New Concept Writing Contest, a national writing contest known for jumpstarting the careers of many aspiring young writers. A keen observer of urban youth, she has published two books and writes columns for youth magazines and Douban Read, one of the largest digital publishing platforms in China. Monster Fuji focuses largely on romance and suspense. Her suspense stories are a mixture of refreshing innocence and a twist of psychological analysis.

1. TELEPHONE

Ring ring!

Fang Yueru jumped up as she brought the handset near her face to speak, the sharp tone of the bell still lingering in her ears. “How do you do! This is the administrative division; how may I assist you?”

“Do you really have to go so all-out? You’re a part time assistant…” Su Xiao, Fang’s course mate, scrunched up her face as she looked in the mirror. They were used to living the chill life together—staying at home worked for them. If it weren’t for their university’s requirement that they show some kind of internship experience to graduate, they never would have found this part-time job, ending up as assistants in a small, stuffy room.

Being an assistant was pretty simple. Go upstairs, go downstairs, pick up and deliver this or that document, answer the phone. The phone was a hassle. It had a dial and was practically an antique. Su Xiao couldn’t resist touching it the first time she saw it. But as soon as she put her fingers on it, it rang, startling her. The caller was a wrong number that hung up after two rings.

Su Xiao said two very exaggerated hellos as she picked up the handset so that the middle-aged female manager next door wouldn’t think they were slacking off. This time Fang had somehow backed herself up to the doorway, where she was gripping the frame, face pallid as beads of sweat dripped from her face, staining her lightly-colored t-shirt.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” asked Su Xiao.

Fang stared at the phone, as she remarked in a low voice: “Why didn’t I you pick it up earlier?”

Thus began her relationship with the phone. Every time it rang, no matter where she was in the office, she’d run over and make sure she picked it up before it rang twice. Su Xiao was confused. Seeing how Fang lost her mind every time the phone rang, the fear in her eyes, she thought she looked like a puppet on strings. If the phone only rang once before the caller hung up, Fang would sit uneasily in her place for the rest of the day. On this particular day, the two of them were descending the staircase when the office phone rang again.

Ring!

The sonic waves from the phone’s ringer assaulted the tympanic membrane. Su Xiao never thought the ring of a phone could be so intense. She groaned as she walked on, but Fang reacted like she’d just received a death threat and ran back to the office.

“Come on, we’re already off the clock!”

Exasperated, Su Xiao could only follow. Having to run in her high heels, Fang tripped as she scrambled up the stairs and let out a miserable scream. Su Xiao caught up to her and helped her up, “Look at you, why are you in such a hurry?”

“Don’t mind me, go get the phone!” Fang yelled at Su Xiao as she clutched her knee. The extent of her panic frightened Su Xiao, who had no choice but to run even faster to the office. Just as she reached the door, the shrill ringing of the phone ceased, infuriating Su Xiao, who stamped her foot as Fang hobbled over. Afraid Fang would lose it again, Su Xiao quickly said, “You’re really overdoing it here. The office is already locked, so we couldn’t have gotten to the phone no matter how fast we hurried.” Fang ignored her explanation, and fell to her knees, her expression suddenly changing as she muttered: “We missed the call, we missed the call…”

“Why are you so scared?” Su Xiao had to ask. “Tell me, maybe you’ll feel a bit better.”

“At first, I didn’t know,” Fang trembled as she shook her head. “I was just terrified. When I’d hear the ring, my hair would stand on end, I felt like something wasn’t right. You don’t think it’s frightening? So quiet, and then all of a sudden, ‘ring ring,’ seemingly without end! You don’t know what will happen if you pick up the phone, but if you don’t pick up, something unexpected might happen. I have recurring nightmares now, all about unanswered phones. A phone just rings and rings in an empty room. It’s so noisy! I have to hide in the corner, but it rings louder and louder and louder, and then the entire phone explodes! I don’t know who’s killed but blood and flesh fly everywhere. It’s terrifying! Then I dreamed of the phone, and I was going to pick it up, so that it wouldn’t explode and kill anyone, but every time I’m too late!” Fang’s eyes were beginning to tear up. “Every time, I’m just a little bit off. No matter how hard I run, I can’t change the outcome! I get closer and closer each time, and I saw clearer and clearer. I slowly discovered that the phone wasn’t a phone, but a human head! Covered in blood! And it explodes right before my eyes! I…”

As Fang spoke, Su Xiao began to tremble too.

Then the phone rang again.

The ringing was amplified, somehow urgent and strange.

“I have to pick up that phone!” Fang pulled open the hallway window outside the office, and, ignoring her injured knee, pulled herself inside.

“Hey!” Su Xiao yelled out, but Fang was already in the office. The phone was still ringing, as if it would never stop. Su Xiao stood on her tiptoes and looked through the window to see Fang staggering toward the desk, where she managed to pick up the phone before it stopped ringing.

“Hi there, this is the administrative division, how may I…” Fang couldn’t finish her sentence.

Over the wire came a voice, a woman gently saying, “Yueru dear, pick up the phone.”

Fang’s entire body froze up. “What? What are you talking about?”

“Yueru dear, I said pick up the phone.” It sounded as if the woman was laughing softly. “Come on, Yueru, pick that phone up. Pick up the phone!”

This voice was familiar; it was… Fang’s entire body began to tremble, as she raised her eyes to see the hallway outside slowly darkening, but she could see Su Xiao’s head poking up over the ledge of the window. If Su Xiao was out there looking worriedly at her, then who was the voice on the phone—who was that Su Xiao?

The Su Xiao outside in the hallway looked as if she’d just discovered something strange and waved hurriedly at Fang.

“Why don’t you pick up the phone?” The voice in the phone said sharply. “Fang Yueru, why don’t you pick up the phone?”

“Nameless Terror, part 1” is a story from our newest issue, “Gender Equality”. To read the whole piece, become a subscriber and receive the full magazine. Alternatively, you can purchase the digital version from the iTunes Store.

Continue on to Part 2!