Three Words

Three Words is a scary story about a group of people who are murdered in the same apartment building after receiving some strange phone calls.

I live alone in a nice little apartment. The apartment building is quite small. There are only two floors and there are four apartments on each floor. I live on the 1st floor, in apartment No. 104.

One day, when I was leaving my apartment, I saw several police cars parked in front of the building. I didn’t know what was going on, but it looked quite serious.

As I was walking down the street, I happened to bump into Mrs. Yamada. She lives next door to me in No. 103. Mrs Yamada looked at me strangely. She seemed very nervous.

“Did you hear what happened last night?” she asked.

“No,” I said. “What happened? Something strange?”

“Something very strange indeed,” she replied. “Actually, the people from No. 101 and No. 201 were murdered last night. They were killed in their apartments at exactly the same time, just around midnight.”

“How awful,” I said.

“That’s not all,” Mrs. Yamada continued. “Their throats were slit from ear to ear and their eyeballs were pulled out. The woman in No. 102 said she heard a phone ringing at around 11 o’clock last night. After a while, the ringing stopped and she thought she heard someone from No. 201 say something, but she couldn’t make out what it was. It sounded like just three words. Then, she heard the phone in No. 101 ringing. When it stopped, she heard them say three words as well, but again, she couldn’t make out what they were saying. Then somebody started screaming. This morning, she found out that the people in 101 and 201 were murdered and now she is worried that she might be next. She said she’s staying inside today, just to be safe. I can’t say I blame her. This is all very crazy!”

“Uh… Yes, it’s really crazy,” I said. “Thanks for telling me.”

Mrs. Yamada went back to her apartment. I went to the local store, bought some groceries and went home.

While I was cooking myself some dinner, I kept thinking about what Mrs. Yamada had told me. I couldn’t get the murders out of my head. I wondered how could something like this could happen in my little apartment building. The previous night, I had gone to bed early and didn’t hear a thing. It was really creepy.

I ate my dinner and sat down to read a magazine. Before I knew it, it was already 11 o’clock. I decided to go to bed.

A few minutes later, just as I was drifting off to sleep, I was awoken by a terrifying sound. Somewhere, a phone was ringing.

Ringring… Ringring… Ringring… Ringring…

It sounded like it was coming from No. 103. That was Mrs. Yamada’s apartment.

I listened carefully and I realized I could hear some other phones ringing.

Ringring… Ringring… Ringring… Ringring…

It seemed be coming from No. 202 and No. 203. Then, I heard the phone in No. 102 start ringing as well.

Ringring… Ringring… Ringring… Ringring…

What is going on? Four phones in four different apartments are ringing at exactly the same time. That has to be more than just a coincidence.

Just then, one of the phones in the apartments above stopped ringing. Someone in No. 202 or No. 203 must have picked it up. Maybe they didn’t know what was going on. Through the ceiling, I could hear a voice. I definitely heard what sounded like three words, but I couldn’t make out what they were saying. I’m certain it was just three words.

Now, I was really afraid. Everything Mrs. Yamada had told me was happening again. I wondered how she was. Was she OK? Her phone was still ringing. I assumed she was not picking it up as a precaution. That was probably the best thing to do.

The phones in No. 202 and No. 203 had stopped ringing. I was convinced that the people in both apartments upstairs were dead, but the phones from No. 102 and No. 103 were still ringing. I decided to go next door to check on Mrs. Yamada in No. 103 and see what was going on.

I went out into the corridor. The phone was still ringing. I could hear it through the door. I knocked on the door and waited. Mrs. Yamada didn’t open the door. I was getting worried. All of a sudden, the ringing stopped.

I put my shoulder against the door and broke it in.

“Don’t pick up the phone!” I screamed, but it was too late.

Unable to stand the tension, Mrs. Yamada had picked up the phone. She put the phone to hear ear, and after a few moments she said three words.

“Ha Ta Yo…”

The words didn’t make any sense. It sounded like gibberish, but I sensed that they had some deeper meaning. A chill ran down my spine.

“What about the woman in No. 102?” I wondered.

Her phone was still ringing. If she picked it up, she would probably die too. I had to warn her.

I rushed out into the corridor and banged on the door of No. 102.

“Don’t answer it!” I shouted.

The phone stopped ringing. I tried to open her door, but it was locked.

Through the door, I heard her say, “Ha Ta Yo…”

“Oh no!” I thought. “It’s all over! They’re both going to die!”

All of a sudden, I heard another phone start ringing. It was the phone in my apartment.

“I’m not going to pick it up!” I thought. “That way, I’ll be safe!”

Instead, I had to check on the woman in No. 102. I took a run at the door and broke it open with my shoulder.

To my surprise, she was perfectly safe.

I hurried back to No. 103, but when I opened the door, I got another surprise. Mrs. Yamada was safe as well. She was crouching in the corner, trembling and shaking, but she was alive.

“What is going on?” I wondered. “The two people who answered their phones are safe. Is this just some sort of elaborate prank? No, it can’t be. The people in No. 101 and No. 201 were definitely murdered. They were beheaded and their eyeballs were pulled out, just like Mrs. Yamada had told me. Wait a second! Did the people in No. 101 and No. 201 pick up their phones? What if… What if you aren’t killed after you pick up your phone? What if you’re killed for not picking up your phone?!

A chill ran down my spine as that realization sank in. I still hadn’t answered my phone! It was still ringing…

Ringring… Ringring… Ringring… Ringring…

“I’ve got to hurry!” I thought.

Ringring… Ringring… Ringring… Ringring…

I rushed back to my apartment.

Ringring… Ringring… Ringring… Ringring…

The phone was still ringing.

Ringring… Ringring… Ringring… Ringring…

“If I pick it up, I’ll be safe,” I thought.

Ringring… Ringring… Ringring… Ringring…

I grabbed my phone and put it to my ear.

The voice on the other end of the line said three words.

However, the three words I heard were not the ones that I expected to hear.

“YOU’RE TOO SLOW!”

Just then, I heard a knock on my front door…