The phone rang at 2 a.m. The silence shattered, the darkness split, and one sleepy answer changed everything. A wife’s sharp reply, a husband’s growing suspicion, and a bizarre question from a stranger turned an ordinary night into something far more unsettling. By the time she hung up, nothing felt quite rig…

They lay in the dark, hearts still racing from the shrill ring that had torn through their sleep. She had answered without thinking, her voice thick with irritation, snapping that whatever was happening 200 miles away had nothing to do with them. When she hung up, the room felt strangely heavier, as if the call had left something behind. Her husband turned toward her, confusion etched into his face, and quietly asked who it was. She stared at the ceiling for a beat, then, with a dry, almost amused calm, told him it was just some stranger asking if “the coast was clear.”

He laughed, but the sound was nervous, uncertain. Was it a joke, or a slip? The absurdity of the question lingered between them, mixing with doubt and curiosity. Long after they tried to fall back asleep, both were left wondering what, exactly, that late-night call had really awakened.