Scent Notes: That sudden tingle in your nose when static appears, all metallic and ozone, with herbaceous basil, fennel, and caraway, warm cedar and amber, and that constant undercurrent of electricity.

“I’m telling you, someone keeps calling and saying scary, unhinged things!” Sarah cried in her mother’s arms, clearly shaken and very unnerved. “It’s okay honey, I believe you. Someone is obviously prank calling us and doing it just to scare you, but there’s nothing to be afraid of,” her mom, Gretchen, said while stroking Sarah’s hair and rubbing her back. “But he told me he was going to find me, kidnap me, and torture my whole family! Mom, I’m so scared.” She stuck her face into her mom’s chest, staining her mom’s shirt with tears and cheap, drugstore blue eyeshadow.

Gretchen had recently married her second husband, Kyle. She’d left Sarah’s father when Sarah was barely three years old. Sarah’s father had had violent mood swings and a raging temper, and Gretchen had decided being a single mother was more desirable than living with that man forever. Sarah hadn’t seen him since Gretchen had fled with Sarah in her arms early one morning; he’d had no desire to be a father, anyway. Kyle had welcomed both of them with open arms, and since Gretchen had been so young when she’d had Sarah, she and Kyle had been trying to have a child of their own. They’d just told Sarah last week that she’d soon have a little brother or sister. 

Plus, Kyle’s job had transferred him to a new part of the state, and after the wedding, they’d packed up and moved more than eight hours away. Sarah had just started high school and was having trouble fitting into a completely new social scene, in a totally new town, and Gretchen was already worried about her, and now she had to worry about Sarah accepting having a sibling. Her reaction had been … not great, to put it mildly.

The calls had started a few days ago, when Sarah had been home “sick” from school. She said someone had called, more than once, teasing her, which kept escalating with every call. Now, apparently, they were at the point of threatening not only Sarah, but their entire family. Neither Gretchen nor Kyle had picked up the phone for these threats; they always seemed to happen when Sarah was home alone, and they’d walk in to see her sobbing, panicking. Today she’d had a knife by her side because she was so scared this person was going to break in and find her. Gretchen’s worst fear was that these calls were somehow her ex’s doing. They’d just recently gotten an internet connection because it was the new millennium and allegedly it would become a “necessity,” though Gretchen seriously doubted that. Had her ex figured out where they were? 

She pushed the thought from her mind. “Honey, you haven’t been talking to strangers on the internet, right? You haven’t given out our information anywhere?” She felt Sarah shake her head. “No! I only talk to my friends back home! I wouldn’t give a random person my number. I bet it’s someone at this stupid school.” She pulled her head away and looked deep into her mom’s eyes, suddenly serious. “Can I just drop out? I don’t want to go anymore.” Gretchen sighed, trying to hide her annoyance. “Sweetie, we’ve talked about this. High school sucks for most people. I know it’s not fair to you that we had to move right before you started high school with your friends, but you’ll make new ones. There’s been all this change, for all of us…” Sarah pulled away, her eyes cold. “Fine. I’ll be in my room.” Gretchen looked stunned as Sarah walked away. She went to put the knife back into the kitchen. 

Kyle came home a few hours later. Gretchen relayed the news to him about Sarah and the newest threatening call, and how Sarah’s attitude had changed so abruptly afterward. This time, Gretchen was the one being soothed. “It’s alright, honey. She’s going through a lot. Next time this guy calls, I’ll run down the street to the sheriff’s office. We’ll have them trace the call, and we’ll get this settled. Ok?” Gretchen nodded. “Thank you. I’m just stressed from all of this, and so worried for her.” Kyle smiled. “It’s hard being a teenager. It’s also hard growing a baby, so why don’t you sit down while I make us all some dinner?”

Days went by, which turned into weeks. Whenever Sarah was home alone, even just for five minutes, one of these calls happened. Kyle or Gretchen would come home and find Sarah in a puddle of tears, increasingly paranoid. They pulled her out of school, hoping that the student behind this would stop. It didn’t work. They asked the sheriff’s office, but they couldn’t trace the calls; they couldn’t even find evidence that the calls were happening, but Sarah was becoming more and more paranoid. She kept a kitchen knife on her bedside table; as many times as Gretchen or Kyle took it away, it always returned. It helped Sarah feel safe, so how could they really object? 

They set up a tape recorder to try and tape the calls, but the tapes seemed to glitch, only capturing the sound of static, if they turned on in time. Gretchen took a leave of absence from work; Kyle started working off-hours so he could be home more and give Gretchen time to go to doctor’s appointments. Sarah was spiraling, terrified both to stay home and to leave the house; convinced she was going to be attacked if she left, and knowing if she was home alone for even a minute, she’d get a phone call. It was torture. Gretchen or Kyle had to be home with her at all times, but that was not always possible. The whole house was being driven into madness.

One night, during fitful bouts of sleep, Gretchen bolted upright to the sound of the phone ringing. At least, that’s what she thought she’d heard; the phone wasn’t actually ringing. Half awake, she picked up the phone next to the bed. At first, all she could hear was static. “Hello? Hello? Who’s there? Why are you doing this to us?” Was that a man laughing that she faintly heard? No, it couldn’t be; it was just static. But it wasn’t JUST static either; it was deep, bone-seeping, metallic-taste-in-your-mouth static. Gretchen shivered, all the hairs on her arms standing up. While she couldn’t hear a stranger’s voice, what she could clearly hear was Sarah’s frantic, terrified mumbling. “No, no, please. I can’t. I can’t do that. I can’t hurt them. Don’t make me hurt them. Please, please don’t make me hurt them.” She was pleading with a voice Gretchen couldn’t hear. “Sarah, honey, it’s mom. Nobody is there. No one is on the line. Hang up. Honey? Can you hear me?” Sarah kept talking, her tone rising in pitch and volume, until she was screaming through the phone. “FINE! I’LL DO IT! I’LL DO IT!” Then the line went completely dead.
 

Scent Notes: That sudden tingle in your nose when static appears, all metallic and ozone, with herbaceous basil, fennel, and caraway, warm cedar and amber, and that constant undercurrent of electricity.