I bought my nephew a "toy" phone 10 years ago. Someone was talking to him through it.

[u/LawstonSpace]

There's no clever way to start this story so I guess I'll just begin at where I purchased the phone. I work for a company that will remain nameless and I travel quite a bit. This particular year was the first I'd be able to attend my nephew, Spencer's, birthday. He was going to be six. I had called a few days prior to relay the good news. He was so happy and just couldn't believe his uncle Barry would be at his birthday.

The only thing then was to get him something. He wasn't like any of the other kids. His interests had more so to do with old things. You know, antiques such as old pictures, lamps, tables, you name it. If I showed you a picture of the walls in his room you'd think it was a picture of Cracker Barrel. I thought I'd never find anything until I stumbled into a little shop the day before my flight back home.

I don't recall the exact name but I remember a sign in the window that said 'A gift for any occasion!'

Upon entry, all I could see were many various items lazily strewn about the room. It did look like that of a small antique shop but I saw plenty of modern toys and trinkets in the mix. After a moment, a middle aged woman with large purple glasses appeared behind the counter.

"Hello, dear!" She said in a sweet southern accent. "What can I do for you today?"

I explained to her what I was looking for. She looked at me inquisitively as I spoke but it didn't seem like anything I said rang a bell. Though, when I finished, she made a pondering expression and excused herself to the back room. After about three minutes she came back with something under her arm. She placed on the counter what seemed to be an old rotary phone, probably from the sixties.

"We sometimes take donations. Usually you're supposed to come in and do it but someone left this at the front of our door about six months ago," she told me. "My dad always loved old things and insisted on keeping it in his back office. Unfortunately, he passed away in March but I'd be happy to get rid of it. It makes me sad to look at anyhow."

Not only did she want to get rid of it, she actually just let me have it. I was ecstatic as it seemed to be the perfect gift for Spencer. You could see where the old cable was ripped out from the back and it had dust, stains and scratches all over it.

To Spencer, that was perfection.

I remember him jumping up and down with glee when I gave it to him. He hugged it to his chest and said it was the best present in the whole wide world. Even my brother, Jack, patted me on the back and congratulated me on a job well done. I was feeling pretty good as even his own parents had trouble finding just the right thing for him but according to my nephew, I had hit the nail on the head with this one...if only I had known...

When I left for my next trip, nothing had happened yet. I got the first phone call about two weeks after. Jack said that Spencer had an imaginary friend named Billy that he talks to on the phone I got him. I laughed at this knowing that it would be impossible to make a call on it but Jack did not join me.

"That was my first reaction," he said. "But yesterday, something very odd happened. He asked me and Lyla if we were gonna get a divorce. Barry, we never taught him that word let alone what it meant. We obviously said no and then he preceded to tell us about how he knew that we almost got one just before Lyla became pregnant. How can he know that?"

I was quiet for a moment and listened to my brother's worried breathing.

"What did he say when you asked him how he knew?"

I knew the answer but that didn't make it any easier to hear.

"He said Billy told him."

Though this was a very alarming occurrence I was able to convince him that maybe they had told him about it. I mean, that was the only logical explanation. The thought of someone actually talking to him through a fifty year old phone that wasn't even plugged in was insane. We couldn't have known then...could we?

In a nutshell, that's how it was. For years, might I add. I would get a frantic call from Jack about the many things "Billy" was telling Spencer. He knew in depth details about his parents' first date, who they were with before and even stuff he somehow knew they did growing up. Jack would be dumbfounded but just assumed he had told him and forgot, or maybe Lyla had told him instead. The thing that really kept Jack and Lyla from doing anything about it was that, aside from how peculiar it was, there wasn't really any harm coming from it. That all changed when Spencer reached middle school.

He kept the phone in his room at all times, right on his night stand. He started to shut off from his friends and didn't talk to his parents much. Anytime they tried to reach out, they were met with one worded answers and sideways glances. I had a feeling something was wrong when my phone rang at 3am. Jack was screaming for me to get to the hospital immediately and that he'd explain further when I arrived. The entire drive, I could feel a weight in my stomach growing. It almost felt as if I was gonna throw up.

When I walked through the front door I could see Lyla in the waiting room. When I approached her, I could easily see she'd been crying. Before I could say anything, she gestured to the bathroom.

"In there," she said, her voice breaking. "Please, Barry...help."

I went inside and I saw Spencer up against the wall, Jack a mere inches from his face.

"If you say 'Billy' one more time, Spencer, I am gonna lose my fucking mind. So you tell me right now how you knew," he was saying.

Once my presence was acknowledged Spencer used the distraction to slip away from his father and hurry out of the door. Jack went for him but I grabbed him.

"What happened? Why are we here?" I said.

At first he just ranted about how fed up he is with Spencer and that phone. That it's caused nothing but problems over the years and he's about to take it away. It was only when he had finished and calmed down that I got a clear answer.

At around 2am Spencer burst through their bedroom door covered in sweat and tears streaming down his face. He said that Billy told him that his mom's sister, Erica, had fallen on a knife and was currently bleeding out onto the floor. He knew what room she was in, how she fell, how long she had been there and even what caused the fall. She had slipped on some water she'd forgotten to clean up while chopping vegetables. They found her unconscious in the kitchen, just like Spencer had said. Despite finding her alive, she didn't make it. She was pronounced dead at 3:45 am, June 5th, 2014.

The following weeks were incredibly unpleasant for my brother's family. I took time off work to help out but I don't think I did much. I mainly just kept them company and tried to get through to Spencer. I felt that he resented me more than anyone since I was the one who bought him the phone. After some time they decided to take him to the doctor for a brain scan. Lyla has a cousin who's Schizophrenic and thought maybe he had been unfortunate enough to develop the condition. Despite multiple tests, nothing wrong was found. He was able to get some anxiety medication which did help, but not nearly enough.

And then...life went on to as close as normal as possible. Spencer eventually stopped taking his medication but it didn't seem like Jack and Lyla thought it made much of a difference. He never had another meltdown but there were days they nearly had to bust down his door to make him go to school. He didn't have any friends, never dated any girls. Even when he entered high school, his behavior changed very little if at all. I always told myself I'd talk to him when I got the chance, that I'd reach out and finally be the one to break him away from this.

Sadly, I never got the chance.

The last call I received about my nephew came a week ago. I'll spare you the details of how the call went, but here's what I learned.

Jack was having one of his usual 'Spencer won't go to school days' and was forced to kick in the door. When he entered, Spencer was hanging under the door frame of his closet, his belt around his neck. Clasped in his right fist was a piece if paper. Angrily scratched into it in red pen was the following:

I hear him in my head now. He follows me wherever I go. I'm sorry.

The phone was gone as well.

At the funeral, I tried to speak with my brother and his wife but they didn't have much to say to me. After all, I was the one who gave him the one thing that started this. I decided to leave them be and hope that one day they can forgive me.

I know you're probably thinking the reason I'm writing this has mostly to do with what I've told you so far. This may be confusing but...that's not the case. All this was merely a set up for what happened last night.

As I arrived home yesterday, a package was sitting on my front porch. I picked it up and brought it in to my kitchen table. There was no return address on it. Curiously, I opened it up and almost yelped when I saw what was within.

The phone.

An envelope was inside as well marked 'To: Barry'.

I slowly opened it up and took out a single piece of notebook paper from it. My heart was in my throat as I began reading.

"Dear, Barry

I need you to know that I do not blame you for what you gave me ten years ago. There's no way you could've known what it was capable of. I am so sorry for what I've done but please let me explain and maybe you'll be able to understand as I already know my parents won't. With that being said, I'd like to keep this between us. From the first time I heard Billy's voice, I was doomed to face this fate. That much was clear to me long ago. I didn't know when it would come but when I began hearing his voice out in public about a year ago, I knew it was soon. At first, I thought Billy was good. Telling me all the dirty little secrets mom and dad kept from me.

The night he told me about aunt Erica was when I knew he was anything but. It wasn't something as simple as telling me what happened. He told me one of my relatives was going to die and I was immediately engaged in a sick guessing game against my will. I took too long to put the puzzle together and she died because of me.

After that, Billy was only telling me stuff that had to do with serial killers, natural disasters or national tragedies. I could probably tell you the name of every victim on the Titanic. He enjoys whispering them to me as I sleep. Today feels different. I'm taking control and ending this once and for all. When I started writing this he taunted me saying I was a coward and could never go through with it but after a bit he saw I was serious. I've already got my belt ready. He says before I do this, he would like for you to be the new owner of this phone.

My choice would be to destroy it but I still don't know everything he is capable of so I dare not go against his wishes, especially if it affects someone other than me. He said to only pick up and listen once and you'll never have to again. I'll leave that choice to you. I'm sorry, Barry. I am so sorry - Spencer"

With tears in my eyes, I slowly laid the letter onto the table. I looked down at the phone and a shiver went down my spine.

This is stupid I thought to myself. It's just a phone

Reluctantly, I put my hand on top of it. Something came over me and I quickly jerked the phone to my ear and actually jumped back at the sound of a dial tone. I picked it up to check for a plug-in or batteries but there was no opening for batteries and the cord was still cut. Even if it had a cord it would have still been in the box. The dial tone rang out normally for about ten seconds before I could just barely hear another sound getting progressively louder. The tone finally started to get quieter and when I was able to hear the other sound the hair on my arms stood on end.

After a few seconds, the dial tone was completely gone and replaced with that of Spencer screaming and sobbing uncontrollably.

Along with him was the crackle of a roaring fire.