I’m a ham radio operator, aka a radio amateur. From time to time, I turn on my transceiver and talk to people around the globe. But sometimes, there is always that one transmission which makes my blood freeze.
One night, I was in my shack, working on my brother’s PC because it broke and he wanted me to fix it, so why not? Anyway, as I was fixing it, I decided to turn on my transceiver and listen to what the bands have to give on this particular night. Aside from the usual old people talk (more like complain about their pensions and the weather for the 60th time), I came across an odd conversation. Now, I assume you’re not familiar with ham radio lingo, so I’ll be translating.
(Person 1 - p1; Person 2 - p2)
p1: Anyone on the air? Looking for a someone to talk to, preferably long distance.
p2: Go ahead.
p1: Hello! My name is-
p2: I know.
p1: Oh, you’ve looked at my profile on QRZ? (Ham radio website)
p2: No.
p1: …Did we talk? I have no recollection of your callsign.
p2: We didn’t talk before.
p1: Then how do you know me? Did we met in real life, so I told you my callsign? Really, you’re creeping me out now.
p2: No, we haven’t met before.
p1: Whatever. Ain’t got time for trolls. I’m going off.
The first person went off the air and I presume to some other frequency. Now, I had the same thought as first guy, trolls do exist and that guy is just some troll wasting people’s time with this antics.
After some time, I finished repairing my brother’s PC and gave it back to him. But the mere thought of that conversation stuck in my damn mind so bad, I had to make contact on that frequency and see if the troll is still there.
So, I logged onto my log app on my laptop, and got ready to transmit.
“Anyone on the air?”
After 30 seconds of static, I heard someone on the other end. He was slightly whispering.
???: “Odd time to be on air, boy.
I was a bit taken aback, mainly due to the “oooh, I’m spooky” attitude the guy was putting out, but I was trying to play innocent.
“Uhm, hello, could you speak louder, please?”
???: No, I can’t. This is all I’ve got.
At that point, I was a bit annoyed, because he was still quite whispering - and even a old guy in his 90s can speak properly. So, under the thought that this is a older gentleman, I prompted to be nice and polite and continue on the conversation, by asking him his callsign.
“Sir, what is your callsign? I need to know your callsign so I can enter it in my logbook.”
???: Callsign? What do you need my callsign for?
“Sir, I need your callsign so I can enter it into my logbook, which will confirm our connection on QRZ. Do you understand that?”
???: I’ve got a better way.
“No, sir you nee-“
My phone rang. Thinking nothing of it, I reached for the phone. It was a unknown number. Then, the guy on the radio said: “Pick up the call, so I can tell you my callsign…”
I had enough. All this weird behaviour, edgyness, not wanting to give me his callsign…I wanted no more.
“Okay, since you won’t tell me your callsign, I’m turning my station off and going to sleep. 73 (best wishes), and goodbye.”
He immediately yelled back: “NO! Don’t do it! If you do, I’ll die!” and with that, I shut off my station and went to sleep. But something bothered me. Was it…a bit of a asshole move to shut him off? Maybe…but around 1:30 AM, I get a knock on my door. My dog wakes up and begins barking. Thinking it’s my brother coming back from a disco, I go up to the door.
Before I even got to the door, I turned around to see my brother, hard asleep. Who the fuck can it be? Some kid doorbell ditching? Anyway, I finally reach the door. Because my door has a glass pane in it, I can see who it is outside. The dark made it a bit hard to see, but somehow, the person was EVEN more dark then the normal night darkness. I checked the peephole and all I saw was dark. I touched the handle and it was freezing cold. Thinking this might be some criminal, I went and armed myself. Then I slowly started to open the door. As I slowly opening the door, a whispering voice spoke…
“Hurry son, I’m cold out here…”
I was even more scared now, so I turned on my phone flashlight to see who it is. The “guy” INSTANTLY screamed: “NO! NOT THE LIGHT! NOT THE LIGHT! NOT THE FUCKING LIIIIIIIIIIIGHT!” I slammed the door and locked it, then ran to every single possible entry points in my apartment, closed them and went back to the hallway, watching this “thing” turn from a frail, old man to a fucking demon. It was turning the handle extremely violently, cursing, yelling and banging on the door. My mom woke up and asked what the fuck is going on. “I–I-I-I don’t fucking know, but it’s a fucking demon!” My mom told me to get a bowl of boiling hot water and a crucifix. I did and got the items to her. “Throw the water at the door.”, my mom said. I did and we heard this blood curling scream foil out through out the apartment complex. “NOW, GRAB THE CRUCIFIX AND OPEN THE DOOR AND YELL A PRAYER!” yelled my mom. It took some courage, but I fully opened the door and began yelling out Saint Mary. The screams this thing was producing was so loud I couldn’t even hear myself in moments. By the time I repeated the prayer 7 times, it was gone.
The next day, I went to check my equipment. It isn’t working. Nothing works. Dead. But I’m alive, and so is my family. God knows what would happen if I just opened the door…