Sirens Warning

## Sirens Warning by valhazzak2423

(Siren Head © Trevor Henderson
P.S. This story has been edited by GodfreyHoIsLife)

As morning came I awoke in my bed to soft sounds of droplets striking against the glass window of my room. My eyes were still heavy from the lack of sleep I usually get due to my insomnia. The peaceful sounds of the rain made it very tempting to just roll over and go back to bed if it weren't for little Leo rightfully barking at me in protest. “Give me ten more minutes.” I groaned, which was promptly met with another two barks.

I sighed as I knew he wasn't going to stop until I got up. “All right all right I'm up!” I checked my phone as I usually do when I first wake up. The time was 8: 22 a.m. It was early in the morning but it was hard to tell as the storm clouds outside did a very good job of blocking out the Sun, creating a gray overcast across the dim sky. More interestingly however was the emergency weather warning notification, which read “Emergency alert: Hurricane warning in this area.”.

This was a notification I've gotten many times before and it wasn't a surprise as local news stations have been talking about the upcoming storm for the past few days. Now they predicted that by the time it got to my area it wouldn't be all that bad as the storm would hit land first on the southern coast of Florida and was predicted to make its way up to the eastern coast of North Carolina.

“It seems like it'll be a relaxing day for us, huh Leo?” Leo barked in response, making me chuckle as I knew he was only interested in the breakfast I have yet to give him. My stomach growled as well, letting me know that he also felt the same way. After heading to the bathroom to brush my teeth and wash my face I made sure to fill one bowl with kibble and the other with water. I sighed as Leo created a small mess that I would not enjoy having to clean later.

After a quick shower and a bowl of cereal I turned on the TV. The first thing that caught my eye flicking through the channels was a rerun of one of those old Friday the 13th slasher films. I thought it was a bit odd they had it running in the morning but it had been years since I had seen one and nostalgia tends to make one do things they ordinarily wouldn't. It wasn't long before the sight of Jason Voorhees slaughtering mischievous and horny teens was interrupted by yet another emergency news broadcast. “**This is not a drill.**”.

The audio was booming at first which made me jump in my chair a little, spilling milk and cereal all over the marble countertop. I quickly grabbed the remote and rapidly began tapping the volume button, listening to the rest of the warning announcement through ringing ears. “**I repeat this is not a drill. To all those who receive this emergency message it is advised that you stay indoors until further instruction is given. Under no circumstances are you advised to leave the house. Lock your doors and windows and cover and shut all blinds and/or curtains to block out the view outside. I repeat again: stay indoors. This is not a drill.**”.

The audio for the movie came back, much quieter this time but I wasn't interested in it much after that. Leo was looking at me with the same puppy-dog eyes that seemed to say “We'll be fine.”. I leaned down to gently rub Leo's head, his soft snow white fur like a fluffy pillow in my hand. “Looks like the storm is worse than they anticipated. Hopefully it blows over quickly.”. The loud crashing thunder reverberated through the sky, causing the small house to shake and shudder. Leo let out a small whimper, hiding underneath the kitchen stool I was sitting on.

“Don't worry boy it'll all be over soon. I promise.” I did as the weather warning suggested even if it was a bit odd. I mean why would looking out at the storm be such a big concern? I guess if a window breaks that could lead to somebody being injured. I was in the process of closing my living room curtain when something caught my eye. Across the street from me lived one of my close friends: Annie. We met when I first moved into the neighborhood three years ago after she brought me a delicious homemade sweet potato pie that I still remember the taste of to this day.

Her gaze met mine just for a moment and it was hard to see her clearly through the heavy rain outside. I could barely make out a wave before she shut the curtains vanishing from sight altogether. About five minutes past and I heard the sound of my phone ringing. I could imagine the mischievious smile on her face as I read the name “Annie” on the caller ID. I answered the phone to hear a long-drawn-out high-pitched “Hello!”. It was definitely her, as goofy and playful as she's always been. I laughed and responded “Good morning Annie. I'm assuming you got that painfully loud emergency announcement as well?”

“I wouldn't say *painfully* loud. Maybe your TV was just turned up higher than you thought? But yes I got the announcement. I saw you in the window earlier and you looked awfully tired so I thought I'd give you a call to wake you up a bit!”

“Yeah I didn't get much sleep last night and you know how it is with work and all. Well why would I need to wake up anyway? It's not like I'll be doing anything or going anywhere with this storm today.”

“I keep telling you Harry you really should look into another job. I understand yo need the money but those hours are killing you and wouldn't it be better to enjoy a bit of free time every once in a while? And you never know. Something could happen or you could miss an important announcement. They say there's a high chance of a tornado forming in the area. You might end up missing the alert.”

“You know I can't do that Annie. I've got a reputation to keep. I can't just up and leave and besides I'm sure at this rate the power will go out fairly soon and they'll use the sirens to alert us if there is a tornado.”

“Well you never know. You can never be too safe.”

“Don't worry so much. These types of big storms never last that long. I'm willing to bet this will all be over within a couple hours or by the end of the day at the latest.

”I suppose you're right but I've got a bad feeling about this for some reason.”

“Now you sound like the one who needs to take a bit of rest. Don't worry about it so much. It'll be over before you know it.”

Hours have passed since that conversation. The Sun was long gone as the once gray clouds had turned black, letting no moonlight through at all. Looking out the window I couldn't see a thing outside. The darkness alone was enough to make me feel uneasy. I've never been afraid of the dark before but I've never seen a darkness so thick and so impenetrable. I closed the curtains and turned around to see Leo curled up on the bed shivering as he had been all day.

“Don't worry boy we'll be just fine.” I said laying down in bed reaching down to pet his fluffy fur coat. Leo settled down (if only slightly) as we settled in for the evening. Three whole days have passed and it still has no stopped storming. In fact it's only been getting worse. I'd be lying if I said this wasn't starting to concern me. The clouds have been getting darker and darker to the point where I can't tell if it's daytime or nighttime outside. It's just constant darkness drowned out by the neverending rainfall.

The power keeps flickering on and off for hours at a time and cell service is all but completely gone. I've tried letting Leo out into the backyard to use the bathroom but he refuses to set foot outside the house. Whenever I go to open the back door he barks and growls at me. I've never once seen him behave like this, even when I first got him. Ever since this storm blew in he's been acting strange, refusing to eat meals and constantly snarling at the windows. Today I was lucky enough to have the power flicker back on for only a few minutes. Upon seeing this I immediately hooked my phone up to the charger as it had been long dead. I flipped on the TV to try to get an update on the weather.

Every channel I turned to was nothing more than the same emergency alert. “**This is not a drill. If you are receiving this message you are in immediate danger. Under no circumstances are you to exit your home. Stay indoors and never look outside, no matter what you hear. Do not trust the sirens. This is not a drill**.” Do not trust the sirens? What does that mean?

That was when it finally hit me. It was faint and distant but I could definitely hear it in the distance. There were multiple tornado sirens and Alert broadcasts blasting out. Some sounded like they were getting closer and others sounded like they were getting further and further away. Once my phone was charged up a bit and turned on I heard it ringing from the kitchen. I raced toward it to see who it was. It was Annie again. I was surprised since I was barely getting a bar signal.

“Hello?”  I answered calmly but was met with an earful of a very pissed off but relieved sounding Annie.

“Good lord Harry why haven't you been answering your phone these past few days? I've been worried sick!”

“I'm sorry Annie. I didn't mean to frighten you. Truth is I honestly thought this whole thing would be over by the time I woke up today. When you called I forgotten to put my phone on the charger and had died. I haven't been able to charge it till now since the powers been off.”

“Geez Harry I told you you can never be too safe during times like these. I was thinking about coming over to check on you if you didn't pick up this time.”

“You've seen the warnings right? they say under no circumstances should we leave the house.”

She let out an audible sigh.  “Harry I care more about your safety than getting a little wet from the rain outside. If I think you might be in trouble I won't hesitate tomake my way over there as soon as I can.”

I felt a small smile tug on my lips. Annie somehow always knew just what to say to lift my spirits. “Thanks Annie,  you're the best.” I said. I took a small pause before deciding to bring up the sirens.

“Have you also been hearing the distant sirens lately?” Annie spoke up almost immediately as she was quick to voice her disapproval.

“Yeah I have. I don't like them.”

“What do you mean you don't like them? It's just tornado sirens. It's nothing to be afraid of.

“It's not that, it's just...” She trailed off and another long pause elapsed as I waited for her to continue. “It's just have you ever noticed that it always sounds like there's multiple sirens all going off at once? Not only that but they sound like like they're moving around.”

“I'm sure there *are* multiple. It's not that uncommon in bad storms like this. They might want to be sure everyone hears it just in case the power is out and they can't get the alerts.”

“It still gives me the creeps Harry. I don't like them.”

“Just take it easy Annie and try not to overthink it. The weather is just playing tricks on your mind.”

“I guess you may be right...”

“Look I'll make sure my phone is charged so we can call at least once a day. Big storms like this aren't common but they also aren't unheard of. The storm can only last so long.” There was a brief pause from Annie.

“All right I can agree to that. I'll call you every day at 1:00 p.m. and if you don't answer I'm coming over there, you hear me?”

If there was anything you could take Annie seriously on it was her promises. If she said she's gonna do something you better damn well believe she's gonna do it.

“I p.m. every day you got it? Now try to get some proper rest Annie. You sound like you need it.”

“I'll try to and you do the same Harry. Talk to you tomorrow.”

Next day I woke up to Leo barking at the closed window while an extremely loud tornado siren and broadcast seemed to be booming from above my house. The words were clear and concise but the volume made it extremely hard to hear anything other than Leo and the broadcast itself. In my groggy state and without a second thought I jumped out of bed and immediately raced to pick up Leo and make a dash for the car. I was only halfway down the hallway when it finally hit me: We don't have any tornado warning sirens this close to the neighborhood.

Secondly those tornado sirens don't usually come with a warning broadcast. Leo frantically thrashed around in my arms growling and snarling at the nearest window.  “The phone!” I thought out loud. There's no doubt that Annie must be hearing this. I set Leo down after having thought the situation through a little more. Making my way back to my bedroom I grabbed my phone, which was sitting on the dresser beside my bed. I waited eagerly for it to slowly boot
up. Once it did I saw it was 12:00 in the afternoon. Sitting at a measly 12 percent battery, I had over eight missed
calls and six voice messages from Annie. I tried calling her back multiple times but she never picked up the phone. Here were the voice messages:

"Harry do you fucking hear that? There's no way you can be sleeping through it! When you get this message call me back as soon as you can! All right?" In the background I heard the same screeching sound as the last three tornado sirens, similar to the ones I'd heard when I woke up. "The sound is deafening Harry! I know we had an agreement of 1 p.m. but I might come check on you a little earlier if you don't check your phone soon." In this recording the sirens are even louder but it was a little difficult to hear them with the added sound of heavy rain. Annie must have left the house by this point you could tell she was shouting just to be heard over at all.

"Harry you're starting to worry me now. I'm coming over. If you happen to get this message before I get there don't be surprised." At the end of the recording almost everything else was drowned out by an ear-splitting high-pitched screech. That same high-pitched screeching was still present in this clip. Although it was muffled it was definitely there. The sounds of rain and wind were gone and so I can only assume she made it back to her house. Her voice sounded shaky and scared almost as if she was about to cry at any moment.

"Please please call back soon. There's something in the storm. I only got a quick glimpse of it while crossing the
street to get to your house right as lightning flashed. It was tall and skinny. It'd look almost human
if it weren't for ow tall it was and its head... Its head was gone! There was only a pole with two megaphone or siren speakers attached! I don't know if it had eyes or where those eyes would even be. Even still I'm sure it saw me or somehow knew I was looking at it because after that it made that awful screeching sound that rapidly got
closer. I made it inside of course but it hasn't gone away..." In this recording there was more screeching although it was accompanied by dozens of emergency broadcasts.

Each of them was saying the same thing. The automated voices were overlapping in the background, eventually devolving into a garbling flood of sounds. Annie's voice was shakier than in the last message. "They just keep coming...I think the screech of the one that saw me is attracting more of them. I don't know how many there are but I keep seeing their silhouettes behind the curtains whenever the lightning flashes. They know I'm here Harry...please whatever you do don't go outside!" In the final message I can barely hear her speak over the sounds of loud crashes and bangs mixed in with horrified screams. All I was able to make out the screams of Annie and the distinct sound of what I could only assume to be bones being crunched like twigs under an ungodly amount of pressure from something before the
message ended abruptly.

What the hell? There's no way this can be real. I must be losing my mind or something. The rain still hasn't stopped and it doesn't look like it's letting up anytime soon. I hadn't noticed it before but at some point while I was listening to those voice messages the siren that had originally woke me had stopped. Truth be told after what I just heard this did more to unnerve me than calm me. Leo was snarling at the window that faced Annie's house. "What's wrong boy? What's out there?" I asked Leo, knowing I wouldn't get more of a response than more snarls and growls. That was it. I had to see it for myself. I had to prove to myself that I wasn't crazy. That this was all some kind
of nightmare or something, right? Monsters don't exist.

I walked over to the window and drew back the curtains, staring out into the black. I stared out of that window for what felt like hours. The suspense of it all was almost maddening by itself. The first lightning strike was when I saw it. The destroyed remains of the house that used to be Annie's. It was almost wholly unrecognizable to the point where it just looked like a pile of rubble. Standing just behind that pile of rubble, almost as if that were waiting for this moment for who knows how long, was the black outline of that thing Annie had described in the voice messages

An extremely tall humanoid like creature whose head I didn't have time to fully see and just as quickly as I had seen it the lightning faded and I sank to my knees when I heard the familiar high-pitched siren sound filled the air, followed by the robotic voice of an emergency broadcast.