The MOMO Challenge(rioz911)

01.

There was still a chill in the air, the morning sun was hidden behind dark rain clouds. A lone man made his way down a quiet country path, gravel crunched under his heavy walking boots. He heard rain as it began to fall and make its way down through the trees; suddenly there was the sound of twigs breaking as something ran up behind him.

A grubby looking ball rolled in front of him. "Took you long enough," bending down to pick the ball up, he turned and looked at the large golden Labrador that eagerly stared back at him. "I don't want to get caught in this rain, OK? So last one, yeah?" The man launched the ball down the path and watched as the dog raced after it. The man watched as the dog stood over the ball and paused. "Hey! Today would be nice!" Without taking the ball the dog took off down another path. "Ah damn it, best not be chasing that cat again!" The man grumbled under his breath as he broke into a slow jog. Once he had retrieved the ball he looked around, his dog was nowhere to be seen. At the end of the path was a large farmhouse, set far back from the country lane. He could hear soft low pitch whining. "Shadow, where you at boy?"

After going silent for several seconds, an unsettling sobbing noise emanated from the tree line.

"I told you to leave that damn cat alone." The man searched the treeline as he made his way down the path towards the farmhouse. A cell phone lay at the edge of the path; as he knelt to inspect it, he noticed it was sat in a pool of blood. The screen had been cracked.

He thought he heard something whisper "help me" before the sobbing continued. "The hell is this?"

He dropped the phone and frantically tried to wipe the blood off. A slight movement in the ditch caught his attention. A small pale girl reached her hand towards him and shrieked.

The man stumbled, as he stared back at the girl, unable to take his eyes off her. She was covered in blood and her matted hair covered most of her face. She was shaking violently as she stared right back at the man. The whites of her eyes piercing through her messy hair. With her breath visible in the cold morning air she let out another whaling shriek.

02.

Several Hours Earlier…

A porch light flickers on illuminating the driveway, as a car pulls up alongside the farmhouse. A young woman – Carmen – steps out of the vehicle, into the cool summer night. Crickets chirp from the dark forest that surrounds the house. The wooden steps creaked as she made her way to the door. She paused and looked through the nearby window. The house was in darkness. Carmen pressed the doorbell as she continued to look through the window. She flinched at how loud the ringing was. She pulled out her cell phone and scrolled to the contact Amie. Carmen paced beside the door as she made the call. It rang several times before Carmen realized she could hear a phone vibrating. She peered back through the window and saw Amie's phone lighting up a section of the living room. Carmen let out a sigh. Muttering under her breath "What's going on Ames?", she knocked on the door.

"Amie! Better be a good reason you're ghosting me."

No reply came and Carmen decided to let herself in. Moonlight poured into the kitchen window, flickering through the swaying trees. "Ames, where you at?" A breeze sent a chill over Carmen and she rubbed her arms. The door slammed shut in the draft, blocking the light from the porch. Startled, Carmen flinched and inhaled sharply.

"Alexa. Lights on."

Slowly the large open plan room was lit up, except for the kitchen area that remained illuminated by the moonlight. Carmen walked over to the cell phone and picked it up. Wiping the dust from the screen she noticed a lot of messages and missed calls. All from the same number. A preview of a message caught Carmen's attention, it read The MOMO Challenge.

The floorboards above her head creaked as something moved above her. Turning her gaze upwards she noticed a light come on above the stairwell.

"Just so you know Ames, if you jump out at me, I am not going to be sorry when I hit you!"

Carmen rolled her eyes as she made her way towards the stairs. As she reached the bottom of the stairs she paused. Behind her, a shadowy reflection moved across the widescreen TV. A tall thin figure walked past the kitchen window. It walked up to the edge of the shadowy kitchen and stared right at Carmen. It remained motionless. Even with its back hunched it loomed over the girl. Long dark hair flowed down the figures pale body. Two large eyes peered out of the darkness. Unblinking and focused.

Carmen turned her head sharply at a noise from the kitchen, but nothing appeared to be moving. The soft moonlight flickered across the top of the dining table. As she turned back to make her way up the stairs, another clattering sound echoed from the kitchen and something ran out from under the table. Carmen grabbed the railing as it darted past her. "Jesus, cat!" She let out a soft laugh. "No need!" A tree branch rattled against the window above the stairwell. As she went up the stairs she paused on the landing and saw the cat stood at the top of the stairs, the moonlight reflected in its eyes. "Think you are funny, don't you?" As she reached out her hand to pet the cat, it hissed at her and ran away. The tall pale figure watched from the dark corner of the landing as Carmen looked around. The figure tilted its head to a neck breaking-degree, as Carmen looked right through it.

Once she was upstairs, the lights below suddenly went off. Carmen ignored it and walked along the corridor towards Amie's room, finding the door slightly open. She gently knocked the door with the back of her hand, looking through the gap the room was in darkness. "Amie?" behind her the long dark hair of the pale figure dangled from the ceiling above Carmen. The pale figure opened its wide mouth and a snake-like tongue emerge, slithering towards Carmen. As she slowly entered the room the door was ripped out of her grasp and she was pulled into the darkness.

The door slammed behind her.

03.

The sound of metal grinding reverberated through the room as the deadbolt clicked into place. "What the hell Amie?!" Carmen put the lights on and turned to face her friend.

"Carmen?"

Carmen's annoyed appearance quickly turned to one of concern. "Damn, what is going on with you?" Amie was shaking, with dark circles around her tearful eyes. As she looked over her friend Carmen grabbed her arm. "Are you cutting again? Seriously?" Amie pulled her arm away and clasps the wound. "You shouldn't have come, why… Why are you here?" Amie walked towards the window muttering incoherently and frantically searched for something outside.

"You sent me a message to come over, said something was wrong." Carmen watched as Amie froze. "And now that I am here, I would say that is an understatement." Amie held her head in her hands and began to shake her head.

"No, no. I didn't. I refused." As Carmen looked around the room, she realized the extent of the mess. It was in a disheveled state, it looked like someone had ransacked the place searching for something. Carmen put her hand on Amie's trembling shoulder. "Amie, you need to tell me what is going on, right now." Amie stayed quiet for several seconds, searching for a response. "Did you see her?" With a puzzled look on her face Carmen shook her head. "Who?" Amie pulled away from her friend and began to search her desk "My phone, I need it, where is it?" Carmen took the phone out of her pocket and handed it to Amie. "You left it downstairs." As Amie searched for something on her phone, Carmen noticed loose pages scattered across the dresser table. A drawing of a faceless woman caught Carmen's attention. As she picked it up, it revealed a notebook underneath.

An oval face with two large eyes is drawn on the cover, with the name Momo literally carved into the cover hundreds of times. Carmen looked over at Amie as she paced about fixated on her phone. On the first page the unknown number was written in elegantly stylistic font, with the title.

The MOMO Challenge.

Before Carmen could say anything, Amie pulled at her shoulder. "Here, look." She held the phone out to show Carmen the security camera feed, scrolling through the multiple feeds. "What am I meant to be seeing here?" Amie completely ignored the question. Carmen looked back at the papers scattered on the desk and then at her friend. Focused on her phone, Amie is unaware of her friends worried gaze. Once Amie got to the camera feed outside her bedroom she gasped and began to shake. The tall pale figure was right outside the door, with her face pressed up against the door. "She's here." Carmen takes the phone and looked at the same feed. There was nothing there, the hallway was empty. Amie's eyes opened wide as she looked at the screen.

The pale figure rolled its head back to look directly at the camera, she smiled widely, and her jaw swung open. Its mouth opened to a jaw breaking degree and its snake like tongue slithered down the closed door. Amie spun to face the door. Watching the tongue slither up the door she began to cry and shake violently. Her legs went numb and she collapsed to her knees. Carmen held her friend, desperately she tried to calm her down. The tongue slithered up to the deadbolt and hesitated, then it flicked the light switch off. Amie was now sobbing uncontrollably.

"Just a bad bulb, I'm not going to let anything happen to you. I promise." Carmen tried to reassure her friend. The sound of the deadbolt sliding open made both girls freeze. The room was silent as both girls watched the door slowly creep open.

Nothing was there.

Carmen stood up to go and turn the lights back on. Amie's phone started to ring, making Carmen jump. She recognized the number, the one from the book. The same one Amie had multiple unread messages from. Without hesitation, she answered the call. "What do you want?" Carmen blasted angrily. All she could hear on the other end was raspy breathing. Behind the girls, pale bony fingers curled out of the large dresser table mirror. They held on to the frame. The pale face appeared, with dark circles where the eyes should be. The figure pulled itself through the mirror, its limbs contorting to impossible angles. It towered over Amie and stared down at her.

Carmen flicked the light switch on and looked out into the hallway, nothing was there. "Who else is…" Carmen turned back towards her friend. She dropped the phone to the ground and the screen cracked. Her gaze focused on the tall figure looming over her friend, its pale skin glistening in the moonlight. The flowing dark hair reached the ground and pooled around Amie. It raised its freakishly long arm and Amie stood up, completely focused on Carmen. "Amie, you need to come over here." The fear was evident in her voice. The figure lifted its head to face Carmen, its round black eyes shimmered in the light.

"I am sorry Carmen. I have no choice." Amie's eyes turned black as she moved swiftly towards Carmen. As Amie lunged at Carmen the figures thin lipless mouth turned to a smile.

04.

The Next Morning…

The man slid into the ditch beside the injured girl. She tried to say something as he helped her sit up. Her body was covered in horrific injuries, the man wrapped his jacket around her. His dog hid in the treeline and barked hysterically. The girl began to cry uncontrollably as she looked back at the path.

Stood on the path Amie and the pale figure stared down at her. Her friend was almost unrecognizable, her dark eyes stood out against her pale skin. Her blood-soaked hair draped over her face. Amie held the broken phone in her hand, The MOMO Challenge text was obscured as blood ran over the screen.

Perfectly still, they both smiled down at Carmen.

CREDIT : rioz911