My boyfriend's voice

One day, coming home from work, I saw my cat Lilo hissing at the closed window. "Strange," I thought, and started petting him. He shied away from my hand and darted out of the room.

It was very stuffy in the house, so I decided to air out the apartment. But as soon as I touched the window frame, Lilo rushed over, grabbed my sleeve with his teeth, and started pulling me away from the window. Then I suddenly remembered that, according to legend, animals see things that humans cannot. A slight shudder ran through me, and I decided to call my boyfriend. Just as I thought this, my cell phone rang. Lilo immediately started hissing at it. I raised the phone to my ear:

"Hello!"

There was no answer.

"Hello!" — I repeated, and somewhere very far away on the other end of the line I heard the voice of Lesha, my boyfriend:

— Masha... Masha... Open the window, I'm here...

I hung up and thought. Lesha always has a clear, cheerful voice, but now it was as if he were speaking with his mouth full, from somewhere deep in the pit. I worried—what if something was wrong?—and rushed to the window, but the cat started meowing frantically, and that stopped me.

I stood there, hesitating, when the call rang again. I glanced at the screen before answering, but the number wasn't being recognized.

— Masha-a-a... Ma-a-asha... Open the window...

— Lesha, what's with all this joking? Why should I open the window? Where are you? — I asked, glancing out of the corner of my eye at Lilo, whose fur was standing on end.

 "I love you, Masha..." Lesha said somewhere far away, and the line rang.

I was so scared I started crying. The cat continued hissing at the window. Finally, I called my mother and told her something was wrong in the house. She advised me to say a prayer and make the sign of the cross over the phone if it called again. But as soon as I hit the end button, I heard a crash outside the window, as if someone was banging on it. And by the way, I live on the fifth floor! The cat literally howled. I closed my eyes and started saying a prayer. Then the phone rang again, while the frantic pounding on the window continued. I hung up and clearly heard my boyfriend's voice outside:

"Masha... Open up..."

The voice was monotonous and drawn-out. I couldn't take it anymore—I ran out of the apartment screaming (the cat followed me) and started knocking on the door of my elderly neighbor, despite the late hour. She let us in and gave me some validol. I never returned home for the night—I stayed with the neighbor. And the next day, I learned that Alexey had committed suicide for unknown reasons while I was still at work.