Chapter 8 - The Metallic Voice|
The next morning, the air in the house was thick with unspoken tension. I insisted on driving Maya to school myself, completely abandoning the carpool schedule. The usual carefree banter we shared in the car was replaced by a heavy, suffocating silence on my end, though I tried my hardest to mask it with a forced, tight smile. Maya, ever perceptive and emotionally intelligent, noticed the sudden shift in my demeanor as she buckled her seatbelt.
"Are you okay, Mom?" she asked, her big brown eyes studying my face with innocent concern. "You look like you didn't sleep at all last night. Do you have a headache? You keep looking in the mirrors."
"I'm fine, sweetie," I lied, gripping the steering wheel tighter than necessary, my knuckles turning white. "Just a lot on my mind with work today. Big architectural deadlines coming up for the new downtown project."
I pulled up to the grand, imposing iron gates of St. Claire’s Academy. Normally, I would let her walk the rest of the way with her friends from the drop-off zone, but today, I parked the car in a visitor spot and walked her all the way to the heavy oak doors of the main building. My eyes darted in every possible direction, scanning the parked cars, the manicured bushes, the neighboring street corners, frantically looking for a glint of a camera lens or a suspicious figure lingering in the morning shadows. Nothing stood out, but the paranoia was eating me alive.
"Have a great day, Maya," I said, hugging her a little too tightly, practically burying my face in her shoulder.
"Mom, you're squishing my ribs," she giggled, pulling away gently and giving me a reassuring smile. "I'll see you at three. Don't work too hard!"
I watched her disappear safely into the busy, well-lit hallway before heading to work. But once I got to my office, I couldn't focus on a single blueprint. Every time my office phone rang, I jumped out of my skin. Around noon, my personal cell phone buzzed on the desk. The screen displayed a blocked caller ID.
"Hello?" I answered hesitantly, my voice barely above a whisper.
For a long, agonizing moment, there was nothing but the sound of rhythmic, hollow breathing on the other end of the line. Then, a digitally altered, metallic voice spoke, scraping against my eardrum like a rusty blade.
"You took everything from him," the voice rasped, devoid of any human emotion. "Now, you are going to learn exactly what it feels like to lose everything you love."
May you like
Click.
I dropped the phone onto my desk, my hands shaking violently. I didn't wait to tell my boss I was leaving. I grabbed my purse, ran out to my car, and drove straight back to St. Claire's. I wasn't going to wait for the school bell to ring. I needed my daughter safe, right now.
