WHISPERS IN THE DARK

Chapter Five

I wake up to the sound of birds chirping and the sun shining through my windows. 'Today is going to be a good day,' I think to myself as I get out of bed. After a quick shower and getting dressed, I head downstairs for breakfast.

In the kitchen, Ryan, Naomi, and Maliki are already gathered. "Good morning, my love," Maliki says with a smile.

"My love? Brother, don't tell me you're going soft already," Ryan jokes. I shake my head and pour myself a coffee. "So, what's on the agenda today?" I ask as I sit down next to Maliki.

Naomi hands me her tablet. "What am I looking at?" I ask, but before she can answer, an alarm starts blaring on the screen, indicating a breach at one of our warehouses. "Shit, we’ve got to go," Naomi groans.

We make it to the warehouse in about fifteen minutes. Luca, my father, and Cole are already there. "What’s going on?" I ask as we approach them.

Luca speaks first. "The camera feeds have been cut, and the warehouse has been broken into. I arrived with Cole about half an hour ago. We saw the door open and no guards around, so we sounded the alarm. We haven’t gone inside yet."

The warehouse is one of several where we store money before it’s checked, sealed, and dispatched. There are five guards on duty, including the head guard. We split into three teams: Maliki and I head to the back with our guns drawn, Steph and Cole go to the side entrance, while my father and Luca stay at the front with Naomi, waiting to give the signal to breach.

"READY," we all confirm through the comms.

"Everyone on their fucking knees!" Cole yells as we storm into the building.

*SILENCE*

"FUCK!" my dad roars, storming out of the warehouse with his phone in hand. The warehouse is empty. Naomi heads to the office to see if any CCTV footage remains from before the cameras were cut.

We hear her shout, then she emerges holding her nose. "I’ve found one of the guards," she says.

Maliki, Luca, and I go to the office and find the head guard lying on the desk, decapitated with his insides spilling out.

A few moments later, Cole runs out of a storeroom. "I found the other guards!" he shouts.

"Are they alive?" Luca asks as we follow him.

"They’ve died ten times over," Cole says, pushing open the storeroom door. All four guards are in the corners of the storeroom, dismembered and mutilated. "Oh god... I can't... the smell," Cole groans, retreating from the room.

"I'm going to make some calls," Maliki sighs, following Cole out.

The warehouse falls silent except for the sound of a phone ringing from the office.

*RING* *RING* *RING*

We return to the office to find the source of the ringing. "Where is it?" Luca huffs as we search the room.

"It's stopped," I groan.

*SILENCE*
*RING* *RING* *RING*

"Uh, guys... I think it’s coming from the guard," Naomi says, gagging as she reaches into the open stomach of the head guard.

After some digging, she pulls out a black phone and hands it to me.

*RING* *RING* *RING*

I answer the call and put it on speaker. "Hello," I say calmly. When there’s no response, Maliki grabs the phone and demands, "Who the fuck is this?"

After a moment of silence, a chilling laugh echoes through the speaker. "He is getting closer and closer. He is coming for us all," the voice sings darkly before the line goes dead.

We leave the warehouse and update my father, who instructs us to call the clean-up crew and retrieve the hard drives from the CCTV system for further analysis.

Back at the house, Steph asks a housekeeper for snacks and refreshments. Naomi quickly begins reviewing the footage.

"We have footage of the building before the cameras went out," Naomi says. "But look at what happens just before the cameras cut off." She enhances the footage.

We see four guards outside the warehouse, nothing unusual until the front door suddenly slams open. The head guard calls the others, and they quickly head towards the trees. We witness a small explosion, and the guards return to the warehouse in a panic, closing the door behind them.

Eight heavily armed men in masks then emerge from the trees, splitting up and surrounding the building. Naomi pauses the footage.

"Here is where it gets interesting," she resumes play.

Two armed men are seen cutting the camera feeds. As they reach the last camera, one removes her mask, revealing herself to be a woman. She smiles at the camera and flips us off. "Who the fuck is that?" my father yells as the camera cuts off.

The woman has a symbol tattooed on the side of her head, identical to one we found at the parking lot near Simon’s body.

Naomi says, "Use your magic to run her photo through the database." Naomi scoffs, "Already on it. The symbol was also found at three of our allies' warehouses, where the guards were similarly killed. But no one knows who they are."

My father slams his fist on the table. "So we still have nothing? What about the phone call? You said it was a man’s voice?"

Steph says, "It was a man’s voice, but it was a burner phone, so it’s untraceable. We’ve sent it for prints, but it’s unlikely we’ll get anything since it was covered in the guard’s guts."

*KNOCK* *KNOCK*

My mother enters, apologizing for the interruption. "I need a word with Callie, Steph, and Naomi," she says, leaning against the doorframe.

My father kisses her forehead and tells us, "We’re done here for the day. Naomi, Steph, let me know as soon as you get that information."

As we follow my mother, she asks us to sit. "I need to ask you all a favor and want you to stay open-minded."

We sit on the sofa, and she explains, "For my annual charity gala next month, I’m changing things up. Instead of auctioning off eligible bachelors, we’ll auction off eligible bachelorettes."

She adds with a grin, "And you three will perform as the entertainment."

"Main attraction," we grumble as we head to the kitchen. By now, it’s 8 p.m., and we’re all starving. 'So much for a good day,' I think as I sit down.

After dinner, Steph, Naomi, and I decide to watch a movie in my room. We choose *Queenpins*, a comedy about a coupon fraud scheme. Ryan, Maliki, and Cole join us. "No Luca?" Naomi asks Cole.

"He's probably still in a mood after his outburst yesterday," Maliki says as he puts his arm around me. We continue watching the movie.

When it ends, we’re all half asleep, so I suggest a sleepover in my room. Naomi puts on *Mamma Mia* for background noise to drown out Cole’s snoring. We laugh as she sings along, and soon, we’re all fast asleep.