Mercy [Buzzfeed Unsolved]

6. On the Other Side of the Line

Everything in Shane dropped. His stomach plummeted, his heartbeat almost stopped - hell, by the clatter of the pen on his desk before it was evident that he had even dropped his pen. Nausea curled tightly in his chest, the dizzying feeling making him have to steady himself on the sturdy surface of the desk in front of him. He had to steel his mind to be able to reply.

"This is... this is Shane Madej speaking."

The line went quiet. Well... not quite, as there was definitely static beginning to rise and pierce the silence, but whoever was on the other side of the line refrained from responding further. Shane tried to dissect the white noise to see if there was anything behind it, but without proper technical equipment at hand, the proper analyzation would have to wait.

To place his concentration elsewhere, Shane stared at the little blinking red recording light on the phone, suddenly grateful for the mandatory policy to record all calls for possible evidence within the office. He was no doubt going to spend hours later trying to audio analyze the shit out of whatever outcome this call would end up having.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Ryan leaning further over the other side of the desk, studying Shane's face as if it would reveal the caller themselves. Most of his other coworkers nearest to them were starting to crowd around him at a respectful distance, curious as to why Shane had gotten so serious. He could barely tell that Andrew was burning holes into the phone with his eyes, but then he glanced to another officer that Shane couldn't quite see and went back to his work once again, unperturbed.

Shane was shocked back into the reality of the situation again once the strange warped voice spoke up again, this time weirdly tentative.

"Shane.... Madej?"

"That's my name," Shane quipped, surprising himself at his own tone of voice. He barely heard a hitched breath on the other side of the line. Greeted with silence once again, he took to twirling the phone cord around his finger, eyes still on the tiny blinking light. Feeling bold, he decided to try and prompt something else from the mysterious caller. "How may I help you?"

"Has Shane Madej been assigned to the case yet?" It sounded oddly rehearsed, especially with the implementation of his own name there, but Shane decided not to press it in favour of actually gathering useful information.

He frowned. "I am not able to disclose that information to the public at this time."

"Has Shane Madej been assigned to the case yet?" Even though the voice was warped, it was laced with venom in its intensity, unwillingly making Shane tense up. They had sounded more sure of themselves, and seemed to know that they were not leaving the call without this information. Shane's eyes only left the blinking light to warily glance around the office. He found Chief Bennett rather quickly, realizing he was being scrutinized underneath a stare of his own. Shane's face scrunched up, trying to read what he was thinking, before slowly starting to enunciate just what he was planning on saying.

"Yes, I have been put on the case, under heavy supervision."

"Ah. So you did get our little letter."

"... So there are more than just one of you."

Silence again. Shane couldn't decide which he preferred, but the static noise put him on edge like nothing else. It felt as if something would emerge from the static and speakers themselves, stabbing Shane right then and there. It was obviously extremely unrealistic of him to think so, but his nerves were definitely telling him otherwise. Clearing his throat quickly, he tried again.

"So... you are John Novel?"

Again, no answer. He would have chalked it up as the caller leaving abruptly, but not only was the static still there, but he also had not heard the line being cut yet. Shane felt oddly controlled. He by no means was leading the conversation, and he didn't think there was any way to take the reins at this point. Instead of giving up, he tried one last time.