Cat Calls

1st Call

Okay, so this is the first story I'm publishing here on Wattpad, and my first attempt ever on writing a novella length story. I still have no clear idea as to which direction this story will progress as this is still a work in progress. I do hope you'd like it. XD

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"Hi! This is Ariel! How may I help you today?"

I've been answering calls like this for half a year now. Scheduling parcels for shipping, arranging them to be picked up at the depot, tracking them in transit. It wasn't so bad as other accounts I'd handled before. I could even claim that I was actually enjoying the work I was doing. But then, I got this call...

"Hello, Sir! Are you there? This is Ariel. How may I help you today?"

There was only static on the other line. I did my spiel a couple more times, and without an answer, I prepared to release the call.

"Tom Tildrum cometh..." 

I was left dumbfounded, my mouth hanging open as the line went dead. Tom Tildrum... What the fuck?

As my shift progresses, I forgot all about that weird call. I got a couple of long calls, one of which ended up in a supervisor escalation. The stupid bitch kept insisting on picking up her package today, and it was still in en route from China! Good luck with that! So when my lunch break finally came around, it seems I couldn't walk fast enough away from my station.

I walked out into the lobby, head down with my earphones blaring Amanda Palmer's angst. The elevator was already open, so I just went on straight ahead and punched the ground floor button.

"Nananana... God, it's been a lovely day... And I'm on fire!"

The song played, faded out, and was replaced by another one. Still, the elevator doors remained closed. Expletives raced each other in my head, as I thought that, finally, the damned lift broke... with me in it! The emergency bell rang hollowly as I pushed the alarm. Still, nothing happened. Even the thuds I made on the metal door sounded muffled. The hell was happening here?

DING!

At last! the doors opened and... nothing. I could see nothing. Lights spilled out from the elevator car up to only a few feet then darkness swallowed everything else. 

"When I got to the party, they gave me a forty..."

Thank the punk gods for Amanda! I took off my earphones, and listened for any sound. Just mind-numbing silence. A cold hand caressed my hair.

"Welcome, O queen..."

Hair standing on end, I desperately reached for the close button. The doors couldn't close quickly enough. Mist was starting to crawl around my feet, bringing with it ethereal voices singing songs in a language I could not recognize.

"Welcome the queen... Welcome the queen... Welcome the queen..."

"WELCOME THE QUEEN!"

I didn't remember anything past that last whisper. The next thing I knew, I was being shaken back to my senses by one of the security guards on the ground floor. I pushed him off of me, and ran straight outside of the building into the hot Manila night.

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