The Soft Voice

The Soft Voice is the thirteenth chapter of Season One. It is the sequel to the chapter Depressed, and together they make the third two-parter in Mind of Ezra.

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For a few minutes, Ezra felt as if he had been made out of stone. The phone next to his left ear, he was still on the phone with the mysterious person who had just called. So that's why Dane didn't come to school today, he thought to himself. He had been kidnapped. Or had he? “Let me talk to him.” he said, his voice shaking a bit. He wasn't going to do anything until he would be convinced that it was really Dane they were holding hostage.

You have no authority here, Ezra White.” the voice continued, now more stern than before. “Yes, I know exactly who you are. And I know exactly where you are. You are standing on the corner of Columbia street and Terry avenue, right in front of the Police Station.” The voice laughed, cold and loud. In the distance Ezra could hear someone screaming in pain. There was not doubt: it was Dane. “Leave him alone!” Ezra cried. “Ezra, what is happening?” his father, who was still sitting in the car, asked. “Why aren't you coming inside? I haven't got all day, you know.”

“I'm talking to someone on the phone!” Ezra said, his voice shaking even more. “I'll come inside in a few minutes!” Moments after that, he noticed a red dot on his chest. “As you just noticed, you are being held at gunpoint.” the voice continued. Ezra hated being so helpless, not being able to do anything to help his friend. “Now, get back into the car, Ezra.” the voice said, sounding more soft again. “I've got a few sharpshooters on my side. They never miss their target.” And the moment after he had said those, a bullet flew by Ezra, very close to hitting him. As it had flown by, barely a centimeter away from his face, it landed in one of the bushes nearby.

“As you can see, Ezra, you do not set any rules here. I'm the one in charge.” the voice continued. “Be a good boy now and get back into that car. If you don't, there's still plenty of life to take out of your friend here!” Ezra could once more hear Dane screaming, only it was much closer this time. Still holding his phone next to his ear, Ezra got back into the car.

“Very good.” the voice said. “If you want him to stay alive, you will stay away from that Police Station from now on. I will soon give you some more instructions on how to get your friend back.” “Wait!” Ezra said, but the call had already been ended. With his hands still shaking, he put his phone back into his bag. “What on earth is going on?!” his father demanded as he drove off from the Police Station. “Who did you just talk to?” “Don't worry, father.” Ezra said, trying to sound as calm as possible. “It was just some stupid prank. It's nothing special.” “Well, I don't remember a time in your life when you were shaken up like this because of some silly joke!” his father said, a worried look on his face. “Dad, leave it alone.” Ezra said. “It's nothing you need to worry about.”

As Ezra got back home, it was already about 6 PM in the evening. He felt empty inside, and was very worried about Dane. He wanted to do something: call his parents, contact detective Walden or at least try to find out more himself! But his hands were bound: he was helpless against his new enemy. And so he waited for his phone to ring, to get new instructions or at least a proof that his friend was still alive. He had forgotten about how irritated he had been towards Dane this morning, and wished for nothing more than to have his friend with him again.

But he didn't get any other calls that day. When he went to sleep, he found himself walking into his room. As he went in, the room was dark at first. But when he turned the lights on, he saw Dane lying on his bed in a pool of blood. He had been stabbed multiple times, and there was blood everywhere: on the floor, on the desk, in the ceiling and on the wall. Someone had been here, had left him a present, and had made an effort to decorate it as well as he could. Besides the splashes of blood on the wall, the killer had also left a message to him. With big letters, the three words “You are welcome!” had been written on the wall with blood, and a smiley face had been painted next to those words. Ezra rushed next to the bed and saw that Dane had a terrified look on his face. There was no doubt in his mind that the caller had had something to do with the murder of his best friend. But he could do nothing, not even plan a revenge, since his newfound enemy was like a shadow, only a voice on the other side of the phone line. He didn't know who it was or where he was: the only connection to him was the phone.

A few moments after that, Ezra woke up yelling the word “NOOOOO!” on the top of his lungs. As he realised that it had just been a dream, he felt a bit more at ease, but the possibility of it happening, althought perhaps not in the exactly same way, still made him uptight. But from now on, he saw that dream each an every night, and started to wonder if it was an omen that his friend was really going to die. As his dreams had had a connection with reality before, he felt more terrified each time he saw this dream. The strange thing was that the elements of the dream were pretty much exactly the same every time. Dane had been killed the same way and his body was placed in his bed, and the blood decorations hadn't varied that much either. It was one of the most terrifying dreams he had seen in his whole life, and wished desperatedly that he could escape from it. But he couldn't: it came back each and every night, now a constant part of his nights.

A few days later he woke up, once again having seen that dream. He hadn't gotten any more calls from the mysterious stranger. As days had passed, he had wondered about many things, one of them being what the tasks were that the mysterious enemy had talked about. As he woke up, it was early in the morning, about 6 AM as the alarm clock showed. The sun had already risen, and the sky was covered with absolutely marvellous colors. Usually, a sight like this would've appealed to him, but now as he was experiencing the worst times in his life, he didn't really enjoy anything any more. He hadn't read in a while, and the books he had been planning to read were stacked on his table, waiting for him to open them. But this was the last thing he was interested in at the moment: he would've gladly traded every book in the world for the life of Dane. Something had changed in him: he wasn't the same person as he had been before.

Suddenly, he was torn out of his thoughts, as he felt something vibrate under his hand. It was his phone, and it was once again the blocked number calling As Ezra answered the phone, he felt his heart accelerate. “Good morning, Ezra!” the soft voice said. It sounded as if something was amusing him. “Time for your second task!”

Chracters

 * Ezra White
 * Damon White
 * Dane Young (indirect)

Trivia

 * The name of the chapter, The Soft Voice, is a reference to the main antagonist Jim Moriarty of the BBC series Sherlock, who was described as someone who had a very soft voice.