Kayla stared at the countdown on her computer, watching as it slowly ticked down to zero. It didn't matter if she answered at one second or when it started at five minutes.
“You know, you're suppose to answer right away.” It was Tony, the new worker in the cubical over. He started a week ago and still thought all the rules somehow mattered.
She shrugged and toyed with the edge of her cold coffee. There were eighteen minutes left on her shift and she wanted to see eighteen seconds left on the answer timer.
“Why aren't you answering?”
“Don't have to,” she muttered. Six more seconds and then it would be eighteen.
“They'll dock your pay.” She could almost hear the gears straining as he tried to encourage her.
“Isn't in the formula.”
“How would you know?”
Kayla shrugged. Two more seconds. She watched as the countdown flashed to eighteen.
And then seventeen. Then sixteen.
She rocked her coffee back and forth. She could see the discoloration at the bottom of the ceramic mug with the company logo.
“What about—?” Tony stopped talking when his computer chimed to give him a countdown of his own. He let out a gasp and dropped into his chair. A few moments of scrambling and he hit his answer button. “Thank you for calling Customer Care Unlimited, the best place for all your streaming needs. My name is Tony, how may I help you?”
Kayla listened to him go through the spiel as she watched the clock count down. She finally released her coffee cup and then brought her finger over to her space bar to answer.
At three seconds before she ran out of time, her phone vibrated once with a notification. The pathetic shake did more to stir her tedium than any encouraging words or countdown.
Kayla's hand twitched for her phone but she fought the urge. There were rules that could be broken and rules that couldn't. Answering a personal phone during work hours was one of those that would get her a final escort through the front doors.
She tapped the space bar curtly and her headset clicked. Speaking in a well-practiced voice, she cheerful answered the phone with exactly one second to go. “Thank you for calling Customer Care Unlimited, the best place for all your streaming needs. My name is Kayla, how may I help you?”
Thirty-three minutes later, she was heading across the parking lot with her weekly paycheck in her purse and a weekend ahead of her.
Kayla didn't remember her phone until she got into her car. Fishing it out, she saw she had thirty notifications waiting for her on the paranormal instance. Frowning, she tapped on the first one.
MaryAngelKiller: Maybe @AltGhostHunter should take a crack at her?
ExorcistDan: I doubt it. Everyone knows @AltGhostHunter doesn't go after cannibal ghosts. Not after the first couple back when she started.
MaryAngelKiller: The specter isn't a cannibal, she's a Scorned Lady. The signs are all there.
That type of conversation was different than the usual crap that went on in the instance. It piqued her interest. It had been a while since she'd been ghost hunting, long enough that the scars were starting to fade but not too long that she couldn't knock the punching bag off the hook with a good uppercut.
Kayla tapped on the conversation and waited for it to load. As she did, she noticed Tony coming out of the building. He moved with a swagger as he called out to the others and had a smile for everyone else. It would be a few months before both were extinguished. Until his spirit was crushed, he would be insufferable to everyone.
She scooted down in her seat as she looked at the thread. It ended with an argument, punctuated by gossip and fantasies masking as unfounded rumors. As she read about a ghost who had murdered others, she started to get excited. Further up, she found out that @TheRealHunter was in the hospital; that explained why he hadn't sent her a birthday card as usual.
At the top of the thread were a series of articles about a haunted house in Appleton, Wisconsin. It had been a popular place for the ghost hunter community but it didn't produce anything but “vibes” and a few squawks on whatever fake device people brought along these days.
Kayla didn't care for most of the ghost hunting community. It had been years when a little fuzzy speaker had gotten her excited. Too many times the monster ended up being a rich man trying to make money or just a pile of corpses with a human killer.
The article didn't have any of those hallmarks. The pictures from the hunter community painted a more vivid story of something inhuman hurting ghost hunters. More than a few wannabes ended up in the hospital with ragged bites and broken bones. It wasn't only a few either, she scrolled through at least five separate groups being torn apart before they ran from the building screaming.
Then she came up to @TheRealHunter's posts. He was in a hospital, an old man who acted as a mentor for the fakes. He was personable but capable, knowing when it was just a creaking floor or the crack of a bone.
Kayla's hand tightened as she peered at the picture. His leg ended at the knee in a swath of bandages. Deep inside, she felt something flicker to life. A hunger, not for the older man with an easy smile, but the thought that there was something dangerous out there.
Someone knocked on the window of her car.
Years of practice prevented her from jumping at the unexpected sound. Instead, she tilted her phone away and looked up to see Tony peering inside.
“Don't have anywhere to go?”
She stared at him, ignoring his smile.
“I'm still wired from work?” His fingers tapped on the glass. “Want to get a coffee? My treat?”
He flashed what he probably hoped was a winning smile.
The flutter of excitement inside Kayla died. She guessed he was supposed to be handsome and friendly, but that wasn't what she was looking for. These days, she would rather have a tooth-filled maw of some beast drooling over her over a friendly smile hiding a leer.
At least she knew where she stood with beasts.
She struggled to find some word to make him go away.
“Dutch then?” He raised an eyebrow.
Giving up, she turned back to her phone while keeping it tilted away from him.
Tony tapped on the window.
She swiped to messages and sent a private message:
@AltGhostHunter: @TheRealHunter is it real?
Another tap.
She glanced at the space between her seat and emergency break. The handle of her tactical baton stood with a mask wrapped around it. A few carved symbols glinted in the light.
Tony's tapping stopped.
Her phone buzzed in her hand.
@TheRealHunter: Hey, wondered you were going to stick your head out of your cave.
@AltGhostHunter: Nothing really interesting.
@TheRealHunter: You should go there. Owner is offering 10k to get rid of the ghost. Under the table though. There were a few deaths.
@AltGhostHunter: Anyone important?
@TheRealHunter: Humans, Kayla, humans died.
She hesitated.
@TheRealHunter: Just newbies. And me.
@AltGhostHunter: Sorry about your leg.
@TheRealHunter: I was looking for an out.
@TheRealHunter: This was it.
@AltGhostHunter: Sorry.
@TheRealHunter: Stories are still good for some pussy. I'll survive, write a book, get laid, and have a good life.
@TheRealHunter: I'll send deets. Be careful, she's a biter.
@AltGhostHunter: Thanks.
@TheRealHunter: Happy birthday, Kayla.
Kayla turned off her phone and glanced around. Tony was gone. She shook her head and then fished out her keys. If she was lucky, she would be on the road in a few hours. She could make Appleton by ten. If everything worked out in her favor, she would be fighting for her life by two in the morning.
She squirmed at the heat that fluttered from between her legs.