Phone Call

Anyone here catch the new Marble Hornets video?

I saw it as I was taking a break from the all-nighter I was pulling. I thought I could just watch it real quick and then get back to work.

Yeah. Guess who still hasn't managed to get back to work, three hours later.

Lizzie is actually passed out on her desk right now, which surprises me. Normally she would have chugged two whole things of coffee and would be up all night. I guess she's finally starting to relax herself more.

So I made the decision to let her sleep now, and I would show her the video later.

Oh what, it's funny when she freaks out.

It's a quiet night out, as I went outside for a coffee break. Plenty of stars in the sky, a little cloudy due to all the rain we got these past couple of days, but still a pretty night. It's hard to really appreciate it in the city, though...I guess that's the one thing that living out in the boondocks has going for it.

But anyway, that's not the reason for the entry.

Like I said before, Eric's been out sick for almost a week now, so I decided to give him a call and check up on him. Yeah, I know it's still early, but when your mind is too jumbled from that freaky fucked-up video (seriously, man, that ending was a mind fuck if I've ever seen one) you basically do anything to calm yourself down. Besides, it was only 5:30 when I called, and we're all usually awake at that time because we all come in to bitch about it later.

I dialed up his number that I got off Lizzie and waited. It rang once, twice, three times, four...then went to voicemail. Maybe he really was asleep, I thought.

Fifteen minutes later, I called again. Again, no answer. This time I leave a message: “Hey Eric, it's Zeke. Listen, I haven't heard from you all week, man, I'm just checking in to make sure you're okay. Gimme a call when you can, alright?”

It was about forty-five minutes ago that I called him again. This time, the phone picked up after two rings, but no voice came on to greet me. I should have realized then that something was wrong, but I just let it go.

“Eric?” I said.

“Eric is not here.”

I tensed up. The voice on the other end almost sounded like Eric...almost. It was too raspy, too sinister, to be his, although the tone and volume were the same as the one he spoke in.

“Who is this?” I demanded.

From the other end, I could hear classical music playing. Beethoven, maybe Bach. Not entirely sure, but it was creepy shit, just music, no voices or anything. My brain was already freaked out from that stupid video, and if this was a prank, I was not in the mood. But before I could say anything, the voice came back on the line:

“Get out while you can, Detective. There is still time.”

That's when the guy hung up. I stood there for another ten minutes, wondering if that conversation had really just played out like that. It was way too unsettling...and all of it came from Eric's home phone, so it's not like someone could have just stolen it off him.

I'm going over later today, once everyone else gets here, just to check up on him and make sure.

I have a bad feeling about this.