I Work Night Shifts at a Call Center. You’re Not Supposed to Hang Up.

This job was a nightmare. Still, it was better than nothing.

I don’t even remember where I found it anymore, but ever since I lost my job, this was pretty much my only option. Call center customer support… I think that already says enough.

And as if that wasn’t bad enough, this wasn’t even a company call center. It was more like a general help line. Random people calling in with random bullshit. I’d only been working there for two weeks, but in that short time I’d already heard just about every kind of stupidity imaginable. You wouldn’t believe how many people still use phone lines like this to ask for cake recipes or help with a cat stuck in a tree. But yeah. Those people still exist.

The workplace itself wasn’t that bad. Just an average office filled with painfully average, boring people. Honestly, thinking back on it, I barely talked to anyone during those two weeks. Everyone was locked inside their own little world, snatching up calls as fast as they came in. I never would’ve thought a place like this could still get so many calls these days.

“Good morning, inmate number seventeen. Ready to work?” Adam, my boss, said as he walked up to my desk.

The guy gave me chills. Especially with that stupid joke of his, calling me some kind of prisoner every single morning. He walked around the office like everyone else was a parasite, and he was graciously allowing us to stay alive.

“Morning, Adam…” I said with a forced smile. “Yeah. I’m ready.”

“Fantastic, buddy,” Adam said, slapping my back hard, masking his superiority with fake friendliness. “But listen, Lukas… hmm… you had a little slip-up yesterday, remember?”

“Oh?” I played dumb. “Something wrong?”

“Well, pal, how do I put this,” Adam said, smacking his lips. “You can’t just hang up on people, right? That’s literally our job. Listening to every problem. But you know what? I’ll let it slide this time. Just for you, because you’re new. Now move it, inmate. Work’s waiting.”

Adam turned on his heel and walked away with that smug, self-important stride of his.

“Oh, and one more thing, Lukas,” he said, turning back with a cheesy flourish of his suit jacket. “You’re on night shift starting next week. Your probation period’s over. We need people at night.”

“But Adam…”

“No ‘but,’ Lukas. I’ve got things to do.” With a single dismissive wave, Adam left the office like a man convinced he’d done a great job.

“Fucking asshole,” I muttered under my breath.

The coworkers around me didn’t react at all. It was like they hadn’t heard a word. They were already talking into their headsets, taking calls like nothing had happened.

As usual, the weekend flew by way too fast. And like so many other times, I barely noticed it ending until I suddenly found myself heading back to the office on a Monday night.

I had exactly one hope going into the night shift: that that fucking asshole Adam wouldn’t be there. At least, that’s what I told myself. The moment I stepped into the massive office, that last bit of hope evaporated.

“Good evening, inmate number eighty-six,” Adam grinned right into my face, clutching a mug of coffee. “So how are we feeling about your first night shift?”

“Well, I’m a little tired,” I said, trying to sound friendly. “But I’m curious to see how the night goes.”

“Ha!” Adam laughed, completely fake. “It’s gonna be great, buddy. Now get to your station, the shift’s about to start.”

I walked past Adam toward my desk, rolling my eyes. I could feel him staring at me, that huge, condescending grin plastered on his face as I dragged myself over to my chair.

That’s when I noticed something was off.

My desk, my usual spot, was already taken. A hunched-over, skinny old man with glasses was sitting there. It was hard to tell whether he was asleep or just deeply lost in thought.

I didn’t know what to do, so I just walked up next to him, hoping he’d notice me.

“Walter!” Adam barked almost immediately. “You’re in the wrong seat, old man!”

“Huh? What…?” the old guy jolted awake. “Who? Where?”

“Excuse me,” I said gently. “I think this is my spot.”

“Oh—oh, right,” the old man said, looking around, embarrassed. “I sat one desk over. Sorry.”

Walter grabbed his ancient leather briefcase with the metal clasps and shuffled over one seat as fast as his age would allow.

“Old bastard,” Adam muttered behind us, just loud enough to hear.

I glanced back at Adam, then at Walter, who clearly hadn’t heard him and was busy trying to get comfortable at his new desk.
I finally sat down in my seat.

“Name’s Walter,” the old man said, offering his hand. “What’s yours, son?”

“Lukas,” I replied, shaking his bony hand.

It surprised me how good it felt to have someone talk to me, someone other than Adam, someone who didn’t treat me like I was invisible.

Walter’s presence felt strange. A few more people arrived for the night shift, but they were just the usual office zombies. No greetings when they walked in. No curiosity on their faces about who I was or what the night might bring. It was like their minds were somewhere else entirely.

“First night shift?” Walter leaned in and asked quietly.

“Yeah,” I nodded, turning on my computer.

“There’s one thing you need to remember,” he whispered. “And I mean really remember it. Don’t hang up. Not a single call. You understand? You’re not allowed to hang up.”

“What?” I asked, confused, when I saw how deadly serious his expression was.

“No matter what,” Walter said, staring straight into my eyes. “No matter who’s calling. You cannot hang up. You hear me? If you do, it’s not just you who pays for it. The others will too.”

“Walter… it’s just a phone job,” I said with a nervous smile. “Worst case, they fire me. No need to take it this seriously.”

“Attention, little mice!” Adam shouted from the middle of the office. “Shift’s starting! Everyone get to work! Hands moving, spin those little hamster wheels! Let’s go! Let’s go!”

“Just do what I told you,” Walter whispered. “And everything will be fine.”

I kept smiling awkwardly, then put the headset on.
Time to work, just like the gloriously rotten Adam had ordered.

I had barely put the headset on when the first call came through.

“Hello, this is Lukas. How can I help you tonight?” I said automatically as the line connected.

What I didn’t expect was complete silence. As if no one was on the other end at all.

I glanced around, confused, half-expecting someone to be messing with me. But nothing happened. I just waited. As uncomfortable as those long seconds of silence were, I still preferred them to listening to some old woman explain why her toenail had fallen off.

“Hello? Is anyone there?” I asked, bored more than concerned.

“Hihihihi,” came the sound from the other end.

A child’s giggle. Like a little girl trying, and failing, to hold back laughter.

“Uh… hi,” I said slowly. “Who am I speaking with? Can I help you with something?”

Silence again. I couldn’t even hear breathing on the line. Nothing at all.
I leaned back in my chair and glanced over at Walter. The old man was deep into a call, talking nonstop.

“Hihihihi,” came another sound, this time clearly both a boy and a girl.

“Alright, goodbye,” I snapped, already reaching for the button to disconnect the call.

A hand suddenly clamped down on my shoulder.

I hadn’t seen him approach. I would’ve sworn he hadn’t been there a second earlier. Adam was standing next to me, wearing that fake, friendly smile, squeezing my shoulder just a little too hard.

“Adam, they’re just kids messing with me,” I said, pulling the headset off.

“Lukas…” Adam’s face went completely blank in an instant. “This is your job. I told you not to hang up. I stopped you in time. You listen to them. End of discussion.”

Then, like a king surveying his domain, he walked away.

I watched him nervously as he patrolled the desks like a prison guard, that disgusting, smug grin never leaving his face.

“I’m here, kids. How can I help you?” I forced myself to say, putting the headset back on.

“Hihihihi,” the girl giggled again.

“So what is it?” I muttered into the mic. “You got something to say, or are you just laughing?”

“Yes. Haha. Heehee,” both children giggled. “We can play hide and seek…”

“That sounds great,” I said, rubbing my temples.

“And you’ll never find us,” the boy whispered into the phone. “But we know where you are…”

“Excuse me?” I frowned.

“Hihihihi,” the girl giggled softly. “I can see your light green checkered shirt. And your jeans too. Heehee.”

“What the fuck…” slipped out of my mouth.

“GOT YOU!” the two kids screamed in unison.

I ripped the headset off and spun around, panic surging through me. But there was no one there, just my coworkers, all of them busy with their own calls.

Then I noticed one thing.

Adam was watching from across the room.
He gave me a friendly little wave, but I could see it in his eyes. He wasn’t watching for me.

“Psst… Walter,” I hissed nervously at the old man. “Walter. Hello.”

It took him a moment to notice me waving. He raised a finger, signaling for me to wait. I glanced around carefully, and thankfully, Adam was nowhere in sight.

“Well?” Walter said as he took off his headset. “What’s wrong?”

“What the fuck was that?” I whispered angrily. “What was that call? What’s going on here?”

“I don’t know, Lukas,” Walter muttered quietly. “And you shouldn’t worry about it either. Just take the calls, and everything will be fine. That’s our job…”

“What’s going on here, boys?” Adam said, stopping right between us.

He nearly gave me a heart attack. Again, I hadn’t heard or seen him approach. It felt like this smug, fake-friendly asshole was a lot more than just an arrogant, ass-kissing manager.

“Uh…nothing, boss,” Walter said quickly. “Just helping the new guy out a bit.”

That was the end of it. Walter put his headset back on and acted like Adam wasn’t even there.

“Lukas? My favorite prison inmate?” Adam turned toward me with an exaggerated smile. “Everything okay?”

“Well… I—I think so,” I answered, stumbling over my words.

“Then let’s go, buddy. Chop chop, work’s waiting,” Adam said, patting my shoulder again, harder than necessary.

I didn’t say anything. I just awkwardly put the headset back on.
The next call connected immediately.

“Hello, this is Lukas. How can I help you?” I said automatically, just like I’d been trained.

“Hello…” a tired male voice answered on the other end. “Hello, Lukas… Where… where am I?”

I swallowed hard. I could already tell this was going to be bad. Something wrong in a way I couldn’t explain.

“Lukas?” the man continued. “It’s dark. And I’m drifting. Where am I?”

“I…I don’t know,” I said, panic creeping into my voice. “I don’t even know who you are. Do you… do you know your name? Maybe I should call 911, I don’t…”

“Lukas?” the voice went on, still calm, still exhausted. “Why can’t I remember my name? And why can’t I see anything? Where could I be?”

“Oh, fuck,” I muttered, fully panicking now. “Listen, I don’t know. I don’t know what’s happening here. This is just a shitty call center job. Why the hell am I dealing with this?”

“Lukas,” the voice interrupted gently. “Calm down. Breathe. You don’t know where you are either, do you?”

I was almost hyperventilating. But there was something in the way he said it. Something that made me pause. I was still sitting in that stupid office I’d been going to for weeks. Somehow, I was supposed to have answers for him. For whatever this was.

“So, Lukas…” the man continued. “What day is it today?”

“Monday,” I answered instantly. “Well… almost Tuesday. There’s about half an hour until midnight.”

“I see,” the man said calmly. “And why do you think I don’t remember my name?”

“I don’t know, sir,” I replied, tense. “Memory loss? Trauma? I really don’t know. Do you remember anything at all?”

“Not really,” the man murmured, his voice growing quieter. “It’s cold out here. And I’m just drifting into nothing. Dark. Cold. Endless. Hmm… maybe space?”

I didn’t answer. I had no idea what to say. What was this? Who was I even talking to?

“Lukas?” the man asked. “Are you still there?”

“Yes…” I said softly. “I’m here.”

“That’s good,” he said, letting out a long sigh. “I think the nothing is pulling me along again. So I’ll say goodbye now. Goodbye, Lukas. I hope we’ll talk again.”

“Goodbye,” I said, surprising even myself. “Whoever you are.”

The line went dead.
Only the empty tone remained. And I couldn’t decide which call had been worse.
This one, or the children’s.

I didn’t move.

I just sat there, watching as the next call came in. The line was ringing, waiting for me to accept it, but I didn’t. I couldn’t. I felt like if I had to push myself through one more call like that, something inside me would finally snap.

What the hell was this job?

The harmless, annoying daytime calls had been replaced by these endless horrors. It felt like a bad joke. Like I’d somehow wandered into some kind of hidden camera show.

Luckily, Adam didn’t notice that I hadn’t answered the call.
He was standing at the far end of the office, right behind a woman at her desk. Completely motionless. Like an executioner waiting for the signal to strike. I watched every second of it. When the woman glanced back at Adam, he gave her a sly, mocking smile, the kind you give someone you secretly hate but still have to play nice with. The moment she turned back to her screen, his face went completely blank again.

“Lukas,” Walter suddenly leaned in close. “I know it’s hard… but you have to take the calls.”

“Walter… what is all this?” I asked, louder than I meant to.

“Shh, Lukas. Just please answer the next call,” Walter whispered, glancing around nervously. “You don’t want Adam to send you away. That never ends well.”

“Why?” I snapped. “So I won’t get to work at this wonderful place anymore?”

My phone signaled again. Another incoming call. The little orange icon started blinking.
I still didn’t move. I felt like I was done. Completely done.
But Walter was faster.
He rolled his chair over, leaned across my desk, and accepted the call for me.

“Don’t ever wish to end up on the other side of the line, Lukas,” Walter said quietly, pressing the headset back onto my head.

“Who’s there?” a furious woman’s voice snapped through the phone. “What the fuck did you do?”

“I don’t know…” I said, answering almost absentmindedly. “Not much, I guess…”

“Alright, shut the fuck up,” the angry, middle-aged woman barked. “Where’s my leg? Where the fuck is my leg?”

I froze.
I couldn’t process what I was hearing. I didn’t say a word.

“Hey! Are you listening to me?!” she screamed into the phone. “What happened to me? My leg’s gone, my head’s got a hole in it, my guts are spilling out. You better tell me what the fuck is going on right now, or there’s gonna be trouble!”

I just stared at my monitor, blankly.
One thought kept looping in my head: This can’t be real. This isn’t real. They’re just fucking with me.

“HELLO?!” the woman yelled. “Answer me, asshole!”

“I…I don’t know what to say,” I stammered. “I don’t know.”

“I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know,” she mocked me. “That’s just stalling, isn’t it? You pathetic little piece of shit. But I know who you are. I saw you leave your apartment today. Building C. Fourth floor. Apartment twenty-one. That’s you, right?”

I ripped the headset off my head and reached for the disconnect button.

“Wouldn’t do that,” Adam said calmly, standing right next to me.

He was close. Too close.
He wasn’t smiling. His face was cold and blank. He didn’t look angry or upset, he looked like someone watching a helpless insect trying to crawl out of the rain.

“I’m not doing this anymore, Adam,” I said firmly. “I’m done. What she’s saying, that’s fucking insane.”

“I don’t give a shit.” Adam leaned in, his mouth right next to my ear. “You’re still going to listen.”

“No!” I shoved myself away from the desk. “You listen to it if you want!”

I grabbed the headset and shoved it toward Adam’s face. He jumped back like he’d been burned.
Like the headset itself was the most horrifying thing he’d ever seen.

“Fuck that,” Adam muttered, turning away in disgust. “Besides… that thing’s filthy.”

“I don’t know what the hell this place is!” I yelled, standing up. “But I’m not doing this anymore!”

I grabbed my bag and stormed out of the office.

I didn’t stop until I got home.
It was already early morning when I arrived. The entire way back, the night kept replaying in my head. What the fuck was that place? What the fuck were those calls? This was supposed to be a boring office job. And then night came, and so did the horrors.

I was done. I was quitting. Anything was better than this, even being unemployed.

I collapsed onto my bed fully dressed, pale and exhausted. I just wanted to sleep. I’d deal with this insanity later.
Sleep came fast.

“Lukas… Lukas, wake up,” a familiar voice said mockingly.

“What…what? Where am I?” I jolted awake.

Something was wrong.

I was sitting in the office again. The lights were dim. The seat next to me was empty, Walter was gone.
Adam stood on my other side.
He was casually wiping his wet hands with a paper towel.

“Lukas,” Adam said calmly as he kept wiping. “You fell asleep on your break. No big deal. Still got time to grab something to eat.”

“What the fuck…” I jumped to my feet. “I wasn’t here. I went home. I…where’s Walter?”

“On break,” Adam replied. “The old guy always goes down to the hot dog stand nearby. I don’t really…”

“Shut the fuck up!” I snapped. “What is going on? I went home. And now I’m back here. Who are you? What is this place?”

“Lukas,” Adam said, smiling that smug smile again. “You can’t go home until you finish your shift.”

“What?” I stared at him. “What do you mean?”

“Oh, Lukas,” Adam sighed, shaking his head. “We know who you are. We know what you did. Until you’ve worked off your time, you don’t get to go anywhere else. Home, then back here. Home, then back HERE. And Lukas…” His smile widened. “People like you deserve this. You know that.”

My pupils dilated. Sweat ran down my back. My heart felt like it was pounding up in my throat.
But there was only one thought left in my head.

Oh God…

What I’ve done.