Tangled Voice Novels & Stories

A man's cologne. They walk around me, stopping behind the chair. Goosebumps rise on my skin when I felt their fingers wrap around my hair and tugged my head back harshly, causing me to choke on a cry. "Finally awake baby?" That voice. I know that voice.

I hear that particularly annoying strange voice hitting me hard against my ears, and it makes me raise an eyebrow. The voice is actually very, very annoying, but at the same time, it sounds so deep and so rough and so brutal, as though it has undergone some strange technological editing so that no one will be able to figure out who is speaking. "Who is this?" I ask, and the voice chuckles at the other side.

The voice is however overshadowed by the loud music playing in the background. " If a woman says no, she means no." Lance growls menacingly. " Scram before I break every bone in your useless body." The guy nods his head, fear written all over his face as he tries to back away. Lance releases his wrist and he bolts, staggering out of the club like his life depends on it. Lance turns his attention back to me, his eyes softening. I watch him approach me and sit on the empty stool beside me. " Are you okay, Kara?" He asks but my mind remains fixated on something else... that voice... so hoarse and sexy, it sends a delicious shiver running down my spine.

“No need. I like a woman bold enough to ruin a perfectly good shirt.” He introduced himself properly then — Andrew. Andrew. The name had a comfortable ring, like linen sheets. He had the kind of face people wrote about in magazines: high cheekbones, eyes that seemed to shift colors in indoor light. But it was his voice that held me. Warm. Uncomplicated. He listened like each sentence I offered was the most interesting thing he’d heard all day.

Everything i‌n m‍y​ body screamed Don’​t do this. But my finger accep‌t⁠ed the call before my br‌ain coul‍d stop it​. The camer⁠a o​p​ene‍d. ‌ I s‍wallowed hard. “Why‍ are you calling me? H​e tilted his head. “You lied to me you do‍n’​t miss me.” “Stefan, stop.” My voi‍ce cracked slightly.‍ “‍I’m married.”

“Listen to this. It’s messy, but it’s all here.” I held my breath as the audio began to play. The sound was grainy, filled with the background roar of a crowded bar and the clinking of glasses, but Portia’s voice was unmistakable. It was thick and slurred, heavy with the lack of control that comes with one too many cocktails.

If what I did worked, I’ll have to untangle over 1500 voices in my head before I’ll be able to get out of this mess. The first couple of times I try, it’s too overwhelming and I shut it down again. Then, one day, I see one strand light up. I can see the thread of the voice as it weaves in and around others. I pull on it and untangle it from all the others. Eli. It’s his voice that is now separated. I keep it close so I can listen when he talks to me. Cara, Angel, Sirona and Benny are next. I’m not sure if I have a stronger connection to them, or if they are actually somewhere close to me talking so I can hear them, or in this case, see their voices more clearly.

But then, something changes. Distantly, a voice breaks through the fog. Familiar, rough with worry, the sound stirs something deep inside me. Ghost. His voice reaches me in fragmented echoes, muffled and distorted like he’s speaking through water. The words don’t make sense at first, but there’s urgency, desperation woven into each one. My mind struggles to piece it together, to remember why he sounds like that. Then, a sharp sting jolts through my cheek. Another. It’s not enough to bring me back, but I feel it, cutting through the haze like a flicker of light in the darkness.

I asked, looking away from him. “I saved you. You got slashed in the back by the rogue.” He said simply. His voice sounded so smooth and captivating, like a melody floating in the air. The voice is deep and velvety, with a hint of huskiness that adds an extra layer of allure. The few words he spoke sent a tingle down my spine, and I couldn't help but be drawn in by the sheer maturity of his voice. It was like magic, casting a spell on me, making my heart skip a beat. “Are you okay?”