I Can Hear a Serial Killer's Voice in My Head

The conference room buzzes with activity as our team pores over case files, computer screens, and hastily scribbled notes. The air is thick with concentration and the faint smell of coffee that's long gone cold.

I stand in front of the evidence board, pinning up another photo. "Okay, what do we have so far?" I ask, turning to face the room.

Detective Kim speaks up first, her voice tight with a mix of excitement and disbelief. "I've got three missing persons cases, all within the last decade. Each victim was last seen either at or near the church."

"Details, Kim," Han prompts, leaning forward in his chair.

Kim nods, flipping through her notes. "First, we have Park Sung-min, 28, disappeared in 2015. His family reported that he'd been attending counseling sessions at the church for about six months before he vanished."

"What kind of counseling?" I ask, my interest piqued.

"Unclear," Kim replies. "The family was vague. Said he was 'troubled' but wouldn't elaborate."

I exchange a significant look with Han before nodding for Kim to continue.

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"Next, Lee Ji-eun, 35, went missing in 2018. She was a regular volunteer at the church's soup kitchen. Coworkers say she'd been acting strangely in the weeks leading up to her disappearance. Talking to herself, seeming distracted."

I feel a chill run down my spine. "And the third?"

"Choi Min-seo, 42, vanished just last year. He was new to the church, had only been attending for about a month. His wife said he'd started going after experiencing what she called 'a spiritual awakening'."

Han leans back, his face grim. "Three missing persons, all connected to the church. That's not a coincidence."

Detective Shin clears his throat. "It gets worse. I've found five suicides, all church members or regular attendees, over the past fifteen years."

The room falls silent as Shin begins to detail each case. As he speaks, I pin their photos to the board, a growing mosaic of lost souls.

"Jung Hae-won, 31, jumped from her apartment balcony in 2008. Na Yoon-ho, 45, overdosed on sleeping pills in 2011. Kang Soo-yeon, 29, hanged herself in 2014. Lee Dong-hyuk, 38, drove his car off a cliff in 2017. And most recently, Yoo Jae-hee, 33, slit her wrists in her bathtub just six months ago."

"Any commonalities besides the church connection?" Han asks, his voice tight.

Shin nods. "All of them had reportedly been acting erratically in the weeks or months leading up to their deaths. Family members mentioned mood swings, talking to themselves, periods of intense focus followed by extreme lethargy."

I feel my heart racing. It all fits the pattern - the voices, the church's involvement, the tragic endings.

"There's more," Detective Lee chimes in. "I've been looking into police reports filed in the church's vicinity. There's been a higher than average number of disturbance calls. People reporting strange noises, individuals behaving erratically in public."

Han stands up, walking to the evidence board. "So what we're seeing is a pattern of individuals associated with the church experiencing some kind of... mental disturbance. Some go missing, some take their own lives, others cause public disturbances."

"And some end up in positions of power," I add quietly, thinking of Choi.

The room falls silent as the implications of what we've uncovered sink in.

"What the hell is going on at that church?" Detective Kim finally asks, voicing what we're all thinking.

I take a deep breath, steeling myself for what I'm about to suggest. "I think... I think the church might be actively seeking out people who are experiencing certain... symptoms. People who are vulnerable. And something is happening to them there."

Han catches my eye, understanding the subtext of what I'm saying. "You mean people who might be hearing voices?"

I nod, watching the other detectives' reactions carefully. To my relief, they seem more intrigued than skeptical.

As we're all absorbed in our respective tasks, Detective Lee suddenly sits up straight, her eyes wide. "I think I might have found something," she says hesitantly, "but I'm not sure if it's relevant."

Han looks up from the file he's examining. "At this point, Lee, anything could be relevant. What have you got?"

Lee turns her computer screen towards us. "I was digging through some online archives, looking for any mentions of the church, and I came across this."

We all gather around her desk, peering at the screen. It's a digital flyer, its design simple but eye-catching. The church's name is prominently displayed at the top, followed by bold text that makes my heart skip a beat:

"Do you hear voices others can't? We're here to help. Free counseling services available."

"What the hell?" Detective Kim mutters, voicing the confusion I can see on most of my colleagues' faces.

I exchange a significant look with Han. This is it - concrete evidence that the church is actively seeking out people who hear voices.

"That's... unusual," Han says carefully, his tone neutral. "A church offering services specifically for people who hear voices?"

Lee nods, scrolling down the page. "It gets weirder. They've got testimonials here from people claiming the church helped them 'understand' their voices. It's all very vague, but it definitely seems like they're targeting a specific group of people."

"When was this posted?" I ask, trying to keep my voice steady.

"That's the thing," Lee replies, "This particular flyer is from about six months ago, but I've found similar ads going back years. It seems like an ongoing program."

Han straightens up, his face set in determination. "Lee, I need you to compile a list of everyone who's used or is currently using this service. Can you do that?"

Lee nods, already turning back to her computer. "I'm on it. I'll see if I can track down contact information for them as well."

As the team gets back to work, now with renewed energy, Han pulls me aside.

"This is it, isn't it?" he says in a low voice. "This is how they're finding people like you, like your father."

I nod, feeling a mix of vindication and dread. "It looks that way. But why? What are they doing with these people once they find them?"

Han's expression is grim. "That's what we need to find out. And fast. If this church is actively recruiting people who hear voices, who knows how many more might be in danger."

As we turn back to the investigation board, now with this crucial new piece of information, I can't help but feel we're on the verge of uncovering something massive. The church, the voices, the missing persons and suicides - it's all connected. And whatever is at the center of it all, I have a feeling it's going to be more horrifying than we could have imagined.

"We need to move quickly," I mutter to Han. "If the church realizes we're onto them..."

Han nods, his jaw set. "Agreed. Let's see what Lee can dig up about the people who've used this service. That might be our best lead yet."

***

We pull up to a modest house in a quiet suburban neighborhood. The paint is peeling slightly, and the small garden looks a bit overgrown. Han, Lee, and I exchange glances before stepping out of the car.

"Remember," Han says quietly, "we're just here to ask about her experience with the church. Nothing about our investigation."

Lee and I nod in agreement as Han rings the doorbell. After a moment, the door opens slightly, revealing a woman in her mid-thirties. Her hair is unkempt, and dark circles underscore her eyes.

"Ms. Park Soo-yeon?" I ask gently. When she nods, I continue, "I'm Detective Park Minjun, and these are my colleagues, Detective Han and Detective Lee. We'd like to ask you a few questions about the counseling services you received at St. Michael's Church. May we come in?"

She hesitates for a moment before opening the door wider. "I suppose so," she says, her voice barely above a whisper.

We follow her into a dim living room. Soo-yeon sits in an armchair, gesturing for us to take the couch opposite her.

"Ms. Park," Han begins, his tone professional but kind, "can you tell us about what led you to seek counseling at the church?"

Soo-yeon's hands fidget in her lap. "It... it started about two years ago," she says slowly. "I began hearing... voices."

I lean forward slightly, trying to keep my expression neutral. "What kind of voices, Ms. Park?"

She looks down, avoiding our eyes. "Negative ones. Always criticizing me, telling me I was worthless, that I should hurt myself. It was... overwhelming."

"What did you do when this started?" Lee asks, jotting notes.

"I thought I was going crazy," Soo-yeon admits. "I went to my doctor first. They ran tests, but couldn't find anything physically wrong. They referred me to a psychologist, but... the medication didn't help. The therapy didn't help.

Nothing seemed to make the voices stop."

I nod encouragingly. "And that's when you found the church?"

Soo-yeon's eyes light up slightly. "Yes. I saw their flyer online. It was like... like a sign. Someone who finally understood what I was going through."

"Can you tell us about your experience with their counseling?" Han prompts.

She hesitates. "At first, it was... comforting. They didn't tell me I was crazy. They said the voices were real, that they could help me understand them."

"Understand them?" I repeat, trying to keep the alarm out of my voice.

Soo-yeon nods. "They said the voices were... messengers, of a sort. That I needed to learn to listen to them, to communicate with them."

I can feel Han and Lee tense beside me. This confirms our worst suspicions about the church's methods.

"Did it help?" Lee asks carefully.

Soo-yeon's face crumples slightly. "For a while, I thought it did. The voices... changed. They became less negative. But then..." She trails off, her eyes distant.

"Then what, Ms. Park?" I prompt gently.

She looks at us, fear evident in her eyes. "They started asking me to do things. Terrible things. I couldn't... I stopped going to the church after that. But the voices...

they're still here. Always here."

As we leave Soo-yeon's house, promising to be in touch, the gravity of what we've uncovered settles over us.

"They're not just finding people who hear voices," I say quietly as we get back in the car. "They're... cultivating them somehow."

Han nods grimly. "And not for any benevolent purpose, it seems. We need to dig deeper into what exactly they're doing in those 'counseling' sessions."

As we drive back to the station, I can't shake the image of Soo-yeon's haunted eyes. How many others like her are out there? And what is the church's endgame in all of this?

The pieces of the puzzle are starting to come together, but the picture they're forming is more disturbing than I could have imagined. Whatever is going on at that church, we need to stop it. Before more people like Soo-yeon fall victim to their manipulations.