Category: June2020

“I can’t wait ’til I turn 40…,” Tommy sighed. The 11-year-old boy sat on his parent’s bed watching his mother help his father get ready for his 40th birthday party. His dad, a lean, muscular man stood up straight with his arms held out at a 45-degree angle. His wife wrapped an elegant golden silk cloth around his waist and up his back over his shoulders. His pants were also silk, but dyed black instead. Both his parents smiled non-stop, Tommy felt an excitement in the air. He’d been to 40th parties before, but as a family member, his experience was different this time.

40th birthdays were a community event, and everyone in the community was happy to pitch in to make the day special for the family. This would be Tommy’s first party where he didn’t have to do any set up before or clean up after. He could enjoy the food and fun worry-free, no wonder his parents were smiling so much.

“I hope you’re not expecting to just turn 40 and die without working for it,” Tommy’s dad reminded him with a smile. He hoped talking about it might inspire Tommy the way he was inspired when his father turned 40. “The sooner you pick your class, the sooner you can start putting effort in.” While his wife walked another lap around him with the silky garment, Tommy’s dad used his free hand to pat his abs. “This didn’t happen by accident; I started training as a monk when I was about your age,” he said. Tommy narrowed his large brown eyes at his dad.

“But if your body is planted… what’s the point of getting muscles?” he asked.

“It’s not about the muscles,” his dad replied as Tommy’s mom tied the garment around his waist. “It’s about the discipline it took to get them. Your soul goes with you to the next life, and discipline is how strong your soul is. I chose Monk, and I conditioned my body as a way of training my soul.” His wife finished tying and stepped away to get something from the closet.

“Your mom decided to be a Dancer, you see her practicing that every chance she gets. Whatever class you pick for your next life, start working on it in this one.” It was the best advice his father gave him, and he hoped it stuck with Tommy.

“I don’t want to exercise…,” Tommy whined. “I want to be a wizard or a Card Mage.” His dad smiled at him.

“Every class has its own way of improving, you don’t have to wear yourself out physically. Studying is a valid way to practice your discipline too.” Tommy’s mother walked out of the closet with a flowing white silk robe that she helped her husband put on. She tied it closed with a golden belt, then stepped back next to the bed to admire him.

“Well, how do I look?” Tommy’s dad asked.

“Good enough that I want to be buried in there with you,” his wife said with a wink.

“Well, I’m sure the council wouldn’t have a problem with sneaking you to the next life with me. Married couples do it all the time with bigger age differences.”

“Oh, don’t tease me,” she said. “I might take you up on it.”

“You should,” he grinned.

“Yeah, mom! GOOO!” Tommy cheered.

“I couldn’t…,” she gave a mild protest. “I’m not ready. And who would take care of Tommy?” At that moment, father and son perfectly resembled each other. Two pairs of large brown eyes rolled upward in their heads. Tommy’s dad walked forward and wrapped his arms around his wife.

“You act like there haven’t been procedures in place for this kind of thing for hundreds of years,” he said. “He gets everything instead of you,” he shrugged. “No big deal. It’s not like the council is going to let him slack on his studies.”

“I…,” she hesitated and looked down at her son. “Would you really be okay with it?” she asked. Tommy stood from the bed, crossed his arms, and screwed his face up into a scowl.

“NO!” he said. His sudden, harsh tone surprised both his parents. “I REFUSE to let my mom have the happiest day of her life ever…,” he planned to keep the act up longer. However, that was as far as he made it before the boy burst into giggles. His parents sighed in relief when the laughter started.

“Of course you can go,” he smiled but his tone sounded melancholy, but his mother identified a tiny bit of jealousy too. “I can’t wait ’til I turn 40…”

“What do you mean, no?” Antonio, the current head of the Russo crime family, narrowed his eyes at the man sitting across from him. He wore a crisp white suit with a bright red tie; the man nodded at Antonio.

“It’s not a difficult concept, Mr. Russo. No. As in, if you pursue this action, Sharp Development will pull all our funding out of your organization.

“What’s the big deal? What’s so special about a crappy Chinese restaurant? Ms. Sharp was happy to help us wipe out everyone else in the area, why not Chang’s place? They just opened yesterday, we gotta move fast so they don’t get comfortable.”

“First,” the white-suited man said. “Let me remind you that Sharp Development is not obligated to clarify its reasoning to you. The contract was simple: follow orders, get rewarded.” Antonio clenched his fists in frustration; the only thing he could do was listen. Sure, he could have the man in front of him killed. But that was only a temporary solution, he wasn’t the problem. No matter who he killed, Ms. Sharp would just send another one. Despite the money flowing in and success of his empire, it bothered Antonio that it wasn’t his success. Someone else, a woman at that, was calling the shots. And she was good at it. This wasn’t the first time Antonio swallowed his pride; but, he felt it was getting close to the last time.

“Second…,” the man in white visibly relaxed. He tilted his head at Antonio and smiled. “…it’s for your safety.”

“What do you mean?” Antonio asked. “My boys can handle-,” he was interrupted by the man shaking his head. 

“You said the place opened yesterday, right?” he asked. Antonio nodded. “Think back. The day before yesterday, or even last week. What was there before the restaurant?”

“It’s -,” Antonio started to say that it’s been there. But in actually thinking about it, he realized he passed by the empty lot every day for years. “It was empty,” he said, surprised. The man nodded. 

“Consider the fact that a three-story building magically appeared from nowhere, and everyone just accepts it. And, believe me when I tell you, Donna Chang is out of your league. She can single-handedly kill every single one of your men without breaking a sweat. She might look 100 years old, but don’t underestimate her; she’s actually much older.”

“Ms. Sharp is invested in your family,” he added. “She would rather not lose that investment on account of someone else’s stupidity. Donna Chang’s is not to be threatened in any way, is that clear?” he asked.

Antonio nodded, “Yes boss.”

“Huh?” Megan tilted her head a the mystery opening that appeared in the back of the freezer. She bumped the shelf while rotating the inventory; one of the metal slats on the shelf bent surprisingly easily. The moment it did, she heard a click. She saw a thin line of red light coming through an opening in the freezer wall.

Megan was there early to open the restaurant that day; she was the only employee there when she found the door. Curiosity encouraged her to push it open and she walked through.  On the other side, she found what appeared to be a second freezer.

It was a cold, dim room. Metal shelves held dozens of boxes; they looked pink under the red light filling the room. She stepped closer to examine one. She used the light on her phone to determine it was actually a white box with a red scissor logo on the top. She looked for as shipping label, or anything that might hint what was inside, but there was nothing. Not even a date.

“That’s weird,” she said to herself. “And dangerous,” she decided to check what was inside; she hoped there might be a date on the items themselves, whatever they were. In the back of her mind, she started noting health code violations. Megan tended to be a stickler for food safety. She was determined to land the top chef spot as soon as possible; and, she was happy to be able to point out operational errors to get noticed. She pointed her phone at herself, then started recording.

“Uh, I don’t know what’s going. I found a secret, different freezer in the regular freezer.” She rotated the phone around to show the dim, red-lit room. “And I found this box with no dates on it. There are several other boxes here, none of them seem to have dates either. They all look about the same so I’m guessing whatever’s in this one is in the rest. Let’s go take a look,” she said, then paused the recording.

Megan carried the box and her phone out of both freezers and carried it to a stainless steel prep-table. She organized herself and started recording again.

“I’m opening the box to see what’s inside,” she said, then pulled the lid off. “It’s meat,” she said, somewhat disappointed. She reached in and grabbed one of the dozens of packages and pulled it out to show the camera.  It was packaged in clear plastic and shaped like a cube. 

“…No date…,” she said while she rotated the meat cube in front of the camera. The meat had the bright red color of beef, but as she moved it, she noticed it seemed to shimmer in the light. It almost appeared to have thousands of tiny flecks of gold running through it.

“Weiiird…,” she said. “You see that?” She asked her unknown audience. Megan hadn’t decided who to show the video to yet. She considered she wouldn’t have to show anyone if she found a date and everything was normal. “The way it catches the light, oh I hope this comes out on camera,” she said. Shimmery meat was not normal.

“I need to smell it,” she decided aloud for the camera. She walked away from the table, then returned with a knife. She cut a slit in the package, brought it up to her nose, and inhaled deeply.  The moment she did her eyes went wide.

“WHAT THE HELL!?” she pulled the package away from her nose and shook her head as if trying to get the scent out of her nose. She looked down at it after several moments, then slowly raised it again. She gingerly brought it closer to her nose as she started inhaling; she wanted to catch the sent as soon as she could. “No way!” she threw the package on the table, then reached in the box for another. She wasted no time slicing it open and bringing it up to her nose.

“I don’t know what this is…,” she said to the camera. “But it smells like…,” she paused and a faint smile tugged at the corners of her lips. “You’re not going to believe me, but you’ll be able to smell it for yourself. It smells like popcorn. Exactly like hot, fresh popcorn from the theater.”

“It smells like coffee to me,” a voice said behind Megan. She jumped and whirled around to find the owner holding his morning mug of coffee. Before Megan could say anything, the owner kept speaking.

“Well, you’re in on it now. Leave those two out,” he nodded at the two packages Megan opened. “They’re ruined if we don’t use them right away. Put the rest away where you found it, and I’ll explain.”  He carried his coffee into the office while Megan covered the box again and carried it into the freezer. The owner was prepping a pan by the stove when she returned to the kitchen.

“Gloves,” he told her as she approached. She nodded and was wearing a pair of gloves by the time she reached him. He picked up a cube of meat and emptied it out onto her hands.

“Do you know what this is?” the owner asked.

“Meat?” Megan answered with a shrug. He nodded and chuckled.

“Do you know what kind?” he asked. 

“No,” Megan shook her head.

“How did you find it?” he asked.

“It was an accident while restocking,” she said. Megan explained how she accidentally pulled a lever and found the room. She explained her curiosity and search for dates for health reasons. The owner listened intently, but he seemed focused on the meat in her hands.

“Have you heard of the AlterNet?” he asked while eyeing the meat. Megan tilted her head.

“Alternate what?” she asked.

“Nevermind, we’ll get to that later. Alright, let me ask you this. Can you do Ruben’s job?” he asked about the head cook. Megan had no doubts and nodded vigorously.

“I can do it better,” she said. The owner kept his eyes on the meat in her hands, then smiled.

“Okay. Ruben doesn’t know about this, he nodded at the mystery meat. “It would be helpful to have a chef that did know, and he’s not ready for this.”

“Not ready for what?” Megan asked. She raised the meat slightly. “This?” she asked. The owner nodded.

“Lie to me. Rigth now, make up anything you know is a lie.”

“I think you’re the most handsome man I’ve ever seen and I want to get you alone for a good hour at least,” she said. As soon as the words left her mouth, the cube of meat in her hands began to glow with a soft white aura.

“Ouch,” the owner said with a chuckle. Megan pushed the glowing meat out at him in fear.

“What’s going on!?” she asked. The owner took the meat from her hands and it stopped glowing.

“My name is Mary,” the owner said. The meat again began to glow with soft light.

“This is unicorn meat. It glows around lies,” he said. The glow dissipated. “It doesn’t expire unless it’s exposed to air.” The meat did not glow. “My name is Julie,” he said. It immediately started glowing again.

“Aww…  crap,” Dennis sighed the moment he became aware of his surroundings. He sat inside a confined, cramped stainless steel cubicle with his pants around his ankles.

“For a good time call Dana Sharp” was etched on the shiny door in front of him along with several other artistic expressions in heavy black marker. He felt something in his hand and checked the note.

“This body will die in 10 minutes. Figure out how, and prevent it.” There were more details below, but that’s where Dennis stopped reading; he learned all the information he needed. He collected himself, then exited the stall. He stopped in front of the mirror to check his appearance; then, gave a grumbling nod of acceptance.

“I hate this one,” he said to the balding, chubby-cheeked gentleman in the mirror. “At least it’s only 10 minutes,” he consoled himself as he exited the restroom and stepped out into the upscale restaurant.

The dining room was crowded with suits and dresses; each diner looked like the type to have summer houses and yachts. They wore watches and jewels that were more expensive than Dennis’ yearly salary. He stood in place surveying the restaurant. He did not know which table was his, but it wouldn’t matter in 10 minutes anyway.

After a couple of minutes of standing in place, he spotted a beautiful woman. The restaurant was full of them, but this one stood out because she was sitting alone in a dim corner with a distraught look on her face. Even from across the dining room he could tell she was crying.

“Awwww, damnit,” Dennis rolled his eyes even as his feet started to carry him toward her table. The moment he saw her, he made a decision. He hated the decision, but he knew better than to argue with his own nature; he never won.

“You okay, Miss?” he asked once he reached her table. She looked up like a startled puppy.

“It’s YOU!” she hissed a whisper. “I don’t know what’s going on! I don’t know how I got here! I don’t want to!” she trembled and looked up at him with pleading eyes. “Can you help me???” she begged. Dennis rolled his eyes mentally again as he nodded and sat down.

“Calm down, it’s okay,” he said. “You got a note, right?” he asked. She nodded vigorously and dropped a crumpled sheet on the linen table cloth. Dennis shook his head.

“I can’t read it, it’s for you only.” She narrowed her eyes at him.

“How did you know I got a note? How do you know you can’t read it, you didn’t even look at it,” she asked. Dennis held his palms up to try and gesture for her to keep calm.

“You don’t remember anything, that’s okay,” he said. “It’s supposed to happen; you know, part of the game.”

“What game?” she asked, she tapped the paper. “It said I have 10 minutes to kill you. How is that a game?”  Dennis chuckled. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his own paper note, then handed it to the woman. She took it, and looked it over on both sides.

“It’s blank,” she said. Dennis shook his head.

“It’s not blank. Only I can see it, the same way only you can see yours. My instructions say I have 10 minutes to figure out how I’m going to die and prevent it,” he said. The woman gave him a confused look.

“It’s a game!” he said. “I have to survive for 10 minutes, you have 10 minutes to kill me. Trust me, I’ve been on the killer end before too.”

“Game?” she asked. “How is this a game? I’m sitting here with a real gun in my purse. I feel a buzz because I chugged a couple of glasses of wine when I got my note.” Dennis chuckled.

“Let me see the gun,” he said.

“What?” she asked. Dennis nodded and gestured with his hand.

“Hand it over, trust me.” She only hesitated for a moment before digging through her purse to pull out a heavy black iron revolver. She hid it behind the purse, then discreetly passed it to him under the side of the table. The moment it was in his hand he jumped to his feet and waved the gun in the air.

“I’ve got a gun! I’ve got a gun!” he yelled. The woman panicked with wide eyes, then she noticed no one cared. The well-dressed patrons continued to eat, unconcerned.

“Why aren’t they -,” She began to question Dennis, but she was interrupted by an ear-splitting *BANG!*.  A waiter toppled to the ground holding his bloody chest. “WHAT THE FU-,” she screamed, but stopped when the waiter’s body disappeared. In moments, the same waiter walked out of the kitchen.

“They’re NPCs,” Dennis said as he put the gun back on the table.

“You and I are the only real ones here. We’re both playing the game. Players are assigned random matchups in a regular rotation of games. This is probably your first time getting this stage; the memory wipe for this one is kind of harsh until you get used to it. After the game, you’ll go back to your body and have your normal memories again.

“So.. did I lose?” she asked with a chuckle. Dennis shook his head.

“You still have a couple of minutes to kill me.  I kind of figured this was your first time, usually the killer spots me as soon as I step out of the restroom. If this is your first time on this stage, you’re probably new to the AlterNet in general,” he said.

“Alternate what?” she asked. Dennis chuckled and shook his head.

“You’ll remember later. Anyway, to welcome you to the AlterNet,” he nudged the gun in her direction. “I’ll let you win this round. But add me to your friend list after the game, I want a real rematch.”

“Okay!” she grinned as she grabbed the gun off the table and aimed at his head.

Alice hid trembling and frightened.
The dark closet was her final defense.
Her jaw was clenched, her fists: tightened.
Across the Earth roamed an evil presence.
Walking skeletons slaughtered the living.

Her trembles bumped open a box;
an envelope fell out. her name and a note like a bold header.
“Alice: Extreme emergencies only. (P.S. Your dad rocks.)”
She smiled at the unopened letter.

It was the only reminder of her father; she held her breath.
He was a practical joker with a dark sense of humor.
“This is definitely extreme; it’s life or death,”

She smiled at the card signed by her dad; it was somehow relieving.
A cartoonish tombstone engraved, surrounded by flowers in bloom.

“See you soon!”