He stepped into the light.
Outside a computer monitor, he looked worse. Tired eyes, ringed with dark circles; greasy hair falling across his forehead. And he wore a smirk that sent chills down my spine.
Jingwen drew her gun. “Hands in the air,” she said, with forced calm.
He didn’t reply, and took a step forward.
“Hands in the air! I’ll shoot!”
“Go ahead.”
Her hands shook.
And then she pulled the trigger.
Bang!
For a second, time stood still. The light above our head flickered, and everyone was frozen in the gray shadows of dawn. Blondie’s face, contorted in a sob. Jingwen’s mouth stretched in a gasp. His casual grin, as if laughing at a joke.
Ping.
The bullet bounced off his jacket, onto the floor –
Now no larger than a grain of sand.
Jingwen’s eyes widened. “How – that’s not possible –”
“You’re all skeptics at first,” he said, picking a figurine off the nightstand. “But sooner or later, you come to believe.”
Believe what? That he’s… turning people into those? I glanced at the figurine in his hand, to the one clenched in Blondie’s fist. Both were clearly plastic… just toys…
But if it isn’t true… how do I explain the bullet?
Or the fact that everyone on floor 4 disappear?
I shook my head. It doesn’t matter what he’s thinks he’s doing. Just distract him as much as you can. I took a few steps back, towards the window. “Okay, say I believe everything. But why, then? Why are you doing this?”
“Haven’t you heard?” he said, his smile turning into a determined frown. “The Time is Nigh.” With his index finger, he pointed to the sky.
“What does that mean?” I asked. My fingers fell into the groove beneath the panes; I pressed upwards, and felt the window shift slightly.
“There is a Better Way.” Now he broke into a grin, and looked down at the figurines that scattered the floor with newfound affection. “The Day of Reckoning is almost here, and I have done far more than my duty. They’re going to be so pleased.”
Okay. He’s insane… I have no idea what to say to that… no idea… “Hey, she kept her end of the deal,” I said, motioning to Blondie with one hand, while the other stayed on the window. Just a little more force, and I could get it open…
He scoffed. “What do you care?”
“Shouldn’t you keep your end?”
“Heh, sure. Sounds fair to me.” He walked over to her, eyes glinting with amusement. Blondie unfurled her fingers, revealing the figurine in her palm, her eyes glinting with hope. He yanked it from her and held it up to his eyes.
“She’s a pretty one.”
Then he threw it to the ground, lifted his foot –
And brought it down.
Snap.
Blondie screamed. A horrible, wounded scream that faded into convulsing sobs.
“You should’ve known better than to bargain with one of us,” he yelled at her. “We never compromise. The Better Way is the right way; there is no middle ground.”
She paused.
And then, with a wild scream, she flew at him. Her arms locked around his neck, and they fell to the ground in a tangled heap.
Click.
I yanked the window up.
“Come on!” I yelled, diving through the window. Follow me, Jingwen, please…
I hit the damp soil with a thud. Pain shot through the left side of my body; but I picked myself up off the ground. I turned around, heart racing –
No. She wasn’t following.
The little yellow light in the window flickered.
No no no –
Thump!
Jingwen flew out of the window. “Run!” she screamed. We jumped in the car, breathless and pained. She jammed the keys into the ignition just as a dark shape – a flash of black leather – fell from the window.
The car screeched away. We flew down the road, the gravel crunching underneath the wheels.
---
Nobody believed our story, of course. At least, not our version of the story. They believed that some weirdo with figurines was trying to lure people into his house – just not the rest. Jingwen was promptly fired from the police force, both for inventing tall tales and for bringing a civilian along with her to a dangerous situation.
They sent more cops over to the house. By the time they got there, it was completely cleared out – even the figurines were gone. I quit my job at the hotel and moved halfway across the country, where I became a barista. Not quite as good a job, but at least it came with discounted coffee instead of nighttime weirdos.
It was around closing time after a week on the job that the couple came in. A woman wearing glasses and a bun, followed by a blond guy. I served them up two coffees, and set out to wiping down some of the tables.
In the empty coffee shop, I couldn’t help but overhear their conversation, as it echoed off the tile.
“Like I said in the email – I have a problem,” he said. “You see, I – I live with my parents. But they nag me all the time – stop playing video games, it’s too late to go out with your friends, all of that. But I don’t have the money to move out. I have nowhere to go.”
She nodded, and looked at him with a small smile. “There is a Better Way,” she said.
I dropped the rag.
“We will take care of your parents,” she said. “And then we will take care of you.”
“Wait – take care of them? What do you mean?” He started to look nervous; his eyes darted around the shop. “All I need is a little money to move out. Uh, I thought – I thought you came here to give me that.”
The woman shook her head, then pointed up. “The Time is Nigh,” she said. “And you have come to me not a moment too soon.”
We both stared at her.
“The Day of Reckoning is almost upon us.”
---
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