That"s what They told us. No introduction, no ransom deals, no theatricals. A simple instruction, a single sentence, an order, a holy grail. However, I hate that simple rule. After all, my wish is not my command, it"s hers.

Do I want this deal?

Will she open the box if I agreed to this?

Do I have a choice?

"Trust me, you"d want to open that box." The person in front of me said in a condescending tone.

"Is that what you want? You get to win?"

"I want both of us leaving this place as winners. You"ll even get what you want if you believe in me." She said, tapping her fingernails on the table.

"You don"t even know what I want..." I paused, squinting my eyes. "... Annie." If that is even her real name.

She snickered. I could see her smugness taking the form of an aura enveloping her. This lady is nothing but trouble. Never in my life did I imagine a.s.sociating with someone as troublesome as her.

"This is not a gamble..." She looked at me from the head downwards. "... Ila." This is a gift! I"m giving you what you want right now."

"And what do you want, Annie?"

"Uhh, I dunno. I can wish for a Rolex inside of a Gucci handbag to drop on your head. I get the laughs from seeing your face, you get a Gucci and a Rolex! I say fair trade!"

"You expect me to buy that?" I snarled.

"It"s a joke, jeez, Ila! Lighten up, there"s no use going Mommy Dearest right now. We"re trapped, so what!? Quit whining about it!"

"We"re not supposed to treat this as a joke, Annie!"

"Why are you so mad? Fine, I"d wish instead to get out of here. I wish you"d get to have two hot studs escort you home and you can do whatever you want with them until you"re satisfied!"

I rolled my eyes and rest my head on my palm. "Just shut up," I whispered.

"d.a.m.n, lady. My first week in the city and I get stuck with you? Ugh, I knew I should have asked for directions."

I can see you"re getting confused. Don"t worry, I understand, I am at a loss too. What I remembered is as I was going home from work I felt a sudden urge to p.i.s.s. I p.i.s.sed on the mall"s bathroom and that"s supposed to be the end of a normal day; a typical scene after working my a.s.s off, right? But I messed up real hard at that moment. And I"m aware of my faults.

The story goes as usual: I saw a curious little writing while p.i.s.sing, nothing serious. In fact, it"s one of those prank hookup phone numbers. "Want to have a good time? Call this number x.x.xx.x.xxx" or whatever it was, you get the point. Bottom line is someone vandalized a wall with a black permanent marker and an awful handwriting. But that"s not the weird part.

That graffiti... it was extraordinary. I sensed something, a soul, the beating of a heart, beneath those letters are proof of life. The dirt-stained writings declare my name, ordering me to hit those digits up, forcing me to be its slave. Among the doodles of genitals and speeches of angst written on the walls of that decrypt toilet, this statement is the sole mark that entrapped my mind. For a moment, I was a blank mess and the words are the strings, a.s.suming full dominion over my body.

I dare say its sorcery.

Then I wondered, I have a phone I seldom use for its intended purposes. A call or two won"t hurt anybody. I wasn"t manipulated by anyone when I pressed the "dial" b.u.t.ton. I"m not surprised if I was though. With this mess I got myself into, I"d believe whatever you"d tell me.

I phoned the number. It rang thrice. A metallic voice answered. One that"s similar to a software-generated human sound in a terrible YouTube video.

"Congratulations."

After that single word, my phone swallowed me. But it didn"t suck me in like a low-quality CG wormhole and throw me to a different dimension. No, we"re not in Power Rangers, dear. I mean, the device took the shape of a steel mouth with shark"s teeth and chomp my head till I was unconscious. I can"t recall what happened next. And to be perfectly honest, I"m not really sure if what my memories are real. I don"t know why but there"s inside me saying everything I remember feels-

"-artificial."

"What?"

"No, I mean our clothes, dumb b.i.t.c.h. It feels so artificial, d.a.m.n, in this even real cloth?"

I scoffed. "Can you shut the f.u.c.k up, Annie? Leave me be for a while!" Vulgar, but please understand. I"ve been working nonstop for a month now. I do not want to deal with her bulls.h.i.t right now. I signed up for these shenanigans, but an added stress is not what I expected.

"For what, Ila?" She said with an emphasis on my name. "So you could decide on your wish? Well, I"m sorry, but I won"t open that box. It"s either you lift the lid or we"ll stay here. Forever is not a problem!" She leaned back to where she"s sat with her arms on her chest.

So here"s the thing. Annie and I are complete strangers. This the beginning for us, our first conversation. I presume we"re not living in the same city or the same state. Heck, maybe we"re oceans apart! So you might ask yourselves: how the h.e.l.l do we know each other"s names?

Answer: Labels. All over our body. That"s it. Labels.

Annie is wearing a white hat, white t-shirt, white shorts, and white Vans. Covering the entirety of her attire is a name: Annie. There are three "Annie" written on her white dad hat. Meanwhile, her name is all over her tee countless times in random order and position. I can"t see her shorts from here but if I glance below the table, I can take a peek at her shoes which has the name Annie marked in it. In fact, she"s even wearing this iron choker with the name in question flashing around her neck.

The Supreme logo is the style imitated to write the names. This person in front of me is wearing nothing but Annie-labeled bootleg Supreme products. But I"m not fortunate enough to avoid this gimmick.

I"m wearing a black sweater, black sweatpants, black rubber shoes, and black underwear—I checked. My name, Ila, is embracing my body the same way it does with Annie. There"s only one variation between our clothes: the designs of our labels. My name is vertically printed continuously all over me in an organized fashion mimicking a cla.s.sroom! And the design is insane! Written in white, the name "Ila" is on top of a checkmark! They ripped off Supreme and Nike just to show us a subtle identification of one another. But they failed on the "subtle" part and we got these instead.

"We don"t even know this place, and you"re willing to stay here forever?" I said as I scan my surroundings for the seventh time, I counted.

"I know where we are, this is a train." Whoa s.h.i.t, thanks, Sherlock Holmes. "And a good one too. Nice and cozy. Look at those designs, must be high cla.s.s! Haven"t you seen one of these before, Ila? I"ve seen them in real life, don"t you have a TV?" She said as she scratches her belly.

"I know what a train is, I wasn"t alive yesterday. But this one... Well, d.a.m.n its beautiful. Way too beautiful. This is my first time seeing something like this. Let alone riding it."

I looked at the window beside me. As I peer out of our pa.s.senger car, I realized we"re in some sort of village, I a.s.sume? Outside, few houses from afar hide beneath the thick mist and leafless trees. No sign of breathing creatures, no smoke coming out of the chimneys, no train conductors, and no authorities to ask for help. Whatever this town is, it"s devoid of life aside from the two of us. Snow blankets everything rooted on the ground, from the tires of a parked vehicle to the roof of the railway platform. "But isn"t it summer?" I whispered to myself.

"Oh, we"re in Russia." She chuckled.

I looked at her. She looked at me. I blew a m.u.f.fled laughter as we grinned at each other. "You don"t know where we are, don"t you?"

"I have absolutely no f.u.c.king clue!" She said, laughing as she speaks.

I laughed with her but in the core of my heart, I have had enough. Flames in my heart ablaze. I stood up screaming inside of my head as I look for a way to leave. Maybe the windows would cooperate somehow? I tried to lift them, pull downwards, or push from each side but the thing"s sealed shut. I tried to punch the son-of-gun, but I ended up just hurting myself. Escaping through the window is impossible. And aside from the chairs and the table, this "train" has no doors leading outside or a path to other coaches. There are no hidden openings we"re aware of and no concealed escape b.u.t.tons we can find.

"How the h.e.l.l did we even-" My mind stands prepared to implode in a fit of fury when something interrupted me. A deafening horn sound surrounded the train. The honking is so loud it made us cover our ears out of instinct. The sheer loudness of the noise alone caused my brain to burst forth into a sound-induced supernova. For a mere three seconds, the racket cracked my skull enough to leave a high pitched ringing in my ear. Suddenly everything is in a blur, my senses...

Stopped.

"Are you okay?"

"I"m fine... Maybe I"m fine. I"m alive. What the h.e.l.l was that?"

"No idea. But I think its the train horn."

"But that sound, this was... it wasn"t like... G.o.d, that"s too exaggerated. Too loud, too much... what? s.h.i.t, won"t stop! Head hurts... So much. "

"Try to calm yourself first. Rest your back for a while."

"Thank you."

After a while, I reclaimed my composure.

Annie stood up, I suppose to help soothe my nerves when a meeting chime rang from around us. Unlike the torture of the horns earlier, the loudness of this one is a whisper in comparison. But strong enough to hear without causing a stir. The sinister chime followed by the sweet voice of a child did not make this experience rea.s.suring.

"The train will be leaving shortly after this announcement: arriving at ^̳̹͚̳͗ͬͫ͜&̢̝̩͕̜̬͆͐́㏈̴̞̺̻ͨ̐ͅ{̪͕ͤ̌̃͘˥̧͋̔ͫ̂̓ station. Paparating na sa ^̳̹͚̳͗ͬͫ͜&̢̝̩͕̜̬͆͐́㏈̴̞̺̻ͨ̐ͅ{̪͕ͤ̌̃͘˥̧͋̔ͫ̂̓ station." Then silence.

The chime rang again and we could hear two people whispering to each other on the hidden speakers. Annie and I looked at each other in confusion, what the h.e.l.l did They say the station was? And what gibberish are They talking about after the first announcement?

The speakers fell into an awkward silence once again. But that silence broke immediately, the meeting chime rang thrice followed by that familiar sweet voice.

"The train will be arriving at the next station in approximately ten minutes. Decide the winner now or you will die on that train, tee-hee!"

Both of us gasped. None of us spoke. We continued to listen.

"Procedures regarding the technique to be used for your death will be announced when we arrive at ^̳̹͚̳͗ͬͫ͜&̢̝̩͕̜̬͆͐́㏈̴̞̺̻ͨ̐ͅ{̪͕ͤ̌̃͘˥̧͋̔ͫ̂̓ station."

A distorted and slower version of the meeting chime follows our sweet young announcer"s news. As it rings out, I looked around for an AI watching us. Haze and spirals fill my head as I eyed the ceiling above me with a shocked filled expression. I feel as if I am looking at a secret camera, whirring at me. Or maybe this train is a maze of secrets.

Secrets we aren"t given time to explore.

Ten minutes, huh?

"That"s way too soon," Annie whispered. She stepped backward with as much shock as I do. With her entire body shaking, she sat on her bench seat opposite mine. She stared at me with bloodied eyes. "Ila, I beg of you, open the G.o.dd.a.m.n box now!"

I looked at her. "We"re gonna die and you"ll leave with that att.i.tude!?" I smashed the table with my hands, trembling it as a rusted wobbling sound joins our conversation. "I"ve been holding back but enough is enough! I endured your bulls.h.i.t for an hour and the only thing in your head is still your wish!"

"What do you propose we do then!? I"d wish we get to escape this s.h.i.t-hole! I"d wish I"d leave this place! To escape my life! I"d wish we can both be out of whatever we"re dealing with right now and never speak again! I"d wish to leave with a bang and believe me I will! And I don"t think you have a better wish than that, Ila?"

"I..." Yes, I do, or do I? I want to be rich, I want a better life, I want to lead a company I own, I want a world filled with excitement! But I"ll leave that in the care of one stupid box to remind me time and time again that I can never achieve my perfect life on my own. So do I have a better idea? "I don"t know."

"Then open that box, Ila! Help me, and I"ll help you! Trust me, honey, there"s nothing in this world I"d want right now than to make you regret that decision!"

What should I do? I ponder on myself repeatedly. I can see Annie speaking but her voice seems to be mute. In fact, everything else seems to be quiet. The train is in motion, but the sound of its engine cannot penetrate my hearing. Everything is in utter chaos but nothing seems to be entering my ears.

What should I do? I looped the thought in my head as the familiar voice of a child breached the barriers in my ears.

"Five minutes remaining before your death."

What am I going to do?

"... the box...!"

"What?"

"Open... box...!"

"Ahh... Open, yes."

"Open the box, Ila!" Annie screams as she stood up in front of me with frenzied voice. The way she grates her fingers on the table means she"s probably about to murder me right now.

"I must..." I"m at loss at this point. All I know is that... Annie wants me to open the box. Is this the right decision?

"1 minute remains before your death."

The girl in front of me stopped A defeated look masked Annie"s face. The world muted, time slowed down, everything else felt to be in an unfixed motion. The universe has collided, and the cosmos has given birth to a powerful force of extreme proportions that bent the laws of physics in the most intricate way possible.

My heartbeat is racing. I look at Annie as she slowly rests herself on her bench.

My heartbeat feels as if it"s punching continuously out of my ribcage. I gaze at Annie as she leans back on her bench as slowly as humanly possible.

My heartbeat feels as if it"s dancing at the speed of sound. And it broke when I look at Annie"s face. One that accepted her fate, her death, the demise of us both. She smiled with a peace I haven"t seen even from men in caskets. As she closed her eyes, a familiar chiming sound turned my sense on once again, reminding me of a decision I could make.

"Ten."

I held the box.

"Nine."

I looked at Annie.

"Eight."

Her smiles filled me with anguish and uncertainty.

"Seven."

But her eyes dropped a tear and my worries escaped me.

"Six."

I"ve resolved to do what must be done.

"Five."

I opened the box.

And then it sprung out.

I focused my vision on the figure that jumped out of the box. It was a jack-in-the-box. But behind it, I can see nothing but blurred crimson. Time stopped. I studied the mocking look of the jack and its annoying cartoonish face. Behind the smiling clown springing in random directions is nothing but red. And as I realize the situation, time moved once again.

I screamed. I screamed so loud that I failed to hear the familiar noise of a chime.

"Annie Langeveldt"s wish to leave her life with a bang has been fulfilled."

Annie"s head exploded into million pieces. Everything around me, including myself is bathed in her blood. Blood squirts out of her neck and it splashes on to my face. Everything. Everything is red. Everything reddened by Annie"s insides. Everything. It"s all red. Red. Red. Red. Annie"s blood. Organs. Brain? s.h.i.t. Eyeball. Red. Crimson. War. Teeth. Blood. Red. Love. Valentine"s day. Red. Red. Red.

RED!!!

"No!" I screamed on top of my lungs. "This can"t be, no, Annie! Why! Annie, no!" I slumped back on my bench as my tears wash Annie"s blood off my face.

"I want to go home."

Chime.

"Annie Langeveldt"s second wish to fulfill Ila Barne"s wish has been fulfilled. Please leave the stage."

My bench flipped over, transporting me to a secret dark hallway below the train. I fell down expecting my bones crushed on hard concrete. Instead, two men so radiantly attractive I thought heaven"s way is downwards and my angels have arrived, caught me by their hands. They stood me up and held each of my hands as they aid me outside the stone dungeon with torches in their other hand. They lead me outside sobbing as I remembered Annie"s way of leaving with a bang.

At the end of the tunnel is the light of my salvation and I couldn"t be delighted about it. Once stepping out I saw my front lawn.

Then a Gucci bag fell on my head. As it hit the floor, a Rolex watch slid off from inside the handbag.

If you open this box the wish of your companion will come true.