Will smoothed his shirt down, anxiously peering at the towering building before him. It looked like just another office building in the heart of New York City, with straight-and-narrow looking adults passing solemnly through the revolving door. But Will knew better. He'd traveled halfway across the country to get to this place.
He took a deep breath, and pushed in. Inside was a typical office lobby, with high heels clicking and elevators dinging, but he saw some other people dressed in casual clothes, like him: they were hunched over and nervous, with dark circles pooling under their eyes. He recognized the look in their eyes as the same one that stared back at him from the mirror every morning.
All of the people who looked like Will were going into one door on the side of the lobby. He followed. As soon as they passed through the door, the whole atmosphere was different. It was more like a doctor's waiting room, now, with people of all ages dumped in chairs and leaning against walls. Will saw an elderly woman smiling at a teenage boy, making polite conversation. Will wandered up to the desk, unsure of himself.
"Hello, and welcome to Casualty Incorporated," the person sitting at the desk said, bored. "The only office in the world in charge of bringing loved ones back from the dead. I assume that's why you're here?"
"Yes…" Will's voice sounded hoarse. "My mother."
"Great." The desk person didn't sound interested at all. "Now, you understand and agree to the terms and conditions, i.e. Casualty Incorporated is not liable for any injuries or new fatalities which occur during the revitalization process, and you alone are responsible for finding and escaping with your loved one once we provide an entrance. In addition, you are also responsible for the rehabilitation of your loved one to the world of the living, blah, blah, blah… sign here, please." She pushed a paper on a clipboard over to Will.
Will scanned the paper; it mostly seemed identical to what the desk woman had said. Will uncapped the pen, but hesitated.
"Uh, I have some questions?"
"Yeah, yeah, go ahead."
"Um, I couldn't find much information about this place online. How does this, uh… work?"
The woman tapped her nails against the desk. "Well, basically, we drop you into the land of the dead- until someone goes and names it, that's the placeholder name we're using. Usually, you have some trials to go through down there, given to you by one of the… well, they don't have names either, so we call them the lords. They're kind of in charge? Anyways, they give you tasks and stuff, and you either go do them and get your loved one back, or you die trying. Very Greek myth inspired. Casualty Incorporated is not involved in any of that, of course, we just drop you there and then you're on your own. We're simply a transportation service."
"The lords… what are they?" Will asked. "I mean, are they ghosts, or demons, or…?"
The desk woman shrugged. "Dunno," she said. "I've never been down there. I think they're supposed to be dead, but I heard a story about a living lord once. They called him the king. But that's all just gossip." She started arranging her papers. "Hey, maybe if you meet one, you can ask."
"Yeah…" Will looked back down at the paper, deep in thought. It sounded really dangerous, and probably was just going to get him killed, too. But on the other hand, his mother…
Will signed the contract.
"Excellent." The woman held out a hand for Will's credit card, quickly scanned it, then handed it back. "And you're all set! You can go sit over there-" she gestured to a corner, where a woman looking to be in her mid twenties and a middle aged man were trying not to look at each other. "-and we'll call you in soon. Hope you're ready."
Will made his way over to the corner, taking a seat and joining the other two in the don't-make-eye-contact game.
He sat, twiddling his thumbs, for what felt like hours. But every time he checked the clock, only minutes had gone by. Eventually, a gaunt looking man opened a door and gestured to them with bony fingers. The other two started going to him, so Will did, too.
They were sat in rows of chairs in a small, dark room. The man had picked certain people to bring, but the reasoning behind it, Will didn't know. It all looked random. Will couldn't imagine what everyone that had been picked had in common.
He turned his attention to the room, instead. It was dimly lit, with only a few scarce lamps. There was only one window Will could see, and it was covered with drapes so thick that sunlight would never get through. There were worn out books stacked on the shelves and cobwebs in every corner. It reminded Will of the precursor room for The Tower Of Terror at Disney World. Did they think this was some sort of game?
The only thing that broke the illusion was the chairs that they sat on. They were everyday folding chairs, like the ones used in a school lunchroom for a parent concert. They creaked annoyingly whenever anyone moved, and Will's had an uneven leg, so it shook and pitched every time Will shifted even slightly.
Will leaned over to a girl next to him, who looked around his age and had green hair. "Does it feel like we're about to go on an amusement park ride to you?" he whispered. The girl laughed.
"Yeah, it's like an introduction to a haunted house or something."
They shared a tense smile, and Will sat back in his seat. The gaunt man who had called them in here stood at the front of the room. He cleared his throat primly, calling attention.
"Now," he began in a raspy voice. "Surely you all know that this is not something to be taken lightly. Despite our copious theme-" he glanced at the halloween-store decorations. "-Casualty Incorporated requires that I stress to you the gravity of the procedure. There is no guarantee you will be able to bring your loved one back. There is not even a guarantee that you will come back alive. Once we let you loose in there, you're on your own." He paused for a moment, letting silence fill the room. "And remember," he continued. "This is the land of the dead. Of ghosts and vengeful spirits. They may try to approach you, befriend you, or even trick you. You must be careful."
With that, he walked over and swung open a metal hatch on one of the walls. Concrete steps descended into darkness, seemingly stretching on forever.
Will took a shaky breath, and joined the herd of other people nervously edging towards the door.