***AUTHOR'S NOTE: Well y'all, my muses have gone a little nuts the last couple of weeks. I have a million story ideas scampering around my brain like bunnies in heat and I knew that if I didn't write and complete something soon, I was gonna go a little psycho, so I jotted down a couple of one-shots, just to get my mind in order. Don't distress, dear readers (well you know, in case you were), I fully intend to continue my BDS/OFC saga, just give me and my muses a little time to iron out our issues. Anyway, one-shot for Cube (which I love). Hope y'all enjoy!***
I was spooning instant coffee crystals into my espresso when the floor went out from under me, then I was on my back. Sweetly caffeinated crystals clung to the sweat on my face as I sat up and looked around at the walls.
Still mine.
Still home.
The ridiculous Felix the Cat clock on my wall ticked happily along. Counting. Counting. I watched his tail flick back and forth. Back and forth. Back and f—
Dammit! I was going again. I shook my head vigorously, wiping the coffee crystals off a little more violently than was really needed. Leaping to my feet, I did a couple jumping jacks. Just to get the blood flowing.
Blood.
Blood on a pillow.
Worth.
Gotta stay awake.
Gotta stay awake.
I finished mixing my extra caffeiney drink and took a hard swallow, feeling it burn as it went down. Bitter enough to make my face scrunch up involuntarily, but I could feel the caffeine marching into my bloodstream.
I could even see them if I thought about it really hard. Little blue cartoon men with tight t-shirts and hard hats clomping down my blood vessels. Their heavy work boots making a sticky stomping noise as they went.
I was losing it.
I knew it.
Nothing for it now. Gotta stay alert. Gotta stay awake.
It was only supposed to be for convicts.
That was the plan.
That was the arrangement.
I wouldn't have done it otherwise.
At first it was only convicts, but nobody survived.
Nobody ever survives.
So the bigwigs (who signed that nice fat check that I used to pay off my car loan) decided to branch out.
Started grabbing random people out of their homes.
People with special skills.
Skills that might get them through.
Might.
A couple of engineers had problems with it, and they got a little too noisy about it.
When the first one disappeared, no one thought anything about it.
But then another went. Less than a week later.
I looked down at my coffee cup. Empty. I shook it a little. Huh. When the hell did that happen?
Pouring myself another cup and spiking it, I thought about doors. That had been my contribution. Doors.
Heavy doors that ran on a circuit that opened both doors simultaneously on opposite ends of a short corridor.
Didn't take a genius to figure it out.
It wasn't even my best work ever.
Too bad that it was gonna be the death of me.
Then another disappeared. Three loudmouths and we though it would end with that.
Then Smitty went missing.
Thomason, Curtis, and Blye were one thing. Loudmouths. Troublemakers. Couldn't just shut up.
But Smitty? Smitty wouldn't have said shit if he'd had a mouthful of it.
It was after Smitty that Worth, Alderson, and I started to worry.
I tried to take another drink but came up dry. Huh. Coffee's gone again. What the hell?
Worth hadn't exactly been a friend. I got the impression that he didn't have friends, but he had the three of us meet at a coffee shop to talk out what was happening.
We were the only three contractors left. Things looked grim.
We exchanged keys and agreed that we would stay in touch. If one of us disappeared at least someone would know.
I had gotten calls yesterday…Yesterday? The day before? What was that? Thursday? What day was today? Sunday? When did I sleep last?
My eyes started to drop and I downed the last of my coffee, swallowing the dregs at the bottom of the cup as I started a fresh pot.
Calls. Had gotten calls from Alderson's mother and Worth's landlady. Went to their places. No sign.
Except a spot of blood on Worth's pillow and an overturned bedside table at Alderson's.
Bedrooms. Sleeping. They get you when you're sleeping.
So no sleep.
Needed to stay awake.
Needed caffeine.
Not getting me.
No way.
No sir.
No sleep.
Now it was just me.
Nobody else left.
Well they weren't going to get me.
Nope.
Not me.
I was still home. Still safe.
I could smell the coffee brewing.
Still home. Still safe.
I could watch Felix the Clock ticking.
Not gonna get me. No way.
I could still hear the little caffeine men tromping through my blood.
Then all I saw was red.
All I could see was red light, streaming in through the walls.
A cube.
I was lying on my back in a red metal cube, staring up at a door that looked very, very familiar and it felt a lot like I was stretched across its twin.
From below me I heard a sharply cut off scream and off to my right a pleading call for help.
I rolled my eyes.
Well, fuck.