ShadowBorne

Chapter Three

The knock came when I was halfway through pulling my boots back on. I froze, listening as another knock followed. 

“Who is there?” I called but no one answered so I crossed the room and opened the door just enough to look out. The hallway was empty and there was no sound of receding footsteps. Only just the hum of the vending machine and a flickering light at the far end and it left me wondering. 

But then I looked down and my eyes fell on an envelope laying on the floor.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I muttered.

I scanned the hallway once more before picking it up. It was heavier than paper had any right to be and surprisingly, it had no stamp. Just the room number written cleanly, like whoever dropped it knew exactly where I’d be standing when I found it.

Inside the room, I locked the door and set the envelope on the desk. I stared at it for a long moment before tearing it open.

A stack of cash that looked like it had passed through too many hands to keep a story was the first thing that fell off. I needed it badly if I wanted to keep moving but I knew to not get excited, this was a game. I dipped my hand further into the envelope and stilled when I touched something that was unmistakably a phone. It was a cheap plastic burner and it came fully charged.

I exhaled through my nose. “So that’s how you want to play it?” 

I knew who was playing this game. I powered it on and a notification blinked on the screen almost immediately.  

“Alright,” I said, sitting down. “Let’s hear it.”

The message crackled to life, the voice was altered but familiar. 

“Don’t pretend you don’t remember the road,” the voice said. “The same one you took before everything went quiet. Find your way home.”

The message ended. “That’s it?” I said out loud. “That’s what you sent me?”

I leaned back in the chair and laughed once. “You always loved sounding clever but this is the dumbest I have heard.”

I picked the phone up again, replayed the message. It wasn’t him speaking directly. 

“You didn’t find a way to get me out,” I said to the empty room. “But now you can send cash and riddles. That's rich.”

I stood and paced, phone in my hand. Stopping by the window, I pulled the curtain back a little. It had become a habit but just like the last time, nothing had changed. 

“Very convenient.” I muttered, dragging my words. 

Moments later, the phone vibrated and another text appeared.

“I see you got it”

I stared at the screen. “Got what?”

The reply came slower this time. “Don't play games. Come back before I come for you myself.”

“Why now?”

“Because nobody does it better and you remember how things used to work.”

I sat back down. My fingers tightened around the phone. “What do you want?”

Three dots blinked, showing me that he was typing and seconds later, another message popped in. 

“You owe yourself a pound of flesh.”

Yes, I do. But you deserve the pound of flesh. But I didn't say that. “That’s rich,” I said. “Coming from you.”

The cash on the desk caught my eye again and I thumbed through it once and stopped. “You think this buys my loyalty?” I asked the room. “Or silence?”

My mind drifted to arguments about theory and survival that always ended with someone saying, we take care of our own and I tried to make a decision or even a plan. Finally, I heard my phone vibrate again. 

“Come home.”

I closed my eyes. “Home?” I repeated. “That’s what you’re calling it now.”

“You know this is home.”

“That stopped being home the moment you abandoned me to rot in jail.” 

Pissed, I turned the phone off and slid it into my pocket, deciding to take a walk. But the envelope remained on the table and so did the money.