"YOURS"
dEar frIEnD,
wE HavE wHat You ARe MIssInG.
MeEt us aT The Appliance Superstore
325 15th Ave
Spring View, IL 60033
TUESDAY! nIgHT AfTEr 11pm
WE haVe It
It iS YourS!
James stared at the letter for several minutes. It was the strangest piece of junk mail advertising he had ever seen. It was clearly made to look like a ransom letter yet, although it looked to have been created with magazine clippings, all of it was printed directly onto the page as though someone had made a color copy of it.
The only part not printed onto the page was the address. An adhesive address label had been pasted crookedly in the middle of the note.
Whatever they had, it wasn't his though. James had lived a pretty non-materialistic life and was quite happy with his tiny apartment and minimalist belongings. He couldn't seem to bring himself to throw it away though. What a strange way to advertise.
Finally glancing up at the clock, James set the letter aside and quickly finished his breakfast before hurrying out the door with his bike. He paused a moment before locking the apartment behind himself. Then he rushed back in, grabbed the letter, and raced down the road.
-
"You sure this is an ad?" Mel raised an eyebrow toward James as he hauled the last of the produce from the truck.
"It has to be, Mel. What the hell else could it be? It's got the appliance place's label and everything. And who sends a ransom note without even saying what it is they have?" James dropped the last of the carrots onto the dolly with a grunt.
"I don't know James, this seems pretty dark for an advertisement. And I thought that place closed down like 3 years ago." She handed the letter back to James, who stuffed it into his rear pocket and pushed the dolly through the back door of the co-op.
"Well maybe it's re-opening. I don't know. Or maybe someone bought it out and they're just using the old name to keep things a surprise."
"Come on, who has a grand opening on a Tuesday at 11 at night? That isn't exactly night club territory." Mel gave James a concerned look. "You sure you aren't missing anything? Maybe this thing is real James."
James scoffed. "Come on Mel, I'm sure these things are all over the place."
-
James considered the letter a few more times throughout the day. He contemplated checking out the address that Tuesday. When he got home that night he did a load of laundry which included his work pants with the letter still inside. He then promptly forgot the whole thing and went on with his life. Tuesday came and went.
But by Wednesday morning he soon remembered.
As he left the house for work James nearly lost an eye to a large nail that had been hammered through his front door. He opened the door and nearly fell over a red box on his doorstep. A heart shaped box, trimmed with lace with a soft, padded lid.
He gave a quizzical grin as he inspected the gift. "Well, who might this be from?" He immediately thought of a few people he might be interested in receiving such a gift from but few of them seemed the big-heart-candy-box type. And unfortunately the box didn't seem to have a label.
Pulling the lid from the box, James was met with a smell far less appetizing than chocolate. The pillow interior was dark crimson, soaked in drying blood. The few candies that remained were smeared across the interior of the box and being picked at by ants.
"The fuck?!" James said, flinging the bloodied box to the ground and swiftly kicked it from his stoop. He quickly remembered the nail and spun about. A message was scrawled across his front door in pink paint.
WE STILL HAVE IT
YOU WILL DIE TO HAVE IT
COME TONIGHT
IT IS YOURS
Beneath the graffiti was a business card for The Appliance Superstore nailed to the door.
-
"What a strange threat. What is 'it'? What the hell are they talking about?" Mel took a crate of cabbages from James and laid them out on the produce counter.
"I don't have any idea. 'You will die to have it'? It still sounds like they're trying to sell me something." James had arrived late to work after spending an hour with the police insisting he didn't know what 'it' was.
Mel shrugged. "Maybe they just speak shit English. It definitely feels like a threat, James."
"Yeah I think the 'blood-soaked candy' really gave it a 'threat' vibe. I just wish I knew what the hell they wanted from me." James handed the last crate of cabbages to Mel and pulled the business card from his pocket. "Maybe I should just go there."
"What? No way James. You have no idea who these crazies are or what they want. Maybe you should just stay somewhere else toni-."
The window at the front of the co-op exploded inward. James and Mel both instinctively dove behind the produce counter, covering their heads against the raining glass.
Once the glass had settled, Mel poked her head over the counter. "Whoever it was, they're gone now. There's no one out there. What the hell was that?"
They both rose cautiously. The floor glinted with the remains of the window. Glass shards were sprinkled throughout the fresh vegetables and fruits. As James looked over the scene, he saw one melon that seemed to have burst.
"What is it James?" Mel asked, watching him pull a brick out of the destroyed melon.
James wiped the melon entrails from the brick and his eyes went wide. The words "EAT SHIT" were painted onto the brick but were fading with age. Overtop the painted message someone had glued some plastic letter magnets. Specifically the letters W, H, A, V, and E, so that the brick read:
WEHAVEIT
Glued to the other side of the brick was an old, torn-out newspaper ad for The Appliance Superstore.
"Oh my god James! What the fuck?!"
-
Mel had warned James not to go, but after a ride clear across town, he arrived at the old appliance shop just after sunset. Just as she had guessed, the store looked like it had been closed for years. A For Sale sign sat crooked in the window and weeds pushed up through the asphalt in the parking lot. A few mangled shopping carts still dotted the lot like the rusting bones of some sort of mechanical cattle.
James walked his bike cautiously into the lot. There was no one else there. James had expected to see a lone vehicle waiting for him, or perhaps a gang of shadow figures, but the lot was empty. He ambled towards the store, hoping desperately he wouldn't need to go inside. His heart quickened as he neared.
A footstep in the gravel behind James made spin about, dropping his bike in the process. Just a few dozen feet behind him, walked a tall thin man from the shadows at the corner of the lot. The suit he wore was so dark it seemed to lack any texture. One had carried a small suitcase. The other made a gesture that might have been interrupted as a greeting.
"YOU CAME BUT NEED THIS." The figure spoke with seemingly random inflection, its lips moving incongruent with the words. It raised the briefcase toward James and, after a pause that lasted slightly too long, patted it with the other hand.
James tried to stay calm. "Who are you? Why are you harassing me?"
"ONLY FOR THIS." Another identical figure stood beside the first and pointed at the briefcase. James was sure they hadn't been there a moment before but couldn't remember seeing them approach either. "WE MEET IT. IT IS YOURS. WE MARKET YOU. FOR GOOD AND LIFE."
James wasn't sure which one had spoke. Their voices were identical and seemed to originate somewhere in the middle of the lot. They continued their slow approach, the streetlight glinting from their sunglasses.
"I don't need anything. Whatever it is, it isn't mine! Please just leave me be!"
"LOOK LOOK. YOU INVEST OR DIE. WE PROMISE."
The word "die" sent a chill down James' spine. He scrambled to lift his bike from the ground without taking his eyes from the figures. The one with the briefcase, still held outstretched in one arm, now raised the case with the other arm and unfastened the latches. James breath came quicker.
"YOU MUST TAKE. SHALLOW FARE. FOR PROSPERITY."
His leg caught on the bike pedal and he stumbled backwards and crashed to the ground. When he looked up again the gangling figures were already hovering over him.
"ACCEPTABLE STATUS, WE AGREE." The figure snapped the case open as it slid it within inches of James' face.
Inside was a human heart. Still beating, it spurted blood across the lining of the briefcase and now onto the pavement, James and the figures looming over him. They didn't seem to notice.
"Holy shit, what is that?"
"YOURS. IT IS YOURS. WE PROMISED WE MEET IT. YOU NEED IT. SHALLOW FARE."
Air shuddered through James' lungs. "W-what? That's not mine? I don't need a heart!"
The figures looked at each other over James. James caught a glimpse of something neon green beneath the glasses before they turned back to him. One of the figures pressed a thin hand to his chest and he froze. Something moved beneath the figures hand.
The dark-suited figures suddenly leapt back, snapping the case shut and pulling James to his feet.
"ATONEMENT. INACCURATE FIGURES. WE MUST PERFECT QUICKLY. GOOD DAY FOR YOU."
Before James even realized he was on his feet again the figures were gone. He swayed unsteadily for a few moments, blood soaking into his jeans, before picking up his bike and riding home.
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