The ropes burned into my skin as I struggled to untie them. I had been sitting in a rickety old chair that wasn’t comfortable for the last five hours. I didn’t know where I was or who I was with. My head felt like it was going to explode ever since I woke up. Fear threatened to kill me before anyone ever did.

The room was large and lit by two barely working light bulbs and using the light, I could barely see mold growing on the yellow walls of the room. There were no windows and the carpet looked rugged and was filled with stains. The room smelled grossly humid and made my head hurt.

“Escaping is useless,” a man’s voice said.

I snapped my head in the direction of where the voice had come from. In the shadows, I could make out the figure of a slender man.

“Where am I?” I asked, my voice trembling.

The figure stayed in the shadows, his arms crossed. “Nowhere important,” he said.

“What’s happening?”

“You’re going to die.”

My breath caught in my chest. A memory forced its way into my head of a beep and straight line, I tried to push it back out. I couldn’t think about that right now. “Why?” I asked.

The man walked up to me and leaned down, so I could better see his face. He was pale and his features were so soft they looked blurred. He had small gray eyes and his hair was short and black. He wore old shoes, dress pants, and an old blue striped shirt.

I recoiled as his hand stroked my face, his fingernails were grimy and filled with dirt. “I think you would look much better dead, but I’ll allow you to plead your case on why you should live. Five minutes or your dead. Clock starts when you start talking,” he said, staring into my blue eyes. He pulled a strand of blonde hair from my ponytail. He stood and looked over me. I was wearing baggy jeans and a knitted cotton blouse.

“Okay,” I stuttered. My heart felt sporadic in its beat and my head was getting dizzy from my headache.

“What makes you worthy of living?” His voice was quiet with a callous edge to it, he straightened his back and pulled away from me.

I nodded unsure of where to start, thoughts scrambling all around. “Well, I volunteer at a homeless shelter and . . .” I trailed off as he stared at me, his eyes angry and his mouth was firm and almost turned down.

He shook his head. “Tell me all of the things you want to do if I do let you live.”

I stared at him, my eyes wide and sweat dripping down my face. “Well, I want to be a teacher when I get out of college, travel the world, and get married someday.”

He nodded, his face unreadable. “What’s your name?”

I swallowed. “Carol Hewitt.”

“Gabriel. Are you happy with your life, Carol?” Gabriel asked.

“Well since I’m destined to be your murder victim, those things don’t matter anymore. Why do you want to kill me?” I asked, I started to feel angry. My luck had always landed on the coin marked with someone dying.

Gabriel sighed. He started pacing around the door, shaking his head. “It’s a shame you failed.”

I could barely make out the shape and shine of metal and a click. “Wait!” I cried, struggling to free myself of the ropes. I couldn’t die today. “Is there anything else you want to know?”

Gabriel stopped and turned to me. “What is your happiest memory?” His voice was quiet and he didn’t look at me as his footsteps echoed towards me.

I strained my brain to think. I answered, “My mom had been in the hospital for about a week. She finally got to come home. Me and my sister made her homemade welcome home cards and our grandma helped us bake her chocolate chip cookies. When she got home, she was so so happy.”

Gabriel nodded. “Your saddest?” He stared at me, his eyes hard and his body rigid.

I gulped and tears welled in my eyes. I didn’t want to think about what I had to say next. “My mom died a month later.”

Gabriel stared at me. I watched his face, hoping for some sign of compassion or sympathy. His eyes were dark and I thought I saw something like pity. He walked in a circle around me. I felt him messing with the rope around my wrists and ankles and then they went slack.

I was free.

“Go home,” he said, his voice barely audible. He sauntered into a corner and fiddled with something.

I stumbled towards the door. When I left the room, I ran for the exit. It was dark when I left the decrepit old building. No one came after me.

Tears rolled down my cheeks as I collapsed. I looked down at my side and saw blood pooling around me. My chest swelled and I let out a gutteral scream.

Gabriel’s footsteps thumped towards me. “Got you, little mouse.”

Then everything went dark.