The Interview

Tik, Tik, boom! The taste of blood surrounds my mouth as more drips down my face like crimson sweat. The floor is cold and I don’t know how I ended up face down on this piece of slab. Rolling over, the pain in my ribs throbs and I lift to my feet. A sudden jerk knocks me right back to the floor. Let’s try this again. Another struggle to stand on my feet. The mountain ranges outside the window are passing by so fast. How did I end up on a train? The only mirror shows a reflection of a woman lost and broken. Empty pill bottles are on the seats, but I have a feeling they don’t belong to me. The screeching wheels on the tracks pierce my ears and intensify my headache. I clean up as much blood as possible and go search for answers.

Walking down the empty hallway, the smell of food cooking is in the air. I follow my nose and growling stomach to a dining car with only two people in attendance. They both stare at me as I sit down and pick up the menu. One of the two individuals, a waiter, steps up to my table.

“You here alone, or are you waiting for someone?”

“I’ll have a burger, fries, and a large pitcher of water.”

“Okay. Can I see your ticket?”

I check my pockets and empty the contents on the table. Besides a few pieces of paper money and lent, there is no sign of a ticket.

“Ah, here you are. I have been all over this train searching for you. Here is my ticket. Bring whatever she ordered.” A strange older gentleman sits opposite me and comments to the waiter, who then walks away.

“Who are you?” I ask.

“Samantha, you don’t recognize me? How hard did they hit you? Look, it’s not important who I am or who you are, but what is of the utmost importance is where are the diamonds?”

Leaning forward, I pause to examine the pursing lips and twitching eyes of the man sitting in front of me before I reply, “What diamonds?”

“I’m afraid that is not the answer I wanted to hear. Come on Sam, stop playing around. We are running out of time.”

“My head is pounding and if this train doesn’t slow down soon, I am going to vomit.” I drop my head on the table, but the vibrations are not helping, so I lean back.

The strange man comments. “Sam, this train doesn’t stop or slow down. Are you sure you do not know the location of the diamonds?”

“Ugh! I am sure I have no idea what you are talking about.”

Another man comes out of nowhere and wraps his arm around my neck. I’m struggling to breathe, yet the strange man continues to speak. “Sam, we have a deadline and I am usually a patient man. However, if you don’t return here with the diamonds in one hour, your last meal will be the burger and fries.” He lights up a pipe and inhales then exhales a large amount of smoke. When the smoke clears, the man has disappeared, and I can breathe. Turning to search the area, there is no sign of either man. What kind of train is this? The waiter returns with my food and I question him as to the whereabouts of the strange man, but, of course he claims to have seen nothing. Once I scarf down the food and inhale the pints of water, I feel like a new woman.

Strolling down the narrow hallway, I peek into each door’s window to see if something or someone looks familiar. Most of the compartments are empty. A voice comes on the loudspeaker saying, “Find the diamonds.” I stop the woman walking in the opposite direction down the hall to inquire if she heard the message. She said no and kept walking. Is the strange man in my head? Did I make him up? As I ponder these questions, I notice an elderly woman in a compartment alone sitting upright with a straight spine staring at the wall. Before I enter, I knock on the door, but she doesn’t move or respond.

“Excuse me, ma’am. May I enter?” There is no response, which should indicate a warning to me. However, I am desperate to understand what is happening. Sitting opposite this woman, her eyes are open, but she doesn’t seem to be present. After waving my hand in front of her face, something triggers and she lunges at me with her hands around my neck. With shortness of breath, I struggle to push her off me. Where did this elderly woman get so much strength? Her fist punches me so hard in the face, I fall to the ground, but not before noticing pill bottles similar to the ones surrounding me when I woke a few hours ago. This time, I think this woman took the pills. Except I see one bottle’s contents sparkling in my direction. I grab the bottle and the woman pulls me by my hair up to my feet. After I secure the bottle in my pocket, the woman turns me around to face her as she pulls back for another punch to my face until I stop the clenched fist with my hand. We both pause and stare at our combined strength, trying to stop each other from what I’m about to find out.

“Ma’am, I don’t know who you are or what you think I am, but I did not come in here to hurt you.”

Her eyes widen before she exhales a burst of laughter. “I know who you are and who you work for.”

“Oh really, well could you enlighten me? Because all I know is my head is pounding and my arm is hurting trying to prevent your impressive strength from hitting me again.” The squint in her eyes combined with the weakening of her clenched fist suggests she might actually believe me. When she releases her hand, we both step away from each other and take a seat. As our eyes meet in a glare, I’m not sure who should speak first. Once I clear my throat, I comment, “So you mentioned you know me? How did we meet?”

Her flat tone of voice responds, “We have never met until this moment.”

“Hmm, what do you know about me?”

“You are a thief.”

My mouth gapes and my eyes widen at this outrageous accusation. “What! I am not a thief. You must be confusing me with someone else.”

The older woman leans forward, brows furrow, examining every movement in my face, then responds. “So what is that you put in your pocket? Your lost prescription medication?”

Damn, she is good. “There is a man threatening to end my life if I don’t bring him the contents of this bottle.”

“If you don’t recall who you are, how do you know your life is worth saving?”

Oh, snap, a wise woman too. “Well, I know I don’t like pain,” I reply while touching the bruises on my face and my sore jaw where this woman punched me.

She leans back and turns her face to stare out the window. “You are Samantha Moon and the man to which you are referring is Richard Wink, who everyone calls Wink. He is a strange man, but very dangerous and only hires the best. It is my understanding you are interviewing to become his lead acquirer of jewels for his collection. There are two stones on this train and I am the protector of the one in your pocket that you will return to me immediately before I knock you unconscious, as I did on your previous visit.” She jumps out of her seat and I leap to my feet with stretched arms to prevent her from choking me again.

“Wait, you did this to my face?”

When she gives a slight nod, I step back to ask another question. “Do you know where the other stone is located?”

Her head tilts and shoulders shrug as she scoffs. “That’s your job to figure out.”

She lunges for my throat and I scream, “Stop!” With my arms still stretched in front of me, the old woman goes flying across the area and hits the wall shaking as if some type of electricity is flowing through my hands to her body. I lower my arms and her body falls face down on the floor. With her body still quivering, I run out the door down the hallway to search for another protector.

The compartment at the end of the car has a small redhead boy inside sitting with a straight spine who looks about six years old. Cute kid, but I’m sure he is not alone. The knock on the door does not phase him the same as the elderly woman. There is no movement from the boy, but I see the diamond on the window seal. “Hi, little boy. Where are your parents?” He sits back in the chair and stares into my eyes once I take the seat opposite. “Well, I’m going to take this stone for safekeeping. It shouldn’t be out of a protector’s hands.” When I reach for the stone, the little boy lifts his index finger and out shoots a flame of extreme heat. I jump back, “Whoa! What are you some evil Weasley?”

He bursts out laughing and says, “Funny Sam.”

You have got to be kidding me. This little Chucky can’t be a protector. “Well, look at you with your little fire finger, very impressive. And you know my name. What else do you know?”

Tilting his head as the eyeballs staring at me turn into an orange and yellow shade resembling flames, a deep male voice comes out of his mouth, “Kill Sam.”

There is no time to think about how many ways this little boy can burn my entire body. I grab the stone, barely escaping the large flames shooting out of his small hands. From the corner of my eye, I spot a fire extinguisher and spray it on the flames. It covered the boy in foam and exhales a loud cry. Once I drop the extinguisher and close the door, the same woman who passed me before is walking toward me down the hallway. She stares at me in front of the door with the crying demon child inside. “What have you done to my son?” Her dark red hair blows in a wind of her own making and I take off running in the opposite direction. The heat I feel on my back lets me know she means business.

After passing two different cars, I slow down when I arrive in another dining car where the strange man is waiting. “Have a seat, Sam.” Bending down to rest my hot backside on the seat is a relief until he pulls out a knife and places it on the table. The man from before walks by and grabs the knife, then sits at a different table across the aisle. The strange man sniffs the air. “I smell you must have met Magna and her son. Does this mean you have at least one diamond?” From my pockets, I pull out the stones and place them on the table. The strange man’s mouth falls open and a red flush on his cheeks becomes apparent when he grabs both stones from the table. “I see you met the dear Louisa. I thought those bruises looked like her handiwork. You know we had a fling many years ago.”

My nose wrinkles at the thought. “Eww!”

I watch as he inspects the diamonds, wondering if I have passed the test and what happens next. The odd man with the knife stands and joins us at our table sitting next to the strange man who leans over and murmurs in his ear. Once he finishes, the odd man exits the dining. “You have done well, Sam. Sloppy, but that can be fixed. You are hired.” He pulls out his pipe and as he is lighting it, I ask, “So now what?” The smirk on his face as he lights his pipe is the last thing I see before the smoke engulfs us both. Once it clears, I am no longer on the train, but in an apartment with pictures of me alongside friends and family. I am home. The strange man’s voice rings in my ear. “For now.”