Cassia Madden, in the Land of the Living

Cassia Madden picked up the little black book from the sidewalk. She could have sworn it wasn’t there a second ago, but it felt real enough when she lifted it from the puddle-cratered curb.

“You getting out, or what?”

She realized she still had one hand in the cab, wrapped around the handle of her suitcase, and the driver was staring at her.

“Sorry.” She dragged her suitcase from the seat and the cab took off, leaving her on the Seattle sidewalk in the evening drizzle. She brushed the moisture from the notebook and flipped it open. It was no larger than her hand, crafted in simple leather, and empty except for three lines on the first page:

12C, South King Street

The Red Fisher Club

Come for what you need.

Cassia had never heard of the Red Fisher Club, but South King Street was only two blocks away from Josie’s apartment. Maybe she could ask her about it and they could-

She stopped. She didn’t want to go to South King Street. She didn’t need to go there. She had other things to worry about.

And yet her gaze lingered on the words.

The rain began to pick up, and Cassia shoved the notebook in her jacket pocket. By the time she made it into Josie’s building she was soaked. She shivered in the elevator, knocked on apartment 902, and waited until the door swung open.

“Cassia Madden, in the land of the living!” Josie dragged her into a hug. “Could’ve thought you’d gone off and died, it’s been so long!”

“Hey,” Cassia managed to say. “I know, I’m sorry. I really appreciate your help right now.”

“Don’t even think of it. If some landlord kicks my best friend out of her apartment, you can bet I’ll offer her a room until Yaqub and I are married.”

“When’s the bar exam?”

“Three weeks. I’m starting to freak out a bit, but Yaqub has been a big help.” Josie finally released her, grinning. Her shirt was soaked with the rain Cassia had carried in. “Shoot, you must be freezing. Come inside.”

Cassia loved her best friend, but Josie’s success always stung a little. She had a life ahead of her, someone who loved her, and a massive amount of pity, which was the last thing Cassia needed.

The beckon of the notebook itched her mind. Come for what you need.

“Actually,” Cassia said. “It was a long flight. I think I’m going to go for a walk.”

“Really?” Josie frowned. “It’s pouring.”

“Can I borrow an umbrella?”

“You think I’d just let you freeze? Listen, I might as well give you a key now, too.”

Cassia didn’t want to take it, but she was going to be living with Josie for the next month. She might as well get used to it. She accepted the key and the umbrella, left her suitcase by the front door, and said, “You’re the best.”

The door closed between them.

12C King Street was not easy to find.

Cassia walked the length of the block three times before she gave up, stopping on the corner in the wash of a streetlight. It was getting late.

This must be a joke.

She moved to drop the notebook in a wire trash can, but stopped when she noticed a wooden sign above the alley next to her. On it was a red painted figure - a fisherman.

Cassia tightened her grip on the notebook and plunged into the darkness.

She knocked on the red door halfway down the alley. A man opened it and studied her closely.

“Hi,” she said. “I’m, uh-”

“Cassia Madden,” he said slowly. “Come in.”

She didn’t question how he knew her name. Somehow, it all seemed perfectly logical. Expected, even.

The Red Fisher Club was dimly lit in a blood coloured glow. On one side was an empty bar, and on the other was a row of booths. A scratchy song played, but Cassia couldn’t see any speakers. The man at the door pointed her towards the only table that wasn’t empty.

One side of the booth was white. The other was red.

She slid into the white seat across from a woman with bright hair, stark against the red wall. Her hands sat folded atop a thin briefcase, and for a moment Cassia couldn’t figure out what was wrong with them. Then she realized they were bleeding from the fingertips up, as if they had been stained by a crimson dye.

The woman smiled. “Cassia Madden. Do you know how you found me?”

“The notebook,” Cassia said. “It led me here. Why?”

“That is not the right question, dear.”

Come for what you need.

“What for?”

The woman nodded. “Now you’re getting somewhere. You’re here, Cassia, for this.”

She slid the briefcase across the table.

Cassia didn’t think she should touch it. But somehow, a part of her knew that she could never leave the club without it. So when the woman nodded, she unlatched the case. Its contents stared at her.

“Is this…?”

“Twenty thousand dollars,” the woman said. “I assure you the number is correct.”

“Twenty thousand…” Cassia stared into the case. “Why?”

“I told you before to ask the right questions. This is what you want, no?”

She thought of Josie’s upcoming wedding, after which she would venture into the world with nowhere to go. Her brother Austin would turn twelve three weeks later, but she didn’t have the means to go home.

She didn’t want the money. She needed it. “What’s the catch?”

The woman laughed. “Always a catch. The money is yours. You will owe us nothing. But once you leave, you will never have any more or less than this.”

“What if I spend it?”

“You will never have any more or less than this.”

Cassia blinked. Twenty thousand dollars. She could see Austin, maybe get a lease. And if she would never have any less… then the money would never decrease.

“Is this a trick?”

“I have told you every condition. How could it be a trick? Tell me, Cassia Madden, do you accept?”

She thought again of Josie’s wedding. She didn’t even have a gift.

“Yes.” She drew the briefcase towards her. “I accept.”

A grin spread across the woman’s face. “Good.”

She paid for Josie’s present - a gold necklace engraved with a sunflower - in cash, and when she stepped outside the jewelry store the case was still full. Twenty thousand dollars.

Grinning, Cassia hurried back to the apartment and unlocked the door as quietly as she could, holding the briefcase tightly as she travelled through the dark room.

“What are you doing?”

Josie stood before her, gripping the doorframe of her bedroom.

“Hey,” Cassia said. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.”

Josie shook her head, an expression of dread on her face. “Who… who are you? How did you get in here?”

“What do you mean?” Cassia laughed. “I was only gone for a few hours.”

“Get out,” Josie whispered. “Get out or I’ll call the police. I don’t know you.”

“Josie-”

“Get out!” Josie shoved her through the doorway and slammed it behind her, leaving Cassia in the hallway with the briefcase.

She knocked. No answer.

She shouted. Nothing.

She took out her phone to call Josie, but her contacts were gone. Josie, Austin, everyone, gone. Her camera roll was empty.

You will never have any more or less than this.

She ran back to South King Street, back to the alley, but there was nothing there. No woman, no door, no sign.

“Hey!” Cassia shouted. “This isn’t what I wanted! You didn’t tell me it would be this way!”

The wall only stared at her.

Cassia sank to the ground, clutching the briefcase tightly. “This is all I have. This is all I have.”

Eventually, as the sun began to rise, she forced herself to get up. She went back to the jeweller's and said, “I have to return the necklace I bought yesterday.”

The clerk looked at her quizzically. “Sorry, miss. I think you might have the wrong store. I never saw you yesterday.”

“I have the receipt.” But she didn’t. She didn’t even have the necklace.

“Are you alright?”

“No, I…” She gripped the briefcase. “Actually, yes. What could I buy for this?”

The clerk’s eyes widened at the sight of the bills.

She left the store with the empty briefcase and twenty thousand dollars worth of diamonds.

There, she thought. I’ve spent it. It’s gone. Everything is back to normal now.

She set the bags down on the sidewalk, meaning to transfer the diamonds into the empty briefcase, but when she unclasped it she froze.

Twenty thousand dollars stared back at her. The diamonds had disappeared.

As she struggled to breathe, she noticed a deep red stain on her nails, spreading slowly up her fingers.

“No,” she whispered, pressing her hands to her chest.

She left the briefcase on the sidewalk and ran.

Ten steps later she looked down to see it in her hand.

In two hours she spent the twenty thousand again, this time on designer boots.

The case remained full.

Somehow, it was evening again. Then sunrise. How was that possible?

The stain crept up her fingers and bled into her palms. She tore at her hair. If she smashed her hands on the brick, she wouldn’t be able to carry the briefcase, right?

She was hungry. But there was no time to eat. She had to be rid of the money.

No, she thought. It’s okay. Twenty thousand dollars is not such a bad thing to have, after all. That’s what I needed, right? That’s all I need.

“Cassia.”

Somehow, sometime, her thoughts came into focus and she found herself curled against the wall of the South King Street alley, crying into her knees. The briefcase rested on the ground.

The woman from the red booth stood beside her, smiling. “It’s been a long time since I saw you.”

“A long time?” She managed to say. “No, it...you have to take it back. Please.”

The woman tilted her head. “You accepted the terms of this deal, Cassia Madden.”

“I didn’t know,” she pleaded. “I never would have accepted. I never would have followed the notebook. Let me make another deal, please. Something to fix everything.”

The woman pulled her to her feet and opened the alley door, which was suddenly visible again. Inside the Red Fisher Club, she shook her head. “No deal can reverse what has already happened.”

“Then… let me make a deal to get rid of the money. I can’t carry it forever. It’s making me sick.”

“I agree,” the woman said, examining her red-stained hands. “But I have nothing more to offer you.”

“No,” Cassia said. “Please.”

“Except…” the woman led her towards the red and white booth. But she did not point to where Cassia had once sat. She pointed to the red side. “I can offer you a job.”

Cassia stared at the red bench. The music scratched at her ears. She could not remember… she could not remember how she had gotten here.

But that was okay.

Right?

Yes.

Everything was suddenly okay.

“Tell me, Cassia Madden,” said the woman. “Do you accept?”

Cassia ran her hand over the table of the booth.

“Yes,” she said. “I accept.”

The city moved.

Another day began. A woman put a rain-soaked suitcase out in the trash; it had been in her apartment for days, but she did not know how it got there. She went inside quickly to make a phone call. Somehow she had forgotten to find a Maid of Honour for her upcoming wedding.

The crowds bustled on, hurrying through the morning, until a young man bent to tie his shoe and noticed something on the ground.

James Alcott picked up the little black book from the sidewalk. He could have sworn it wasn’t there a second ago.