The Blackbox

The only reason I was here was Hope. It started around four months ago when I was told that my girlfriend Hope had cancer. Her family couldn’t afford the treatments, and neither could I. So I went to the only place I could get the money. The Black Box.

The game was simple. Anyone desperate enough to get the money would enter, and all contestants would be eliminated save one. I wasn’t sure what elimination meant, but I didn’t want to find out. I had to win. For Hope.

The only person I could entrust this to was my brother Rael. He was the only one that would understand.

It was time. I tentatively stepped into the portal, stumbling onto the ground on the other side. It was packed with people as more and more portals opened and closed. The only object in the room was a huge screen that flickered overhead with a countdown. 5-4-3-2-9-0! Wait… nine?

I didn’t have time to think about it. Once the countdown reached zero, the portals suddenly closed, disappearing. The screen flickered again, new words forming on the screen. Welcome, contestants, to our game of chance and determination. At each level, there is one prize you must seek: A small black book, which will lead you closer to your destination. If you do not find a book and gain possession of it before others do, you will be eliminated. Good luck. The first trial will begin in three seconds ... 3-2-9-Go! There was that nine again...

A book dropped into my hands. Small, black, and almost beckoning...

I carefully opened the book and everything went white. Words leapt into my mind, whispers in the sickening silence that filled my mind. “Sometimes, in order to follow our moral compass and/or hearts, we have to make unpopular decisions to stand up for what we believe in. - Tabatha Coffey”

The name didn’t feel important. But those words… I shivered, vision clearing. The people were gone. At least, most of the people were gone. Other people near me were sitting up as well, seemingly in a daze. Had they seen what I had seen?

I stood, dusting myself off and looking around. The room looked… different. A tangle of wires whizzed along the ceiling. A large expanse of water filled the space between where I was standing and the other side of the room, where a single black book lay. Some of the wires were dangerously close to the water, crackling with sparks.

One of the remaining people walked up next to me, examining the scene. They looked no older than fifteen, eyes wide. “We’re doomed…” The boy mumbled.

I bit my lip, trying to stay calm. I had to do what was right… I was here for Hope. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t help others as well. “No, no. We… we can get through this. Together.”

The others in the group who had seemed to be arguing suddenly stopped, hearing my remark. A stout old man stood, seemingly the self appointed leader. “What’s your name, young man?”

I straightened, running a hand through my hair, trembling slightly. I needed to stay calm. I could do this. “Jack, sir. Jack Marvel.”

The man looked me up and down. “Well, Jack,” He almost spat. “We’re going to need more than a few optimistic words to get us out of here my boy.”

I turned away from him, carefully looking around. “I…” There was a compartment on the side of the wall, hidden behind a tangle of wires. “That compartment…”

The old man glanced over, raising an eyebrow. “That’s covered in wires, Jack, are you trying to get us killed?”

I took a shaky breath. What were those words again? … “make unpopular decisions to stand up for what you believe in.” I shook my head, walking over to the tangle of wires.

I glanced around, noticing one of my fellow contestants had crutches. “May I borrow your crutch, Ma’am?”

She nodded, handing it to me.

Carefully stepping back over to the wires, I used the rubber end of the crutch to lift most of the tangles. The compartment door… There was a number pad with one blank. But… What number?

My mind drifted back to the previous room. 3-2-1- no. 3-2-9. It had been 9. But if I was wrong… No. I punched in the number, holding my breath.

The compartment opened, revealing a button. I hastily pressed it, not allowing myself the time to think.

A grinding and splashing noise followed by shouts sounded behind me. “A bridge! We can get across!”

Relief filled my body as I looked behind me, but the bridge was gone, now. I shook my head, cursing under my breath.

The cynical old man from before swiftly stepped over, eyes wide. “Jack, this is it! You have a sharp enough mind, now why don’t you bring the black book back to all of us and we open it together? Go, boy, I’ll hold the button.” His eyes gleamed with a sort of mad hunger in them, eager for me to do as he suggested.

Hesitantly, I stepped away from the button and approached where the bridge would end up. The wires before… The water was rising. Slowly but surely. If we didn’t get out of here soon… I shuddered, looking back as the old man pressed the button. And there was the bridge, leading right to the black book.

“Go, Jack! Go!” That was all I needed. I rushed across the bridge, hands trembling as I picked up the book. Could… could all of us really be saved? I looked back at the people across the water. The ones that had just watched when I risked it all. They all had that gleam in their eyes that the old man had. Something in that look made my blood rise. What were they doing, looking at me like a piece of meat! A simple pawn in their path to success. A worm thrown out for the fish. The lines from before leapt into my head, another prompting following as my grip on the book tightened. “There can only be one.”

But… if I could help these people… I took a deep breath, walking back across the bridge. Cheers greeted my arrival and as soon as I got past the bridge, the old man rushed over.

“Here Jack, give me the book. I’ll make sure everyone gets out of here.” That look in his eyes…

I bit my lip, beginning to hand him the book.

The kind grin disappeared from his face as soon as he touched the book. “There can only be one, Jack. Just how gullible are you?” He chuckled, shoving me back. Shoving me back over the edge towards the water.

Gasping, I caught the book as I fell and jerked it open. I didn’t want to die! The white light blocked my vision again, accompanied by the small whispers. I had done it. I was safe. “Learn to distinguish the difference between errors of knowledge and breaches in morality. -Ayn Rand” What was that supposed to mean? Was it referring to the betrayal I had felt earlier? They had tried to kill me… I couldn’t trust anyone, that was clear.

My vision began to return and I sat up, looking around. There was only one more person in the room, and no black book. No black book? Had I been eliminated? I stood, dizzy due to the sudden rush of adrenaline.

Then I saw it. An inscription on the floor. “Two enter, one returns.” There were two glasses of water next to it and two different pills, one red and one blue. I bit my lip. I wasn’t sure I wanted to know what that meant.

I turned back to look and see who the other person was. They seemed pretty strong, but there was a certain look about them that made we want to trust them. Wait. No. I couldn't trust anyone. Not like before.

They sat up, looking around. “I s-suppose both you and I are exhausted by the last room. W-why don’t we rest before making a sudden decision?” They stammered out, eyes wide.

Pausing, I thought for a second. Now that they mentioned it, I was quite tired. I nodded and slowly sat down, hesitantly closing my eyes after I saw him lay back down. I gradually drifted off into the sweet embrace of sleep.

Suddenly, I jerked up, hearing the sound of shattering glass. What was going on?

It had been the other person. They turned around, a shard of glass in their hand and a wild look in their eyes. They were waiting to kill me!

Jolting to my feet, I rushed at them. I couldn’t die. Not here. Not now.

They struggled with me furiously, eyes wild. “Just give up already!”

I gritted my teeth, slamming them against the wall. “Never! You think I got here by giving up?”

They didn’t respond, the wild look disappearing from their eyes. I carefully let go, standing up. My hands were trembling. I had just killed. Before, it hadn’t been my fault, but now… “Learn to distinguish the difference between errors of knowledge and breaches in morality…” I shook my head. It had been my life or theirs. It was necessary.

Glancing around, I noticed a black book on the floor. Shuddering, I opened it.

“Never let your sense of morals get in the way of doing what’s right.- Issac Asimov” In the way? I didn’t care any more. Everyone had betrayed me, and I wouldn’t fall for anything again, no matter what the challenge.

My vision clearing, I sat up. My… my brother? “Rael! What are you doing here?” I grabbed him, eyes wide. “What happened to you? Why are you here? How did you even get this far?”

He just sat there, stunned. “Jack, I-I…”

“Rael, focus.”

He rubbed his face, laughing a little. “Honestly… I accidentally fell into your portal. I kinda just got here through dumb luck.”

Something inside of me broke. Rael… he had just gotten lucky. He hadn’t worked hard to get here, and didn’t deserve to win.

Rael coughed. “What… what about you, Jack?”

I turned back to him, eyes narrowed. “In the first trial, I tried to help everyone. They turned on me, but I got out. In the second trial, I almost died. I killed the other person. It was me or them.” My voice didn’t waver or shake. For some reason it felt… good to say that. I stepped back a little, moving towards the sword.

He backed away from me, eyes wide. “Y-you… you killed someone? Jack! How could you! They could’ve been just like you! Like me! I just took the pill and got lucky!” He was yelling at me now.

Stiffening, I grabbed the sword set on the wall, obviously meant to end this game of insanity. “Luck doesn’t get you everywhere. I tried to play fair, but life wouldn’t let me. They wouldn’t let me. I hope the angels sing your name Rael. They won’t be seeing me.” And with one swift motion, I struck the finishing blow.

The black book fell in front of me. I had done it. I had finished. The book opened, revealing my prize. I was back in Hope’s hospital room. Right where I wanted to be.

“Hope.” I said, as I sat down, “I won, I got the money.”

She looked back at me, startled at first, but quickly changing to a look of pure hatred.

“How did you get the money Jack?” She demanded

I looked away. “It doesn’t matter. You’re safe now.”

She was becoming hysterical, “Jack, I saw what you did! Was I worth any of the lives that were lost?”

I stopped for a moment. “I suppose it was up to you.”

She started, her eyes widening, shouting my name as I left the hospital, never to see her again.