“What are you putting on my computer? Are you giving me a virus?” Josh asked while he watched the man install something on his computer.
“No, it’s just a browser. Do you want my help or not?” The man asked.
Josh looked at the man and walked away without saying anything. He was unsure of the legitimacy of this whole thing. Unfortunately, he desperately needed back what was taken from him, and this man, who refused to even tell Josh his name, might be his only hope.
“Boom! Done!” The man yelled. He went into the room that Josh was in. “What did you want again?” He asked. “Love?”
“Yes, I need to feel love again. It’s very important. Does this mean you found it?” Josh asked.
“No, it means I have the browser installed and can start looking for a dealer. This could take a while. I will yell if I need you.” He said.
Josh nodded and let the man get to work. He hated having a stranger in his house, especially one who refused to tell him their name. His contact information had come from a woman he works with. She had said that he helped her regain her happiness after it had been stolen. Josh was grateful that all that was stolen was his love. Unfortunately, he had an amazing girl who, though he cared for deeply, was unable to truly feel love for her. Her name was Tabitha. He called her Tabs for short. She was everything he ever wanted from a partner. Tabitha was caring, fun, and creative. She made him so happy. However, a few years ago, he was the victim of a burglary.
He was walking to the corner store for some snacks after work one night. Headphones on, not really paying attention to his surroundings. His neighborhood was safe, they didn’t deal with crime here. Or so he thought. A man wearing a red hat was standing outside the store when he arrived. They nodded politely at each other before Josh entered the store. He said hello to the cashier and grabbed a bag of chips and soda. After paying, his dad called on his way out. He didn’t remember what the conversation was about, only that at the end he told his dad, “I love you”. After that, he saw the man in the red hat approaching him, and the next thing he remembers is waking up in an alley. That was the night his love was stolen.
Josh was desperate to love Tabitha and would do anything to have that feeling. Allegedly, this man has connections that help him find and obtain feelings. He was spending a lot of money on this, and feeling more uncomfortable with his decision by the minute. The man told him that the feelings he obtains are given willingly, but he wasn’t entirely sure that was true. It’s illegal to sell your feelings, so at the bare minimum, crimes are still being committed. He went back into his office, where the man was still hard at work on the computer.
“Hey, I’m going to get some food. Do you want anything?” Josh asked.
“Where you going?” The man asked
“Chinese place down the road,” Josh told him.
“Yeah, get me some fried rice.” The man said, never looking up from the computer.
“Sure, I’ll be back shortly,” Josh said.
Josh left the house and got in his car. He considered calling Tabitha to get her opinion on the situation, but ultimately decided he didn’t want her to know he was involved in some illegal activity. He drove to the Chinese place and got two orders of fried rice. On the drive home, his mind wandered to thoughts of Tabitha. Their relationship would be even better once he regained his ability to love. Sure, he tells her he loves her, but it’s a lie. He was afraid of losing her if he told her the truth, so he kept it a secret.
When he arrived back at the house, he went inside and, without saying anything, brought the man his rice. He was hoping the man would tell him he had found what he was looking for, but instead, the man opened his food and waved Josh away. He was getting so tired of waiting. Frustrated, he opened his food and scrolled on his phone while eating.
Two hours later, the man ran into the room. “Let’s go.” He said.
“Where are we going?” Josh asked.
“Don’t ask questions. Come on, we can’t keep them waiting.” The man said.
He followed the man out of the house and to his car. He had parked at the end of the block. They arrived at a small, white SUV. Josh got in the passenger side. The man immediately came over and opened the door.
“Who said you got to ride up front? Get in the trunk,” The man said.
Josh thought about arguing with him, but decided against it. He begrudgingly got in the trunk. The man winked at him before closing it.
They drove for what felt like forever, but realistically was probably only a half hour. When the car came to a stop, he waited for the man to let him out. He could hear voices. The man who brought him here and a woman. He could tell they were right outside the trunk, and it sounded like the woman was yelling. Josh started to get anxious. The anxiety got worse when he no longer heard voices outside. Did they leave? Is he stuck in this trunk? Are they just going home?
The trunk opened.
Standing there was the man and a very well-dressed, attractive woman. She grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the trunk. Josh looked around, and he realized they were in the middle of nowhere. They came in on a dirt road, and there was nothing but trees as far as he could see. He was now confident he had been tricked.
The woman, not releasing his arm, began dragging him through the woods. He looked behind him and was surprised to see the man who brought him there was following. Josh was unsure how far they had gone, only that he could no longer see the road, and the trees were so thick here that he could barely see the sky. They stopped in front of a thick tree with a strange symbol carved into it. The woman let him go and stepped in front of him.
“How many feelings are you missing? Don’t you dare lie to me.” She said
“Just love. I’m not missing anything else. That’s why I’m here. You said you would get me my love back.” He said.
She smiled at him and then turned back to the tree. Bending down, she felt around in the dirt until she found a handle. She pulled a door open, revealing a hole just big enough for a single adult to fit through that led down into the ground. Josh considered making a run for it, but realized he didn’t even know where to run to. The woman cleared her throat and motioned for him to go down. He looked down the hole and saw faint light at the very bottom.
“Listen, you can take the ladder, or I can push you, but standing around isn’t an option.” The woman said, glaring at him.
Josh glanced at the man who brought him there, before descending down the ladder. Once he reached the bottom, he looked up expecting to see them both following him down. To his surprise, it was just the man. Once the man reached the bottom, the woman shut the door, leaving them alone.
A single bulb lit a small room. There was no furniture, just a door opposite the ladder. Josh sat on the floor and looked up at the man.
“So now what?” Josh asked him.
“Now what? Now you owe me double! This was not part of the plan.” He said.
“What do you mean? I thought you did this all the time.” Josh said.
“This?” He yelled, motioning around the bare room. “I never do THIS. I don’t even know what THIS is. No, what I do is find connections to help people get the things they need. I have no idea what’s going on!” The man yelled. “I feel like you just got me kidnapped.”
“Me? I didn’t do anything. You’re supposed to be the professional. Shouldn’t you have looked into these people better? If anything, this is your fault.” Josh told him.
“If we get out of here, you owe me double.” The man said, sitting next to Josh.
“What’s your name?” Josh asked.
“Kevin.” He responded.
Josh got up and tried to open the door. When he found it locked, he sat back down. The two men sat together in silence and waited. He must have fallen asleep because the next thing he knew, Kevin was shaking him.
“Wake up, man. I hear voices.” Kevin whispered.
They watched the door as the voices got closer. It sounded like there were at least two people on the other side of the door. When the door opened, they saw a man and a woman, both very well dressed.
The woman smiled, “Hello! I am so sorry about the long wait. We are very busy today and got a bit backed up. Please follow me.” She said
“Where are we?” Josh asked.
The woman glanced at him over her shoulder but didn’t respond. They continued down a long hallway, eventually coming to a stop in front of a door with the number two painted on. The woman opened the door and motioned for them to enter. Josh and Kevin entered the room.
“My husband will be right outside if you need anything. I will be back for you in a little while.” The woman said
She then shut the door, leaving them alone. They looked around and saw that this room was at least furnished. There was a bed, a chair, and a table. Kevin turned to Josh.
“I’m not sharing a bed with you.” He said
“Why is that what you’re worried about?” Josh asked him.
Kevin shrugged and sat down in the chair. Josh went over to the bed and lay down. He stared at the white ceiling for a while.
“Hey Kevin, what do you think they’re going to do to us?” Josh asked.
“I don’t know. Probably kill us.” He responded.
“You’re not funny. I’m being serious.” Josh said angrily
“I’m being serious too. That chick outside was pissed when I tried to hand you off. They wanted both of us. I got tricked. I suppose my luck had to run out eventually.” Kevin said.
“We need to get out of here. We can’t just sit around waiting to die!” Josh yelled
“Stop being dramatic! We have other plans for you two first.” The man outside the door said.
Kevin looked at Josh, “I’m not sure that was very reassuring,” he whispered.
Josh started laughing at how absurd this entire situation was. He just wanted to be able to love his girlfriend, and now he is locked in a room with a man he just met this morning. Kevin started laughing as well. Once they calmed down, they sat in silence together until they both eventually fell asleep.
Josh woke up to the sound of yelling.
“Let me go, dammit!” Kevin screamed at the people restraining him.
“What’s going on? Where are you taking him?” Josh asked.
He watched as three men dressed in all white struggled to hold on to a flailing Kevin. Josh started to get up to help him, but he was held back by the woman’s husband. He hadn’t even noticed that the man was standing next to the bed. Josh watched as the woman entered the room and walked over to Kevin, who was still trying to fight off the men. Once they were able to pin him to the ground, she injected him with something, which made him pass out in a matter of seconds.
“Where are you taking him?” Josh asked the woman.
Instead of answering him, they just left the room. He heard the door lock. Josh started to feel scared and began to pace around the room, looking for a way out. He soon realized that this room was sealed tight. Sitting down in the chair, he stared at the wall. If they were going to lock him in here for hours, they could have at least given him a TV or something. He started drifting off again. Before he could fully fall asleep, he was jolted awake by the sound of the door opening. Three men dressed in white came in and grabbed him. Remembering what happened to Kevin, he thought it best not to fight.
They took him out of the room and down a hallway, stopping in what appeared to be a lab. He saw Kevin being taken off a table. Kevin appeared to be alive, which Josh took as a good sign. The woman from earlier came into the room and watched as they strapped Josh to the table that they had just removed his companion from.
Josh looked around, “What’s going on?” he asked.
The woman came closer and looked at Josh. “Have you ever wondered where all the feelings in the underground markets come from? Did you really think that getting your feelings of love back would be so simple? There are so many lazy burglars who only take what they need. Whether that be for themselves or for someone else. Those are the ones your friend was seeking. Unfortunately for you both, he found one of my guys instead. What we do here is take feelings. All of them. We can then sell them in bulk to a middleman, and what happens after that is none of my concern. We didn’t expect two of you tonight. We told your friend to come alone. Fortunately, he didn’t listen.” She said
She then walked away and sat down in front of a computer. She typed something in, and the table he was strapped to started to tilt so it was upright. Josh was now looking at a large projector screen. One of the men in white brought a tray over and set it down on a small table next to Josh. On the tray, he could see syringes labeled HAPPINESS, SADNESS, and FEAR. There were more, but another man had come over and was holding his head up straight, so he could only look forward at the screen. Realizing what was about to happen, Josh started to panic and began struggling against his restraints. The man next to him grabbed something off the ground and struck him several times across the legs with it.
“Stop that,” He said
Josh looked at the man with fear in his eyes. The man picked up the syringe labeled FEAR and inserted it into the base of his skull, extracting his fear. Josh was now calmly looking at the screen. “Are we going to watch a movie?” he asked.
A series of short films began to play on the screen, designed to evoke a wide range of emotions in the viewer. It took about two hours, and once all the feelings were removed, Josh was taken off the table and led into another room. This room was small, and he saw three other men inside, one of whom was Kevin. No one was talking or interacting. They were simply standing in this room that barely fit the four of them. They were simply shells of what they once were, no longer able to experience feelings or emotions. The man who led him there shut the door.
It wasn’t long until the carbon monoxide took effect.