Corpus Christi, TX Evening
Darius had left home and didn’t bother looking back. He had no reason to. Sure. school was fine and the supply of females never ran out, but he had reached a stalemate in life. What did he really want to do with his life. He was getting tired of school as a whole and was getting tired of the mundane nature of his life. So when he got that strange dream offering the job and telling him about the ticket in his mail box he knew that was his answer. Well, at least a temporary answer. Who knew how long this job would be. For that matter, who knew what the job was, but if they needed him for it then it must have been something important.
At first Darius had been skeptical of the dream and what it was offering him. And then, he checked his mailbox. The tickets were just sitting there. No envelope, or return address. Just tickets. Darius smiled to himself. Of course they wouldn’t want him to know where he was going until he actually got there. Who does that?
It didn’t take him that long to tell his family bye, mostly because he stayed in an apartment about 1000 miles away from home. The benefits of being in college. Well…….he might call them when he gets to where he is going. Not really. That would be foolish on his part. He didn’t need his family worrying any more than they had to.
He didn’t bother packing. Something told him that wherever he was going a bag of clothes would not be necessary.
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Las Vegas, NV 2:00 AM
Las Vegas. The city that never sleeps. He could now see that it was very true. This city never did sleep. It was 2 in the morning. What the hell were so many people doing awake? Then again…what was he doing awake at this time. Oh yeah. He had to get to room 305C in the Bellagio Hotel. Or at least that is what the “Briefing” he received on the flight to Las Vegas.
He once again consulted the manila envelope the lovely and attractive flight attendant had given him.
The only thing in there was a note. It was a personalized note that was meant for his eyes only. It said:
Darius Hyde:
You will be expected to arrive at the Bellagio Hotel at approximately one hour after your arrival. You will be expected to arrive at room 305C at 8AM sharp. Failure to do so will result in you being removed from this job. Until then your room will be 407A. You may go there or gamble your life away. We do not care. As long as you arrive at 305C at 8AM you should have no problems. Whatever you do, don’t get drunk. You will not wake up on time. And Darius, try not to freeze anything.
And that was it, no signature or anything. Oh well, he really needed to sleep. He had no tome for gambling or talking to any of the women here. Well not tonight. But tomorrow…….tomorrow was a different story. A different story indeed.
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7:50 AM
Darius woke up to see that the sun was glaring down at him. And that it was 7:50. “Dammit!” Darius exclaimed quickly jumping out of bed. He didn’t sleep that well given how anxious he was for this opportunity to get some excitement out of life. He looked behind so that he could make his bed. It was a habit of his to make his bed every morning. Putting the finishing touches on the bed, Darius noticed something sticking from under his pillow. “How long has this been here?” It was a key card. Must have been for room 305C. Only one way to find out.
He quickly made his way down to room 305C stood outside and slid the key card. And the door opened to…..”An Elevator?” This was getting weirder and weirder. Stepping onto the elevator he looked around. It looked like a perfectly normal elevator. However there was a something written….no scratched is a better word for it, on the wall. “Charon” was the word and it caused a sense of dread to settle in the pit of Darius’ stomach. Charon was the ferryman for Hades and rowed people from the realm of the living to the realm of the dead. Was that what was happening here? Maybe someone was just trying to play some sick joke on those who rode this elevator..
He then turned to face the buttons….or button, he realized. There was only one button. So he pushed it. And the elevator moved down. “The underworld” He thought to himself. “Well it is what it is.” He thought to himself. He would roll with the punches.
The elevator stopped with a ding. “Like an oven” Darius thought to himself, amused. The door opened and he looked around. The first thing he noticed was the walls….they were empty. Nothing on the walls at all. Guess who ever was here didn’t really care about adding color to things. Well that was his problem, all Darius cared about was getting this job and carrying it out. The second thing he noticed was the huge table in the room. It was just sitting there with nothing on it. There were quite a few chairs surrounding the table though. Perhaps he wouldn’t be alone. And finally he noticed
“You!” Darius exclaimed shocked.
“Oh! Sup man!!! Finally made it huh. Well take a seat at the table, I’m sure the rest of the crew will be here shortly.” It was the guy from the dream. This time he was wearing a red V-neck, some more denim skinny jeans and some beach sandals. Odd choice of dress for Las Vegas.
"Odd choice for a meeting place." Darius said trying to strike up a conversation as he took a seat at the table.
The guy smiled at him. "You have no idea."
Darius had left home and didn’t bother looking back. He had no reason to. Sure. school was fine and the supply of females never ran out, but he had reached a stalemate in life. What did he really want to do with his life. He was getting tired of school as a whole and was getting tired of the mundane nature of his life. So when he got that strange dream offering the job and telling him about the ticket in his mail box he knew that was his answer. Well, at least a temporary answer. Who knew how long this job would be. For that matter, who knew what the job was, but if they needed him for it then it must have been something important.
At first Darius had been skeptical of the dream and what it was offering him. And then, he checked his mailbox. The tickets were just sitting there. No envelope, or return address. Just tickets. Darius smiled to himself. Of course they wouldn’t want him to know where he was going until he actually got there. Who does that?
It didn’t take him that long to tell his family bye, mostly because he stayed in an apartment about 1000 miles away from home. The benefits of being in college. Well…….he might call them when he gets to where he is going. Not really. That would be foolish on his part. He didn’t need his family worrying any more than they had to.
He didn’t bother packing. Something told him that wherever he was going a bag of clothes would not be necessary.
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Las Vegas, NV 2:00 AM
Las Vegas. The city that never sleeps. He could now see that it was very true. This city never did sleep. It was 2 in the morning. What the hell were so many people doing awake? Then again…what was he doing awake at this time. Oh yeah. He had to get to room 305C in the Bellagio Hotel. Or at least that is what the “Briefing” he received on the flight to Las Vegas.
He once again consulted the manila envelope the lovely and attractive flight attendant had given him.
The only thing in there was a note. It was a personalized note that was meant for his eyes only. It said:
Darius Hyde:
You will be expected to arrive at the Bellagio Hotel at approximately one hour after your arrival. You will be expected to arrive at room 305C at 8AM sharp. Failure to do so will result in you being removed from this job. Until then your room will be 407A. You may go there or gamble your life away. We do not care. As long as you arrive at 305C at 8AM you should have no problems. Whatever you do, don’t get drunk. You will not wake up on time. And Darius, try not to freeze anything.
And that was it, no signature or anything. Oh well, he really needed to sleep. He had no tome for gambling or talking to any of the women here. Well not tonight. But tomorrow…….tomorrow was a different story. A different story indeed.
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7:50 AM
Darius woke up to see that the sun was glaring down at him. And that it was 7:50. “Dammit!” Darius exclaimed quickly jumping out of bed. He didn’t sleep that well given how anxious he was for this opportunity to get some excitement out of life. He looked behind so that he could make his bed. It was a habit of his to make his bed every morning. Putting the finishing touches on the bed, Darius noticed something sticking from under his pillow. “How long has this been here?” It was a key card. Must have been for room 305C. Only one way to find out.
He quickly made his way down to room 305C stood outside and slid the key card. And the door opened to…..”An Elevator?” This was getting weirder and weirder. Stepping onto the elevator he looked around. It looked like a perfectly normal elevator. However there was a something written….no scratched is a better word for it, on the wall. “Charon” was the word and it caused a sense of dread to settle in the pit of Darius’ stomach. Charon was the ferryman for Hades and rowed people from the realm of the living to the realm of the dead. Was that what was happening here? Maybe someone was just trying to play some sick joke on those who rode this elevator..
He then turned to face the buttons….or button, he realized. There was only one button. So he pushed it. And the elevator moved down. “The underworld” He thought to himself. “Well it is what it is.” He thought to himself. He would roll with the punches.
The elevator stopped with a ding. “Like an oven” Darius thought to himself, amused. The door opened and he looked around. The first thing he noticed was the walls….they were empty. Nothing on the walls at all. Guess who ever was here didn’t really care about adding color to things. Well that was his problem, all Darius cared about was getting this job and carrying it out. The second thing he noticed was the huge table in the room. It was just sitting there with nothing on it. There were quite a few chairs surrounding the table though. Perhaps he wouldn’t be alone. And finally he noticed
“You!” Darius exclaimed shocked.
“Oh! Sup man!!! Finally made it huh. Well take a seat at the table, I’m sure the rest of the crew will be here shortly.” It was the guy from the dream. This time he was wearing a red V-neck, some more denim skinny jeans and some beach sandals. Odd choice of dress for Las Vegas.
"Odd choice for a meeting place." Darius said trying to strike up a conversation as he took a seat at the table.
The guy smiled at him. "You have no idea."