The Prompts of Life

Needle in a Haystack

"Uh. Hi, guys." I began, staring at the floor as I sat. I couldn't bring myself to make eye contact with them, knowing that one of these people wanted to kill me.

Erin and Sam glanced at each other, then at Benji, and then at me. No one said a word. Not for a while.

"Okay. I'm sorry to break whatever ritual silence is going on, but I'd really like to know what the hell is going on here." Benji's voice broke the silence like throwing a hammer at thin glass. It was so abrupt I jumped, and Erin looked at me with a sort of pity.

"Well," I began, unsure of how to explain the situation, "all I know is... two of you would do anything to save my life." I hesitated, the next phrase burning my lungs, "And the third — for whatever reason — wants... they want to kill me."

Another exchange of glances passed through the room, but the curtain of silence fell over us again.

Sam suddenly burst out in a laugh, "What? Are you kidding me?" They sighed, holding an arm over their ribs. "You mean to tell me that somebody in this room is a wanna-be-murderer?" Another ridiculous laugh escaped their throat, "Who would wanna kill you anyways, Hannah?"

Erin shot an angry glare in Sam's direction but it appeared Benji agreed with them.

"Hannah, honey, who told you that?" Erin asked in the same comforting Dad voice he used whenever I was anxious.

I pointed at the door behind us, "The agent. That's what they said. That two of you would do—"

"Yeah, yeah! Anything to save your life and the third wants to kill you!" Benji burst out again, "So what? This could all just be a prank someone's playing on all of us, you know? Why are we taking this so seriously?"

"A prank? In a disgusting, rusty, old building in some unknown location?" Erin placed a hand on his chin with a deep sigh. "It's highly unlikely, as much as I hate to say it."

Benji slumped in her chair in defeat and aggravation. Sam looked at the three of us incredulously.

"Wait, is this serious?" Sam asked, "Is this for real? I thought this was a joke."

No one replied. A violent hush fell over the room once again.

"Okay so how do we get out of this, then? If we're playing the rational side of this. Did the agent say anything about how we get out of this situation?" Sam paused, "Hannah, are you even safe in here?"

Erin jumped up so quickly his chair fell backwards and exclaimed, "Of course she's safe! No one in this room is going to touch her... right?"

"Didn't you just say this wasn't a prank!" Sam yelled, throwing their arms in exasperation, "Hannah isn't safe in here! Someone in this room wants to kill her and there's no one here to stop them!"

An unexpected sob ripped through my lungs. I hurriedly placed a hand over my mouth to silence myself, but the three had already heard. Surprisingly, Benji threw herself out of her chair and to my side, wrapping her arms around me. I was so shocked I didn't know what to do other than continue to cry.

"Okay, all of us need to calm down." Benji began, "Someone needs to come clean and they need to come clean now. It doesn't matter if you would actually kill her, but if there has ever even been an inkling of desire to kill Hannah then you'd better speak up now."