The Box

It was an unusually cheerful day as the postman glided up the walkway. A strong sun commanded the sky, with no clouds around to challenge or dampen its ferocity. A light breeze steadily swept through the calm neighbourhood causing a handful of leaves to excitedly jump at the mail carrier's trousers and cling to the fabric, rustling as he handed me the plain brown box.

"Here you are sir, enjoy your day!" He happily announced with a grin.

Grabbing the package I juggled it alongside my keys as I locked the side door and hurriedly entered my car, placing the paper and twine wrapped object onto the passenger seat.

Expertly navigating the traffic, avoiding being late to work yet again, a strange buzzing began to develop in my ears akin to the sound of a swarm of flies. It was not terribly distracting so I did not mind it much until a small pain began emanating outward from the core of my brain like a pulsing beacon, searing tendrils of pain crawling through my head. By the time I arrived at the call centre the pain was nearly unbearable. The package became a weighted burden as I carried it into the building and entred the elevator. With each chime announcing a new floor, flashes of bright light debilitated my senses and by the fifth floor the awful sound became a tremendous assault to my person. Approaching the sixth floor, the chime now an auditory demon of unprecedented evil, and as it sounded the bright flash encompsssed me and I screamed dropping the package and I punched the elevator's control pannel. The loud crack of my flesh meeting metal accompanied the opening of the doors and I slumped out of the wretched confines of that blasphemous metal box, sliding down the wall immediately outside and nestled on the ground as tremors overtook me. An ocean had gathered upon my brow as I lay there recovering from the ordeal, but all was peacable on this benign sixth floor. With a clacking of heels Debby, a middle-aged yet surprisingly handsome woman save for the oudated perm, approached my crumpled form, concern lining her face.

"John are you okay?" She asked in her usual, and annoying, nasal dominant octave.

"Yes Debby, I'm just recovering from a particularly harsh migraine." I said, breathy and exhausted, as I pinched the bridge of my nose and squinted my eyes against the glow of flourescent light.

"Go to your office and I'll bring you some tea." She cawed in her adenoidal dialect.

She helped me to my feet and straightened my tie before clicking off down the hall in pursuit of my aforementioned beverage.

I made my way to my office, a decent sized room tucked away in the corner with a single window looking out to the floor where a sea of cubicles offered little in the way of a view. As Senior Call Executive I was afforded such menial luxury as my own office, which usually proved a damning offense keeping me from the company of my peers and colleagues, but at the moment was a welcomed sanctuary.

The room itself was adorned with a small burgundy area rug in the centre of the room, two file cabinets, a cheap desk surely assembled by the janitor, and an unsteady and poorly designed rolling chair which lacked almost all comfort by traditional definition. A small wooden dresser sat underneath the window, topped with a potted plant and picture of myself, lending a small sense of decor to the otherwise barren landscape. As I heard the clacking of Debby's shoes approaching, a shrill sound blossomed all around me, like the sound a wine glass produces when the rim is gently stroked. The clarion call reached a crescendo when she entered the room, a steaming cup of herbal elixir in one hand, and the package in the other. Her thin red lips formed the words, " You forgot this." Gesturing with the package, but was rendered inaudible, overpowered by a purely unnatural sound like that of two great pieces of metal scraping together:

"D̴̫̟͊͌͜͠o̵̡͉̫̽̾͠ a̵̦̟̿̀͝s̸͉͚͙͒̿̔ Ḯ̴̺̠͙̈́̀ c̵̞̝̺͆͒̀o̵̠͉̻̾̾͝m̴̠͓̟̐̓m̵͎̠͓͊͘a̸̦͓̫͆͊͝ń̸͚̝̓͝d̴̺͉͙̿̈́͝"

It resonated through my being, all thoughts ceased and I was compelled by pure instinct.

I swiftly snatched the letter opener out of the

cup on my desk.

G̷̢̧̢̛̪̫̞̭̖̣̠͓̺̱̩̤̗̗̜̣͈̠͓̣̖͈̻̤̫̙̲͋́͛̋̐̽̀͛̐́̔̀̄̓̒̾̇́͊͂͌͘͘͝ͅͅȋ̶̼̥̫̆̀̇͆̐͊͋̊͂̑̾̾͗͛̓͊̒̂͐̀̅͋̽̐̌̔̐͌̑͛͊͌̚͠ͅv̴̧̨̨̢̨̨͚̰͇̼͇̗̭͙͔̤͈̻̟̱̪̼͖͇̮̳̜̱̝̭̥̈́̈̆̈́̅̓̐͛̉̏͌̇̾̐̊̿̈́̽̓̾͗͜ͅͅę̴̛̺̣̀͊͊̈̔̊̿́̈́̂̈́͋̀̓̀͋̉̾̌̽̈́̀̂̊͋̃͋̋́͒̓̊̃͌̊̈́̓̂͘̕̕̚̕͠͠͝ ̴̡̛̱͍̯̗͓̽̿̏̈́́͆̄͗̋̽̍͐͛̌͌̄̀̆̒̾̐͗̽̒̇͋̚̚̕͘͠͠ͅͅm̴͙̤̺̦̳̺̗̩̩͕̭̬̳̥̬̯̜̭̉͒͂͊͋̈́ë̸̤͉̞̙̼̪̰̦̫̰̰̪̩̬͕̠͓̳̞͎́̅̌̌͌͑̂̒́̊͂̎̎̂͆̂͗́͛͗̽̾̏̿̒̕̕͜͝ ̵̛͖͓͗͂̓̈́̄̒̓̈̑̀́̈́͂́̚͝͠ḇ̸̡̨̡̢̢̛̹̣̻͎̩̥̦͓̟̞͕̭͚̗̻̞̗͓͚̱̺̟͓͔͔̘̤͇͉̥̫̣͚̹̙̝͗̓̉̏͗̄́̏̉͋̿̑͗͛́̐̉̊̾̒̆̓͛̋̔̄̊̎̓͊̾̌̏̂̑̾̄̍̓̄̆̓͒͘̚͜͜͜͠͝͠͝ͅl̸̡̨̡̡̡̛̪̗̠̲̩͉̜̭͓̙̹͖̱̭̭̤͓̦̠̣̩͕͉͔͈̥̖͔̣̠̗͎̬̰͌̆̉̅͊͆̽̿͊̈́͗̿́̌̔̃̅͊͗͛͒̀͂̒̽̀͌̓̒̕͜͝͠͝ͅờ̸̛̙̽̿̏̉̊̇̆͊̓͌͋̄̏̃̐͊̽̽̈́̍̑̅͒̿̓͂̓͒͊̎̎̅́͗̉̇̿̀̕͘͘͠͠͝ơ̵͚͚̤̰̦͔̦̹͈͉̣͕̟͓͐͐͆̈́̈́̒̒̄̎͑̇͌̇̋̔̈́̔͌̑͌̈́̈́̀̈́̃̅͋̃̊̏̋͑͗̌̾̽̌̕̕̚̕͝͝ḑ̵̧͍̥̦̜͉͇̝̪̼̯̬͇̠͓̟͙̻̪͈͓͔̦̤͖̘̣̑̀͂̀̎̾͐͛̌̈̈́̆͆̾̾̉͆͆̈́̑̅̈́̄͛̑̆̑́̆̐̈́̑͂̊͌̿̿̃͘̚̕͘͜͠͝͠͠ͅͅ

With a toothy grin Debby offered up the cup of tea and the package simultaneously looking pleased with herself. With quick precision my hand flew past her throat where a crimson seam emerged and blood gushed from the thin wound as she vainly attempted to speak. The cup of tea fell from her weakened grasp and she clutched the package to her breast as crimson poured onto it in the image of some grotesque fountain. Not a drop stained the mysterious brown paper and twine wrapped box as it soaked up her life essence. The object lay next to her fallen and lifeless frame, her right arm lay askew and as I dragged her body around my desk it accompanied her. I placed the thing in front of her folded body in the space underneath my work station. All was quiet now and my thoughts returned to normal as I tidied up the spilled tea.

After doing some paperwork I became parched and began to fetch myself a glass of water when the malevolent auditory abomination began again:

M̷̡̧̨͕͔̰͙͎̪͉̳̲͇͚̠̟͔̣̮̭̬̤̰̬̻̬̰̩͇͎̬̻̝͔̤̲̳̺̤͚͝o̷̗̟̙̞̮̩͙̔̌̾͌͜͠r̵̹̜̥̃́̐̐̓́̈́̀̀͋̐̔̑̕̕e̶̡̧̥̝͔̹̲͖̙̻̳̝̜̘̩̘̓́̇̈́̔͛͊ͅ

As the searing pain of its presence left me, I walked out onto the floor, dazed, in search of the water tank. Gulping down my fourth cup of water, finally quenching my thirst, Susanne from marketing approached me with wide eyes and a bright smile, accompanied by her light floral perfume.

"Heard you had a rough morning John." A flirtatious tone rode upon her silky voice, a finger twirled one of the many waves of her sandy brown hair as she spoke.

"Hi Suzie." I said playfully, knowing she hated the nickname.

Gently slapping my arm in retaliation, "We have to go over the call scripts for the new products rolling out next week." Talking in a more stern manner now. Her innocent looks and flirtatious manner often underplayed her ferocity in business matters and left the unsuspecting woefully unprepared to her adept strategies.

"Of course," I replied, "Follow me to my office I have an hour or two to spare." I said with a wink and placing my hand on the small of her back ushered her forward, but not before obviously looking her over and seeing a flash of excitement in her hazel eyes as I did so.

Even I was surprised at my forwardness as it was completely out of character. Commanding was certainly in my repertoire, but charming and eloquent were normally outside my reach, but today was different.

We entred my office and I closed the door, locking it, and pulled the shade down over my window. Immediately the files flew from her grasp, "I never thought you had it in you." She chuckled in a whimsically mocking tone with a wry grin and beckoning gaze while she began to unbutton her blouse. Halfway down she stopped and kicked off her flats while loosing her locks from the hold of her hairpin.

With determination I stepped forward wrapping my arm around her waist and slid the letter opener between her ribs directly underneath her exposed breast. I lept back pulling the paper knife free. She stood, tottering, bewilderment and fancy exchanging blows upon her visage as she continued to undress. Unbuttoning her skirt, it slipped over the toned flesh of her thighs and immediately she joined the garment on the floor with a soft thud. The box now beside her left no trace of the crime and I folded her body beside the other beneath my desk. The buzzing began again and I planted myself in the chair behind my desk, an ear to ear grin spread across my face in excitement for what was to come. The sound now at a tremendous magnitude only fueled my glee and cheerfully I phoned the receptionist, "Harold, I've decided to do the performance reviews today. Please send everyone on the floor into my office one by one." With that, I reclined in my chair as the auditory abomination sounded once again:

M̷̡̧̨͕͔̰͙͎̪͉̳̲͇͚̠̟͔̣̮̭̬̤̰̬̻̬̰̩͇͎̬̻̝͔̤̲̳̺̤͚͝o̷̗̟̙̞̮̩͙̔̌̾͌͜͠r̵̹̜̥̃́̐̐̓́̈́̀̀͋̐̔̑̕̕e̶̡̧̥̝͔̹̲͖̙̻̳̝̜̘̩̘̓́̇̈́̔͛͊ͅ