Would You Do It?

Prologue

Would you do it?

Those words rang in Mae’s head over and over again. Would she do it? Could she do it? She never thought about something so serious before, something so grim. She couldn’t commit a crime, or could she? She needed the money, and she was given clear instructions. Regret filled her head; why did she pick up the book that day? Out of all the things she could have done after her lecture that day, she chose to walk home for the first time and there it was - the book. The book that could potentially ruin her life, but could potentially improve it in ways she couldn’t imagine.

Would you do it?

Mae

It was a day that would never end. Mae’s third lecture of the day was over, and she was ready to head to her apartment to do her work for the next day. As she waited for the bus, she couldn’t help but think about all of the things she had to do.

“Might as well walk” said the person waiting beside her, “you’ll probably get where you’re going faster.”

They were right, Mae looked at her watch and realized that she had been waiting for 30 minutes already. She didn’t have to be at work for a few hours, but she really wanted to get home to at least start on some of her papers.

Fine, I’ll walk, she thought, it’s not that far anyway.

While waiting at the bus stop, the rain that had been pouring down for the entire morning finally began to ease into a sprinkle. This was her first time taking the path through the large forrest behind the college, and she found it quite nice. It was a long, winding road that was surrounded by large pine trees. Every time Mae breathed in she felt whisked away by the smell of the trees.

Her feet and the rain echoed on the paved trail as if they were in sync. The rain felt cold, but in a refreshing way. Usually being stuck in class, at home doing assignments, or at work, Mae took in the new scenery as if she wouldn’t see it again for a long time. Mae was in her own world for most of the walk, she didn’t realize that she kicked something.

Quickly scanning her surroundings, she finally spotted a small black book in the distance. She readjusted her bag and started for the book. In picking it up, Mae discovered that it was a small black notebook. She turned it around in her hands; the notebook was leather-bound, with pages that were yellowed with age. Mae quickly placed the notebook in her bag and out of the rain. She didn’t think about it again until later that night when she decided to open it.

. . .

Mae got home from work exhausted. Reluctantly, she opened her bag to grab one of her textbooks, when she saw the black book again. She had completely forgotten about it until that moment; she placed it on her desk so that she could take photos to return it to its rightful owner. Before posting the photos online, Mae had the idea of looking inside the book to possibly find the name of its owner. Opening the book for the first time since finding it, Mae was enticed by the lone 4 words on the page staring her in the face.

Would you do it?

Would I do it? Do what? She asked herself. Confused, Mae continued to turn the pages, and was shocked at what she found. She began to read the notebook out loud, making sure that what she was seeing was real.

“What would you do for -” She read, “Would you steal? Would you rob someone? What about kill someone?” Her heart stopped at that word, kill. What kind of notebook is this, she thought to herself, looking around her room with a newfound sense of uneasiness. What especially caught her eye was the fact that whatever the winnings for this deed was, was undisclosed. Despite her fear, she could not stop her curiosity, so she continued.

“The rules of this book are simple, you kill the person whose name is written, and you receive your prize.” Mae could not believe what she was reading. This has to be a joke, she thought, some kind of sick joke. But, as Mae turned the page, her interest was piqued even more. There it was, the name of the person that was intended to be the target.

“This is ridiculous,” Mae said aloud, “this is illegal, why would anyone fall for this kind of crap?”.

Despite her cynicism, she read on. The last page that had writing on it was probably the most interesting to Mae.

“And don’t worry about proof. We’ll know.” She whispered to herself.

After some deliberation about the book and what to do about it, Mae’s thoughts got the better of her. She walked across her room to her computer, and decided to look up the name that was written in the book. She found a newspaper article from the local paper.

Local Mechanic Wins Big!

This weekend, our loved mechanic Owen Smith came forward to announce his earnings from an out-of-town convention. You know what to do folks, Smith’s Mechanics is the place to be for prize-winning service!

This is the guy I’m supposed to kill? Mae thought. Despite this, Mae couldn’t help but notice the convention and the prize money, $20,000. Since she was already on her computer, Mae continued digging for information on the convention, however, Mae found that there was no mechanics gathering on that date or at the location mentioned in the paper.

“So he’s a liar,” Mae said out loud, “what if he stole that money?”. She came to the conclusion that there must be a reason for his name to be in the notebook. Why would the person behind this whole thing want a good person to come up dead? It just wouldn’t make sense, would it?

After days of thoughtful consideration and more research into who Owen Smith was, she made a decision that she couldn’t believe, she was going to commit murder. She couldn’t help herself when thinking of what the prize could be for something like this. It could be money, fame, immunity from legal repercussions (should anyone find out). Mae let her greed get the best of her. Of course, it wasn’t just for her. She imagined what it would be like should she become famous, or rich. She could help her family pay off their debts, even take them somewhere fun - they of all people deserve a break. For her family, Mae would do anything. The rest of that night, Mae was committed to planning out the murder of Owen Smith.

. . .

The night was calm and cool, and Mae knew that this was the perfect time to do it, to kill the mechanic. She had it planned perfectly so that she would be in and out of the shop, not be spotted by security or people, and get the deed finished. Her heart was racing, she couldn’t believe what she was about to do. Her pace quickened as she walked closer to the shop, the brisk air keeping her cool as her nerves were heating her entire body. The shop was dimly lit, and Smith was the only one who remained inside at this hour. Mae looked at him through the window, as she cursed at him under her breath. He doesn’t deserve money and fame like that, she thought, my family and I do.

With that in mind, Mae snuck into the mechanic shop from the back door. She glanced at her target, he was sitting at his desk in the corner of the room. Slowly and quietly, she walked around the room while remaining out of sight. Her last few steps felt heavy, already feeling the guilt that would soon weigh Mae down. Finally, she reached Owen’s chair. Mae raised from her crouching position, fixated herself directly behind Owen, grabbed her knife, and -

I guess I would do it.

Cass

In what seemed like weeks, Cass hadn’t gone out with her friends. Everyone was so busy with term papers and their jobs, no one had the time. I get it, but it sucks, she thought to herself. She was searching online for more job postings; being short for cash most months after all of her bills, she decided she needed a second job. Hitting a dead-end online, Cass thought she would go out for a walk to see if any local places needed an extra hand. She lived near a popular street, so she figured that she would have some luck.

On her way back home from handing out resumes, Cass walked by the same statue she sees everyday on the street corner. Today, however, something was off about it. Cass looked to the pedestal that the statue stood on, and noticed a small book on it. Looking around, there was no one in sight. Thinking someone had lost it, Cass picked it up and thought it would be best to bring it home so she could make sure it would go back to its rightful owner.

Once she was home, Cass began to investigate the notebook to see if there was any personal information inside that would be of any help to her. She opened the cover and was tempted by the words in front of her.

Would you do it?

Mae

Mae woke up to the sound of her alarm, it must have been going for over 10 minutes now. She groggily walked over to her mirror, and stared into her reflection; her mind focused on what she had done the night before. Pushing the memory to the back of her mind, Mae picked up her phone and noticed a number that she had never seen before.

“CONGRATULATIONS, YOU WIN. GO AHEAD, CHECK YOUR BANK.”

Mae’s heart was about to jump out of her chest. So this is the prize! She thought to herself. She immediately went to open her banking app and screamed.

“I-I won $20,000!” Mae yelled aloud, dancing around her room with excitement. "I could help mom out, and take her on that vacation she always wanted! I could pay off so much of my school debt!” She started to cry from being so happy.

After Mae calmed down a little, there was something that she couldn’t get off of her mind, why $20,000? The familiarity of the amount stuck with her, that was how much Owen Smith had lied about. Why would someone lie about gaining that much money, unless they received it by obscure means. Her nervousness growing, Mae suddenly froze as she began to put the pieces together. The sound of her door opening made her jump, her phone fell to the ground.

“If Owen committed murder too,” she spoke “and I was instructed to kill him, then that means. No, it can’t…” her voice trailed off into silence as footsteps approached her bedroom door.

Cass stormed into Mae’s room, the little black notebook that Mae had just a day ago in her hand. Those words, the ones that started all of this for Mae would be the last ones she would see. Mae could do nothing but stare at Cass in disbelief. Cass stared back at her, beginning to laugh and pulling a knife from her pocket.

“Would you do it?” Cass mocked. Her laughter deepened and became menacing.

You're damn right I would.