Lucinda Byers absentmindedly massaged the back of her neck as she logged out of the job board. She was tense. Hell, who wouldn’t be? It had taken her approximately three hours just to post resumes for two positions. At this rate, she wouldn’t get a job for at least a month, and her savings were depleting rapidly. She couldn’t fathom having to move back home with her parents. She was 29 years old and far too used to living on her own terms to go back to sleeping in her childhood bedroom again.

Her computer alerted her to a new email. She clicked it open and reared back in surprise when she saw that it was from H Inc. That was certainly quick; most companies took at least a day before rejecting her application. Her hand woodenly moved to open the email. She scanned it and her mouth formed an O as she realized that it wasn’t a rejection after all. They were asking her to come in for an interview that very afternoon.

“It’s a miracle!” Lucy declared out loud, “Now all that’s left is impressing the shit out of these people.”

***************************************************

Lucy pulled into the parking spot and turned the car off. She was looking at a nondescript, one story, tan brick building. The company logo, a black letter H on a background of yellow and red flames, was printed on a metal placard that hung on the side of the building. Lucy snorted upon seeing how small the sign was. Clearly, they were going to need some help in the marketing department.

“Guess that’s what I’m here for.” she whispered, as she got out of the car and headed for the building.

She entered the reception area, and stepped up to the desk. A harried looking woman raised a questioning brow as she paused speaking into a headset.

“Uh, I’m Lucinda Byers. I have an interview …”

“Take a seat.” the woman snapped, with a sharp nod to indicate the seats behind Lucy.

First impressions being what they were, Lucy decided that she would have gladly walked out of the door, but the fact was that she needed the damn job, so she sulkily took a seat instead.

A few minutes passed slowly, and then the door across the lobby swung open and an imposing figure of a man stepped forward, calling her name.

Lucy stood up too quickly and she felt a bit dizzy as she walked toward the man. She shook his outstretched hand as he introduced himself, “Lucinda, I’m Jerry Spradler. Nice to meet you. Right this way.”

Lucy followed him down the hall and into a bare bones office. He pulled a chair out for her and scooted around the plastic card table that was serving as a desk.

“So, Lucinda …”

“I prefer Lucy, actually.”

Jerry tapped on a laptop, “Sure thing,” he glanced over the screen and smiled at her, “So, first things first, let me explain how we do things here, and then we can get you up and running with your first days assignments. How’s that sound?”

Lucy stared at him for a full thirty seconds before she managed to ask, “Wait. Does that mean that I’m hired?”

Jerry nodded.

It was all so strange, Lucy thought. But, she needed a job, and here was a job being handed to her with no hassle. She smiled back, “So then, how do things work here?” she asked.

“Well, as you can see, we keep things simple here at H Inc. There’s no need for a bunch of bells and whistles. Our workload is intense and fast paced, but you’re young, so I’m sure you can keep up. You’ll come in every morning and collect your assignments for the day, and, at the end of the day, you’ll return and we’ll have a review. Like I said, simple.”

Lucy stared at him again. This was unlike anything she’d ever learned about job interviews in marketing. He hadn’t even asked her to show him her portfolio. She was about to ask him about it, but then she realized that that would be like looking a gift horse in the mouth. Instead, Lucy said, “Sounds great. Just what I’m looking for.”

“Wonderful,” Jerry quickly stood up. He scooted around the table, “Let me just grab the paperwork.”

As Lucy sat waiting for his return, a prickle of anxiety threatened her sense of accomplishment, but she swatted it away like an annoying fly.

“Here we go,” Jerry announced, as he waved a sheaf of papers at her, “Now, I should tell you that we are providing you with a company car, so no need to worry about wear and tear on your own vehicle. But, I do need to warn you that the timing of your assignments are crucial. Extremely crucial. And, mandatory. If the assignment says to be somewhere at 9:40 a.m., you must be there at exactly 9:40 a.m.. We will know, and you will be reprimanded, if you don’t follow the assignments to the letter, Lucy.”

Another prickle of anxiety zipped up her spine. Maybe this wasn’t the job for her, after all.

Reading her face, Jerry rushed to assure her, “It’s not as bad as it seems. We give you plenty of time to move between assignments, two generous breaks and an hour for lunch, which is always comped, I might add. Like I said, simple.”

An image of her packing up her apartment and moving back into her parents’ house suddenly drew Lucy’s expression more agreeable.

“Now, here are your assignments. Since it’s your first day, it’s just a handful,” he glanced down at the top sheet of paper, “So, for example, your first assignment has you at the corner of Marshall Drive and Redbud Avenue at exactly 2:15 p.m., which is thirty minutes from now, give or take. It shouldn’t take you more than ten minutes to get there, so not a problem. You get there and follow the instructions listed. Easy peasy. After you finish the assignment, you go on to your next one. Now, let’s say that something out of your control were to happen, a car wreck, or some such, and you can’t possibly make it to your next assignment on time, if that happens, you need to call and let us know as soon as possible.” He pulled a cell phone out of his jacket pocket and handed it to her.

“Thank you.” Lucy took the phone and slid it into her purse. She wanted desperately to ask him what any of this had to do with marketing, but also desperately wanted the job, so she kept quiet. If the job wasn’t exactly what she had in mind, she could always do it until something better came along, after all.

Jerry started to hand her the papers, then pulled them back as she reached for them, “Oh, I almost forgot,” he riffled through the papers and pulled one out, “I need you to sign this one,” he edged around her and sat it on the table as he pulled a pen from his pocket, “Terms of employment, yada, yada.”

As she glanced down at the paper, she couldn’t help but notice that it was filled from top to bottom with extremely small, typed words. Intuition told her that she should read it, all of it, every single word of it, before signing it. She looked up at Jerry. He handed her the pen. She leaned over and signed on the line.

“Date it.” Jerry instructed her.

She did as she was told.

“Perfect,” Jerry swept the paper up, “Now, let me show you where the vehicles are and get you on your way.”

As he led her through the building, Lucy noticed that the place was oddly empty. Where was everyone?

“Jerry, where’s everyone at?” she had to ask.

“We stagger the arrival of our employees’ arrivals and departures. We find it’s simpler that way.”

“Ah.” Lucy felt the familiar creep of anxiety but she didn’t have time to focus on it because Jerry suddenly stopped at a door that led outside. He swung it open and they stepped out into the daylight. There was a single, black, economy car sitting in the middle of a small, gated lot.

Jerry strode over to the car. Lucy followed him. As they approached, Lucy saw that the car was sitting on a metal platform.

“There’s an X painted on the platform. Just park the car on it when you return.” Jerry instructed, as he handed her a key fob.

“Wow. That’s cool,” Lucy said, “So what, there’s some sort of underground garage then?”

Jerry ignored her. He pointed at the gate instead, “The gate will automatically open as you approach it. When you return, park the car and enter that door over there. You’ll be met inside,” he handed her the sheets of paper, “I suppose that covers it, so off you go, Lucy.”

Lucy opened the car door and got inside. The interior was black, too. She put her purse in the passenger seat, along with the assignments, and started the car. It hummed to life and a GPS screen lit up in the middle of the dashboard. Lucy reached over and grabbed the first paper. She read the address aloud and the integrated GPS began calculating.

“That was easy,” Lucy whispered. She looked back down at the paper. Under the address were the instructions that when she reached the address at Marshall Drive and Redbud Avenue, she was to park the car and go to the Blue Hyacinth flower shop. There would be a dog tied to a rail that ran the length of the front window. She was to untie the dog and leave immediately. Lucy lifted her eyes and frowned, “Okay, that’s weird.” What kind of job was this? And it had absolutely nothing to do with marketing, either. She put the car in drive and drove through the gate. The GPS told her to turn left. She did. The GPS told her to continue on for 3.4 miles. She did. While she drove, Lucy thought about turning around and going back to H Inc to resign at least a dozen times, but every single time the image of sleeping in her childhood bed kept her from actually doing it.

She arrived at the corner of Marshall Drive and Redbud Avenue. She pulled into a spot along the curb. There was a dog, a large mutt of indeterminate origin, tied, just as the paper had said, to the railing. Lucy stepped out of the car. There was light traffic on the street, but, as far as she could see, no one was paying the least mind to her. Still, she hurried over to the dog and, without pause, quickly unwrapped the leash and hauled ass back to her car. Her heart was pounding like a jackhammer as she drove off. This was crazy. Crazy. Truly crazy, but she reached over and grabbed the next assignment sheet and read the address for the GPS.

The address led her to a lake. She stopped the car and read the assignment. She was instructed to go to the paddle boat and canoe rental shack. Lucy looked around until she spotted the rental shack. There were a few teenagers hanging around the front, but the instructions told her to go behind the building. Lucy parked the car in the lot behind the building. She could see a row of canoes lined up in the grass. She read her instructions again. They said that there would be a canoe sat off to the side. Lucy didn’t see any. She sighed and got out of the car. She meandered slowly towards the building, finally spotting a lone canoe propped up against the building, deep in the shade that was cast by the roof.

Nervously, Lucy looked around. This close to the rental shack, she could hear the teenagers’ laughter from around front, but no one else was around, save for a man walking his dog way up on the road, and he wasn’t paying any mind to her. She approached the lone canoe. She was supposed to move it down to the front of the line of canoes, so she did. When she finished, her eyes darted back and forth, searching for someone who might have spotted her, but she was alone. Relieved, Lucy jogged back to the car.

And, so the hours went, until, finally, Lucy had completed all of her assignments. She drove back to H Inc., and parked the car on the platform, before going inside. A man was waiting for her. He smiled politely at her as he ushered her into a small room. There was another card table in the middle of the room, and two chairs.

“Lucy, I’m Brad. Nice to meet you,” he said, as they took their seats, “I imagine it’s been quite the day, huh?”

“Uh, yeah, you could say that.” Lucy admitted.

Brad started taping into a laptop. He perused the screen for several minutes, making the occasional odd, clicking sound with his tongue.

“Is something wrong?” Lucy finally asked him. She was tired, and extremely confused by the day’s adventures, and all she really wanted to do was grab something gooey and cheesy from the taco place, and maybe a cold beer from her fridge, and do nothing but zone out for a few hours.

Brad closed the laptop and beamed at her, “No, nothing wrong, Lucy. In fact, I would call your first day on the job a resounding success. We’ll see you tomorrow at 8:00 a.m..”

*****************************************************

Lucy stepped out of the smoothie shop, sipping her Wide Blue Yonder, moaning with pleasure as the cold deliciousness coated her tongue. She shuffled slowly towards the car. A man across the street made her pause. He had hopped out of a familiar looking black vehicle, and was surreptitiously taking a sign that read “Do Not Use,” from a rickety looking bench that sat in front of a used clothing store.

“Well, isn’t that interesting,” she said to herself, as she got into her car. She reached for her next assignment and saw that she still had plenty of time. She watched out of her window as the man got back into his car and pulled away from the curb. She followed.

Five minutes later, the man pulled into a parking lot of a storage facility. Lucy pulled over and waited a full minute, and then she drove inside the facility lot and parked. She got out on foot and started jogging past the rows until she spotted the man. He was loosening the light bulbs from each of the lights that hung above the storage units in the row.

“Hi!” Lucy strode towards him.

The man, he was around her age, pulled his hand back with a cry of guilty surprise, and stepped away from her.

“No, no, I didn’t mean to scare you,” Lucy reached him, “I’m Lucy. Lucy Byers. I wanted to ask you if you work for H Inc., because I thought I recognized the car. I drive one just like it.”

The man’s eyes widened and darted back and forth.

“It’s just me. I’m alone,” she hurried to say, “I just, well, I just haven’t actually met anyone else who works for H, you know. It’s weird is all, and when I saw you back at the store, I figured what the hell, I might as well take a chance and … wait, you do work for H, right?”

The man’s shoulders’ slowly relaxed. He nodded, “I’m Oliver Jones, but you can call me Olly. You’re actually the first person that I’ve ever met from H, except for the office people, and I’ve been with them for like six months.”

“Oh yeah, no kidding? This is only my second week,” she leaned in closer and added, “It’s a pretty strange job, isn’t it?”

Olly’s expression was grim, “You’ve figured it out, haven’t you? What we’re doing?”

Lucy gave him a befuddled look as she shook her head slowly from side to side.

Olly chuckled, “You don’t know yet, do you? Yeah, it took me a few months before I figured it out, too,” he patted her shoulder, “I’ve got to get back to this.”

“Oh, shit!” Lucy suddenly remembered she was on assignment, “I’ve got to get all the way to Alameda and Frobert Street.”

“You’d better scoot, but hey, what time you get off?”

“4:00 p.m., why?”

“If you want to find out, there’s a delivery bay door that’s usually unlocked. It’s on the south side of the building. Meet me there when you get off.”

********************************************************

The day crawled at a snail’s pace for Lucy. By the time she sat in front of Brad, waiting for him to sign off on her assignments, she felt jumpy and out of sorts. What was taking him so long.

“Humph,” Brad sighed. He looked at her over the laptop. There was a crease between his brows, “It looks like you were in an unauthorized area today,” he intoned, “Care to tell me what that was about?”

Lucy’s heart started galloping, though she wasn’t sure why, “What, I’m not allowed to go anywhere that I want when I’m on my own time?” she asked, testily.

Brad stared at her, his mouth set in a firm line.

“I was on break. Geez. It’s not like I was doing anything illegal.”

“Actually, it appears that you might have run into another one of our employees. Oliver Jones. I should warn you, Lucy, that we don’t allow fraternization amongst our employees. It’s in our handbook.”

“I didn’t get a handbook.”

Brad stood up and walked over to a file cabinet. He opened it and reached in, bringing out a small, black covered booklet. He returned and placed it on the table in front of her, “Here you go. The page you’re looking for is six. Third paragraph.”

Lucy picked up the booklet and started paging through it.

“Since this is your first infraction, we’ll let it slide,” Brad said, as he took his seat again, “Just see that it doesn’t happen again or you will be disciplined.”

*******************************************************

Olly was waiting for her when she finally found the door he’d told her about. She was nervous now that she’d had the incident with Brad, and she’d almost decided not to meet him, but her curiosity won out.

“I was beginning to think you weren’t coming.” Olly whispered, as she approached him.

“I had a run in with Brad because I met you. Didn’t he say anything to you?”

“I met with Kimberly, and yeah, she did, but it was my first infraction, so a slap on the wrist.”

“How do they know that we met up?”

“They track our every movement when we’re in their cars.”

“I don’t get it,” Lucy whispered, as she followed Olly inside the door. They were in a delivery bay, “Why don’t they want us talking to each other?”

“That would make us ask too many questions,” Olly led her over to a tool cart. There was a laptop on it. He flipped it open and started typing. A few seconds later, a list of assignments came up on the screen, “Ok, here’s some of my past assignments. Let’s check this one, here,” Olly clicked on it, “I was told to go to this cabin out by the lake. There was an outdoor flight of stairs coming down from the second story deck, and it had been taped off, both top and bottom. The assignment was to remove the tape, so I did. I did it, Lucy, even after I noticed that the second step from the top was practically rotted through,” he taped on the computer again and an article from a news channel appeared on the screen, “Sandra Boylenn, 63, was pronounced dead today, after apparently falling through an eroded staircase to the concrete patio below. The home was owned by a longtime family friend, Mr. Burt Larson, 83. Mr. Larson, told reporters that he thought he had taped off the stairs until he could get them fixed, but had forgotten to mention the danger to his house guest.”

Lucy gasped in distress.

“What I did, Lucy, killed that woman. I killed that woman.” Olly’s words were tangled in grief.

“No, no, Olly, you didn’t kill her. It … it was an accident.” Lucy insisted. The words sounded false though, even to her own ears.

“Was it?” Olly held her gaze in his for a moment, before turning back to the screen, “Here’s another one. The assignment was to go to an address out on Route 10. There were two houses close together. One of the houses had a fenced yard. A big old wooden picket number. There was the sound of dogs barking I remember, sounded like big ones, too. Anyway, I lifted the wooden bolt that kept the gate closed, and then I slipped away,” he tapped on the laptop again, and read, “Dale Ronson, 38, was killed when his neighbor’s dogs attacked him while he was working out in his garage yesterday afternoon. His wife, Mandy Ronson, 39, told police that the dogs were a source of constant concern, and police reports indicate that the Ronsons’ had filled numerous reports on their neighbor, Chris Mueller, 24, for animal neglect and for allowing his dogs to roam their yard unleashed. Chris Mueller was arrested at the scene, even as he insisted that the dogs had been properly fenced in his yard at the time of the horrific mauling.”

All the color had washed out of Lucy’s face. She thought back to the many, many assignments that she had done and suddenly felt sick to her stomach. Olly had to be wrong. It all had to be some crazy mistake. She needed to talk to someone, someone who could tell her that there was no tie between what she had done, and what might have happened after.

She started walking.

“Hey, where are you going?” Olly called after her.

Lucy ignored him. She opened the door that led into the building and she went straight to Brad’s office. It was empty. She rushed through the silent hallways until she found Jerry Spradler’s office. She tapped on the door and opened it right after. Jerry was sitting behind the table with a surprised look on his face. There was a young woman, much like herself, seated at the table, too.

“Jerry, I need to talk to you. Now,” Lucy glanced at the woman, “Could you excuse us for a minute.”

The woman stood up and Lucy moved out of her way as she stepped out into the hallway. Lucy closed the door.

“What is it that you need, Lucy?” Jerry asked. His expression was strangely void of anger, but Lucy knew that he was angry, all the same.

“Tell me that what we’re doing isn’t leading to innocent people’s deaths.”

Jerry snorted.

“I’m serious.” Lucy slammed her hand on the table.

“Is that what you think we’re doing, Lucy?”

A dead sensation washed over her. Of course that was what they were doing. And the worst part was that she had known it all along, but she’d allowed herself to believe that it wasn’t true because she needed the money. Blood money.

“I quit then. I’m quitting, effective immediately.” Lucy said, as she turned for the door.

“I’m afraid that’s not possible, Lucy.”

She turned around, ready for a fight, “You can’t stop me.” she insisted.

“Oh, I believe that I can,” Jerry’s mouth twisted slightly. He reached down and tapped on his laptop, then spun it around to face her, “You signed a contract, Lucy. A contract that’s unbreakable.”

All the blood in Lucy’s body felt like it was boiling, bubbling up like a geyser ready to burst. Contempt was spewing out of every pore as she sneered at Jerry, “Do you think I give a shit about your stupid contract? You and this fucked up company can go to hell!” She turned to leave again, but Jerry started laughing, diabolically. Lucy slowly turned to face him.

Jerry’s laughter stopped immediately, “See, that’s the funny part, Lucy,” he said, in a quiet voice, “because, in a way, you’re already in hell. That’s what the H stands for in H Inc.. Isn’t that hysterical? I think so. And the contract you signed, Lucy, well, that contract specifically states that you sold your soul to the big man.”

A tormented cry escaped Lucy’s lips as her heart seemed to stop beating. This was utter bullshit. It had to be. She whirled around to face the door again, “I’m leaving,” she said, “I refuse to listen to any more of this crap.” She reached for the door knob, but cried out as her fingers touched the burning metal. She snatched her hand away, and, for the first time, felt truly terrified about the situation that she found herself in.

“Lucy, look at me.”

Lucy reached for the door knob again.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Jerry suddenly crossed the room and grabbed her. He took her chin in his hand and forced her to look up at his face.

“Lucy, just relax. Just relax now,” he said, soothingly, as Lucy struggled to catch her breath. She was sobbing suddenly. She couldn’t help herself. Jerry’s eyes were flickering, almost like the very fires of hell lived inside of him, “You don’t need to worry. You are doing a wonderful job. We’re very happy with your performance.”

Lucy’s head started shaking uncontrollably, “No. No, please, I can’t stay. I can’t stay here. I don’t want to hurt anyone. I never meant to …”

“Of course you didn’t, Lucy,” Jerry patted her shoulder, “I know you that you never meant to harm anyone. Of course I know that, but you see, you did harm people. That’s you’re job, Lucy. You were just doing your job. Everyone can understand that. And from a purely performance based perspective, why, let me just say that the big man is quite satisfied,” Jerry’s mouth spread into a brilliant grin, “We like to think big here at H Inc., Lucy. We need more souls, and sooner rather than later. And our business plan is simple; you cause someone’s death, and we might get that soul. I mean, we could wait for it to happen naturally, but it’s always a competition. You know how it is.”

A tear slid down Lucy’s cheek. She wiped it away. She had to get out of there. She had to get away from him, “I should go. I, uh, I’m off the clock, so …”

Jerry nodded and backed away.

Lucy opened the door and started to leave.

“Oh, and one more thing, Lucy,” Jerry said, “You might be entertaining the notion that there is a way out of your contract, but let me assure you that there isn’t.”

Lucy’s back stiffened as she stepped through the door, “We’ll just see about that.” she whispered.

Olly was waiting for her in the parking lot. She walked over to him, “What are you doing tonight?” she asked him.

“Not much.”

“Then how would you feel about helping me take down a corrupt corporation?”

“I’d say sign me up.”

“That’s what I was hoping you’d say.” Lucy said.

“It’s going to be near impossible.” Olly said.

Lucy looked at the building. It was so benign looking, and yet it housed such evil. What made her think that she and Olly could turn things around, she wondered. She didn’t know the answer to that, but she did know that all change began with just one person. Just one. And there were two of them, so they were already starting a movement. She glanced over at him, “Anything is possible, Olly. Anything.”