The Riddle Box

The frightful wind whipped around Deliverance’s body as she trudged through the wet and sloppy road to The Riddle Box Restaurant. She pushed open the thick doors and stepped inside the boldly painted room, brushing her dampened red bangs out of her dark blue eyes. The sounds of the storm soon ceased as the sounds of the echolalia inside took over her ears. The clatter of spoons and forks and the mixed up conversations welcomed the young woman as she made her way farther inside the room. However, her destination was not the room of dining, as it were. Deliverance wanted to go to the mysterious Question Room. Rumors flew around the small town about this room; people seemed to just disappear. She heard all these and doubted every one. People don’t “just” disappear; they have to go some place. After all, it didn’t make any sense.

“’Noon, Dee, my love. Want some coffee?” asked Mr. Jon Dough, her uncle and owner of the restaurant. She just smiled.

“No thanks, Uncle Jon. Can you let me in the Question Room? I have some homework to do and it’s quiet in there.” She said softly with another brush of her bangs. She felt her stomach turn as he frowned lightly, the wrinkles around his eyes turning down.

“Deliverance, are you sure you want to go in there? You do know the warnings. Do you think it’s safe?” He asked her, his stern voice making her cringe.

“Come on. Let me? Besides, if Misery heard you say that, she’d call me a chicken if I backed down…”

“Alright, alright.” Jon dug into his pocket and paused. “Be careful. If anything odd happens, call me immediately, got it? You remember what happened to Fate, your brother.”

“Of course I remember, Uncle Jon!” Deliverance snapped, annoyed. “Look, just trust me, okay?”

The man sighed in defeat, “Just…be careful, okay?” He tossed her a key ring of a yellow question mark with a single key hanging upon it.

“Okay!” Deliverance bolted towards the door, and paused before inserting the copper key into the keyhole. She pulled open her book bag and removed a digital camcorder. She looked up at the yellow and purple door. Taking a deep breath, she pushed the key inside turning it ever so gently.  Hearing it click, she let out the breath slowly. Closing her eyes, she imagined the red-head, muscular young man opening the same door a month before, but the same man never returned. People don’t “just” disappear.

Deliverance opened the door and stepped inside. Turning the camcorder on, she viewed the room. It seemed as if it was a normal room; a table sat in the middle surrounded by simple plastic chairs all matching the décor of yellow and purple, but one thing sat out of place. An elegantly decorated mirror sat on the corner of the table, alone. Dee filmed it as she approached it slowly. It was made of brass with emeralds, topaz shards, and amethysts set into it in designs that rivaled the Egyptian hieroglyphics. She ran her fingers upon the handle before picking it up, but quickly setting it back down. She turned the camcorder towards her face and took a breath.

“My name is Deliverance Hope Jonstone; I am seventeen years of age. I am investigating the disappearance of Fate Christian Jonstone in the notorious Question Room. If I do not return, this is my story.” She closed her eyes and turned it back to the mirror sitting on the table. She wrapped her fingers around it and gently pulled it up to her eyes, the camcorder still in her other hand, yet disregarded for the moment. She gazed into the silver glass which showed a young red-headed girl with big blue eyes. The silver covering shimmered and the reflection changed. Now pictured in the mirror, in great detail, a field with flowers of every color in the rainbow and more was shown with a gentle breeze blowing the grasses.

Deliverance frowned; this did not make any sense. She stared at the picture intently, and soon lost herself in it. No thoughts, no consciousness, she was just there, another blade of grass. After a few minutes, Deliverance snapped out of her trance and looked around. She found that she was not in the room any longer. She was in the picture. She was in the field, the mirror having disappeared. The landscape was more beautiful than she saw in the reflection. She noticed she still had the camcorder.

“I believe I have either fainted and am dreaming, or I’ve been transported to another plane of existence.” She said into the microphone, as she looked around. A huddled figure caught her eye. Hesitantly, she started towards it. As she walked, it became clearer. It was the figure of a man and he was standing at the end of a hill in a deep purple robe, his back to her.

After minutes of walking, she finally reached him. She was now tired and out of breath, from the hike. She raised her hand to alert him to her presence, but he cut her off.

“So, you’re the next one. I almost thought it would be Misery, Dee.” Deliverance blinked, taken back.

“Fate? Oh my god. Is that you?” She stammered after a moment of surprise. She watched as he turned to reveal his face. Sure enough, there stood her older brother staring at her with his dark green eyes. She just stared at him, baffled. “Wha…What are you doing here? Where is here? What happened to you?”

“Open the box, The Riddle Box...” He said offering her a box decorated exactly as the mirror was. “Seal your destiny.”

“O..Okay.” She said hesitantly lifting the box out of his hands. She ran her fingers along the rim before opening the lid. As soon as she did, a bright light overcame her and…

People don’t “just” disappear.