Hushed murmurs passed through the wall from the front of the restaurant to the kitchen. Casual conversations from tired people wanting to close shop and go home as quickly as possible. The lights were dim, and the restaurant wasn’t as boisterous as it was in the day.

Jeffrey woke up in a daze, finding himself in a familiar place. The kitchen was empty and quiet. The smell of harsh cleaning chemicals stung his nose. He could here the sounds of his coworkers as they left, but he couldn’t quite make out what they were saying.

He looked around with tired eyes, trying to get a grip on what was going on. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he yawned. Time to go home. Making sure he had everything, he walked up to the sink and splashed his face with water. He had a long drive ahead of him, and he didn’t want to fall asleep at the wheel.

As he moved about, he heard a clinking sound, like metal hitting metal.

Spinning his keychain on his finger, he walked for the door when he felt something tug on his wrist. Looking down in confusion, he saw a metal cord wrapped around his wrist, trailing off to somewhere else. Huh?

“Good evening Jeffrey.” Buddie’s voice echoed throughout the empty kitchen, stunning Jeffrey just as much as the cord did. “I’m sure you are very familiar with this place. There is something else here that you are familiar with. There is another person on the other end of that cord. Someone you killed...”

As Buddie spoke, Jeffrey felt the cord shift, and as his eyes trailed the snaking path it was taking, he noticed someone else stand up. It was a familiar face, and a familiar person. It was that crazed stranger who charged into the kitchen and attacked them.

“...I am giving you a chance to redeem yourself. He will try to kill you and it is your goal to stop him. But if he dies, so will you. Disarm him without anyone dying and you will be allowed to leave with your life in tact. But if you want to take the knife, it will cost you greatly. Good luck.”

The voice echoed around in his head, the instructions playing on repeat. He looked at the other person, who was now fully awake and staring at him with pure vitriol in his eyes. The man looked terrifying with his crazed eyes and the knife in his hand.

The man stalked around the kitchen counter, not letting anything escape from his eyes. The cord rattled and clinked as he moved. The air felt frozen with tension. Moments passed as they stared at each other. Then they moved.

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The man dashed forward, the knife darting out towards Jeffrey.

Jeffrey dodged to the side, his unathletic body wobbling as he stumbled and almost crashed to the floor. Plates crashed on the ground as he darted around the counter, trying to keep something between them.

The knife whistled through the air as the man stabbed and slashed at him, trying to gut and cut him open. The knife skimmed just in front of him, narrowly missing the buttons of his shirt. The cord smacked against the counter again and again. Most of its length left looping at the side as the two stayed close, but just out of reach from each other.

Jeffrey’s mind was still reeling as he tried to think about what Buddie said. What? What do I do? It was all happening too fast for him, and he didn’t have much time to think while trying to dodge the crazed swings of the knife.

He felt the cord tighten and dig into his wrist as the man swung and swung and swung at him. The closer the knife got to him, the more painful his wrist felt.

He did everything he could to escape from the knife. He ran around the kitchen, throwing pots and pans as he put everything he could between them. But at the same time, Buddie’s words ran through his mind, so he was paying careful attention to make sure the man didn’t fall on the knife and die because of him.

By now, he had realised the truth in the strange voice’s words, and new that everything was against him. With his energy being sapped away by all the running and dodging, he knew he didn’t have much time left. Someone was going to die if he didn’t do something soon. Either the man would catch up to him, or an accident would happen and the man would die.

With the pain coming from his wrist, he figured out what the voice meant when it said it would cost him greatly.

He stopped throwing things and continued to run. Feeling himself slow down and noticing that the man was catching up, he grit his teeth and turned around. Catching the man by surprise, he charged into him, narrowly avoiding having the blade dig into his arm.

The knife cut through his sleeve and drew a thin line of blood, but shot far past him.

Before the man could react, Jeffrey hooked his left arm around the man’s elbow and pulled it in tight to his side. The man tried to pull his arm back to continue attacking him, but he couldn’t overpower Jeffrey.

The cord dug into his skin as it cut open his arm.

Jeffrey wrestled him to the ground and put all his weight on the man to keep him down. Turning around, he kept a tight grip on the man’s arm then used his right hand to pry the knife from the man’s fingers.

He felt the cord cut through his flesh and muscle. Blood poured from his wrist and down onto the man and the tiled floor.

With a burst of strength, he snatched the knife from the man’s hand and threw it across the room.

The cord snapped shut and sliced his hand off.

He screamed out in pain as his vision swam and he felt faint. As he began to lose consciousness, he heard the voice again.

“Good job Jeffrey. You succeeded in taking the knife away from him safely, de-escalating the situation. You suffered and willingly endured pain and injury in order to keep both of you safe. You took control of the situation, and made up for your previous mistake. You have redeemed yourself. Enjoy your new lease on life. Goodbye.”