DING!

An alert broke the silence as Arno stared at Linda through the glass wall of his office. The sound caught him by surprise. His eyes snapped back to his computer, and on it was a new email titled ‘TASK THREE’. This time however, it was from a different, yet also somewhat familiar account.

Do multiple people know? He looked back up at Linda, locking eyes with her for a moment. She flinched back, frightened, and the person next to her stared daggers at Arno. It must be him!

Arno was starting to become very paranoid now. He was starting to believe that everyone was out to get him. His main focus was on Linda and the rest of the people he got coffee for, as well as the person he bumped into. But, he could no longer trust anyone in the office.

After staring at everyone for a while, he turned his attention back to the email and opened it. Instantly, the colour drained from his face.

“You have done many things that have annoyed me, and because of this, I have taken the liberty to increase the intensity of the third task. I want you to go into the kitchen, take out a knife, and use it to cut off one of your hands. You need to pay back what you have stolen with blood.”

...W-What? his mind was frozen in shock and fear. He never expected something like this. Things had gotten bad very quickly.

This was something he couldn’t do. Didn’t want to do. How could he keep his job if he only had one hand? He wouldn’t be able to keep up with his work anymore if he only had one hand. What kind of job would he even be able to find like this?

Not to mention, how could he possibly explain this to everyone? There was no way a workplace accident would be able to explain him losing a hand. He also couldn’t hide what he was doing. Anyone could see him do it, then he really wouldn’t have a way to explain himself.

His fear and shock slowly turned into anger. How could they ask me to do this? It’s sick. These people are sick. No matter how he looked at them now, he could only see his fellow office workers as foul and wicked demons.

His paranoia had been dialled up to eleven, causing him to get angry just at the sight of everyone else. Especially Linda. He was tempted to go out there and scream at her while beating her with a chair. This was all too much for him.

Eventually, the storm of emotions calmed slightly, and he sunk back into his chair. Once again becoming a shivering pile of fear. He couldn’t bring himself to leave the chair, much less to complete the task he was given.

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If they have to find out, so be it. I’d much rather keep both of my hands and live in prison than have to chop off my own hand.

As he was thinking, another email appeared.

“Why haven’t you started? You don’t have much time left until work is over for the day. And you still have two tasks to complete after this one. If you don’t do this, everyone will find out exactly what you have done. Your life as you know it will end.”

Reading the email, Arno barely reacted. He had come to terms with what would happen if he didn’t do what he was told. He would be locked away for who knew how long. His friend would probably be locked away as well. But that was still better than continuing to do what this sickos told him to do.

“I give up. Tell them. You can tell everyone. I will accept my punishment,” Arno replied. He was feeling oddly better now. They no longer had any power over him. He had accepted what was going to happen.

He knew it was only a matter of time before everyone important knew what he did, so he took the time to relax and adjust his breathing. He was calmer now.

“Are you sure? There is still plenty of time to complete the remaining tasks.”

Reading this email, Arno was even more certain that he had made the right choice. Whoever was doing this wanted him to continue playing in their game. By giving up, he had successfully stepped out of their control.

“I’m sure.” He closed his computer down and yawned as he got out of his chair. He started to pack away his personal belongings, ready to be fired and brought to the police. While he was doing this, he felt everyone watching him.

Looking out into the office once more, he made eye contact with everyone. The news has probably already been spread. Now it’s just time to wait for the boss to come and pass down my sentence.

“How unfortunate.” A strange, robotic voice suddenly rang in his ears, catching him by surprise. “I didn’t expect you to push yourself into a corner so early. It’s unfortunate that you haven’t realised the consequences of your actions. Even now.”

As the voice spoke, the gazes that were landing on him changed. He felt like countless predators were staring at him, ready to pounce. Everyone was smiling at him creepily, inching closer to his office.

What’s going on? He realised something wasn’t right here. There was something strange about everyone, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. It just all felt wrong.

“You will now be punished by the hands of the company you stole from. You have sealed your fate with your last email. Enjoy Hell Arno, goodbye.”

People crowded around his office now, all staring at him silently, smiling creepily. One by one, they started pounding on the glass until Arno felt like the entire place was going to collapse under their knocking.

The glass cracked, quickly shattering under their fists as they swarmed into the office. Before Arno could even move, the crowd crashed in on him like a tsunami. He couldn’t even scream before he was torn apart by the people he once knew.