Dazzling Inc.


                                            >On a Friday night, with the long stretch of a weekend ahead of you, you longed for a submarine sandwich.

                                            >They were beautiful creatures. Provolone, ham, prosciuttini, cappacuolo, salami, and slices of pepperoni, all slathered in olive oil, dijon mustard, pickles, shredded iceberg lettuce and encompassed in two crunchy, textured, slabs of bread.

                                            >Mm. Your mouth was watering with the thought of it.

                                            >You were in luck - another couple minutes of walking and you'd be there; moreover, they closed at 10:00 p.m., so you would just barely make it.

                                            >Admittedly, you feel like kind of a wretch coming in right before close - but they knew you...and God damn it, you were a working man!

                                            >And a working man needs his sub.

                                            >…Is that a penny?

                                            >Despite the hundreds of dollars in your bank account, you bend down to pick it up.

                                            >You hope it's heads. It's been such a long shift and you could use some luck.

                                            >Your hand reaches over, black glove narrowing in pursuit of the penny.

                                            >A bit of snow keeps it difficult to see, but you manage to yank it out all the same.

                                            >Ah. It's tails.

                                            >Oh well.

                                            >"Hey! Hey you!"

                                            >A pretty ditzy-looking blue girl waves you over from inside a building. She's wearing a dark business suit, tie and everything.

                                            >You stop for only a second, but that seems to be enough.

                                            >The girl flits over to you, a smile wide on her cheeks. She proceeds to get uncomfortably close.

                                            >"Hi!"

                                            >You were never good with girls. Your head nods slowly of its own accord.

                                            >"So...um. I noticed you stopped by. Can you help us out real quick?"

                                            >You shake your head quickly and wave your hands no but can't seem to get the words the way you want them.

                                            "Uh...uh...n-n..."

                                            >Seems like you're bringing your A-Game today.

                                            >The blue girl laughs and touches your arm. You'd think she was flirting but she doesn't really give off that vibe.

                                            >"Oh c'mon! It'll be fun. Pleeeeease?"

                                            >She puts on the puppy-dog eyes. Eyes...too...damn...big...can't resist!

                                            >You roll yours and blue girl takes that as a sign of surrender. She grins, latching on to your arm and pulling you inside.

                                            >Guess the sub will have to wait.

                                            >The building is as cold on the inside as it is on the outside. In fact, it might be worse.

                                            >It's dilapidated. There are broken planks of wood and snow on the ground coming from a hole in the ceiling.

                                            >There's so much garbage around - melted(?) water bottles, a child's bicycle without a seat, empty chip bags and beer cans scattered about - and you're not even sure what the hell this building was supposed to be.

                                            >The blue girl, with a grip like iron, tugs you further along, through a door on your left and a door on your right and another door straight down the middle.

                                            >More trash greets you, piled up in big stacks. Granola bar and protein bar and chocolate bar wrappers in bulk amounts.

                                            >From three choices you take a right and enter a narrow hallway. It's tall, but there's barely any room beside you.

                                            >Through another door you go. This time it's on your left.

                                            >You're in a small, dimly lit room. There are two windows at the far ends but they are frosted over and impossible to see through.

                                            >It's also warmer. Two other girls, the same age as the blue one, are huddled by a fireplace in the corner.

                                            >The one on the right is purple - magenta, maybe? She's sporting a double ponytail.

                                            >The one on the left is orange and has a beehive head of thick, puffy hair.

                                            >They're both wearing suits and ties.

                                            >"Hey guys!"

                                            >The blue one calls out to them and they turn around.

                                            >Upon seeing you, the purple one glares in mild disdain.

                                            >The orange one seems curious.

                                            >She clears her throat.

                                            >"Sonata. Who is this?"

                                            >The purple one's glare seems to penetrate you.

                                            >The blue one - Sonata, you assume, shrinks a bit and smiles nervously.

                                            >"So...I was thinking. I thought...we have to stay here, right? To...serve customers."

                                            >At "serve customers," she giggles.

                                            >"And so...maybe the reason why nobody's coming is because we don't have anybody to bring 'em in, ya know?"

                                            >The orange one grimaces slightly.

                                            >"...Which is why you found him. Who is he, anyway?"

                                            >Sonata smiles.

                                            >"I don't know! We just met."

                                            >She turns to you and extends her arm for a handshake.

                                            >"I'm Sonata."

                                            >You try to smile graciously and shake her hand.

                                            >"What's your name?"

                                            >The words in your mouth are failing to come out.

                                            >You've always had a problem with speaking to people. It started as a child and grew worse from there.

                                            >Entering High School was where it began to bottom out.

                                            >Most of the time you just write down what you want to say, but tapping your pockets, you can't find a pencil down in there.

                                            >The girls start to stare at you funny, with you tapping away and all.

                                            >Sonata smiles at you gently and lets go of your hand.

                                            >"Nervous?"

                                            >You nod your head.

                                            >Her blue hair wags slightly to the left.

                                            >"That's okay. We're all friends here."

                                            >The purple one starts to interject.

                                            >"-I wouldn't say that."

                                            >Sonata glares at her and yanks her head back to you.

                                            >"-We're all friends here. I'm Sonata, the one on the left is Adagio, and the grumpy one is Aria."

                                            >She points a finger lightly on your chest.

                                            >"...And we don't know you, so I'll just call you...Anonymous. Anon for short. Is that okay?"

                                            >You nod and dart your eyes from Sonata to the other two. The orange one, Adagio, smirks at you, and the purple one, Aria, meets your gaze for half a second before looking away.

                                            >The orang- Adagio walks closer to you and her smile widens. You're not fond of the way she's looking at you - like you're a toy for a child to ruin.

                                            >"Anon. I like the sound of that."

                                            >She adjusts this little red-necklace thing she's got on and winks at you.

                                            >Aria seems to catch on to something and walks towards you. She's smiling now too, for some reason, and adjusting her necklace as she struts a confident strut in your direction.

                                            >They're standing next to Sonata now.

                                            >You hear a light humming; it's a familiar but untraceable tune that dances around your ears playfully. Adagio opens her mouth and confirms it to you. Aria follows sweetly in turn.

                                            >The two are singing now. Slowly, but surely, they're increasing in volume.

                                            >Aria elbows Sonata, who is watching them, smiling. She soon joins in.

                                            >You are, for some odd reason or another, getting a personal vocal performance from these three gorgeous women.

                                            >It's hot and all, but...what the hell?

                                            >The three turn up the volume and pull themselves closer.

                                            >You back away slowly. Adagio creeps towards you and tugs at your sleeve playfully.

                                            >"You are under our spell."

                                            >Fucking what?

                                            >You try and fail to stammer out a response.

                                            "G-G...Gah....Go..."

                                            >Aria laughs.

                                            >"Are you retarded or what?"

                                            >Ducking down, you reach behind you and yank the door open.

                                            >The vocal performance stops immediately.

                                            >You burst through the door and casually make your exit by running for your life through the long hallway.

                                            >These girls were creeping you out, man.

                                            >Your hands were shaking, but you managed to make it through the end of the hallway, and the door after that, and another right...

                                            >…Wait. Was it a right or a left?

                                            >And what's with this hallway? Was that here before?

                                            >You turn around and are immediately tackled by the three girls, who, as it turns out, were chasing you the whole time.

                                            >

                                            >

                                            >You wake up, neck and back sore, wrists, legs and feet bound awkwardly to a wooden chair.

                                            >You're in the same room as before. The fireplace is extinguished.

                                            >Your constrained field of vision, limited to craning-your-neck range, concludes that there is nobody is in the room with you.

                                            >That is, until you hear the door creak behind you and small footsteps making their way across the room.

                                            >Sonata leans over into your line of sight and flashes an embarrassed smile.

                                            >"Sorry we kind of...kidnapped you. But we'll let you go, I promise!"

                                            >Sonata looks away.

                                            >"We just need to find out how you didn't fall under our spell. That's kinda weird..."

                                            >You shift your head a little, and Sonata takes this as a sign of struggle.

                                            >"Wait! Don't move. We can't have you tell anybody about our magic...please don't move."

                                            >Your look tells her that she sounds, and probably is, psycho. She huffs and leans against your legs with her hands.

                                            >"Look. Adagio and Aria are outside. If you try to leave, or make too much noise, or whatever...they'll shoot you. And they said for me to...too."

                                            >Sonata pulls out a gun from her pocket, hopefully unloaded.

                                            >It's a fucking Colt-.45 Peacemaker. Your Dad had one of those.

                                            >"So don't do anything, okay?"

                                            >She looks into your eyes again and smiles.

                                            >"You seem cool. Promise you'll hear us out?"

                                            >You nod in a half-restricted way.

                                            >Sonata smiles and tugs at your ropes.

                                            >After a couple seconds, they loosen and fall to your feet.

                                            >A little astonished that she let you go so quickly, you stand up.

                                            >It's more of a stumble, but oh well.

                                            >The blue girl walks over to the other end of the room and knocks on the door.

                                            >You hear a muffled "Yeah?" at the other end that sounds like Aria.

                                            >Sonata hops in place and cocks her head sideways.

                                            >"He's good, guys!"

                                            >The door opens; Aria and Adagio are peeking through cautiously.

                                            >Aria pipes up first:

                                            >"What do you mean he's good? Like he's not gonna run?"

                                            >Sonata turns to you.

                                            >"I don't know. Are you gonna run away?"

                                            >You purse your lips together and shake your head.

                                            >Sonata smiles that sort eyes-closed head-cocked smile she seems to revel in.

                                            >"Okay!"

                                            >Aria and Adagio, meanwhile, are horrified. Adagio cups her head with a hand.

                                            >"Sonata. Why did you untie him?"

                                            >"Guys - it's cool! He said he wasn't gonna run away! Well okay he didn't technically say it but...you know..."

                                            >Aria huffs angrily.

                                            >"Yeah we get it, he's a retard. But you didn't have to untie him Sonata."

                                            >Behind her Adagio stares at you. Probably making sure you wouldn't try and run away again.

                                            >You turn around fully and face the three of them. Adagio narrows her eyes ever so slightly.

                                            >"Look, we don't know you and you don't know us. And you kind of bug me. But maybe we can strike a deal."

                                            >Your blank stare urges her to continue.

                                            >"We have a problem. We need to bring people in the building so that we can...do what we tried to do to you."

                                            >Sonata chirps in.

                                            >"But nobody's coming!"

                                            >Adagio tugs on her big poof of hair.

                                            >"Right. Which is where you come in. We need to stay in here for the spell to be as potent as possible, but we still need someone to go out and spread the word."

                                            >Adagio snaps her fingers.

                                            >"Aria. The poster."

                                            >Aria sighs and takes something from her back pocket and unrolls it.

                                            >It's a poster of a cartoonishly exaggerated rendition of the three girls holding an alarm clock.

                                            >Aria looks to the side, face flushed.

                                            >"It's a work in progress."

                                            >Sonata giggles excitedly.

                                            >"Isn't it cool?"

                                            >The poster appears to be advertising alarm clocks.

                                            >Did Aria make this? You give her a thumbs up, which she scrunches her nose at - though you spot the barest hint of a smile tugging at her lips.

                                            >Adagio smirks devilishly.

                                            >"Here's the plan. You bring in as many people as you're able. We sell them alarm clocks. Each clock we sell is laced with a spell that will grant us a slight amount of power each time the user hits snooze."

                                            >She leans in a bit.

                                            >"The more we sell, the more powerful we get. The more powerful we get, the quicker we can rule this world."

                                            >Adagio leans back again.

                                            >"We can get started tomorrow. You'll be staying here tonight. Hope you don't mind."

                                            >The orange-haired girl smiles. She begins to walk away, but stops at the door.

                                            >"Oh, and don't think of leaving. That thing on your leg will make it...difficult.

                                            >You pull up your right pant leg to reveal a large ankle monitor with "El Scorcho" inscribed on the side.

                                            >You sigh and put your head in your hands.

                                            >Your shoulder is being pat by gentle hands. Behind you Sonata's voice attempts to reassure you:

                                            >"It'll be okay. We'll let you go once you help us out...once the police guys can't do anything."

                                            >You turn around and look back up at them. Adagio is gone, leaving a slightly annoyed Aria standing by the door.

                                            >"Don't expect any blankets from us tonight."

                                            >She leaves through the doorway, and Sonata, winking at you, joins her.

                                            >You put your head back in your hands.

                                            >Through the slivers of light between your fingers, you observe flakes of snow tapping at the windows outside.

                                            >Guess you weren't getting that sandwich tonight.