Hang Up

You find yourself in a dark, grimy room. You don't know how you got here, or even where "here" is. Faced with no options besides a door, you open it, emerging into a larger dark, grimy room.

Inside, a blue light comes on, revealing an unidentifiable woman with a horse mask sitting in a chair. There is also something white in her lap, but for some reason, you find yourself unable to focus on it to see what it is.

"And who do we have here?" she asks, her gaze focusing on you. Evidently, she sees your confusion on your face. "Oh, you don't know who you are?" She looks down at the thing in her lap. "Maybe we should leave it that way?"

The blue light goes out, and is replaced by a yellow light from the middle of the room. There, a man with a chicken mask is sitting. Notably, he appears to be wearing the same kind of jacket that you're wearing. "But I know you," he says, his voice calm and even. "Look at my face, we've met before... Haven't we?"

You can't say you have, but the light goes out, and is now replaced by a red light from the right, where a man in a white and purple suit wearing an owl mask looks at you. "I don't know you!" he shouts, angrily. "Why are you here? You're no guest of mine!"

The light goes out, and once again the blue light comes on. "Do you really want me to reveal who you are? Knowing oneself means acknowledging ones actions. As of lately you've done some terrible things..." She looks at the thing in her lap again. "But then again, you've done some nice things, as well... truly a mystery."

The yellow light turns on. "You don't remember me?" the chicken-man asks. "I'll give you a clue... does April the third mean anything to you?"

For some reason, it feels like it does, but you can't say for sure why.

"I believe that was the day of our first encounter." He pauses. "You look like you might be remembering something..."

The lights go out, and you find yourself in darkness.

April 3rd, 1989

You kill the engine and coast into place in front of the train station. Stepping out of the car, you look around. No one else is out this time of night, thankfully. That means no witnesses to what you're about to do.

You look at the chicken mask that arrived in the mail. For some reason, it seemed like you saw it somewhere before...

Pushing the thoughts aside, you put on the mask, and head inside the station.

About five minutes later, you emerge, covered in blood, and clutching a blood-soaked briefcase. You hurry up and get back in the car, starting it and driving to your next instructed address. There, you find an alleyway, where you quickly get out and start walking. Deeper in the alley, you find a dumpster, which you toss the bloody case into.

"Who's there? I can hear you! I know you're there!"

The sudden voice coming from the entrance to the alley surprises you, and acting on instinct, you quickly rush the voice and knock him down. You then grab the bat he was holding and bash his head in.

You're about to get back in your car, when you realize what you just did. Those guys in the metro were mobsters, at least, but this was just an innocent homeless man. And now you caved in his skull, splattering brain matter on the ground.

Unable to take it, you rip off your mask and throw up. Just what the hell have you gotten involved in now...?

You're about to stumble your way back to your car, when you suddenly hear something nearby. It sounded like... mumbling?

Curious, you try to find the source, only finding a single cardboard box in the alley. You hear it again, softer this time, this time for sure coming from the box.

Your stomach threatens to empty itself again. Did that bum have a baby, or something? Did you just create an orphan?

Preparing for the worst, you walk over to the box, and uncover what's inside.

Well, thankfully, it's not a baby.

However, what is there confuses the hell out of you.

It was a small horse... no, it had a horn, this was a unicorn... and it was a very white unicorn, with dark blue, maybe purple hair. It seemed to be asleep.

You look back at the dead bum, and quickly look away. Was that guy hiding this... whatever it was? Caring for it?

Trying to protect it from you?

With your stomach still doing flips, you make a decision. You grab the box and gently lift it, making sure to not wake the small horse. Making sure no one saw, you put it in the passenger's seat of your Delorean, and start the engine. You pass by a grocery store on your way home, and you contemplate getting something enough that you stop and get out, but ultimately you decide to just go straight home, and figure out what the hell was going on.

Once you pulled in front of your apartment, you stashed the chicken mask in the glove box, and carefully took the cardboard box inside. You set it down on the couch, and immediately go into the bathroom, where you change out of your blood-soaked jacket and jeans, and into cleaner clothes.

As you emerge, you look at the still-sleeping unicorn, and in this non-hostile environment, you can't help but think that it's... kinda cute. You couldn't know for sure, but you'd say that, whatever this thing was, it was probably pretty young.

As you look at the sleeping creature, it suddenly dawns on you what you have to do, now.

Obviously, you couldn't turn this thing into the feds, since that probably wouldn't end well for either of you. At least, you'd wait and see if it was dangerous, first.

You weren't even sure what unicorns were supposed to eat. Honestly, you didn't really think this through at all.

As you're thinking about all of this, you spot some movement from the unicorn, and you freeze in place as it begins to fidget. Looks like it's going to be waking up soon.

Slowly, it opens its eyes, and holy shit they're big. Its eyes must take up almost half of its head. They're also quite blue.

It starts to lazily look around the room, probably still groggy from sleep. Eventually, it looks at you, and its eyes suddenly widen. However, of all the things you were expecting, what happened next was the last possibility you considered.

"Who are you? Where am I?"

While you're still reeling from the fact that it (no, she, that certainly sounds like a girl's voice) spoke, the unicorn gazes around your apartment, wincing slightly at the mess. "And why is it so dirty here?"