Blood.

 

It was pooling on the floor below me. Why? What had just happened?

 

I winced, and there was a cold-hearted laugh that came from behind me. 

 

"What? Don't you understand? You said your life was boring, and you had no love in this world, right?" The somewhat familiar voice asked, and things started to come back to me fast.

I had just gotten off work at my part-time job, but the boss had asked me to drop off one last pizza. I had only agreed because I was broke, and I lived alone. 

 

Life is surely strange... but nothing like today. It was beyond anything I had expected when I brought the pizza to that front door on December 5, 2025.

 

My name is Johnathan, and up until that fateful night, my life had been unremarkable and mundane. I was a 16-year-old high school student struggling to make ends meet with a part-time job at a local pizzeria. My days were filled with lectures, work, and the occasional escape into the world of books and my phone.

 

My parents died last year.

 

Probably one of the hardest things that I ever had to do was to face them, or their bodies after to identify them. I had seen dead things before, but never people, and never like my parents after a head-on collision with a semi on a bridge. 

 

Since then, I had moved to a small apartment and kept going to school, but I just didn't feel like I was here anymore. Each day I would go to school, work, and do everything that I needed to, or that I thought I did. My life had stopped making complete sense, but I wasn't fully lost.

 

I just wanted to find something to take me away from this emptiness that I had been left with. Little did I know that a simple pizza delivery would plunge me into a nightmare that defied all logic, but would give me my answer, and start me on a path that I could never turn back from. 

The snow on the road was worse this year, and I had to take my time. One of the scariest parts about driving, even in normal conditions, was worrying about the other drivers. No matter how good your driving was, all it took was on bad drive, and the accident would find you.

 

Winter was no exception, but if one thing had come from my parent's death that could be even considered remotely positive, was my maturity and fear of death. 

 

I tried to take everything seriously, whether it was driving, class(Serious or not, I was only a C+ student,), or anything to do with learning. That also included, or it had included fantasy. 

 

Part of me longed to go back to the books about far-off kingdoms, and worlds apart from our own with magic and monsters, but things changed. I was now focused on becoming something more mature, or something. It was my excuse, but the truth was my dad and I had talked about fantasy all the time, and it still hurt to think about it.

 

"You have arrived at your destination!" My car's GPS practically shouted, almost making me jump out of my skin.

 

I pressed on the brakes and slid a bit, but stopped with no problem. I took a few moments to parallel park but managed it without playing bumper cars with the vehicles in front and behind me.

 

I took a deep breath and glanced at the clock on the dashboard. It was already past 10 PM, and the neighborhood seemed eerily quiet. The address on the pizza box matched the one on the house in front of me, a modest two-story building with dimly lit windows.

 

Grabbing the pizza bag, I stepped out into the biting cold, my breath forming misty clouds in the night air. The snow crunched beneath my boots as I made my way to the front door. The porch light flickered, casting an ominous glow on the entrance.

 

As I reached for the doorbell, a sudden chill ran down my spine. Something felt off, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. The door creaked open, revealing a dimly lit hallway. I hesitated for a moment, the sense of unease growing stronger.

 

"Come in, Johnathan," the voice from behind me echoed, sending shivers down my spine. I turned around to see a figure standing in the shadows, their face obscured.

 

"What's going on?" I stammered my heart racing.

 

The man quickly stepped forward into the light, and I somewhat relaxed. While he was dressed in clothing that looked expensive, the man's amber eyes made me feel more relaxed.

 

"Sorry for the scare! My name is Leng, and the operator said that Johnathan was going to be the one to deliver my order," The man explained, I nodded, but something felt off.

 

First of all, the amber eyes were not something I had ever seen. There was the man's name, Leng. That sounded like a Chinese name more than anything, but this man had pale skin like me. 

 

That was normal, considering how little sun we got, and how much show had been coming down. I didn't like going outside more than I had to, and most of the time I was fully bundled up at this time of year.

 

"Why don't you come inside? You are letting the cold in," Leng said, and for some reason, I nodded, against all the voices screaming in my head to run, and closed the door behind me.

 

"Good! I have the money for you, but before I give it to you, I would like to ask you three questions. Do you mind?"

 

Why did I want to say, no problem? No. I didn't want to, I had to!

 

"No problem," I said, wanting to clamp my hands over my jaw to stop myself. 

 

Why did it suddenly feel like I had walked into a den of wolves? Tigers? A Bear?!

 

"Excellent!" Leng said, and pulled out a golden coin, flipping it into the air before catching it. "This coin is the most valuable thing that I own. If you can answer my three questions, the coin is yours. If not, I will pay you with the currency of this world and we will part ways forever. Sounds like a deal?"

 

Currency of this world?

 

My body didn't even give me a second to think as the word fell out of my mouth. 

 

"Deal."

 

"Very good, Johnathan! Now, for the first question! What is your favorite part of this world?" Leng asked, and I frowned, suddenly feeling back in control of myself.

 

The question was not what I had expected. How was I supposed to answer this right? Was there a right answer?

 

The fear I had felt before was gone now. This didn't seem like a hard question, but I didn't want to answer without thinking first.

 

The truth was, I didn't really have a favorite part anymore. My parents and I had always been close. I was a weird child, and I had a hard time making friends. My parents seemed to know this about me, and they always connected with me in special ways.

 

"I... I don't really have a favorite part of this world," I said slowly, and Leng nodded with a knowing look and a small smile. I felt like that should have bothered me, but it didn't for some reason.

 

"Interesting. What is the thing that you like the least about this world?" Leng asked after a short pause, but I had almost expected this. It was the last question that I was unsure of.

 

I didn't really need to think about this one much. "That it took the people that I cared the most about from me."

 

While this wasn't true, it really felt that way to me.

 

Leng nodded, the knowing smile growing to stretch across his face in a way that distorted it. My mind refused to acknowledge this or anything as strange anymore.

 

I needed to hear the last question. I was invested now, and something deep down inside me told me that getting that golden coin was the most important thing in the world to me right now.

 

"Such a cruel world, but most are like that!" Leng laughed suddenly, his comical voice almost making me smile despite myself. "Now! For my final question!"

 

Leng's demeanor shifted, and seriousness settled over him as he prepared to ask the final question.

 

"What is the value of a life, Johnathan?"

 

The weight of the question hung in the air, and I found myself grappling with its complexity. The room seemed to close in on me, and the shadows danced ominously around Leng. It wasn't a question one could easily answer, and I felt a knot forming in my stomach.

 

I took a deep breath, attempting to organize my thoughts. "The value of a life... It's priceless. You can't put a value on someone's existence. Each life is unique and irreplaceable."

 

Leng's expression remained inscrutable as he listened to my response. The silence that followed was thick with tension, and for a moment, I wondered if I had answered incorrectly.

 

"Interesting," Leng finally said, breaking the silence. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the golden coin, examining it thoughtfully. "You have answered all my questions truthfully, Johnathan."

 

Relief washed over me, and a sense of accomplishment surged through my veins. I had passed whatever strange test Leng had set for me. Now, I could collect my reward and leave this peculiar encounter behind.

 

"Congratulations," Leng continued, holding out the golden coin to me. "This coin is yours, as promised."

 

As I reached for the coin, Leng's eyes locked onto mine with an intensity that sent a shiver down my spine. A subtle change occurred in the atmosphere, and I suddenly felt a profound shift in my surroundings.

 

"Remember, Johnathan, the value of a life is subjective. What you hold dear may not be so for others," Leng's words echoed, and the room seemed to blur around me.

 

Before I could process what was happening, darkness enveloped my vision, and a sensation of falling consumed me. When I opened my eyes, I was on my hands and knees, and blood was pouring from a wound in my stomach onto the floor.

 

"You have won the prize, my boy, but now you must bring yourself to the edge of death! With my help, of course!" Leng laughed, and I looked up but the living room around him was starting to flicker with images of a forest at night.