Last Call

Oliver's eyes flew open. His breathing was ragged and fast. He looks around him and finds himself in a elevator. The only sounds he heard were we the dinging of the elevator going down the floors and the mechanical hum of the lights. He looks down at himself. He was wearing semi-formal attire. He wore a pair khaki pants and a grey polo shirt. "Where am I?" He says out loud, "Wait...Who am I?" And as soon as he finished that sentence the elevator doors opened.

The doors revealed a hallway with black walls and floor lights. At the end of the hallway was a small bamboo garden and it continued to the left. Wanting to know where he was, Oliver walked down the hallway. He was surprised to find a bar with two glasses filled,and a wide assortment of drinks that he never seen before. Before he sits down he takes a look at the place. A dark mood was given off the second you were there.The lights were a purple hue and dim. A small karaoke machine was off to the corner and next to it was a couch with mannequins on it. Behind him was somewhat of a auditorium with a piano in the center. There were raised levels of seats with even more mannequins sitting there. Their poses were as if they were alive and watching some invisible piano player compose a song. Oliver sat down at the table and read the note that was next to the glasses. It read "Forgive me for being late. Enjoy these drinks while you wait for me. - Decim"

Oliver knew both of these weren't for him. There was no way he could down two glasses, especially in this setting. He grabbed the glass on the right and placed his left arm on the counter. As he raised the glass up to his mouth he hears footsteps behind him. "Hello?"

Oliver turns his head to see a man possibly in his early 20s. The man seems panicked. Frantically looked around to see if anything was familiar to him. "Do you know where we are or who I am? I can't seem to remember anything as of right now." The man says.

Oliver motions the man over. "Sit down man. It's better to relax when you're in a situation like this." The man takes the seat to the left of him and reads the note that was left there. "Who's Decim?" The man asks.

"I'm not sure," Oliver takes a sip from the glass in his hand. "And as for the questions you asked earlier, I don't know much either. I came here the same way you did, so welcome to the club buddy. Go ahead and grab that drink. If we're waiting for someone it'd be rude not to not accept their gift."

They sat in silence drinking their drinks and staring at the glasses they held until her heard a door open and shut. As they look up the see a man with white hair and piercing blue eyes, wearing a black vest with a red tie and a white dress shirt under it. He opens a gate to get behind the bar and stands front of the two men. "I apologize for the wait." He says as he bows. "My name is Decim and I'll be serving you today." He rises from his bow. "I understand that you may have questions, I cannot answer them unless you agree to my simple request." His voice was monotone, As if he said this sentence multiple times and has gotten tired of saying it.

Oliver and the man look at each other. If it means getting their memories or finding out anything about their situation they might as well agree to it. They both nod and Oliver looks at the man. "What is it that we'll do?" He asks. A small smile goes across his face. Enough to see his white and rather sharp teeth. "A game. I'm sure you've heard of blackjack or 21. So the rules are simple. You have to be the closest to 21. Aces are 11 and Jacks, Queens, and Kings are 10. The winner of the round gains a memory." Decim's voice gets a small bit deeper. "The loser who either goes over 21 or is lower than the other gains a memory at the cost of one of the 5 senses, with sight being the last."

The man nods his head. "Anything to find out why I'm here." Oliver thinks about it for a second. He wants to know why he's here, but at the cost of one of his senses? Bullshit. That's not possible, but if he's going to be here, he might as well do something. "Yeah. Let's do it." Oliver says putting down his glass.

"Excellent."

Decim starts passing out the two cards, one face down and the other facing up, to the two men. Once they get their cards they look at them. Oliver has a ace and a 9. "I stay. I don't want anymore cards."Oliver says. Decim nods then turns to look at the man. "And you?"

The man stayed looked at Decim. "Hit me." Decim throws out another card and the second he looked at what he got. "You want to stay or another hit"' Decim asks. The man stayed silent. Finally after a couple of seconds he speaks. "I went over." and flips his cards over. He already had 17 and he was looking for a 4. "What do I get?" The man's voice was wavering. He already knew what was going to happen, he was just trying to reassure himself

Decim sighs and stands up. You've lost, and that means..." Decim leans across the counter as spider silk like string moves towards the man. "You get to know your name, at the cost of your hearing." At that moment the strings wrapped around his head and went in his ears. "What's happening?!" the man screams out as the strings enter his head. Oliver watches in horror and as soon as he opens his mouth to say something a loud pop is heard. A sound like a balloon popping. "AHHHHHHHH!" the man screams. The strings retract and the man's hands goes up to his ears. "THE RINGING! PLEASE MAKE IT STOP! THIS WAS NOT WORTH IT FOR KNOWING WHO I AM!" He screams and blood starts coming out of his ears. "A NAME LIKE CHRIS ISN'T WORTH THIS!"

Oliver stays silent. Nothing he can say in this situation could make this better. A bartender pulls string out of nowhere and makes a man go deaf within seconds. Decim returns to where he was and turns to Oliver. "You win. You may now know your name." Decim says with the same monotone voice he had when they first met him. This didn't faze him at all. Oliver just nodded and a white light filled his vision. "My name is... Oliver." He felt relieved but felt sorry for Chris. He didn't even get to learn Oliver's name. He'll remain nameless to Chris as long as they're here. But soon he realized that the next time we won't be so lucky. He slowly turned towards Decim. "So... what now?" Oliver asked dreading the answer.

"Now?" Decim chuckles while Chris groans in pain. "Let's finish this game shall we?"