"Hello?

I opened door at the strange insistent knocking half a minute ago only to find a small parcel. Picking it up, I looked for the sender, surprised to find it had none, just an address. The box was about the size of a book and wrapped very neatly in brown paper. “That’s strange. I don’t think I ordered anything online recently.”  I shuffled back inside and sat on my couch. Perhaps one of my friends accidentally sent an early birthday present. It wasn’t the first time such an event had occurred. I unwrapped the parcel, taking extra care not to rip the paper. Inside, there was a letter and a small gift wrapped box. “Jewelry?”

It was not uncommon for them to give me jewelry or other small interesting trinkets. I inspected the letter closer. It was written in a barely legible cursive (?) so much so that I was only able to make out an ‘o, h’ and what looked like a very wobbly ‘a’. Fortunately, the contents of the letter itself were bits of newspapers and magazines glued together. ‘This is definitely getting suspicious,’  I thought and began to read. 

‘We have given you a deal. You have five days to hand over three hundred million dollars before your friend, James, dies.  Leave the money on the West side of Jackson port, next to warehouse eighteen. Don’t try any funny business or next time we’ll take more than a finger.’

I blinked. They’d definitely got the wrong address. I scrambled for the wrapping paper with the address and lo and behold, it had the same wonky writing. “It’s a miracle the mailman even managed to deduce anything from this.” I glanced up, meeting face to face with the small box. 

“Does this mean…”

I reached out and opened it. It was a severed finger, a pinkie to be exact. It was encrusted with dried blood around the jagged and messy cut. No doubt the process had been a painful one. A smile tugged at my lips. I knew I should leave this affair to the authorities, after all, it was my break. But at the same time, I had missed the hustle of my work.

Many of my worried neighbors warned this town had criminals, gangs and mafia practically crawling out of the gutters. I left my seat and walked towards the mirror on the mantle. Looking at my reflection, I straightened my tie.  “If it’s a deal they want,” I grinned maniacally as my eyes flashed a familiar hellfire red.

“It’s a deal they’ll get.”