Sunlight was creeping through the blinds of Alice’s windows and the morning had nearly ended, when an email notification on her computer sounded off and woke her up. She wiped the sleep from her eyes and yawned. She had a noticeable tooth gap, and it was quite cute, but she was not the kind of person who smiled for pictures. Bitterly, she crawled out of bed and put on her glasses, which were round and purple. They were very rad. Alice was wearing an old pajama shirt and stretchy pants; perfect for napping, excellent range of motion in combat. Shuffling over to her desk and sitting down in the broken office chair, she moved the computer mouse and the screen lit up. Clicking the notification, an email from one “L@★★★. ★★★” popped up, and she squinted.

“The fuck kind of email address is that?” Alice clicked to view the full message.

“Alice--

I have a job for you.

--L”

She paused and stared down at her old, scratchy mousepad, purple with yellow stars. She’d had it since she was in school, which felt like a world away now. One of these “jobs” had ultimately lead to that distance between her and her old life, and though she was good at what she did for a living, no, incredible-- it was often hard to feel like it was worth it. On the books, Alice was a private investigator; she tracked people down. She discovered information, through any means possible, and this made her plenty of enemies. Some of whom would threaten her life and her family, but most of the time she’d call their bluff and stamp out the problem. One night changed all that, and she sent her family away to a place she could never find them again.

Alice closed the message without responding and turned the computer off, going back to bed. She was a cat-person, and though it would be rude to say, she did sleep as much as possible. Her fur was a cool, soft gray, and her raven-blue hair was perpetually in a state of “pin curls, but from two days ago”. Alice wore dark lipstick and lined her green eyes intensely in black, and often woke up in the previous night’s makeup due to her sporadic work schedule. Can you blame her?

A soft thump outside her front door broke the silence again as the newspaper man made his way throughout the building. Alice pulled her blanket over her head in annoyance.

A few minutes later, a second notification came through and her computer lit up once again. Alice’s eyes whipped open and she stared at the nothingness for a moment before ripping the blanket off and rolling out of bed. She trudged over to mute the computer’s volume but paused as she looked at the screen. The second message was also from “L@★★★. ★★★”, so she clicked it.

“Alice--

Something terribly sinister is at play and a dear friend is in danger. She is a vital member of the working-class communities around the city, and a brilliant doctor who has helped people in immeasurable ways. Your reputation precedes you and your skills are unmatched. We are racing against time and need someone of your caliber on our side. I hope to hear from you soon.

--L”

Alice sat down and leaned back in her chair, folding her arms and rereading the message, which was intriguing as it was flattering. Fuck it, she thought after a moment, leaning forward to type out a response.

“L--

I’m listening.

--Alice”

The user responded minutes later with an alluring, if not eerie, final message.

“Alice--

It is not safe to divulge any further right now. I have taken precautions to keep this exchange a secret. Do not respond to this email, just close out the window and go back to sleep. If you wish to hear more about this job, plan to meet at six PM tonight.”

Alice read on, where a series of brief, vague directions to a secret location were spelled out. She closed the web browser and turned off the monitor. Heading back to sleep, she placed her glasses on the bedside table and buried herself in blankets for a few more hours.

Sleeping through to the afternoon, Alice woke up and walked to her front door, undoing the lock and opening it slightly. She reached down to grab that day’s newspaper as well as the one from the previous morning. She closed the door behind her as she walked towards the kitchen, flopping the newspapers down onto the table before making a cup of coffee and some toast.

Sitting down to eat, Alice opened the older of the two newspapers and began to scan the pages loosely, half awake and half interested. What caught her eye was some sort of ambiguously creepy public service announcement. Allegations of civil rights violations at a local medical facility had been posted online anonymously and the facility vehemently denied it all, going so far as to vaguely—yet publicly—threaten the whistleblower. At the end of the article they advertised a tour of their own facilities, taking place at 8:00 AM the following morning. Alice glanced at the clock on the stove which read 2:13 PM. Well damn, she thought. Just missed it.

Alice took a drink of her coffee and began to rewind her thoughts back a few hours until she remembered the email exchange from earlier. She stood up and walked over to her computer, mug in one hand, piece of toast in the other. She set her coffee down and held the toast in her mouth as she booted up the computer and pulled up her email. All traces of the conversation were gone, and as she chewed a bite of toast before setting the piece down, she wondered if the exchange had actually happened.

It occurred to Alice that the whistleblower was probably someone with substantial medical knowledge, having been employed at the facility according to the article. What if the doctor in danger was the same person? The possible ramifications were endless, each one more intense and unnerving than the last. If this was to be the case, then who was trying to hire her to find the doctor? Someone with enough technological manpower to contact her without leaving a trace, clearly, and she feared that she was about to become the government’s pawn in a horrifying conspiracy.

Alice began to wrack her brain, overthinking into oblivion. She could pretend it was all a dream and hope she wouldn’t be contacted again, but knew that she was never going to get off that easy. She had to go meet up with whoever was expecting her and accept whatever fate was coming for her.

Half past five rolled around, and Alice put on socks and shoved her feet into a pair of high-heeled cowboy boots with stars for spurs. She put on a long jacket over her outfit, which she had slept in, and buckled a choker around her neck for good measure. Not only did she slip a switchblade into each of her boots, but her coat pockets as well, and one up each of her sleeves. One could reasonably assume there were more where that came from.

It was nearly six when Alice drove through Mercutio Heights, pulling up and parking around the block from her destination. She walked around and over to the broken, graffiti-covered payphone and paused, turning in the opposite direction. Across the street a man stepped out of a side door and into the alleyway and began to light up a smoke.

That was her cue, and she casually walked over to meet the man.

“I’m here to pick up the keys for the hotel,” she said as she looked him in the eye. He hesitated for a moment then nodded, putting out the cigarette he’d barely smoked.

“Come with me,” he uttered, before banging on the door he came through. It opened and he stepped through, Alice in tow, and the two walked into a dimly lit hallway, past the other bouncer who quickly closed the door behind them.

They reached another doorway and the man gestured for Alice to enter before walking back towards the side entrance they came from. She clutched the doorknob and turned, walking cautiously into the unknown.