Free DYING TO SURVIVE (Dark Erotica) by Scott Hildreth, SD Hildreth

looked up at the camera and back down toward Ryan. Ryan smiled, placed his elbows on the table, and his chin on his clenched fists.
    “Alright, let’s get down to the brass tacks as they say. This, as you may or may not have imagined - this is being recorded. I am going to give you several options. With each option, should you accept it, there will be other potential options associated with the decision you make. I am not trying to confuse you, and I realize you probably didn’t sleep well - but I have taken that into account. Let’s get started, shall we?” Ryan raised his chin from his hands and waved over the items spread out on the table.
    On one side of the table, a small stack of cotton towels lay beside a surgical scalpel, gauze, rubbing alcohol, and medical tape. On the other side of the table, a large amount of cash was stacked in four piles of identical height. In the center of the table sat a purse and a wallet.
    Ryan reached for the wallet and opened it slowly. He removed the driver’s license, held it close to his face, and studied it. Satisfied, he held it in front of the camera for a few seconds before speaking.
    “Can you state your name, please?” he asked.
    “Dana,” Dana coughed and cleared her throat.
    “Dana Mitchell,” she stated clearly and calmly.
    “Very well. Thank you,” Ryan placed the driver’s license back into the wallet, and dropped the wallet into the purse.
    “You have volunteered your life on this day, have you not?” Ryan paused, shook his head, and continued, “Well, let me rephrase that. Strike the last question. You were advised last evening that someone had to die today, and you volunteered to be that person, is that correct?”
    Dana nodded her head.
    “Verbally acknowledge the question, please,” Ryan stated calmly.
    “Yes, I did.”
    “Very well,” Ryan said.
    “I am going to explain some things to you today. They may or may not make sense, but I think you are owed some form of an explanation. Are you paying attention, Dana?” Ryan asked as he placed his elbows back on the table.
    “Yes I am,” Dana responded as she shifted her weight in the chair.
    “Lessons. Life is about learning lessons. The earlier in life we learn them, the quicker we are able to make corrections to our lives. Does that make sense?” Ryan asked.
    With a confused look on her face, Dana nodded her head. She had anticipated coming out of the room as a volunteer, being shot, and her body being thrown in a ditch in the rural area surrounding the city. This question and answer session was troubling to her. She began to wonder if Ryan knew this, and was trying to cause her more grief than he already had. Mentally, she was losing touch with her willingness to die. As Ryan spoke, she began to pray.
    “Very well. Alright,” Ryan spread his hands out and motioned at the contents on the table.
    “As you can see, we have quite an arrangement on the table in front of us. Let me explain, and please do not interrupt. Is that clear?”
    “Yes it is,” Dana said flatly.
    “Very well. I am going to explain a few things first,” Ryan inhaled a deep breath and exhaled slowly.
    “Plenty of Fish. The dating website. You have or shall I say had an account there. You filled out a questionnaire on that site for your profile. It had a few hundred questions. The responses to those questions placed you in several categories that allowed me to carefully pick you from a list of tens of thousands of potential candidates. I was able to separate you by height, hair color, and even your personality and income level. It made the selection of you four candidates very easy. All of you, in physical resemblance, were identical. In personality and level of wealth and upbringing, all so very different,” Ryan took another breath and exhaled.
    Dana sighed, became somewhat embarrassed, and slumped a little into her seat. She wasn’t sure why at this juncture, and for what reason, but she felt guilt from Ryan finding