The Beginning of the End – Chapter 1

The breeze had started to cool down as the seasons once again changed all too soon. Autumn was bearing down upon the Northern Hemisphere, obvious in the shade of beige the leaves were turning on the trees.

It had been approximately 5 years since the Bladebreakers had won their last tournament and called it quits.

Tyson now holds Beyblade classes with Max, who took over his father's shop about a year ago. Kenny works in a laboratory at the moment; he recently graduated from the state's top university. Ray moved back to China and is known to be dating Mariah, who is expecting their first child. And Kai, last anyone heard, he had taken over his grandfather's company and was living in Russia.

And then there was me. Poor, defenseless Hilary who everyone thought never had a care in the world. That has always been a lie.

Here was my present state: I was lying in my bed in my cheap, ratty apartment staring at my ceiling. The paint was peeling off and the carpets all smelt so terrible. I could smell vomit and other bodily fluids that I don't want to think about.

I sat up in my bed, holding the sheet to my chest to cover my naked body. An arm wound itself around my waist as I was tugged against a body. I looked over at my boyfriend, Matthew. His dark brown hair was lazily spread out on the pillow as he lay snoring softly.

I detached myself from him and carefully made my way to the bathroom, ignoring the various bottles, needles and bongs on the floor.

Yes. I, Hilary Tachibana, was a drug-addict.

It all started a few years after we all split up. I was in college and things took a turn for the worse and I have never really recovered.

My life went from class president, college hopeful to check-out chick, drug addicted ex-Bladebreaker.

I walked into the bathroom and gazed at my reflection in the cracked mirror. Dark circles surrounded my brown eyes. My hair lay limp, the length almost reaching my waist. It was still the same dull color it has always been.

I looked almost broken.

I brushed my teeth and began searching for clothes, only succeeding in finding a short, black dress that hung off my small frame like an anorexic. I probably wasn't too far off anorexia anyways, maybe a pound or three.

I walked over to the bed and leaned down on it and shook my boyfriend.

"Matt, wake up. It's almost 1pm."

"… Mm… fuck off. 5 more minutes."

I sighed out loud and shook him again. "Wake up!"

His grey eyes opened and stared at me. "For fuck's sake. Fine I'm up." He threw the blankets back and climbed out of bed and began putting clothes on.

I waited for him to get ready. I walked over to the window and stared out into the New York City. The sky was grey and the rain fell softly against the window. Another dull day…

"Ok babe. Let's go. Now. I said now!"

I turned and followed him, making sure not to fall over in the process.

We didn't have a car. We couldn't afford one. Besides Matt lost his license last April from drink driving. He had crashed it around a tree and spent 3 days in hospital.

That was probably one of the reasons we were both too skinny, because we had to walk everywhere.

He grabbed my hand in an almost lovingly way and pulled me through the street, the two of us trying to hurry along to get out of the rain.

My dress clung to my body and make me look 10 pounds lighter, and not in a good way. I flicked my hair out of my face and narrowly avoided a puddle.

Fortunately, our destination wasn't that far away. Just 3 blocks actually. We stopped at a familiar house and knocked on the pale red door. I hugged my tiny body and tried to repress the shivers that threatened to take over.

The door opened to reveal a tall, lanky man with dirty blonde hair and green eyes.

"Hey Hil, Matt."

"Thomas." Matt nodded his head in a hello style of way and Thomas stood back and let us through.

We followed him through the hallway into the kitchen which had several pots on the floor to catch water that was leaking through the roof.

"So ma mates, what can I do for ya?"

I leaned forward slightly and pulled out a $50 dollar bill. "We need some stash, Tom."

He took the money from my tiny hands in a greedy way and pocketed it. "I'll be right back ay."

He left the kitchen and disappeared into a room which I knew was his bedroom. He emerged a few minutes later with a small package and handed it to us. I took the clear package which held my favorite white powder and I smiled at him. "Thanks Tom."

"No prob Hils."

Matt snatched the package from my hands and examined it. "This better be the good shit Thomas."

"It is Matt. Believe me."

"Hn. Come on Hilary, it's time to go."

We said our goodbyes and headed out into the rain again. I followed Matt into a familiar deserted area and we stopped in an empty alleyway. I watched him dig deep into his pocket and watched when he pulled out two needles and a tourniquet. He handed me the needle that had a "H" written on it in permanent marker and I took the tourniquet and tightened it around my left arm, just above the elbow.

Matt handed me the small, clear package and I put some of the white powder into the syringe. I sat down on a crate and ignoring the rain, I injected the needle into my skin and inserted the drug into my system, almost immediately feeling the familiar relaxing sensation take over my body.

I slumped back against the wall and I felt Matt take the tourniquet off me as I closed my eyes and let the drug flow through my body.

There was no fallacy in this broken fairytale. This was my life.

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- Weffie