"I've kept myself awake this far, I think I can make it a little longer." She kept running, never looking behind her. She never wanted to see him again. He had hurt her, And she didn't want to bare the pain twice...
'It's November 14th, 2018. I Am 5' 7" and I weight 135lbs.'
"I swear to god, these people dont need to know everything about me! I'm Only Applying To a Minimum-wage Job!"
"SHHH!"
The woman behind the counter didn't seem very paitent, and surly wouldn't put up with Claudia's bullshit today.
"Sorry. This is so rediculous."
'My name is Claudia Helvain, I am 5' 7" and I weigh 135lbs. My favorite color is red and I keep drawers full of different colored panties. Is there anything else you're Dying to know?'
She had never been so annoyed in her 17years of life, But she needed a job, And fast. Her Mother had gotten the sickness, and wasn't able to work any-longer. Her younger brother, Nick, was only 8, So he couldn't do anything for himself yet. And her Father, Oh, Her Sweet, Sweet Father. He had fallen to that wretched thing, The Sickness.
'Family: N/A' This got her thinking again. She remembered the busride home that day. She came home to a messy house, it was completely torn to pieces. Everything was either knocked over or moved to another room. Then that's when she saw him, standing there, digging into his pale skin. He was bleeding, and it wouldn't stop.
"I can still see you Daddy."
"HUSH!"
"Sorry."
She stood there and watched him dig into himself, over and over again. She had watched this happen several times and had realized that her Father, was falling victim to it.
"It all starts off with an itch that makes you almost crave pain.."
They were at the Doctors office again, the 3rd time this week. It felt like it would never end.
"It slowly dissolves your memory and eats away at your human-like behaviors, cauing you to act more animalistically."
She knew he wouldn't make it this time. She could almost sense it. Besides, According to the Doc, He was stuck in the 'Final Stage', The Journey to Death.
"Mom? Is Daddy going to be okay?"
"No, Sweetheart, Not this time. Daddy's going home now."
Her Mother looked up, and she watched a small tear leave wet footprints on her cheek. Claudia had no clue what was going on since she was only 6. She just thought that what her Mom meant by 'Going home' was that he was literally, Going Home.
"I Never thought it would happen to me. Why Me?"
"If You cant keep your mouth shut then you should apply somewhere else!"
"I Think I just might you Rude Bitch!"
The woman behind the desk gasped loudly and stormed out of the room. Everyone around seemed to all glare in her direction almost instantly.
"God, Does anybody have manors these days?!"
She left the building not knowing what was going to happen next. What she had planned on doing, was going to her next interview. But that wasn't going to be on her schedule for much longer.
She Stood silently at her stop on the corner of Kylie Rd. And Seashore Dr. waiting for bus number 18. When she watched the bus pull up, she felt a slight tingle on the inside of her left pocket. She steped onto the bus and flung a coin to the driver and asked him to take her to 580 North Taylor Street. When she had taken her seat at the back of the bus, she remember her phone alarm going off. She pulled it out of her pocket and checked the screen for anything new. She had a new message, it was from an unknown number. She thought it might have been her Mom since she got a new phone recently. But When she read this message, She got something completely un-expected. The message read:
"When you come to the first step up to your appartment, there shall be a gift and a letter awaiting your arival, My Love."
She closed her phone and slid it back into her pocket and closed her eyes.
"Damnit Connor."
Connor was this kid she new that sat in front of her in History class. He's has this strange obsession with her since the 4th grade and they're Juniors now. Claudia decided to call the number, Just to make sure it was him. When Someone picked up the line, She knew then, That it in fact wasn't Connor,this voice was deep, Suttle, and very romantic. She hung up the phone imediately and kept thinking about what this 'Gift' Could be. When she arrived to her stop, she pulled the line and got off the bus. She came up to the door into the appartment complex and unlocked the door to building C. There it was, This navy-blue box tied with a Silk crimson-colored ribbon and next to it lay a single sheet of tea-paper. Surrounding these precious gifts were white rose petals in the shape of a heart. She walked around it a few times to reasure herself that this was hers and that there were no dangers in approaching it. When she knew it was okay, she picked everything up and walked to Apartment 8 and unlocked the door to meet her brother at the door. He took her bag and set it by the table and hugged her. She asked if their Mom was okay, and he shrugged. She dropped everything and ran to her room and swung open the door to find her Mother sound asleep on the canopy bed they had made for her when her Father was still around. The bed stood tall with Maroon drapes that hung over the carved bars on top. The headboard read: " To My Wife, Who Has Made My Life Complete." Claudia exhaled.
"Thank god you're okay Mum."
She closed the door and walked out into the dining room. She picked everything she had dropped before and took it to her room and asked Nick if he could fend for himself tonight for dinner because she was "tired" and needed to bathe. He agreed and soon went to bed. When Claudia heard his door close, she began to strip of her clothing, not remembering the gifts. It had been a long day, and she needed a shower. She turned on the water to a mist-like setting and hopped in. When she was settled, she turned on the bath water and began to pour bubble-bath into the steaming water. She inhaled deeply and held it as she slipped under the surface and opened her eyes. There was a note on the ceiling. She exhaled quickly and jumped above the surface of the bath water and stared upward to read a message written in caligraphy.
"Dont Forget About Me, Darling."
What was this? Who was this? She wasn't very happy, and she was starting to get a little freaked out from all these random messages. She emptied the bath and wraped herself in a towel. She shut the lights off and closed the door and went to her Room. her window was opened, and there was a rose, wrapped in a black lace. she grabbed it and stuck it in her vase full of other dead roses that had been given to her years before. She sat on her bed with the gifts and the letter and began to read the old gothic caligraphy initials written on the outside of the the letter.
'C.M.H' Were the letters written on it, and those were her initials.
When she opened the letter, the first thing she noticed were the random ink-blots that were indications that whoever had written this, had obviously spent a lot of time on it and used a feather pen. She observed it closely and finally began to read.
" Claudia,
At Last, My Love, I've found you. Oh how I have longed to hear your voice, to see your face, to touch you, To find you. I've kept myself sane while searching for your street address. And, the lord bless my soul, at last, I've found you. I have sent you a gift with many things I believe you shall enjoy secretly in your own time. Underneath the presents there are many letters I have written to you in secret, hoping to find you one day. They explain everything you will want to know, And all of your questions shall be answered. I'm ecstatic that you can now feel exactly how I feel.
Yours Sincerely."
She folded the letter in two and realized something different about it. She held it up to her face and smelled it. It smelt sickly Sweet, almost exactly like her favorite perfume, Love Spell from Victoria's Secret. She set the precious note aside and grabbed the box. She pulled at the ribbon causing the box to gently fall apart. It seemed liek the sides were almost, Melting away. There were a pair of neon-green laced underwear lying on top. She grabbed them and threw them into a random drawer. She dug threw everything inside and pulled out a small violet bottle. She squeezed the pump spiraled around it and a mist of perfume clouded out. It was sonmething shes never smelt before, But She really liked it, and sprayed some on her wrists and neck. She set it down by her side and looked through the box once more and found nothing else but letters, Just like he promised. After reading through these love letters, she slowly started to drift off into a trance. She had stopped reading them after about the 23rd and layed down on her back. She closed her eyes, and opened then after a few moments and got up to change into her Pajammas and turn the light off. Once she was ready, she had her bed ready to jump into and she turned off the light and lie down on her back. She looked up to read a glowing message written on the ceiling yet again that Read: My Love, Sleep Sweetly.
She closed her eyes and drifted asleep thinking to herself.
' Whoever this boy is, Is extremely Romantic, And I Like It.'
And she soon found herself also longing to meet this Boy.
