Chapter One
And then Shelly turned around and said with a voice not her own, "I am Byakko, I am here to watch over this human again" and then a shorter gentleman with hair spiked up to a peak spoke, "I am the dragon master of the dragon of the -"
Snort.
Serenity snorted the most disgusting snort possible as she read over the last scenario on the page. Who wrote this stuff anyway?
She read through yet another ill-conceived idea for fiction. Chuckling to herself she shoved some chips into her mouth as she scrolled through the web for interest. Fanfiction was always entertaining to read. In mid-cackle, the girl began to cough as her beloved chips betrayed her by going down the wrong pipe. She sprayed soggy chip particles all around her laptop and on herself while cursing, "SHIT" she cried out trying to minimize the chip-related damage to her laptop by using her cheese-encrusted fingers to try and catch the little pieces of deep-fried corn tortillas covered in cheese-flavored dust.
For someone who declared how much they loved their precious technology, she sure didn't seem to care too much about her greasy fingers combing through the pieces in an effort to remove the chips she spittled out of her mouth.
Feeling her airways opened, she sighed and stared blankly at the screen in front of her.
Life always seems so much more inviting in a fictional world.
She took a few swigs of some unidentifiable alcohol next to her in a cup to get the rest of the chip taste out of her mouth.
Why couldn't she have an adventure like everyone seemed to have?
"For God's sake, Serenity, it's not like your life is the most boring. Get over yourself. You're being a pathetic drunk." She grunted to herself as she stood from her desk and walked over to her bedroom window. The room itself wasn't necessarily small, but it was definitely in the "cozy" category.
Her one bedroom apartment was located on the 9th floor of the building she called home. With a not so reliable elevator at the end of the hall, she much preferred (was forced) to be healthier and use the stairs. Her not-so-subtle neighbors were currently smashing naughty bits together, as she could hear the animal-mating calls from the hallway when she walked home earlier this evening. Not one person in the hallway could escape their messed up noises. It wasn't for lack of trying either. Many of her hallmates struggled to confront a couple who lived there but the response was always the same: disdain and then a declaration that everyone was just jealous of their "lovemaking." How they can sound like a gorilla trying to fight to the death while making this so-called "love" was lost on Serenity.
The woman huffed and pulled her two-toned curls on to the top of her head and put it through a hair tie to form a sloppy bun. Her deep red roots showed through the blonde dye and the loose hairs proceeded to curl around her. Resigned to a messy hairdo, she opened the window to her balcony and took a deep breath in.
The air was crisp and had the bite of late autumn, as winter decided to make its way through the town. Goosebumps began to form on her upper arms, which were encased in a sleeve tattoo of various herbs and specific flowers, each one meaning a different thing to her. She rubbed her arms up and down to keep the warmth in but also relished in the cold wrapped around her. The day was long over, and as she glanced at the small alarm clock on her pitiful looking nightstand it glared at her with bright red numbers that read 3:00 a.m.
Where had the time gone?
She had to be up in a couple of hours for her shift at the local grocery store down the road. No doubt her boss would be there, ready to yell at her for the lack of organization, even though she put everything back the way it should have been before leaving the night before.
Serenity stared at herself in the mirror which was propped against her desk and wall of her room. Her blonde and red curls looked like a silly mess and there were crumbs of chips on her sweatshirt. Her jeans look faded and frayed in many areas, but most would think this as intentional wear on her attire. Little do they know she's just dirt poor living paycheck to paycheck.
Suddenly a whine and bark broke the silence of her room, and 80 pounds of muscle plundered into her, knocked her body to the floor, only to be met with one bright blue eye and one gold eye, not even an inch away from her own.
Serenity blinked before a grin splits her face, "Noodle!" she laughed and hugged her dog.
Noddle may have looked fierce with her eerie eyes and her large body which loomed over her master, but in reality, the dog was as cuddly as a teddy bear to friends. The dog's black fur got mashed into Serenity's face as she struggled to get up off the floor.
"NOODLE!" she squealed as the dog began to lay down. She struggled more as she hoped the beastie would remove herself.
Noodle did as she's asked and got off her master and wagged her whip-like tail into the dresser which made a thwak thwak thwak against the plywood dresser. Noodle's eyes lit up in mischievous glee as she looked at her master and her mouth opened in a lazy smile, with her tongue lolling out and panting.
What a silly dog.
"Come on Noods. Time for bed." Serenity said while she lay down on her rickety old bed. No way in hell she'd be having sex on this thing if she could help it. Her neighbors would surely hear if she ever did decide to have sex again. And she truly didn't want to be considered the new resident loudmouth when it came to bumping uglies.
The dog pounced onto the bed, which forced the springs in the bed to create a ridiculous screeching noise. Noodle settled on her own pillow next to her own master's. they lay under the covers together. The looked at each other before Noodle gets anxious and snuggles closer to her master.
"Jesus, Noddles, I swear you're so clingy sometimes!" Serenity huffed as she pat her dog on the head.
The last thing Serenity heard before drifting off was a snort from Pupp and the even snoring of her fur-baby.
"FUCKING WAKE UP YOU WHORE!" says a familiar voice. She can feel pain in her lower stomach, and hear a thumping noise going rhythmically. A slapping sound resonates through the area. Her eyes are still closed. Why does it hurt so much?
She opens her eyes and sees a man hovering over her. And it clicks.
This is the man who has been the bane of her existence since she started dating him.
He pounds into her over and over, occasionally grabbing her breast and painfully twisting it in his own sick fantasy. She must have passed out sometime between then and now because he never stopped.
"Yeah, you like it rough, don't you bitch?" he grunts out as he starts thrusting harder.
She whimpers in fear. It hurts so bad, and she knows she must be bleeding from how hard he's fucking her.
Hands go around her throat. She can't breathe.
The world is going dark.
Something putrid and smelling of iron is thrust into her face as warm viscous liquid shoots out.
"Take it all bitch. Ah. YES. You dirty fucking whore!" he screams as he ejaculates onto her face.
Still choking her. Still losing oxygen.
The world is fading to black around the edges and all she can see is his malicious smile, fangs of a horrible man reflected in the dim light as she tries to scream out. She's struggling.
She's dying.
A loud bark in her ear startled Serenity awake. She's covered in sweat and tears are freely running down her face. Her heart races as if she had run a marathon.
Startled and disoriented, the redhead looked around in fright, as if the son of a bitch was still in her room. Is this her room?
Doing a double sweep, she realizes that it was, in fact, her bedroom. Her same ragged old dresser with its ghetto mirror barely standing up is in the corner, her laptop showed her a screen saver of various flowers.
Safe.
She was safe.
Then she looked at her alarm. Yet again, she woke up an hour before her alarm was supposed to go off.
She sighed and felt the violent nightmare recede into the back of her mind as she looked at her dog with a grumpy expression.
"Fuck it. Want some eggs, Noodle?" she asked her loving companion who was snuggled under the covers of the bed. Noodle's head popped up from the pillow and blanket created fort to pant in confirmation. The thump of her tail could be heard underneath the blankets to help reinforce the dog's decision, that, yes eggs are good and yes she would like some.
Noodle's face, so full of expression, seemed to look haughtily at her owner and lept from the bed towards their small kitchen as if to say hurry up!
"I know I know, I'm coming. Give me a minute to get dressed properly and check my e-mail!" she ground out to her dog as if expecting some response.
She scrolled through her emails and found a response to a letter she had sent out earlier in the previous day. The subject read, "Inquiry" pure and simple.
Dear Serenity,
It sounds like you could use a change of scenery from all the exasperated messages about boring landscapes and angry customers. I'm looking forward to seeing you here in Japan for the study-abroad program! Make sure you tell me when you land!
Respectfully,
Shu.
Serenity rolled her eyes with a smile before responding with hesitant enthusiasm about her upcoming trip. It had been about six months in the making to get to where she was now. Only a few more loose ends to tie up before she would be moving to Japan with her dog.
After typing her closing statement, she sent it off and dressed for work.
Her work uniform consisted of a sad looking bowling type of t-shirt and khaki slacks. Sighing with dread, she puts on her uniform and walked out to make the dog and her breakfast.
Maybe the eggs would be good today. She did buy them from a local farmer. Well, more like bartered really, but who cared about the details. She had the eggs and she'd cook them, Goddamnit.
She grabbed a skillet from a crooked drawer and began her morning ritual of cooking eggs and tortillas for her, and some scrambled eggs for Noodle since she was out of dog food.
"I'm going to have to go buy some more food for you….But maybe not until we move to Japan considering I'm going to be asking for this study abroad trip." She said while she stared at her eggs.
Noodle quirked her head to the side and stared at her owner, looking ever like the curious dog she was.
Serenity just sighed and nodded to herself before she handed the dog a plate of scrambled eggs on the floor and put her food onto the table.
They ate quickly but quietly.
After a long day of work, many screaming customers, and fucking messed up shelves, Serenity was ready to come home.
She had called up her financial aid and transfers office at her school and they had decided that they would accept her into the study abroad program in Japan since she was a first-time transfer and a straight-A student. Her credentials were in order and she'd be leaving in about a week. Noodle's shots and immunizations were prepared and she would be sending her dog ahead of herself since they would be required to put her in quarantine for about a week. Noodle would be dropped off at the airport before Serenity would head into work.
Such little time for her to pack and prepare herself for this move. While it had been six months in the planning, Serenity had a horrible habit of putting off things until the last second. The only time she didn't procrastinate was when she was working.
Serenity shook her head and stared with a small smile on her face at her breakfast.
One week before she could leave this hell hole of a town behind.
Goodbye Carolinas, hello Japan.
Edit made: The tense of the writing, some small details added. Majority of the story is the same. Doggo's name is no longer pupp. Noodle is her new name (why not?)