When I was young, it seemed that life was so wonderful, a miracle!
--Super Tramp, The Logical Song
Chapter One:
Free
It was as if the rest of the world was cheering with her. Or were they crying? No, the female decided. They are cheering. Nothing could have been any better than the thirteenth of October!
She was free. Absolutely free, with no strings attached, just a small amount of medication that was sorted out in a collection of jars to help her through the day. This did not bother her, as they took away whatever demons that followed her.
Demons. . .
Evelyn Evergreen dazed for just a simple second. Her mind wondering to the demons and nightmares that had plagued her, they snickered at her. Jeering their tiny voices to the back of her head. Taunting her with more nightmares, if she refused to take her medication. If she decided to merely skip a day.
It was no threat, but a promise.
No, they no longer existed. Evelyn opened her misted eyes as the taxi driver paused in front of an apartment building. Small as it was, Eve knew this was her new home. The outside was a dreary brown color, small windows with edging that was once white, that was now a soiled grey. Evelyn wondered vaguely what had happened to the place. Even the paint on the outside was withering away. In the gloom of autumn, the rain clouds that came to play, the entire thing looked absolutely… Depressing. Several shutters were even missing, and park of the once white picket fence around what used to be a garden, was falling apart.
How could it be home? How could it ever be called a home when she had never seen the inside? Or even had the time to put away her belongings? How was it home without the sweet cooking of a mother, or the tender touch of a lover?
What was a home without a family to call your own?
"Are yaw gettin' out? Or do ye want to go back?" Came the taxi driver's voice as he glared his beady black eyes into the rearview mirror, knocking Eve out of her thoughts and back into the real world. Her eyes jarred with his, and she found herself stumbling for words. The simple shock left her in a daze.
"My apologies, sir! I was just thinking…" She gave a forced smile and pulled herself out of the vehicle. The trunk popped open and she was able to grab her things quickly. Not that she had a lot to begin with. The only bag she had held only six bottles of medication, and three outfits. The rest had been packed and stored in a storage unit not too far from where her mother had once lived.
"Maybe yoo'd like ta think back at than utter home!" He spoke to himself, and had not thought his words would have gone past the closed and locked doors. With a mirthful smile on his face, he drove off. Leaving Evelyn to stick her bottom lip up, to stop the sob. She was better than crying, and he was most definitely not going to get the best out of her for such an ignorant retort.
E.W.E.W.E.W.E.W.E.W.E
The lady whom showed her the new apartment was enjoyable company, her smile kind and her features weary. Though, she pressed on in the journey up two flights of stairs to an apartment that was not worth the money. Eve didn't blame her; the girl was little past twenty and five months pregnant. She was short, her belly already rounded and her tanned face chubby with childbearing. She had obviously already had one other child. She had the most beautiful brown doe-like eyes and perfect pink lips. And what else was obvious was that this girl was of Spanish decent. Her hair was dark and curled around her face ending just to her shoulders.
Evelyn had learned this woman's name was Arian. And, as obvious as her Spanish decent, this woman knew were Evelyn moved in from. Not only did this make Eve incredible nervous, but this might even ruin her reputation in a brand new town with a new home, and soon a new job.
Who in their right might would have hired her? She had just recently been released! Not only that, but she was more than sure that any employer was going to call her doctors and ask them of her status with the new treatments. And a simple background check was not going to just bring up several jobs for corporations, but a heavy lawsuit against a very notable young man. That was all she needed, to be deemed a 'Nutter', and then a liar on top of it.
Somewhere in the very back of her brain she felt something tug. Smiling with wide, sharp teeth at the recesses of her mind. You lying, dirty nut…
Eve was smiling nervously as Arian picked up a small, almost unnoticeable piece of lint from the floor and tossed it out the open front door. The cool autumn air rushed through the living room as Evelyn placed her things on the ground and looked around. It seemed that Arian was almost too busy picking up small pieces of junk and plastic from the floor, to notice that Evelyn was not right. Something was already churning in her tiny brain.
The living room was surprisingly open and spacious on the second floor. Her old Mary Jane shoes carried her to a patio with a sliding glass door that overhung the parking lot. The patio was small, but it was enough for her. She closed and locked the glass doors, a habit she had since that accident, listening quietly to Arian, who had decided to leave whatever junk was on the ground behind, as she showed the small kitchen off to the other side of the living room. It had three cabinets over the light blue counters that showed gouges and slices. As if the previous occupants had slammed the knife down as hard as they could into the soft cover. She was even able to see the very dark wood under the linoleum.
Gouges. . . Slices. . . The sight of flesh met her eyes. It was not normal skin, but the very layers under it.
Evelyn pulled down her long sleeved shirt even further over her hands as the fridge was opened and showed that there was plenty of space. That shy, and frightened little girl came out of her once more. Her lips turning up into a small smile, nodding to whatever Arian was saying to her now.
"Oh! We have brand new washers and dryers down in the Laundromat! I'll show you where that is after this, okay?" Arian smiled. Acting as if she hadn't seen anything bother the woman-child in front of her.
"All of your old things where moved from the storage unit into your bedroom, which is straight down the hall," Arian spoke carefully, as if not wanting to excite poor Eve with the thought of her belongings. Eve, not wanting to embarrass herself any further in front of her landlord… Landlady, stayed neutral, nodding slowly as she took a few steps towards the closed bedroom door and slowly reached out to open it.
She pulled her hand back, and decided against the overwhelming memories of a life she no longer wanted. Turning she opened the door for the tiny bathroom. Thank goodness she didn't take too long to get ready in the mornings, because this was barely large enough for a tub!
The white tiled floor and sink shot her into a flashback of another bathroom with similar tile. . .
Blood was everywhere. And as hard as she might try it wouldn't stop. Evelyn took the towel from the hook on the wall and tried to clean up the floor. But it spread and stained. Her fingers where painted in it, like a child was with watercolor.
A scream came from the doorway and her silver eyes met green. . .
"Evelyn, are you okay?" Came the calm words of the apartment manager Arian. Eve didn't smile this time around. And found her self slowly nodding. What more could she have done? Evelyn was sure to scrub every surface of that bathroom. She took notes in her head, just in case she were to forget. And forget was something she was going to do quite often.
"I was just thinking this was an awfully small bathroom. Thank goodness I don't take too long to get ready!" She gave a forced laugh and the small Spanish girl chuckled.
"Yes, I suppose it is. I live in a two bedroom, and it is much larger. I never really thought of it that way, though. . ." The Spanish mother smiled, nodding her tanned head slowly to her newest tenant. Short, stubby fingers gently rubbed the small belly that grew the newest addition of her family, nervous about the girl with a troubled past.
No, there was no troubled past. Eve scolded herself; there is just a lost little girl. . .