p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"You have a ritual for whenever you came home from school. First, dump your backpack on the nearest chair. Second, grab a bowl of chips. Third, change into your much more comfortable pants and soft t-shirt./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"And now comes the most important step of all. Take your favorite record out of its paper folder, and play it through all the songs while dancing like a nerd. Oh, and close the blinds./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"You discovered the band known as "Hangman's Noose" just 2 years ago. Despite the morbid name, their music was really good, and unlike a lot of music you usually listened to. It really spoke to you, so much that you wouldn't notice you were jumping up and down playing air guitar until your apartment neighbors knocked on your door with a noise complaint. It was fun, swaying to the thump of the drums in nothing but your t shirt and underwear, just enjoying yourself./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Your favorite song on the entire album had to be called Shelly. A mournful track at first, it quickly picks up from the long strings of loneliness into a fast paced and frantic guitar solo of manic happiness. The guy who wrote this song, Eric Draven, must be a musical genius! You loved listening to the songs he had composed with his electric guitar. Not many things could touch your soul like that./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Relaxing onto your bed, the record winding down, you can remember just how much Eric's songs had helped you in the past. When your younger sister died, his songs were there, letting you scream along with their rugged voices and cry until you were hoarse. When fell into bouts of manic depression, the long winding music of the guitar helped draw you back to reality. span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Damn/span, you think to yourselfspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"; I wish I knew where the hell this Draven guy was. I'd sure have a long list of things to thank him for. /spanYou wish you had even a hint as to where this band played live. You paid some random guy 2 bucks for this record, figuring it would just add to your stacks of unplayed ones. But it changed your life. You sigh, reaching over and carefully tucking the record back into its sleeve. Maybe someday./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Two months later you awake at 11:30 to the sound of distant shattering glass, and a few moments later, screaming. In the dark you fumble for a bathrobe, bursting into the hallway. Your mother, frazzled and hair covered in curlers, has apparently just done the same thing./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""What was that?" You ask through a yawn, rubbing your face./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""I have no idea, it sounded like it came from a few streets over. I'll call Amelia." Your mom responded, descending the stairs to get to the dial phone. Amelia was the well-known snoop of this area. She knew every bit of drama that went down In this city, and was thusly a very good informant./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"As you descend the stairs you hear your mom talking quickly on the phone./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""Hello dear…Yes, about the noise….Oh, oh my…the big one on the corner?...I see…Is he alive?...Oh dear…"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"As you walk over to your mother, you see that she has her ear glued to the telephone and one hand over her heart, gazing out the kitchen window. You lean to see what she's so scared about, and see alternating flashes of red and blue light from the block a street over. The sound of sirens fills the cold autumn air./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""Mom, what's going on?" You ask, eyes not leaving the bright lights. Your mother turns from the phone, eyes round./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""Amelia says there was a break in just over there. A couple was assaulted by those damn street thugs, and a young man was tossed out of a window and died. Amelia thinks his name was Eric?" She listens to the phone briefly. "Yes, Eric Draven and Shelly Webster."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Your stomach drops and you suddenly feel all the blood leave your head. No. No, no, that name can't be right. Eric Draven is the main composer for The "Hangman's Noose". You searched for him all over, you lived and breathed his magical music, and he was living A BLOCK AWAY THIS WHOLE TIME./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"And now he's dead?/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"The entire year after the incident was pretty normal for you. But, for some reason, no matter what, you kept it as your ritual to listen to the whole album every night. Some nights you cried, heavy and choking sobs as you grieved the loss of your greatest idol, and of your grandparents that just passed. Some nights you danced, stomping to the rhythm of the guitar, teeth clenched as you chased the inner demons that plagued you./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"That was the year you spiraled downwards./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"2 months after the incident, in December, you were hospitalized for attempted suicide. That same month, as you walked back to your house, you impulsively stopped in front of Draven and Webster's apartment door. You reached out to it, putting your hand on the abandoned and peeling wood, before shaking your head and hurrying home./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"6 months after the incident, mid-April, you walked by the apartment again. By now the door was wrecked, the hinge covered in rust. You pushed it open gently, with no real motive in mind. When you saw the stairs your head cleared and you walked away quickly. span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"What am I doing?/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"10 months after the incident, near the end of August, you got off the bus from your therapy appointment. The woman you visited looked at you like you were crazy, and promptly prescribed you medication that made you dizzy. You vowed to never take it again. Walking home, you slowed down in front of the apartment door again, staring at the shattered window above it. It left a sick taste in your mouth. Before you knew what you were doing, you were sliding yourself between the nailed up boards and were in the dark entry. It was silent except for the distant sound of cars and rain. span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"What the hell am I doing? I'm trespassing! /spanYour thoughts echo distantly in your brain, but nonetheless you climb the dingy old stairs until you reach a single door. After a few moments you open it, ducking under the police tape. You immediately regret it. Moonlight comes in through the shattered window, illuminating the glass shards and scattered papers. Your heart beats rapidly in your chest, sweat gathering in your palms. span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"I shouldn't be here, this was a mistake,/span you think, blindly turning and running down the stairs. span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"This room carries the ghost of death./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"It's been a year since they died./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"You sit in your kitchen, legs propped up on the table as you fiddle with a garland of pumpkins. Your mom is just finishing up her decorations for the Halloween party tomorrow, and the house is covered in purple and black bats alongside Styrofoam pumpkins. The paper pumpkin in your hand tears as you chew your lip; you have been holding too tightly, like you expected it to fly away./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"A deep discomfort and sadness thumps in the back of your head, a feeling you can't quite place prickling your skin like needles. You need to get up, get out of this house. Getting to your feet, you don a heavy sweater and grab your messenger bag, ready to go on a night walk. You stop, however, right before leaving. You know where you're going, and you feel almost like you have to bring something with you. Quietly you step into the kitchen, taking 3 beers from the fridge. One for you, one for Shelly, and one for Eric. A toast if you will. Thus, bag clinking, you slink out the door before your mom can tell you not to go out on devil's night./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"The autumn air is cold against your nose, and your breath comes in icy puffs in the city streets. Suddenly you feel a small patter on your shoulder; it's starting to rain. span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Shit, shit shit,/span you think. The bag you brought is not waterproof. This puts the speed of a cheetah into you as you fly down the dark street, boots streaking through puddles and dampening your jeans./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Well, /spanyou think, span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"at least I got here in one piece on devil's night./span You breathe out another cloud of mist, staring up at the foreboding house before you, broken window and all. It's time./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Soon you've skittered under the boards of the door, up the creaking stairs, and into the room you were afraid of for so long. The air in here is still, like it hasn't been moved in decades, and there is a thick layer of dust on everything. You heave a sigh, eyes scanning the shadows of the room's corners. The rain continues to fall on the roof, and other than that the world around you is silent./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""No time like the present, I suppose." You mutter, and walk up to the broken window. You sit under it, and place the three bottles of beer to the side. It was time to move past this./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""Hey Guys. Eric, Shelly." You begin, as you bring your knees to your chest. "You don't know me, but I know you. Everybody on the block does, I suppose. I-" You falter. You're talking to 2 dead people. What has your life come to? "I'm sorry. About what happened. I don't know why I'm sorry, I barely knew you. But Shelly, you must have been one lucky girl," You continue, tracing a circle in the floor dust, " To have such an inspiring person by your side. I, uh, Eric helped me a lot in the past few years. I don't know if I would have been able to function without his work. He must have been-" You can feel the lump rising in your throat, "A really great person. I'm so sorry about what happened to you all. So," You conclude, wiping a sleeve across your eyes, "I brought these beers for you, as a kind of-"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"You're interrupted by a flutter, and a squawk right next to your ear. Shrieking, you fall to the side, scrambling backwards to see where the sound came from. A crow, huge, dark, and wet, is perched on the metal framework of the ruined window. It tilts its head, and you shake your head, a smile coming to your face. Your carefully planned monologue was ruined by a freakin bird. You're about to get to your feet when a new noise makes your blood run cold./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Footsteps. Out in the hall./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Shit,/span You think, scrambling to your feet, span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Shit! I'm trespassing./span span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Or,/span you think, eyes widespan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;", they're those gang members since tonight is Devil's Night. Shit! /spanAs the footsteps get closer and closer, you dive for cover into the darkest corner of the room, partially obscured by an old damp box./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"As the door creaks open, you start to tremble, praying anybody who is here leaves soon. Loud stumbling footsteps enter the dark room, along with shuddering breath. You hug your knees closer to your chest. Oh god oh god. Then you see the person, illuminated by the moonlight, quivering in the center of the room. You can barely make out black pants and long hair before the mysterious form lets out an ungodly shriek, collapsing to the floor. You jump in fright, vibrating in fear. What the fuck is going on? The man figure trembles on the floor, before hurling himself to the other side of the room and holding his arms out, almost like he's in some sort of trance. Then, wailing like a banshee, he leaps out of the window and your heart drops. But the mystery man's hands grab the broken glass frame, and he swings himself back inside to safety./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"You can't help it, your breath is coming in shuddering gasps now. You're cornered in the same room as a madman, and there is no way you could get to the door without him catching you. Suddenly the figure stalks over the dusty desk you didn't see, swiping half its contents off it. A bottle of nail polish rolls into your corner, tapping your foot, and you freeze. The figure punches the glass, turning his head slightly in your direction. If he looks this way, you're fucked. But no, the man seems to be opening a container of…what is that? White makeup? He's smearing it over his face, breath coming in shuddering gasps, before carving a wide smile and mime-like eyes onto his face with black lipstick. He stands up in one fluid motion, like a snake. The crow, still in the window, flies over to the man's shoulder like a house pet. The man-turned-mime turns to the window, staring out at the city below. If there was ever a time to run it would be now. You get into a crouch, ready to bolt. But you freeze./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"The man's head is turned down and to the right, staring at the three unopened bottles of beer you left by the window, and he turns around immediately, scanning the shadows./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Well shit. If he didn't know you were here in the first place, he sure as hell does now. You've managed to freeze in a balancing position, and before you know it, you topple to the side, letting out a tiny "oof'./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"The fear you feel when you lock eyes with this mime from hell is like no fear you have every felt before. It sends shocks of electricity down your spine, freezing your hands and legs into place while your stomach muscles contract in panic. Is this how you die?/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Before you know it, there are a pair of rain-slick boots in front of your face and you feel an icy hand pick you up by your hair, painfully wrenching you to your feet. You find yourself face to face with the most terrifying sight in existence; a tall man, wet with rain, snarling at you through his makeup./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""What are you doing in my home." He growls, pulling your hair up higher and making you yip in pain. Your hand flies to your head, a subconscious attempt to stop the pain. He catches your wrist with his other hand, and his skin is like ice, crushing your tiny bones like steel and foam colliding./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""Who. Sent. You." He says loudly through gritted teeth, emphasizing every word with tug to your hair. You begin to shake violently; oh god you're going to die./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""Oh god, I- no, I'm not…Please don't kill me, I-" You gasp and sob, twisting in his grasp. Your words aren't coming together right, and the clown man rolls his head, cracking his neck in a gesture of impatience. Suddenly he releases your hand, placing his fingers on your temple and you freeze. A fast forward slideshow of every single time you danced, laughed, and cried to "Hangman's Noose" Sound track whizzes before your eyes for half a second, leaving you gasping for air./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""Listen," You protest before he can hurt you again, "I don't mean any trouble, I just came here to say goodbye, Oh god please don't-" Your get cut off as he drops you from his iron grip, and you land on the floor, still shaking and heaving. Looking up, you see his brows knit together as he watches you. Suddenly a pale hand reaches towards you, and you flinch, trying to scramble away before you realize he's offering to help you up. You take his hand, trembling, still fearing he will hurt you again. He is surprisingly gentle as he helps you to your feet, steadying you with both hands as your knees wobble./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""I'm sorry," Comes a soft voice. Wait. Was that from the clown? "I thought you were somebody else."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"The voice spins around in your head for a few moments, then suddenly clicks into place./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"But no, that can't be. That's not right. He's dead./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Slowly turning towards the man, still shaking, you utter the name on your mind; "Eric?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"After a few moments, the clown man gives you a small smile. "I haven't been called that in a while." He replies, letting go of your arm./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""Oh my god. Wait, no- Oh my god." You're breathless, speechless. Also very dizzy, as evidenced by your knees starting to give way. Eric guides you to the dresser bench, and you sit down with a heavy thump./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""You. You can't be alive!" You continue, staring at his painted face with wide eyes, "You died a year ago! Tonight! I HEARD you fall out of that window!"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""You're not wrong." He replies, eyeing the window with a hidden pain in his eyes. Wordlessly, Eric ghosts over to the three beers, nudging them with his foot. "Having a little party up here, are we?" He cocks his head, "Where are your two other friends, then?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"You blush as he brings your attention back to the moment. How are you supposed to tell him the truth? 'Oh yeah, I've been stalking your house for a year and came here to confess my love for you' sounds like a great ice breaker./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""Uh," You fumble, collecting your words as you rise to your feet, " I'm here alone. The, uh, beers were…" You scratch the back of your head, too mortified to continue./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Eric picks up the 3 drinks, slowly walking up to you. "One for shelly," He says, placing it on the desk, "One for me" He continues, popping the lid with his thumb, "And one for you." Finally pushing the brew into your shaking hands before taking a small sip of his own. Suddenly the tall man is on the bench next to you, sitting quietly. "Thank you. I didn't expect anyone to be here to greet me."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""How did you-?" You begin, but are cut off as his long finger pokes you softly in the middle of your forehead./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""I read your mind." He whispers, eyes wide as he cracks a sideways smile. You tremble slightly. Was this a ghost? A hallucination? A demon in disguise? span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"People don't come back,/span you think to yourself, span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"there has to be a catch to this. /spanYou bite your lip, nervous all over again. Then you hear the soft click of a bottle being set down, and a small gust of air./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""What I don't get," Eric says, suddenly appearing in front of your knees, crouched on the floor, "Is why you feel such strong compassion towards me." His fingernails idly scrape across your shoe without him breaking eye contact with you, and you gulp./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""I don't. Really have a reason. I just wanted to… honor the dead." You reply, staring down at your drink. It's a transparent lie, and Eric doesn't have to read your mind to know it./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Draven lifts his hand up, slowly wagging a finger side to side and making a Tsk sound. "Lying is for thieves and children. I believe you are neither."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Shit, he's onto me. You trace the edge of your bottle cap, then push it towards Eric quietly, and he opens it for you. span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Liquid courage, isn't that what they call it? /spanYou wonder. You lift the drink to your mouth, and take a giant gulp. The acrid taste twists your mouth into a pucker. No wonder people down these things so fast; they taste awful./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Eric smiles from his cross-legged pose on the floor, all shiny white teeth. "First drink?" You hand him his beer from the desk, and for the next few minutes you sit in silence together, him sipping and watching, you trying to get as much alcohol into your body as possible to make this easier. Finally, after you tip the last drop onto your tongue, it's time to speak./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""Ok. So." You begin, feeling the effects of having a beer on an empty stomach, "I really, really like you. You make great music, man. I always wanted to meet you."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Eric places his drink to the side, rubbing his hands over his knees as he listens./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""But I, like, empathized with the music you wrote. Not just the lyrics. The sounds of the guitar. The beat, the flow, the energy that was behind it all. It just…filled me with a kind of joy I had never felt before." Picking the label off of the bottle, you continue quietly, " I always, always wanted to meet you in person. To tell you how much you helped me. To tell you about the things I was able to do because of you. But I never could." You let out a breathy laugh, tasting the beer on your lips. "Well, imagine my luck when I find out I was living next-door to my biggest inspiration, the only guy I looked up to. And he's fucking DEAD."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"You can't help it as wet heat begins to build up in your eyes as you continue, "So. I came here tonight because I couldn't keep it to myself. I wanted to tell someone, something, about the beauty you made me feel. About how you made ME feel like I was perfect the way I was. It had also, y'know, been a year since the incident. And I wanted to say how sorry I was that this happened to you both, god-" The words catch in your throat as the alcohol lets you bring your sadness to light, tears dripping down your face. "I just wanted to tell you. Some stupid part of me thought maybe you'd like me too, even though I'm just a stupid fan. I wanted you to-" You Hiccup, keeping your eyes averted, "I wanted you to teach me know to play guitar."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Silence filled the spacious room, quiet except for drumming of rain and the occasional car down below. You sniffle, scrubbing away the tears from your face as you ready yourself to stand up and leave. You're mortified that you just met your mentor, and spent your once chance blabbering like a baby./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"You didn't get a chance to stand before cold arms pull you down to the ground, wrapping around your body and pressing you close to Eric's chest. Your breathe catches, and you smell smoke, blood, and rain on his shirt. The dampness of his hair wets your neck, and you feel his face pressed against the side of your head./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""Listen to me. Listen." Eric says huskily, squeezing you closer to his cold form, "You are a light. I return to this icy world for justice and for blood, but I am given a reminder of my power to create love and hope. You, You. Are a tether for a boat in the stormy black sea. I thank you for that." He releases you to look into your eyes, grabbing your shoulders. "Look at me," He whispers, forcing your chin up so you can meet his gaze," I am driven now not to live, but to balance the deeds done to me. I cannot stay for you, not for long."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""O-Okay." You whisper, looking away again as your eyes grow hot. He pulls your face back towards him, and continues to talk./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""That does not mean I have no time at all. I have some business to attend to in the next few hours, but the night is still young and the stars are not yet out. Meet me back here in 2 hours, and bring anything you need to sleep here."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""Wait," You say, pulling away slightly flustered. "What do you mean, sleep here? Like, you want me to come spend the night? Here with you?" You flushspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;". I mean, I know he is a dead man walking/span, you think, span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"but this is just strange!/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Eric shakes his head and chuckles, "Well, when you put it that way it sounds like a sleepover for children." Still smiling, he unfolds himself from the ground and rises up, the crow landing on his shoulder. "These late hours of the night are all I have. Come the morning, I have to do what's right, for me and for Shelly." He nods in your direction, slowly setting off towards the broken window./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""Wait! Wait. So," You repeat, hoping you don't get anything mixed up, "Two hours from now, be here, bring two sleeping bags, food, and anything else I might need to be here?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""One sleeping bag," Eric calls as he steps one foot out of the windowsill, "I don't sleep. Dead, remember?" The crow squawks, disgruntled at being thrust out into the rain./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""Oh yeah, yeah." You reply faintly. Remembering something, you quickly turn and grab Shelly's beer. 'Eric, what should I do with this-" You stop. The room is empty and silent again, the rain and your heartbeat the only noises you hear. Eric was gone. "-Beer." Still shaken from everything that has occurred in the last half an hour, you grab your bag and head for the door, shaking your head at how ridiculous this whole thing was./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""Two hours it is then." You whisper, descending the stairs./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"In the distance, a crow cries./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"And now comes the most important step of all. Take your favorite record out of its paper folder, and play it through all the songs while dancing like a nerd. Oh, and close the blinds./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"You discovered the band known as "Hangman's Noose" just 2 years ago. Despite the morbid name, their music was really good, and unlike a lot of music you usually listened to. It really spoke to you, so much that you wouldn't notice you were jumping up and down playing air guitar until your apartment neighbors knocked on your door with a noise complaint. It was fun, swaying to the thump of the drums in nothing but your t shirt and underwear, just enjoying yourself./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Your favorite song on the entire album had to be called Shelly. A mournful track at first, it quickly picks up from the long strings of loneliness into a fast paced and frantic guitar solo of manic happiness. The guy who wrote this song, Eric Draven, must be a musical genius! You loved listening to the songs he had composed with his electric guitar. Not many things could touch your soul like that./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Relaxing onto your bed, the record winding down, you can remember just how much Eric's songs had helped you in the past. When your younger sister died, his songs were there, letting you scream along with their rugged voices and cry until you were hoarse. When fell into bouts of manic depression, the long winding music of the guitar helped draw you back to reality. span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Damn/span, you think to yourselfspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"; I wish I knew where the hell this Draven guy was. I'd sure have a long list of things to thank him for. /spanYou wish you had even a hint as to where this band played live. You paid some random guy 2 bucks for this record, figuring it would just add to your stacks of unplayed ones. But it changed your life. You sigh, reaching over and carefully tucking the record back into its sleeve. Maybe someday./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Two months later you awake at 11:30 to the sound of distant shattering glass, and a few moments later, screaming. In the dark you fumble for a bathrobe, bursting into the hallway. Your mother, frazzled and hair covered in curlers, has apparently just done the same thing./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""What was that?" You ask through a yawn, rubbing your face./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""I have no idea, it sounded like it came from a few streets over. I'll call Amelia." Your mom responded, descending the stairs to get to the dial phone. Amelia was the well-known snoop of this area. She knew every bit of drama that went down In this city, and was thusly a very good informant./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"As you descend the stairs you hear your mom talking quickly on the phone./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""Hello dear…Yes, about the noise….Oh, oh my…the big one on the corner?...I see…Is he alive?...Oh dear…"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"As you walk over to your mother, you see that she has her ear glued to the telephone and one hand over her heart, gazing out the kitchen window. You lean to see what she's so scared about, and see alternating flashes of red and blue light from the block a street over. The sound of sirens fills the cold autumn air./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""Mom, what's going on?" You ask, eyes not leaving the bright lights. Your mother turns from the phone, eyes round./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""Amelia says there was a break in just over there. A couple was assaulted by those damn street thugs, and a young man was tossed out of a window and died. Amelia thinks his name was Eric?" She listens to the phone briefly. "Yes, Eric Draven and Shelly Webster."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Your stomach drops and you suddenly feel all the blood leave your head. No. No, no, that name can't be right. Eric Draven is the main composer for The "Hangman's Noose". You searched for him all over, you lived and breathed his magical music, and he was living A BLOCK AWAY THIS WHOLE TIME./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"And now he's dead?/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"The entire year after the incident was pretty normal for you. But, for some reason, no matter what, you kept it as your ritual to listen to the whole album every night. Some nights you cried, heavy and choking sobs as you grieved the loss of your greatest idol, and of your grandparents that just passed. Some nights you danced, stomping to the rhythm of the guitar, teeth clenched as you chased the inner demons that plagued you./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"That was the year you spiraled downwards./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"2 months after the incident, in December, you were hospitalized for attempted suicide. That same month, as you walked back to your house, you impulsively stopped in front of Draven and Webster's apartment door. You reached out to it, putting your hand on the abandoned and peeling wood, before shaking your head and hurrying home./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"6 months after the incident, mid-April, you walked by the apartment again. By now the door was wrecked, the hinge covered in rust. You pushed it open gently, with no real motive in mind. When you saw the stairs your head cleared and you walked away quickly. span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"What am I doing?/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"10 months after the incident, near the end of August, you got off the bus from your therapy appointment. The woman you visited looked at you like you were crazy, and promptly prescribed you medication that made you dizzy. You vowed to never take it again. Walking home, you slowed down in front of the apartment door again, staring at the shattered window above it. It left a sick taste in your mouth. Before you knew what you were doing, you were sliding yourself between the nailed up boards and were in the dark entry. It was silent except for the distant sound of cars and rain. span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"What the hell am I doing? I'm trespassing! /spanYour thoughts echo distantly in your brain, but nonetheless you climb the dingy old stairs until you reach a single door. After a few moments you open it, ducking under the police tape. You immediately regret it. Moonlight comes in through the shattered window, illuminating the glass shards and scattered papers. Your heart beats rapidly in your chest, sweat gathering in your palms. span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"I shouldn't be here, this was a mistake,/span you think, blindly turning and running down the stairs. span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"This room carries the ghost of death./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"It's been a year since they died./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"You sit in your kitchen, legs propped up on the table as you fiddle with a garland of pumpkins. Your mom is just finishing up her decorations for the Halloween party tomorrow, and the house is covered in purple and black bats alongside Styrofoam pumpkins. The paper pumpkin in your hand tears as you chew your lip; you have been holding too tightly, like you expected it to fly away./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"A deep discomfort and sadness thumps in the back of your head, a feeling you can't quite place prickling your skin like needles. You need to get up, get out of this house. Getting to your feet, you don a heavy sweater and grab your messenger bag, ready to go on a night walk. You stop, however, right before leaving. You know where you're going, and you feel almost like you have to bring something with you. Quietly you step into the kitchen, taking 3 beers from the fridge. One for you, one for Shelly, and one for Eric. A toast if you will. Thus, bag clinking, you slink out the door before your mom can tell you not to go out on devil's night./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"The autumn air is cold against your nose, and your breath comes in icy puffs in the city streets. Suddenly you feel a small patter on your shoulder; it's starting to rain. span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Shit, shit shit,/span you think. The bag you brought is not waterproof. This puts the speed of a cheetah into you as you fly down the dark street, boots streaking through puddles and dampening your jeans./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Well, /spanyou think, span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"at least I got here in one piece on devil's night./span You breathe out another cloud of mist, staring up at the foreboding house before you, broken window and all. It's time./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Soon you've skittered under the boards of the door, up the creaking stairs, and into the room you were afraid of for so long. The air in here is still, like it hasn't been moved in decades, and there is a thick layer of dust on everything. You heave a sigh, eyes scanning the shadows of the room's corners. The rain continues to fall on the roof, and other than that the world around you is silent./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""No time like the present, I suppose." You mutter, and walk up to the broken window. You sit under it, and place the three bottles of beer to the side. It was time to move past this./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""Hey Guys. Eric, Shelly." You begin, as you bring your knees to your chest. "You don't know me, but I know you. Everybody on the block does, I suppose. I-" You falter. You're talking to 2 dead people. What has your life come to? "I'm sorry. About what happened. I don't know why I'm sorry, I barely knew you. But Shelly, you must have been one lucky girl," You continue, tracing a circle in the floor dust, " To have such an inspiring person by your side. I, uh, Eric helped me a lot in the past few years. I don't know if I would have been able to function without his work. He must have been-" You can feel the lump rising in your throat, "A really great person. I'm so sorry about what happened to you all. So," You conclude, wiping a sleeve across your eyes, "I brought these beers for you, as a kind of-"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"You're interrupted by a flutter, and a squawk right next to your ear. Shrieking, you fall to the side, scrambling backwards to see where the sound came from. A crow, huge, dark, and wet, is perched on the metal framework of the ruined window. It tilts its head, and you shake your head, a smile coming to your face. Your carefully planned monologue was ruined by a freakin bird. You're about to get to your feet when a new noise makes your blood run cold./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Footsteps. Out in the hall./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Shit,/span You think, scrambling to your feet, span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Shit! I'm trespassing./span span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Or,/span you think, eyes widespan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;", they're those gang members since tonight is Devil's Night. Shit! /spanAs the footsteps get closer and closer, you dive for cover into the darkest corner of the room, partially obscured by an old damp box./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"As the door creaks open, you start to tremble, praying anybody who is here leaves soon. Loud stumbling footsteps enter the dark room, along with shuddering breath. You hug your knees closer to your chest. Oh god oh god. Then you see the person, illuminated by the moonlight, quivering in the center of the room. You can barely make out black pants and long hair before the mysterious form lets out an ungodly shriek, collapsing to the floor. You jump in fright, vibrating in fear. What the fuck is going on? The man figure trembles on the floor, before hurling himself to the other side of the room and holding his arms out, almost like he's in some sort of trance. Then, wailing like a banshee, he leaps out of the window and your heart drops. But the mystery man's hands grab the broken glass frame, and he swings himself back inside to safety./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"You can't help it, your breath is coming in shuddering gasps now. You're cornered in the same room as a madman, and there is no way you could get to the door without him catching you. Suddenly the figure stalks over the dusty desk you didn't see, swiping half its contents off it. A bottle of nail polish rolls into your corner, tapping your foot, and you freeze. The figure punches the glass, turning his head slightly in your direction. If he looks this way, you're fucked. But no, the man seems to be opening a container of…what is that? White makeup? He's smearing it over his face, breath coming in shuddering gasps, before carving a wide smile and mime-like eyes onto his face with black lipstick. He stands up in one fluid motion, like a snake. The crow, still in the window, flies over to the man's shoulder like a house pet. The man-turned-mime turns to the window, staring out at the city below. If there was ever a time to run it would be now. You get into a crouch, ready to bolt. But you freeze./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"The man's head is turned down and to the right, staring at the three unopened bottles of beer you left by the window, and he turns around immediately, scanning the shadows./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Well shit. If he didn't know you were here in the first place, he sure as hell does now. You've managed to freeze in a balancing position, and before you know it, you topple to the side, letting out a tiny "oof'./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"The fear you feel when you lock eyes with this mime from hell is like no fear you have every felt before. It sends shocks of electricity down your spine, freezing your hands and legs into place while your stomach muscles contract in panic. Is this how you die?/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Before you know it, there are a pair of rain-slick boots in front of your face and you feel an icy hand pick you up by your hair, painfully wrenching you to your feet. You find yourself face to face with the most terrifying sight in existence; a tall man, wet with rain, snarling at you through his makeup./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""What are you doing in my home." He growls, pulling your hair up higher and making you yip in pain. Your hand flies to your head, a subconscious attempt to stop the pain. He catches your wrist with his other hand, and his skin is like ice, crushing your tiny bones like steel and foam colliding./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""Who. Sent. You." He says loudly through gritted teeth, emphasizing every word with tug to your hair. You begin to shake violently; oh god you're going to die./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""Oh god, I- no, I'm not…Please don't kill me, I-" You gasp and sob, twisting in his grasp. Your words aren't coming together right, and the clown man rolls his head, cracking his neck in a gesture of impatience. Suddenly he releases your hand, placing his fingers on your temple and you freeze. A fast forward slideshow of every single time you danced, laughed, and cried to "Hangman's Noose" Sound track whizzes before your eyes for half a second, leaving you gasping for air./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""Listen," You protest before he can hurt you again, "I don't mean any trouble, I just came here to say goodbye, Oh god please don't-" Your get cut off as he drops you from his iron grip, and you land on the floor, still shaking and heaving. Looking up, you see his brows knit together as he watches you. Suddenly a pale hand reaches towards you, and you flinch, trying to scramble away before you realize he's offering to help you up. You take his hand, trembling, still fearing he will hurt you again. He is surprisingly gentle as he helps you to your feet, steadying you with both hands as your knees wobble./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""I'm sorry," Comes a soft voice. Wait. Was that from the clown? "I thought you were somebody else."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"The voice spins around in your head for a few moments, then suddenly clicks into place./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"But no, that can't be. That's not right. He's dead./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Slowly turning towards the man, still shaking, you utter the name on your mind; "Eric?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"After a few moments, the clown man gives you a small smile. "I haven't been called that in a while." He replies, letting go of your arm./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""Oh my god. Wait, no- Oh my god." You're breathless, speechless. Also very dizzy, as evidenced by your knees starting to give way. Eric guides you to the dresser bench, and you sit down with a heavy thump./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""You. You can't be alive!" You continue, staring at his painted face with wide eyes, "You died a year ago! Tonight! I HEARD you fall out of that window!"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""You're not wrong." He replies, eyeing the window with a hidden pain in his eyes. Wordlessly, Eric ghosts over to the three beers, nudging them with his foot. "Having a little party up here, are we?" He cocks his head, "Where are your two other friends, then?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"You blush as he brings your attention back to the moment. How are you supposed to tell him the truth? 'Oh yeah, I've been stalking your house for a year and came here to confess my love for you' sounds like a great ice breaker./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""Uh," You fumble, collecting your words as you rise to your feet, " I'm here alone. The, uh, beers were…" You scratch the back of your head, too mortified to continue./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Eric picks up the 3 drinks, slowly walking up to you. "One for shelly," He says, placing it on the desk, "One for me" He continues, popping the lid with his thumb, "And one for you." Finally pushing the brew into your shaking hands before taking a small sip of his own. Suddenly the tall man is on the bench next to you, sitting quietly. "Thank you. I didn't expect anyone to be here to greet me."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""How did you-?" You begin, but are cut off as his long finger pokes you softly in the middle of your forehead./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""I read your mind." He whispers, eyes wide as he cracks a sideways smile. You tremble slightly. Was this a ghost? A hallucination? A demon in disguise? span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"People don't come back,/span you think to yourself, span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"there has to be a catch to this. /spanYou bite your lip, nervous all over again. Then you hear the soft click of a bottle being set down, and a small gust of air./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""What I don't get," Eric says, suddenly appearing in front of your knees, crouched on the floor, "Is why you feel such strong compassion towards me." His fingernails idly scrape across your shoe without him breaking eye contact with you, and you gulp./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""I don't. Really have a reason. I just wanted to… honor the dead." You reply, staring down at your drink. It's a transparent lie, and Eric doesn't have to read your mind to know it./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Draven lifts his hand up, slowly wagging a finger side to side and making a Tsk sound. "Lying is for thieves and children. I believe you are neither."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Shit, he's onto me. You trace the edge of your bottle cap, then push it towards Eric quietly, and he opens it for you. span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Liquid courage, isn't that what they call it? /spanYou wonder. You lift the drink to your mouth, and take a giant gulp. The acrid taste twists your mouth into a pucker. No wonder people down these things so fast; they taste awful./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Eric smiles from his cross-legged pose on the floor, all shiny white teeth. "First drink?" You hand him his beer from the desk, and for the next few minutes you sit in silence together, him sipping and watching, you trying to get as much alcohol into your body as possible to make this easier. Finally, after you tip the last drop onto your tongue, it's time to speak./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""Ok. So." You begin, feeling the effects of having a beer on an empty stomach, "I really, really like you. You make great music, man. I always wanted to meet you."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Eric places his drink to the side, rubbing his hands over his knees as he listens./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""But I, like, empathized with the music you wrote. Not just the lyrics. The sounds of the guitar. The beat, the flow, the energy that was behind it all. It just…filled me with a kind of joy I had never felt before." Picking the label off of the bottle, you continue quietly, " I always, always wanted to meet you in person. To tell you how much you helped me. To tell you about the things I was able to do because of you. But I never could." You let out a breathy laugh, tasting the beer on your lips. "Well, imagine my luck when I find out I was living next-door to my biggest inspiration, the only guy I looked up to. And he's fucking DEAD."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"You can't help it as wet heat begins to build up in your eyes as you continue, "So. I came here tonight because I couldn't keep it to myself. I wanted to tell someone, something, about the beauty you made me feel. About how you made ME feel like I was perfect the way I was. It had also, y'know, been a year since the incident. And I wanted to say how sorry I was that this happened to you both, god-" The words catch in your throat as the alcohol lets you bring your sadness to light, tears dripping down your face. "I just wanted to tell you. Some stupid part of me thought maybe you'd like me too, even though I'm just a stupid fan. I wanted you to-" You Hiccup, keeping your eyes averted, "I wanted you to teach me know to play guitar."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Silence filled the spacious room, quiet except for drumming of rain and the occasional car down below. You sniffle, scrubbing away the tears from your face as you ready yourself to stand up and leave. You're mortified that you just met your mentor, and spent your once chance blabbering like a baby./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"You didn't get a chance to stand before cold arms pull you down to the ground, wrapping around your body and pressing you close to Eric's chest. Your breathe catches, and you smell smoke, blood, and rain on his shirt. The dampness of his hair wets your neck, and you feel his face pressed against the side of your head./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""Listen to me. Listen." Eric says huskily, squeezing you closer to his cold form, "You are a light. I return to this icy world for justice and for blood, but I am given a reminder of my power to create love and hope. You, You. Are a tether for a boat in the stormy black sea. I thank you for that." He releases you to look into your eyes, grabbing your shoulders. "Look at me," He whispers, forcing your chin up so you can meet his gaze," I am driven now not to live, but to balance the deeds done to me. I cannot stay for you, not for long."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""O-Okay." You whisper, looking away again as your eyes grow hot. He pulls your face back towards him, and continues to talk./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""That does not mean I have no time at all. I have some business to attend to in the next few hours, but the night is still young and the stars are not yet out. Meet me back here in 2 hours, and bring anything you need to sleep here."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""Wait," You say, pulling away slightly flustered. "What do you mean, sleep here? Like, you want me to come spend the night? Here with you?" You flushspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;". I mean, I know he is a dead man walking/span, you think, span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"but this is just strange!/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Eric shakes his head and chuckles, "Well, when you put it that way it sounds like a sleepover for children." Still smiling, he unfolds himself from the ground and rises up, the crow landing on his shoulder. "These late hours of the night are all I have. Come the morning, I have to do what's right, for me and for Shelly." He nods in your direction, slowly setting off towards the broken window./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""Wait! Wait. So," You repeat, hoping you don't get anything mixed up, "Two hours from now, be here, bring two sleeping bags, food, and anything else I might need to be here?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""One sleeping bag," Eric calls as he steps one foot out of the windowsill, "I don't sleep. Dead, remember?" The crow squawks, disgruntled at being thrust out into the rain./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""Oh yeah, yeah." You reply faintly. Remembering something, you quickly turn and grab Shelly's beer. 'Eric, what should I do with this-" You stop. The room is empty and silent again, the rain and your heartbeat the only noises you hear. Eric was gone. "-Beer." Still shaken from everything that has occurred in the last half an hour, you grab your bag and head for the door, shaking your head at how ridiculous this whole thing was./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""Two hours it is then." You whisper, descending the stairs./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"In the distance, a crow cries./p