Chapter 1: That Morning
Cassie steadied herself against a nearby wall as her heart raced out of control. Shakily, she took a drink from her water bottle as she began walking to cool down her body. Admittedly, her tradition of having a daily jog has fallen apart slightly in recent years. This was partially due to a recent increase in military action in the area, blocking off roads and whatnot, but perhaps because of sheer laziness too.
In any case, she was severely out of shape, which happened to make her stop at precisely the right corner to be able to spot a small green lizard.
It was noticeable against the grey concrete floor and relatively large. As Cassie knelt down next to the little creature, she noticed its shallow breaths and immediately thought it to be dehydrated. Taking her bottle of water, she gently tried to push droplets of water into the creature's mouth (without drowning it of course). It coughed out some water slightly, easing its breathing somewhat. Her veterinary instincts kicked in, and Cassie gently slipped her hand underneath it and lifted the poor creature off the ground.
Soon she was walking briskly back to her apartment, careful not to jostle the little … thing. The more Cassie looked at it, the more frighteningly disturbing it was. For once, the eyes were abnormally large in proportion to its body, and its mouth was located vertically, almost reaching to its underbelly. It furthermore had several pairs of legs, and it definitely did not feel like an insect, with its leathery texture. Cassie quickly dismissed it as some morbid form of mutation that God has created and kept on going.
As she rounded the corner, she spotted a roadblock, attended by various military officers in blue. Thankfully they appeared to be letting the public through. Cassie noticed a youthful dark-haired soldier's eyes flicker over to her, she quickly averted her eyes under her shades– hoping not to draw any attention to herself. Well, not more attention, considering the fact that bystanders appeared flabbergasted at her appearance, perhaps more so because of the fact that she was in a tank top and her lack of exercise showed considerably.
Cassie was soon at her apartment complex, old and ugly – but at least it was reasonably cheap and close to work. She pushed upon the door and made her way up the stairs to her apartment on the third floor. In the eerie quiet of the building, Cassie opened up her hands to look closely as her new green companion. It too seemed to be faring a lot better indoors, with a much smoother sleeping rate. Cassie gently walked up the stairs, the little thing looked as if it just needed some sleep
She heard the little lizard coughing, settling on an uncomfortable wheezing sound
Cassie looked down in concern. Whilst she never interacted with a creature as unusual as this, she did, in fact, know a considerable amount about reptiles and reckoned it sitting out in the sun was a probable cause. Cassie used one hand to push her key into the door and firmly locked it once inside. She put the creature on the kitchen counter, against the cool tiles, as she set about making a make-shift home for it.
A part of her knew she couldn't realistically keep a pet, considering the cost of looking after reptiles and the fact that she simply could not dedicate any time to another living creature with her work-life balance. But for now, she did what she did best, nurse animals back to health.
Cassie took out a cardboard box, a hang-around from when she first moved to the apartment and tried to think of a way to engineer it to both provide sunshine and shade. She also took a few books out of her personal medical library (though, it was a very small library) to see if she could identify … it.
Envy woke to the sound of a creaky fan and the sound of heavy footsteps.
He was tired and irritated. He hated this form. It was small, clumsy and most definitely ugly. His large eyes opened slowly, vision still a little fuzzy due to exhaustion. The encounter from earlier had left his soul in a much weaker state, he was lucky he managed to find himself freed from his military escort as they ascended to the surface. However, upon escaping, he only managed to collapse in an alleyway, despite the accurate awareness that the military was most definitely after him.
His breath came out in short gasps as his eyes swept slowly across the room he was currently in, a far cry from the grimy alley. The walls were yellow and there was a musty smell in the room, he coughed slightly – it always seemed to be the case that he ended up in ugly and smelly places.
He unsteadily tried to balance on his feet. Of course, this form's head was far too large, and his sense of balance was far too muddled. He fell down once more, turning to lay on his side. It was at that moment that he noticed the woman in the room.
In her arms were various books, and her hair stuck to her face messily. But the most distinct feature was her noticeably darker skin.
Envy quickly closed his eyes, and sure enough, he heard her rather heavy footsteps approaching his location. A large thump voiced beside him, most likely the large white book she was holding earlier. Even the book smelled old.
"Right then, I suppose I'll try to find a heart on you buddy, somewhere…" He wanted to laugh at her befuddled tone, but he couldn't help but jump when her fingers slid under his body.
At once, he snapped his eyes open and jumped. He would have bitten into her shoulder, allowing him to gain substance for his preferred form … if she hadn't picked up her book and smashed it against his body. He flew across the space, thrown against a tile wall. He came into contact with cold metal as he slid down, realising he was next to a sink.
He was hit with a wave of dizziness, allowing said girl to grab a large glass from a nearby dish rack and place it over his body. Her hands clasped the top of the glass, effectively holding it in place. This gave him time to actually look at her. Noticing her distinct green eyes and white hair sticking to her face – the added adrenalin causing her body to break out in sweat.
What the hell just happened, what the actual hell!
Her mind worked in overdrive. At one point, it was just a limp little lizard – and now it attacked her with a ferocity she'd only seen in stray dogs. Somehow its eyes, now open, looked menacing as he glared up at her through the glass. Cassie very much felt anger directed at her, and before her mind could find a more logical reasoning for why a stupid lizard tried to attack her –
"Stupid girl, what the hell was that for!" Cassie's hand trembled and her eyes widened. She felt her breathing become more laboured, she defiantly saw the weird mouth thing move, and there was the definite sound of a voice. But it couldn't have possibly come from this thing?
"Are you even listening to me, stupid woman" the voice spoke again, with a hint of disdain. Cassie mind could not process anything that was happening. So, when red lightening flashed from within the cup, she very well thought that a spawn of the devil was in front of her.
Envy healed the sore part of his left side, which had swollen slightly. The idiot woman might as well have let him die if she was so willing to murder him, by book no less. She didn't even have the consideration to respond! She just kept staring at him with the most stupid expression!
Though he wasn't content in the situation in the slightest, he became more and more concerned when the glass trap he was in began shaking violently. He barely registered her blubbering as he became concerned of the possibly the glass could break and impale him
"O-Oy! Stupid woman! Don't you dare kill me, or I'll just have to try and kill you again!" This definitely did not do the trick, but in fairness, she did not react further … which wasn't saying something as Envy was sure she was having a full-blown panic attack
"God… Please forgive me, I beg you …" Envy managed to make out, amongst her sobs as tears streaked down her face. Envy's eyes dropped in mind disappointment, she really was just like all the other religiously-obsessed heretics – it must be genetic
"Stupid woman!" He barked once again. "Just let me go for your God's sake!" The seconds seem to drag on for hours before her shaky hands removed itself from the glass.
Cassie's body slid down the floor, moving away up until her back pressed itself against a cabinet on the other side of the small kitchen. Her eyes remained fixed on the glass and the creature within it.
"W-W-What do you want?" Her voice was shrill as looked at the creature. For a moment, only the sounds of her heartbeat filled her eyes, before the mouth of the creature opened (sideways, mind you) in small movements as it began to respond
"I want you to shut up." He snapped, only causing her to shrink back further. He grumbled under his breath as he began trying to find a way to manoeuvre around the glass. Envy couldn't even turn around, with his tail squashed against the glass. He then began trying to move his body sideways – hoping to tilt the glass over (he could always heal himself if it crashed)
A hand flew down and pressed against the top of the glass, holding it in place. Envy gave a small jump as he saw the girl's red eyes look at him. She was breathing so heavily the glass was beginning to freeze over
"Don't you dare," she snapped. "I want answers, you hell creature!" Envy couldn't help but give a loud laugh. How cool did she think she sounded?
"Maybe you should answer me, pathetic human! Where are you keeping me?" His shrill voice grew louder, leading to a Cassie's growing headache.
"Stop calling me that you lizard! I tried to save you!"
"Sure," she bristled at his tone. "Is there a scalpel in that drawer?" If she ever thought about how animals could speak, she would never have dubbed any creature with an insufferably smug voice.
"Just what is your problem?" Cassie exasperated. "You could have died out there!"
Envy grew silent, with the sound of Cassie's laboured breathing only becoming louder. Her hand eventually fell away from the glass, though she didn't move away. Envy felt his eyelids grow weaker.
"H-Hey, don't sleep on me!" She had so many questions left, running a hand through her damp hair. Eventually, her mind jumped to ask something the prideful lizard would not hopefully make a snarky remark about.
Her voice what shaky. "Just who are you?" It was a simple and stupid question, but it was all her brain could scramble for at the moment
"Hm," it was almost as if he was turning an invisible nose up at her. "I am Envy human." His voice's seemed to drone on in the end as his eyes clothed slowly. Cassie had no idea how long she just sat and watched it sleep, perhaps anticipating another twist in this crazed afternoon. Eventually, she removed the glass, allowing the lizard to become comfortable as it stretched its body out.
She didn't realise that tears were streaming down her face as her heart race began to slow down, adrenaline gently easing away. For such an unremarkable start, she truly felt that this moment certainly cut away a few hours of her life.
That is just the beginning! I have a plan for the whole thing, and just can't wait to continue writing this adventure! At present, things seem rather tame, but it is an M-rated fiction for a reason, with later discussions/themes of suicide and self-harm. More of a general warning, lots and lots of angst!