I was fixated by it at first. It was a strange creature standing there on the sidewalk in front of me. I hadn't been able to sleep well this night so in attempt to tire myself out I had gotten dressed in my worn out gym shoes, baggy clothes and had gone out the front door of my single bedroom and bathroom apartment; out into the cool air that filled my nose and burned my flushed cheeks. I had run and passed coffee shops, bars with drunkards stumbling around at their entrance, late night diners that had long closed for the night. There were not many people out for me to try to dodge around on the thin sidewalk I ran on. The building facades towered to my right and left and the stars visible through the light pollution glittered above my head. I noticed my pace had slowed and thought I'd turn back before I decided it would be a good idea to just sleep on the ground. I felt lost and dazed as I ran back, the music in my ears played soothing music and my legs moved to their beat. Sweat dripped down my face and my lungs gasped for air.

At first, when I saw this strange creature I thought some of my sweat had gotten into my eyes and I rubbed at them but upon opening them again, it still stood..no, crouched..there on the sidewalk in front of me. It stared at me through little slitted fiery blue eyes and I stared back with bright gold-brown eyes. The creature had rough greenish skin covering its bony crouching body all the way from its two deformed, clawed feet to its head, where large pointed ears stuck out from its skull. A tuff of purple hair sprouted out from the top of its head and furled in the light breeze.

The..thing..let out a creaking groan and sprinted off across the street. I probably shouldn't have, but I followed it. I yanked my one earphone from my ear and dropped my music player to the ground with a crack and flung my body forward after the creature. My lungs felt like they might burst from the sudden raise in cardio activity but I kept going, following the Thing down allies, turning suddenly right and causing my feet to skid and having to turn my other foot forward to keep from falling or slowing down and losing track of the creature as it continued to run down back, dark paths. I led myself farther from my house, which is exactly what I was trying not to do but all that matter was that I found where this thing came from! I broke through a local park and ran straight across it, hurtling over the small shrubbery. I broke through to the other side and saw a quick flash of purple, green, and blue and lose the creature...infront of a common building lining the cobble stone street. The place had a small wooden door and a few windows masking the front of it and stairs leading to the door. The sign that hung above the door read " The Underworld" and in small letters underneath the name it said "bar and grill". I stood and stared at the average looking building for a few seconds, holding my breath before letting out and exaggerated and frustrated huff. I frowned and shook my head. 'ok, Vargas, you're going crazy, maybe you need a night out with the guys and some strange hallucination of non-existent creatures is a sign of that', I looked around and observed my surroundings, trying to figure out where I was. I wasn't too far from my living place. ' well, idiot, get your ass home and go sleep, you clearly need it' I thought to myself and headed off in the direction of my dearly missed bed.

The Next morning I woke up to the sun streaming through my bedroom window...right into my half-opened eyes. I grumbled, closed my eyes, and rolled over, 'fuck getting up'!

My phone began to rang and my eyes flew open in both surprise and disappointment. I reached out to my night stand felt for the obstruction that disrupted my sleep. I flipped my phone open and laid it on the side of my head above my ear and flopped my arms out in front of me on my sheets.

" Hello?" I spoke into the phone.

"Fratelloooooooooo~! where are you!? You said you'd have breakfast with me!" My brother, Feliziano, whined through the speaker of the phone. The sudden loudness of his voice over the phone made me kind of spaz out and toss myself back away from my phone and fling the piece of technology to the floor. I scrambled forward and leaned over the side of the bed to grab the phone.

"dammit, that's right. ugh...I'll be there soon, where are we eating at?" I muttered, sitting on the edge of my bed with my legs dangling off the side.

"oh yaaaaayyy! I'm at that little bistro about 15 minutes from you! it's really nice here!" Feli cheered.

I hung up the phone without saying bye and stood up, stretching out my legs and yawning.

I quickly showered, dressed, grabbed my bike that sat by the door and went on my way to the planned breakfast destination. The air was still cool but the bright sun rising up over the beautifully architected buildings backed by a mesmerizing view of the sea, seemed to heat up the atmosphere and create a comfortable glow to everything, including the sea, the shingled roofing, and the worn cobble stone grounds. The people scrambling to the sides of the side-walk were clearly out for their morning duties; some jogging, some bearing paper bags filled to the top with groceries, but most had a quick pace, hurriedly trying to get to wherever they were going without spilling their coffee.

It wasn't long till I reached the little bistro my brother was talking about. I knew it because not only did I pass it multiple times a week but also because my brothers lover wasn't exactly the type to blend in. What with all the Italians around here his braud demeanor didn't really fit in, take it neither did my brother who clung the German's side...waving vigorously at me through the large window. I sighed and made my way over to them.

Feli greeted me with a huge hug that I grunted to and peeled him from me; Ludwig, my brother's lover, just nodded firmly which I seemed to like a lot better.

"You stupid idiot brother, I was sleeping when you called and now I won't be able to go back to sleep" I grumbled after we'd taken our seats and ordered. "Why are we having breakfast together anyway?". The little italian threw his arms in the air, almost smacking the Potato Bastard in the face.

"Is it weird to just want to see your brother?! I've been living in Germany and I miss yoouu~!", Feli smiled at me.

"Welll...whatever...", I replied.

~~~ The rest of the time eating with my brother kind of went like that except with some small talk about life. I did in fact mention seeing the little creature to them but Ludwig chuckled and Feli kind of...figuratively peed himself.

And so, the rest of my day went on as usual. I shopped for groceries, I walked around and enjoyed the sights, I forced myself to clean around my apartment some incase by any chance that I met a handsome guy and decided to bring him home (not likely though), and I read...an anger management book. But it didn't help...because I got mad when the book said to take anger out on a pillow... I mean who in their right mind would take things out on a pillow?! it's an innocent little cubicle of fluff that does nothing more than support one's head as they ventured into the realm of their subconscious?! How is fluffiness supposed to replace the satisfying, bruising and pain-feeling, face of the person that made me angry? what if someone walked in on you doing that it'd be like.. you know, what neeever mind, MY DAY...kind of ended like that. I grumbled. But, when I tried to go to sleep all I saw was that little creature and the strange building. It loomed in my mind like a broken record of thoughts and no matter how I tried to get my mind off of it I still refered back to it.

So, I got up and dressed, and headed for The Underworld.