Not A Normal Day

Jeff wondered if he'd ever have a normal day on this planet.

It seemed that something strange would happen every time he thought the day would be normal. For example, just yesterday morning, his father had come into his bedroom wielding a large plastic spoon (one you could find at a somewhat cheap chinese restaurant), and demanded that Jeff cover every morsel of the house in dark green baby wipes. And if that hadn't been enough, when his mother noticed him doing this chore, she suggested he use blue ones instead. It had been like this for as long as Jeff could remember, and each day the actions got somewhat weirder, in a hardly noticeable way. It was almost as if as Jeff got older, his life got stranger.

He had decided to take a walk through Manhattan, as Jeff just couldn't stand the tension in his home anymore. He had lashed out at his father today after trying to get him to do his homework. I'd was odd; normally Jeff would be happy to hear his father say something normal, but... he just couldn't take it. His father's voice had been kind, but questioning: "Jeffery, when are you going to begin your schoolwork?" In which Jeff replied with a rather sarcastic comment that his father frowned upon. His father again questioned him on his mood, and that's when he snapped. He had made quite a seen as he yelled putride words at his father and called him out for being 'A right scumbag' and 'Not a normal father'. The neighbors actually had come pounding on their door afterward his outburst, demanding to know why our quiet little neighborhood was all of a sudden filled with such hatred.

Jeff slumped down into a park bench. The stained metal was cool to the touch, relaxing him a bit. He needed to just relax; the day had begun to an awful start. Normally it was just the usual strangeness, such as the plastic spoon incident. By something was off about today. Jeff could feel it.

He decided to people-watch to get his mind off of the late event. There weren't too many people out as it really was quite early. The sun was just appearing over the horizon, shading nearby buildings with a nice peach glow. A women and what Jeff assumed to be her husband strolled by, hand-in-hand. Trailing behind was a tan labradoodle, sniffing everything, including Jeff. From the opposite direction came two middle school aged boys riding skateboards. It seemed as though neither of them really knew how to ride one, and hit almost everything in their path (and not in their path). Carrying a small child was a woman who looked to be in her late twenties. She looked tired and on the verge of a mental breakdown. Behind her came two teenagers, one male and one female. They were walking at a quick pace, so quick in fact that they almost ran over the two middle schoolers. Both groups let out quick apologies, and they teens continued their speedy walk, until they saw Jeff, or one did. The girl. She stopped at the sight of him sitting there, slumped and depressed. Giving a grimace to her friend, who was already halfway to the next block, she hesitantly sat next to him. Jeff paid no mind to the extra, only scoot down a bit. They sat in silence. Jeff refused to acknowledge the girl's presence, and found a new interest in the different shades of green on the leaves. The girl set next to him cleared her throat, attempting to grab Jeff's attention, which worked to no avail. She grimaced and scooted closer, only to have Jeff scoot down further. "I only want to talk to you!" She squealed, standing up now. Jeff casually turned his head towards the girl, giving her a once over, then making a gurgling sound which allowed her to continue.

She blew some air out through her nose. "Do you happen to be Jeffery New-" She referenced to a slip of paper in her palm. "Newwarnce?" He nodded. "Newrance, actually.". The girl, sitting back down again, coughed, bending over quite a ways to do so. She gazed up at Jeff, seeming deep in thought. Then, she bounced up again, giving him a small smile and saying "Follow me!" The girl almost sped off, but Jeff grabbed her by the arm, spinning her around. She was quite beautiful, actually. Soft brown hair that curled naturally at the ends, and deep, chocolate brown eyes. "You get to know my name, but I don't get to know yours?" He questioned. She smirked, giving a short but vital answer. "Max." Then, she sped off. "Max?" Jeff spoke to himself. "Hey- Wait!"

~(^)-(^)~

"She's been like this all day. We need to find, like, a doctor or something."

"No-" Max let out a lung crunching cough. "we don't."

The two teenagers had been running around the island of Manhattan for the last 3 hours, or Max had been running around, Jeff was merely trying to keep up and get answers to where they were going. But, it seemed that 'Max knew all', as she had put it, and would end up leading them to a rusty corner store with a sign that stated 'Joe's Utensils and Gasoline'. It was run down, almost as if the building had been standing in that one spot for ages.

At first, when Max had gone in, Jeff hesitated. He had felt some sort of strange sensation looking at the store. It was ominous, that was for sure, but there was something else; he just couldn't put his finger on what it was. So he had gone in, curious about the feeling. On first glance, someone would think the shack had seemed like nothing more than an awkward start at a family owned business, but on further inspection, the store wasn't too bad, although it was filled with things he had never seen before. What seem to be dragon heads hung from the ceiling, frog eyes, legs, head and feet were submerged in a suspicious liquid in containers on the back counters, and tons on more crazy things stored everywhere imaginable.

Max had headed straight for the unattended counter and began pounding on the rusted handbell, while Jeff did a bit of hands-on investigation. Behind one of the shelves, he found a replica Roman Empire golden sword like the Romans used to have. He picked it up by the hilt, glanced around to see if anyone was paying attention, and maintained a fighting stance. He poked and jabbed at a nearby shelf, until what looked to be a fake diamond fell to the ground, splintering it's delicate surface. Jeff sucked in a breath and placed the sword back in it's stand, carefully. He could faintly make out wisps of discussion coming from the front counter, giving him more of a curiosity. Pushing it from his mind, Jeff made his way up and down each isle, studying the items. On the last shelf, he found some sort of dog tag. The necklace seem out of place to the other items, and Jeff couldn't help but feel intrigued by it. The tingling sensation had come back, giving him a haunting feeling something was hidden in the memories of it. He reached out slowly, hesitated slightly, then his finger tips enclosed around the jewelry, sending jolts of electricity through him, as his stomachal feeling reached its peak-

"Hey."

Jeff jolted backwards, falling into a basket of roasted Honey Bee legs. His instincts kicked in and he shielded his face with his hands, whimpering slightly. He was taken aback when he heard hysterical laughter. Looking through the slits between his fingers, he noticed his attacker was only Max, who was on the floor nearly dieing from laughter. Jeff groaned and hoisted himself out of the the legs, brushing a few clingers off and quickly shoving the necklace into his pocket. "It wasn't that funny. You scared the tar out of me!" His claim only seemed to feed Max's fire, and her laughs became silent as she clutched her stomach and struggled to breath.

~(^)-(^)~

The manager of the store looked to be in his late 50's, with greying brown hair, a uneven mustache, and a wide smile. His clothes looked like a 70's apocalypse, with rainbow suspenders, a 'Get Down For a Cause' long-sleeved blue and white marble shirt, khaki shorts and two different types of shoes; a 90's Adidas on the right, and a black and white Nike on the other. As Max and Jeff came to the register, the man gave him a warm smile and held out his hand for him to shake. Jeff obliged, and introduced himself.

"Good to meet you Mr. Newrance. The name's Joseph Goldberg, pleasure to be at your service." Jeff thanked Joe, and turned to Max. "I was just telling Mr. Goldberg that-" Max suddenly stopped talking, and burst into a fit of coughing. She was bent over, just as Jeff had seen when he had first met her. She held onto the counter with her right hand so hard her knuckles turned white. For the first time, Jeff noticed how pale Max actually was. Her eyes were hollowed in slightly, but not enough to be able to noticed on first glance. He had also thought she was naturally skinny, but now it seem she was even smaller than four hours ago.

He turned towards Joe. "She's been like this all day. We need to find, like, a doctor or something."

"No-" Max let out a lung crunching cough. "we don't."

"And why not? You're really sick, Max. What's wrong with you, anyway?" Max looked taken aback. She seem surprised at first, then furrowed her eyebrows and looked down. "It's a long story."

Jeff sighed in exasperation and put a cold hand to his forehead. "Look," He said, turning back to Joe. "If you can find one, that'd be great, but we really need a doc-"

"No, we don't!" Max yelled. She grabbed his arm forcefully and spun him around to face her. "The only reason I drug you around in the first place, Newrance, is because you're supposed to be the doctor!" She was so close to him, Jeff could feel her warm breath on his collar bone. He didn't process what she had said until what felt like an hour later. His eyes widened and he took a step back. "Wha-"

The bell on the door chimed as someone entered the store. "Max? Max!"

She didn't take her eyes off him.

A boy about the same age as Jeff came around the corner. He had bright green eyes, that were dark with worry. His black hair looked tousled, like he just came out of a storm. He wore normal teenage clothing; a grey jacket, jeans, tennis shoes, and a clean tee. As he caught sight of Max, he seemed to relax, then become angry. "Max!" He yelled. "Where the heck did you go? First, I'm just walking down the sidewalk and I assume you're following me, then I turn around to ask you how you're feeling and you're gone! Do you know how freaked out I was? I thought something happened to you!"

Her gaze never left Jeff's.

"Percy." She started. "I'd like you to meet Jeffrey Newrance."

The guy, Percy, turned around, just realizing there was not just one, but two other people in the room. Jeff tried to smile at the guy, but ended up only grimacing. Percy nodded to him. "Percy Jackson. Nice to meet you… Jeffrey." Jeff frowned at the formal use of his name and asked him to called him Jeff.

Percy gave a glance to Max, who finally broke eye contact with Jeff to looked up at him. He sniffed and turned and strolled towards the counter, where Mr. Goldberg stood awkwardly. The two talked for a moment in quiet whispers, gesturing to different items in the store every now and then. Jeff backed up to stand next to Max, who coughed.

Mr. Goldberg grinned at Percy, slapping his hands on the table. "It's a deal my lad!" He exclaimed.. Percy dropped a few golden coins on the counter, to which Goldberg snatched them up with glee. "I'll get it for you my friend! I'll get it now!" The man ran to the back of the store, where he was gone for at least twenty minutes. He came back with a container filled with some yellow substance. Goldberg looked around cautiously, as if there was anyone else in the store, and shoved the container into a bag that read 'Thanks for shopping!' on the front with a badly drawn picture on chop scoots it forward towards Percy, along with a receipt, and he takes it carefully. "If anyone asks, you didn't get this from me." Joe says, then rushes to the back room, shuts the door, and the lock clicks into place.

Percy turns, shoving the receipt into his back pocket, and widens his eyes at the others, blowing air into his cheeks. As they walk towards the door, a couple comes in, glancing at them. It was a woman and a man, both looking to be in their mid-30's. Percy opens the bag and pretends to be making sure he got everything. Max coughs again. The couple doesn't look at them though; they stare directly at Jeff, sending a shiver down his spine. The woman whispers something to her counterpart, who mutters under his breath, "Mmm, better not."

Outside, Percy walked in front, not talking to the rest of them. He sped quickly, like he needed to be somewhere, not to mention he kept glancing a his watch. Max strolled behind him, slightly slower. She seemed to be less energized than before, with her back arched and her head down. Jeff walked behind the both of them, struggling to keep up. He never had a long stride and it seemed that the others had much longer legs than he didn't, besides the fact that he was almost four inches taller than Max and possibly the same height as Percy. It perplexed him.

He jogged up until he was next to Percy. He didn't spare him a glance, as he seemed pretty focused on getting to where he was going. Jeff felt like he needed some answers, as he hadn't really gotten to dwell on them too much since the park. So, he began a conversation with Percy.

"What was that back there? A drug deal?"

Percy snorted. "No"

"Well it sure looked pretty sketchy to me."

He stopped, turning to face him. He didn't speak, only looked him over. Percy then scoffed, and sped off again.

Guess he wouldn't be getting that conversation anytime soon.

~(^)-(^)~

"Dude."

That was the only word Percy said when they found Jeff's house on fire.

The three of them had been on their way to... wherever they had been going, when Jeff got the feeling again. The strange stomach rolling feeling he got twice at the store, when he knew something was wrong. He had stopped in his tracks, causing Max to crash into him from behind, causing her to let out a few curses. He barely noticed. All he felt was sorrow, for some odd reason. His hand drifted to his front pocket, the place he had unknowingly stashed the curious dog tag. He stuck in a finger, and stroked the metal. Then the idea popped in his head.

"Jeff? Are you alright?" Max asked, walking around him to look him in the eyes. Percy had halted also, but had only turned around, not coming any closer.

"My parents. We need to go visit my parents." He said.

"But-" Max began, but he had already sped of the opposite direction.

"Hey! What is he doing?!" Percy yelled, sprinting after him. Max only groaned, jogging to keep up.

Jeff ran block after block, the streets becoming more and more familiar. He was wheezing, his body was begging him to take a break, and he almost did, until he spotted smoke rise from the trees two streets over. It pushed him over the edge and he ran even faster. He could hear sirens in the distance, telling him the fire had only began. He turned the corner and stopped in his tracks. There, the first house on the street was burning. The flames soared upwards, catching the leaves of the trees with the orange light. Percy then ran around the corner, stopping next to him. "Dude."

That did it. Jeff sprinted towards the house, tears streaming down his face. The screams from Percy becoming dimmer and dimmer. He ran up the scorched driveway and up the rock path, jumping straight through the door into the madness. His once beautiful house was destroyed; the walls had melted and the insulation was still ablaze, but that's not he was worrying about. "Mom!" He screamed. "Dad!" He dodged the falling drywall as he ran up the stair, becoming increasingly warmer. He hardly even noticed that his pant leg had caught fire, leaving a gaping hole in the pants."Mom!" He ran into his parent's bedroom, only to find that there was no bedroom. The entire room had crashed through to the lower level, shattering the millions of priceless family memories "Dad?" His thoughts were going fuzzy as he ran through the house, screaming his parent's names. Then he was in the living room, staring at his mother's dead body. He collapsed to the ground, sobbing, and clutched his mother's lifeless hand. He could no longer think, his mind was full of hurt and pain. He heard the sirens from outside. He heard the sound of men crunching through rubble. He couldn't stop sobbing. His head laid on top of his mother's chest, praying for it to rise and fall again, praying for her to wake up and run her fingers through his hair like she did when he was a child.

She never did.

He felt the hands of people grasping at him, but he held on to her hand. He couldn't leave her, not like this. He was eventually pulled away when he couldn't struggle anymore. The smoke clouded his thoughts, and the last thing he saw was daylight. Sweet daylight.

He didn't deserve this. His mother did.

~(^)-(^)~

GUYS!

3100 WORDS!

R&R for more 3000 words chapies. 3

-B