Chapter 1

Lori had just completed another episode of lucifer, her favorite t.v. show. She loved the charismatic yet clueless prankster the devil was portrayed as. It determined how even Luci, someone who seemingly radiates confidence, can hate himself too. Lily related to that on a personal level. She no longer gave a rat's ass if people didn't like her because she didn't like herself either. Or at least that's what she tells herself. She picks up the remote as the outro music starts playing and clicks off her out of date television. Yawning she glances up at the clock, cursing under her breath. "Jesus I can't keep staying up until 3 am like this!" Lori mumbles to herself. It looks like she'd have to lug her huge thermos of coffee to school again. Lori sighs at the thought of another excruciatingly long day at her bloody highschool.

"Just another day in the life of a teenager," she thinks.

"Tune in next week for more!" She says aloud to her imaginary audience.

Lori gets up off the couch and walks into her small bathroom flicking on the light. It was then that she made the mistake of looking in the mirror. She grimaces at the chubby girl in front of her. She hated her body just as much as she hated herself. She didn't dare glance up again as she brushes her teeth and changes into her PJs. Shuffling into her bedroom she flops face-first onto her bed and curls up in her fluffy blanket fighting back tears. She hadn't felt this alone in a long time. Her parents, who had kicked her out of the house after finding out she wasn't going to go to college, hadn't talked to her in months. After being kicked out she'd jumped around from friend to friend for a while. Eventually, they too got sick of her and told Lori to stop calling. She'd felt so lost and worthless. Nobody cared, nobody wanted her.

From there she had lived on the streets for a bit. Searching for a cheap room her college fund could afford had been no easy feat. She'd thought about getting a motel for a while, but decided it was better to save the little money she had until she could find a room and job. So after a few hit and misses she's found a crummy little broken-down apartment in the Northeast side of town. The rent was cheap, just $700 a month. Probably due to the fact it was a really bad part of the city, with a frequent crime rate. Her apartment had been trashed when she was let in by her scummy landlord. There had been what looked like bullet holes in one wall and questionable needles littering the dirty floor by an abandoned mattress. In the corner was a dirty punching bag. The landlord had given her a toothy smile before slamming the door shut behind her making her jump. After days of tough cleaning and drywall repair, the place hadn't looked half bad. She'd found a job at an auto repair shop pretty soon after. Apparently, employers are more likely to hire someone who is clean and showered; especially if said person has boobs. She didn't like her boss' wandering eyes but who else was going to hire an underage, 17-year-old high schooler? He must have been pretty desperate to be looking at her of all people that way she had thought. So there she was a couple of months later crying in her bed, alone on her birthday. "They could have at least called…" She murmurs. She angrily wipes her tears away, mad at herself for even caring what her parents did. Whipping the blanket over her head, she tosses and turns before a reluctant sleep overtakes her.

Lori rolls over in her sleep and scrunches her face as she feels whiskers tickling her nose. Still trying to cling to sleep she brushes a hand over her face and rolls over once more. As she lays there she starts shivering and reaches for her blanket she must have kicked off in her sleep. Instead of being greeted with the fluffy familiar feeling of the fabric her hand lands in something cold and wet.

"What in the hell?" Lori utters as she sits up. Her eyes shot open as she found herself in a dirty wet alleyway surround by numerous rats sniffing and crawling on her. Screaming, she scrambles up as the rats let out a squeak of protest from being jostled. Lori stumbles backward, banging into the dumpster behind her.

"Where the hell am I?" she thinks as she looks around frantically at the brick buildings surrounding her. Her chest starts heaving while her heartbeat pounds in her ears. Lori, recognizing the warning signs of a panic attack, slowly slid down to the ground trying to calm her breathing.

"This is not the best time to pass out Lori," she thinks to herself, "Just calm down..." Lori focuses on taking deep long breaths, inhaling through her mouth, and exhaling out her nose. And slowly her heartbeat begins to slow, her breathing now coming naturally. Lori lets out a breath of relief as she tried to figure out what to do. Maybe she had sleepwalked all the way out here? No, that didn't seem right she'd never had a history of sleepwalking before and she wasn't anywhere near her apartment as far she could tell, with no blisters to speak of. Her stomach curdled as she remembered all the inappropriate comments her Landlord had been directing toward her. She had had to quite forcefully and physically reject the greasy 40-year-old a number of times since she had moved in.

"Oh my god," she thought.

"D-did he…?" Bile rose up in her throat at the thought of her landlord dragging her drugged form into an alleyway. Lori quickly checked her clothes and underwear looking for any sign of what she hoped to God hadn't happened. Her garments seemed undisturbed and she didn't feel any pain or soreness. She sighs in relief running a hand through her hair. Rubbing her forehead, she questions the brick wall opposite her.

"How the hell did I get here?" She glances up looking out of the alleyway.

"I need to find out where I am and make my way back home…" she said to herself getting up and walking out of the rancid alley. She strode out onto the sidewalk wrapping her arms around herself, feeling self-conscious. She bumps past people, going against the flow of the foot traffic. Peering up at the street signs she tries to decipher where she is. She comes up empty, not recognizing any of her surroundings. She stops at a crosswalk staring up.

"I've never even heard of this bloody street!" Passerbyers stare at her with scrutiny. She laughs nervously and grumbles under her breath. She walks up to a cafe with a quaint cluster of outdoor tables. She fidgets in hesitation before deciding to just go for it. Going up to the nearest table she taps on a man's shoulder asking where she is.

"What are you stupid?" he lashes out.

"L.A. you idiot, now get out of here before I call the cops hobo." She just stands there dumbstruck. How could she be in L.A.? That's not possible she thought. Maybe he was joking…

"Mister, are you sure this L.A.?" she says hesitantly, not wanting to interact with the rude man once more.

"Jesus christ lady are you high as well as stupid? I told you it's fucking Los Angeles! Now go put some actual clothes on," He growls out. Lori stumbles away from the table shocked. She looks down at her PJs that are now covered in dirty gray puddle stains and asphalt grit. She bites her lip and walks briskly down the street fighting back tears.

"I'm really in L.A.," she croaks. Tears start streaming down her wind nipped face as she walks faster, not noticing where her feet are carrying her.

"How the hell did I get here?" she thought, biting her lip hard and drawing blood. "Why is this happening to me?! I just want to go to school and my shitty job!" She sobs, doubling over and sitting against a building. She puts her head in her hands, calming her erratic breathing and hiccups. Letting out a steadying breath, Lori wipes her tears on the fluffy fabric of her pajamas. When she looks up she spots something that makes her heart leap in her chest. There, standing proud right in front of her was Lux.

Lori does a double-take, rubbing her eyes and walking across the street oblivious to the car's and taxi's honking at her. She places her hand on the building looking up in wonder.

"I'm dreaming, right? I mean I have to be…" she thinks aloud. A voice chuckles behind her.

"You are definitely dreaming if you think you can get into a club like this dressed like that." She spins around facing the lobby guard she hadn't noticed in her stupor.

"I-"

"Save it girly you should really go home and sleep it off." Lori glares at the guy who appears to be in his mid-20s.

"I'm not drunk! Nor am I crazy, homeless, or on drugs!" she says going on a rant.

"You think I choose to randomly wake up in an alley instead of my bed!? Hm? NO! Of course not! I don't even know whats happening to me! This is not how I wanted to spend my fucking birthday," she finishes kicking the wall.

"Ow!" She looks up in time to see the guard radioing some people down to remove her from the property. She groans running down the street and ducking onto a sideroad. She'd be spending a bit more time in alleyways she supposed.

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