Osbourne Eat's would be closing soon. And that meant he wouldn't have to talk to customers. Fumbling around with his words wasn't really Harry's forte anymore. Unlike in High School, when words would pour with such ease that lured people. That would make someone laugh, someone smile. It could be a guy he only talked to in class. It could be a girl he saw outside of class. But it would always be his friends too.

Heat penetrated the face of his neck. It had gotten hot all of a sudden. But as his eyes scanned across the various faces, no one seemed to be reacting. Almost like the heat was preying on him, one target. Guiding a hand to the head of his shirt, he fiddled his fingers around the top buttons, looking for a grip. Yet they fought against his hands like swallowing ice against feet. Slipping from the tips of his fingers before he yanked with bursting aggression, and both buttons were torn asunder with a final, tiny snap. But with cost, his elbow propelled from his body, and soft impact made him whip his head. Eyes gleaned with warning - blue, and vivid like lapis in a pool of sand. Like always, Harry fell away.

He kept moving along the sidewalk, then stopped at a walk light with another group of people.

No crying babies this time at least.

But that was trampled by the flash of that woman. Although distinct features didn't fall into mind, strangled screams from before painted the picture. It was very real, and he walked away. Harry walked away.

he looked at the alley, scanning around the dark open that smacked him with uneasiness. He wasn't sure. Someone could have seen him leave. With the thumping footsteps behind him, he was on alert again. Someone could be watching him look there too. They'd draw the wrong conclusions for him. So he kept his eyes stuck on the tips of his shoes. But the alley kept pulling him back, and his gaze jumped to look with frantic, and panic as fast as his neck turned to assist. Once the crime was investigated, and if they saw him then...

Calm. Gotta stay calm, idiot.

One last look tempted him, however. No one was walking near the alley, not even past it. Its giant slit seemed to swallow any sign of light that was threatening to illuminate, even within the sky. Slowly, Harry felt the life being vacuumed from his body. His arms were controlled by its dark mouth, waiting, and imposing. It was almost as if everyone was understanding his relevance to it or maybe shedding the same caution. But Harry had nothing to be cautioned about. Finally, as he blinked twice, he managed to control himself and ran a right hand through the soft, and long bushes of his hair. All the way down to his neck until it froze. He forced his mind to drift to something else, and soon the eyes of that woman he met before moved through his head. Same big, and curious eyes. He had forgotten about the glove! Reaching a hand into his pocket, he could still feel its soft fabric. Taking it out, Harry examined it in his right palm.

Did it get... bigger?

Now, he was pulled even more than before. Submitting to its appearance once more, he laid it out across his hand so far that the fingers and entrance slit were dangling off from his palm. When he grabbed it the first time, it was smaller. One would think it would be a woman's glove but now it was the opposite. Harry scoffed to himself, passing the idea as ridiculous. But at the same time, the realization occurred to him.

A hero of capabilities beyond human imagination had flown through these streets. Thus, this new age. Where abnormals were... normal. And there was always someone with a leg trembling to run.

He grabbed the glove with his left. Laying his palm out in front of him.

Not to run to their mothers or their fathers, but to gather more people to refuse them the right to live. If you're a target...

His hand sunk inside the warmth of its socket.

You're susceptible.

Yet they seemed to live by the same principle. It reminded him of the armies in history class that were so desperately trying to be taught about. They all lived for one purpose. To fight for one goal. Guess that's the way they were, and that's the way abnormals were now. However, Harry couldn't let himself be tempted. This life was easy.

He looked up to a lone building. It was centered by itself in the street, creating two left, and right paths for cars to go through while other buildings stood aside together. It sat like an emperor in between a line of stoic henchmen on the left, and right. Submitting to him. Harry swore it had to be one of the other tallest buildings he had seen in the city, despite how long he lived here. Though, what stole his gaze, what kept him from the usual retreat, was the woman that was modeled on the giant screen. Some of the lights that made up the image of her switched on, and off but when it finally stilled, she was holding a large shampoo bottle, and gesturing towards it along with the exaggerated interest of her white smile. It became obvious.

Red dye.

He stopped.

Crimson dye layered along long hair that fell elegantly down her shoulders. Hair that shined like an emerald against a faltering sun. A red that spoke too familiar of a tone. Again, his body felt lifeless. A building became successful in immobilizing him. Harry thought it would be her. He thought that she had come back to life to haunt him. Watching him over the streets he so reluctantly trod on. This woman had a smile, had the hair, but rather than it being a pleasant reminder, it felt as if the world was mocking him with a cruel joke.

His legs followed the pavement.

One truth pushed him to move. That wasn't her. That wasn't the woman he knew before. She was dead to him, and dead to her people. Life suffocated by the consequences of another. That's what it always was. Although it bit at his soul to lean into Norman Osbourne's notions, he was right about one thing. The chest isn't a shield to protect your heart. Attachments ultimately were the root of stagnation.

And at this point, I can't stop.

He craned his neck up. The restaurant logo, Osbourne Eat's, was not flashing its lights. There, the relief that filled him earlier, returned. But he hesitated in his step at the sight of people inside the restaurant. Four of them, wearing the same attire.

Harry could hear them arguing as he half-opened the door with his right hand. Cold air brushed into his right sleeve, and a pleasant scent thrust into his nose. There were three people that stood at the front of the counter, and one that leaned on the counter. All of different heights. There were two men and two women. The tallest one stood with arms folded. Brown complexion defined by a toned, and muscular body. Thick blonde locks fell from his head. The other guy, average height, with glimmering blonde hair that was pulled back, and wild. They all looked younger than Harry. He could at least determine they were just going into their twenties.

He felt confident in that. They were young and curious but they could also be annoyingly engaging. That was the only consequence he was disturbed by. Gayle surely would have mentioned him already right? But there was also a chance she didn't. Regardless, he would need to push forward. Didn't matter what he thought. Or else, he would get an earful. It motivated him to pull the door open more-

"She would have called me before she left!"

Panic unbridled in his ears.

"Can't believe we let her go like that, shit!"

Was there someone else here? He guessed they wouldn't be making a scene with customers. Evening light beams slipped through the windows onto the tables that were still occupied with half-eaten food on plates, and empty cups, and as Harry swept around the room with his eyes, food was dropped dead on the floor. Something blocked his hands from the comfort of his pockets as he entered. Uneasiness dangled his arms.

"Just calm down, man-"

"Don't tell me to calm down! This was on YOUR watch!"

"Guys!"

This was a bad idea. Who cares if Gayle found out? Who cares if she fired him? It would not be worth babysitting.

No... they're definitely arguing over the girl that kid asked me to find. Leaving now would definitely get me fired, and it might be weeks or months that it takes me to find another opportunity. Can't afford that time either.

Their lack of awareness made his thoughts unravel. Walking out of that door, the point of no return would be crossed by Harry. But that consequence had been so alluring. He could have found another job, and left Gayle. It wouldn't have mattered. But if he stayed, this life would be the nail in that frame. This would be the life he could sleep more comfortably with. Yet the means weren't appetizing to his desire. No, not worth it, Harry decided. Not by the conditions that were already surfacing. However, as their arguing fired through the room, a peculiar emotion kept that door closed behind him. Despite the distaste that leveled in the contents of his mind, the floor kept his feet pulled to the ground. Soon he realized, it wasn't about Gayle or the requirements of the job.

Am I really gonna let this go?

"Feed me, Harry..."

Ah, forgot about you, too.

"They wouldn't care about you... Feed me, now..."

His eyes peered to the windows where tables sat near.

Harry could never be sure if he was hearing the monster in his head, or whether it kept his voice low enough for only him to hear. Harry thought that to be impossible considering his ugly, deep, and hungry voice that could penetrate the deaf.

What do I do...?

"Harry... if I can't consume flesh... do you know what that means?"

"I'm not her babysitter. She's a fully-fledged adult capable of taking care of herself. If you didn't spend so much time coddling her, maybe you would realize-"

"What did you say?"

"GUYS PLEASE!"

Harry witnessed the scramble between the group initiate, the two men trying to get at each other, the woman dividing them-

"I'd have to kill everyone in this room... including you."