Chapter One:
It was hot. Unpleasantly so.
The air was smothering it was so muggy and thick. The populace felt like it was trapped-suffocating slowly. Even the sky was hazy, and with the skyscrapers blocking out the horizon, looming like disapproving prison guards, the city had become a jail. Its inhabitants were dead-eyed, their gazes blank like some stupid fish. They fanned at themselves, or splashed in crowded pools full of tepid water, but actually pretending to be alive was too draining in the stifling heat. Instead, they sighed and waited for life to continue.
Sitting in a room lit only by the pale light of a flickering computer screen, Erin Harker was one such person, though she honestly could have cared less if life started up again. With an already melting Popsicle coating her fingers with sticky sugar, the young woman slouched in a pool of her own stench, gazing mindlessly at the monitor. Her eyes were bloodshot, and highlighted by dark purple bags that indicated she had been there for quite a while. Of course it was fairly impossible to even see her eyes under the rat's nest of lank, greasy hair that fell across her face. Indeed, if it were not for the occasional twitch of a hand as the Popsicle dripped all over the place, it would be hard to even tell if the female was still alive or not.
Even when the episode she was currently watching flicked off, Erin remained still.
She was in a state near comatose, which was a fairly common occurrence in her life. She had grown into the habit of completely 'zoning out', so that ignoring the world around her became close to instinctual, rather than a conscious effort. At first it had merely been a rebellious stage, but eventually Erin had realized that it proved to be very relaxing. Involving herself with her surroundings led to a great deal of troublesome problems and unwanted stress. As a result she shut down and left all the irritating complexities of life, and society to more ambitious people .
More foolhardy people.
She considered this being practical, a state a self-preservation so to speak. Truthfully, and it was a truth she was completely aware of, the young woman was really just being lazy. Even when she did actually put her mind to use, it did not last long, after which she went back to her apathetic state with a great deal more enthusiasm than she had put into anything else, with the exception of sleep.
Sleep. It was something that had recently became a priority in her life. Not so much because it was something she did a lot of, but because it had become so difficult. In fact, if she thought really hard, she figured it had been at least thirty two hours since she had actually been asleep last. The thought was exhausting in and of itself. It was even more exhausting when the sleep-deprived girl realized she had run out of her prescription of sleeping pills. If she was lucky she might be able to get forty minutes of broken sleep and crazy dreams without her medication. However, going to pick up a refill meant walking three blocks to the drugstore in 100 degree weather.
Chances were, the female would melt before she made it that far.
Erin heaved a heavy sigh, the largest sign of life she had shown in hours, before promptly reverting back into her semi-coma.
That was the way she stayed as the clock ticked passed dinner, and then on into the night. At some point the girl tossed out the gooey mess that remained in her hand and on the edge of her seat. She even went back to watching her show. However, for all that, her mind remained slightly focused on the problem at hand. It persisted well into dawn, and eventually the sun rose again, bringing with it more sweltering temperatures.
A shard of sunlight slipped into the room, creeping warily passed the edge of the curtains, before stopping on Erin's pale, strained face. It stayed there, as if daring her to life.
The girl blinked, once, twice, and at last yawned stiffly, as if her face was no longer used to any expression, but the complete deadpan she had worn for the last two days. As she stretched, her joints popped and cracked hideously, making the young woman wince. Ungracefully, she toppled out of her chair, swaying on her feet as she waited for the blood to stop rushing from her head, and her vision to clear.
Scratching her stomach, Erin stumbled across her room. The piles of laundry nearly swallowed her up, such that it was practically a miracle when she burst out into the brightly lit landing past her door. Then, a creature nervously exploring its new, unfamiliar surroundings, The young woman headed towards the washroom. She had realized just how much she stank, and decided she needed to shower once in a blue moon if she didn't want to get labelled as toxic waste.
The water got left on cold, of course. Despite it being early in the morning, it was already too warm for a hot shower. No matter how badly she needed to be disinfected, she would not put herself through that kind of punishment. By the time she got out, her skin was completely numb. All the same, she felt alive. Her eyes may have weighed ten pounds each, and her stomach may have shrivelled into a raisin, but Erin actually felt like a living member of humanity.
That was, until she looked in the mirror and found out that she actually looked like a wraith. In fact, she rationalized that if she was ever going to cosplay as L, or Ryuzaki, whichever, now was the time. If she slouched a little, chopped off her hair, and dyed it black she could probably pass. Except for being female. Besides that, she had the same bony, pale appearance, and the heavy bags under her eyes gave her the matching panda affect.
Scowling, she straightened, and forced a smile onto her face. It looked more like a grimace, but at least now she didn't look like one of the most morbid fictional characters to ever exist. Once she'd combed out her hair, added some make-up (a good amount was needed to hide her sleeplessness) she kind of seemed like her old self.
That was even more morbid.
x.X.x
The sidewalks were mostly abandoned. Most people, most sane people opted for cars with air conditioner instead. Erin was envious. Plodding along the sidewalk, feeling like a turtle, or even a sloth, she thought she was probably going to pass out, and her face was bound to implant on the unforgiving cement. No one would even do anything about it. It was too hot. She felt like she would combust just thinking about someone coming within two feet of her to see if she was alright.
Then again, the ambulance or the hospital were bound to have air conditioner. They may also have sleeping medication. She could play half-dead, and at the same time take advantage of cool air and drugged slumber. On the downside that would mean confronting, and communicating with people. Doctors and nurses picking and prodding about identity, and symptoms, and anything that had happened in her life ever.
Erin was not particularly gone on talking about herself. Actually, recently she had found she was not very gone on speaking at all. As with thinking, it required to much energy. With so many things to consider, and social pitfalls hiding just around the corner it was a great deal easier to keep her trap shut, and let people assume that she had nothing of value to input.
If she thought about it, (it was dreadfully exhausting though) Erin realized that that was how she had been making most of her choices lately. Was it easy? It seemed as though the young woman had digressed into rather pathetic behaviour. Perhaps was a result of her chronic insomnia, or even the medication that left her drowsy, and dull witted. For whatever reason, Erin lacked any motivation for even the most simple of things. Thinking? Talking? Bathing regularly? They had all been shoved aside, and labelled as unnecessary. Surely that was not healthy.
Erin could not help but wonder if maybe she should see a shrink.
But that would only result in more tiresome questions, and eventually more medications. No doubt those medications would also have side-affects that would screw up her personality. No. It seemed like too much work, with very little gain. The weary female came to the conclusion that she would be better off as is. Truth to be told, the mindless, almost barbaric lifestyle that consisted of eating, sleeping (or trying to), and otherwise lazing about was satisfactory enough for her. She liked the way days blurred together and nothing seemed capable of touching her.
With a sigh, Erin muttered something unintelligible to confirm that she still knew basic English, and continued on her way. Or would have, had she not bumped into someone. She wanted to hiss like a feral cat, shove the person away, but when she looked to see the perpetrator, she found that it was a small boy. With the expression of a person who had just found out their pet goldfish had died, the child was staring at the smear of goop which had miraculously appeared all over the bottom of her shirt.
"Oh for the love of-" Erin's speaking capabilities made an abrupt reappearance as she realized that she now had some kid's ice-cream decorating her last somewhat clean outfit. Worse still, the kid looked like he was about to throw a major tantrum. "A-ah! Would you look at this," she groaned, awkwardly patting the boy on the shoulder in a half-hearted attempt to comfort him.
"My ice cream," was his only response. His voice was weak, wobbly. "My..my..."
Erin abruptly felt something sink inside her, a heavy stone tugging down in the pit of her stomach, and glanced about for his mother, but when she found no one she heaved a signature sigh. "Look, I'll give you the money for a new one alright? Just don't start crying!" She pulled out her purse, and rooted around for some change, wondering how much an ice-cream cost anyway.
"Will you get it for me?" The kid asked, sounding unnecessarily hopeful.
"Eh? But I..." The uncomfortable female stared down at the boy, who was gazing up at her hopefully. He was just some tiny little innocent shrimp. It was almost sort of endearing, the way he stared up at her with big sparkly eyes like she was about to become his best friend in the whole wide world. If Erin were anyone else she probably would have found it cute, or touching.
"Girl?" Talk about a rude kid.
Erin huffed, and let herself take a step back, physically trying to distance herself from anything remotely related to the idea of responsibility, handing him a five as she did. "No," she answered decisively. The kid was ridiculously ignorant, even for someone who looked to be in second grade. Plus, it would take way too much energy to babysit the little guy. She just knew if she agreed to one thing, then he would be asking her to do something else, like find his parents. Then she would be obligated to talk to them, and that seemed even more taxing.
"Why? Please?" The childlike voice took on a whiny, petulant quality, so much so that it grated on the young female's nerves, and made the hair on her neck stand on end.
"No. It's a man eat man world out there. You gotta start taking care of yourself eventually." When in doubt, spout off some adult garbage about growing up, and children were bound to hop to it, right? It was an unspoken rule that adults pretended to know everything, and youngsters were too dumb to believe otherwise.
For second the small, strange boy looked like he had been smacked in the face. Indeed, Erin could almost think that he had aged several years on the spot. "Why not? You're just a big meanie, you dumb old lady!"
Frankly the kid was starting to sound like any other spoiled brat, and she could feel herself growing more and more detached from the whole situation. "Get over it," was the apathetic reply. "I'm not going to go out of my way for... Look. I gave you the money. Go find your parents and tell them a mean lady harassed you, or something."
The boy stared at her, tiny face all pinched. He looked for all the world as though he had been completely wronged. Maybe he had, maybe Erin was being immoral. Back in school the teachers always made a point of how older kids were supposed to be role models, and she could hardly say she was living up to the standard.
Erin groaned, feeling unreasonably pressured, and entirely done with the bizarre scenario. She yawned to emphasize her complete disinterest, and walked away. There was a tiny niggling feeling telling her to go back and be sensible, but she buried it under a pile of non-thinking. She was good at not thinking, so she did not think about the fact that the boy was probably crying, or the unpleasant feeling that someone was watching her, or the fact that she had just digressed into a whole new level of completely thoughtless. For the rest of the walk to the drug store, she did not think about anything but how hot it was, and how tired she was.
So focused on ignoring everything, Erin went completely unaware of the coal coloured gaze that was searing into her back, observing from afar.
It had taken her longer than she thought it would to get her medication. The pharmacist had needed her to fill out some forms, because there was some deity of paperwork that cursed the world, before the girl could get her prescription refilled. She also needed the note from the psychiatrist she had seen months ago, which meant a lot of thinking, as well as an extended search through Erin's unbelievably hideous purse. This had ended up in a lot of scattered clutter all the way from standard pens, to an irritating keychain that started bleeping out a mechanical tune the instant it had hit the desk. Unfortunately, it had been broken, and would not turn off until at last Erin had smashed it with a weirdly coloured rock.
By the time the young, stressed out woman was finished, all she wanted to do was go home and sleep. By sleep, she really meant hibernate for a century. Instead, she had convinced herself that she really needed some chocolate for comfort. Except that the line up to the check out was gigantic because the other cashier was on break, and the only other one was being manned by an idiot.
Truthfully, Erin would have left, except she got cornered by some old, chatty salesperson who had noticed the ice cream stain on her shirt, and taken it upon herself to deliver a very long winded speech about the latest stain remover.
As a result, Erin Harker was one hundred percent done with life. She had developed a strong loathing for chewing gum, especially the air-headed teenagers who took it upon themselves to snap loud, slobbery bubbles every three seconds. She was pretty sure she was now allergic to laundry detergent, and she had a migraine that made the continental drift seem like a-
And then she slammed her fingers in the shop door.
The female could not help but wonder if it was all karma for a certain event that she was not thinking about. At this point, she was willing to buy the kid fifty ice cream cones if it meant the cosmic forces would give her a break. Hell, she was pretty sure that if she saw him on her way home, she would really do it. Nothing was worth the kind of bad luck she had received in the past forty five minutes.
Then her misfortune reached an all new high in the form of something that was definitely not a human being. He-it? Whatever it was, balanced on a telephone wire, with a huge, devilish grin on its face. If Erin had believed in that sort of thing, she almost would have thought that it was some sort of demonic creature, or imp, or something, that was there to literally send her fate onto the path of misery. It certainly looked the part with grey leather skin, creepy, bulging black eyes, and freaky clawed hands that had to be the same size of an alligator's...but that was stupid. Impossible. She was hallucinating from a lack of sleep.
It was definitely a ridiculous notion. No way was there some monster right out of a bad horror flick watching her. She nodded resolutely, having successfully convinced herself the the strange thing was not out for her blood, and the fact that she was seeing imaginary beasts hopping around like deranged trapeze artists, smiling straight at her, was perfectly normal. Very obviously choosing not to look in its direction, Erin strode across the street.
And that was how she died.