Chapter 1: Not Normal

The knocking on the door woke Zack up. He stared at the clock. 4 in the morning. What could anyone want at this hour?

He made his way to the door and opened it cautiously. He didn't know why he was so untrusting. It was a trait he could only imagine had been planted in him by some bad experience from his youth. Unfortunately, Zack had no idea what his youth was.

"What is it?" Zack asked the man before him. Zack was always to the point. He preferred to consider things deep in thought, he wasn't one for conversation with a stranger. Though he couldn't deny, to him, everyone was a stranger.

The man was his landlord, for the time being. Zack had told him up front it was just for one month. He had paid the money up front, as well. He couldn't figure out what the landlord wanted right now. "Zack, I know you said that you were only going to be here for a month, and I know you already paid…" the man hesitated.

Zack wanted to get to the point. It wasn't that he was impatient, he just didn't care. He was unattached. He didn't feel like dwelling on anything. He just wanted to do his job and be left alone.

At Zack's silence, the man continued. "Listen, you need to leave immediately."

Zack turned to his room. It wouldn't take long to pack, he had very few belongings. And none of them meant anything to him. But he didn't want to leave. He'd already paid, he'd already planned on staying there for another week.

The man continued, hoping he was getting through to Zack. "I'm sorry, okay. But I can't help it. I keep getting questions…"

Zack finally spoke. "I paid for 4 weeks. It's been 3. My job won't be done for another week."

The landlord nodded, looking worried. "Your job, yes. But what is your job?"

Zack frowned slightly, his first sign of emotion. "What does my job have to do with this prepaid apartment and agreement?"

The man finally got to the point. "Listen, I don't know what else to do. You aren't the only one I have to look out for. I have other people living here permanently, or at least longer than you. And you have to admit, you have made a lot of people suspicious. I'm a business man, I can't have uneasy customers, they'll leave and go somewhere else."

Zack cocked his head ever so slightly, thinking. "I'm a construction worker," he answered. "What is so suspicious about that." He wasn't really asking. He was speaking logically, as usual.

The landlord did appear to feel sorry for Zack. "Honestly, I like you. So I'm giving you one day before you need to leave. If you aren't gone by tomorrow night, I will have no choice but to call the police."

This sent alarm through Zack's body. He didn't even know why. It was like it was instilled within him, that he didn't trust cops. He felt he should do whatever possible to keep away from cops and their questions. Besides, he knew what they would ask of him. Who are you, Where are you from, What have you been doing… Zack couldn't answer any of those questions.

"I don't understand," Zack admitted. "What have I done wrong?" He wanted to know how he'd failed. That was how he looked at situations. If something went wrong, it was a problem he would need to fix for later so he would never make the same mistake twice.

The landlord stared at him sympathetically. "It's just your whole demeanor. You have this aura around you, I don't know, I know that sounds crazy. But you're very dark. And you're alone, on the move, have a good sum of money… it doesn't add up. Why are you alone with your physique?"

Zack knew what the man was trying to say. He wasn't normal. He was shady to people. An extremely good looking person logically wasn't alone in life. They had a past, they talked about it. They were open. Zack was constantly looking over his shoulder and he didn't even know why. He would have given people some answers if only he knew them himself.

The last question especially bothered Zack more than any. Why was he alone? Whenever he met someone it was like he naturally shut them out. He had found himself having to make up stories, also, about his past that he couldn't remember. He didn't like lying to people on the spot, he liked having a plan. He decided the easiest way to deal with everyone's questions would be to simply not associate with anyone, therefore never bringing up the questions to begin with.

His plan was flawed, though. Clearly, he'd picked the wrong town. It was small, where everyone knew everyone. He was drawing attention to himself here merely by not drawing attention to himself.

Zack knew what he should do, smile, be happy. But he somehow couldn't find it in himself. He knew they were right. He was dark and mysterious, even to himself.

Zack sighed, staring at this landlord. He couldn't risk any police. "I'll be out by tomorrow afternoon," he promised.

The landlord nodded. He pulled out a wad of cash out of pocket. "Here, this is the rent you paid me."

Zack stared at the money, confused. "You should keep ¾ of that, though. I've been living here almost my full stay."

The landlord shoved it at Zack. "No, I want you to have it. I tried to push aside their questions, I thought maybe it would be okay for one month, but they've reached the breaking point. If you leave now, you won't get any trouble when you go. And I feel badly for you." In truth, the landlord felt maybe Zack was a drug dealer. He probably didn't need the money. But the landlord was a good person, he'd never kicked anyone out before. He felt it was the least he could do for his own conscience in sending someone alone in this world out to be alone and without a home.

At the man's words, Zack accepted the money. The man wasn't really doing it for Zack anyway. He was trying to feel better about what he was doing, betraying a contract and following peer pressure of wild suspicions. But, as he'd said, he was a business man. It was in his best interests to keep his customers happy.

As Zack shut the door, he took a moment to consider what he should do next. He had planned out his next stop, but that job wouldn't start for another week. Maybe he could take this time to just relax. He had enough money. Where he'd gotten the money, he didn't know. But he could afford to rest somewhere for a week. Maybe work on being normal, getting a smile. That thought made Zack smile, not in happiness, just at the thought of how pathetic his situation was. He actually had to work on smiling.

Zack couldn't help it. He didn't know why, but a feeling of complete emptiness seemed to follow him everywhere.

He gathered up his few belongings, and plopped back on the bed. Maybe he would get lucky and not have any nightmares this time. Maybe he would wake up from a peaceful sleep and be able to leave without more questions for once. He decided against relaxing. He didn't really know what that meant anyway. He would just go onto the next job. His work was all he knew. One week early didn't matter when to him, his entire life right now consisted of barely more than 2 months.

A/N: again, as stated in the prologue, i'm not sure how i feel about this fic. let me know if it needs to go or if it has potential.

Though this fic is centered around Zack, he is not the only character, and besides, he can only be so interesting without a memory! More action (stray from just dark thoughts) will happen in Ch 3