Vanitas huffed as he walked into his apartment, flicking the light switch up and sighing as darkness met him instead. He should have expected it, honestly.

"Stupid landlord. He's got such a stick up his ass."

Finding his way through the dark (and cursing as he hit his foot against the wall), he opened his fridge and rummaged blindly around to find a beer. Maybe he could just drink away the remainder of this crappy day. He grinned in delight as his hand touched cold glass, snatching it out of the fridge and slamming the door shut. With a well-practiced move, he flicked off the cap and downed it as quickly as he could.

"Ah...the only good thing out of this entire day." He leaned up against the counter and frowned into the darkness. "Seeing that damned prick, though…that was just the beautiful icing to finish off the day. Ha!" Another drink. "It's not like his girlfriend got kidnapped. Probably just up and left, dumb bitch. She always did have that haughty attitude about her."

He laughed and continued to guzzle down the beer, talking to the silence. The officer kept doing so, grabbing bottle after bottle out of his fridge and downing them without thought, laughing and cursing. Before long, he was now sitting in the middle of his kitchen, bottles strewn about him and a full one clutched in one hand. He had begun to shout angrily at the dark ceiling, profanity spewing out of his mouth as fast as he drank his alcohol.

"And that damned guy didn't even have the guts to look me in the face! What a fucking…ugh!" Taking a sloppy drink, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "That damn Highwind. Can't believe he expects me to live in the dark. So what if I don't want to pay bills? I shouldn't have to."

As time went by, his eyelids slid shut, dropping his half-empty bottle and letting it spill on him and the floor. Light filtered through the windows as he snored away, followed by his phone blasting out an alarm from his pocket; he never stirred.

It was much later in the day when his eyes finally opened, groaning as he quickly shut his eyes from the harsh light. Had the power turned back on somehow? He was sorely disappointed to find it to be natural light instead of artificial, shoving himself to his feet. Despite the pounding in his head and the unbalance in his body, he made his way to the bathroom to shower.

Upon taking out his phone, he chuckled darkly. "Looks like I missed another day of work. What a pity."

The shower was quick and rehearsed, stumbling out just as quickly as he had gotten in. With only a towel to cover him, he made his way back into the kitchen to assess the damage. Besides some empty bottles and a puddle of wasted beer, it wasn't too bad. Better than last time, anyway.

The handsome male stepped around the mess and grabbed at the bottle of pills that awaited for him on the counter, taking three of them and swallowing them dry. Another normality in his dull life. Maybe he should go and do something different. Get some adrenaline pumping through his veins. It wasn't like anyone was going to miss him from work and he had no intention of going back and seeing that annoying, pitiful face of Terra.

Hunting…hunting sounded like a great idea right now. Just him and a gun, alone. Some animal bloodshed and isolation from this pathetic place was exactly what he needed. It certainly had been a good few months since he had last done so and he needed to let out some anger.

"Clothes and a gun it is, then."

He breathed in deeply, slowly, moving through the barren trees and being silent with his footsteps, careful of the path before him. In both hands he held a large shotgun, barrel pointed at the ground and eyes darting about in hopes of catching any sort of movement. He just needed to kill…something. Personally, he wished it was a certain tall brunet male, but a deer or rabbit would do for now. He just wished they would quit hiding from him and give him a clear shot. Just one was all he needed.

"Come on, damn things. I know you're out there."

The wind was quiet here, allowing a pressing silence to be his only company. His hands tightened around the gun, his brow furrowed in frustration. He had only been at this for an hour, but he should have seen or heard something by now. He hadn't even heard the cry of a bird or a single shuffle of any sort of critter.

Something was off. Something was wrong and the cop could feel it, like an itch he couldn't reach. He was already beginning to talk himself out of staying any longer. Today was not the right day for hunting and he was feeling ready to turn back and head back into the safety of his lone apartment. Screw this hunting idea.

It was only a few minutes later that a noise, finally, started up. But only a single noise, echoing throughout the area and fading, starting up and stopping every few moments. Vanitas paused, one foot in front of the other, gun held tightly in his hands.

He didn't recognize that sound. That was a foreign sound that just gave him the wrong signals and he wasn't about to have any of it. He lowered the gun, standing there a breath and listening to the odd noise. It immediately stopped and Vanitas felt the hair on his bare arms raise at the unsettling feeling that was growing in his stomach.

It was time to go. Now.

He spun around and stepped quickly, his eyes scanning the area as he moved around. Not for an animal, but for something that could make such an odd, blank noise. It was abnormal. His senses picked up that creeping feeling of being watched, of eyes following him throughout the area, making him pick up the pace. He didn't want to stick around and find out what it was. He was stubborn, not stupid.

It took him a few minutes to realize he wasn't getting anywhere. He stopped walking, his heart pounding, as he checked the area more thoroughly, eyes narrowed.

"…the hell? This wasn't the path I took. Where am I?"

There was that sound again. Why did it sound louder, almost as if it was echoing around him? Vanitas instinctively raised his gun and held his breath as surveyed the area completely, slowly. He wouldn't hesitate to shoot the first thing he saw, no questions asked.

The sound stopped abruptly and froze a second after, blood rushing in his ears. His hands tightened around his weapon, holding his stance and waiting for something to happen. Something to pop up from a bush, for another sound to alert him of any presence, of anything out of the ordinary. Nothing.

"Maybe…I think I need a vacation." he sighed.

He lowered the gun and rolled his right shoulder, wincing at the loud crack it made. He was far too tense and uncomfortable to be hunting, anyway. Shower and a bed sounded perfect right now. Maybe even go ahead and call his boss to tell him he was heading off to Destiny Islands. He definitely needed to get away from this crappy place, regardless.

"The only problem is where I put my damn car. The one time I get lost in these stupid, godforsaken woods…"

He turned around…and there it was. Just standing there. Vanitas' stomach curled in on itself, eyes going wide in shock. He didn't know what he was looking at because it didn't look right. Didn't even look human. The suit, maybe, but not the long body and limbs, not that empty void of a face. His brain easily connected the strange sound he heard with this…thing. His body moved of its' own accord.

He raised the gun, pointing it right at the blankness of the face, ignoring the shaking in his entire being, and pulled the trigger. The ringing in his ears that followed was unable to block out the noise that crackled inside his mind. He dropped his gun as the thing vanished right before his eyes, panic taking over him.

It appeared again, closer this time. Vanitas let his instincts take over again and his legs moved, going in the opposite direction and just running as fast as his body would allow. He forgot about his gun, about trying to find the path or his car. He just needed to go.

He didn't get far, however, before the thing appeared in his path once more, standing solemnly there as if it had been waiting there the whole time. He tripped over his feet, skidding through the dirt before he was able to use enough momentum to shove his body in the other direction, heading back to the area where he had just been running away from.

He had completely forgotten that he had dropped his gun back there. This, with the addition of having to focus on what he was running from, caused him to stumble over his own weapon, tumbling to the ground with grunt, wincing at the hard ground he smashed into.

"Shit!" he hissed.

Attempting to get to his feet as quickly as he could, he managed to snatch up his gun. It wasn't until he stood to his feet that realized that he wasn't in the woods anymore. There weren't even any trees around him.

"…the hell? Where…?" It took him a second to register what he was looking at, seeing as he was standing on the edge of the entire thing. "What's a carnival doing in the middle of nowhere?"

Hm...interesting.