This is the next chapter. One more chapter and this sad story will be done.

I own nothing. The Almighty Larson owns it all.

It had been a while since Collins had worn a tie, but this was a special occasion. He was going back to work. Of course he'd already predicted that as soon as he stepped one foot into the classroom he'd hate his job just as he did before. If his tie would cooperate with him.

Damn tie, he thought. Why do you refuse to be tied? Mimi suddenly appeared in his room.

"Need some help?" she asked, giggling as she walked to his side.

"Not from those who laugh at me," Collins replied, still struggling with his tie. "DAMN THIS THING TO HELL!"

"Turn toward me." Collins did as Mimi said and watched as she tied his tie for him. "Not very good at this, are we?"

"Angel always did it for me." There was a silence between them as Mimi finished with the tie.

"Wait . . . you've got on a tie, your good shirt, and your good pants. You got a date or something?"

"Yup. With about 20 college students." Mimi laughed and straightened Collins' tie.

"I'm really proud of you," she said, making Collins smile. "But I'll only stay proud if you promise me you'll never turn to drugs to solve your problems again. You promise?"

"Yeah," Collins replied. "I promise." He kissed the top of Mimi's head, grabbed his coat, and left the he walked down the street, he heard people behind him. He glanced behind him, saw that there were three of them, and began walking faster.

So did they.

It wasn't long before Collins was being chased into the same alley by the same three guys that had mugged him the night he'd met Angel (he made sure he didn't trip). Glancing behind him again he noticed, to his horror, the three had multiplied to six. He turned his head back around and immediately stopped into his tracks.

Dead end, he thought. He was suddenly grabbed by two of the guys who were chasing him. As he braced himself to, once again, be mugged by these people he heard a voice.

"Hey!" the voice of The Man said. That's all he had to say before the muggers scattered and left the alley.

"You just . . . saved my life," Collins said, slightly shocked.

"Can't let anything happen to my best client, can I?" Collins' shock turned into a mixture of confusion and fear.

"I already told you I don't need your drugs anymore," he said. The Man raised an eyebrow.

"You sure about that?" he asked.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Cause once you make a deal with me, the only way you get out of it is . . . well, you know."

"I'm not sure what you mean."

"It's simple really." The Man took a pocket knife out of his coat pocket. "Need I say anything more?" Collins shook his head. "Good." The Man put his knife back in his pocket. "So, you wanna buy your usual?"

"Um . . . sure," Collins said, digging in his pocket hoping to find some money.

"Don't worry about that," The Man told him, handing him a small stash. "Consider me saving your life your payment." He walked off and Collins stared at his newly obtained stash. He'd obviously been doing this way too long if he had a "usual." He stuffed the stash into his pocket and decided to make plans on getting rid of it later.

Collins walked into the loft almost completely drained of energy. It was 7:00 p.m. and he was just now getting home. He usually got home way before that, but since it was his first day in a long time, he was swamped with . . . well . . . everything.

"Hey, Collins," Mimi said from the couch. "How was your first day back?"

"Long," Collins said, draping his coat over the beat up armchair. "I need some sleep."

"Before you go, do you have a lighter," Roger asked.

"Yeah," Collins replied. "It's in my coat pocket." Roger nodded, picked up Collins' coat, and started searching the pockets all before Collins realized he hadn't gotten rid of the stash The Man had given him earlier.

"WAIT A MINUTE!" But it was too late. Roger pulled the stash from the pocket and his eyes widened in horror.

"Collins, you . . . you promised!" Mimi shouted.

"It's not what it looks like!" Collins said.

"Then what the hell is it!?" Roger asked angrily.

"The Man . . . he . . . he made me take it. He . . . threatened to-"

"I don't wanna hear it!" Mimi interrupted, storming into Roger's room.

"Why do you have this!?" Roger asked.

"Roger, I wasn't gonna do anything with it," Collins told him. "Honest. I was gonna get rid of it."

"How!? By using it!?"

"No! Just forget it!" Collins snatched the stash out of Roger's hand and left the loft with his coat. He raced down the stairs, out the door, and into an alley before he stopped. He stared at the dumpster just feet away from him. After thinking for a moment, he threw the stash away.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" he heard an angry voice ask. Only this time it wasn't Roger's. Collins turned around to face The Man, who looked furious.

"I-I don-" Collins started.

"Didn't I tell you there was only one way to get out of a deal with me?" The Man interrupted.

"Yeah, but . . . my friends . . . they think I-"

"I don't give a damn about your friends!" The Man produced his pocket knife again. "You want outta this deal!? Fine! You're out!" He came closer to Collins.

"Please, I-" That was all Collins could out before he felt The Man's knife being pushed into his stomach. It was twisted and then finally pulled out, causing Collins to fall to his knees. He put one hand over his wound and the other on the side of the building. As The Man left the alley, Collins slowly began blacking out.

"Collins!" he heard someone's voice call. He couldn't make out if it was a guy or a girl. He just knew it sounded scared and panicked. "Collins!" The voice sounded closer now, but that made no difference to Collins.

He'd lost control of himself, forgetting how to breathe, talk, or even move, as the rest of him involuntary fell to the ground and the blackness set in . . .

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