Chapter 1
Normal meets abnormal
"...Fuck Mondays…"
My low-muttered complaint fell on deaf ears as it swiftly drowned in the sea of noise. Footsteps, people talking on the phone, and the usual casual conversation mixed with the traffic all served a chaotic cacophony. Welcome to New York, as they say, where the norm is bumping into everyone's shoulder as you try your best to reach work without spending money on a taxi. Why would someone decide to live in such a busy city?
For many people, the aroma of success draws them in, giving it their all to be unique and special. Humans have a desire to stand out among the crowd, be the star and the main protagonist of their life as if their entire soul depended on it. If they ever fall in the shadow, their part in this show of life would be meaningless and shallow. Nobody would want to be forgotten and fade without any achievements...right?
Nobody would want that, unless you're the minority like myself and many others. Whether calling myself a minority is pretentious or not, I can assume that my current mindset is not too common.
My greatest wish would be to blend in the crowd without anyone noticing my presence. Ambitions and dreams don't mean much to me, as I simply want to live a calm and peaceful life doing the things I enjoy. I don't feel lonely or sad, I just don't enjoy the constant attention from achieving amazing feats like others do. Which brings me back to New York.
The busy city has a tendency of being attractive to delusional young adults thinking that fate has wonderful things in store for them. The truth of the matter is that New York is a jungle where the weak gets eaten by the strong and if you don't adapt, you'll never survive. You'll get dragged away by the cold and uninviting void of normalitude. Of course, it only feels this way if you enter without the right mindset. I embrace the normality and it is exactly why I picked the big city: To blend in the mass.
My inner thoughts came to a stop when my ears caught the familiar sound of my shoes echoing against a tile floor. It seems I made it to work. My legs automatically guided me to the elevator, skipping past the secretary and the various decorations in the lobby of my workplace. After seeing this place so many times, the details start blurring together and become unimportant. A short trip on the elevator and I was now at my desired floor, walking on the carpeted ground to make my way to my cubicle. With a sigh of acceptance, I sat down at my chair and stared intently at the ceiling above me. Once again, a short uneventful trip to the office.
When did I start working here? Why did I even start working here? The answers to the questions in my head were filled with static and glitches that made it almost impossible to recall. All I knew was that I was present ever since I turned 20, calling clients about their guarantee for their windows and ordering new pieces for said windows. I don't remember much from this place other than the fact that it helps me pay the rent and that my boss is a complete pushover that won't yell at you unless you aren't doing your job. Thankfully, I'm a dutiful worker that doesn't get distracted until the end of my shift.
My eyes get tired of staring at the yellow stain on the ceilings and look to the side instead. My cubicle was rather bland compared to what I've seen from others. While there could be the possibility of hung photos and maybe a calendar, I had absolutely nothing. Why hang a calendar when I can check it on my computer? There were the usual tools that you would find in an office but otherwise, a desk with a PC on it and a chair was the only thing you could witness. Not like it mattered to me, I usually kept forgetting most of my days at work.
Despite my pessimistic attitude, I didn't hate my job. I was lucky to work here, the job was simple, easy to do and didn't require much thought process despite the endless protest of my co-workers. I didn't have some loyalty or a weird sense of pride in working here. It was simply necessary for my survival, therefore, I did my best to satisfy my superiors.
"Good morning Hunter, here's the work for today…" speaking of superiors, one of them entered my small space with a load of papers in hand of various levels of maintenance. My brain quickly caught on and immediately went into work mode.
"Hey dude, you wanna drink with us tonight?"
The day was finally over, and just as I was stretching my shoulders, one of the guys from the office decided to ask me a question. Four of them were standing in front of my only exit, meaning I would have to answer them instead of pretending that I didn't hear them. All of them wore variations of the same business clothes, the tie being the only difference amongst them. I couldn't tell who spoke first due to them all looking similar to each other, but to be fair, the office life did not require you to be glamorous with your clothes.
"Sorry, but I've got other things to do. Besides, it's a monday and we've got work tomorrow." I answered back, not making eye contact with any of them as I grabbed my jacket from the chair that had suffered another eight hours of abuse. Ganbatte, Chair-kun! The day is almost over!
"Aw come on, you always say no even on a friday, what got you so occupied?" This time, I could tell that it was the one on the far left that had replied to me. He was taller than the others, one of his arms on top of the panel that separated our 'cage'.
"Maybe he has a girl waiting for him at home?" The slightly chubbier man beside Tall-guy proposed, shrugging his shoulders as his hands rested on his hips. I already knew what was going to happen next: an interrogation.
"Wait, do you actually have a girlfriend?" The shorter, and probably the youngest of the group, was the one who led the charge. However, I wasn't going to stand here for hours just to deny their claims, I had better things to do with my time and energy. So I simply looked at the four and gave my best smirk.
"Who knows?" I drawl with a faux-confident tone. If you could see aura, you could see the smugness oozing out of my body at an incredible rate. This immediately got the four men to grin at my statement, one of them even approaching me to pat my left shoulder.
"Hell yeah! Good job man, you go take care of your girl now!" The one who had completely crossed my personal space cheered on, almost ordering me. I simply nodded, raising my right hand to give a thumbs up and made a path for myself. As I walked toward the elevator, I could hear them shout encouragement and whoop of joy, as if one of their "boys" finally got themselves the highest trophy in life or something.
In truth, I didn't have anyone waiting at home. I simply gave a vague statement with enough information and intent that they could interpret what they wanted to hear. Instead of suffering a questioning that could last ages, I threw the meat they wanted to chew on and made my way home without spending a single ounce of energy. It could potentially lead to some irritating conversation tomorrow but the problems of the future are for Future Me to handle. Present Me is simply too tired of his day and wants to go back home and read a good book.
The cold wind reminded me that I had set foot outside the building, I could only sigh with fatigue at the bitter weather. It was still bright outside but the majority of people walking in the streets were clearly done with their days. I fumbled in the pockets of my jacket, grabbing a carton of cigarettes and positioned one in my mouth with a habile twist of the wrist. With the same precision, I grabbed my lighter and flicked my thumb on the rough cog to light it up, flame rushing out to burn the tip. Carelessly throwing the lighter back in my pocket, I took a deep drag of smoke and silently released it in the sky as I felt my mind wind down from the day. My body finally moved after I stared in the void, making my way back home.
Walking the streets as the burning smoke in my mouth slowly diminished with every breath I'd take, my brain recalled the event that had happened a few minutes ago at the office. I never understood the meaning of going to drink with people. Obviously, it's to hang out with friends but why go drinking when you could do something more productive? Is it the feeling of getting drunk? Is it more fun with friends? All these questions will probably never get answered unless I try it but I don't want to with people like these.
People that constantly breach your space with no reasoning to it. People that assume who you are and what you do with a single glance. People that just casually approach you to invite you somewhere. Maybe I'm the weirdo in this situation but I've constantly thought that people easily getting into your life would also easily leave it, and if that's the case, why bother with them in general? Besides, the less friends you have in life, the less trouble you'll attract and for a man desperately reaching for the normal and peaceful life, it's my ultimate goal.
As I, once again, got lost inside my own thoughts, I unconsciously turned toward an alley. It was small and very confined but it was a nice shortcut to get home faster and I was used to it at this point. My steps echoed, bouncing on the brick walls beside me as I kept feeding my head with pointless debate. Unfortunately, that also means I didn't notice the blue rag hanging directly in the middle of the path. Before I could even process what was happening, my right foot got caught in the damn thing as my left foot desperately tried to compensate for the failure of its twin. Soon enough, my entire body was victim to gravity as my hands instinctively reached for the ground to soften the impact.
"Ughff!" I huffed in pain as I crashed onto the dirty concrete, scraping the palms of my hands. After a few seconds of grumbling curses to myself, I did my best to get back on my feet with the remaining dignity I had left. Glaring at the scratches on my palms, I couldn't help to mentally whine about how annoying the burning pain would be during work shift. I'm not that much of wuss when it comes to pain but I still find it bothersome to deal with.
"..ouch…" my ear caught a small gasp of pain behind me, turning my head so fast I thought my neck would snap. Nobody was behind me except the blue rag...that was shifting...and breathing...what?
I slowly turned around, putting a knee down on the ground. It was cold and dirty but my clothes were already a victim so I didn't care much. Looking closer at the "rag", it looked more like a hoodie, the ocean blue color simmering down into foam white at the bottom. A decaled mouth with pointed teeth was sewn on the left side with fake drool coming from it, like it was opening up to eat something. Upon closer inspection, I could see someone's head peeking through the heap of cardboard boxes and trash laying around.
"Hey, are you...okay?" I asked, unsure whether this was a good idea. For all I knew, this could just be a random homeless person but it could also be some dangerous psycho laying around to fool people, and as soon as they'd bump into them, they would attack them...or maybe it was my overactive imagination making up stories to avoid responsibility in practically kicking someone.
"Hel...p...me…" The figure on the ground muttered in agony. My mind went into panic as both knees were on the ground, my hands hovering over their body. My head was rushing for answers as I looked for any potential wound that I could've caused. Looking closer, this person had a hood in the shape of a shark opening their mouth, their feature being revealed inside the jaw. It was a girl, a child judging by their height, with messy white hair escaping from her shark hat. Blue strands could be found in her bangs, the shade never being consistent. Her skin looked healthy but her expression spoke the opposite, her eyes squinting in pain.
"Hold on, I'll call an ambulance!" I tried my best to sound reassuring but my voice couldn't help but crack under the intense stress. If only I had looked where I was walking, I would've seen this child in my way. With the amount of force my foot came in contact with her sides, I probably broke a rib or something. My hand swiftly rushed in my pocket, trying to grab my phone as it kept slipping through my sweaty palms. Just as I was about to tap the number, a hand grabbed my wrist with incredible force. It was the child, who had opened her eyes and was staring at me with hazy eyes, the blue color reminding me of sapphires. Her grip got stronger, causing me to actually wince and drop my phone on the ground. How strong was this girl?
"F...d…" She mumbled incomprehensibly. My eyes darted all over the place to catch any possible hint but I could not understand. Almost in frustration, she took a deep breath of air as I leaned in to hear what she was saying better.
"Food…" She whispered weakly. As soon as she released the word, her stomach grumbled to a comically loud level. My brilliant response?
"What..?"
"Thank you for the food! I thought I was gonna die back there!"
Ten minutes ago, I was losing my marble over potential involuntarily third degree murder charge and how to escape the country. Now? I'm at a small restaurant, watching this kid wolfing the food in front of her as if the earth was planning to nuke itself in the next minute or so. There was so much food on the table I couldn't be bothered to name it all, the money flying away at every bite she took. Her sharp, almost shark-like teeth, was no match for the poor and soft food in her hands.
"What were you even doing in an alleyway?" I questioned as I positioned my face on my right palm, ignoring the burning sensation from the earlier scratches. Swallowing a handful of fries, she gave me a grin that threatened to split her face in half.
"Looking for something to eat!"
"In a pile of garbage?!" I tried my best to not bother the clientele but I knew that my voice must've been loud due to the fact that the girl in front of me recoiled for a slight instant before blushing, looking away with a slight pout.
"I was desperate and about to die of hunger, cut me some slack…" She mumbled quietly, frustration hinted through her tone as she grabbed a pizza slice near her and promptly shoved it in her mouth.
"Jesus, how old are you to live in the streets?" I moaned in despair, rubbing the fatigue from my eyes. I had just stumbled on either a runaway or an orphan living all alone in the streets, what was I even supposed to do with such a case? I'd love nothing more than to let someone else take care of the problem but finding someone sounds more trouble than it's worth.
"Uhhhh, I can't remember exactly so let's just say...9471 years old." She responded with a shrug, grabbing her glass of water and downing it at world record speeds. No seriously, someone should check the world Guinness record on that.
"Got it, so around 6 to 8 years old." I simply ignored the blatant lie and pondered on what question I should ask next. Judging by the color of her face turning red, it was a sure conclusion to say that my calculation of her age was wrong...or maybe it was the fact that I didn't believe her bullshit.
"I'm not a kid!" She smacked her hand on the table, glaring at me.
"Then tell me your real age, dumbass." I sighed out, crossing my arms across my chest. It was 6:30 pm and I was stuck dealing with some kid that thought she was immortal or something. God, I hope it's not a cosplayer that took it too seriously.
"I'm telling you, I can't remember! Just know that I am an adult!" She declared proudly, glaring with even more focus than last time as if trying to set me on fire with her mind. I simply rolled my eyes at the "danger" at the other side of the table and grabbed the bill from beside me.
"Fine then, will Ms. Adult cover the bill?" I asked as I raised an eyebrow, showing the tall thin paper in my hand. She looked confused before smirking, looking away with the air of an aristocrat.
"Considering you kicked me, I say that serves as a nice apology from you."
"You little shit, so you do remember…" I gritted my teeth, now my turn to glare at her like the menace she was. A few minutes ago, she was pretending to not know how I found her and now she just revealed her true face! "Where are you even from anyway?"
"Atlantis." she replied casually, finishing her food with a sigh of relief. Was it my imagination or did I just see the ghost of my wallet flying by?
"Why'd you leave Atlantis?" I decided to entertain her fantasy world and ask her more questions. I don't know if it was because I was actually interested in the insane overactive imagination she had or if I was simply bored out of my mind.
"Wanted to see the outside world." She breathed out, looking outside the window with an emotion I couldn't place in her eyes.
"Yeah? How's your experience so far?"
"...Terrible…" She whispered just loud enough for me to catch it. The unknown factor in her eyes could be identified now. Sorrow. A touch of loneliness. Judging from everything she told me, even if half of it must've been fake, she was still a person stuck in the streets. Whether she was telling the truth on being an adult or not, being homeless is never a good experience for anyone I imagine.
Having no place to call home or to come back to must be a sad experience. No hobby to lose yourself in when work pisses you off, no bed to fall on when your legs can't support you, no 3 am snack to munch on when you get hungry at night and that's only the beginning of what I can imagine. I was still unsure whether she was a runaway or homeless, but it didn't matter. Getting lost in the streets of New York, she wasn't having a good time. I stared at her sapphire orbs.
"Let's fix that then." I swiftly declared, getting up from my seat and successfully getting her attention. She looked at me with visible confusion in her face.
"Huh?"
"Wanna go to the arcade?" I proposed with a small smile, nodding my head toward the door as I left a couple of bills on the table. I feared that she didn't know what an arcade was but to my relief, her past confusion turned into absolute surprise, then quickly into joy, doing her best to hold back a full blown smile. Her eyes were shining with excitement, a contrast to their earlier state.
I don't know what compelled me to entertain this gal but seeing her face did bring relief to my mental being. The hollowed eyes I had witnessed was not something I wanted to see again. Call it weakness or compassion, I don't really care, I'm not known for being the most consistent person in life.
"Hell yeah!" She jumped up, running toward the door like a child, going past me. Despite the short conversation and interaction we had, I felt compelled to make her life a little brighter. Something about her energy and attitude was warming to the heart. Even being a victim of New York's harsh environment, she still had a fire burning strong in her heart to smile. It was enough for me to share some kindness...and of course money. Her personality was not the only unique thing, her attire definitely attracted some eyes as a few customers couldn't help but peek at her blue hoodie and shark hat, and...shark...tail. I had to blink twice to make sure I wasn't seeing things but fortunately, I wasn't going crazy yet. Coming out of the hoodie where her lower back should be was a blue shark tail, swishing left and right with vigor. It even had stitches and a bite mark. "What are you waiting for, slowpoke?!"
"Yeah...yeah, I'm coming." What a weird accessory...though I couldn't shake the thought that it looked too real to be one.
