The television in the living room chattered through the closed window. Clio was in my lap when I stirred awake. Night had fallen, and thick, dribbling clouds covered the wintry stars. I reached over to my phone sitting on the old beat-up table we kept outside. 7:00 PM it read. I don’t...want to go through that again.
Mrrow.
Shadow; the stray cat that I had rescued a couple years back, sat hidden within the shade cast by the table; her agate eyes the only thing visible as she peeked out from underneath it; safe from the rain, but not safe from the biting cold that would surely follow. I lifted Clio off the chair and stepped out of the awning; wincing as the cold drops sent shivers down my spine.
I pushed open the window, and Shadow sprinted out of the darkness of the table, and through the rain to leap into my room, while Clio and I went through the living room. As soon as I entered my father stood up and stepped over to me. I froze in my steps as the smell of fermentation washed over him. He set his plastic bottle on the rim of the table.
“Heard you called your mother a liar.” My father said as he glared.
“I didn’t.”
“So you’re calling her a liar again? I keep telling you, if you and your mom can’t get along, you’re going to have to leave.”
“I really didn’t call her a liar, Dad.”
“Lawrence. This is your last warning.” He jabbed his finger into my chest to emphasize, ‘last.’ “You stay here for free, you don’t fucking do anything the least you could FUCKING do is listen.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Now get the fuck out of my face.” His spittle rained down on me and smelled of vodka.
He shooed me away as he stumbled back to the sofa to continue watching his shows, as I skulked off to my room. Clio had already been shivering by the door, and rushed in as soon as I opened it. Shadow had made herself comfortable on my bed as Clio burrowed underneath the comforter.
I packed the bag as well as I could, and got a few pieces of clothes together: the thickest I could find. An old gray hoodie, the tan jacket. Three layers of shirts; a long-sleeve, a short sleeve, and a pair of blue jeans, and a belt to help hold them up, a pair of socks, and my old pair of ratty running shoes. I set these in a pile right by my bag and laid down. Be it from the series of mana locks, or the fact that I had slept on the floor the night before, sleep found me quickly. A series of feverish dreams of invisible beings fluttering through the skies and watching over me was interrupted when my father pounded on the door. I gasped and sat up straight and dug my phone out from under my pillow. 11:45 it read. Had I really been asleep for over four hours?
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
“What do you want?”
“Rent’s due.” My father billowed through the door.
“I...I forgot to withdraw it.” I yawned as I stared at the ceiling.
“Bullshit. If you…” He grumbled a bit, “If you don’t have it by tomorrow we’re kicking your ass out, you hear? Me and your mother already talked...about it. We’re tired of your damn dis...disrespect. 500. Tomorrow, got it?”
“Five hundred? But we agreed upon two hundred every other week!”
It was already hard enough finding gigs to pay for that, but what was I going to do? Holding a job with my disposition was...challenging to say the least.
He slammed his fist on my door.
“Don’t talk back to me. 600 now. Every other week. Have it for me by the time I come home tomorrow or get the hell out.” He managed to slur out his words.
“Okay…” I muttered.
I wished I could leave, but I spent the last of my money on getting supplies for tonight. My father stumbled away from the door after giving it one last kick. He wasn’t always like this. When he was out of money, and ways to get his hands on alcohol, he was friendly. The drink brought out the devil in him and was what drove my younger brother away from the family. That, and the fact that the both of us never really got along.
Now a new worry harangues me; homelessness. In less than 24 hours, I was going to be kicked out of the house. Me and Clio were going to have to find somewhere to live in the middle of winter. I should have bought a tent...dammit. I ran my fingers through my thinning hair and grabbed a handful of it. Dammit. Dammit. My heart thumped wildly in my chest. Dammit. Why now…always. Always when there seemed to be some good change in my life, something like this had to happen.
The Shard sat on top of the pile glowed as a message was transmitted to my mind.
If it’s money you’re worried about, you’ll earn plenty of it.
“What do you mean?” I muttered, “By selling items?”
Not just from that. Every door you close will have a difficulty associated with it that will be expressed in levels. For each level, we intend to pay you 100 dollars. And for every kill you get, depending on the ‘level,’ of the kill, we intend to reward you with ten. There are other ways to earn money, but we need to wait until midnight before you can see it for yourself.
All the anxiety I had just been feeling melted away, to be replaced by a euphoric relief, and I got dressed as quickly as I could. By 11:58, I had all of my clothes on; two layers of jackets, a long-sleeved shirt, and a short-sleeved shirt underneath that; the water bottle filled with tap water from the restroom sink, and my backpack on. I put my phone, the Shard, and my wand in the front pocket My father had passed out once more before I made my way out, as quietly as I could. Clio and Shadow both stayed, curled up together on the bed as I snuck into the night. I pulled my phone out, and watched the clock ticking down to Midnight with bated breath; hidden in the shadows of the threshold to my house as the rains battered down onto Porterville.
This is it. The moment my life changed. Midnight approached, and a wind blew in toward me: casting droplets of cold water into my eyes. By the time I opened them again, the world had changed.