Edward Collen was meticulously partaking in an activity in which he referred to as 'straight chillin'. Which really just consisted of listening to music out on the porch of his house. Calling it out a house was a gross overstatement to the portable RV he and his mother lived in.

His yard was a mess of barren dirt with weeds poking through it, littered with pieces of plastic and other various trash. The smell of garbage permeated the streets but was arguably better than the inside of the RV itself, which always smelled rotten no matter how much he cleaned it. He fucking hated that rotten smell so he spent as little time in that house as possible

They were without a doubt trailer trash. But what could you do? Edward accepted his lot in life and didn't complain much about it. Despite the terrible living circumstances he found himself in, he found himself lucky. He had wealth, not in money, but a peaceful life which consisted of going to school, hanging out with his bandmates, and fucking around in peace. which is more than he could ask for.  

the other kids in the neighbourhood weren't so lucky. Evidenced by the constant stream of police cars responding to domestic disputes

Edward didn't have much to complain about except for his veritable lack of material possessions. His only assets where his off brand phone, thrifted clothes, and a drum-set left behind by his criminal father before finally being hauled off to prison. It took a good while for it to happen, not that he was complaining. They were nice drums and allowed him do some gigs here and there. Not that he got paid much but at-least he could get some fast food for himself here and there. He heard the door open behind him. 

"hey shitstain"

"WHAT" 

"I told your ass an hour ago to wash the dishes fucker"

"Gimme a sec damn " 

Edwards mother was dumpy woman with deep red hair. Her features would be fair if her skin wasn't literally sagging off her face from her horrible diet and constant stream of cigarettes. Her teeth were stained a deep shade of yellow and her breath was something that would offend a sewer rat. She was covered in tattoos, which to say the least, were not tastefully done at all. 

They consisted of what he thought was a pony, Letters spelling out JAKOB, his father's name, and a whole bunch of other tattoos that were nonsensical in nature. The one that stuck out the most to him was the one on her left shoulder. 

It was a tattoo of a phoenix, carefully crafted together with orange lines representing its torso, head and wings. Red lines were made up of its flame so intricate in its design that you could spend hours looking at how they intersected. 

Which Edward often did when he was a child. Sometimes it looked like the flames were dancing depending on how she moved her arm. He always wondered how she could afford it, as all her other tattoos looked they were done in someones garage, drunk off their ass. 

Edward got up and followed his mother back into to the kitchen, where she went to prepare 'dinner'. She was boiling mystery meat In plain water, which she no doubt found on the road. In plain water. He got to work on the dishes. 

"hey ma, I know were white but have you ever heard of seasoning? This shit is getting out of hand"

"SHUT UP and stop complaining. Be grateful we even have food to eat"

Edward didn't say much after that. If he talked to his mother for too long they would inevitably get into an argument, which he didn't really have the patience for today. But something told him to do it anyway. 

"Are you ever gonna tell me where you got that tattoo? and don't spout that usual bullshit saying its our family crest. we live in an RV for fuck's sake" 

"I told you your gramps gave it to me. You would've got one too if he was still with us"

Edward wasn't buying it. He was poor not dumb. He had no other family he knew of except for his daddy in jail and his gramps, both deadbeat drunks. Like he would ever have the talent to make an art-piece like that. If he did, something must have gone terribly wrong for him. His mother seemed to get a bit emotional thinking about it, which was a surprise to him.

"What was gramps like anyway"

"Oh he was piece of garbage. He tattooed me when i was 12 you know. Who does that? I remember crying and crying..."

She trailed off 

"Was he some sort of artist. He sounds like a real piece of shit tho"  Replied Edward

"All the men in our family where like that. And no he couldn't do art even if he had a gun to his head. It was just the one piece. He did it out of the blue and he kept on rambling on saying it was our family crest and drew it on everything. You're old enough for this talk, dont ever do acid"

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Okay? He was admiring some sort of drug fuelled vision his gramps drew.Still, it looked fucking awesome. Amazing how the human brain works. His mother turned around to face him, showing a very rare expression. Edward felt uncomfortable with the way she was acting. Where was the foul mouthed mother with a permanent scowl he knew? She always swore and never answered his questions so easily. 

"I know we may not have much but your a good child Edward. I thank god everyday you didn't turn out like them" 

"Huh, yeah. Whatever" He turned away, feeling kind of embarrassed. He felt his phone buzz

[Jeremy: You pullin up?]

[Ed: Nah]

[Jeremy: Theres gonna be Hoes]

[Ed: Say less]

Jeremy was his bandmate and best friend. Who was throwing a party while his parents were away on vacation. Typical teenager stuff. He didn't really feel like going but hey, who can say no to hoes? But Edward was a gentleman. He would be damned if he ever had the same fate as his father, or even acted like the misogynistic, drunk piece of shit he was. He didn't deny the strong interest he had in girls though. 

Edward skipped dinner like he usually did. He loved his mom but not enough to pretend to like the vile poison she called cooking. He got dressed in what was baggy, light blue jeans, brown boots and a tight tee to show off his wide frame and shoulders. Edward looked in the mirror and saw his deep coloured red hair, and slightly above average face. His entire outfit was simple and thrifted, but showed off a subtle sense of style.

His belt was studded, wrapped around his narrow waist and his neck was adorned with three chains, meticulously placed to overlap each-other. Most of his fingers where adorned with simple rings. He was told he had a good sense of fashion, but was his outfit was second hand and undoubtedly cheap. 

He left the house and walked for around 15 minutes before he got out of his sketchy neighbourhood and walked for 5 more before reaching Jeremy's place. He could hear the music blasting before he even walked in. Huh? He liked this song. Money Trees by Kendrick Lamar. The party looked like it was going on for a while, with people flooding the house and the backyard. 

Edward walked in and saw Jeremy flirting with a girl who was clearly drunk. Edward felt himself getting kind of pissed off until he saw him spill his drink on himself. He was clearly drunk too so he pushed it out his mind. Jeremy saw him and walked over

"Wassup?" 

"Was good"

They did a handshake that was colloquially known as a dap up. 

"You look like you need a drink?"

"You're telling me brother. My moms being all weird and shit"

Edward spent the next two hours drinking like a fish and flirting with girls that approached him. Under normal circumstances he'd be much too nervous to converse with girls this smoothly. Currently he was next to Jeremy and a girl with black hair he was flirting with.

"So you play drums? That's kinda hot" The girl was just as drunk as him.

"I know how to pound a thing or two" Was that dumb to say? He was horrible at flirting obvious from the lack of a girlfriend, or any partner for that matter"

"hahaha" She's laughing, shit did that work?, what should i say next?

"You wanna go upstairs?" She took a minute to think about it. 

"Sure" HOLY FUCKK

She grabbed his arm and led him upstairs, but all the rooms were occupied. Fuck. What should he do now?

"Maybe we can make out on the patio outside?"

The unnamed girl seemed to think about it, and nodded her head. He led her down the stairs in a hurry and could hear her giggling behind him. As soon as they got outside however, she threw up, all over his pants and boots. Edward just stood there stunned, and after a moment he just rubbed her back, accepting his shitty luck. 

"Awww fuckkk lets just get you some water okay" 

Edward left his boots on the patio and they went back inside, and Edward plopped her down on the couch after giving her a glass filled with tap water. He utterly reeked of puke. so it didn't look like he was staying for much longer anyway. But not before, getting his boots back. Those cost money you know?

Stepping back out onto the patio, he noticed a green blur in the sky, he kept staring at it for a couple of minutes and thought it was getting bigger. Damn. He must have been really drunk himself. He grabbed his boots and stepped through the house onto the front lawn where he saw Jeremy making out with the same girl as before. 

"Yo you heading out?"

"Yeah, I'm done here, I think I saw a UFO in your backyard though."

Jeremey leaned in and whispered in his ear

"Stop with the nerdy shit your gonna scare the hoes. and you smell like shit, and your poor" Where'd that come from?

"Fuck you dude"

Edward left, walking in just his socks, when in the corner of his eye he noticed the green blur again. Was it following him? He wasn't sure but he picked up his pace anyway. He walked for about 10 minutes until he was positively sure it was following him, He wasn't getting probed tonight. Thats not how he wanted to lose his virginity. He then broke out into a full blown sprint. His back felt weirdly hot until out of nowhere his back was hit by something HARD. 

Edward, stumbled over and fell face first into the concrete and dropped his boots. "What the fuck" He turned around and froze. Staring at him was two pitch black hollow eyes, surrounded by the engraved skull of a massive bird. Its skeletal beak, was pointed and long, and looked positively sharp. 

The bird looked like a desecrated corpse, with exposed muscle and tendons hanging off its skeletal frame. Most peculiar was that it was covered by green flames that was continuously burning off its flesh. It spread it wings and Edwards nostrils were assaulted by the ever familiar smell of rot. Than it started pecking at him. Its beak first hit his neck, puncturing it, followed by a gush of blood. Edward put up his arms to defend himself but it was relentless, picking at his arms and consuming his flesh infront of his eyes. 

Edward felt abnormally hot until he realized he was on fire. "Ah" a guttural scream escaped his lips

The fire spread, and somehow Edward thought to roll around to put it out, he felt its peak hitting its back, chest and arms, slowly picking at him until the flame engulfed him entirely. "HELPP" Edwards screamed until his throat gave out. The pain was unbearable. Why was no one coming to save him? Didn't anyone hear his plea?

It got to the point where he couldn't move a muscle, but could feel everything happening to him, Eventually he passed out.