That odd smell lingered at the tip of Jered's nose yet again, waking him up in a bad tune. He frowned and pinched his nose shut, and slowly clambered out of his bed. The sun had already climbed up to the centermost seat in the sky, overlooking the underneath cluster of urban activities.
He proceeded to splay the windows wide open, just in time for a morning breeze carrying the remainder of yesterday's storm to swoop inside. The fresh aroma of ozone the rain left behind dampened a bit that odd tang permeating his room. Thankfully the smell didn't stick around to further test his patience.
A quick glance at the clock told him that he had overslept, and that his mother had already headed off to work. Jasmine instead was at her friend's place, and would not be coming back until further notice. He was alone. It was the kind of movie-esque situation where he could throw one of those mind-blowing parties that'd involve alcohol, scantily-clad underage girls, and a massive lack of common sense. It was not that uncommon for underage girls to get pregnant, after all. It was all in good faith.
He was almost tempted to do it.
Jered took a minute to let his eyes catch up to the fact that he was awake, rubbing them for good measure. The memory of last evening swirled around his hazed mind, life-like and crystal clear. He could remember the pain, and the mystical feeling of being infused with magic. Was that even magic? He didn't feel magical at all. Maybe it was a gradual thing...
He munched on his bottom lip for a bit, contemplating on his next course of action to take... oh right, how silly of him!—Gravewall Mental Hospital. That has always been the answer to his quandaries. A quick visit to a certain someone to rekindle their friendship was in order, but more than that, it was a hazardous journey into the kingdom of the mad hatters to stockpile his prized elixirs. He might need them, or perhaps not. It was all about the safety he'd feel if he had them. It was amusing how he kept going back to the same place he swore to never be admitted in. It was his self-inflicted curse.
With a clear goal in mind, he washed and got dressed properly before striding downstairs, and after grabbing some breakfast on the fly, he was out of the door. Jered traversed the streets leisurely, sauntering around the peaceful neighborhood he lived in. The atmosphere was one of normalcy, happy families, laughing kids, and all the lies that'd never leave his house. He passed by Jasmine's friend's house, the Cruentus Family. So perfect were they, so kind and so false. They were an even bigger lie than the Jacobs.
He shook his head, pulling the hem of his black jacket straighter against the chilly wind. Sometimes he felt like he was the only one that could see past people's smiles, or maybe he just refused to see anything else besides what he wanted to. Ah, perhaps he was just in a philosophical mood. Gosh, the last thing he wanted was to become like those angsty girls and post daily quotes about life and love on his social media. That was Jasmine's job.
Eventually, his stroll came to a conclusion when he arrived at a bus stop shelter. It was a bit out of the way, but it was the nearest one. He tucked his hands inside the pockets of his denim jeans, disinterestedly looking up. The sun had lost some of its former radiance as stray rain clouds marshaled around it. He looked back down, and waited patiently.
Cars sped by back and forth, with no trace of the bus he's been waiting for. He had the whole day to do what he set off to do, so its delay wasn't really a problem. Meanwhile, the wind picked up speed, and the overshadowing clouds boded the forthcoming rain. The National Hurricane Center had leaked the news of a hurricane en route towards the east coast. And while Alabama wouldn't bear the full-blown hit of the storm, the climate was still severely affected.
"Excuse me, has the bus to Eastford Avenue already passed?" a strong rush of that familiar odor slammed on his face with all the subtlety of an elephant in a whorehouse. His nose twitched in reaction, prompting him to shoot a glare at the source, who turned out to be an elderly woman with the strap of an umbrella hanging from her forearm. She smelled as if she were bathed in that stuff. Maybe sensing his annoyance, the lady smiled apologetically.
"Not yet." he started, "I only hope it won't run too late."
"Yeah, that would be most unpleasant." she sat next to him and tucked her hands upon her lap, "If only the weather was a tad bit nicer..."
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Jered let her know his utter disinterest in holding any sort of communication with her by grunting out a hum of approval. The old lady though seemed to have different plans.
"You don't have an umbrella, do you? You'll get soaked once it starts raining..." she sighed remorsefully, "Hmm, you're also taking the same bus as me, right?" her soft tone carried a certain hint of something that had him finally making eye contact with her.
He was caught off-guard by the surging interest brewing in her not-so-old blue eyes. Her face was stretched by the passage of time, with wrinkles framing the edges of her eyes and mouth, yet she had this tangible aura of youth around her, as if she had never truly grown up. Like a kid trapped in an old body.
"So it seems..." he muttered, still flooded by question marks. "There are only a handful of buses that stop by here, and considering the time, the one that is currently coming is indeed headed for Eastford Avenue," it was such a pointless question.
She nodded with a slight tilt of her head—and at long last—zipped her lips. And while Jered was grateful for the restored peace, he could feel her occasionally sneaking glimpses at him. He didn't mind, but there was something about her that triggered his fight or flight response. It was ridiculous. She looked so frail he could definitely see her being swept away by the oncoming storm... yet, she looked so graceful and composed for someone of her age, strong even.
He couldn't understand why. It might have been her eyes, they were as reassuring as they were scary, as if a wolf slaughtered a lamb and tried to wear its skin. And now she walked around with a face that was not hers.
"Are you okay dear?" she asked when their eyes locked onto each other.
"Yeah..." he said quietly, "I love this kind of weather, but it has the side-effect of making me think too much."
"Ah... yes, I agree with you. I'd enjoy it even more behind a window though, I don't fancy getting drenched."
He could see past her smile.
Eventually, the whistle of the bus pulling on the brakes squeaked out. He loosened out a sigh as the doors folded back, and allowed the passengers to step out. The vehicle eventually emptied out, and Jered climbed inside, as did the old woman.
"This will be the last ride for the day," the driver announced from the front-end of the bus, "I've just received notification that the weather is about to get really nasty, so you better not stay out for long. Hah, why not tell me earlier? Those from the Nation Weather Service are drunk, I tell you. Another hurricane? God loves and hates America." and then he proceeded to grumble something else that was lost on them.
"Hmm... I really hope this won't be as bad as the last one." the lady shook her head ruefully, "What do you think about it? I mean, global warming, pollution, and everything..." she swiveled around and looked up at him.
He didn't feel like joining in on a supposedly in-depth conversation about the world's problems and the like. It was way too early in the day for him to cogitate about those things. "That Earth has a bad case of stomachache due to all the shit we fed it, and now that we're smelling the stink coming out of it, it's too late to clean this whole mess up. At some point, Earth is going to flush us all away into space..." so he settled for a wisecrack while plugging in his headphones.
The lady stared at him for a moment before she creased up in throaty chuckles, "That's silly!" she kept shaking her head with that elderly smile that'd convince even god himself that she had nothing but pure intentions. "You have a weird sense of humor, but I like it. Thank you for the good laugh."
He nodded, indicating that he heard her despite the music blaring in his ears.
"What's your name may I ask?"
Jered knew that it was senseless avoiding a conversation with her. She seemed to have a purpose in talking to him, so he let her do all the talking.
"Jered."
The lady smoothed her skirt before sitting down, beaming at him, "Hello there Jered. I'm Rainey, pleased to make your acquaintance."
"Likewise."
Rainey hummed to herself, and all of a sudden her entire demeanor did a 180-degree turn. "Sooo... tell me..." she started while peering out of the window, where little pearls of water began pelting against the windowpane. Jered shifted his eyes upon her, "... tell me... did you perchance feel weird lately? Like a sudden pain, dizziness, or... abnormal changes... you know, things you can't explain?"
He paused the song mid-way and fully concentrated on the old woman, "Why? Is there a virus around or something?"
"Oh no no no," she waved her hand, as if the sheer logic behind his statement was amusing, "Nothing like that. But sometimes youngsters tend to do something very foolish, don't you think?"
Jered pressed the button for the next stop and nodded along with her, "I agree... nowadays teenagers act more impulsively. Might be hormones, a new trend, or some sort of hijinks. Who knows?"
"They're not at fault though, are they?" Rainey continued on morosely, talking more to herself than anything. She didn't even register his words, "Most of the time, they just don't know what they're getting into... so they think it's fine if they do it, that the worst that could happen is a slap on the wrist. However," her tone softened, and by that time Jered had already stopped staring at her, he already knew her next words. "...some actions have consequences that do not care about their age. And... and it's like this hurricane, you know? You don't truly feel it until everything around you start crumbling down, and you lose everything."