The Daily Life Of Anonymous

by Zarah

A life to regret

Anon had spent a fair few hours sitting in front of the wood stove, watching the flames through the front grate, seeing them thrash and dance as they hungrily consume the remains of those Timberwolves. While he would be contempt just watching them, a familiar face became the focus of his attention.

"I think this is the first time I have seen you not sleeping, punching something, having a panic attack or being depressed. What's the occasion?" Alex questioned, ending with a warm smile as he took a seat on the two-seater couch Anon was occupying.

The human shrugged as his eyes lazily found the flames again. "If I had to guess, it’s probably the fact that I know what will happen within the next few days. While I didn't have much of a routine back on Earth, far from it actually. I had confidence in my abilities, but here?" Anon gestured to the room.

"I have no information, no experience and no plan. But for the next few days, I know that Twilight and Starlight won't pop in out of nowhere and drag me on the next train to who knows where. I know that with these nightmares going on, it’s highly unlikely I will have visitors, and I plan to use Twilight's tome of bullshit to help me experiment with my magic." Anon sinks further into the couch, letting out a sigh.

"Well-"

"Oh, it probably helped that I kicked the shit out of some magic tree wolves and used their corpses to heat my home." Anon quickly added, giving the stove a menacing grin as he chuckled.

*Sigh* "Yep. Anyway, where's the tome at?"

Anon gets off of the couch with a few grunts before grabbing his backpack near the front door and bringing it back. Flopping back onto the couch, Anon opens the backpack to reveal the stack of parchment clipped together.

"I'm realising now that 'tome' was more metaphorical than factual. It doesn't even have covers." Alex watched Anon place the tome on the small round coffee table in front of them as the crackling fire sheds much needed light on the book.

"It's written like one and it gives me a headache trying to read it." Anon comments as he flips through the first few pages. Some of the pages have rushed looking notes in a different handwriting to the rest of the T̶o̶m̶e, B̶o̶o̶k̶, Stack of parchment.

Anon scans the next page as his finger follows the words. "Now where is.. Ah here." " 'By allowing magic to flow through Certain appendages, the wielder can cause magical discharges at the Extremities. By focusing and containing these discharges, the wielder can manipulate their magic to create magical phenomenon. By applying different levels of focus and at different time frames, these discharges can be refined and combined to create the spells we know today.' " Anon finished gesturing towards the page in confusion. "How in the actual hell does she expect me to understand 'appendage' and phenomenon'?" The human turned towards Alex with an expected look.

Alex looks back at Anon before glancing a few times at the current page then shrugs.

"I don't know what you want me to say. I understand it well enough." Alex responded as he gave Anon a somewhat apologetic look.

"Wait, that doesn't make sense, how come you can understand it and I don't. What kind of ass-backward logic is this? Whatever, can you explain it to me then?"

Alex's apologetic look turns to a soft smile. "Course, no problem. You wanna grab some more parchment? To write down the 'translated' version I mean."

Alex's translation of the guide stretches well into the night, leaving Anon exhausted by the end of it. While the human could probably have done with a shower, he was too tired to care. After changing into his pyjamas which were just some spare clothes. Anon quickly let sleep take him as his head sank into the pillow.

"Anon..."

"Anon...!"

"ANON!"

Anon jumps awake as the top of his head hits something. "Ugh, fucking shit..."

"Fuck me man, the dead are easier to wake than you. Were almost at the first stop, get ready."

Anon rubs the back of his head as he looks around. The first thing he notices is that he is in an old beat-up Cadillac going down some suburbs. "Who are... Wait first stops? What?"

Anon looks over to the driver, a rough looking middle-aged man wearing a wrinkled casual suit with an open coat. His coat and dress shirt sleeves are rolled up revealing a tattoo of a bulldog with dog tags hanging out of its mouth. Both of his wrists have various bracelets from beaded to plain rubber, his knuckles seem to be torn up with the end of his fingers seeming bruised.

looking up to his face, he has a rough looking stubble with a slim but long scar running along his chin, his eyes seem slightly blood shot with darkened bags under his eyes. He dons a dark blue and very worn trilby.

"Jack?" Anon asks in astonishment as he rubs sleep out of his eyes.

"Yeah?" Jack answers, glancing at Anon before returning his eyes to the road before parking besides an old house.

Anon doesn't respond, simply staring at Jack before a series of snapping fingers in front of his face snaps him out of his daze. "The hells wrong with you today. You hungover or some shit? Need a refresher or something?"

"Uh yeah actually, that would be great. I think I hit my head a bit too hard. Just give me a general overview of us and what we’re doing." Anon says as he leans back into the tan leather seat.

"Damn, must have wacked yourself pretty good huh? Alright then." Jack unclips his seatbelt before fully turning to Anon.

"I'm Jack, my cousin is in a gang, and I owe him a few favours so I'm doing this otherwise I'm fucked. You're Anonymous. When you were young, you accidently shagged up an expensive deal going on for the same gang, to stop you and everyone you love getting chopped, you do as they say until you make the money back. We're friends because we are both completely fucked if we don't get results. We are currently collecting money for the loan shark bastards of a gang we are in." Jack finishes as he rolls down the window before lighting a cigarette tucked in the band of his trilby.

"Right, yeah. It's coming back now." Anon comments as rubs the back of his head gently before wincing slightly. "Pass the clipboard with the info on it then."

Jack exhales puff of smoke out of the window before replying. "You won't need it for this one, it's Ms Phillips."

Anon sighs as he opens the passenger door and steps out. "How much?"

"640, but she came up short last time. If you keep being nice they will change her collectors."

"I know, I know." Anon replies, closing the door and heading up the decayed wooden steps onto a large porch, sighing again he uses the lion styled bronze knocker a few times then waiting for a reply.

When nothing answered he used it again "Mis Phillips? It's Anonymous."

Anon was about to knock again before he heard shuffling behind the door. After a few moments the door opens with a loud creak as it scrapes across the wooden floor, revealing a little old woman in a dark pink woollen jumper. "Hello again dearie."

Anon gives her an apologetic smile before speaking. "Hey, have you got the money? You came up short last time and I'm worried they will send someone else if we don't get it."

"I thought that might be the case." she disappears behind the door for a few seconds before coming back with a small worn wooden box. "Here."

She gives Anon the small box; he opens it to find some nice jewellery with paper tucked under it. "I had it appraised a few days ago. This should cover it and any of the interest." She comments as she eyes the box with a sad look.

Anon notices the look of the old woman. "I won't ask, but I'm sorry. Stay safe." He says before returning to the car.

Getting into the car, Anon shoves the box into the glove compartment as he puts on his seatbelt.

Without saying anything, Jack turns on the ignition and drives towards the next stop.

For the next five minutes, the car is filled with silence until Jack breaks it.

"If it makes you feel any better, you're gonna enjoy the next one." Jack comments as he feels around under his seat for something before pulling out a clipboard and giving it to Anon.

He flips through a few pages and goes one past Ms Phillips to a "Hugo Thompson? Aged 32, owes two grand, damn."

"Keep reading, I thought he looked a bit off so I did some digging, should be on the second page."

"Right, let’s see. Arrested twice for domestic violence, wife and child have left." Anon gripped the clipboard harder. "Multiple reports of stealing from children and 2 charges of injuring neighbouring pets, charges were dropped due to lack of evidence." Anon threw the clipboard onto the backseat before sighing.

After a few more minutes of driving, the duo arrives at a beat-up looking bungalow with the front garden overgrown.

Jack shuts off the engine before grabbing a bottle of water from the car door. "How long you need?" he asks, taking a few sips.

"Not long." Anon replied as he cracked his knuckles. Leaving the car and closing the door, he heard jack call out as he made his way to the front door.

"Crowbars in the t-"

"Don't need it" Anon cuts jack off.

"Yep, he's pissed." Jack comments to himself as he chuckles under his breath.

Anon approaches the door and knocks loudly. It doesn't take long for the door to open.

"The hell do you want?" The man asks in frustration.

"I'm here to collect." Anon replies as a sly smile touches his lips.

The man tries to close the door but anon is able to shove his foot in the middle before shoulder charging it, knocking the man on to the floor.

Anon walks inside and closes the door as the man scurries back slightly before standing up. "Get the fuck out of my house!" he yells, throwing a punch at the intruder.

Anon swats the hand away then punches the man in the gut before pushing him onto the floor again. "Where's the money Hugo?"

The man grips his stomach as he props himself up onto his elbow. "Ugh, I-I don't have the fucking money! Cough Cough."

There were a few seconds of silence before Anon broke it with his chuckle. "I'm really glad you said that." Anon comments as he locks the front door.

In the car, Jack was doing a crossword puzzle as he listened to the radio. He checked his watch every few minutes until the sound of the car door opening broke him out of his thoughts. looking over, he saw Anon with wrinkled and blood-stained clothes, his fists were covered in blood as the knuckles were bleeding. Jack grabbed a towel from the back seat and gave it to Anon. "How did the therapy go?"

Anon wiped most of the blood on his face before replying. "That scumbag deserved worse, but I feel better. Although I'm getting tired again."

"Hop in the back and have a lie down, the next few seem easy enough." Jack suggests as he gestured towards the backseat.

"I'll take you up on that." Anon quickly exits then enters the car again before laying down on his back. As the engine starts, Anon drifts off to sleep.

As morning arrives, the sunlight streams into Anons bedroom, slowly rising until it shines on his face. It takes a few moments for the human to stir awake. Anon spends a few minutes remembering and thinking about the memory he dreamed about. "Hope you’re doing well Jack, wherever you are."

Comments

[THE_LONE_WRITER]

REPO MAN BABYYYY

[GenesisArtz]

"I'm realising now that 'tomb' was more metaphorical than factual. It doesn't even have covers." Alex watched Anon place the tomb on the small round coffee table in front of them as the crackling fire sheds much needed light on the book.

Tome

[Inugami]

11575480
More of a Mr. In-between m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNjc5M2I1YjQtYTQ5Zi00ZDYzLTllZGUtYzk3NTJiMjI3OGZhXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNjAwODA4Mw@@._V1_.jpg