Episode 1: Nick(Zeroes)
“And in the daylight we can hitchhike to Maine
I hope that someday I'll see without these frames
And in the daylight I don't pick up my phone
'Cause in the daylight anywhere feels like home”
-“Daylight” by Matt & Kim, 2008
SEATTLE, March 7, 2007
The sun rose high above a Fall ridden Seattle. Nobody exactly knew why, since it usually rains there, or at least clouds up a bit. Everybody took their raincoats off, remembering to never listen to the weatherman ever again. The only people who didnt take their coats off were a bunch of people attending a funeral, as it was raining on the hill where the cemetery was located. The coffin bore the Flag, and several men in uniform were present.
Among the innocent civilian group was a mother hugging her 12 year old son. It was a sad day; it was the boy's birthday today. The boy had a choice of going to his dad's funeral or going to the Hobby Lobby to pick out a toy. He decided the funeral would be more enjoyable.
"Okay Nick, you have to pay your last respects to your father," the mother whispered.
Nick touched the coffin. Then he touched and caressed the flag laying on top. A soldier slapped the boy's hand off.
"Touching the flag like that is against the Flag Code," the soldier scolded, sipping a wine and wiping his mouth with an American flag design party napkin.
He waited for the soldier to leave, and he looked towards the coffin.
Nick started a eulogy he wrote the day he found out his dad died.
"Dear Dad, I missed you the moment you went on the plane to San Diego. I never knew you wouldn't ever be back, and that I'll be missing you for the rest of my life. I was always told you’d come back from Afganistan, but now you can't, or more like, you Afghcantistan. Thanks, dad. I told you you should have gone to Saudi Arabia instead, but wrong country I guess. I assume the war will end by 2009, so need not worry. Humans aren't that bad."
RUNAWAY, HOUSES, CITY, CLOUDS SEASON ONE: YOUNG BLOOD
Character info-
Nick Casey
Born: March 7, 1997(Age 17)
Favorite Label: Sub•Pop
Favorite Hobby: Reading
Trivia: Is the guy who comes to mind when you hear the LCDsoundsystem song “Losing My Edge”
FREELAND, WHIDBEY ISLAND, February 20, 2015, 5:40 AM
Nick woke up with a frown on his face, as usual. He always hated the tedious daily routine: Wake up, go to school, go to work, go home, masturbate, watch whatever is on Netflix, take a shower, go to bed. Repeat. Of course, he only had to worry about the school part for another year, and there were always friends for him to share his grief with.
Nick grabbed his iPhone.
"Siri, call Phoenix."
"Calling....Phonix."
Phoenix was a lean, smart, but very sleazy. He also had a very nasty tendency to be a complete douchebag. One of those guys who'd be on Jersey Shore.
Phoenix would barely be able to hear the phone over the loud moans of a girl that spent the night. He was having his own morning routine, which usually included porking random girls. It wasn't until both were done when he heard the phone ringing.
"Aw fuck, it must be my friend. Hold on baby."
Phoenix read the ID and answered.
"Nick what the fuck do you want?"
"Sorry to ruin your meat tendering, but you're late."
Phoenix automatically realized that he had to carpool Nick to school.
"Fuuuuuck...." Phoenix groaned.
"Sorry babe but you gotta leave."
The girl got out of bed to get dressed, and Phoenix resumed talking to Nick.
"Nick I'm so sorry, I'll make it up to you! Ill take you to get a HUUUGE Blizzard from Dairy Queen!"
"Phoenix just get the fuck over here."
"Don't need to be a little bitch about it"
"DUDE.”
"Finnnee. I’ll be ready in a few.”
Phoenix hung up and hopped to the door trying to put his pants on.
"Okay honey, you know the way out?" He asked the girl in his room, who promptly nodded.
OAK HARBOR
Jennifer carefully tended to her eyelashes as she hummed along to “Sweater Weather”, which was blasting out of a Bluetooth speaker in the bathroom she was in. She just got out of the shower and felt as fresh as ever.
Amy, waiting impatiently out in the hall, banged on the door.
“Jennifer what’s taking so long I need to get ready!!”
“In a minute, Amy,” Jennifer called out in response, still wearing nothing but a towel.
“Dammit Jennifer, You’re the worst roommate ever!” Amy growled before storming off.
SOUTH WHIDBEY HIGH SCHOOL, 7:30 AM
*Background Music: FIDLAR-Oh*
All the students were entering the high school, chanting to their friends and texting random people. Inside the building the crowd of voices was occasionally interrupted by slamming lockers.
Phoenix and Nick just got their supplies out of theirs before heading to a table in the cafeteria.
“Jesus Christ, Nick, why can’t we live closer to this place so I can sleep longer?”
“Why can’t you go to bed earlier is what you should be asking.”
Phoenix perked his head up at the sound of loud music.
“Fuck, Jennifer’s here!” Phoenix shouted, running to the front of the school.
Sure enough, a car driven by a disgruntled Amy screeched to a halt in front of the school, “Time of Our Lives” by Ne-Yo being heard by every student outside. Jennifer fabulously stepped out.
“Everybody behold, your queen is here!!” She declared. Amy, still in the car, rolled her eyes and began to light a cig.
Jennifer gracefully stepped out and ran straight into a freshman, whose milk flew out of his hands and spilled onto Jennifer’s leggings. She simply froze and stared at her leggings in shock as the freshman froze in terror.
The crowd around them went “ooooooh” when they realized the kid spilled milk on the diva of the school.
The kid, also realizing this, began crying and apologizing profusely.
Jennifer snapped out of her shock when she realized this and instantly tried to comfort the kid.
“Heyy, no need to cry, I’ll just wash myself off in the bathroom!”
“I’m sorry! Im so so sorry!” The freshman cried.
Jennifer pulled him into her arms for a hug.
“It’s fine. It’s perfectly fine..”
Phoenix and Nick just watched.
“This Moment went all over the place,” Nick commented.
Amy walked out of the car and towards the school, Nick and Phoenix in her path.
“How was your night fam-“
Before Phoenix could finish, Amy just retorted with a crisp “kill yourself, Phoenix”, not even stopping her brisk pace through them and into the building.
CANTERLOT
Twilight Sparkle entered the halls of Canterlot Castle, greeted by Cadence.
"Twilight! You were here sooner than expected!"
"What's the problem?"
"We've been getting strange threats from an unknown pony," Cadence solemnly responded.
"We can't find the culprit."
Twilight looked out a window. Canterlot looked beautiful during Spring, with all the newly bloomed flora and trees.
Twilight noticed she was getting sidetracked and got back on the current topic.
"Do you have any clue on who might have sent those threats?"
"Not at all. Shining multiplied the security measures but I feel that might not be enough. That's why I called you here. We need you to decode these-"
Cadence brought out the threats, which were scrawled on parchment, with strange symbols underneath.
"Hmm, looks familiar. Perhaps I have seen those in a book I read. I'll bring the notes back to my library and try to get to you as soon as I get something."
Cadence gave a soft smile.
"I don't know what I'd do without you, Twilight."
Cadence wrapped her arm around Twi, and they both felt secure, even with the threats.
"I'll find something, I promise," Twilight assured before trotting out the castle.
She started galloping towards the train station when she felt a sharp pain strike her. She tripped, and grabbed her head.
She didn't feel alarmed, just frustrated, since she's been getting very bad migraines lately.
"Here we go again," an upset Twilight groaned. She reached into her saddlebag and tried searching for a potion to take her headache away. That's when she got knocked out.
Twilight woke up in a dark room. Very slowly she started to panic. She didn't know what was happening. Frantically scanning the room she could only notice her saddlebag next to her. That's when she noticed she was being watched.
"I've been watching you, Twilight."
"What? Who's there?"
"I've been waiting for you to come."
"What are you talking about?"
A dark pony emerged from the shadows. The pony looked heavily beaten up and very boney.
"You're important, Twilight. A new order is upon your and the other world."
"Other world?"
"You have to decode the message. But you can't here."
"Wait, are you the one that's been sending the messages?"
"No....but I need to know what's on those notes. And you are the perfect subject. Smart, loyal, brave....you'll enjoy where you're going."
Before Twilight could ask where he was referring to, the Pony stabbed her in the chest with a carving knife and wrapped a rope around around her neck.
Twilight froze in utter pain and shock.
The pony kicked the chair Twilight was sitting on from underneath her and she ended up hanging from the ceiling.
Twilight couldn't describe the amount of pain and fear she was feeling. She didn't know what was happening to her, why some pony would use a rope for murder. She felt her limbs automatically twitch and her body convulsed violently. She started losing her will to think, going deeper and deeper into death.
Why....is....do.....to.....me......
She went limp.
The room went silent. The pony reentered the room, stepping over the blood, urine and defecation underneath Twilight and to a desk with a list. He crossed off her name, and opened a briefcase with an odd rock inside. The rock looked crystal with rainbow coloring. The pony stared at the rock, and then vaporized into thin air, ready to take on his next objective: to initiate the New World Order.
Twilight slowly opened her bloodshot eyes. She blinked a couple times and suddenly noticed the sky looked different. She stood up in amazement for two very important things. One, she wasn't dead, and two, her surroundings looked worlds away from what she lived in. She noticed several beings that looked exactly like the ones she encountered when going through the mirror, but non technicolor, and much grittier looking.
She tilted her head back to see a huge monument protruding from the ground, which looked like a mondo futuristic tree. She looked to her side to see a weird metal building and a fountain with a sphere in the center.
She got up and limped forward to a building that had strange letters. She couldn't make out what anybody was saying; she's never heard a language like that before. No wait-she has. She could slowly start to understand the many conversations, and looked up to the buildings name: Key Arena.
SEATTLE, 9:30 AM
Twilight couldnt comprehend anything around her. Mainly, she couldn't figure why she's still alive, considering the despicable act that that pony committed on her. She nervously looked around for anything familiar she could relate to. Perhaps having something she's familiar with would help her around. But no.
Everything looked different, though she could find similarities in some things; she recognized streets and buildings, and after some walking to a place with a huge sign that read "PIKE MARKET", she could find books and food. Something she had to dodge often was a locomotive vehicle that the city had a lot of. Another thing she noticed is that nobody paid attention to her. Which is rather odd since she seemed to be unique.
That is when she remembered the note.
Twilight felt over her body and realized the note was nowhere on her; she had no way to get it deciphered.
Twilight needed a peaceful area to contemplate what she got into. She continued exploring and hoped she could find out what's going on.
WHIDBEY ISLAND, 12:00 AM
Amy picked her textbook from under her desk. History Class didn't suit her fancy but she longed to graduate, so she had to bear with whatever shit the school had to throw at her.
Across from her gave presence to her friend, Jennifer. Both were notoriously beautiful(source: the “#HushHush” page in the 2013 and 2014 South Whidbey High School yearbooks, where the majority of submitted secrets involved having a crush on the friends. The majority of them were surely submitted by seniors, and one of the teachers, whose name shall be omitted for privacy), but Amy realized, to her dismay, that guys find it to be a free pass to hit on them. While Jennifer thoroughly enjoyed the attention, Amy didn’t, especially since she got just as much as Jennifer and she didn’t want it.
Currently, she was getting such unwanted attention by Phoenix, who she noticed was sitting right next to her, staring at her chest.
"Phoenix, look at your own textbook," she snarked.
"My textbook has dicks drawn all over. I prefer female anatomy."
"Please, I'm not interested. If you don't mind, go stick your cock in a garbage disposal."
"Only if the garbage disposal is between your legs....”
Amy had a fist clenched ready for Phoenix's face until the bell rang and everybody got up and left.
WHIDBEY ISLAND, 2:40 PM
Harry woke up to a rude awakening. Phone rings are never a good thing to wake up to, but it isn't any better waking up to the high pitched synths of the Human League's "Love Action", Harry's ringtone. Harry picked up the phone. His friend and boss, Buck, had to call him during his nap.
"What's up, Buck?"
"Harry, are you sleeping? You could be doing something useful."
"Yes, I know, but I had a rough night," Harry rolled over and pushed a Whiskey bottle off his bed. He liked between his legs to see that he left a VCR recording of "New Wave Theater" on.
“Stop being a lazy faggot and get over here!" Buck yelled through the phone.
"Dude, you always have to make it so personal, just fuck off, I have a massive hangover. Let me get a day off, dude.”
“Oh, I'm so fucking sorry, but the government takeover wont wait for your hangover. Now get over here!"
Harry hung up and got ready to start the to-be shitty day. He put on some acid washed jeans, with a leather jacket. Grabbing his trusty 1979 Walkman, he staggered to his car: a 1973 Ford Falcon, which his rich parents had exported for him.
Harry got in, and loaded a tape in the built in deck. Taking some Advil, he took a deep breath and put on a handsome grin, especially with "I fought the Law" blasting through the speakers. Fitting, telling by what Buck's work for Harry consisted of.
Harry drove to Castle Park in Langely. Apparently, somebody was already there, and Buck didn't seem to be happy. Both were arguing.
“What's your fucking problem? It's my responsibility to solve these happenings! I don't need some bitch to do a story!"
"I'm sorry but I'm going to do my story, and I don't give a flying fuck what you feel about me being here!"
Harry intervened.
"What's going on here?"
The unwelcome person, a pretty girl with a camera around her neck, looked at Harry and smiled softly and put out her hand.
"Hey! I'm Teresa, a journalist for a blog I run."
Harry shook her hand.
"I'm Harry, I work for Buck here."
Buck sneered.
"Harry's a faggot. He's gay, and he's stuck in the Eighties. His opinions don't matter as much as mine do."
Teresa glanced at the confederate flag hanging from Buck's pickup.
"Wait, I've heard of you. You're Buck, that spoiled prick that has such a hard on for impressing your government dad you want to take over DC. Yeah, you aren't that special, either."
"Fuck off, bitch."
Harry shook his head and looked forwards Buck.
"What did you call me here for?"
"Look," Buck pointed to a path into a wood trail.
"An unidentified object dropped from the sky earlier today. I want you to check it out."
Harry headed into the woods to see what Buck seemed to be interested in. What Harry found seemed to be a crystal of different colors, which seemed odd, as the rocks and minerals found around Whidbey were hardly interesting.
Teresa found her way to the scene.
"What is that?"
"Beats me," Harry shrugged.
"But I haven't seen anything like it around here."
"Why doesn't Buck look for himself?"
"He's too important. That's what I do. Check this shit out."
Harry dusted the dirt off his grey slacks.
"Looks like we found whatever Buck wanted me to look for. Better give my specimen to him before he kills me-"
Harry stopped in his tracks. He looked at the crystal. The thing seemed to give him strange vibes. Something gave him the feeling he should keep the crystal from Buck.
"You know what? Let's keep this between you and me."
Teresa gave Harry a puzzled look.
"What are you up to?"
"Just, I feel like I should check this out by myself."
"Well, if you find anything new, give me a call. I'd like in on your investigation."
"Sure. Ill ring up when I find something worthwhile."
Teresa left Harry after they exchanged numbers.
LANGLEY, WHIDBEY, 7:40 PM
Nick and Phoenix walked out the Clyde, a vintage theater in the middle of a vintage town, modernized for the new generation's convenience. Nick didnt like it one bit, but that's how the cookie crumbles. He firmly believed life moves on and leaves you to rot in whatever time you grew up in, even giving you delusions that life was perfect back then. Or, even better, have a younger kid get delusions about a time they didn't even experience. There's even a club for "90's kids" which consists of 15 year olds dancing Nirvana.
Which is why Nick despised kids.
Phoenix opened the door to his Corvette.
He revved up the engine and “Young Presidents” by Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin greeted him.
"Yo Nick, I'm going home. Smell ya later!"
Nick gave a slight wave and climbed into his own car, a Ford Focus.
"Call you tomorrow."
Nick got in and buckled up before beginning to drive home.
While driving in the dark roads to Guided by Voices’ “My Son Cool" Nick felt an odd sensation, like a hot flash. Without warning, something appeared in the headlights.
In a panic, Nick swerved to the side of the road, hitting a tree, knocking himself out. The tree gave up and let the car roll down a hill, tumbling around the side, before settling in a small river.
Nick woke up, but couldn't move at all. He found out he was restrained in the car, which was slowly being filled with water.
He tried to unbuckle the seatbelt, to no avail. Looking around desperately, trying to see through his blood soaked hair covering his eyes, he realized his only choice was to drown.
Suddenly, he felt everything around him moving apart, and his body being pulled out of the river. He couldn't do anything but lay in the dirt, witnessing a beautiful creature's silhouette watching the car's many pieces lying in the dirt next to him.
The creature looked so majestic and Nick was appalled by the pure magic the thing seemed to hold. The creature approached Nick, who was getting ready to see what magical thing saved him, the oddity that couldn't see him die.
The thing turned out being a pony.
A cartoon pony.
"What..the....fuck....are you...." Nick moaned in unspeakable amounts of confusion.
"I just saved your life and you start using vulgar vocabulary on me?" The pony replied.
"Oh no you talk too."
"Of course! Why shouldn't I?"
Nick tried sitting up.
"Because....you're a pony. A fucking pony. Ponies don't talk, they eat and watch bigger horses be all majestic and shit!"
"Can you watch the language?"
"Oh sure! How else would I respond to a fucking pony that I'm having an argument with?"
Nick collapsed in pain when trying to stand up. The pony trotted over to him to aid the injury.
"Hold still," the pony told Nick.
"What are you doing? Don't touch me!" Nick pulled away from the pony, wincing in pain right after.
"Listen....you're injured, okay? I'm trying to bring you back to your normal state."
"Obviously I'm not in my 'normal state', because Im talking to a 2D talking fucking pony!"
"Just relax, I'll fix you up. I have spells that can heal your wounds up like you wouldn't believe."
"I swear, if you kill me...."
Nick looked in awe as his wounds healed right there.
"What's your name, human?" The pony asked.
"I'm....Nick."
"I'm Twilight Sparkle. Nice to meet you."
Nick instantly recognized the name from the cartoon that Phoenix liked. Nick wanted to point that out, but a sharp pain hit him.
"Oh don't worry, Nick. That's just your body getting used to a foreign magic. Your world seems to be missing magic. How do you go on with your life without magic?"
"We live with nature. No magic. Just....nature."
Nick slowly got up. He still hurt a bit, but Twilight took care of the fatal wounds. Nick took out his phone to call a friend.
"Hold on, Twilight, I'm calling a friend to give us a ride."
CLINTON, WHIDBEY, 9:40 PM
Wonderful short dark hair with pink stripes in some places. That's what Lucy wanted to pull off. She tried looking through her drawers for the hair coloring, ignoring the shouts of her angry and VERY drunk dad. She had her door locked to prevent her dad from getting in and beating her or whatever fucked up agenda he had for her.
She couldn't find the coloring, but she did find her dad's one of many beer stashes in the house. She sat on her bed and opened up a bottle, taking a large swig. The beer felt warm going down her throat, and she enjoyed that a lot. She took another swig before lying on her bed. A couple minutes passed, and she finished the whole bottle when her phone rang. She struggled to pick it up, and got to a spot where she couldn't hear her parents fighting so loud.
"Hey who the fuck is calling?"
"Me, Lucy."
"Oh hey Nick! Im--kiiiinda busy right now. What do you want...."
"I need you to pick me up. I got in a car crash and I have no way of getting home."
"Oh oh oh, I see. But I'm kinda, well, you know....busy. Can I pick you up in the morning?"
"I need you now. You drive here, I'll do the driving home. You can spend the night.”
"Oh okay.” Lucy took a swig of the beer, not telling Nick she was getting drunk.
“Hold on right there. Im....coming. Heh, coming...."
LANGLEY, 10:00 PM
Nick spotted Lucy pulling over. Nobody had to fear of getting caught, since Whidbey streets weren't that active, especially during the night.
Nick took the driver's seat, while Lucy took the back. Right there, she became slightly frightened by Twilight.
"OH MY FUCK. Is that a pony?"
"Oh shit, yeah, that’s Twilight. Twilight, meet Lucy. She’s coming with us tonight.”
Twilight gave Lucy a concerned look.
"Hey Twilight, tell me....does my vagina look hot or nah?"
"..........NIIIIIIICK??.........."
“We’re almost there Twilight.”
Nick turned on the radio to distract Lucy.
Switching through numerous stations to try to keep from humiliating Twilight, Nick found a suitable station.
Leaning back, Nick continued driving, listening to the DJ.
“Greetings, listeners. Welcome to KEXP, Seattle. Here's a beautiful tune to drive to: M83's Midnight City. Everybody have a safe drive home and enjoy."
WHIDBEY MAIN ROAD, 10:42 PM
Twilight tried averting her gaze from a drunken Lucy, who was slowly stripping.
"Man it's getting fucking hot here."
"Lucy, the AC is on so fucking high you can use the car as a meat locker. Put your clothes on."
Twilight spent the car ride looking out the window and enjoying the song(“Hey Cool Kid” by Cloud Nothings) to distract herself from Lucy.
"Hey Nick, what are we listening to?"
"This is human music. You like?”
"I don't know. It sounds alien."
"You get used to it. Soon it'll be an everyday occurrence."
Twilight hoped that wouldn't happen; she just wanted to go home.
Her concentration broke when Lucy threw up all over herself.
"NICK!"
"Fucking Shit, Lucy! Why did you have to do that?"
Nick pulled up to his house. He opened the door and brought Lucy out, completely naked and covered in vomit. Twilight followed, and Nick looked around to make sure nobody was watching the strange shit happening. Nick unlocked the door and let Twilight in.
"Alright, I'm gonna get Lucy cleaned up. You can get comfortable. Just use the bathroom across the hall, don't go shitting on the floor."
"I wouldn't ever do that! I'm a civilized pony, after all." Twilight snapped back, offended.
"Whatever, just don't break anything."
Nick brought Lucy upstairs and started up the bath.
Getting Lucy in the shower, she leaned her head forward, soaking her hair in the shower water.
Nick brought out a loofa and soaked it in soap, and Lucy sluggishly raised her arms, signaling him to wash her.
Minutes passed, and Nick got up and helped Lucy out.
She sat and just stared at the wall.
“Why are you so drunk? If I knew I woulda just called me and Twilight a cab.”
Lucy started crying right there.
"My dad came home drunk today," she replied through her tears and hugged Nick tightly. He hesitated, then ended up returning the hug as she sobbed into his shoulder.
“We should get you a towel..” Nick said.
OAK HARBOR, February 21, 9:14 AM
Jennifer opened her drawers to gaze upon what socks she should wear. Different colored looked nice on her, so she went with that. She looked out the window to check the weather: Nice and clear.
She dressed up in a loose pink shirt, short shorts, and converse. After grabbing a pair of Ray Bans, JENNIFER looked in the mirror.
“You're gonna rock 'em today, Sweetie," she whispered to herself, touching her reflection before walking out. Jennifer approached Amy’s room and knocked.
Amy opened her door, “Let’s Go” by Lost in the Sound pouring out the room at loud volume.
"Hey Amy!"
"Lookin nice there, Jenny!"
"Thanks! Totally dressed up for Wal-mart shopping!”
They left their apartment and approached the car but was interrupted by a honk from a car.
"Hey, bitch!" She heard behind her.
"Buck, fuck off," Jennifer annoyingly replied.
"Aw Jenny don't be so angry because you're a slut and I'm responsible unlike you."
"Buck, I'm done with your bullshit. Please fuck off."
Buck slammed the gas on his pickup and sped off.
"SLUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTTTTTTTTTT" he sang while driving off.
Jennifer ran into the middle of the street, cupping her mouth.
"REEEEEEEEDDDDNEEEEEEEECCCCKKKKK!" She bellowed.
"Jennifer, get off the streets, you're gonna get run over."
Jennifer slowly headed back to the sidewalk.
The two entered the Walmart. They both passed a Subway, and Jennifer took a Whidbey Weekly, a weekly newspaper found in major stores on the island(Unless you were one of the old people that made up most of the place or somebody extremely involved in the island's events, you would turn to the police reports, which were hands down the most important part, logging the many precious police reports, from somebody complaining about a stray animal on their porch, or a weak threat from somebody the caller never heard of).
In the poster section, Jennifer scrolled through the posters. The Fast and Furious 7 one seemed fun, but she was focused on the Sports Illustrated poster, with a bunch of bikini girls posing. Amy turned to see that, and grimaced.
“What kind of fucking creep does that to women? Men could imagine their own bikini clad women, those slobs."
Jennifer shrugged and kept going. A girl bumped into her, making her drop her purse, its contents spilling out.
The girl flinched.
“I'm so sorry! Let me pick that up!"
The girl squatted to pick the things up, but stopped when she spotted a vibrator, and some condoms.
Jennifer laughed.
"Oh, those are for those long waits at the airport, or long class periods!"
"Oh...." The girl nervously replied.
"You get used to it," Amy assured the girl.
"What's your name?"
"I'm Amy, my friend here is Jennifer."
The girls shook hands.
"I'm Teresa. Teresa Williams.”
Teresa felt her phone vibrate.
“Oh I have to go. Thanks, see you around I guess," she said before rushing to the Starbucks across the parking lot. She had to meet a friend with experience in weird happenings around the world.
Teresa entered the building, letting the cool air rush in her direction.
With money in her hand, she approached the counter. Observing the man behind it, a tall scrawny kid with the nametag "Bob", Teresa prepared her order: A caramel decaf. Bob knew Teresa, so he saw her and automatically knew what she wanted.
"One caramel decaf coming up!" He shouted.
Teresa nodded in approval.
Eventually, her friend burst through the doors, exhausted.
"I'm....so sorry....the bus....was slow...."
Teresa rolled her eyes.
"You must be Erik."
"Yeah....that's me."
Both settled down at a table and got comfortable.
Erik took off his headphones, causing tunes to flow out through their radius.
"What are you listening to?"
"Baths, why?"
Teresa brushed it off.
"I need your insight. I know you've been around the block when it comes to weird shit going down."
She slid an envelope towards him with her fingers.
"Do you know what these are?"
Erik skimmed through the pictures trapped inside.
The pictures contained scenes from the park where the crystal was found, and a couple home photos from a hotel near the area.
“Very uncommon. Obviously something released some force when it landed, but it didn't seem to effect the playground in any way. Look at the way the soil is disrupted," he pointed to the grass area next to the forest in the photo.
"It's in a pattern. The residue of the blast must have been from something unnatural, because it obviously fucked with the color spectrum, telling by the technicolor splatters plastered in the surrounding area, and the black areas the camera didn't catch."
“What?" Teresa took the photos. Each one had pitch black voids where objects should have been.
“Look, cameras need light, that's what they capture. And the light coming from those objects ended up flying around and spreading to other places."
Erik picked up home pictures, with selfies of Teresa in her hotel room.
"Seriously? Did you have to take selfies in a hotel?"
"I was bored."
Erik stopped at one of the photos. He placed them in the sequence order they were taken in.
"Teresa you might want to look at these."
Teresa observed the pictures. The first ones they saw were actually the last in the sequence, the earliest hotel photos taken had voids in them, with rainbow splattering over the photo. The voids, upon further inspection, were vaguely humanoid shaped. Every photo saw the figure moving closer to the television. The last picture had the figure and distortion gone, but a face in the television was all that was left.
Teresa, mouth agape, stared long and hard. She got up and ran.
Teresa burst into her hotel room, with nobody in it. Teresa ran to the television and turned it on. The screen emitted static straight in her face, and the images showed up. An advertisement for the adult channels.
“Fucking hotels," Teresa growled. She stepped back. Nobody messes with her things when she was gone. Maybe it was all a photography error. Light gets messed up in pictures all the time.
FREELAND, 9:40 AM
Twilight woke up, briefly startled by the new environment. She got up and went to the kitchen, where Nick had been cooking a huge chocolate cake.
"What's the cake for?" She'd ask.
"It's the only fucking thing in life I can achieve that won't backfire on me." Nick would groan in reply.
Twilight never questioned it, but had interest in a big black square sitting in the living room.
"What's the big black square sitting in the living room?"
"A television. You can watch Netflix or just switch to regular TV."
Twilight fumbled with the remote when the television switched on. It looked like the news. She watched on.
"Nick?"
"Yeah?"
"What's a confederate flag?"
"A shitty cloth."
".........Nick?"
"Yeah?"
"What's Congress?"
"A shitty group of people."
"You sure have a colorful language, don't you?"
"More colorful than my mood."
Before Twilight could comment, Phoenix came in.
"Yo Nick, you won't believe the girl I fucked up last night. The whole night I was all pinned up against a table, and she was going at me like a fucking rabbit! That bitch was so fucking hardcore! After two hours, she fucking wanted more of my huge cock! So we went doggy style, right? Against the table, and we were going all like-" Phoenix grabbed a stuffed teddy bear from the couch and propped it against a counter and preceded to demonstrate the moves he pulled, while Nick was signaling to him to shut up.
"That bitch was screaming so loud we got the neighbors turned on, so we heard fucking banging against the wall, and ours too, sounded like a fucking horse was galloping on the walls! And then she blew me so hard my dick is swollen! So anyway, I came here because I need some money for some Horse my friend is selling to me, planning on knocking up some ugly as fuck chick, but she got a nice pair, so I gotta go after that, and I gotta get her high first!"
Nick continued to signal Phoenix.
"What? Are your parents here or some shit?"
"Look. Behind. You." Nick hissed through clenched teeth.
Phoenix looked to see a horrified Twilight, mouth agape. After a long, awkward silence, Phoenix sheepishly smirked, only having enough enough sense to comment with:
"Well....fuck."
"You humans are just getting more and more atrocious the more time I spend here! I'm not feeling comfortable here! I'm going to a secluded room." She got up and left.
"You sure do have a way with women," Nick remarked, patting Phoenix on the shoulder and going after Twilight.
Nick leaned against the spare bedroom door. Inside, Twilight's sobbing was audible. Nick went in.
Twilight looked up with heavy tearflow.
"What's wrong now?"
"I want to go home! Your world is so backwards I cant even describe! Is everything here about violence and sex?"
Nick opened his mouth to answer, but shut it after having no argument.
“I have to find a way back to Equestria! I can't be stuck here. But everything here looks so different! I need things that remind me of my own world!"
Twilight's face suddenly beamed in a Eureka! way.
"Wait! Perhaps I can find similarities between your and my world, and use those to send a message!"
"How would that work?"
"With our universes' similarities, that would link our worlds, because they’d have the exact same technology! The invention would be a universal object! Quick, name a major technological advancement!"
"Online porn!"
Twilight rolled her eyes.
"Something else."
"Uh, I don't know. Phones?"
"Never heard of those."
"Toaster?"
"Couldn't send a message through that. Must be a somewhat audible thing."
"...."
"...."
"Wait, why didn't you say so in the first place?"
"What is it?"
"A phonograph!"
"Your universe has those too?"
Twilight's eyes glowed.
Nick ran to his room and started throwing stuff around, trying to find his beloved record player.
When he opened the closet, Lucy fell over. Nick screamed.
"Lucy! What are you doing in my closet?"
"It was getting so bright outside my hangover just hurt more."
Nick gently pulled Lucy out of the way. Lucy stumbled and watched.
"What are you looking for, Nick?"
"My phonograph."
"Oh! I put that in the bathtub."
Nick swung around.
"You WHAT?!?"
Nick ran to the bathroom, finding the phonograph sitting in the bathtub.
"That cost me three hundred bucks!”
Nick brought the record player to Twilight. He put a record on it, and dropped the needle.
Twilight recalled a spell.
"Alright, let's try to send something across the Wall."
CANTERLOT
The scene was surrounded by ponies, horrified at the unfamiliar feeling of death.
Twilight's lifeless body was covered with only a blanket, as Cadence watched on.
"I can't believe she's....dead............"
Cadence sobbed with grief, staring at the blanket before her.
"What am I going to tell the others?"
Cadence headed home in a slow, hopeless tread.
As she closed her door all she could do is stand there, for a good minute, before vomiting all over the floor.
She broke emotionally. Her greatest friend was killed in a way nopony could've imagined. She got into a bath, to gather her senses, and put on a classical record. But what came out wasn't classical, but a loud distortion, like a shortwave getting a bad signal, amplified to ear piercing levels. But within the noise, Cadence could hear a faint yet familiar voice.
"TWILIGHT!" Cadence's face beamed.
"You clever girl!" She embraced the phonograph.
"You're okay! But where are you?"
FREELAND
Nick listened to the distortion, Phoenix standing beside him.
Twilight's crouching towards the phonograph exposed her hindquarters to the two, much to Phoenix's enjoyment, and Nick's disgust, as unlike the featureless plots Phoenix was used to in the cartoon, Twilight's genitalia were entirely visible. Nick just kept his hand against his eyes, Phoenix watched on.
"I wonder why the animators never added those to the cartoon, I'd enjoy the show so much more."
"Phoenix, you are fucking disgusting."
"Wow, the Rule 34 artists got it so wrong. I'm gonna save our moment in my wank bank."
"Phoenix, I'm gonna punch you."
"You're just jealous cause you ain't getting a piece of that horse meat."
Twilight, catching the two going on about her, started getting annoyed at their immaturity.
"Yo, I wonder, is Twilight aware she has such a nice ass?"
Twilight turned to them, annoyed.
"You two are so immature. I'm sure you've seen an anus and vagina before!"
Phoenix gave Nick the face of a middle schooler that just heard a teacher mention a sexual term.
"What?" Nick dryly replied to Phoenix.
"How else would they reproduce? Or go to the bathroom?"
Twilight kept tuning the phonograph.
"So, what are those noises?" Phoenix asked.
"That's what your universe sound like," Twilight answered.
"You see, your world is filled with radios, radio waves flying everywhere, so I'm using that energy to penetrate the Wall."
"The Wall?"
"The Fourth Wall. What keeps our universes from merging. Which makes me confused."
"Go on?"
"The fourth wall makes perception filters to keep you from seeing whatever you shouldn't be allowed to see on your side, which means when something from the other side comes through, for a while, the object would be invisible to the naked eye, as your mind wouldn't be able to process the object. I'm confused, because you two were able to see me right away. There must be some sort of magic here."
COUPEVILLE
Harry looked on at the rainbow colored crystal in his hands. He grabbed a blank tape and put it in a tape recorder, starting a journal of events.
"Harry here. I found an object that seems to not be from around here. Or anywhere. Wait, my phone is ringing." Harry picked up the phone and left the room. After he left, the crystal let off an eerie glow.
FREELAND
Twilight Sparkle felt an odd sensation all over her body, an uncomfortable one. She saw flashing images of her home, speeding beyond her reach. The experience was so overwhelming she passed out.
Nick and Phoenix caught her fall and hauled her to a coach.
"What the fuck is happening?" Phoenix asked worryingly before patting her cheeks.
"Twilight! Twilight wake up!"
Nick pushed Phoenix out of the way and punched Twilight square in the face.
Twilight gasped and woke up, lied there for a second and covering her nose where Nick punched her.
"What happened, and why is my nose bleeding?"
"You fell on a coffee table," Nick pointed at a coffee table.
"Now what the fuck just happened?"
"I don't know guys, but I saw images of my home."
Phoenix stood up.
"I'll get you some food, perhaps you need some good old calories."
Phoenix opened the cabinets in the kitchen.
"What could a pony eat here? Wait,"
Phoenix brought in a plate of leaves to Twilight.
"I'll get some tunes on too," Phoenix connected his month old Samsung Galaxy on an auxiliary cable and put on some Sonic Youth.
"Hope you enjoy noise rock."
"Phoenix, I doubt Twilight listens to noise rock, look at her..”
Nick pointed to Twilight, who was plugging her ears with the leaves Phoenix gave her.
"Give it to me, she needs quality."
Nick put on "Zero" by Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
Twilight's ears perked up at the wavy synth sounds echoing through the room.
"You fucking with me?!?" Phoenix growled, frustrated.
"It's not my fault my taste is better than yours."
Phoenix clenched his fists.
"Excuse me, but Sonic Youth has been around longer than Yeah Yeah Yeahs have, you hipster!"
"I am NOT a hipster!" Nick snapped back as he pulled the sleeves of his plaid shirt back.
The music twisted and distorted to ear piercing shrieks, causing Nick and Phoenix to flinch.
Twilight gave a confused expression.
The phone started emitting a faint voice of a familiar figure.
"It's Cadence!" Twilight beamed.
"Twilight! Twilight can you hear me?" The music twisted through the speakers.
"Oh, Cadence! You got my message!"
"I can't hear anything!" Nick yelled.
"It's all shrieking!"
"What do you mean? You can't hear the very clear voice?"
"What voice?!?"
Twilight rolled her eyes, assuming their narrow minds could only hear the twists of the audio. She pulled out a pen and started jotting down the message Cadence was giving her. It was difficult but she got it.
Before they knew it, the music went back to normal.
"AMAZING!" Twilight yelled in excitement.
"Is there any other way to reach the other universe?"
Nick turned the phone off.
"Whatever it is it better not kill my fucking ears."
"You mean like how your synth obsessed bands kill mine?"
Nick rolled his eyes.
"Whatever. I have to take a piss. I'll be back."
Nick waited for the stream of urine to end. Tilting his head back, he dropped the joint he was puffing when he saw the word "JIMMY" smeared on the ceiling in blood.
He looked down to zip his pants up, shaking, and jumped when he saw the word JIMMY scribbled everywhere on the floor. He turned to see the word everywhere around him. The word was scribbled in fresh blood.
JIMMY JIMMY JIMMY JIMMY.
Nick turned the faucet on in a panic. Maybe a good face wash would do wonders. Then he realized that blood might come out of the faucet instead. That's exactly what happened. Except the sound of the blood splashing the bottom of the sink there were instead, thousands of whispered "JIMMY"'s.
JIMMYJIMMYJIMMYJIMMY the blood made.
Nick was losing it.
"FUUUUUUUUUCK!!!! WHO THE FUCK IS JIMMY?!?"
Nick blinked and the words were gone.
"What the fuck just happened?"
Nick took a deep breath.
He stumbled out. Both Phoenix and Twilight were staring at him.
"Zipper problems?" Phoenix asked.
OAK HARBOR
Amy switched on her radio and tuned it to 106.1 KBKS radio. She took off her clothes and hopped into the shower. She lathered her body in soap, enjoying the warm water hitting her. She sang along with the tune playing on her radio.
"I've got one less problem without you, I've got one less problem without you...." She chorused.
Amy caressed her body, first her chest, and then started getting lower, and lower-
"AMY CHECK OUT WHAT I GOT!"
Amy caught her fall with a bar in the shower. Trying to keep herself from banging her head, she maneuvered to a standing position.
"JENNIFER what the fuck," she yelled.
"Okay, I was waiting in front of Ken's Korner, and I found Phoenix and Nick! And look what they were holding!" Jennifer put the phone on Amy's counter. She picked it up and looked at what appeared to be Phoenix and Nick entering a car.
"I don't see anything," Amy shrugged.
"What do you mean?!" Jennifer zoomed into the spot she wanted Amy to focus on.
"What am I looking for?"
"It's a fucking cartoon pony!"
Amy stood there.
"You're fucking insane. I'm throwing out your cocaine." Amy stepped out of the shower and headed into Jennifer's room.
"No wait! It's not the cocaine!" Jennifer blocked Amy, who was holding a large baggy of white powder.
"Whoa fucking whoa! That's my selling batch! You stop it now! Let me explain!"
Amy sighed and listened.
"I'm gonna go investigate, cause I'm seeing a fucking pony in the picture. You can't, which isn't my fault. But I know what I saw, and I will prove it to ya."
Jennifer ran out.
LANGELY, 9:14 AM
Harry opened the door to his car and stepped out, enjoying the fucking cold temperature of the summer morning. He checked his messages, stopping to admire his Boy George wallpaper. Harry got a message from Buck, which read:
BUCK: You're task is awaiting behind the Star Store. Make shore to get me some ciggarrettes the ones with the camel not the fucking candy ones. Don't mess you're task up you faggit.
Harry approached the Star Store, which was closed. Harry had a couple hours to kill, so he decided to fulfill the task Buck had.
Upon inspection a package lay in a bush. Nobody ever went out that early except for joggers and old people, so the package would've been safe. Harry opened the package, and then got another text:
BUCK: Remember to not open the box you fuckturd HAHA
Harry looked in the box he opened before being told not to.
Two bags filled to the brim with ecstacy pills stared him in the face. Over a thousand smiley faces imprinted on the pills also stared him in the face.
"Buck, what are you planning?" Harry commented with disdain.
Harry peeked over his shoulder and saw an old person walking his direction.
"Fuckfuckfuckfuck," Harry growled to himself. He had to find a way to hide the drugs. The only thing he could think of is inside his pants. So that's what he did.
Harry's pants were sagging heavily, and the old man could only murmur, "fucking thugs," as he passed Harry by.
Harry shuffled to the car and called Buck.
"Fuck you fuck you fuck you FUCK YOU!" Harry scolded.
"What? Never escorted drugs? That's where I get my pocket money."
"I thought you worked at the gun club?!?"
"No, the gun club is where I get my supply money. Drugs is my pocket money, I get allowance from my father. Pleasure money I get from the Stock Market."
Harry rolled his eyes.
"Whatever, just what do I do with the drugs?"
"I need you to sell them online."
Harry was aghast.
"I'll....see what I can do."
FREELAND
Phoenix was surfing the latest additions to the Tor he was using, mainly to watch snuff films to show Twilight, but found something better: an offer for MDMA pills.
Now that was action he needed to be part of. No, not the purchasing of the drugs, but the stealing of the drugs; the seller resided in Coupeville, only thirty minutes from his house.
Twilight was looking at huge collections of newspapers Nick's dad kept since 1969. Twilight got a full on insight on the world.
Phoenix popped his head in the room.
"Yo Twily," he called out.
Twilight looked back.
"Want to come for a ride? A toure de Whidbey?"
"I don't have anything better to do," Twilight replied.
"Perfect! Fucking A!"
Phoenix skipped to the car. Twilight followed along.
The car pulled out of the driveway. Phoenix plugged his phone on the aux cord and played “Red Eyes” by the War on Drugs, the perfect song for a Whidbey drive, according to Nick.
The streets were bumpy; they haven't been repaired since the 70's. The surrounding area was covered with various flora, and tall trees, with tops so thick you'd have to struggle to find a road in a bird's eye view.
Such a beautiful place like Whidbey, it'd be hard to imagine the island having a dark side. Being close to Vancouver(only 2 hours away), the landscape fit perfectly, a wonderful blend of man and nature.
Of course, for those city folk, Seattle was no more than an hour's drive away. Nick and company frequented the city and the nearby Alderwood mall in Lynwood when they decided to fuck around.
As they reached the main road Phoenix cranked the song up and lowered Twilight’s window. The breeze slapped her face, her mane waving in the rapid currents. She looked behind them and then in front to see the road sandwiched by walls of trees on either side, a beautiful farm field exposing itself every once in awhile.
"Wow! What a place!” Twilight was in awe.
Phoenix had a friend from London; a kickass drug buddy.
Phoenix phoned the guy, but went to voicemail.
"Aaaay mate, you ain't gonna believe the score I'm gonna make. Call me when you get a chance you wanker!" Phoenix hung up and Lol'd.
When the two reached Coupeville, Phoenix parked the car in front of a house.
"Okay, Twily, I'm gonna run a quick errand."
"Be quick!"
COUPEVILLE, 12:25 PM
Phoenix reached the door.
He rang the doorbell.
Footsteps were heard.
Harry opened the door.
"May I do something for you?" He asked.
"Yo, I saw an offer on the Dark Web, loads of free Molly. You got the shit with you?"
Harry gave a worried look.
Phoenix noticed the LGBT flag on Harry's mantle, and a bunch of mineral water bottles scattered around the counter.
Harry noticed Phoenix was noticing Harry's homosexuality, noticing Phoenix noticed Harry's worried expression, because Harry noticed Phoenix noticing that he (figuratively) had him by the balls.
"I don't know who you are, but I recommend you fuck off."
Phoenix pulled a gun out of his pants and aimed the thing towards Harry.
"Listen you little cunt," Phoenix growled through gritted teeth.
"I recommend you stop being a little bitch or I'll have an exit hole in the back of your head bigger than your fucking asshole!"
"Woah woah woah, let's take things easy, okay? I don't need any blood around the house, I keep my house clean!"
Harry resented the fact that his gun was in a safe, upstairs, in his closet.
"Where are the drugs?!"
"Take it easy, man! What do you want? Horse? M&M? Reefer? I have plenty of California Sunshine! You like California? I GOT FUCKING CALIFORNIA SUNSHINE!"
"I want Essence, bitch, Essence!"
"I have bags of the stuff in my room please don't shoot me!"
Phoenix ran to Harry's room. Upon ransacking the place, he opened a chest, where he found the mother load of drugs.
"Where did you get your stash?"
"My boss makes me smuggle them for extra income! He considers it the fighting brand strategy to compete with the other youth targeted companies on the island!"
"That's fucking stupid."
"Go ahead, take the ecstasy, man! Take it!"
"Actually, I'll fucking take the whole chest of drugs."
"Fuck no! I need the money!"
Phoenix continued taking the baggies out of the chest.
"I want the drugs," Phoenix replied.
"Come on, man! Can't we negotiate?"
"Ha! Fuck off."
Phoenix waltzed out the house and back into the car.
"What happened?" Twilight asked.
"I got a fuckload of drugs," Phoenix replied, and drove off.
FREELAND
Nick came home from Payless, a store in town.
Being prepared like a young man finding ponies should be, he bought supplies for Twilight:
-Over 4 pounds of lettuce
-2 full baskets of assorted veggies
-Flowers
-Grapes
-Magazines
-Horse care supplies
-Porn magazines for Phoenix
-A blanket in case Twilight gets cold
Nick hoped Phoenix was taking Twilight out for a drive rather than stealing drugs again. Nick casually started making a salad when Lucy stumbled in completely naked.
"Yo Nick, where's the Advil?"
"In the bathroom cabinet next to the Ipecac," Nick casually replied.
"Thanks. You know I have no memory of what happened last night. Did I do something idiotic?"
"You showed a cartoon pony your vagina."
"If you're gonna be a smartass I won't even bother."
She went back to the room she came out of.
After Nick finished the salad and put it in the fridge, he jumped onto the couch and rolled a joint.
Nick inhaled the smoke into his lungs, and blowing smoke out his nostrils like a fog machine.
"Aw yeah that's some good shit," Nick moaned before putting on some Washed Out.
"I fucking swear that Neon Indian guy better put out a new album by next year or I'm gonna be pissed-" Nick coughed while laughing at the psychedelic synths blasting out the stereo.
"I'm runnin out of fucking chill shit here. I ain't gonna get high to Phantogram again!"
Lucy stumbled over to Nick and sat next to him
Phoenix and Twilight entered the house.
"What's that smell?" Twilight asked.
Phoenix sniffed.
"WEEEEEEEEED!"
Phoenix jumped on the couch, and noticed Lucy still naked, sitting on the couch looking like she got hit by a truck.
"Looks like Ms. Fanservice woke up."
Lucy stretched and turned around to see Twilight.
"Oh fuck you're real."
Twilight looked nervous.
"Yes....?"
Lucy stared for a second, then turned back around, with a simple "I'm too hungover for shit today."
Phoenix rolled a joint.
"I'm still getting some green."
He blew out a sky of smoke.
"Oh, and Nick, I have a fuck load of drugs in my car."
Nick and Phoenix opened the back door, observing the bags and bricks.
"What the fuck man?"
"Weed, ecstasy, Heroin, Cocaine, 10 medical bottles of assorted pharmaceuticals, among them being Ritalin, Adderall, Valium, Xanax, Ambien Zolpidem, Seroquel Quetiapine, and Dilaudid Hydromorphone, which I'm getting rid of, since it doesn't do shit for me."
Nick gawked in awe.
"Where...."
"Some gay dude's house in Coupeville. Gonna try some of that shit out. Got enough to make it through a lifetime."
Phoenix picked up the bags and brought them inside. With those drugs, Phoenix would potentially be able to make millions.
Harry called Buck.
Buck answered.
"Yo faggot, did ya transport the ecstasy?"
"That's the problem. I....kinda lost the ecstasy....and the rest of my drugs...."
"WHAT?!? Are you fucking kidding me? Those fucking drugs are worth more than your fucking head! You stupid little shit! How the fuck do you lose a fucking chest of fucking drugs?!?"
"Some kid broke in and took them!"
"You should've shot his fucking ass!! You are fucking stupid!! FUCK!!!!"
"Relax man! I'll find the drugs!"
"You fucking better you little shit! I'll fucking rip your scrotum off and shove it down your whore mother's throat if you don't have those drugs by next week, you hear me?!?"
"Consider it done!"
Harry laughed nervously.
"In fact, I'm so onto it, you practically have the drugs with you already!"
Harry hung up and started hyperventilating.
"Fuck fuck fuck fuck...."
Harry paced rapidly back and forth.
"Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK-"
Harry punched a hole through the wall. He cringed at the pain.
"FUCK! THAT FUCKING HURTS!!!!"
Harry rushed to the kitchen sink, cranking the water on and rinsing the blood off his wounds.
That was when he realized he turned on the steaming hot water faucet.
"FUUUUUUUUCK!!!!"
Harry fell on the floor and curled up.
"FUCKING FUCK!!!! FUCK!!!! FUCK!!!!"
Harry writhed in pain, accidentally bumping into the counter, knocking the knife rack off, causing it to land on Harry.
Harry was cut all over his legs and arms. He bolted up and rushed to the pantry, where he pushed everything around, trying to find the First Aid Kit. That caused him to accidentally whack the salt container off, spilling salt everywhere, including on him.
"FUCK!!!! FUCK!!!!"
He banged on the wall, and in result the lemons Harry cut up earlier to make lemon orzo with bombed him.
So did a full gallon of pure lemon juice with pulp.
Harry, screaming in immense pain, stumbled out into the backyard, where he stripped down completely naked, and leaped into the pool.
Harry floated, completely still, letting his body wash off. He opened his eyes to see his parents staring at him.
"Shit. I didn't know you were back from your trip," Harry exhaled in exhaustion.
He climbed out, and shook hands with the man who was with his parents.
"I'm Harry. Sorry for the extreme introduction."
"Hi, Im Mark Hopkins, your dad's boss."
FREELAND, 10:10 PM
The moon was up. Twilight was guided by Nick to a spare bedroom.
"Here, you'll be sleeping here tonight. If you have to take a shit, the backyard is that way. I'll be in the family room if you need me."
Twilight squirmed into the bed.
Nick turned off the light and started to walk away, but was stopped by Twilight.
"Nick."
"Yeah?"
Twilight took a deep breath.
"Am I really stuck here? Is this my life now?"
Nick gave an amused smirk.
"I ask myself that every day."
He left.
Nick settled onto the couch with some wine and a joint.
He lit the thing, taking in the weed in his lungs.
Nick laid back.
He dozed off and dropped a joint on the tile floor.
Twilight sat and stared at the record player in front of her, and the small pile of vinyls piled next to it.
She used her magic to grab one titled Viet Cong. The cover looked intriguing to her, why not give the album a shot? She was curious about human culture, why not have their music in the background while she studied from Nick’s books?
The record slipped out with a small tilt, but Twilight caught it before it could hit the carpet. She gently set the record on the turntable and dropped the needle.
After some crackles caused by the needle sliding through the grooves, the vast, jangly guitar riff of “Death” sent Twilight down a hypnotic, downward spiral.
Phoenix laid in bed and stared at the ceiling fan’s blades as they lulled him to sleep.
Jennifer examined the pictures of the ponies on her iphone. Amy walked in.
"Are you going to have a guy over, because I want to know whether I should sleep with earplugs or not."
Jennifer shook her head.
Amy sighed with relief.
"Good. I didn't get a night of sleep since last week."
Amy walked off to her room. Jennifer leaned over and sniffed some white powder. She leaned back and shut her eyes, smiling with pure bliss.
Harry went to bed covered with bandages, and stared at the empty chest.
Lucy wrapped her bloody wrists. Her dad yelled at her stepmom with pure anger, for no reason other than to be an asshole. She took a huge swig of Vodka before locking the bathroom door to keep her dad from getting in and fell asleep in the bathtub, hugging her bottle close.
Teresa got out of the shower and walked into the room drying herself, not bothering with putting on a robe. She had a show running in the background to keep her company, but she couldn’t sleep with the TV on so she shut it off and simply plopped onto her bed and passed out.
While she slept, the television turned back on, the news broadcasting.
"A number of strange deaths have occurred around Island and King County, with no warning or explanation. Defense organization SENTINEL has been looking into these mysterious events, and will hopefully put some light on the darkness of the brutality. Thankfully for you, Teresa Blake, we arent going to kill you. But if you do something we dont like, expect to one day wake up with your intestines wrapped around the blades of the ceiling fan."
The anchor in the television slowly turned her head to face Teresa, and gave a sly smirk.
"You're digging into a level of existence we'd rather you not know about."
The television promptly shut off.
Teresa slept through the whole thing.
TO BE CONTINUED...