Nina lazily opened her eyes and rolled over on the matress so she was facing the nightstand. Squinting in the morning light she read the digital display of her alarm clock. '8:30' it read. "Shit!" Nina exclaimed as she sat up. "I was supposed to be up twenty minutes ago." She said, as she frantically sprang out of bed. She'd forgotten to set the alarm. It wasn't the first time either. This was a mistake Nina made once every two weeks or so. She was a busy girl and her short term memory wasn't the best. Oversights like this were common for her. She went into the bathroom to freshen up. Nina ran a basin of warm water while she slipped out of the black underwear she'd fallen asleep in. She quickly scrubbed her body with a cloth and some shower gel. She didn't have time for a proper shower. After she was done she sprayed some deodorant under her arms and went to put on some clothes. From the chest of drawers at the far end of her room she produced a set of white underwear. Over this she wore tight black jeans, a white vest top and black leather boots on her feet. She brushed her hair back and tied it in a ponytail before adding some hairspray. This was a little trick she'd learned for when she didn't have time to wash her hair. One more thing before she left; she needed to do her makeup. Nina almost never left the house without her face properly done up. As she looked in the mirror and applied her foundation and dark eye makeup it was obvious she was naturally attractive. Even in this rushed and thrown together state she was quite a striking young woman. She was 19 years old, 5'6 and curvy with dark brown hair and eyes. She had a defined face with sharp features. Nina had a lovely hourglass figure with broad hips and a rather sizable behind. Her chest was a bit light which annoyed her, but they had a perky quality even if they were only B cups.

As she dashed down the stairs with her backpack over her shoulder her heavy boots made a loud clunking on the mahogany stairs. "It's Friday. Just get through today and it's the weekend. You can chill." She told herself. She was about to head out the front door when she heard a loud cackling voice from upstairs.
"Don't go anywhere before you feed those pets!" Squawked the voice.
"Ughh." Nina sighed as the shrill sound of her stepmother cut through her. They were Nina's pets and she didn't mind feeding them, but when she was in a hurry she would have appreciated some help. She skipped into the kitchen and set the food out for her cat and dog.
"Morning Nina." Her father said, reading a newspaper at the kitchen table.
"Morning Dad." Nina replied.
"A little late setting off aren't you?"
"Umm, yeah. I slept in again. I'll be there on time though. I'll just have to walk quickly."
"If you learned to drive you could walk as slowly as you like."
"I know." Nina replied. "I'll get around to it. I've been busy."
"Ok. Any plans for the weekend?"
"I think I'm going to a party tonight."
"If you bring a boy home they're sleeping on the sofa."
"Don't worry, I think I'm staying out tonight."
"Well then I will worry. Naturally I will." Nina's father said. Liam Crosby was 6'4 with light brown hair and bright blue eyes. You wouldn't have thought they were related at all. But Nina was the spitting image of her mother, not her father.
"I'll be fine. I've stayed out loads of times." Nina answered.
"Well take care and at least come home for dinner before you go out."

"I've got to get my own place." Nina told herself as she went out the front door. Nina hadn't had a steady boyfriend for a few months but she still tried to have sex when she could. It had been about two weeks since her last boozey night of passion and it was starting to frustrate her. It was difficult because she maintained to her parents that she was a virgin, when in reality that ship had sailed about 5 years ago. She sometimes thought if she just came clean about it maybe they wouldn't be so protective of her. A boy had never slept in a bed in her house before, and she was starting to think none ever would. If she wanted to hook up it would have to be somewhere else. Parties were good for that. You met people you'd never seen and might never see again. Nina was hoping to get lucky. Before that though she had a full day of college and a short 2 hour shift in the coffee shop. She didn't mind either of these activities, but it was late in the week and she was tired.

It was 7:30 PM. Nina had finished up at college for the day, completed her two hours at the coffee shop. Now she was getting ready for the party. She hopped in the shower and embraced the warmth as the hot water ran over her body. Nina could often take a while in the shower. She was reluctant to step out and back into the cold air. She needed to get a move on though. She still had to pick out an outfit, redo her makeup and get her supply of alcohol before heading off to the party. She dried her hair off with the dryer and tied it up in a ponytail. She slipped into some fresh white underwear before putting on her white dress. She looked at herself in the mirror. "Even for me this is a little short." Nina thought looking at the portion of thigh still on show. Nina wasn't 'easy', even though she liked recreational sex. She still had standards and expectations and didn't want to send out the wrong message. She made sure to leave quickly as she knew she would only get a lecture if her parents saw her revealing dress. Nina lived about 5 minutes walk from an off-license. She bought a 70cl bottle of vodka and a 2 litre bottle of Coca Cola. There was a notice board for local people to advertise on. Nina cast her eye over it as she left the shop just in case anyone was advertising a flat or an apartment or something. No such luck today.

Brick rolled out of his bed slowly, and shoved on his jeans. It must've been 4 something, but that was nothing new. He had one mission for the afternoon, Liquor store. It was only two blocks down the road, but first, he'd have to find a shirt. "Fuck it" he said loudly, and grabbed his jacket, zipped it up, and made his way there.

"What's up, Jim." He said as he waled in. The place had a feeling of being home, even more so than Brick's real home. They had a slow country song on the radio, and it made Brick think back to his old life, in rural Missouri, before his wife left him, and took the kids. Fucking devil bitch.

Brick made his way to the cashiers desk. "Anything from Canada in today, Jimbo?"

"One quart left of this stuff, Brick, but be careful, it's illegal to have here, it's over-proof Newfoundland Rum, 76%. 65 bucks, since you're a trustworthy man and I know you wont fuck this up for me, will you?" Jim swung his eyes down under the counter.

Brick knew well enough what he meant, and nodded his head as he handed the man 75 dollars. "Keep the change Jimmy, I'll be back."

A young girl walked in the store just as he was leaving. He couldn't help but stare, she looked like his daughter. He teared up somewhat, and quickly made his way out.

Brick made his way back the his building, with a bottle of Newfie moonshine. He remembered fondly the nights his father'd call him up, back when he was in Missouri. "Hey son, got a bottle, and I need ya to come drink er with me." His father had made regular runs into Canada to work on the offshore oil rigs, just off the coast of Newfoundland. From what he'd been told, it was a land of nothing but card games, fishing, hunting, and drinking. Heaven, in a nutshell. His fater retired up there just before his wife left. He hasn't heard from him since.

As Brick entered his building, he said hello to his neighbor down the hall. She was nice, as far as he knew. They had never really had a conversation, besides the weather, or where they work, where they were from, or how the city`s too big for him. He had always wanted to really talk to her, but he wasn`t here enough, and he didn`t plan on staying long. He never planned on staying anywhere long, it was his life. Brick made his way back into his room, and took a long swig of the shine. It stung going down, but after two more he wouldn`t even feel it. Just as he put in his Hank Williams the 3rd CD, there was a knock on the door. He didn`t normally answer the door, but it sounded feminine, and hell, some company wouldn`t kill him.

No more love to purchase, I’ve invested in myself…“Hollow Bones, huh? That’s one freaky cereal.”
“Eyehole deep in muddy water…”
Katelyn shifted nervously, “Kai, did you even hear what I said?” The young adolescent female whom Katelyn was currently struggling to converse with sat cross-legged in the seat adjacent to her with the hood of her orange hoodie drawn heavily over her eyes, obscuring their cat-like chocolate brown bioluminescence. Those eyes. Those dark, loving eyes held something of a mundane curiosity. She maintained a steady stance of that of her three years deceased; widowed mother Kathrine, and a steadfast stubbornness from father James – nonetheless.
Those purple, empty sockets wide; intently gazing upwards towards a reinforced steel frame roof, lips pursed together for what must have been no particular reason. Her eyes. They were wide open. Staring at nothing, trailing intently the paths of withering shadows that seemed intent on teasing the edges of her vision. “I don’t like the animatronics. Bonnie. Chica. Foxy. Freddy…ugh.” Viatali pondered, within a leviathan cavity in which some such of a mind lingered; whether he should dare interject. The Humans reciting some story below after all were such a tragic comedy to lay eyes upon. From his apartment the being could observe two humans - male and female. "Wonderful!" The thing purred, cackling happily. "I have found them indeed! Do you not agree, Mister Shade?" Another thing, a smaller thing, a withering shadow-thing, slithered, presenting it's leviathan cavity of rotting teeth.
"Oh Yessss, master! May I devour thesssse...thingssss?" To which Viatail simply sighed. He would watch these ones, they would feel his luminous eyes upon them every living second. "Not for now, Mister Shade."

Brick slowly swing himself up and answered the door. Cop, of course. She stepped one foot in, and announced herself.

"My name's officer Anne. Just have a few questions for you." She sounded stern.

"Shoot." Brick responded nonchalantly

"Where were you the 27 of April." Didn't sound like much of a question.

He quickly grabbed his drivers logbook.

"I would have been, lets see" He said, flipping anxiously through the pages.

"Ah, here it is, I was halfway between New England and Boston, probably closer to Boston in reality." She quickly grabbed the book from him, and checked for herself. She noticed quite a few discrepancies, but managed to ignore them.

"Now, if you don't mind, I'm getting drunk, good day." Brick ushered her out, and locked the door. That was not what he was expecting when he heard a knock. He continued on the shine, it was starting to take effect. Life seemed pretty boring, so he made his way downstairs, and to the bus stop. He decided to head to a bar, or a club.