Venom

01

I was ten years old, the first and only time I killed someone.

I looked down at the blood that glistened against my fingers.

A blink and it became ketchup again.

I shuddered, it had been eleven years but the memories still haunted me.

"CHER!"

My head snapped to Ellie, my best (and only) friend in this godforsaken town, rushing towards me. We'd met each other through our waitressing jobs and instantly clicked.

"I thought you gave me your shift today?" I questioned as I used a cloth to wipe the ketchup from my hands and the table.

"I did." Ellie nodded frantically, her dark hair bouncing. "And you're going to thank me for it!"

"Why what happened?" I moved on to the next table, picking up the used dishes.

"I bought us tickets to the wrestling match tomorrow!" She exclaimed. "They were sold out in seconds. I still managed to get us third-row seats though!"

I groaned, "Ellie, I told you I'm not interested in watching two guys beat each other up, I'd much rather stay home watching Netflix."

"C'mon, Cher! Lots of cute guys will be there, and one of the wrestlers fighting is a full course meal!"

"I have a boyfriend." I protested. "I'm not going to go check out other guys."

"I don't see him here," Ellie replied in a singsong voice.

"He's literally over there." I snorted, gesturing to my boyfriend, Carter, who was at the front. He was seating the newest arrivals to the restaurant.

"Anyway," Ellie continued. "I would normally take Veronica with me, but because she's out of town, you no longer have any say in this. You're accompanying me."

"But Ellie--" I began.

"--Elizabeth! I thought you called in sick?" Milos, our boss, called from the back of the restaurant. "Why aren't you in a bed coughing up a storm?"

Ellie sent me a nervous smile, "Gotta dash."

And with that, she scurried out before Milos scolded her further.

* * * 

I'm not usually the violent type, but I was at my wit's end.

After my morning shift, I had spent all afternoon in a local cafe, working on an assignment that was due at midnight. Everything was going smoothly until some idiot (me) decided accidentally spilling coffee all over my laptop was a good idea.

I then proceeded to waste my time in line only to be told by the customer service worker to put my laptop in rice and see what happened after a day.

So, I bought a sack of rice and put my laptop in it before driving home.

I almost ran a red light, distracted by everything that had gone down, and consequently got pulled over by a cop to whom I decided to rant about my morning. She let me go with a warning, laughing at the series of unfortunate events that were my life and the coffee stains on my sweater.

Now, I was trudging towards the elevator that would lead me to my safe haven. My apartment. More specifically: my bed.

I just wanted to go to sleep for a couple of years, wake up successful and married rich.

But life had other plans for me.

I reached the twelfth floor and stepped out of the elevator. I frowned at the ground, immediately noticing that it was much darker than usual, and my sneakers made weird sounds as I stepped across the carpeted halls.