Karma

Victim 3

Don't ask me how, when or why I ended up in the middle of the pond in the park near my apartment, but somehow, I did. My skinny jeans were stuck to my legs and my hair was strewn out across the pond.

But at least there was a cute little bird quacking in my ear to fill the silence.

I cleared my throat. "I jumped aboard a pirate ship and the Captain said to me: we're going this way, that way, forwards and bacwar-" I burped and the bird quacked. "Sorry, sorry."

I sat up, the water dripping down the back of my shirt. It had only been about ten minutes since Phoenix had left and his leaving left some weird feeling at the pit of my stomach. Usually the old collector - Piasa - would at least stay to chat. He was an old guy, but very funny in the sick kind of way. The way I liked.

So I went the pond. I was just walking around and then I saw the bird and he just looked so lonely and cute and I couldn't leave it, and so I joined it and decided I'd share some of its loneliness.

The sky above me was a mixture of pinks and blues and the clouds looked so fluffy that I could've sworn that they were edible.

The duck swam in front of me and I reached a hand out to touch it. It let me with only a little hesitation. A grin grew on my face, "you like that Mr..." the bird squawked and I could've sworn it glared at me.

"Sorry," I held my hands up in surrender, "Miss?" It made no sound.

I smiled lightly at it. "I'm going to name you Teal. It means a fresh water bird, and this water looks pretty fresh..." I looked around at the pond and saw the layer of algae that had been built up and rubbish covering the top of it. "Maybe not."

I relaxed my muscles and started stroking the bird again. "I think this is the longest anyone has let me stay in their company. Does it count that you're a bird?"

It swam around in a circle causing little ripples in the water, before looking at me. I grinned again and opened my mouth be speak, but someone spoke for me.

"Oi, you. What are you doing in there?" I spun around slowly to see a man in a police uniform. The man had greying hair that was tied in a ponytail and a stance that just screamed fucking importance. I sighed, before slowly standing up and walking towards him.

"I was having fun in there," I muttered under my breath.

"What miss?" He asked, his expression serious; his voice mocking.

I narrowed my dark eyes toward him. "I said: I was having fun in there."

His expression didn't waver and he even rested his palm on his handcuffs. "Well, this is-" Before he could finish whatever bullshit he was about to sprout, I jammed my fist into his temple, knocking him out cold in one swipe. I grinned at him and ran a tongue across my teeth.

Teal quacked behind me. "Pretty impressive, I know." I said, before winking at the bird, scooping it up in my arms and making my way back to my apartment. I'm fairly sure it was illegal to take the bird from the pond, but I'd broken it plenty of times before.

I reached the apartment in a matter of minutes, slid the key into the lock, opened the door and stumbled in. The bird instantly jumped out of my arms and started flapping its wings, squawking at the top of its lungs. "Shush," I said, holding a finger against my lips. "You do not want to get on the bad side of my landlord... " I shuddered. "He's scary as shit."

I straightened up and walked deeper into the room. I'd like to say my apartment was something amazing, but it wasn't. It was four walls, a floor and a ceiling.

A floor, a ceiling and four walls.

A ceiling, four walls and a floor.

No matter how you worded it, it sounded plain. And yet, I was surrounded by them once again. However, I had a bed and a microwave, so that had to count for something, right? I stripped out of my wet clothes and collapsed on my bed.