Sunflower with Thorns

ONE

ZANDER

"I let you have a place here because of the situation you were in. But with the condition that you'd get a job and start paying rent. Your time is up. I need full months in two weeks or you're out on your ass." Jermery said as he slammed the door to his office closed in my face.

I sighed as I slowly stepped away from the door. It wasn't like I was doing anything wrong, I was actually asking him if there was any work I could do around the building to help pay my rent.

I turned and made my way back to my apartment before he could come out and yell at me some more. I sighed as I opened the door to my tiny apartment, the door creaked loudly as I did.

The ceiling had multiple water stains, almost with every step taken the floor would loudly protest the weight, none of the doors inside were lined up with the frames.

I shook my head and took a deep breath. I had to be positive I was away from him and I was able to start a new life. There were plenty of ways to get a job in the city, all I had to do was put myself out there.

With what little money I had left, I walked out of my apartment and went to search for some jobs. They were way less likely to deny me if I asked in person.

⇇  ⇉

No one was hiring, not one. I had to have gone to at least twenty different businesses looking for a job and each and every one gave the same answer, "sorry but we aren't hiring right now. Try again in a few months."

I couldn't wait a few months. Without a job, in a few months I'll be on the street and he can find me. I shook my head at the thought. There is no way I would let that happen. I could never let that happen.

Deciding that thinking would do nothing to help my situation, I went to my sad bedroom and laid down on my bed. It creaked under my weight and as I moved to pull the one blanket I had over myself.

Sleep would help me figure out what I was going to do about a job and help keep the hunger pains I was beginning to feel at bay. I cuddled further into the blanket and sighed, letting sleep take over.

I was in my room back at home, it was dark making my eleven year old self scared. I heard my parents yelling, arguing with someone; someone scary.

"You can't keep him from me forever." The anger in his voice shook the house and brought tears to my eyes as I hugged my knees to my chest.

Minutes later my parents rushed into my room and hugged me. I didn't know why they came, but I knew that they made me feel safe.

The dream went black and then I was in the same room again. This time the sun was shining bright and I was taller, eighteen years old. I smiled at my parents as they both gave me concerned looks. I knew they were my parents but they didn't have their faces, like someone scratched them out in a photo.

"Z, are you sure you want to go out tonight?" Dad asked, I knew that he was worried but I was eighteen! I had to go out, so I could finally meet my mate. It was something that couldn't wait.

"I'll be fine Dad. I'll go out, have a few drinks with friends and meet my mate. I'll bring them back here and it'll be great."

The dream went black again, when I could see again, I was in a bar with my friends. None of them had their faces, but they had their voices. They were cheering me on as I chugged a drink. They whooped loudly when I slammed the drink down.

"Well, I wonder where someone as pretty as you learned to do something like that?" A voice said from behind me, it sent chills down my spine that made me instantly recover from the dizziness the drink had given me.

Hands came from behind me and pinned me to the table I was at. My breathing began to pick up as the others in my dream began to disappear, like water going down a drain. I slowly turned around, trying not to touch him.

He was the only person in my dreams to have a face, and the only person I wished didn't. It was a face that would haunt me for years. "So glad that you're finally old enough, my mate." His rough voice made me shiver in disgust. His callused hands grabbed my arm, his untrimmed nails dug into my skin. His touch made my skin crawl, I wanted to pull away but he was too strong. "Now you can come with me, no one can keep us apart."

"No!" I shouted as I sat up in my bed. I panted heavily as I looked around the room. I was safe, he couldn't find me.

I'm safe until I get kicked out in two weeks for not having rent. A small voice said in my head.

I wouldn't let it come to that, I couldn't. The only way I was ever going to go back home would be in a casket. There wasn't much I could do in a situation like mine, I couldn't get a loan from a bank, so I would have to get a loan from somewhere else.

I didn't know how I was going to get a hold of someone, but I had to try whatever I could. I had to figure out a way to get a loan from the mafia, it was the only place to get a loan without involving banks in the city.

Desperate times called for desperate measures.