Testing For Hope

Chapter 21 - Not A Lot Of Chatting

I couldn't breathe. My chest felt like someone was squeezing it shut.

Hey there drama, are you into karma?

I couldn't see much either.

Cause I'm dying to believe your next.

The world feels like it's swirling. My eyes are covered in blobs of colour, but no shapes that resemble my living room.

Oh is your mind erasing?

Well you better chase it,

Cause the thought is scaring me to death.

I can see movement and regrettably blink before looking at her back away slowly. I tried to scream after her before she got away, but it was too late. She then turned around completely and ran out the front door, slamming it behind her.

Suddenly, I felt something cold hit my cheek. I reached up to my face and realised that it was wet, my mouth only tasting salt in the tears that crawled onto my tongue. Why am I crying? I have no reason to cry.

I did my best to wipe the tears off my face and after failing to stop the flow, dragged my feet over the bottom of the staircase of the room.

Do you know that it's never, ever gonna be the way you want it?

So come on, get your fix now, now, now

Just as I was about to go up the stairs, I turned around for one last look over the room to make sure it actually happened. However, I noticed something off. On the table, I saw something that wasn't there before I left the house that morning. A card.

Chit chat, do you want that

Or wanna take me home tonight?

I walked over to where the card was and picked it up, suddenly being able to stop my tears as confusion took over my mood. Not entirely, but enough. All I ended up staring at was a thick piece of paper that had a name and the seal of the siren city in the corner.

I looked at the name and read it over multiple times, letting it crawl in my brain and insert itself in a place that not even the trickiest of mind manipulating spells could remove it from.

Daphne... Daphne. Her name is Daphne.

Then I turned it around. On the back was a basic Lost-And-Found spell, but it was altered somehow. It seemed that it was made specially for things, or people in this case, with names and places of belonging, like a doll to a bed or a book to a shelf.

She wanted to see me again? She must have left this before we danced. Oh, right!

I put the card in my pocket and walked over to the record player. Can't have it playing the track so much, that it causes scratches. Then, I climbed the stairs once more. I walked over to my room and got settled into my bed. The sky outside getting dark and the room feeling warm and cosy.

My eyes slipped closed, once, twice, and then finally stopped on the third time, surrounding me in darkness. Goodnight day and hello sweet night.

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Siren City, a few hours later~

I grabbed my stuff and got dressed like I always do and headed back to the bar to get started on my shift when a figure that was all too familiar came rushing in. Her eyes kept darting back and forth like she couldn't tell what was real or not. Yet another thing that was all too familiar a sight.

"Hey, you okay Daph?" I asked, walking around the counter to greet her with a hand on her shoulder. She then looked at me and seemed to have gotten more scared for a split second before seeming to have realised where she was.

"Umm, yeah... I think so." She said seemingly unsure. She shrugged my hand off her shoulder and sat at the bar, knocking twice on the wood.

Taking the hint, I walked up the liquor wall and picked up the whiskey bottle and poured two shots, no ice and slid them over to her.

Here we go. Another long day at work.

I then looked over at Daphne at the bar and Vanessa walking in. At least I'm not alone here.