Previous: Ch. 14
Next: Ch. 16

Ch. 15

After a long walk, Rich made it home. He locked the door behind him, gradually lowered himself, and laid down on the floor in front of the door, arms out to either side. Fuck. He tried to think more coherent thoughts, to try to process it in a more productive way, but nothing else came. Just Fuck. There was a slight draft from the open window. Fuck. Outside the window was the slight bustle of the city at night. Fuck. Wrenfield was a fairly large city. It wasn’t like many cities its size, however. While many cities stay busy all through the night, Wrenfield sleeps. fuck. Wrenfield was a part of Orevia. In fact, Wrenfield was just about the only large city in the region. That’s why so few people came from outside Orevia. Wrenfield was far from just about everything that mattered more than it did. fuck. And Orevia itself was only one part of the greater continent of Anstroa. fuck. And even Anstroa is one part of a presumably larger world. fuck. So in the grand scheme of things, who even gave a shit about some guy being blackmailed in some city. Nobody did. It doesn’t matter. None of it matters. 

What am I gonna do? 

Rich closed his eyes and tried not to think about that question as he drifted, slowly and painfully, to sleep.

And as he slept, nearly silently, a shadow appeared under the door, cast by the moonlight. The door creaked slightly, as if something was leaning on it, but Rich didn’t wake up. He was a heavy sleeper. There was some scratching on the door, as if somebody was using it as a surface to write on. Then, there was a rustling, as if someone was trying to shove a piece of paper under the door. Then there was a knock on the door, as if someone was trying to get the attention of the person living there. But that couldn’t be the case, nobody came to visit Rich. Not even Brandon. Rich always had to go to the library to see him. No, it’s simply impossible that someone wrote a message on the door, passed it under the door, and knocked to get Rich’s attention.

And even if it were possible, Rich would not have noticed. He was a very heavy sleeper. The shadows went away, as silently as they had arrived.

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Next: Ch. 16