Chapter Text
You can't remember the last time you felt relaxed.
A year ago, you had a health scare, you can't remember the exact details of it, but the medical debt and result of it still haunts you.
You Slowly caring less and less about, really anything. Hobbies, people you atleast talked to on a somewhat frequent basis, keeping appearance.
It had gotten to the point you only left home for work, donated a bunch of things you "didn't need." And barely kept up with cleaning and tidying your own home due to being so tired. Leaving dust to pile up along with dirty floors of your footsteps.
Your bedroom was practically the only place you hungout in when you were home. Even if it was as messy and dirty as the rest of your house.
So here you are.
Staring into your phone, Laying on your bed as you mindlessly scrolled on it.
spacing out, as some poorly made video was playing. You were barely listening to it but you didn't think of anything else to do.
However the sound of knocking coming from your front door quickly grabbed your attention. As you heard someone shout out.
"Open up! Your payment is due!"
...Right that.
Before your health declined, and before you started slipping. you accidentally got in trouble with the mafia, The Sonnellinos.
something along the lines of accidentally breaking a fancy thing when you visited their casino one night. Of course this wasn't attention you wanted to have. but damnit you tried to stay on the good side of this mafia.
You always payed on time, be respectful and polite to them, and gave the goons food one time because they were hungry. Yes you might be an ass kisser, or a coward. But whatever, keeps them away.
But here you are, weeks late on a debt you've completely forgotten of and if you're being honest? Couldn't care enough about at the moment. Not enough as you should.
You know the dangers, you know what these people were capable of.
You just couldn't find it in yourself to care.
"We see your light on! Open up, or we're forcing our way in!" Shit, you should actually open that door though, you aren't in the mood to fix it.
You begrudgingly sat up from bed, shuffling over to the front door and opening up. The sun was setting, you didn’t even realize how much time had passed that you spent on your phone.
Two yellow guys were standing in front of you, one with a white hat with long black ribbon tied around it, and the other was wearing sunglasses and an earpiece.
One of the them gave you a funny look as You're now just realizing how disheveled you look, along with your apartment. Welp too late now.
"Sorry.. I was doing something." You lied, can't let them know you just were laying there being lazy, just staring at your phone!
"You know the drill, hand over the money." The other one called out, well you would have called them by names but you never actually learned them, nor did they bother to tell you. Thinking about it, you don't even know what their boss looks like. But eh, not important.
You nodded your head, pulling out your wallet from your pocket and directly handing the money over in cash.
One of them promptly yoink it, counting the cash to make sure its the correct amount before pocketing it. "Nice and smooth, nice doing business with ya." He said.
"Uh huh, have a good day." After both of them left, you quietly closed the door, standing still for a moment. The feeling of exhaustion and dread filling you.
You looked over at an calendar, seeing the plan you have in two days. Only two more days left.
You sigh in relief before walking back to your bed, flopping on top of it as you continued to scroll mindlessly on your phone for the rest of the day, until your eyes drooped down, and you fell asleep.
It's morning. You sat up in your bed, rubbing your eyes as you pick up your phone.
...
Fuck.
You're late for work.
You gotta get up.
You got yourself up and out of bed, throwed on your work uniform, put your shoes on, and hurried out of your home. Grabbing your keys on your way out.
You Ran out of your house, Running down the street towards your work, Crossing the road much to the reluctance of a driver passing by. But you cannot care about that right now. You got shit to do.
You kept moving and moving until you reach your work place.
A pizza shop.
You walked into the entrance of the place, heading into the back part of the store to get in through employee only door.
You tied the work apron around your waist, looking over at your boss as you did so. Then you took a deep breathe before you hesitantly walked over to your boss. Preparing yourself for a scolding and repercussions.
"I'm so sorry for being late. My alarm didn't go off." you looked down to your feet, you couldn't bare to look into your boss's eyes.
You heard your boss sigh before speaking. "I hope you know i tried calling you multiple times. This is the fifth time these past three months, I had to written you up for being late. If this happens one more time I'm firing you."
. . .
Great.
You quietly sighed, Crossing your arms as you looked off in the distance. "I.. understand boss."
"Look i don't know what the hell you do outside of work, but you got to get your act together. You've been slacking off more and more as time passes, and I will not stand for such laziness-"
The lecturing of your boss you've tuned out at this point, staring down at the palms of your hands.
You're really hoping that plan tomorrow will work.
you were brought back to reality when you got gently shoved to the front, behind the cash Register. Hearing your boss telling you to take orders and clean if no customers are there.
You stood up straight, putting up your best 'I totally just didn't get scolded' face. And Forced yourself to face customers for the rest of the day.
"Have a good evening!" You looked out at the customer leaving before sighing in relief. briefly looking around to see if there's any other customers waiting to be served.
Only two, both of which seemed more interested in chatting with each other and chilling rather than getting a pie.
Great, they'll entertain themselves while you mop and clean the floors.
You walked to the broom closet, unlocking it and pulling out a bucket and a mop. Slowly dragging the mop across the floor again and again, occasionally resoaking it with the bucket.
Doing a sloppy job of actually cleaning the floor. Although you couldn't bring yourself to waste more energy on doing it.
You couldn't shake the feeling of being watched however. Glancing over at the two customers every now and again, while they seem vaguely familiar.. you couldn't actually pin point suspicious behavior.
It's probably just paranoia. It's late and all kinds of weirdos take the chance to be creepy towards service workers. Although it doesn't help you've been forced to close alone.
You pretty much shoved the mop and the bucket to sit in the corner like it was in timeout as you get supplies out to clean the windows, arguably the more easier of the cleaning stuff you gotta do.
As you sprayed and wipe down the windows, you gradually think about what you're gonna do tomorrow. Down by the bridge. Perhaps you could watch the waves trickle on down, listen to the sounds of running water while the sun sets.
It wouldn't be the worse.
...
This should feel like something else. Not.. weird.
You were Dissociating as you finish up cleaning the floor and windows, then putting stuff away. That is until something catches your attention.
..damn, someone forgot to pick up their pizza.
You're currently staring at a pizza box left in the pickup area, the pickup time being two hours ago. If you're remembering correctly, any abandoned orders are thrown out at the end of the day.
Now you could just snatch this box up before anyone notices.. but you got a better idea.
"Hey, you two." You called out towards the two people chatting, bringing their attention towards you.
"Someone didn't pick this up, you can have it. On the house." The Box vanished from your hands the moment you finished speaking. They seemed happy and pleased, leaving right afterwards.
You feel glad you did that.
..right you need to finish closing up.
You finally finished up closing the Place. Walking out of the Backdoor, out back into the night. God you were tired..
you stumbled out onto the sidewalk, shuffling side to side as you walked. Stretching your arms up in the air as you yawned.
That feeling of being watched was still there. Thankfully Looking around the area, it didn't appear anyone else was out this late. Which is good, Last thing you wanted was some creep to be following you.
Actually no, that's a bad thing. Where the hell is that feeling coming from.
You stopped at a crosswalk and notice a park on the otherside of the road. Completely empty and dark besides the street lights illuminating it.
You thought of swinging on the swingsets in the park for a moment before you headed home.
It's not like anyone else is here to see you, besides it be nice to stay out a little longer.
You looked side to side for cars before running over to the otherside, slowing your pace as you moved towards the swingset. Hearing the woodchips crunch under your shoes as you took a seat on a swing.
You could hear the chains holding the swing creak under your weight.
You pushed off the ground and started moving back and forth, using your legs to do so. The chains continuing to creak and screech upon your movement.
It feels.. freeing, Simply just swinging on this swingset. Perhaps maybe it was the feeling of being weightless, or maybe being reminded of your childhood.
Although you're hoping nobody else will see you like this, kinda would be terrifying for both parties involved.
You kept going back and forth over and over, staring blankly forward as you mindlessly swing.
You thought about that bridge, the one you were planning to 'visit.' looking down at the river below and the height between it and the River. Staring up at the moon.
It felt scary.
...
You stopped swinging.
It feels awkward to keep going. You gotta head home anyway-
"Hey, what are you doing?"
Who the fuck- you quickly whipped your head around towards the voice, seeing a tall yellow man.
He's dressed up in a suit and fedora, combined with a coat, it would be easy to assume he was heading to a job interview or a really fancy restaurant. you couldn't see his eyes due to the harsh shadow coming from his hat. Perhaps that was on purpose but who knows.
His facial expression is unreadable, you felt uneasy just looking at him.
"..."
There's a moment of silence before he spoke again, "you gonna give me a response?"
"Oh uh- I just wanted to use the swingset." You muttered, now feeling embarrassed and awkward for getting seen.
"Uh huh.. it's quite late out, shouldn't you be getting home?" He said, walking up in front of you. Looking down at you with what seems to be confusion. "It is dangerous around these parts you know. Ain't exactly safe for a regular person."
"Uhhh- probably. Honestly I was just about to leave, so.." you awkwardly softly laugh, hoping the man would just laugh along and leave.
He's still standing there. Silently.
Fuck.
"You don't mind if I walk you home then. Don't seem right leaving someone out here in the dark alone." He took a couple steps towards you, His hands shoved into his pockets.
you would normally, not agree to this. at all. Kinda how most people get murdered.
But considering the anxious feeling of someone looking at you is still there, you would rather there be a witness or atleast some big intimidating guy scare them off.
"..I don't mind actually."
The guy seemed surprised at first but seemed pleased. Taking a step away from you. "Lead the way."
You got up from the swingset, walking passed him and onto the sidewalk, he quickly following behind.
It felt.. weird to say the least, you said nothing, and he said nothing as well. Not a question, not small talk, nothing.
As you both continue to head home, your mind wanders off again back into your thoughts. What else do you need to do before tomorrow? Not much else really, you pretty much have everything set. Perks of planning it as long as you have.
..shit what are you gonna do about your debt? Not medical obviously, fuck that.
They're not gonna be swinging by until next month, and it would be kinda a prick move to not leave anything, especially since you won't be around when the time comes.
You took a slight alteration, taking a turn and heading towards the nearby gas station. knowing they have an ATM machine and you need to withdraw the rest of the money you owe.
The guy behind you remained quiet as you both walked up to the gas station, silently observing as you walked over to the ATM machine. His brow furrowed as he watched you withdraw your money.
You remained silent, putting the money into your wallet before turning back to face him. "..sorry, I had to do this real quick.. I have something planned tomorrow and, I won't be around in order to hand this over to.. a friend. I owe them money."
Your explanation and small lie seemed to do nothing to ease his expression. But luckily he didn't press more on it.
You simply walked passed him and back onto the route towards your home, he still following closely behind. It felt weird to feel somewhat safe around a complete stranger, but he didn't seem.. malicious. If anything he just seemed like a regular, albeit fancy guy.
Even if hes silent and a bit scary at first.
Finally you were in front of your home, you stepped onto your front porch, looking behind at the man again. "Thank you for walking me home."
"Don't worry bout it. Glad to help." He said, before turning around and walking off. Leaving you alone on your front porch.
You feel weird.
That feeling of being watched is still there, but hey, atleast you're home now!
you sighed before unlocking your front door and walking inside. Closing the door behind you as you shuffled towards the kitchen counter and placed your wallet on top.
Easy to see, easy to grab.
Looking around your home, for what feels like the last time, it felt so harsh and cold to you, like you're unwelcome guest in your own home.
It was so deafeningly quiet, not a single sound, not even the chirping sounds of crickets.
You moved to your bedroom, inching slowly towards your bed as you crumpled on top of it. Burying yourself into your blankets, and into the realm of sleep.
You don't know what time it is, all you know is the dead of night, the sounds of crickets filling your ears. you're excited, yet a part of you wants nothing more than to stay laying down.
you're dreading walking up the bridge and finally biting the bullet. But you don't see any other way out.
That medical debt is just gonna rack up more and more. And eventually you'll drown you and everyone around you in it.
Would anyone visit your grave?
Would anyone remember you?
You would be just another number in the list of thousands of others.
Just a statistic.
. . .
Is there a point?
You sat up in your bed, not bothering to grab your phone as you slowly shuffled towards your front door.
It's too soon. It's not time yet.
You unlocked the door and shut it behind yourself, staring up at the moon above for a moment, basking in the moonlight.
Continuing to walk down the empty streets of your neighborhood you barely knew anyone or anything here, but it won't matter. you'll won't be coming back.
Eventually stopping at a bus station, you looked around the street around you, taking in one last big look of the buildings and lights of the place.
You're worried you're gonna regret this.
You want to head back home.
Why aren't you moving?
You stood still as the bus arrived. Stopping in front of you. You quietly walked on, sitting down in the back row. As the bus started to move again, heading off towards the night.
Staring out of the window as the bus, watching as it trucked along town, becoming more unfamiliar and foreign in it's buildings.
You would normally hate traveling this far from home, but this felt.. different. You couldn't quite describe the feeling but it notheless was welcome.
The bus ride to the unknown felt like forever, Like the world itself was telling you not to do this to yourself. But you can't find yourself in it to take that message.
As soon as the bus halts to a stop, you stood up and stepped off, paying no mind to the staring from the bus driver.
The area was so unfamiliar and foreign, it didn't help that pretty much the entire area was submerged in darkness besides the street lights. Leaving only the sidewalk for you to continue to walk on.
And so you did.
Staring down at your feet as you walked forward.
Part of you thought this was similar to an execution. In a way it was, atleast to anyone else it would be. But you saw it differently.
you see freedom.
You kept going farther and farther, stopping at the long bridge that connected to another part of town.
You hadn't been to this bridge, only heard and seen it in images. It was pretty much the only part of town that had a deep body of water that people wouldn't be able to search easily.
Enough to dive within and disappear.
You Stared down at the cold deep water below through the wire fence that people set up to stop this exact scenario. But you don't mind having your hands ache. If it meant escaping.
The only sound filling your ears is the quiet waves of the River. You could faintly feel the moonlight Shining down on you.
You hesitated before slowly climbed over the fence. Looking down into the murky depths below you, you could feel a part of you begging you to stop, to turn around and leave. To head back home. Your shoulders tensing up in fear.
It felt so terrifying.
Your breath quickened before eventually you stop delaying the inevitable and dove straight into the darkness of the water below. Hearing a large splash before everything became muffled and dark.
. . .
It was so cold. So quiet. Yet peaceful..
You could close your eyes and think you're in space right now. Floating and drifting among the stars. The light of the moon was becoming dimmer and dimmer the more you sank.
You couldn't quite describe how you felt, it was sorta like a catharsis yet somber feeling. Like the heavy weight of life was finally being lifted off your shoulders. No longer did you feel terrified.
You couldn't breathe, but that seemed alright in the moment.
you can finally rest..
The sudden feeling of hands compressing your chest, awoke you, the constant pressure and rhythm forcing some of the water out of your lungs.
You sat up on instinct, coughing and haggling more of the water out.
You sharply breathed through your mouth, clenching onto your shirt so tightly with one of your hands. Hearing chatter behind you, murmuring about something definitely about you, but you can't make out the fine details of.
As your senses come back to you, you're instantly aware of how cold and soaking wet you are. The feeling of the muddy ground beneath you not helping in the slightest.
you brought your hand to rub your eyes, the salt water making your eyes blurry and sting a little.
You're met with a familiar face.
The same man you had talk to the night before. Now drenched in cold river water. His facial expression as unreadable as ever. "..You're alive. That's good. Was worryin' you'd be dead before I could do anything."
You thought you must be hallucinating.
You don't understand, how was he here?
How did he know you were here? Why did he dived into the water for you?
Why would he save you?
"..th..thank you.." You managed to utter a thanks to him, relaxing your shoulders.
"Eh, don't worry about it. let's get moving, Shouldn' have been out in the first place." He looked over to the people behind you, already standing straight up. "Boys, head back to the car and start it up. I'm gonna chat with our pal here first."
"On it boss!" You heard a variety of male voices, some of which sounding like the debt collectors that visit you, walking away and uphill, their steps sounding more and more distant till disappearing.
..Wait a minute.
FUCK. OH FUCK.
You're suddenly regretting not actually learning about the man himself and his appearance. Holy shit.
"Well then."
Mafioso took off his suit jacket, wringing it out as he continued to speak. "Was this the supposed "plan" you mentioned yesterday?"
"..." you didn’t respond to his question. Honestly you weren't expecting him to be paying attention during that.
He looked down at you with a sympathetic look. Sighing as he held out his hand to help you up. "Taking that silence as a yes. You think you can walk?"
You hesitated, looking up at his hand for a moment before finally grabbing it. Slowly rising up to your feet as he helped you up.
And then immediately you almost fell back down, your knees practically giving up on you. As your head landing directly in his chest, Straight into his man.. titties.
Honestly, now you were hoping this was a hallucination.
You're honestly surprised the guy didn't decide to drown you properly for this. Only seeming a bit disgruntled.
You stood up straight, still closer to this man then you would like, wobbling side to side. Your face now a lot more red than it was before. "Sorry.."
You were expecting him to step away from you. And well, lead you out of the River bank.
He didn't. At all.
Instead he looked down at you, seeing how unsteady you were. sighed and then picked you up, swunged you over his shoulder, bringing out a startled noise out of you. As he started walking out of the River Bank, and uphill towards a black van. "This is just gonna be easier to do.." he muttered.
He was.. surprisingly warm, warmer than you thought he be. Would almost be comforting if not for the fact you were still embarrassed and lowkey dazed out of your mind.
The black van he was walking towards, had his four henchmen standing around it. All looking at him, and consequently, you.
it was awkward looking at any of them, you a debtor who owed money to all of them, looking like a wet cat, while being carried by their boss.
you look at them.
They all look at you.
And you felt like bashing your head into the nearest wall.
As soon as their boss is in front of them, they all get into the van, conversations buzzing about stuff you can't make out. Something along lines of 'that guy that gave me food' followed by murmurs of them talking about someone. You don't Hear exact details.
You're slowly placed down onto the ground by mafioso, and motioned to take a seat in the back, which you complied.
Sitting down on a comfortable leather seat, you felt bad being drenched in water right now, you're making the seats moist!
The Don took the seat beside you, only one of those small middle seats being the thing that separated you both.
You're not sure why he took pretty much the only seat that was close to you instead of sitting in the front or closer to his Goons.
'Probably to make sure I don't do anything.' You thought.
The van start up and as it started to move, the car vents near you suddenly blasted warm air. Probably because it's cold outside, but you can help but enjoy the warmth coming from it..
your eyes are to the ground during the ride, ignoring the conversation and chatter of the goons, you're frankly too tired to actually pay attention, all you want to do is go to sleep.
The sane part of you knows that it is a horrible time to nap, seriously you're surrounded by criminals with zero clue of where your going, or when you'll be arriving.
But.. your mind decided it was too tired, so fuck you, you're sleeping anyway. you slowly slump your head against the seatbelt, watching through the window as you felt every bump and move this car made.
You said to yourself that you'll just only rest your eyes for a moment. Just a moment..
As you drift off to sleep surrounded by warmth and comfort of this van.