Chapter Text
Another day. Another fulfilling day. Another dollar. Another bill to pay. Another afternoon in his perfect life. He sipped his plain black coffee in his apartment, his favorite lamp shining onto his boxy face. This was life. It may seem boring to the average Joe, John, or Jane, but it was his fantasy come true. A stable job, a nice apartment, heck, a cat! His life was a dream that he got to live every day!
That dream would become a nightmare.
He drank his coffee, black as the shadow casted on the wall behind him, content. Life, as usual, perfect. Life, as usual, predictable. His arm, as usual, being jerked upward like a puppet on a string.
Wait.
WHAT?!
Dan’s head swirled around in panic to witness his arm dangling in the air, then smacking down to the floor, dragging his body with it. The cold redwood floorboards greeted his face with a harsh smack. He tried to stand, but couldn’t. His coffee laid in a puddle, staining the ground. He realized then he couldn’t move. He was a solid ice statue. Absolutely rigid. He thankfully could still blink and breathe. He still had his wits about him.
That’s when his arms pushed him up.
He was standing, wobbly, his mouth, forced into a horrendous smile. He wobbled like a baby deer just learning to walk. Speaking of walking, that’s just what his body forced him to do. He felt sick. Oh God he felt so sick! He began coughing, the grotesque smile still covering his face. It was an ugly, whooping cough, as though he were a dying man. Red started to fall from his lips. Crimson blood joined the coffee on the floor. It began to pour. It poured like a cherry waterfall. Almost like vomit, but not as chunky.
At that point, he collapsed.