Masked Roses

Chapter Nine

We walked through the trees in the cold weather. I was wrapped up in a thick fur coat, the ring of fluff around the hood obscuring my face and facial features. I had Sadie gently cover up the rose with loose bandages and gauze pads to protect it so even if I had to take off my hood, no one would think anything of it unless they asked. My excuse? I had a swollen lump. Dumb, I know, but it was all I had. My eye unfortunately would have to just be hidden with my keeping my head down, and I was thankful that Sadie had some foundation in a pale tone that would cover up my white skin around my neck and face.

Gloves covered my hands, courtesy of Jack who was somewhat reluctant to let me borrow a pair, but did so anyway. Glancing over at Sadie, I saw she wore a leather jacket and shivered a bit in the cold weather, snow falling from the sky as her boots crunched in the powdery layers. Looking between us at Sally, she wore a puffy winter coat and thick boots that honestly seemed way too big for her, but she wore them anyway. I rubbed my head gently and sighed, seeing my breath cloud in the air from the cool temperatures.

Sally giggled a few times when a snowflake hit her face and it caught Sadie's attention on occasion, but she began to ignore her giggles when she looked forward and saw the town ahead. She pointed, catching my attention and making me look up. Sure enough, it was there. Cars drove slowly along the icy roads as a few pedestrians walked on the sidewalks. Walking through the alley, I glanced out and noticed that we were on the same road where my apartment building was.

Looking to the left, I saw the familiar billboard showing the apartment building's logo and number. Pointing towards it, I looked at Sadie and Sally and reached into my pocket to take out the keys that I retrieved from my bag that Slenderman had been holding onto. I seriously needed to talk to him about getting my bag back. I wouldn't worry about it right now, but later when we got back I wouldn't hesitate to give him an earful about it.

Walking along the sidewalk with Sally holding mine and Sadie's hands, she hopped forward while swinging our hands back and forth, a cheery smile on her chubby face. As we soon stopped in front of the building, I handed Sadie the keys as we walked inside. "It's apartment two hundred and three." She nodded and beckoned Sally to follow her up the stairs while I turned to the front office, the door cracked open slightly and the window in the door showed the same withered old lady at her desk as she played solitaire on her old computer.

Knocking on the door to get her attention, I stepped inside and sat down in one of the chairs. She looked at me with a smile and put on her glasses that were hung around her neck. "How may I help you, dear?"

"I'd like to end the lease on my apartment. I found a place with some of my friends, who are helping me get my clothes and such out of there. You can sell the furniture or whatever, we don't need it." I stated simply.

"Oh! Well I'm glad you found somewhere new to stay. Didn't you pay your rent just two weeks ago?" She asked and I nodded. "Then I'll let you off easy, I don't need any payment since you haven't been using the electricity or water recently. I noticed you haven't been here the past week, so don't worry about that." She waved a hand and I nodded. Odd, but logical. She was a nice lady and didn't demand much from her residents.

Signing the agreement to end the lease, I thanked her. "I'll bring the keys back once we get done. There isn't much that I need, so we should be down within the next ten minutes."

"Alright. I hope everything goes well for you, dear." She waved and I nodded, leaving the room and going upstairs to my apartment, walking down the hall to find the door cracked open slightly. Peeking inside, I saw two bags full of clothes and a third full of bathroom essentials and rolled up posters. Sally emerged from my bedroom with two rolled up posters secured by a piece of tape. She smiled and waved, stuffing them in the bag.

"We've got just about everything we believe you need. Even got a charger for your phone." Sadie said as she walked out into the living room, holding up the white cord. "We figured you had your important documents somewhere for you to find, so we didn't want to snoop around. I nodded and walked past them into my bedroom.

It looked barren, nothing showing that I had been living there. I sighed and got down on my knees and saw a box just behind the bedside table. I grabbed it and pulled it out to find a file. Opening it, I saw an envelope I had made for myself for emergency funds. I decided stopping by an ATM wouldn't hurt either so I could withdraw all my funds so no one could get anything from me if they managed to steal those details. Standing up, I left the box there as it was now empty, but I turned towards my desk, staring at the bottom drawer.

Walking over to it, I opened the drawer and saw my digital drawing tablet and laptop neatly stuffed in their all-in-one case. I took out and unzipped it, finding my pad of paper and pencil case as well for when I would draw on paper. Zipping it back up with the file being placed snugly inside, I walked out of my bedroom and into the living room to find Sally with the bathroom essentials and poster bag on her back. Sadie had one of the clothes bags under her arm while the other was also on her back.

She held out the third bag and I took it, slinging it over my shoulder. "Let's go to the doctor's office now." I said and they nodded, following me as I walked out of the apartment, locking the door behind me with the keys Sadie handed off to me. We walked back down the stairs and I handed the keys to the lady who stood by the door. She waved to us as we stepped back outside into the cold.

A harsh winter wind hit me in the face and I closed my one eye to prevent it from being irritated and dried out by the wind. Once it died down, I walked down the sidewalk to the right in the direction of the doctor's office. It served as a pharmacy as well for people who didn't need to consult a doctor and just needed refills, which was where we were heading to specifically. I just needed to approve my friend to be a trusted person in getting my medication when getting refills.

It was luckily a few minutes to walk from the apartment to the clinic and I pushed on the door gently, walking past the front desk for the office to consult a doctor towards the pharmaceutical area. I saw a plump man sitting at the desk, his eyes focused on some papers as he hummed to himself, sifting through a few bottles of pills as he sat there. I walked up to the counter and knocked on the desk with my gloved fist, making him look up with wide eyes in surprise.

"O-Oh! Hello, miss. How may I help you today?" He asked and I reached into my laptop's case, taking out the file holding my legal license and documents, as well as a diagnosis from a doctor three years ago.

"I need a full bottle of antipsychotics. I'll be unable to come back to town due to some...complications and I need an approved person to get my prescription for me when I can't." I stated matter-of-factly, the man nodded, not asking about specifics since it wasn't his business in the first place.

"Of course! I'll need a signed note, their full name, and are they here with you?" I nodded as the man took out a pen and piece of paper with a single line at the bottom and an X. Turning to the seats in the clinic area, I gestured to Sadie and Sally and they looked over at me, getting up from the chairs and walking over.

Sadie smiled and waved to the man. "Hi! I'm Sadie, Serene's friend." I poked Sadie's shoulder gently.

"She's the person." I said.

"Alright! I'll need both of your signatures." He stated as I finished writing the details in the note, writing down Sadie's name and a fake last name since I wasn't sure. Sadie looked at the note and put her signature on it, using the fake last name from the note. Handing it to the man, he took it gently and then turned to his computer. "And what was your name again, miss?"

"Serene Evergreen." I stated.

His fingers flew across the keyboard as he then clicked on a few things, pulling up a photo of me with a small smile on my face. He read it a bit and then nodded, getting up and walking to the shelves all along the wall, looking at labels and different orange bottles before he grabbed one of them and walked over to the counter. He stated a price and I took the money out without hesitation from the emergency envelope. He then bagged up the bottle and handed it to me, waving as we then left and I put the file of documents away and my new bottle of medicine.

I just hoped I would live off of the small dosage.