A Thousand Grains of Sand

Chapter One

"Name and Birthday." The Pharmacist grumbled into her cup of coffee, not even bothering to look at the man. She had just opened up the booth and already she looked ready for bed. The dark circles under her eyes were vivid under the harsh florescent lights of the store. Her scowl showed how the only person who didn't want him there was her.

"Derek Hale. November 7th, 1988," Derek told her, conscious of the line of people forming behind him. She hummed in acknowledgment and started clacking loudly on her computer keyboard. Derek tried to keep himself distracted by staring at the dozens of shelves, crammed full of medicine bottles, and seeing if he could figure out what they could all be for. Turning around the Pharmacist plucked a brown bag out of a tub labeled with a large H.

"It looks like your dosage was raised. Do you have any questions about that?" She asked, looking at him for the first time. Did the have any questions? Not really. He already knew all his risks; Weight gain, Acne, baldness, Sleep apnea, High blood pressure, Infertility, genital tenderness, Type 2 diabetes, increased aggression, nausea, polycythemia, and basically every other medical ailment on the books.

"No," He told her, swiping his card, Derek grabbed the brown paper bag from the pharmacist. Dropping his head, to avoid seeing anyone else, he quickly left the pharmacy desk. The paper bag in his hand rattled loudly, the pills clanking against the plastic bottle, as he shoved it into his hoodie pocket.

The early morning air was crisp as Derek crossed the parking lot to his car.

Stapled to the front of his parcel was the massive list of names, addresses, and facts for his Evolvine: Alphunide Lycatecan.

He pulled his backpack from the back seats, unzipping the largest compartment. Pushing aside his laptop and books, he found the secret zip pocket in the back. Inside was his silver cigarette case, A silver-plated heirloom of his grandmother's that he 'borrowed' when he was eight. She had looked for that case for a week and when she asked Derek about it he had lied. He use to think he had gotten away with it but whenever she went out to smoke, She use to give Derek these little mischievous smiles like she was in on it all along. She would even talk to him about how she hoped whoever took it knew how to treat it, keeping it from tarnishing and avoiding dents.

For that reason, the case looked as good as the day he took it. The triskele glittered in the sunlight and was smooth under his fingers. Pushing on the latch, The case popped open revealing a soft matted velvet interior and one orange pill. It was the last of his old dosage.

Duping the pill into his hand, he dry swallowed it, the small thing sticking to his throat uncomfortably on the way down. Sighing, He instantly felt better. He was still on edge but it helped ever so slightly.

Derek ripped open the brown bag and opened the child-proof lid on the bottle, dumping the new pills in. They were slightly bigger but luckily still fit as he clicked the latch closed. Returning the case to its pocket, he also Shoved the empty pharmacy bottle and bag into his backpack, to throw away later.

Checking his phone, Derek had just enough time to head home and get ready for the first class of the day. The Camaro gave a loud rumble as he turned over the engine, pulled out of the parking lot, heading back towards campus.

The radio was off, He couldn't really handle all that noise so early in the morning. It was always too loud, too peppy, and too repetitive for Derek's sanity, instead opting to drive in silence. He knows others think it is weird but he enjoys just the quiet rumbles of his car and organizing his thought.

Frankly, Derek would be happy if that was the only reason others thought he was weird.

He had to monitor Social Science 204 first thing. The undergrads had a midterm test, as well as papers due at the start of class. Derek would most likely have to read over the papers, marking any grammar errors, while the students took their tests. If he was lucky, he might even have some time to work on his dissertation.