The Unnatural

Chapter 1: Friday, December 24

PART ONE- BLUR

The old man stood on the edge of the roof, shivering from the cold. When he looked down he wasn't scared. If anything, he was ready.

By definition, he wasn't elderly; he was sixty-two, give or take a year. But time had beaten him down harsher than most, making his sixty-two-year-old body look and perform more like it was eighty. Gray, stringy hair trailed down to his shoulders. His shaky hands were blemished and wrinkled; he brought them to his face and smiled a toothless grin. His mind was liquid. Time had captured it and rendered it down. Thoughts became slick with grease, and they'd slip away the moment he'd try to hold them. Though up there, on the roof, was the clearest he'd thought in years.

He looked out over the horizon, with the cityscape in the distance. The air was still, the world was silent, besides the voices in his head telling him to step forward. The pavement below was ready to embrace him after a long, dreadful fall. Pedestrians were cleared from the walkway; they had been for some time. The last thing he'd want was to land on someone. Just like the way he'd lived his life, he would go out alone.

The old man squeezed his eyes shut one last time, hoping it would make a difference. It never had before. When he opened his eyes again, the world was the same—the same world he didn't want to be a part of any longer.

He stepped off.

DANIEL

The machines beeped along. They became hypnotic. Daniel Decker slid the chair next to the hospital bed in which his daughter lay. The chair itself was stout with a short back and pointy wooden handles. He sank into its deep cushions. It was hard to get comfortable, but the sounds of the machines helped him fall in and out of sleep; robotic lullabies, reassuring him that Addy was alive. 

He'd gotten the call from his son, Peter, earlier in the morning. Addy had collapsed in the mall of all places. Peter got her to the hospital, acting fast.

The nurse came in to check on Addy. Daniel stirred awake in his chair.

"Sorry, didn't mean to fall asleep. I worked the night shift into the morning." His clothes were stained. A line of black soot ran from the bridge of his nose to his jawline. The nurse noticed his bloodshot eyes.

"Mr. Decker, please, there are no apologies needed. Get your rest. She's stable and not going anywhere."

The nurse then caught a whiff of Daniel and winced. It was like something had crawled out of the sewers.

"Have you seen my son, Pete? He's the one who brought her in."

Her lips pressed together in a thin line. "I'm sorry, no. I'm sure he didn't go far. Dr. Tejwani will be in soon to talk to you. I think he talked to your son earlier."

Daniel thanked her and watched her go, slipping back into the depth of the chair.

He looked over at Addy and tears came to his eyes. There were tubes coming out of her; he didn't know what they were all for, except for the two going into her nose and mouth, pumping air into her from an accordion. Black circles loomed underneath her eyes; she looked like she stepped out of the boxing ring and onto a stretcher. Adeline—the same Adeline he was watching reruns of Supernatural with on TV the night before. How things could've changed so drastically in such a short period of time, he'd never understand. He felt like he'd entered an alternate reality, where joy was gone and only dark clouds hung above him.

But wherever he was, his wife was still dead. In his time of need, he was more pissed at her for that than ever.

How could you be so fucking selfish?