I'm Not Ready For This Yet (Robin Buckley X OC)

Chapter Two - Raccoons

Jackson street, door 87.
Since I now worked half-time at the café, and it was already 4.PM, I had been walking around the city for the past hour and a half looking for that stupid video club, and there It was.
Jackson street, door 87, right in front of a grocery store, and next to an arcade. Family Video.
There was one of those near my old house in New York and if I remembered well I still had my membership card in my wallet, and I did feel like watching a movie.
There were no other customers, just me and the two workers. A girl, who stood behind the counter looking for something in a drawer, and that guy from the other night, who approached me as soon as I stepped through the door.

-Alright, Doctor Zhivago. It's a double VHS. It's long, but that's because it's filled with action, romance, and... a little bit of suspense - he was a bit too nice, it was annoying, actually.
-Oh, yeah, no thanks. I was looking for this science fiction called The Quiet Earth?
He stood still for a second, and then directed me to the Science fiction section. He was about to start talking again when a curly-haired guy rushed through the door anxiously, a redhead girl behind him.

-How many phones do you have? -he said, and then jumped over the counter where the girl was.

If they hadn't been so young, and the workers hadn't acted so calmly, I would've thought it was a robbery, but apparently, they all knew each other, so I kept looking for my movie.
I didn't find it, so ended up picking some weird kids' movie about goblins just because David Bowie was in it.
It was three, apparently. They had three phones, and in the time I spent browsing through the movies, they had all become very invested in their conversations. All of them except the guy from earlier, who was approaching another customer.

-Excuse me- I said as soon as the girl hung up. -I'd like to take this one. and also my card is from the New York store, so I don't know if I have to get another one or...- She glanced at me and walked closer.
-Yeah, you'll need another one. Give me a second - She said, and went into the warehouse looking for something.

While I waited, I observed the two kids that has rushed in earlier.
They were both calling number after number and taking notes, almost desperately. I couldn't help but wonder what they were looking for, and neither could I avoid hearing a few of their conversations. They both were asking for the same person, some guy named Eddie Munson.
Had he gone missing? My uncle had warned me about the disappearances, could that be the case? The girl returned and I left those thoughts aside.

-We're out of cards, but you can borrow it like without a membership card if that's okay? - she said, smiling. She was also nice, but not in the same way as her work partner.
-Yeah, of course. It's for a week, right?
-Yes, until next Thursday.

And that was about it, I got my movie and left.
I had way too much free time and absolutely nothing to do, so I decided to go to the convince store to get some stuff for dinner.
When I was leaving, I saw the four kids from the video club leave in a rush. "They must've found Eddie," I thought.
My uncle got home just when I was about to finish cooking, and he loved the homemade pizza and movie surprise. He also loved Bowie as much as me, something else we had in common.
It was quite a creepy movie though, but the visual effects and the puppets were fascinating. All the fantastic creatures, the goblins, the magic... I don't know.
I never really totally got over the magic crisis you're supposed to get at eleven or twelve. Even though I was almost an adult, with my job and like, actual adult problems, I STILL wished there was some spark of all that magic in real life.
I stopped paying attention to the movie, getting too focused on my stupid thoughts and also... that sharp headache I had been getting for weeks now.
It was buried under my right eye, digging its way through my skull, and hitting rock bottom at the back of my neck.
That night, however, it was still bearable, so I got up to take some painkillers and tried to enjoy the rest of the movie.
By the time I was laying in bed, my headache had ceased already, but my thoughts kept spiraling.
Our life had taken a weirdly positive turn and... I wasn't doing anything.
I had always had that excuse, that I wasn't doing anything because things in my life were so messed up I couldn't get myself to do anything else than the bare minimum, and maybe some resting in my free time, but now?
My free time was abundant, and I had nothing to worry about anymore, I just had a lot to process, lots of stuff to feel, and I didn't like it.
The changes had been drastic. I didn't miss New York, not the city, but there were things I'd kinda still think about, like my high school almost friend group. We never got to be close friends, but they were fun to be around.
I got up from bed and went looking for my cigarettes, lighted one, and sat by the ledge as per usual.
The moon was almost full now, and with the lack of clouds in the sky, it illuminated nearly every tree in the forest. as I blew the smoke out of my window, I watched the leaves moving slowly with the soft wind, then two squirrels climbing up the trees... and then that one cat. That little black kitten I'd seen the other night was about to engage in an epic, murderous fight with a bunch of big-ass raccoons. It looked defenseless, I knew it wouldn't stand a chance against those three much bigger animals, so I went downstairs as quickly as I could to try and scare them away.
I knew I had one of those anti-raccoon pepper sprays somewhere in my kitchen, and I found it sooner than I had expected, so I rushed to the door and went straight to where all the animals were and I sprayed them till the can empty. It worked well enough.

-God, you're such a troublemaker! 

The cat meowed in response and ran through the door just as fast as I had a couple minutes ago.
I was just about to follow it inside when I heard a familiar voice calling.

-Mavis? Come back, I know you're there... pspsps... Mavis, come on...