The Wings of Immortality

3.

My rent is due. I don't have enough money for it. Why? My foolish landlord raised the prices. How could he even think of it when we constantly suffer from the lack of water and electricity? I don't even know what I'm going to do. Last time, I couldn't pay my rent because I dropped my phone while leaving work. It broke, and the repair cost as much as a new phone. I bought a new one, and then the landlord came and demanded that we all pay a week earlier. I explained the situation to him, but he said that if he doesn't receive all the money next time, he will throw all my things out the window and evict me. I wanted to punch him in that moment. I was so angry, but that would only accelerate my eviction process. Now, once again, I don't have enough money.

I have two options:

The first one is to ask him for more time so that I can gather the money and then give it to him, considering that I won't have enough to eat for a while.

The second one is to borrow money from Zara and work extra shifts to pay her back.

I poured myself some water. Miraculously, there was water in my area today. Then I sat in my room. My apartment was quite... miserable. But it was one of the cheapest ones. I had a narrow kitchenette, a small hallway, my room, and the bathroom. It was enough. The plaster was falling apart. The wallpapers in the hallway were moldy. I didn't have the means to fix everything, and there was no need. Most of the time, I spent at work, sleeping, or wondering how to make ends meet. This place was heaven compared to the public assistance centers. There was no way I could stay there. I would go crazy. Plus, there weren't many other options. Everything else seemed expensive. I couldn't afford much. There have been times when I went hungry for weeks because I had to choose between being fed or having a roof over my head.

I heard a knock on the door. It had to be him. Now we'll see what happens. I left the glass of water on the bedside table and walked towards the front door. He was sitting there calmly with a wicked smile on his face. He looked me up and down arrogantly. He smelled of alcohol, and it was only lunchtime. It made me nauseous.

"Well, sweetheart?" he invited me. "Where's my money?"

"Look, I don't have enough money at the moment. Can you give me an extension to gather it?"

"No, I won't wait for you anymore. I want my money now."

"Alright, can you give me some time to call a friend and ask for a loan?"

"I won't wait for you any longer. Don't you understand?" he yelled. His voice echoed throughout the building.

"How do you expect me to pay you when you don't even give me a chance to do so?"

"Don't ask stupid questions," he paused and looked at me again. He crossed the threshold and closed the door. "There's a way for you to pay for both months," he started unbuttoning his pants. I hated. These. Disgusting. Men.

I got angry. I got terribly angry that I didn't realize what happened in that moment. His hand burst into flames. Hot, blazing flames. My vision turned black. I couldn't see anything. I only heard him screaming in pain and calling for help. The creaking floorboards beneath him made such a loud noise. I didn't know what was happening to me. I only felt satisfaction from his pain. I liked his screams. After my vision returned, I saw him by the sink. He had just turned on the water faucet. The curtains in the kitchen had caught fire. I could see everything slowly starting to burn, but it didn't bother me. I felt nothing. Instead of water, fire had flowed from the faucet. What the hell was happening?