Incubus

Chapter 1

Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there,

wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal

ever dared to dream before 

~Edgar Allen Poe

I was heading down the street and tucked a stray strand of hair securely behind my ear. The sunset over the city skyline of Queens and set an orange glow over the sky as if it were ablaze. I was headed home from my job at the coffee shop farther in the city, and couldn't wait to get to my apartment and relax for the evening. My shoes padded on the sidewalk and my hair calmly swished in the wind.

Just as I reached a stop light, my phone vibrated in my purse. I pulled it out of the depths of my bag and flipped it open to read a message from Emmalyn, my best friend in the entire world.

From: Emmalyn @4:15 p.m.

Rin- quick! Get to your apartment fast, I have to tell you something!!

Muddled by her texts as I always was, my pace increased a little as I crossed the street to try and make the light. I wondered what on earth could be so important that she'd be so pressed about it. Then again, it was in her very nature to blow something out of proportion.

I was able to reach the apartment in a matter of five minutes and fumbled with my keys at the door in the hallway. As I was about to stick the key in, the door flew open and Emmalyn dragged me by the sleeve of my cardigan.

My mind flashed back to my time back at the end of high school, where I fixated on the memory of how one of my friends had dragged me by the arm in our gym to get to the podium in time to be able to vote for her for prom queen.

We bee-hived it all the way to the couch in the living room, where she pushed at my shoulders so that I fell as the breath knocked itself from my lungs.

She opened her mouth to say what it was that had been plaguing her, but immediately closed to stare at me quizzically. "What are you wearing?"

I looked down at my clothes and wondered what caused that look of distaste to settle on her face. "What do you mean? What's wrong with my outfit?"

"You're wearing jeans and a cardigan." She stopped as if to let that sink in.

"I dress like this every day."

"For work?"

"Well, it's not like I'm going to be wearing Oscar-worthy clothes, it's a coffee shop. This is normal."

The same expression remained on her face until I reminded her that she had wanted to tell me something.

"Oh, yeah! I need to tell you something."

"No shit, Sherlock," I muttered, but she had already begun her ramble on a story that she was sure would fascinate me. Knowing that I wasn't listening, she roughly shook me by the shoulders and tried again. "I was watching the news this morning-"

"You watch the news?" I teased.

"Why is that so surprising to everyone? I care what's going on!"

I raised my eyebrows at her. "Of course you do."

"Stop being so sarcastic with me!" She sighed and brushed the hair out of her face. "Anyways, there was a kidnapping last night, and-"