𝐑𝐄𝐁𝐎𝐑𝐍 ➻ 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐥𝐞 𝐂𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧

𝘀𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗻

"SHIT." Anastasia hissed beneath her breath as she opened the refrigerator to be faced with nothing but the luminescent glow of the light and the humming of the machine. Her hand immediately found her pocket upon instinct, searching for her purse - only to find it empty.

Her hands found her hair as she pushed it back, trying to relieve herself of the stress as she continued to rummage through her belongings for it, knowing she must've left it somewhere, unless...

No.

She wasn't that stupid, she wouldn't allow herself to get pickpocketed. "Fuck." she cursed again, feeling the familiar sting of tears within her eyes. Nothing was ever going her way, not since that day in September, not since she had arrived that day in Forks, not since...

Anastasia took a deep breath, trying to console herself as she picked up her phone which she had thankfully forgotten at home that day, and found herself staring at his name upon the device, even if she did call, she knew he'd never respond, she had tried that before in the days after her Grams... She shook her head vigorously, trying to shake off the horrid memories of those nightmarish times.

It wouldn't hurt to try though, right? Maybe... Maybe he would pick up? But what would she say to him? The thoughts plagued her mind so thoroughly that she hastily ended the call after the first ring, though she swore that she heard it cut before she hung up, as if someone had actually picked up on the other side, she furrowed her eyebrows, knowing that she must've just imagined it, or that she was being ridiculous.

Anastasia felt the pang of hunger in her stomach, she grimaced as she decided to just change out of the grubby uniform she currently adorned as she cleaned herself up after the long hours of that day, finding herself sat upon the small couch, covered by a mountain of clothes to attempt to block out the unusual cold that Seattle had faced recently, despite it being towards the end of spring now.

The news was usually just full of the countless attacks within Seattle currently, the mass death toll that rose by the hour. Anastasia had tried to avoid it as much as possible, not wishing to scare herself, though she kept herself as wary as possible when she spent time outside.

After watching whatever shows played on TV that evening, she didn't even notice that the sun had then set, and was now beginning to rise. As the blinding light poured beneath her curtains, it was only then that she noticed how she had stayed up the entire night, though she was grateful that she didn't have to relive the moments that returned to her during the time she spent sleeping.

She shrugged on her uniform once more and brushed through her hair, tying it back to ensure it wouldn't bother her during the day. The walk was most definitely longer than usual without catching the public transport, as she finally reached her destination of the clothing store that she was employed at.

"You're late." her employer snapped at her as soon as she walked in, shoving a handful of clothes into her hands. "These need to be folded again, and these need to be hung up in the back of the store, by the swimwear." she added the last part as another pile of material was slumped upon the amount she already held.

"Shouldn't the coats be hung around where the other winter accessories are?" Anastasia asked, innocently making a suggestion that would keep it easier for shoppers.

"Are you questioning my intellect? You do have enough braincells left to remember who pays your pay check to allow little rats like you to maintain a life in this city, don't you?" her boss hissed at her.

"No, I'm ever so sorry, I wasn't questioning you at all, look, I'll get them hung up where you asked for them to be right away." Anastasia apologised profusely as she hurried towards the back of the store, busying herself with the two tasks before moving to begin tidying up the changing rooms.

Upon stepping into a cubicle to remove items left in there, a customer pulled back the curtain, a lanky male with sandy hair and dark coloured irises. "I'm sorry, is this one out of order?" he asked politely, his voice utterly smooth and it ensured that you caught every syllable of his words.

"No, I apologise for the misunderstanding, I was just cleaning out the clothes left in here by someone else." she hurriedly picked up everything else as she squeezed past him.

A quick glance at the clock told her that time wasn't passing nearly as quickly as she'd want it to, as was the norm. The hours of her shift consisted of the usual cleaning and tidying of the store, nothing particularly interesting followed her throughout the time of her work, though she did take note that a small girl was moving shiftily around the store.

"Aren't you a pretty young girl?" a croaking voice came beckoning to her right, an elderly lady stood beside her, her walking frame in her grasp.

Anastasia jumped for a moment, turning around. "Why thank you, ma'am." she gratefully replied. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

The woman pondered in thought for a moment, as if trying to remember why she was there. "Hm, yes, I believe you can. Do you think that my granddaughter will like this for her birthday?" her left hand held up a warm knitted sweater from it's place upon the metal frame. "I knitted it just this morning, but I didn't know if she'd be into this kind of thing nowadays; I came down to this store to find an alternative."

She shook her head quickly in return. "I think she'll love it, truly, please, gift it to her, I'm sure she'll treasure it." Anastasia beamed at the woman. "I know I would."

The woman's milky eyes seemed to gloss over for a moment, her pupils widening. "Oh- Oh, why thank you ever so much. I'll be going now, but I do thank you for your help, young lady." she proceeded to hobble outside the door, a wide smile coating her face.