The Expectation

1.

Beep, beep, beep, be-

A heavy sigh fell from his lips after shutting the damn alarm off.

Pushing himself into an upright position, he turned his body so his legs could drop off the side of his king sized bed and his feet could land gracefully on the hardwood floors.

He tiredly dragged his hands down his face, in an attempt to wake himself. After blinking away any lingering evidence of sleep, he turned his head to the side. The flashing red letters of his digital alarm clock, told him that it was now 6:30 in the morning.

With another long, heavy exhale, he pushed himself off of the bed and dragged his tired self towards the bathroom.

Opening the tap of the shower all the way, he removes his pair of stained sweatpants, that he keeps for sleeping, and boxers, leaving him bare in front of the warming water.

When he feels that the water has reached the right temperature - steam starting to form on the glass panes - he steps into the shower. Instantly he starts to relax as the water hits his back, soothing tensed muscles.

He leans his head against the cool shower wall and listens as the drops of clear water, slip from the showerhead, down his toned back - making a trail for others to follow - only so that they may finally slide off his body and land on the floor. The faint plop of the water droplets, suddenly, turn into an overwhelming sound of thunderous rain.

He's no longer naked, in his shower, but clothed, in formal Sunday attire, and running to seek shelter from the merciless downpour.

A name drifts into his ears, along with the wind.

His name.

"Erin," the voice calls.

It's too difficult for him to place gender of it, due to the heavy rainfall.

"Erin," there it is again.

He walks along the sidewalk, trying to locate the source of this whisper. As he's passing an alley, a sudden cry brings him to an abrupt stop.

"Erin, please. Help me!" The fearful shout came from in there.

Not wasting any time, he runs into the alleyway in search of the unfortunate victim. He runs and doesn't stop until there's nothing but a brick wall in front of him.

Thinking he might've passed this person during his searching haze, Erin hurriedly turns back around - soaking downpour, long forgotten.

Soft, feminine, whimpers guide him towards the side of a dumpster, darkened due to the lack of streetlights.

Slowly, carefully treading forward, trying not to scare the potentially traumatised girl, he hesitantly reaches out his hand.

"Do not fear, Ma'am. I am not here to bring you any harm," he spoke softly and - in a way that he hoped was - soothingly, as to assure her of his harmless intentions.

Suddenly, the timid, broken figure before him, disappeared into thin air and a wicked, malicious laugh echoed all around him.

Erin spins around after feeling a cool breath upon his collarless neck, that couldn't even have been remotely mistaken for a gust of wind. He finds nothing but an almost transparent wall of raindrops.

A slight tap on his shoulder, has him spinning, yet again. Only this time, he doesn't find an invisible wall of water, but a charming face, well-defined jaw, and flawless set of white teeth turned up into the scariest, most sadistic smirk, manageable.

Before the shocked gasp could even successfully fall from his lips, the unknown fellow, leapt forward, mouth ajar and that's when everything was enveloped in darkness.

Erin snaps back to reality, breath ragged and the once warm water, now cold and harsh - just like his life a few centuries ago.

He hated those flashbacks of his past. Scratch that. He still hates his past.

Closing the tap, he opens up the shower door and grabs a towel from the nearby shelf. After drying every inch of his body - bottom to top - he wraps the towel, loosely, around his waist and walks to his open closet.

He dropped the towel, taking out a black T-shirt, nicely fitting black jeans - that hugged his figure in all the right places - and a worn out pair of sneakers.

Right before he waltzed out the house, he grabbed his hoodie, car keys and a stale blueberry muffin, that sat on the counter.

Seeing as it was merely 7:15AM, Erin had only one destination in mind. The one place he could let go of the pent up anger and fear inside him, that threatened to come bubbling towards the surface. The one place he could be himself - his true self. The one and only place to let go of the monster inside him and let it go wild.

The woods.