MELODY (Book 1) ✓

Chapter 33 pt.2 (The Last Straw)

Dead man walking… dead man walking…

The words echoed in my head on my way back to the shelter. That was how my return felt like. Walking the green mile to my doom.

It had never been a good feeling before, but it wasn't the same this time. My feet were made of lead, my chest airtight, and I couldn't seem to shake off the feeling that things could get worse. A cloud of gloom crept up to loop itself around my head, suffocating me. The darkness gnawed at me in full force.

A faint groan escaped my chest as I floundered through the roads of the Big Apple.

Manhattan tonight was a bleary muddle of blinding lights. Foggy shapes of cars, people, and buildings passed by in a haze, like an old film roll. Shapes and colors couldn't register in my brain. Everything was a shadow. A ghost of what it had been.

Akram and Asha are gone!

My teeth chattered and I tried to rub some warmth into my arms. The night was chilly and my clothes couldn't protect my exhausted body from the shivers that attacked me. Maybe it wasn't even the weather. Maybe it was the symptoms of absolute defeat. The small dose of warmth that'd helped me get by was now gone.

My sweet friend who'd been my personal Supergirl was in pain, and I couldn't do anything to help her. And now she had to leave. Then Akram had gone missing when I needed him the most. Was this my punishment day?

I'm a loser! I lost everything. My money. My job. My only friends. And there's a diabolical plan brewing for me by a demonic roommate.

I squeezed my pulsing forehead. Hammers were digging into my skull, overloaded with too much thinking.

What is this demon plotting for me? Will I go back to find the police waiting at the door? Oh No! Is it possible? More drugs under my bed? Or in my locker? Or hidden somewhere else that I'm not aware of? Is this the end?

“You're done for, Melody. Admit it,” I mumbled to myself, shaking from head to toe.

My legs finally made it to the only place I had left. Hope House Shelter. My home and prison with the most ironic name.

I halted on the sidewalk just a few yards away, watching the ashen grey building. A monstrous shadow waiting to devour me. Luckily, no police car awaited.

The shivers didn't stop as I stood there, hugging myself and staring at the hulking beast. I knew it was unsafe to stand there. But at this moment, the dangers lurking in the streets seemed a lot more merciful. I realized I was afraid to walk in when my heartbeat reverberated in my ears and my breath caught for no reason.

I loathed this place, but I had to get in. There was no other choice. No other place to go. I couldn't just rove through the night, trying to avoid my inevitable fate. Curfew was still at ten. I was bound to return like a prodigal.

I took a sharp breath as another reality check slapped me in the face; An old lady in drags, huddled in the shade of the nearest building, covered with a piece of cardboard. I gulped. I couldn't decide if she was asleep or dead. The sight made me tighten my arms around myself.

How could anyone live like that? It's not even living. It's just… not dying. And even that is not guaranteed.

A quiver ran through my spine while I rummaged through my jeans pockets. There had to be something I could offer. A crumpled ten dollar bill came out in my hand. I regretted not taking the food Asha had offered me before we closed the shop.

I took it as a warning. I should be grateful I have a roof over my head.

Holding my breath, I shambled towards the homeless lady, dropped the money in her stained hand and hurried inside the shelter.