The Edge of Reality

Chapter 29: Back Into the Void

I lived with Audra for a couple months in the Summer, and they were probably some of the most fun I'd ever had. Her house was small, but filled with nice things and I enjoyed having a comfortable place to go back to every day without having to fight to sleep inside. Although we spent most of our time together doing nothing- watching movies, driving around, talking- we had a lot of drug-related adventures. I was getting high once or twice a day now with her, and even she admitted she never smoked as much as when she was with me. As a result of everything combined, I started taking less of my prescription and felt strangely proud of it. At this point I was letting my arms heal a little more, but the infections I'd caused weren't going away anytime soon. I figured they would be a good backup if I started relying on oxys more heavily again. Meanwhile, I was learning about new drugs as I stayed with Audra. I didn't want to go over the deep end and try anything extreme like meth or cocaine- I was already addicted to opiates- but I did start experimenting with psychedelics. The colors, patterns and warps that only I could see entertained me, and the euphoria lifted me to an oddly calm level as I processed my life. Revelations I came to quickly disappeared after I came down, and part of me wanted it to stay like that in case they weren't true. Meanwhile, I also started talking to Lela again with more frequency. We would chat time to time, but never about anything of worth. She and I even started meeting for lunch or just to get high a few times a month or so. She sometimes talked about wanting to get an apartment with me, but every time we tried to plan something out she would back out last minute. Besides, I got a lot of weird vibes coming from her sometimes. I don't know how to explain it, but sometimes it felt like she was partially someone else. I could almost feel people from our past- friends who were long dead- mixed in with her aura, and I knew it was entirely possible because she could somehow spend time with them. Audra didn't like me spending time with her, because she felt Lela had betrayed me. However, she always wasn't very fond of Naham who was by my side more times than not, so I took her opinions of my friends with a grain of salt.

Around the middle of the Summer, nearly The Rains, I got a message on social media from someone familiar. I wasn't 100% sure of his identity, but I remembered knowing him through members of my old group. I'm not sure why he contacted me, but I'm glad he did because he had a spare room in the apartment he was renting. We had gotten into a long conversation, and I felt that I trusted him enough to stay with him. He was living with two other roommates and they needed a fourth to make their rent. I was comfortable at Audra's house, but I was still sleeping on her floor and it didn't feel like a permanent arrangement. Paying my own way in a more formal situation might be just what I needed to propel myself forwards. In fact, more than anything I was getting antsy to improve my future. I was a waitress and a volunteer, but I wasn't making much of a profit. I didn't feel the need to be wealthy, but I did want to get a better education and make something more of myself. I talked to Naham, Lela and Audra about it individually and they all had their reservations, but supported me in the end. Thus, as fast as I had gotten moved into Audra's house, I moved back out into the home of strangers.