Mind Or Matter

Chapter Forty Two

There were seven customers that day.

In five and a half hours, there were only seven customers

And the other employees didn't even seem to notice.

My shift had been done for five minutes. Checking my watch as I backed out of the small parking lot, I smiled at the thought of going to the beach with Candi. 3:36 pm.

We probably weren't going to go swimming. After all, it was the fourteenth of November, and the water was going to be very cold, and I knew Candi hated the cold; I hated swimming.

Candi had told me about this donut shop right by the beach. She said that everything there was vegan, unlike the Krispy Kreme donuts she had gotten us a while ago. "I completely forgot that they use dairy!" she had said from the bathroom that night.

The population of Miami was dying. And I was, too. My mind felt fuzzy all the time, tingling like when a foot falls asleep. And I was losing sleep, too. Some night I would just sit in bed until three in the morning, finally drifting off to a bumpy sleep. And sometimes I wouldn't get any sleep at all, lying in bed wide awake until the sun shone through the window.

Me, crazy? Probably. But I knew the goddamn Devil was after me. Ha-ha! Satan's gonna getcha! Ha-ha, ha-ha-ha!

Candi was the one thing keeping me sane, from ending up in the asylum.

And if the Devil dared to take her away from me...

Suddenly, the car behind me honked loudly. Dazed, I looked up at the green light, then to the huge space between me and the car in front of me. Realizing that I wasn't paying attention to the traffic lights, I casually crossed the intersection, my small black car moving quickly through the streets.

The beach was just ten minutes away from the Starbucks, but I could already see it from my car. The radio was off (as it always was – radios are foolish distractions to drivers playing irritating, stupid music) and the windows were shut, blocking the outside world from getting to me.

Blocking the Devil from getting into my head.

Into my system.

Killing my mind.

Possessing my life!

Ha-ha! Taking over the FUCKING world – my world, the only world that exists. Once the Devil gets me, he gets the world! I am the world!

(unless he gets Candi... which is easier than getting me)

(kills two birds with one stone...)

If I had cared to roll down my windows, I'd be smelling the salty air by now. Less than five minutes away from the sand, I cruised down the street, going five above the speed limit, like I always did, and thought about Candi.

Candi...