Sophie

Chapter 1

Time slowed to a crawl. Everything was grey and almost silent. Jake looked down at the road. A young boy lay there, his small body broken. A woman's plaintive wail began to crescendo, and as it did the young boy began to stir and struggle to his feet. Jake could only stand and stare as the boy finally managed to stand upright. He turned to face Jake, and lifted his shattered right arm, pointing. From the remains of the boy's crushed skull came a voice.

"Bad man."

The wail slowly grew louder as the young boy repeated, "Bad man."

"Please. I'm sorry, I...." Jake pleaded.

"Bad man!" the broken body of the boy said, louder, still pointing directly at Jake.

"I didn't mean to..."

"Bad man!!"

The wail that continued to rise in pitch and volume reached its peak. It slammed through Jake's ears, searing into his brain.

Jake woke with a start, sitting bolt upright in bed. He frantically looked at his surroundings, finally realising where he was. Sunlight valiantly forced its way through the grime on the window, and between a break in the thick curtains. Jake flopped back onto the bed, sweat covering his body, his brain foggy from lack of rest.

"Fuck! Another night of this shit! I just want to sleep. I just want it to end. When will it end?" Jake thought. He reached for the bottle of pills next to his bed. "One too many of these bad boys, and it's sayonara world, peace at last. And who would miss me?"

Almost every night for nearly two years that same nightmare had plagued him. The nightmare of that day, that moment, which had changed his life forever. The decision to leave work early, the decision to change his route that fateful day, constantly haunted him. The darkness of the room helped other dark thoughts to surface. Jake fought hard to quell them, but he knew that eventually the darkness always won. "Just take the damned pill, Jake." he mumbled to himself as he fumbled with the bottle cap.

Jake's thoughts were interrupted by a fist hammering on the bedroom door, and a woman's voice shouting through it, "Hey, I hope you're still alive in there. The last thing I want to see is your flabby corpse."

"I'm still alive, Viv. You can stop worrying about dead bodies."

The only person who had stood by Jake through this dark time was Vivian, Jake's tenant and oldest friend. His only friend, he thought, as everyone else, including his fiancee, had deserted the good ship 'Jake' as it sank in it's sea of despair.

"I'm more concerned with having to find somewhere else to live, you big jerk," Vivian yelled. "Rents around here are scandalous!"

"Nice to know you care so much, Viv!" Jake yelled back, sarcastically. "And for fuck's sake, come in and stop shouting. It ain't locked."

The door opened, and Vivian carefully entered the landfill that was Jake's room. She wasn't the type of woman words like 'cute' or even 'beautiful' would describe. 'Striking' was probably the only term appropriate. She was tall, slim, with short black hair, and eyes that could bore directly into your soul, and frequently did. Despite her rough, no-nonsense demeanor, she was the most compassionate and caring person Jake had ever met in his life. And while he would never admit it to her outright, Jake knew how lucky he was to count her as his friend.

"God, Jake, this room is an environmental disaster zone! And what in fuck's name is that smell?" she asked, scanning the room with her practised, critical eye.