The Dark Journey
Chapter 9 - Jared



Grasping at straws
going through the motions
spinning like a top
dizzied by the constant change
but change can be for the better
or change can be for the worse
it is hard to tell sometimes
which is which
when you feel the ground
tremble beneath your feet
and you stare blankly at the walls
and you don't know whether to
stand and stare
or to sit and cry
or just lie down and die
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The world had a tendency to gray out at times, and I had to lean against a building or a tree or a fence until it came back. Disoriented from pain and fear, I walked through the midnight-lonely streets, trying to remember where I was going. The blood from the minor cuts slowed down some, but was still flowing freely from my side, soaking my shirt and jeans despite my efforts.

My dingy refuge was on the other side of a park, and I cut through it in order to save time and effort, though I normally avoided the place after dark. My mind kept wandering and it was hard to tell what was reality and what was delusion. I stopped and leaned against a tree, panting with pain and exhaustion. 'Just a little further.' I told myself, but my legs wouldn't respond and I slipped to the ground, my back against the tree, my mind growing numb.

When I came back to reality, I was lying in a bed, sunlight making it's way through drawn shades on a window. I raised up startled, and gasped at the pain in my side. I heard movement in another room, and, lying back down, I wondered where the hell I was.

He walked into the room a few minutes later, carrying a coffee cup with some steaming liquid in it and some toasted bread on a plate.

'Well! Good aft'rnoon!' he said as he set his load down on the nightstand. His hair was long and uncombed and his face gaunt, almost emaciated. His eyes were clouded with dark circles and seemed to be far, far away.

'Here, ya need ta eat sumthin. You were purty bad off last night. Kept hollerin and hittin at me and shit.' He smiled crookedly at me. 'It's awright tho. Ya got some bad cuts there. Hadta num em out for ya. Took sum dooin, but I finally got ya ca'amed down nuff ta sleep.'

He handed me a slice of toast and I took it tentatively from him and eyed it suspiciously.

'Go head. It ain't pois'ned er nuthin, reely!'

I took a small bite of the toast and he smiled that crooked smile again.

'Tha's rite! Got ya sum soop here too ta wash th' toast down with. You just eat up and relax a bit and I'll be rite back, k? Oh, my name's Jared, just so's ya know'

I nodded and he left the room. I slowly ate the piece of toast, occasionally taking sips of the soup. Memories of the previous night's events came slowly back and I touched at several bandages on my face, arms, and chest. I slowly reached down to my left side and gingerly touched the bandage there. Pain swelled up and I gasped at its intensity. God, he really stuck me good there!

I finished both pieces of toast and about half of the soup before I slipped back into an uneasy doze. Images flashed through my dreams of knives and pain and I rushed back to wakefulness to find Jared bending over the side of the bed, sprinkling some white powdery substance on my stab wounds. The pain faded out quickly as the powder made contact.

He looked up at me and smiled. 'Coke' he explained. 'Nums ya up good, don' it?'

I nodded and lay back as he changed the bandages, sprinkling a little coke into each wound. Blessed relief! When he finished, he told me to relax and rest, and started to leave the room.

'J-Jared?' He turned back at the sound of my voice, eyebrow raised in inquiry. 'Thank ... Thank you.' I paused, grasping for words. Finally I said, merely.. 'My name's Jenny.'

'Nicetameetya Jenny. Now rest, k?'

I nodded, lying back into the bed and lost myself to sleep once again.


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