Chapter Three

A thick fog settled over the horizon threatening to swallow the town whole, rolling with anticipation to their demise down the hill. The crowd that culminated that evening grew in size in the wonder of what was going on, it had even drawn Millie and Julian outside where they stared dumbfounded into the collapsing thicket of cool aerosol. Tempted by their curiosity, the neighborhood gathered into a thicker flock and pointed on occasion at what seemed to be a figure ascending from the mist. Julian noted the figure, or structure, whatever it was, growing in size; notably in how its controlled movements gave him the impression of intelligent life forms as it erupted from the ground. The disfigurement of a head reached the heavens and coiled around itself like a serpent, its face turning to look with a wide, slow berth upon the mob of people. It was a hideous thing, drawn of nightmarish intrigue, with hooked teeth designed to hold prey and rend through the flesh. Julian's mind was with a twisted thought; a skin-crawling thought that could shake the very foundation of any mere mortal coil. What could a creature of such magnitude want with lowly humans, and why was it happening to him that this magnificent yet terrifying creature looked upon them with a deep and frightening hunger.

Tantalizing as the thought might have been to stay and meet their impending doom, Julian took Millie by the arm and jolted in the opposite direction. He ran as fast as he could, even going as far as pushing innocent pedestrians down without giving them a fraction of attention as they fell. "Come on, hurry! We've got to get out of town before that thing decides to eat us all.", he said and held a tighter grip on her arm but noticed an absence of solidity. Befuddled, he turned only to find the shirt Millie was wearing in his grasp, flailing in the air as a flag would; it unsettled Julian and made his skin break into goosebumps. Both ways, he searched behind him and in front; to discover that the scenery had changed and the shirt he was holding blew out of his grip and into the distance. He stood in a room with four sides and four doors. One was yellow, another red, then a blue one and the last one behind him was black. At first, he shook his head, trying to make sense of it all, but his thoughts had become blurred by a voice that spoke to him seemingly from the empty all around the room. "Be careful who you trust, Julian...", it said in a very feminine chirpy voice, and for a moment he could swear he remembered that voice. "What are you talking about? Who am I suppose to not trust?", he replied but found that there would not be an answer in return.

His thoughts were interrupted by the door before him which emitted constant thuds like hands pounding on it. It was the red door and behind it, the sound of people evoked a predictable response from Julian; he stepped forward to open it, to help those in disparity who yelled out for help. As he took the last step and held on to the doorknob, the familiar voice shouted into his mind. "STOP!" Julian turned around where he heard the shout, but found no one there so he faced the red door again; this time Millie stood in the stead of the crimson entrance. Had the door been an illusion all along? Was she the voice that was trying to warn him? However, something was not right. Millie glared at him and smiled, he could see the white of her teeth and how unnaturally clean they had become. In her hand she was holding something, an object that Julian could not differentiate, an object that she blatantly hid from him. So, with concern drawn on his face, Julian approached her; cautiously at first, though with intent to prove once and for all that there was nothing to be afraid of. Then he felt something warm at his side, and he looked down to find a knife plunged into his flesh; with rubies of blood dripping still-wet from the edge of the blade. Julian grunted painfully and held on to the handle of the knife, it was a kitchen knife and he tried to pull it out only to find more pain with the tug. "Why?... Millie, I thought we were friends.", he stated while still holding his wound, even as the metal stuck to his side. Millie finally answered. "We are friends, Julian. We're best friends."

Julian was losing consciousness and felt dizzy as he began to falter at the hands of Millie's betrayal. He closed his eyes and the world went dark; pitch black and silent like the night. He faltered and fell curled in on himself, he could hear the faintest sound - it was so close to his ear and sounded high pitched - over and over. "Oh god make it stop.", he said holding his ears. Then he woke up, holding on to his side to examine where the knife had been; confirming that it had all just been one nasty, wild dream. The alarm on the nightstand beside his bed was loud and had progressed to the loudest setting. It was time to get up and be a productive member of society.

Julian followed his morning routine; yawning, stretching out, and brushing his teeth one stroke over. Fervently revisiting the dream, or should he say "nightmare". The sort that left your skin crawling for minutes at a time. Once he finished he gathered his dirty clothes that were piled sky-high over a chair near his nightstand and teetered out of his room, in the hopes to leave Millie unawakened. Just as he stepped out, he saw - through the narrow hallway - Millie just standing there with a knife. She hadn't given much thought to it, but she had been staring at Julian when he came out. The thoughts in Julian's head did not sit well with this at all; his clothes dropped to the floor, and he instinctively clenched his fists together at his side. His brow had drawn a mean look on his face even after Millie's eyes widened with what could only be described as an embarrassment. They locked eyes and for a second they dropped their guards; enough that they could peer into the windows on their souls. Millie's creamy complexion reddened and she quickly looked away. Her heart a'poundin', her knees quivering, and her expression all too familiar with naive girls who fall in love way too easily. It was a weakness that she thought she'd given away. Only for it to come back in such a pathetic way; she thought. Julian's own beating heart seemed to bleed over his sleeve as his fists relaxed and he swooned her with a goofy smile. Though the hairs on the back of his neck were still prickled from the adrenaline.

While he enjoyed the attention - that tidbit of grace - he couldn't help but think back on his dream. It was the same knife she had been carrying that inflicted him that previous grievous nightmarish wound. Julian gathered his soiled clothes once more and made sure to land them in the laundry basket by the small closet storing the washer and dryer. Millie, who had become a jest of a blushing maiden had now suddenly regained dignity and clung his forearm on the frame of the door of the washer/dryer room. She sported a cocky grin and spoke with the same cocky reverb. "So, I saw you lookin' at me. You...Uh." She stumbled on the words, once more earning her title of a naive blushing maiden. "Yeah...Sorry about that, I didn't think you were up yet." Said Julian, while brushing the back of his hair out of nervous habit. "What were you even doing with that knife anyway?" He asked her just as anxiously. She responded casually. "Chopping green onions for my mega omelet, it was going to be great! Well, until you know..Now it's on the floor." She nodded over to where she had stumbled moments after her blushing affair and dropped her ingredients all over the floor.

Julian smiled and huffed a chuckle. "Looks like you'll be having floor omelet today." He teased her. "No but, let me make it up to you. Breakfast at Charlie's?" Charlie's Fine Dine it was called, a quaint little cafe just up the road from where they lived. Millie smiled beamingly and nodded. "Ouh! Can I get the mega pancake stack?!" She seemed excited while jumping over to Julian. He saw something out of the corner of his eye. A glimpse into bliss. Something that someone like him ought to never bring up in front of a lady. He saw them. Millie was not wearing a bra. Julian's face brightened and he just nodded, trying to brush off the fact that he'd seen her. "What's wrong Julian? I thought you'd be happy. Wait, is it the price? Listen I can p--" She was cut off by Julian's head shake. "No, it's nothing like that, it was just...Uh, I've got this weird feeling in my heart" - no he didn't - "And I'm just so excited you know, cause I'm hungry and you're hungry." His speaking skills deteriorated before his very own eyes, or ears rather. Despite it all, though, they had looked at each other with a smile and agreed to walk to the cafe together.

The small cafe shop was a hole in the wall kind of place, hidden behind an apartment complex, and who knows what else. Though, Julian had known Mr. Charlie since he was a little boy, hell he was the reason most of the menu items were so delicious to children who went there. Now as a young adult, he'd prove to Mr. Charlie he was a man worthy of his salt by bringing in a pretty girl on a date. Wait, was it a date? The thought hit him finally. Blunder after blunder, he'd gotten his best friend to agree to a date, and now it was too late to go back on it. Though, part of him did enjoy the newfound feeling of a pumping heart swollen with the pride of catching such a good looker. Even when he wasn't a bad lookin' fella himself.

Julian opened the door for Millie, and a little bell chime filled the cafe's walls. Hester Charlie was fast approaching the new clients when he recognized Julian. "Ah, if it isn't the little chanter boy." He played with his words, noting that Julian had been in a quire during his childhood. You could often find him singing at the cafe on Saturdays and Sundays. At one point he had been the best attraction. The women loved him for his cuteness, and the guys didn't mind him for his guts and gusto when it came to flirting with the girls. Overall, Mr. Charlie could find no bad memories of him. So, it came to no one's surprise when Hester offered Julian and his partner breakfast on the house. Julian attempted to correct Mr. Charlie's assumption but was fastly elbowed by Millie. He didn't know if it was a sign that Millie wanted to be his partner, or that she legitimately wanted that free breakfast.

They were seated and given a menu to pick out their breakfast and Hester was on his way to get them some fresh cups of coffee, with extra whipped cream for the lady of course. "Man, this place is great! How'd you know the old man anyway?" Millie asked without any regard for privacy. Julian looked a bit shy and mumbled. "I kinda..used ta..um..sing here." He finally said, and Millie burst out laughing. She couldn't imagine Julian of all people to be the kind to sing, much less at a cafe. Julian covered his face behind the menu. "Hey, no, dude, that's amazing. I didn't even know you had the voice for it." Julian shrugged. "It was a long time ago when I was in a quire class." Millie stared at Julian like she didn't even know him. "Wait, YOU were in quire class? But I thought Loner Julian didn't commit to such unworthy things." Julian retorted. "Well, Millie, there's a lot of things you still don't know about me." He grimaced and put the menu down, staring at Millie while she grew red in the face. They both laughed and were greeted by Hester again, who took their orders and fed them that morning.