I awoke to the sound of something hitting the sidewalk. I just barely opened my eyes and saw the bottom of the cardboard box right in front of me. I must've turned over during the night. Dim light shone through the opened part behind me. The wind probably pulled it open.

I was too exhausted to move so I just closed my eyes again, trying to go back to sleep. It was a bit warmer now than it was last night, so it wouldn't be as much of a challenge.

Just when I was about to fall asleep, I heard a tap on the box. I shifted a bit, but decided to ignore it. It was probably nothing. But I heard a tap again and a woman's voice.

"Um, excuse me? Mister?"

I groaned lightly. "Huh?" I grumbled.

"Sorry to bother you, but I... um, I just saw you here and I wanted to invite you inside."

I slowly turned over to face her. She had short dark hair and looked to be in her late thirties or early forties or so.

"I don't even know your name."

"Oh, sorry. Uh, Jody Mills. Would you like to come in?"

"I don't really do that, Jody."

"Yeah, clearly. Look, I just don't want to see you out here. You're either gonna freeze or starve, and I don't like the idea of either."

"I don't need anything from you."

"You need a roof over your head. Not one made of cardboard."

"I have survived on my own for five years. That ain't changing now or anytime soon."

She nodded. "Okay. Tell me, how long has it been since you ate?"

As if on cue, my stomach growled. I knew I shouldn't have been stupid, but being stupid is all I'm good at. Making all the wrong moves, doing all the wrong things. After all, that's how I got tied up in that whole Lucifer mess four years back. Stupidity.

"I, uh, I guess I could use a... little snack."

She brought me into her apartment. It was a cozy little place. Pretty roomy. I flopped down on the couch, putting my feet up on the coffee table. I rested my cane on the space beside me.

"Alright, listen," Jody began. "I got one rule; if it ain't the floor, your feet don't go there. And that coffee table," She pushed my feet off the table. "It ain't the floor."

I just sighed. "Right. Sure thing." I smiled sarcastically.

"I was just about to make breakfast. Looks like I'll be making a little extra."

"And what's on the forced-upon-me menu?"

She smirked. "Bacon and eggs. Just like every Sunday morning."

"But it's Saturday." I furrowed my brows.

She walked into the kitchen. "Afraid not. But I guess if you're living in cardboard boxes, it's hard to make room for a calendar."

I grinned and shifted so I was in a more comfortable position, resting my head on the armrest. I was still beyond tired.

I noticed on the coffee table there was today's paper. That's what woke me up; the paper delivery.

It was still folded up, but what I could make of the front page article piqued my interest. There was a picture of a familiar face, the headline, or the last half of it anyway, read, "-Found Dead".

I picked it up and unfolded it. It was Meg. It was a picture of her body. The full headline read, "Motel Employee Found Dead". It explained who found her, the cause of death; which was severe brain damage and internal bleeding; and possible suspects. It didn't surprise me to find that I was mentioned, not by name, and that I was the prime suspect.

I just felt so bad about Meg. The things that demon must've done with her body. Severe brain damage? Internal bleeding? It must've been some hardcore shit.

It just surprised me how much guilt I felt. I never felt guilty about the death of a meatsuit. Perhaps it was the fact that I watched her die. That she almost survived. That she knew she was going to die.

I relaxed into the sofa, staring intently at the picture. She was just a girl. Just a girl. A sweet, innocent orphan girl with a little sister who looked up to her. What if her sister didn't have anyone else? Who would take care of her? Who would look after her?

I knew nothing of having someone look after me. I didn't need anybody to look after me. All I needed was myself. Me, myself, and I.

Z against the world.

I yawned, continuously staring at that article, until I accidentally fell asleep on the sofa.

Jody woke me up a while later telling me that breakfast was ready. I yawned and rubbed the sleep from my eyes.

"Did I... fall asleep?" I mumbled.

"'Fraid so," She handed me a plate with bacon, scrambled eggs, and a piece of toast. "You're lucky. Normally I'd drag your ass into the kitchen, but it looks like you've got too much on your plate as it is." She alluded to the fact that I had a cane.

"My leg."

"What'd you do? Some kinda dumbass stunt that landed you in intensive care?"

I grinned briefly. I couldn't help it; I liked her attitude. I shook my head a bit. "Doesn't matter. I don't really... like to talk about it. Ever." I took a bite of toast and sighed lightly. I remembered what happened. The day I made a do-or-die decision.

"Does it have anything to do with why you're sleeping in boxes?"

"In a way, I guess. I mean, it happened because of... my decision to shut the world out. I've been livin' in motel rooms for five years now. Three years back, something happened, and it left me... crippled, let's say."

I could tell she wanted to know more, just by the look on her face. I rolled up my jeans so she could see my prosthetics leg. She seemed genuinely shocked.

"You lost your leg?" She asked.

I rolled my jeans back down. "Yeah. Like I said, I don't wanna talk about it." I took a bite out of a strip of bacon.

She sat down next to me, setting my cane in her lap. "So you just... shut the world out?"

"Yep. I live by three words; trust no one." I finished my bacon and started eating the eggs.

"Why choose to live like that?"

I saddened as I remembered what happened. Some Christmas that turned out to be. I hated Christmas ever since. Bah humbug.

"Because... when I say goodbye to humanity, I say goodbye to all the pain. No more misery."

"When you block out pain, you block out happiness too."

"You don't think I've figured that out?"

"Don't you want to be happy?"

"I can't be happy. Not anymore. Not after everything I've gone through."

"No one should go through so much that they can't be happy."

I sighed and picked at my eggs with my fork. "I wish these were over easy." I muttered.

"Well, I would've asked how you wanted them, but you were in here snoring." She remarked sarcastically.

I scoffed. "I don't snore." I denied, even though I knew I did, thanks to my chainsaw-mouthed mother.

"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that."

I sighed again. "These are fine. I guess."

"You look dehydrated. You need some water?"

"What I need is bourbon."

"At like nine in the morning?"

I shot her a confused look. "Is it nine?"

"Yeah."

I shrugged. "Oh well. It's one o'clock somewhere."

"I don't have any bourbon. What I do have is some nice, refreshing, H2O." She got up to get me a glass of water.

"Sounds boring." I called after her.

"C'mon, it's healthy."

"Healthy is boring." I retaliated.

I finished the eggs and set the plate on the coffee table. I would've finished the toast, but I just didn't feel like it. I curled up on the sofa with my head on the armrest until Jody came back with water.

"Healthy is healthy. End of story."

She handed me the glass and I drank it without hesitation. I realized just how parched I was and decided water wasn't so bad.

I muttered a thanks and handed her the glass. I was still horribly exhausted, water or no. She took the glass back to the kitchen while I got comfortable on the couch. I had no idea what I was doing here. I should be out the door by now. But I was just too damn tired to use my head.

She walked back in. "Anything else you need?"

"No. I still don't understand all the hospitality in this state. I thought it was the Canadians that were too nice for their own good."

"You just seemed like you needed help. I couldn't sit idly by while you starved to death."

I fought to keep my eyes open. "Y'know, this couch is a lot more comfortable than a box."

"Yeah, well, that's the idea. You tired?"

I sighed and let my eyes close. "Yeah." I mumbled.

"Well, I gotta go to work. Can I trust you to not steal anything while I'm gone?"

"Got it." I yawned, a wave of exhaustion washing over me.

"Well, good. Cause I'm the sheriff. And staying out of trouble would be in your best interests."

I was too tired to give a coherent response, so I just laid there in a heap of laziness. I heard footsteps and I felt Jody wrap a warm blanket around me. It felt nice, and I couldn't help but smile sleepily.

"I'll check in on you in a few hours, got that?"

"Mm-hm."

I heard her leave, and I was alone. I curled up underneath the warm blanket, slowly drifting off to sleep.