The food was icy cold by the time I got to my apartment. The sun had long ago set, so it was pitch black when I opened the front door.

I didn't have trouble navigating through my old furniture though. I had purposely arranged everything everywhere, and then forced myself to learn my way blindfolded. So walking through my small living room was a piece of cake.

After sticking the expensive food in my cheap microwave, I settled down in my couch, propping my feet up into the slightly unbalanced coffee table. I propped a pillow into my lap, and then placed the hot plate on top of it before I dug in. I practically moaned in delight as the food hit my tastebuds, and completely forgot to turn on the tv. Only when I was chewing did I realize it was dead silent, so I picked up the remote from besides me and began to channel surf.

I ended up stopping at some reruns of Greys Anatomy, and I chuckled at the irony.

Couldn't have chosen a better show couldn't you?

A pounding at my door had me groaning and wondering who was trying to contact me at the moment. I was hoping that the person who was knocking on my door would go away, but as they knocked again, I groaned and stood up, looking at my food in longing as I walked away from it.

One look at the peephole had me cursing and biting my lip.

Fuck! The rent was due today!

"Eva. I know you're in there. I can hear your television on."

Double fuck!

I slowly cracked the door open and gave the building manager a small smile. The hair on his head was slicked to the side, practically molded to his head, and I cringed, as always. His big, round glasses were resting at the bridge of his nose, and he had a full pout on as he look at me. "Why hi there Mr. Malone. How can I help you?"

He didn't waste a second of breath to answer me. "Rent is due."

I bit my lip. "Listen... I don't get paid until tomorrow, and I have nothing on me. Can we-"

"There will be an extra ten dollar charge for late fees."

My mouth dropped open as he twirled around and began to walk away. "WHAT? WHY!" I screamed out after him, making him halt mid step. He slowly turned around, pushing his glasses back up as he straightened his already straight sweater. It was a warm eighty degrees in the hallways since he didn't believe in wasting cool air, so he was sweating like crazy as he walked back towards me. I took the step back into my apartment as he stopped and cleared his throat.

"I will not tolerate this behavior Miss Eva. There will be an extra charge because I do not permit late fees."

Well that told me shit. "But you've never complained before! Why now?"

He pushed his glasses up for what seemed like the tenth time since he stood there, and stared at me. "People change. I expect my money by sunset."

He walked away and I slammed the door shut. "Fucking asshole. Fuck you."

Forgetting about my food, I stomped into my room and began to pack all my belongings. I didn't have much to begin with, and it was time to throw away the mattress and couch anyways. By the time I was done packing, my food had once turned cold again, and Greys was long over. I quickly reheated the food again, eating it in a sour mood since it was soggy with all the reheating, and slumped down on my bed once I was done. I didn't even bother changing into my pajamas; I punched my pillow to try and get comfortable and closed my eyes.

Fucking ten dollar fee my ass...

~~~

"He can stick these ten dollars up his ass." I grumbled as I began to pour all of the loose change into a small bag. I had asked my manager to give me ten dollars out of my paycheck in change. It didn't matter if it was pennies, nickles, dimes, whatever; I just wanted to annoy Mr. Malone's butt for charging me more.

"What did you say?" The manager gasped as she stood up from her desk with papers in her hands.

I blushed and shook my head, keeping my eyes on my moving hands. "Nothing. Thank you again."

"It's sad to let you go, but it was nice working with you. If you ever come back and need a job, don't hesitate to come here."

I finished placing the last ten cents into the bag and huffed at it's weight. Damn... maybe this wasn't such a good idea...

"Thank you." I gave her a smile. "For everything." I quickly added when the extra 500 dollars ran through my mind.

She returned my smile and I quickly left, clutching the bag of coins to my chest. Twenty minutes later, I knocked on Mr. Malone's door and waited. As soon as he cracked it open, I shoved the bag on to his hands, making him stumble back, and took out the envelope I had shoved the rents money in and placed it on the table right next to the door.

"Thank you for everything Mr. Malone, but I won't be needing the apartment anymore. I will be gone before the sun sets, so goodbye." I closed the door on his shocked face and clutched my bag closer to me as I ran. I ran back to the apartment, grabbed the phone that he graciously included with the rent and called a taxi.

"We will have a car with you in about an hour. Will that be alright?" The man on the other side said once I had given him everything.

"Yes. That's perfectly fine. Thank you." I hung up and sighed, looking around at the bare room.

My new journey was about to begin...

~~~

With a huff and a tired sigh, I dropped my two bags besides the door and closed it shut with my foot. I plopped down into the bed, and buried my face in the sheets, not caring to look around the hotel room; I just wanted to rest my back —and my butt. It ached from sitting down in one spot for too long— and think about what I was going to do next.

I wasn't in that city anymore. I was nowhere near the state as well, but I couldn't say the same about half of my stuff. I figured out I couldn't be dragging everything with me at the last minute, so I separated everything. I kept most of my clothes —well the ones that didn't have any holes or were faded— and a couple of books. The rest, I threw away or donated it along the way. People offered me money for a couple of things, and most of the time I rejected the offer. I kept on wondering why they were offering me money for used stuff, until my answer was given to me when I had a glance at myself.

I had a bruise smack in the middle of my forehead, and it spread down to my nose. It looked like I had gotten in a fight with someone —in this case, a door— and was recovering from it. I was horrified at first, thinking they were getting the wrong impression about my bruise, but after a few hours, I gave up and paid no attention to their stares. I knew what had happened, and that was all it mattered. But then I would think about my current situation and talked myself into accepting the money, since it was in dire condition.

So with a few extra bucks in my pocket and more than half the weight off my back, I was near the Canadian borders within a week after my sudden departure, wondering what the heck I was going to do next.

Sleep... was all my body was telling me to do, but my mind had other thoughts.

Work... and food.

My mind won. With a groan, I sat up and stretched. I went to the bathroom, wet my face for a few seconds, and then sighed as my reflection caught my attention.

Messy brown hair, pale complexion, blue eyes that looked utterly exhausted, but knew there was no time to rest. Oval face, faded bruise, and protruding collar bones.

That last one had me looking away. Even after a few years, I couldn't gain the weight back; it was just too hard to do it.

With another sigh, I dried my face, grabbed my purse and walked out, making sure the key was in hand. With a quick talk at the bellhop, I took the route he directed me at and kept a small smile on my face. If I acted normal, no one would think I was new or lost, right?

My thoughts were wrong a few minutes later. Somehow, I had forgotten if I was supposed to take a left or a right, so I was standing in the middle of the sidewalk, looking all around me like a crazy person. I chewed on my lip, debating on going back to the hotel, but my crying stomach made up my mind.

I found a restaurant across the street after another inspection and quickly made my way into it. When I noticed I was underdressed and not near rich enough to afford their plates, I left and tried searching for another place. Something that resembled of a sandwich place caught my eye, and speedily jogged there, reaching the door breathlessly.

The aromas hit me as soon as I opened the door. It smelled like basil and cilantro and a thousand different cheeses. I could smell the faint hint of meat, and my mouth watered as I saw the woman behind the counter preparing a sandwich for someone else.

"I'll have one of everything please," I joked as soon as I reached her and she laughed as she looked up at me.

"I'll be with you in a few seconds. Feel free to take a sample of our sub of the day." She gestured to a plate in the counter and I eagerly took a piece. One bite of it told me that's what I wanted, and she smiled hugely when I told her my order. A few minutes later, and a paid sandwich in my hand, I thanked the lady.

"Do you know how I can get back to my hotel? I'm kind of new here and I got lost." I smiled sheepishly at her as she turned around from washing her hands.

"Oh, welcome! It's wonderful seeing a fresh face in this small city. I don't see many vacationers staying anymore with everything that is going on with the supernaturals. Ever since they made themselves known, people have been scared knowing they were neighbors with the kings and queens of the werewolf and vampire race."

I frowned. "That was years ago."

She shrugged and plopped a hand underneath her chin as she rested her elbow on the counter. "I think they are scaredy-cats. Nothing has happened to me —well nothing can happen to me now anyways, since my husband is a wolf, but that's not the whole point. If only they took a second to realize they are normal like us, but with a hint of extra abilities, then they wouldn't be so scared of living with them." I nodded in agreement. She gave me a smile and stood up straighter as she rubbed the counter. "So, where did you say you were staying at?"

"Oh right!" I gave her the name of the hotel and she nodded. She gave me directions —and a free cookie—  and left me with a wink.

"Hope to see you soon. I'm Selina by the way."

I turned around in front of the door to give her a small wave. "Eva."

With my bag and sandwich hanging in between my fingertips, I followed her directions. I was a block away from it —I could see the doors— when I happened to look to my right. I don't know why alleys were attracting me this month, but somehow, I was standing right in-front of one. My forehead pulsed, as if it could sense the last time I ran smack into a door, and I winced. I took a step back, ready to keep walking forward when my eyes caught a sign.

Gloria's Books

Well damn me.

"Do I really want to go in there, and probably get hit by another door just because I want a new book?" I whispered to myself. It didn't take me more than ten seconds to tell myself the answer as well.

Yes. Yes I did.

So with a deep breath, I clutched my sandwich bag tighter to my chest and stepped into the alley. All was going well, I had only jumped once when a cat hissed at me for getting near it, but besides that, there were no doors being open. When I safely reached the other side, I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding, and took a moment to even out my breathing.

"OH FUCK!"

Something hard crashed from my left side, sending me flying to the floor. My arm scraped the sidewalk seconds before my head sharply connected with it as well.

Blackness hit me immediately.

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I am so late with this chapter/book. You have no idea how sorry I am for making you all wait.

I have a few chapters ready for y'all, but I won't post them all back to back. I will post two every week. The next one will be up on Thursday or Friday (depends on when I remember 😅🙈)

The reason I am doing this is because I still have not stopped from being busy on the real world. I don't want to run out of chapters, and then have y'all waiting again for who knows how long. So I hope you understand.

If you're confused, this book takes place years after The Change ended. (So Emilee isn't 18 anymore. She is in her late 30's, as the main characters are in their early 20's.) If you are still confused or have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask here or on DM. I will happily answer them for you.

Hope you're liking the last book of this Trilogy, and I will see you again later this week 😁

Muchos besos,
Gris ❤️