I push through the double doors of the convenience store opposite my apartment building. The several people that were there were alarmed and looked at me with fear in their eyes. It was pointless to think about that, I needed to get back as soon as possible. I look around the store and see…
"There! The medical supply row." I dashed to the supplies and grabbed as many of the essentials I needed.
"You sure you got everything there Blyth? Maybe buy an entire gallon of rubbing alcohol while you're at it?" There he went again.
I grabbed what I could, placed them in a basket, and saw that my hands were covered in blood, so were parts of my clothes. No wonder the people in here were so scared of me. My phone started to ring, I took it from my wallet and saw that Kiara was calling me.
"Hey, Kiara! How's she holding up! I'm just about to head to the counter!" I was out of breath at the time, but I felt as though I was shouting through the phone.
"Calm down Blyth, she's okay now. She's over in your room resting."
'What? But… the first aid kit?"
"Your neighbor overheard the commotion and came by to help, turns out he knows a thing or two about handling these types of situations. He also happened to have a first aid kit in his unit."
"Is that so? Thank God." I let out a sigh of relief and found myself sitting on the floor from exhaustion. I did run down flights of stairs just now.
"I'll be right there Kiara."
"Sure thing Blyth. I'll look after her and clean up in the meantime." She said, sounding like her usual happy self. That side of her always calmed me down for some reason.
"Thank you… Kiara."
"Hey, I'm happy to help. Plus you're Mom said she'd tell me about your childhood so I'm expecting juicy secrets Lyth." She hung up and I was left there sitting on the floor trying to catch my breath. I stood up and walked to the cashier, after grabbing a new set of clothes and discarding some unnecessary products I gathered earlier.
"If you walked out of here with that many painkillers, I think the clerk would've called the cops on you straight away."
"Shut up. I'm too tired to even argue with you." I said as the clerk scans my purchases and looks at me, obviously weirded out.
"Sorry, rough morning." The clerk nods and goes back to scanning the items.
"Hey, you don't happen to have a bathroom here? One where I could clean up?" I asked the clerk.
"I'm sorry sir, but our establishment would prefer not to get caught up in any illegal activities." The clerk says as she looks at me from head to toe.
"Oh, this?! It's not what it looks like hehe… My mom hurt herself earlier and I tried to handle it by myself." I put my hands up to show her, which doesn't help, given her reaction. "Didn't work out well."
"Riiiiiiight. Well, sir, we have a hose at the back of the store, just by the parking lot. Turn right after you exit, you can't miss it." She says after putting the last of my items in a brown bag.
"Thanks, oh and sorry again for the misunderstanding. Hope I didn't cause a ruckus in your store." I look around and see that people around me were still uncomfortable around me.
"Seems like all you DID was cause a ruckus." Blight said as he tried to steal a kid's candy bar. "Oh, I can see the headlines now! A local man goes crazy in a convenience store, after brutally murdering his lover and mother! HAHAHAHA!" It was taking all my power to ignore him.
"It's okay, it was scary but it beats having to sit behind the cashier all day staring in the distance." I nod then wave goodbye as I exit the store.
I walked to the back of the store through the parking lot beside it. There were three huge drums each filled with water.
"Perfect for hiding bodies." Blight enthusiastically shared with me.
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"Just in case we need it and don't tell me you weren't thinking about it. Remember, we're pretty much the same person." He crossed his arms and looked at me confidently.
"Geez, I need to lay off the crime dramas." I let out a sigh and proceeded to clean myself up with the water in the drums. "Even my pants got stained, best to just wash out some of the smell for now."
"Never imagined you to be into exhibitionism. Maybe there are things you can hide from me, though I would have preferred you kept your weird fetishes to yourself." Blight insulted me as I looked around and started to take off the lower part of my clothes. Then Blight started pointing and shouting that someone was there. There wasn't anyone there, I almost shit my pants.
"It's still a little early in the morning, no way someone's just stumbling around behind a convenience store. Best to just get it done fast." I said confidently. "I don't know, I can think of one weirdo doing it right now." Blight said annoyingly. I focus on getting the smell of blood off my pants when again, Blight yells at me that someone is right there.
"Not falling for it again sir, no chance." I squat down with no pants and scrub the pair of jeans with increased intensity. Then I hear a giggle from behind me, I turn and see a little girl wearing a light blue onesie dress. I quickly hid behind one of the barrels as the girl kept giggling at me, she eventually stopped and ran away. I put on the rest of the budget clothes and chased after her to clear up the misunderstanding.
"Guess you will make the news today Blyth, LOCAL MAN STREAKS IN FRONT OF UNDERAGE KIDS!" I wondered if chasing after her with blood-stained clothes in my arms was the best idea, but I did so nonetheless. I turn the corner into another alleyway and see the little girl again with three children that seemed the same age. This time she had both her hands raised horizontally as if trying to block the boys who were ignoring her. I walked closer and saw that the boys were trying to get to the small cat right behind the girl.
"Hey! You three! What do you think you're doing!" The boys were alerted, but they seemed to not care. "What's it to you, gramps? Got nothing better to do than to look for kids in alleyways with some…" They quickly noticed the bloodstained clothes I had in my arms as I walked closer to them.
"Holy shit this guy just killed somebody! I'm getting out of here!" The one chubby kid said as he scurried away, the other two boys then followed. After they were gone, the little girl tended to the cat. She didn't touch it but talked to it instead. "You alright now kitty? Those boys were mean to ignore me, but even worse because of what they did to you!" She pointed at the kitty's limping leg. "Hey, maybe I could help?" I asked the girl, to which she replied with a nod.
After some trash diving, I gathered small sticks and ripped a piece of the shirt I had, and tied the sticks to the kitty's leg. Figured I had enough of the same outfits back in my closet. "It's not much, but it'll help a lot." The girl turned to me with eyes sparkling with amazement, I just noticed her somewhat long white hair as the wind blew when she turned to me. "Thanks a lot, big bro! I won't tell anyone you use the back of our store as a bathroom."
"Thanks, but that was just a misunderstanding. And also where did big bro come from?" I let out a sigh. "Oh! My Mom told me about his big bro who helped him from bullies, like how you helped me just now! And don't worry! I don't think big bro would do anything bad." She said with a smile on her face.
"Well that's nice of you, but don't go talking to strangers like this okay?" She nodded and we went back to tending the cat. We shared a few minutes of conversation and I asked more about her.
"So your dad owns this store?" I asked. "Yes, he has for years now. It was Mom's but she died a few years back. So it's just me and Dad now." She said, her voice hinting at how sensitive the topic was. "Oh, I'm sorry I brought that up."
"Don't be sorry! Because now I have my own big bro to protect me, right?" She stood up, raised her fists, and eagerly waited for my answer. Me not wanting to disappoint her agreed wholeheartedly by also standing up and raising my fist to the sky. "Of course! What are big bros for!" She chuckled as I lowered my arm, feeling as if everyone in the block just saw what I did.
"You're so cool, big bro!" She then does the same pose as me. We stopped and started to laugh at ourselves, then I heard a loud bang from behind us. The large metallic door leading to the back of the store was opened by a large man. He seemed to be the owner of the shop, the girl's father. The man was a little heavier than the average person to put it lightly. His head was balding and his clothes were not in the best condition as his white button-down polo and dark pants were stained on some parts. There was a sudden shift in the mood from his presence, even the little girl seemed distraught. The owner looked at me and then at her with curious eyes. He then motioned the girl to get back inside, she lowered her head and clasped both hands behind her as she walked towards the man.
I wanted to talk to the owner and ask why he seemed so hostile, but halfway through the girl looked back at me and gave a reassuring smile. She then went inside the store and the man looked at me with a deeper stare of curiosity. I was about to wave and introduce myself when a loud bang resonated in my ears as he shut the door before I could get a word in.
"What was that about?" I asked myself and scratched at my head as I was left alone with bloody laundry in an alleyway. "Better get home before those boys come back with the cops. Wait, why am I so worried? I didn't do anything wrong!" I crossed the street and made my way up the stairs.
"Hurry! We need to see the news ASAP! I bet you already have an angry mob forming to hunt you down." Blight reappeared as I was walking up the stairs. "Hey Blight, you were uncharacteristically quiet back there. There were plenty of opportunities to make fun of me earlier." A moment of silence, I looked at him and I could almost make out a smirk going up to his cheek.
"Oh nothing, just enjoying the show." He said