In lifeless silence under the starry black sky, the city floated desolately as if it were lost in a sea of emotional darkness. The Dark Moon referred to as the last visible crescent of a waning moon could be visible through the sweeping clouds.
The only sound in the apartment was the quiet tick-tock of a wall clock. The doorbell rang twice before the apartment door squeaked open. In the dead of the night, a woman's piercing scream echoed over the entire city.
"Kate, it's me. Zen. Zenjee."
"Zen? Is that you?" Kate placed a hand on her chest, taking in three deep breaths to calm her racing heart. She then adjusted her spectacles before coming forward to take a good look at her cousin. "You scared the hell out of me. I thought you were a serial killer on a mission to assassinate me."
"Don't be so dramatic." Zen rolled her eyes in the dark. "You could've at least turned the lights on before going all ballistic and shrieking like a banshee in the middle of the night," she murmured under her breath, plucking her left year as if Kate had just damaged her eardrums.
"Can you be realistic, Zen? It's the middle of the night," Kate cynically retorted, repeating Zen's words, "and I was asleep. Who sleeps with the lights on?"
"Alright, alright. Can I come in now?" Zen asked impatiently.
Kate went inside without a word, leaving the door ajar to let Zen in. Kate switched on the lights of her room and turned to Zen. She immediately, out of instinct, covered her nose in disgust, letting out a gagging sound right after.
"What happened to you?" Kate managed to choke out, trying to hold in her breath at the same time. This was the first time she was seeing Zen in such a deplorable state. She looked like a complete train wreck, from her dirt-stricken grey trousers to her short, tousled hair. The black jacket she was wearing had some kind of strange white semi-liquid substance strewn all over it, and the rancid odour emanating from it was horrifyingly gut-churning that Kate was convinced it could knock out an elephant the size of a helicopter. "Don't tell me you landed in a gutter somewhere." Kate burst out laughing.
Zen stared at Kate in sheer astonishment. "Does it look like I fell in a gutter?" she grumbled, adjusting the backpack on her shoulders before pulling inside a big blue trolley, and ramming the door shut behind her.
Kate frantically nodded her head after her laughter subsided. She shot a perplexing look at the blue trolley before setting her gaze on Zen, who was sporting an expression that said she had nothing left to live for.
"Are you even my family? How can you not be concerned after seeing the state I'm in?" Zen hollered at Kate.
"I'm sure nothing terrible happened," Kate replied. "I mean it's you we're talking about," Kate muttered the last words but Zen was quick to catch.
"What?" Zen spat viciously, her nostrils flaring.
"I'm sure nobody tried to murder you. Any sane person would think twice before meddling with you."
"But still. Does it not bother you that your very own cousin, a helpless young woman, showed up at your door in this state? Shouldn't you be, I don't know, worried about me?" Zen fought the urge to jump up and down like an enraged, impatient kid, throwing a tantrum over her parents not buying her a sugary treat.
"Wait, wait. I lost you from the part you said you were a helpless young woman." Kate was on the verge of bursting into laughter once again. "You, a woman?" Kate jeered.
"Kate." Zen gave Kate a warning look.
"Okay. I'm sorry, my dear sister." Kate surrendered. "So, tell me. Did you actually fall in a gutter?"
Three seconds of silence later, Zen sighed in defeat, "It's not that," she said as if recalling a dreaded memory of the incident. "Someone threw up on me," she finished, her nose scrunching in distaste.
"Would you mind explaining?" Kate inquired, her amused brown eyes curiously looking over the top of her glasses.
"It's a long story. Before that, I need a shower."